FP Deadline: November 1, 2008.
Purpose of Project
Through writing and visual art, this project will help to give voice to the Black identified females who want to express their perceptions of, experiences with, and concerns about, the word “nigger”.
Theoretical Framework and Influences
bell hooks' black looks , Tim Wise , Audre Lorde's Sister Outsider , Maya Angelou's powerful keynote speech at the Rhinebeck NY Women and Power Conference of September 2005, and James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and my interests in Critical Race Feminist Theory have been my primary motivators for this project. I also draw from Michel Foucault's theories on power and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I must thank Maya Angelou for her encouragement and inspiration. At the September conference, with engaging passion, she recited Countee Cullen's Poem, “Nigger” , and from there, the initial concept of this project was born.
The first time I remembered being called a “nigger”, I was the age of twelve. Though it took me more than a decade to fully articulate my experience of that day, it had always astounded me how much rage and fear that word had instilled in me. It wasn't until fifteen years later that I began to understand how profoundly emotional and often traumatic that this one word has been to a majority of Black identified people who have been survivors of it, including myself. It was through reading bell hooks, June Jordan, W.E.B. DuBois, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and other "resisters of oppression" as well the expression of fiction book writing that I was able to explore my emotions as well as my understanding of my social status as a Black female in a country in which institutionalized sexism, heterosexism, classism and racism is embedded in the institutions and policies of the status quo. It was in the pages of bell hooks that I first ran across her critical consciousness paradigm, inspired by her mentor, Paulo Freire. Through this practice, I was able to understand my relationship with race, class, sexuality, and gender status within a United States steal healing (and in denial) about its sordid history of racialized oppression. Simultaneously, I also wanted to understand these systems of inequalities but not be solely defined or limited by them. I stopped thinking of my position as a "victim" and realized that I am a "survivor" capable of making positive change through the voicing of my experiences.
"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."
- Audre Lorde
"We are the ones we've been waiting for."
- Sweet Honey in the Rock
Black identified women and girls, come forth and share your experiences, critiques and reflections on “the n-word”.
Call for Papers/Materials!! Submit Your Voice
This is a call for narratives, poetry, photography, other types of visual art, and critical essays for a book anthology about Black identified females who want to :
* creatively convey their experience(s) of being called a n*gger
* Reflections on the word n*gga
* How experience with the n-word has affected your emotional and or physical health
* Share their experiences of when they had heard or seen the word even though it may not have been directed towards them.
* Explore how did being called the n-word as a child shaped your consciousness as an adult?
* Reflect on how you felt when you read the n-word in required school readings such as Huckleberry Finn and Grapes of Wrath.
* Analyze David Chappelle's use of the n-word in his comedy
* Share your reactions and feelings when hearing the n-word in a public space, such as in a movie theater by a character in the movie.
* Critique your experiences with the n-word or hearing it by a friend or family member.
* Teaching your child about the n-word.
* If you read Randall Kennedy's book, Nigger, or any other book with the n-word in it's title, what was it like for you?
* These topics are just for brainstorming purposes. The sky's the limit!
Who is invited to submit their voice :
All Black identified girls and women from all sexual orientations, educational levels, nationalities, countries, ages, etc. Please send to breezeharper@gmail.com. Remember to include a bio at the end of you contribution, email and phone number.
Citation Style: MLA Bibliography
Document Format: 1” margins; 12 Point Font; Double spaced; Times New Roman
Word Processing Software: MS Word or Apple Pages is an acceptable document format. Please do not send PDFs.
About the editor: Amie Breeze Harper is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis, in the Geography Graduate Group. Her emphasis is understanding how critical race and feminist theories can be used to analyze the African Diasporic female experience within alternative spaces of nutrition and wellness (i.e.: veganism, vegetarianism, raw foodism, community gardens). She is the editor of the upcoming Lantern Books anthology, Sistah Vegan! Food, Identity, Society and Health: Female Vegans of the African Diaspora in the USA and the author the 2008 Arch Street Press novel, Scars.
I look forward to reading your contributions!
Amie Breeze Harper
breezeharper@gmail.com
A. Breeze Harper
breezeharper@gmail.com
(617) 877-2096
Email: breezeharper@gmail.com
Visit the website at http://web.mac.com/sistahvegan98/iWeb/research/Reflections_on_the_N_Word_Anthology.html
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Men Speak Out
Well folks,
I'm completing my final semester of undergraduate study! Since I have devoted most of my time to my remaining coursework, here is my belated plug for Men Speak Out.
