Archive | July, 2008

I Have No Words…Girl with Tourettes Syndrome Displays Blatant Prejudice

31 Jul

This is a feature I’ve kept up everytime something in the news surfaces that just has NO apparent explanation and just totally stops me in my tracks.  One was Pat Buchanan’s explanation that blacks should be thankful for slavery because it brought us to the wonderfulness that is the effing country.  **rolls eyes**

But this morning, my friend sent me this YouTube clip and it stopped me in my tracks.  I want you to watch the whole clip, and then continue reading.

I mean, are you friggin’ serious.

“I’m not a racist.  NIGGER!”

Well ya HAD to have learned the word from somewhere!?!?!?  And based on mom’s explanation, I guess we’re to believe that the idea of “NIGGER” is what pops in her head when she’s sees a black person because apparently that filter between mind and mouth is non-existent.

So, I guess I do have “words” on this one and I’m ready to go ballistic.

Actually, it’s almost serendipitous because last night at our youth group we some how got onto finger gestures and of course being the stupid black person in the room, I took it to the next level and did my best impression of random black folk thinking they look hard or thuggish or dare I say gangsta.  That gave room for white kids in the room to show that they know gang signs and of course, they threw up the infamous “Blood” with their hands.   To which one of the kids looked at me, laughed and said “Look, I can be black too!”

Yes, she went there.

So, I said quickly, do I want to go there with her, do I want to sew my quilt or put down my shuttle and go there with her.  I merely took a break from sewing and asked her “So, being in a gang is associated with being black?”  She looked around, clearly a bit stunned that I called her out on it, and she answered truthfully, “Yes.” 

I told her I was going to talk with her later, and you best cool believe that I’m bringing it up again.

[Editor's Note:  I did the picture search for this section after I was done writing this whole article, and I noticed that on a Google search of "Blood gang" not ONE single picture showed up with someone of my skin color throwing up the sign, just the white folk--now you tell me who's really obsessed with gang life?]

So, is this what white folk really believe about black folk–about me? 

Gangs, I mean should I go down the list and really say that street gang life as we know it is really the copy-cat version.  For anyone that watched the Laurence Fishburne movie “Hoodlum” [yes, it's in Italian, which proves my point, but it's the best I can find] the biography of Bumpy Johnson, or even the Denzel Washington movie ”American Gangster” these were both real-life biographies of blacks who were trying to do EXACTLY what their Italian counterparts in the Mob had been doing with impunity for quite sometime–which was take care of their own when it seemed the powers that be didn’t give two craps about their existence.

Or one need to pay attention to the movie “Gangs of New York” clearly this was before the black street gangs began to terrorize their own.  Or even, the Ku Klux Klan falls into that same category of terrorizing citizens, but the face of gangs in this country is undoubtedly one of color.

So, the question is what was implanted in both of these young girls mind that associates all that is the word “nigger” with black folk or even gang life with blacks.  Yes, media has done a very good job for this.  Out here in Washington, the Postis doing a friggin 12-part series on Chandra Levy, the intern who was found dead back in 2001, and clearly there is no push to find the people that have been murdered in the Trinidad neighborhood and that’s just since I’ve been here this summer!  There is the clear association that this type of killing is normative (although there is an argument for that) in the gang life versus that of a white woman, who’s life is clearly of more value.

In the case of the young girl with Tourette’s Syndrome, clearly, someone who’s had some level of influence in her life has made the connection of “nigger” and black skin, ergo black folks.  And even more pointedly in her case, why is it that she only blurts out the inappropriate things?  Is the Tourette’s trigger only kick in when a person without this gene would not say something?  That is to say, normally, this girl wouldn’t say “nigger” if I walked by her, but only because she thought it, it comes out? 

I don’t know.

Whatever the case, the mum needs to do better to teach her kid about black folk, and my other friend asked why did the black lady just stand there and laugh. 

I don’t know, do you?

I’d REALLY love to hear your thoughts on this one.  Hopefully for those that read my blog about the “quilt sewers” will be happy with my response to this one young girl.  Or maybe not.  Do you think my response was appropriate?  Should I have said more or less?

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

UNN Guest Blog: Why We Only Speak To Men We Meet Indoors

29 Jul

Continuing the tradition of Guest blogs, I bugged Uppity Friend to no end to do a guest blog.  She finally got her topic as we were walking from the U Street corridor to Howard’s campus back in May when she had come out here to the “urreah.”  Please read, and leave feedback, I’d love to hear from ya, and I’m sure she’d love to hear from you as well.  Also, don’t miss out on the previous post I just did, “In Honor of the ‘Quilt Sewers.’”

I couldn’t have been older than 14.

 

I was walking down State Street, near Jackson [in Chicago]. On any given day, this corner is littered with tourists, Garrett Popcorn fanatics, drunks, the homeless, and those just trying to get from one part of their day to the next.  That was me, trying to get somewhere, to dance class specifically, and not suspecting that would be a problem. (Silly girl!) As I neared the intersection, I noticed a group of young men standing outside of the Walgreens. As I crossed them, the tallest of the bunch held his arm out so that as I walked by, his hand slid across the length of my chest.  He muttered something to me that perhaps he thought was a compliment. I thought otherwise.