Amazon:
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Men Speak Out is a collection of essays written by and about pro-feminist men. In the essays, which feature original, lively, and accessible prose, anti-sexist men make sense of their gendered experiences in todays culture. And since the interrelations between gender, race, class, and sexuality are central to feminism, Men Speak Out prioritizes such issues. These authors tackle the issues of feminism, growing up male, recognizing masculine privilege, taking action to change the imbalance of power and privilege, and the constraints that men experience in confronting sexism. They describe their successes and challenges in bucking patriarchal systems in a culture that can be unsupportive of or downright hostile to a pro-feminist perspective. In these chapters, a diverse group of men reflects on growing up, shares moments in their day-to-day lives, and poses serious questions about being a pro-feminist male living, working, thinking, and learning in a sexist society.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Call for Papers: Black Star's 10th Anniversary
In honor of Black Star’s ten-year anniversary, Proud Flesh is calling for
works that speak to the impact and legacy of their masterpiece album, Mos
Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star, for an upcoming journal
(www.proudfleshjournal.com).
Released in the fall of 1998, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
re-energized the b-boy and backpacker face of Hip Hop with a heightened
analytic and deep consciousness of self and community. Taking their name
from Marcus Garvey and the UNIA’s 1920s shipping company (established to
move Black Americans to a Black state located in Liberia), Black Star,
conceptually and sonically, presented a wide and colorful depiction of
Black life and Black identity.
In contrast to much of the mainstream Hip Hop of that period, they
stressed that life should be more about “the struggle” than “the hustle,
”and critiqued viewpoints that conceived of Black culture in only singular
terms. On “Definition,” Mos Def raps: “Manhattan keep on makin it,
Brooklyn keep on takin it, so relax we're takin it back, Redhook where
we're livin at. Plenty cats be struggling not hustlin and bubblin, if it
ain't about production and -- what else we discussin?” Black Star
chronicled Black folks’ ability and tenacity to produce via work,
language, the arts, communal culture, and cultural production.
A decade has passed since the release of this monumental album. More than
a hot album, this thirteen-track masterpiece continues to offer a
theoretical and practical analysis of urban Black culture and politics,
and a grass-roots base of knowledge that is not adequately engaged. By
stating in their album’s introduction that their music was not meant to
“stand still,” the group signaled that their conception of time and space
did not adhere to the linearity of common epistemological standards.
Acknowledging their point that the music cannot and should not stand
still, Proud Flesh is calling on writers, academics, artists, community
activists/organizers, and fans to submit essays, poems, prose,
photography, graphic artwork, etc., detailing how this album has impacted
your work and your life. Included in this are critical analyses of the
album and/or individual songs, works that place the album and/or songs
within a broader context and legacy (historical, political, social,
artistic), and works that speak to the album's continued relevance.
We are asking that all works be submitted by May 1, 2008 to:
blackstarproject@gmail.com
Visit Proud Flesh at http://www.proudfleshjournal.com/
for more information.
works that speak to the impact and legacy of their masterpiece album, Mos
Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star, for an upcoming journal
(www.proudfleshjournal.com).
Released in the fall of 1998, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
re-energized the b-boy and backpacker face of Hip Hop with a heightened
analytic and deep consciousness of self and community. Taking their name
from Marcus Garvey and the UNIA’s 1920s shipping company (established to
move Black Americans to a Black state located in Liberia), Black Star,
conceptually and sonically, presented a wide and colorful depiction of
Black life and Black identity.
In contrast to much of the mainstream Hip Hop of that period, they
stressed that life should be more about “the struggle” than “the hustle,
”and critiqued viewpoints that conceived of Black culture in only singular
terms. On “Definition,” Mos Def raps: “Manhattan keep on makin it,
Brooklyn keep on takin it, so relax we're takin it back, Redhook where
we're livin at. Plenty cats be struggling not hustlin and bubblin, if it
ain't about production and -- what else we discussin?” Black Star
chronicled Black folks’ ability and tenacity to produce via work,
language, the arts, communal culture, and cultural production.
A decade has passed since the release of this monumental album. More than
a hot album, this thirteen-track masterpiece continues to offer a
theoretical and practical analysis of urban Black culture and politics,
and a grass-roots base of knowledge that is not adequately engaged. By
stating in their album’s introduction that their music was not meant to
“stand still,” the group signaled that their conception of time and space
did not adhere to the linearity of common epistemological standards.
Acknowledging their point that the music cannot and should not stand
still, Proud Flesh is calling on writers, academics, artists, community
activists/organizers, and fans to submit essays, poems, prose,
photography, graphic artwork, etc., detailing how this album has impacted
your work and your life. Included in this are critical analyses of the
album and/or individual songs, works that place the album and/or songs
within a broader context and legacy (historical, political, social,
artistic), and works that speak to the album's continued relevance.
We are asking that all works be submitted by May 1, 2008 to:
blackstarproject@gmail.com
Visit Proud Flesh at http://www.proudfleshjournal.com/
for more information.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
N(as)igger
Nas upcoming album, "Nigger," is set to release on April 22.
1. Intro
2. Black Legends
3. Rest In Peace
4. You A Nigger Too
5. The Fear Of A Black Man’s Dick
6. I’m Blessed
7. The Truth
8. Realise
9. Just Memories
10. This Way (featuring Jay-Z)
11. Kisses & Hugs (featuring Kelis)
12. Based On A True Story (featuring The Game)
13. Take A While
14. Nigger
15. Publicity (bonus track)
Friday, October 26, 2007
Call for Paper: Imagining the Black Female Body
Text and Contexts in Literature and Culture
Hortense Spillers said it best when she proclaimed: Let’s face it. I am a marked woman, but not everybody knows my name. ‘Peaches,’ and ‘Brown Sugar,’ ‘Sapphire’ and ‘Earth Mother,’ ‘Aunty,’ ‘Granny,’….or ‘Black Woman at the Podium.’ I describe a locus of confounded identities, a meeting ground of investments and privations in the national treasury of rhetorical wealth. My country needs me, and if I were not here, I would have to be invented. Spillers’ posturing points to the complex and delicate challenges black women encounter in the minefield of mental, spiritual, and cultural “codings” that, as Spillers stresses, create markers of identity so loaded with mythical prepossession that there is “no easy way for the agents buried beneath to come clean.”
But what is it about black women’s identity that makes them marked women? What is it about their presence—their essence—that makes them a threat in some social circles? Much of this uneasiness can be traced to the tension that exists between the real and imagined properties of black womanhood that circulate in America’s Grammar book (borrowing from Hortense Spillers). This book, a virtual roadmap of the history that has created and sustained the false imaginings of a culture bent on promoting whiteness and its privileges, distorts the ideal of black womanhood.
What this volume proposes to do is explore the various “imaginings” of the black female body in print and visual culture, sports, America’s iconic landscape (i.e. the mammy figure and the video vixen), politics, and law. Contributors can also write on literature, science, music, photography, or the fashion industry. Papers should discuss not only how this black female body is framed, but also how black women (and their allies) have sought to write/rite themselves back into these social discourses on their terms. It is my hope that this volume will create a dialogue with other outstanding volumes on the black female body.
If you are interested in being a part of this book, please forward to me an abstract by January 15, 2008. Entire papers will be due by September 1, 2008. You can send your abstract via email to ceh@udel.edu. Or you may send your abstract by landmail to:
Dr. Carol E. Henderson
Associate Professor of English and Black American Studies
212 Memorial Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716.
Hortense Spillers said it best when she proclaimed: Let’s face it. I am a marked woman, but not everybody knows my name. ‘Peaches,’ and ‘Brown Sugar,’ ‘Sapphire’ and ‘Earth Mother,’ ‘Aunty,’ ‘Granny,’….or ‘Black Woman at the Podium.’ I describe a locus of confounded identities, a meeting ground of investments and privations in the national treasury of rhetorical wealth. My country needs me, and if I were not here, I would have to be invented. Spillers’ posturing points to the complex and delicate challenges black women encounter in the minefield of mental, spiritual, and cultural “codings” that, as Spillers stresses, create markers of identity so loaded with mythical prepossession that there is “no easy way for the agents buried beneath to come clean.”
But what is it about black women’s identity that makes them marked women? What is it about their presence—their essence—that makes them a threat in some social circles? Much of this uneasiness can be traced to the tension that exists between the real and imagined properties of black womanhood that circulate in America’s Grammar book (borrowing from Hortense Spillers). This book, a virtual roadmap of the history that has created and sustained the false imaginings of a culture bent on promoting whiteness and its privileges, distorts the ideal of black womanhood.