 

I was immediately filled with anger, disgust, shame and more than a little fear.  I turned around to yell something at the boy (to this day I don’t know what I would’ve said), and just as I formed my lips to speak, he hurled “Bitch!” at me.  I don’t know if I’d ever been called a bitch before that moment, but the socked-in-the-gut feeling that almost made me double over was a good indicator that I hadn’t. I turned and kept walking towards the dance studio, crushed and very, very confused.

 

Sometimes I wonder why a passerby didn’t try to claim their Good Samaritan Award by coming to my rescue.  Even more frequently, I wonder why the whole thing happened in the first place, why being female and black often makes one a target for physical, mental and emotional violence. But those are topics for another day.  This isn’t a blog about the way women are simultaneously assaulted and ignored at every junction of their lives. Or maybe it is….Anyway, the State and Jackson incident was my formal introduction to the League of Crazy Muthafu**as In Da Street*.  Everyone has their individual orientation, and for women, it can be the most brutal of ceremonies.  But once you’re in, every stroll down the block is some version of that First One, sometimes less painful, sometimes more, but few are as poignant as the one that introduced you to the League in the first place.

 

I wouldn’t say that I’ve been called everything but a child of God, but I have been called “Trick”, “Bitch, “Ho” and “I-wasn’t-talkin’-to-you-no way-then”, when it became obvious that I had no intention of responding to the initial invitation for conversation.  I’d like to believe that it will stop happening, that one day, I’ll walk down the street and men will greet me by saying “hello”, smiling, and tipping their hats as they pass.  (Don’t front, you know you want fedoras to come back, too. Outside of music videos.) But that is not the case. It seems, no matter the age (ours or theirs), the time (early in the AM, even on Sundays), or the place (even in the church parking lot!), some men are inclined to call out, even yell generic names and/or obscenities, to get the attention of a passing lady. 

 

The older I get, the more my girlfriends and I commiserate, we realize that we are called by many names on a daily basis.  Some we cherish as terms of endearment, while some make us want to cringe, cry, or hurt the person (usually a male person) who uttered them.  I consider myself fortunate (and it’s a misfortune that this makes me fortunate) to have men in my life who call me by my given name, and who use nicknames that praise my being and respect my person.  I am called by names that, I believe, speak to the heart of who I am.  I hope you are as well.

 

But when interacting with the League, ain’t no one exempt.   You may be betrothed (and wearing the ring on you finger), you may be unkempt (wearing sweats while making a grocery store run) or you may just be minding your own damn business. But if a member of the LCMS wants to accost you, he will do so.  Rest assured.  I polled some of my closest confidantes, black women like myself, to find out what names they’re called when they’re out an about, in the League’s territory. The ladies I asked hail from different parts of the U.S., but there seemed to be some names that popped up no matter what part of these United States they came from.  Shorty was a popular one, as was Ma (and its derivatives), but what struck me was the frequent occurrence of “Ay yo!” and “Hey girl!” (I’ve always wondered how women are supposed to respond to generic calls like that…Seriously, which “girl” are you talking to?!).

 

The majority of the time, my friends don’t respond to this type of approach.   Neither do I, for all of the obvious and not so obvious reasons. Here are some:

a)      We (and/or the League member doing the accosting) are entirely too old to be engaging in this type of juvenile behavior. Why are you yelling in the street, young (or middle- aged, or old) man?!

b)      We choose not to engage in public acts of indecency with persons unknown to us (i.e. a conversation with a whack individual).  See item (a)

c)      If one has nothing better to do than stand on the street and accost women making their way to one place or another, chances are a conversation with said person would be neither interesting nor fruitful. See (a) and (b) above.

d)      We know where this is going.  If we do speak, we’ve given the other party reason to believe that we want to engage in conversation with them, thus prompting them to spew more ignorance.  If we don’t speak, we run the risk of being called something horrible, or being otherwise harassed. The odds are never in our favor.

e)      Again, why are you yelling in the street?! Have you no dignity, man?!

 

Long story short, most women do not want to be accosted, harassed, or just plain yelled at.  Not because we don’t appreciate a direct, straight-forward man, not because we don’t know how to accept a compliment (aside: this behavior is NOT complimentary!), but because history is on our side. We know the conversation that follows the initial call of “Hey girl, lemme holla atchu..” isn’t going to be followed by pleasantries.  It’s gonna be whack game. How do we know this? Once, when we were young and naïve (and 13), we answered a similar call, and were sorely disappointed.  Some of us learned from the first mistake, and vowed never to interact with members of the League of Crazy Muthaf**kas in Da Street ever again.  Some of us learned the hard way, after the second incident, that this was not the path we wanted to walk. We want to be addressed in a way that doesn’t embarrass or demean us, that doesn’t make us feel less than human.  Respect, please.  Trust, if you see us in the street, find a way to approach us that doesn’t reek of uncouthness.  Cuz if it does, you run the risk of giving us a flashback to our first run-in with the League, and we don’t want that. Neither do you. 

 

*Thanks to poet Liza Jessie Peterson. The idea for the League of Crazy MuthaFu**as in Da Street came from a poem of hers.

 

Hope you enjoyed it.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

In Honor of the ‘Quilt Sewers’

29 Jul

Those of you that have been keeping up with my blog this summer you know that I’m in an internship where I’m the ONLY black person; moreover, that I’ve only had conversations with less than five black people this entire summer.  So, when I got back from Phliadelphia I was starting to feel the effects of not being around black people–yes, it’s really that bad.