What this volume proposes to do is explore the various “imaginings” of the black female body in print and visual culture, sports, America’s iconic landscape (i.e. the mammy figure and the video vixen), politics, and law. Contributors can also write on literature, science, music, photography, or the fashion industry. Papers should discuss not only how this black female body is framed, but also how black women (and their allies) have sought to write/rite themselves back into these social discourses on their terms. It is my hope that this volume will create a dialogue with other outstanding volumes on the black female body.
If you are interested in being a part of this book, please forward to me an abstract by January 15, 2008. Entire papers will be due by September 1, 2008. You can send your abstract via email to ceh@udel.edu. Or you may send your abstract by landmail to:
Dr. Carol E. Henderson
Associate Professor of English and Black American Studies
212 Memorial Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Hip Hop Jam
We seek engaging and accessibly written essays for a proposed edited collection of close analyses of hip hop music. Tentatively titled, The Hip Hop Jam: Messages and Music, this collection examines hip hop music from multiple micro-level, up-close perspectives. We seek to help the music and its messages come alive one song at a time.
Each submitted essay should focus on one song by any artist in any hip hop musical genre. We welcome submissions from scholars across disciplines that apply their tools of interpretation, their ways of reading and listening, to the analysis of one song each.
Each close reading should examine lyrical and/or musical form and content in detail as well as consider how history, gender, sexuality, race, class, political, geographical, religious, and/or economic issues inform the song. Essays should be free of esoteric discipline-specific argot. Aim for an undergraduate readership. The goal is to illuminate what can be made of the rich complexity of hip hop music if one stops and takes the time to listen and to analyze.
Authors should submit an abstract of 250 words and a CV by December 15, 2007. The abstract should contain the author’s name, contact information, and the working title of the proposed analysis. Proposed manuscripts should be original work not concurrently submitted elsewhere. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Accepted authors will be notified by January 31, 2008. Ten to twelve page MLA formatted manuscripts will be due on May 31, 2008.
Abstracts and inquiries should be forwarded to the Hip Hop Jam Editorial Board: Ebony Utley, Jordan Smith, Christina Zanfagna, and Loren Kajikawa at hiphopjam08@gmail.com.
Email: hiphopjam08@gmail.com
Each submitted essay should focus on one song by any artist in any hip hop musical genre. We welcome submissions from scholars across disciplines that apply their tools of interpretation, their ways of reading and listening, to the analysis of one song each.
Each close reading should examine lyrical and/or musical form and content in detail as well as consider how history, gender, sexuality, race, class, political, geographical, religious, and/or economic issues inform the song. Essays should be free of esoteric discipline-specific argot. Aim for an undergraduate readership. The goal is to illuminate what can be made of the rich complexity of hip hop music if one stops and takes the time to listen and to analyze.
Authors should submit an abstract of 250 words and a CV by December 15, 2007. The abstract should contain the author’s name, contact information, and the working title of the proposed analysis. Proposed manuscripts should be original work not concurrently submitted elsewhere. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Accepted authors will be notified by January 31, 2008. Ten to twelve page MLA formatted manuscripts will be due on May 31, 2008.
Abstracts and inquiries should be forwarded to the Hip Hop Jam Editorial Board: Ebony Utley, Jordan Smith, Christina Zanfagna, and Loren Kajikawa at hiphopjam08@gmail.com.
Email: hiphopjam08@gmail.com
Quote of the Week
If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive
Audre Lorde
Event of the Week
KU Press Release
Civil rights leader, congressman to receive Dole Leadership Prize
LAWRENCE — Legendary civil rights activist U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., will receive this year’s Robert J. Dole Leadership Prize from the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. Roll Call magazine has called Lewis “a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.”
The program takes place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Lied Center. Tickets are required but are free.
(click here for more info)
Goal of the Week:
Undergraduates!!!
It is time for midterms. Most of you have probably taken your exams and many of you are recovering from them as I type this message. Your challenge for this week is to make an appointment with 2 or more of your professors and discuss your progress. If you are having a rough time in class, this is the time address your strategy for the remainder of the semester. This is your second chance (should you need it) so take the initiative and be progressive.
Peace
If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive
Audre Lorde
Event of the Week
KU Press Release
Civil rights leader, congressman to receive Dole Leadership Prize
LAWRENCE — Legendary civil rights activist U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., will receive this year’s Robert J. Dole Leadership Prize from the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. Roll Call magazine has called Lewis “a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.”
The program takes place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Lied Center. Tickets are required but are free.
(click here for more info)
Goal of the Week:
Undergraduates!!!
It is time for midterms. Most of you have probably taken your exams and many of you are recovering from them as I type this message. Your challenge for this week is to make an appointment with 2 or more of your professors and discuss your progress. If you are having a rough time in class, this is the time address your strategy for the remainder of the semester. This is your second chance (should you need it) so take the initiative and be progressive.
Peace
Friday, October 05, 2007
KU Libraries receives grant to help fund jazz programs
LAWRENCE — The Thomas Gorton Music and Dance Library at the University of Kansas has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to present a series of six jazz programs in partnership with the Lawrence Public Library. All of the events are free and open to the public.
“Looking at Jazz: America’s Art Form” is a video-and-discussion program for libraries that examines the development of this uniquely American musical genre. Every Friday for six weeks, different jazz topics will be explored through documentaries and expert panel discussions. Faculty members from KU’s Interdisciplinary Jazz Studies Group will lead discussions following each film.
Dates and topics of discussion:
Oct. 5 — New Orleans and the Origins of Jazz
Oct. 12 — The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance
Oct. 19 — Jazz Vocalists
Oct. 26 — The Swing Era
Nov. 2 — Jazz Innovators: From Bebop, to Hard Bop, to Cool and More
Nov. 9 — Latin Jazz and International Jazz
Each event will take place at 7 p.m. at the auditorium in the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St.
Recordings and other materials from the Gorton Music and Dance Library and the Sound Archive will be on display at each of the events. George Gibbs, head of the Gorton Music and Dance Library, said he hopes the programs will alert the public to the extensive jazz collections the library holds.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the most comprehensive jazz archives in the Midwest right here at KU,” he said. “I hope that these programs will shed light on this amazing collection and on the art form itself.”
The programs will be presented by Re:New Media in collaboration with the American Library Association and Jazz at Lincoln Center, with major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. An application submitted by the KU Libraries brought the program to Lawrence.
The Gorton Music and Dance Library contains more than 111,000 scores, books, sound recordings, videos, microforms and serials. It has the leading music collection in the Great Plains region.
-30-
The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.
“Looking at Jazz: America’s Art Form” is a video-and-discussion program for libraries that examines the development of this uniquely American musical genre. Every Friday for six weeks, different jazz topics will be explored through documentaries and expert panel discussions. Faculty members from KU’s Interdisciplinary Jazz Studies Group will lead discussions following each film.
Dates and topics of discussion:
Oct. 5 — New Orleans and the Origins of Jazz
Oct. 12 — The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance
Oct. 19 — Jazz Vocalists
Oct. 26 — The Swing Era
Nov. 2 — Jazz Innovators: From Bebop, to Hard Bop, to Cool and More
Nov. 9 — Latin Jazz and International Jazz
Each event will take place at 7 p.m. at the auditorium in the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St.
Recordings and other materials from the Gorton Music and Dance Library and the Sound Archive will be on display at each of the events. George Gibbs, head of the Gorton Music and Dance Library, said he hopes the programs will alert the public to the extensive jazz collections the library holds.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have one of the most comprehensive jazz archives in the Midwest right here at KU,” he said. “I hope that these programs will shed light on this amazing collection and on the art form itself.”
The programs will be presented by Re:New Media in collaboration with the American Library Association and Jazz at Lincoln Center, with major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. An application submitted by the KU Libraries brought the program to Lawrence.
The Gorton Music and Dance Library contains more than 111,000 scores, books, sound recordings, videos, microforms and serials. It has the leading music collection in the Great Plains region.
-30-
The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.
Oh, Lino Graglia...You Bitch!!!
I'm writing this in retrospect, and I don't feel very secure that I'll remember what I wanted to say well enough to express my disgust sufficiently enough, but I'll try.
Yesterday, 4 October 2007, Professor Lino Graglia from the University of Texas, a constitutional law professor, was invited to lecture on the horrors of Affirmative Action by the Federalist Society of the University of Kansas. That nigga is a bigot! I generally try to conserve such accusations for those who might be offended by such suggestions. Lino Graglia, perhaps, would not care about being labeled as such. Anywho, I wouldn't be fair if I didn't at least give a brief synopsis of his arguments:
If you haven't caught my first complaint, it's the abnormal fixation upon blacks. Gragley justified his obsession in the question and answer section by stating that "if it weren't for blacks (whining?) there would be no affirmative action." He then went on to say that Latinos and Asians merely jumped on the race preference bandwagon after schools began to develop programs for blacks.