So, I called my friend COGIC Kid and I was telling him that I was kind of getting tired of having to bite my tongue around these people, and how in general I just wanted to go off on the director of the program, who is 28, and my partner who I just generally didn’t like by that point in the summer when I had called him.  So, in typical fashion, he went on to say, “You know how back in the day, when them old black women would be sitting around and they’d hear something the white folk say that they disagreed with, they just kept on sewing they quilt.  So, you need to just keep on sewin’ your quilt.”

It reminds me of the scene from John Singleton’s “Rosewood” [Editor's note: Why is it that everytime I wanna use a YouTube video, it doesn't exist, but everyone else's blog is just LITTERED with videos and what not?!?!?!] when Miss Fanny decided to cry rape from the “big, black, coooolllorrrred” and Aunt Sarah (Esther Rolle) and Philomena had to keep on scrubbing the floors and not say a word.

So, this post is in tribute to all of those black women who had to keep their mouths shut, because clearly as “Rosewood” showed, when you open your mouth, you run the risk of losing your life.  This post is to all the black men who had to keep on chopping wood, playing dumb, just in order to maintain their own lives and the lives of their wife and children.

But, I wonder what’s the pathology behind the silence.

My life isn’t on the line, perhaps some weird glances, or maybe just a heated discussion.   But today, I chose to “sew my quilt” in a staff meeting when someone brought up the issue about pre-judging, or condemnation, suprisingly no one used the word “prejudice” and the group entertained this idea of “hypocritical” versus “hypercritical” and the true etymology behind the words and how they’re used contemporarily.  Then someone said, “I think we judge people based on their class.  More so than race.”

Now, I had on my “Black History…To Be Continued” shirt and I just sat there, and I realised that I was starting to get used to it.  I didn’t have the same panic attack that I had had when my host mother said “hip hop is from the prison culture” but rather, I looked up, and made sure that I was the only black person in the room and I looked to see if anyone was looking to me as if to comment.

I kept on “sewing my quilt.”

If I had opened my mouth, I would have told them that from their world view of living in the suburbs where there interactions on a personal level with blacks is at a minimum, that it is quite easy for them to say that.  Definitely, in intra-cultural situations, I do believe that class plays a heavier role–DUH, because we’re all the same race; skin color has been neutralized in those situations.  And in those instances, I, along with everyone else makes judgments based on clothes, shoes, style, whether or not the young man has on skinny or baggy jeans, below the butt or not; for women, whether or not she appears to have false hair, whether or not the clothes are form fitting, if she’s dressed like an athlete or not. Definitely, if the clothes aren’t on point, aren’t matching, one begins to wonder about class.

The stereotype that everyone in the ‘hood is spending $150 bucks on J’s is a lie from the pits of hell.  People from the hood are worried about food and basic stuff, it’s the middle class, dare I say, uppity kids like me who can afford, or whose parents can afford $150 bucks on a pair of shoes.  So, if a black kid is running up and down the street with hair clearly uncombed and shoes run down, versus someone like me, who brushes his hair in the morning and try my best to make sure my shoe game is on point–then a class judgment gets made, probably on both sides, but again, this is an intra-cultural exchange.

The inter-cutural exchanges are the ones that pose the problems, I would hvae told the group.  I would have went on to tell them that the problem is that too many people associate race as class.  Meaning, if you saw me walking up the street, you would have made a class judgement on me because I was black.  And blacks ought not to be too smug, we do it to, but none of us talk about it.

Instead we sew our respective quilts.

I’ve mentioned it in more than one of my blogs (I’m not about to search archives to find exactly which ones), but I am persuaded that it’s really because we, black folk, have been taught to not offend white folks.  Aside from the fact that I am sleeping in my host mother’s house, and that her husband was sitting there, I doubt I would have reacted any differently–why because I have been taught that “you can’t tell white folk some things.”

No, this was not from my parents direct teachings, but rather as a result of cultural influences.  I didn’t wanna come off as an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson: despite me agreeing with them on many things, somehow their delivery affects their perception which is clearly faulty.  As a result, I keep on sewing my quilt.

I just want to wrap this up by paying homage to the black women and men who sewed quilts and chopped wood just to live to see another day so that I, and many others, could have a chance to stop sewing quilts and chop wood and actually have that conversation.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

Can Someone Watch CNN’s College Panel on ‘Black in America’ for me

28 Jul

I’m going to be at work tomorrow and I just got word late tonight that CNN is supposed to have a mixed panel of college students to speak on their response to Black in America. They showed a panel of three blacks, two young black women who were seniors at Spelman and I guess presumably the young black  man was either from Clark Atlanta or Morehouse. 

So, can someone make sure to let me know how it goes.

Also, check out my new picture on the About page and lemme know what you think.  Trying to get my Otis Moss III on.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

In the Midst of Being ‘Black in America’

26 Jul

This CNN special blew up bigger than they expected.  I’m quite sure.  I don’t know what to really say, I’ve heard both sides of the argument as far as how effective the special was.  But, guess what, I haven’t seen it in its entirety.  I fully saw the Essence/CNN panel last week, and I thought it was weak except for Cornel West and Julianne Malveaux, but these two never fail to deliver.

If I can go off on a tangent, one I’ve been dying to in a while: why is it that many blacks think that Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, Roland Martin, Marc Lamont Hill to name a few need to be quiet–not to mention Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. 