Gragley's central argument was that blacks in the 12th grade, at some point in time, were only educated to an 8th grade level. Such an academic disparity did not warrant "racial preferences" because "race preference" programs merely placed inferior black students in Ivy League schools that they can't handle. At no point did Gragley suggest a solution for the root problem of academic disparities. In fact, if I recall, he actually suggested that there is no solution for such a racial disgrace. He instead supported the ending of affirmative action so that "blacks" can go to schools where they can compete.
End of his lecture!
Racial insensitivity aside, Graggs must be stupid if he thinks that everyone in the audience isn't at least minutely aware of the number of black youths who disproportionately suck at life. What astounded me, is that despite the glaring fact that white women have been the leading beneficiaries of affirmative action programs ever since they fanagled their way into being a minoritized group (which I'm not denying that they are, but white women need aff. act. in the workplace so much more than in undergraduate colleges, but that's a separate discussion), but he proceeded to bypass all other minority groups, saving his most scathing attacks for "blacks." (he NEVER mentioned white women.)
Furthermore, Graggila made it a point to first make an erroneous distinction between "race mixing" programs and diversity programs--as if by having a diversity of races, you don't automatically acquire diversity. And then, after making the distinction, he proceeded to attack the importance of diversity in general! (That man must have wet dreams of his experiences at CSU--Caucasia State University.)
I call Grag-gizzle a bigot because: 1) his unusual desire to lay all of the blame on "blacks" reveals an internal conflict between himself--as a white male--and black people in general. 2) The only possible explanation for why he would carry such opinions of affirmative action, while simultaneously declaring that the central cause of his objections is the academic disparity between the races, is a (perhaps subconscious) desire for racial self-preservation--the man is languishing in his own white privilege and white supremacy, the simple fact that he chose not to research the causes of black under-education but instead the birth pains of black over-education is evidence that his concern lies not with blacks, but with whites; his concern is not with education, but with race; he cares little for collective progress, and denies the potential for collective oppression (simply put, ivy league blacks threaten white privilege and superiority over time).
Attacking affirmative action is a defense mechanism that overprivileged whites develop to justify their privilege. Attacks on affirmative action that are based upon the failures of the American public (secondary) education system are merely a defense mechanism to support and maintain notions of white (academic) superiority. Attacking the scores of blacks in high schools--most of whom never make it to Universities, sadly--says nothing of the blacks in college. Such statistics have no place in College Affirmative Action discourse!
He disacknowledges claims that blacks deserve affirmative action if for no other reason than they weren't granted the right to an education by law at one time. (Alternately, blacks could deserve affirmative action because it generally will improve competition in white collar arenas (that is if whites were willing to hire highly educated blacks that are not conservative) but Graggle Rock apparently is not interested in competing with blacks--at least not on an equal footing. Also, one could argue that the reason for Groggles opinions is because when he was in school, he was drowning in a sea of white opinion. Perhaps, a little diversity would have saved him from the sin of ignorance. But he addresses none of these ideas either.)
One of the more frustrating discussions was about a timeline. Graggy Bear didn't even suggest timelines, the more moderate Federalist Society guy did. He asked "When are affirmative action programs supposed to end?" This is all I have to say on that matter: Blacks were not supposed to be legally treated as equals under the law from the first time black slaves walked on colonial American soil until the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No one has any right to discuss timelines until we get close to the same number of years. If actual equality is achieved--not just in law, but in society--there should be a discussion regarding the ongoing merits of affirmative action policies. Until then, shut your goddamn bigot mouth!
My greatest indictment of the whole concept is this: Why are school admissions programs a matter of law subject to the constitution? Education is not guaranteed by the constitution. If it was, no one would ever PAY to go to college, it would be completely subsidized/socialized. Since schools receive government funds, but are not government entities, I imagine that they should receive the same legal treatment as any other non-governmental BUSINESS that receives government aid. If the federal government can give billions to the airline industry without controlling basic hiring procedures, if the federal government can subsidize farmers without telling them what and when to plant, then why is the government sticking their greasy palms in my education. If a school wants to increase diversity, then let them do so. Don't ride the University of Michigan's dick just because they create a quota system that WORKS.