 Until the day black people own a media outlet that produces quality programming for black viewers (hopefully TvOne is headed in that direction; Lord only knows what direction BET is headed) then I all for black individuals that challenge traditional thoughts concerning race, religion and politics in this country.

Even some of my fellow bloggers, of whom I still respect, think that Dyson is just too much.  One told me he uses too many big words–and this was from someone who was college educated.  Well, okay, perhaps Dyson should be a bit more aware of his audiences, but how can we decry uneducated youth, but we don’t challenge the youth to be educated?  Our community response to Dyson is, “Don’t use big words”  what’s wrong with telling the kids to go look up the word in the dictionary and expand their vocabulary or taking the time to teach about context clues?

Another blogger informed me that they read one of his books but they weren’t all that impressed.  Now, I don’t know which book it was, but I just finished reading Come Hell or High Water and Is Bill Cosby Right? and I thought the books were a breath of fresh air compared to the warmed-over, stale analysis of most things pop culture.  Even if you don’t agree with the guy, you gotta give him credit for an intelligent critique of two watershed marks in black culture.  I would love for him to take on the Jeremiah Wright controversy as one of his book topics.

This is not to defame these fellow bloggers or to even suggest that they are anti-intelligence, but I just wonder what is it about these people that have gotten under many black people’s skin.  Is it that black folk simply don’t pick up books written by these people and allow MSM as the only source from which to draw opinions?  Is it simply how MSM has portrayed these people?  Do many blacks have fundamental disagreements with him?  Is it that Dyson simply talks too fast?  Or is it that we as black folk are comfortable in our collective confusions?

What I don’t get is that everytime someone disagrees with someone else, then they’re labeled a hater.  Jesse Jackson disagrees with Barack Obama on his relationship with the black community–he’s labeled a hater.  Personally, I agreed with Jesse Jackson, not on the castration part, and my friend told me I was “just hatin.’”  So, am I hatin’ now because I disagree with those who think that those Popes of Blackness I listed above should be quiet, but I think that they should feel free to continue speaking as they are. 

If a reader can tell me two black individual who has a network evening news show (ABC, NBC, CBS) or a cable news show (CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC) then I’ll be glad to retract my statement.  Or name me five black pundits, and the pundits are defined as individuals called to sit on Sunday morning shows or those asked to go tete-a-tete with others of polarizing viewpoints.

I guess that’s the end of my tangent.

My problem with these “specials” is that it divides community reactions.   There are those who apparently felt that it focused too heavily on “ghetto” living, when despite numbers in the black community being disproportionately high, the majority of blacks don’t live in ghettoes.  There are those who felt that the special rang hollow because there was not a segment devoted specifically to the black church, just mere mentions of church.  There were also those who felt that they focused to heavily on the black male and all the ills that accompany black men: prison numbers versus college enrollment; unwed fathers versus plain ol’ absentee fathers, without taking into account that it “takes two to tango” and completely victimizing the role of the black woman, almost at the expense of the black man.

Well, all that really proves is that we’re not a monolithic community (although for some reason when it comes to presidential elections, around 90% of us, give or take a perecentage point up or down, always vote for the Democratic candidate in recent election years).

Whoop-tee-doo!

For me that proves my reasoning that this should not have been crammed into two-days.  The achievements and failures of the black community should not and can not be relegated to a two day special with an average panel as the lead-in the week before.  I am simply insulted.  I feel that my blackness was only worth two days to a major network.  Clearly I’m pissed because essentially I’m writing the same feelings as I did prior to Wednesday night’s first segment. 

I would have rather Soledad say, either a week or no deal, but I’m pretty sure like another friend of mine (who hasn’t demostrated that he is the most politically astute) or the lady who called Big Tig this afternoon said “well we have to start somewhere.”   That sounded like the most steppin fetchit bamboozled crap I’d heard in a long time, and this was from someone who taught in DC public schools for some 20 years.   What did she mean “we have to start somewhere?”  We been starting since 1865!!  Hell, the finish line should be in view by this point in the journey.  

I’m sick and damn tired of okey-doke Negroes who are just happy for a bone thrown from massa’s table.  Dammit, I think I’ve earned the privilege to sit at the table and are entitled to a full course meal!

Okey-doke Negroes who are merely happy with doing something here and there, appeasing themselves and patting themselves on the back with some minor contribution to society.  Roland Martin got to hollering on Campbell Brown’s show about “how we still have a long way to go” and that it’s time for “action.”  It was kind of nice to see a bit more passion behind Martin’s usual jeremiads.

At this point in the journey, we’ve discussed about as much as can be discussed; we’ve had enough prayer breakfasts; we’ve had more than enough townhall meetings; we’ve had enough randomly assembled panels.  Essentially, we’ve done the traditional thing, so let’s try something new and actually do something.  I think Martin Luther King’s assesment of the Good Samaritan on the Jericho Road in his April 4, 1967 speech at the Riverside Church is approriate:

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

But, see, this is the hard part.

I, in my own finite wisdom don’t have the answer on how to transform the Jericho road.  We as blacks all know what needs to be changed, but we’ve got to move from the what to the how it needs to be changed. 

It was easy for the teacher to call in to WPGC this afternoon and go off on Big Tig for falling asleep on Thursday night’s segment on Black in America because he said “it wasn’t intriguing.”  He said usually things that are intriguing hold his interest.  Now, I don’t know what background Tig has, he doesn’t scream to me of being some bastion of blackness, but how he said that it wasn’t intriguing came off to me as him trying to get around saying that the show was some BS and really didn’t amount to anything.  I didn’t get the impression that this was some bootleg ig’nant comment like Yung Berg’s comments about light skinned women and the “pool test” or the general ignorance that David Banner displayed on Hip-Hop Vs. America, Pt. 2 and somehow resurrected from some long deceased Uncle Tom of years past, but rather that this special amounted to nothing more than, as AverageBro said, intellectual masturbation.

I don’t even think it was worthy of that.

Well, comments are what makes blogging interesting.  So if you have taken the time to read this article, I would REALLYappreciate it if you left a comment.  It would provide the opportunity to open dialogue between other readers.  Yeah, go ahead, take the five minutes and write down how you feel, and get it off your chest.  Even if you disagree with everything I said, I’d love to hear from you.  Annnnnd, if it sounds like I’m begging, I am.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

Obamamania Spreads to Europe

25 Jul

 

Well, I’ve been quite mum as far as the political process is concerned.  I officially took the UNN off of Obamawatch! 2008 the day he decided to throw his pastor under a bus/do a driveby/plunge him into the water depths (your pick).  Ever since then my blog more or less discussed politics in general–this was no longer a place to hear me go on and on about Senator Batack Obama and just how well he was doing, blah, blah, blah, etcetera, etcetera.

But, this week, I started watching MSNBC and I felt the need to talk about what some are calling a shift in this race.

Clearly Keith Olbermann is this bastion of liberalism, the exact opposite of what you will see on FoxNews channel.  (Given how busy I have been over the last weeks since my return from Philadelphia, I haven’t had much time to watch ad nausea any new programs.  I’ve even missed CNN’s “Black in America”special, but I plan to watch on Saturday because apparently they’re repeating it.)  So I was watching Keith and I was mildly disturbed by the extreme close-ups of him, and he was going on about how Iraqi President Malaki agrees with Obama for a time line that would lead to troop withdrawal.

Well isn’t that just about egg on the face of the one who quipped that if it took 100 years, we’d still stay in Iraq.

I flipped to FoxNews and I heard Hannity ranting that Obama refuses to admit that as a result of the surge, then US troop withdrawal can take place.

Hmmmm….

Well, this is just my opinion and I’m welcome to be corrected, because as I’ve said, I haven’t been quite as close attention as I have in the past, but I’ve yet to see any correlations between “the surge” and the alleged downturn in violence.  I think that the military powers-that-be that backed this surge have done a very good job of spinning the outcome of that decision into their favor.  The reason I say that is because there are a lot of factors that could play into a downturn of violence in Baghdad and the surrounding regions.  Some of which could be attributed to a government that is getting more and more stable with each passing day, an Iraqi police force that is getting more and more comfortable in their jobs–and yes, even a change in mindset of the Iraqi citizens.

Well, clearly we know the conservative approach and the liberal approach to this.

Democrats and other self-proclaimed liberal pundits are saying that Malaki’s agreement with Obama’s stance is more evidence that US troops need to leave.  And the Republicans and self-proclaimed conservatives are saying that only as a result of the surge was Malaki able to say that he wants US troop withdrawals.

I think that this riff and the overall trip goes to show just how unpopular Senator John McCain really is.  Particularly when it came to this European leg of the tour and Obama’s stop in Berlin–clearly crowd numbers have not been on McCain’s side.  At this point, when you garner a crowd of 200,000 and your intent is that you are just coming to visit as a US Senator and not the Democratic presumptive nominee, theeeeeennnn, I think McCain needs to go back to drawing board.

Also, McCain, who’s getting the name McSame sticking pretty well (despite my wanting to Weathervane McCain to stick) runs the risk of being called a flip-flopper if he changes his opinions, even though I’m convinced that this is yet another thing that the Obama camp now has fodder to say that McCain hearkens back to Bush.

This morning as I watched MSNBC, they were quite aware of the thin line that he’s walking between campaigning for the presidency while not being too assuming of the job: meaning that he can’t speak of certain changes while currently George Bush is our POTUS.  It was a funny interview because I know he was fighting so hard not to be smug because he was forced to explain such big coverage about his trip.  He explained, which is true, that McCain went on the same trips following his presumptive clinch of the Republican nomination–then the reporter jumped in and said, “But he didn’t get as much coverage as you did?”  and Obama smiled, trying to keep from laughing and said “No he didn’t.”

I’m with The Black Snob on this one, if Obama somehow looses this election, I’m hollering foul.  Despite my personal objections to him, for my own personal reasons, the dude is hella popular.  I’m quite sure that the rest of the world, aside from Israel, is looking for a change in US policies, probably both home and abroad, and clearly, for them, their hope is in a man named Barack Obama.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves as he arrives at the Victory Column in Berlin, Thursday, July 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Cable News Network, CNN, announces name change to Caring Negro Network

23 Jul

 

[Editor's note:  This post has images and language that some readers may find offensive.  Reader discretion is advised.]

“A very close look at some of the biggest issues affecting the black community today….”

“Not a story about black people in this country, a story abut Americans in this country…they are black Americans…a story that will resonate with everybody.”