As an aside, I don't know a single white person that has a right to complain. Let's talk rhetoric: if a white person chooses to attack a school for creating a race-based affirmative action policy while simultaneously maintaining that "blacks" anything, they are rhetorically subjecting themselves to racial grouping as well. In that sense, we can talk raw numbers. Because he (or she) is white, and 70% or more of the college is white anyway, they have no complaint. If I am supposed to be grouped in with my black brothers and sisters whenever you make a flagrant generalization about my race, I too reserve the right to generalize about yours. And white people single-handedly dominate college campuses. So shut your trap and be glad that white supremacy still stands.
~Thank your lucky stars that Harvard, Yale, or Princeton doesn't decide to go entirely over to merit based admission. The moment the United States decides to suppress race admissions in favor of pure merits, I personally will make a movement to have minority students of excellence enroll in those schools. I will demand that they flood traditionally white Universities with brown faces until white students are the minority of the freshman...sophomore...junior...and someday Senior class. What could they do in a merit based system? They would have to let us in. Eliminate legacy programs, balance the financial aide programs, tame the athletics privileges, and BOOM! Be prepared to lose your much coveted spot to SUPERIOR minority academics.
But that would never happen. I just thought I might suggest the possibility. There's no way I could rally that many black, latino, and asian academics to a single school for four years. But if it were possible, if there was that much unity, I think affirmative action programs would be largely unnecessary. But there's not. And black people need a real reason to come to a school with a hostile racial environment. And yea, from what I hear, Ivy Leagues do not favor middle and lower class black youth. So suck it up white people, in the general sense, it's not so bad.
Oh, and Lino Graglia is a BITCH!!!!
And here's a general list of arguments from his lecture:
1. the only reason for race preference is because blacks underperform
2. the gaps (between the races) are too great to be ignored or overcome
3. the root (of the problem) is poor black academic performance
a. there is a 4 yr gap in reading and math between white and black students
4. the gap IS NOT decreasing--that is "pure fantasy"
5. without "preferences" the number of blacks (at ivy league schools?) would drop below 11%
6. instead of going to schools where they can compete, blacks go to schools where they are academically inferior
7. "Ethnic Studies" (was created) to (try to) prove white racism and conceal inferiority
And here's a link to one of his essays, ***warning, it is not for the egalitarian of heart***:
"The Affirmative Action Fraud"
Yesterday, 4 October 2007, Professor Lino Graglia from the University of Texas, a constitutional law professor, was invited to lecture on the horrors of Affirmative Action by the Federalist Society of the University of Kansas. That nigga is a bigot! I generally try to conserve such accusations for those who might be offended by such suggestions. Lino Graglia, perhaps, would not care about being labeled as such. Anywho, I wouldn't be fair if I didn't at least give a brief synopsis of his arguments:
"Affirmative Action...blacks...blacks...blacks...blacks...blacks...blacks...blacks...blacks...racial preference...blacks...blacks...blacks...Italians...blacks...blacks...blacks in the 12th grade at the level of 8th grade whites...blacks...blacks...blacks..."
If you haven't caught my first complaint, it's the abnormal fixation upon blacks. Gragley justified his obsession in the question and answer section by stating that "if it weren't for blacks (whining?) there would be no affirmative action." He then went on to say that Latinos and Asians merely jumped on the race preference bandwagon after schools began to develop programs for blacks.
Gragley's central argument was that blacks in the 12th grade, at some point in time, were only educated to an 8th grade level. Such an academic disparity did not warrant "racial preferences" because "race preference" programs merely placed inferior black students in Ivy League schools that they can't handle. At no point did Gragley suggest a solution for the root problem of academic disparities. In fact, if I recall, he actually suggested that there is no solution for such a racial disgrace. He instead supported the ending of affirmative action so that "blacks" can go to schools where they can compete.
End of his lecture!
Racial insensitivity aside, Graggs must be stupid if he thinks that everyone in the audience isn't at least minutely aware of the number of black youths who disproportionately suck at life. What astounded me, is that despite the glaring fact that white women have been the leading beneficiaries of affirmative action programs ever since they fanagled their way into being a minoritized group (which I'm not denying that they are, but white women need aff. act. in the workplace so much more than in undergraduate colleges, but that's a separate discussion), but he proceeded to bypass all other minority groups, saving his most scathing attacks for "blacks." (he NEVER mentioned white women.)
Furthermore, Graggila made it a point to first make an erroneous distinction between "race mixing" programs and diversity programs--as if by having a diversity of races, you don't automatically acquire diversity. And then, after making the distinction, he proceeded to attack the importance of diversity in general! (That man must have wet dreams of his experiences at CSU--Caucasia State University.)