These are quotes heard from Soledad O’Brien per this ground breaking spesha on “Black In America” and the first thing I saw was that this was supposed to be a two day special.  So I said in my sanctified uppity Negro imagination:  “So y’all gonna attempt to take ‘a very close look at some of the biggest issues affecting the black community today’ and expect to satisfy black people?” [emphasis added]  Or are you really going for the Caring Negro Network award thinking that the April 4th spesha on Martin Luther King, kind celebrating his death (let’s not go down that rabbit hole) and now this TWO DAY long special. 

It reminds me of the “The Cosby Show”episode “Mrs. Huxtable Goes to Kindergarten” where Claire was asked to go onto a Sunday morning local cable access station called “Retrospective” and when she would speak the other four conservative white men would talk over her.  During one of the commercial breaks, one pompous fool said that she would only speak when it came to the black and woman issues.  When it came her time, the men were pontificating and filibustering about The Great Depression.  The host turned to Claire and said “In the remaining thirty seconds, what was the role of blacks in the Great Depression?”  Looking all put together as only Claire Huxtable could, she simply said, “Do you really want me to sum all of that up in 30 seconds?”

That’s really my response–who are we kidding thinking that we can adequately cover the “biggest issues affecting the black community” in a two day special.  Is that all Black America has been reduced to?  Some epic special on CNN?  If this station was truly careful about what it means to be Black in America, they’d put some sort of weekly news program about race on the show.  Moreover, when are MSNBC or CNN going to give one of their blacks a shot at their own news program like Anderson Cooper?  I mean, whatever FoxNews would put up wouldn’t be worth the toilet paper I wipe my ass with–but we already know that.

Now, yes, I’d be complaining just as well if CNN had reduced us to a weekly special as well, but at least the forum and venue was apropos to having some sort of meaningful discussion every week, but a TWO DAY SPECIAL?!?!?! 

Black folk are going all crazy about this like this is some great achievement for black folk. 

I mean, you all know how it’s going to go.  We’re gonna sit here and watch this like we did “Roots” learn a few things ourselves, but mostly nod and agree and think that they did a good job for the most part, and always have that “I wish they had….” thought, and walk away, for the most part, satisfied thinking that this would suffice for white folk.  But a two day special does NOT erase the nightly news.  Again, using my host mother as a barometer, The Washington Post Metro section and nightly news has done a VERY good job of making her correlate black (men no doubt) and crime and inner city violence all together, ultimately inseparable.  Even if she watched this, which she’s not because she says she doesn’t watch TV, those images, those feelings, those emotions will not even be shaken or feel vibrations by watching this special–a TWO DAY special at that.  However, if there was a weekly program, that came along more than once a year (ahem February!) that provided a forum about race matters, then, I think there is some shot at eating away the entrenched prejudices that many white people harbor.

And since I’m on the subject, I want to talk about the Essence Forum that O’Brien hosted during the Essence festival.  (Seriously, is O’Brien, the Irish American mixed with Afro-Cuban heritage the new face of Black America–do I even want to touch that one with a ten foot pole?)  I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Julianne Malveaux and I figured that she was about the only one I wholly agreed with for the most part and was challenging the thought processes of what was getting said, particularly her thoughts about marriage.  Also, Cornel West never fails.  Sheryl Lee Ralph came off as Angry Black Woman to me because of all the hollering she was doing–however, after taking a class solely surrounded on the issue of HIV/AIDS I refuse to deny her the passion that she feels about the issue. 

Other than that, I think the forum structure somewhat fell flat.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m learning to appreciate what T.D. Jakes has to offer the black community, but I wish he was where he was at a few years earlier, and in my own humble opinion he still has some road to cover (but don’t we all?).  There was also Ed Gordon, who gave me about what was to be expected as far as black panels have existed, nothing stellar, but not a complete failure, and yes, I thank God for the ones that don’t utterly fail.  Where the forum fell flat was that, in typical Caring Negro Network fashion, and also as a result of this “sound byte” age, the conversation moved through topics of family structure, education and then HIV/AIDS and they thought it was a good idea to circulate the panelists.  I think it utterly failed, in an attempt to get a variety of opinions, because Malveaux couldn’t get a complete stream of thought out and had to completely ignore Soledad’s question to give a rebuttal to young economist Dr. Roland Fryer and his ideologies behind paying kids to go to school.

Also, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I saw Roland Martin sitting behind Tom Joyner, but soon I couldn’t see his face because of Joyner’s LOUD sparkling “Obama 08′” shirt.

Anywayz…

I’m not holding out much hope for this crap that’s supposed to be coming on tonight, I’m not even going to give the times.  I mean, if I didn’t have to work, I would subject myself to it so I can give a “fair and balanced” (LMAO!!) report to it, but I’m going to be busy the next two nights. 

And I guess I will go there.  I’m sorry, but the beige sista on CNN, named Soledad just needs to stop playing this black role.  I just think the interesting thing is, if you have ask “Is she black?” as a result of skin color, hair and pronunciations, then do you really need to ask.  No, I’m not trying to go down that “What is black?” road, but, I’ve had just about enough.  Just admit that you had it a bit easier than the rest of us, and I’m quite sure when it was to your convenience you went on about how you were half-Irish.  Ain’t nothing wrong with that, but don’t try and come off as though you lived through “the Black experience.”  Again, I think your wake up call was Hurricane Katrina when they sent your beige-self on down to the Gulf and you had a bit of an eye opener.  CNN probably hired you as the one to bring “some color to these monochromatic proceedings” and you leaped at it because you knew you had a unique perspective, and GURRRRRRL, they sent you on down South and you were out on those boats at the 610-Elysian Fields on-ramp and you just really aint know what to do with yourself.

And ever since then you been black.

Enjoy it while it lasts sister.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

Rules for whites with regards to Hip Hop

23 Jul

I got this from an email forward, which was a result of the Put On Blast emails.  This was somewhat of a response to my host mother and her point of view that says “hip hop came from the prison culture.”  The following is from JLove Calderon entitled “White Like Me: 10 Codes of Ethics for White People in Hip Hop.” 

Keep it uppity, and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

WHITE LIKE ME
10 Codes of Ethics for White People in Hip Hop
by JLove Calderon

This is written by a white person, intended for white people who are engaged in the culture of Hip-Hop. It is created in the spirit of personal and collective growth and development for white people who choose to live by the cultural standards of Hip-Hop. White people are talked about a lot within Hip-Hop in terms of who buys the most records, who controls the industry, the white kids in the ‘burbs who go crazy over it, even white artists who have made it despite their whiteness. But rarely is there talk of how white people affect Hip-Hop and how Hip-Hop affects us. What are the roles and responsibilities of whites involved in this cultural movement? Have we merely self-imposed ourselves into a culture which doesn’t want or need us?It is time for white folk to stand up and be bold in the dialogue of race and culture, to push the relatively mild interpretations on how and in which way we fit, or don’t fit. Check this 10 point code of ethics for white Hip-Hop heads and see if you can get down with this.

Code of Ethics
1. Be aware of your whiteness.
As simple as it may sound, it seems as if many white folks down with Hip-Hop try to avoid the fact that they are white at all costs. This must stop. Acknowledging your whiteness is an important step in recognizing that regardless of who you are as a person, we come from a lineage steeped in racism and white supremacy. We come from an ancestry of oppression, whose legacy still lives and breathes in the form of institutionalized racism and countless social and economic injustices. This is what we come from, and that we cannot change. What we can change is what we do about it.

2. Be conscious of your unearned privilege.
We carry around a backpack* of free hook-ups that we have done nothing to earn. From it we extract a set of VIP passes, gold credit cards, universal passports, and blank checks – all of which gives us more power, more open doors, an unfair advantage. Your skin color is an asset in this world. The more you understand this concept that better you will be at negotiating that power and, as much as possible, figuring out a way to end its’ unfairness.

* This concept was originated by Peggy Macintosh and is widely used to breakdown white privilege.

3. Be deliberate in your role as an ally
An ally means that you participate as a supporter in a movement. You are aware of the ways in which your privilege undermines indigenous leadership, and in understanding that, you actively advocate for indigenous leadership (even if that doesn’t mean you). An ally is someone who lends resources, and who understands their personal goals in the context of a cultural-historical struggle for self determination. White people are allies within hip-hop culture. Let’s work toward helping to build leadership that reflects the cultures and communities where it was born. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be active and feel invested in the culture, but we must be aware of how racism plays out in the power paradigm of America, and how it is controlling Hip-Hop culture.

4. Be knowledgeable of the history of the culture.
As with any part of our lives, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding are the pillars of self and community enlightenment. It is imperative that you study Hip-Hop culture as you would study your own culture when you want to better understand who you are, where you come from, and where you are going. Precisely because we are coming into a culture that was originated by people of color, it is on us to learn and become knowledgeable of Hip-Hop history.

5. Be open to being educated by others.
When you’re secure about yourself, you’re more open to acknowledging things you don’t know, asking questions, and sharing ideas that warrant a good discussion. Listen to what other people have to say about Hip-Hop and be in the mindset of appreciating new or different information from varying sources. The information you know about Hip-Hop is not stagnant. The lessons are infinite.

6. Be open to educating other white folks.
White people don’t always feel like they have an obligation to talk about issues of race and privilege with other white people. However, the education and exchange is most critical amongst white people who have power to create change in the industry and in everyday life. Help white people in power positions to understand the reasons why Hip-Hop exists in the first place; why it’s so important in your life, how it relates, or doesn’t relate to your life experiences. Be confident in your expression of self and push for the very conversations people try to hide behind.

7. Use your skin privilege to benefit the culture.
In this world, because of your whiteness, you have access to almost anything and you didn’t have to do anything to get this access. So use the juice that you have to lend support to the culture, any which way you can. Whether it be connections, money, negotiating with folks that won’t feel as threatened talking to you because you’re white, or becoming a cultural interpreter – whatever is needed to benefit all communities.

8. Pay homage to the originators of the culture.
Once you learn the history of Hip-Hop it is your responsibility to speak on it, educate others, and consistently give props where props are due. One reason why some white folks may not want to do this is because it further magnifies the point that they had nothing to do with creating Hip-Hop. Not that white people haven’t contributed to Hip-Hop since its’ birth, but its’ inception was purely melanin-related. So when you’re in your ciphers, whatever that looks like to you, talk history, pay respect to the creators of the culture you’re living.

9. Don’t think you are the exception to the rule: YOU ARE NOT THE COOLEST WHITE PERSON IN THE WORLD! By the way, this code relates to me, also).
You are not so different and unique as to warrant a special ‘cool white person’ pass. Are you still trying to be the ONLY white person in the crew? Do you feel animosity when other ‘cool’ white kids come around and deflate your ego? Do yourself a favor: Instead of trying to diss that other white kid, explaining how they are fake or whatever, maybe you should take the time to connect with someone who may be similar in some ways to you. Don‘t push them away or be ashamed. Build with them and see them as part of a community within a community.

10. If you can’t abide by the codes, get out! Nuff said.
It is up to each individual to read and digest this 10 point code of ethics. If you find yourself getting angry, upset, or uncomfortable at what you read, then know that you are in a good space. It’s uncomfortable to look at yourself and deal with the history of racism and realize that you are, in some ways, inseparable from its ugly realities; that your presence symbolizes blood and betrayal for people who are colonized around the world. Stay in the feeling of dis-comfort, for it is in that very feeling that you will find your truth pushing you toward transformation. This is not about feeling guilty. It is about acknowledgement, acceptance, and action. Take your place in Hip-Hop, but do it with consciousness and integrity, for only then can you really call it your own.

For more on JLove Calderon, visit

www.jlovecalderon.com. Email her at jlove@jlovecalderon.com

 

For Those Who Remember…the Organ Solos at the Old Church

22 Jul

Maybe it’s just the particular churches I’ve visted, but by in large, for some reason, the young organ players, usually don’t do a lot of soloing.  Not saying they can’t, I fully believe these kats are gifted to do so, but for whatever reason church service doesn’t allow them to do so.  Ran across the below clip on Youtube (or course) and I remember my friend back down in Atlanta who randomly busted out an organ solo at our school’s Baccalaureate Service at Big Bethel A.M.E. church on their C3 and totally wrecked the church.

Remember those days when the church would go in when the organist would pull out all the drawbars but the first one on the upper manual, flip on the percussion, fast decay and WEAR THE CHURCH OUT, much like this kat did in the first half of this clip.  And OMG, don’t let the organist get caught up in their own solo, and then they’d start shouting themselves.

So, check out this clip and be blessed by those organ solos at the old church.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

UNN Guest Post from The White Girl

22 Jul

YAY!!!

I finally have a guest blog.  Although, she is not one of the first people I asked to do a guest blog, she is the first one who actually did it.  Hopefully The White Girl will spur my others to do their guest blog.  But, The White Girl is a colleague of mine at ITC.  So, take what she has to offer, and feel free to be blunt and candid in the comments.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

On Friday, I had an existential crisis.  It crept up on me, attacking me where I was least expecting it.  It didn’t happen in one of the classroom of the historically black seminary where I am one of the handful of white people who attend, and the fewer who live on campus.  Nor did it happen during one of the many conversations that my friends and I engaged in at Applebee’s or clustered into one of our apartments.  Instead, it came where one might think I fit the most…around white people.  I was at work, a small business that employs three people, when one of my co-workers interrupted my train of thought.  Reading through the headlines White Co-Worker had come across a story about a new black news network.  I didn’t get all the details, but I believe it was about JC Watts, who is preparing to launch a 24-hour Black television network to provide news aimed at an African-American audience. 

 

As White Co-Worker read this headline aloud for me my first thought was, “good.”  It seems obvious to me that the media is biased toward negative coverage of all things Black; such a network would provide an alternative.  Then I picked up the tone in his voice and realized that he was angry.  His reasons ran the typical gamut of those who haven’t had to think about what its like not to be in the majority.  “If I had a white news network they would be upset…how can they have a black one?”  My suggestion that everything is white news network was summarily dismissed.  The issue quickly widened from just the news network to other areas where being non-white was highlighted…Black Pride in Atlanta, Black Heritage events, etc.  Still trying to prove my point about the dominance of white culture I asked White Co-Worker, who is gay, how he would feel if I had straight pride week?  This took him aback, but he claimed it would be ok.  His tone wasn’t as strong.

 

We ended up dropping the conversation, but as I drove home it hit me…the people who look like me, don’t get me.  Over the past two years, I have had the honor of gaining a perspective from my colleagues that most white people never have the chance to attain.  I treasure this experience and am thankful to all the people who have accepted me for who I am, who dared to stop censoring themselves around me and who constantly provoke me to deeper thought.  Just for a minute, though, I wanted to give it all back.  Just as it was impossible to explain my position to White Co-Worker, I know my family and many of my white friends will not understand these newfound opinions and positions of mine;  may no longer understand me.  Perhaps for the first time since I set foot in Georgia this realization hit home and I felt ostracized from “my own people,” yet not really a part of any other. 

 

As I poured out this newfound woe to my boyfriend over salad at Jason’s Deli he laughed and pointed out that it was I who ostracized myself.  He has a point, but some part of me didn’t realize just how complete this process of learning another perspective would be, or how much it would change me.  As highlighted by previous Uppity Negro posts, as a white person I had the privilege to not think about other points of view.  I did not realize how great the differences are between the America that I knew and the America that many of my colleagues (of all ages) have experienced.  Now I know, though, and there is no going back, even if I wanted to.  The question for me is how to bring the perspective that I have gained back to the white community, even when its not something they want to hear.  I might also get some code-switching lessons from The Uppity Negro.

 

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