I call Grag-gizzle a bigot because: 1) his unusual desire to lay all of the blame on "blacks" reveals an internal conflict between himself--as a white male--and black people in general. 2) The only possible explanation for why he would carry such opinions of affirmative action, while simultaneously declaring that the central cause of his objections is the academic disparity between the races, is a (perhaps subconscious) desire for racial self-preservation--the man is languishing in his own white privilege and white supremacy, the simple fact that he chose not to research the causes of black under-education but instead the birth pains of black over-education is evidence that his concern lies not with blacks, but with whites; his concern is not with education, but with race; he cares little for collective progress, and denies the potential for collective oppression (simply put, ivy league blacks threaten white privilege and superiority over time).
Attacking affirmative action is a defense mechanism that overprivileged whites develop to justify their privilege. Attacks on affirmative action that are based upon the failures of the American public (secondary) education system are merely a defense mechanism to support and maintain notions of white (academic) superiority. Attacking the scores of blacks in high schools--most of whom never make it to Universities, sadly--says nothing of the blacks in college. Such statistics have no place in College Affirmative Action discourse!
He disacknowledges claims that blacks deserve affirmative action if for no other reason than they weren't granted the right to an education by law at one time. (Alternately, blacks could deserve affirmative action because it generally will improve competition in white collar arenas (that is if whites were willing to hire highly educated blacks that are not conservative) but Graggle Rock apparently is not interested in competing with blacks--at least not on an equal footing. Also, one could argue that the reason for Groggles opinions is because when he was in school, he was drowning in a sea of white opinion. Perhaps, a little diversity would have saved him from the sin of ignorance. But he addresses none of these ideas either.)
One of the more frustrating discussions was about a timeline. Graggy Bear didn't even suggest timelines, the more moderate Federalist Society guy did. He asked "When are affirmative action programs supposed to end?" This is all I have to say on that matter: Blacks were not supposed to be legally treated as equals under the law from the first time black slaves walked on colonial American soil until the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No one has any right to discuss timelines until we get close to the same number of years. If actual equality is achieved--not just in law, but in society--there should be a discussion regarding the ongoing merits of affirmative action policies. Until then, shut your goddamn bigot mouth!
My greatest indictment of the whole concept is this: Why are school admissions programs a matter of law subject to the constitution? Education is not guaranteed by the constitution. If it was, no one would ever PAY to go to college, it would be completely subsidized/socialized. Since schools receive government funds, but are not government entities, I imagine that they should receive the same legal treatment as any other non-governmental BUSINESS that receives government aid. If the federal government can give billions to the airline industry without controlling basic hiring procedures, if the federal government can subsidize farmers without telling them what and when to plant, then why is the government sticking their greasy palms in my education. If a school wants to increase diversity, then let them do so. Don't ride the University of Michigan's dick just because they create a quota system that WORKS.
As an aside, I don't know a single white person that has a right to complain. Let's talk rhetoric: if a white person chooses to attack a school for creating a race-based affirmative action policy while simultaneously maintaining that "blacks" anything, they are rhetorically subjecting themselves to racial grouping as well. In that sense, we can talk raw numbers. Because he (or she) is white, and 70% or more of the college is white anyway, they have no complaint. If I am supposed to be grouped in with my black brothers and sisters whenever you make a flagrant generalization about my race, I too reserve the right to generalize about yours. And white people single-handedly dominate college campuses. So shut your trap and be glad that white supremacy still stands.
~Thank your lucky stars that Harvard, Yale, or Princeton doesn't decide to go entirely over to merit based admission. The moment the United States decides to suppress race admissions in favor of pure merits, I personally will make a movement to have minority students of excellence enroll in those schools. I will demand that they flood traditionally white Universities with brown faces until white students are the minority of the freshman...sophomore...junior...and someday Senior class. What could they do in a merit based system? They would have to let us in. Eliminate legacy programs, balance the financial aide programs, tame the athletics privileges, and BOOM! Be prepared to lose your much coveted spot to SUPERIOR minority academics.
But that would never happen. I just thought I might suggest the possibility. There's no way I could rally that many black, latino, and asian academics to a single school for four years. But if it were possible, if there was that much unity, I think affirmative action programs would be largely unnecessary. But there's not. And black people need a real reason to come to a school with a hostile racial environment. And yea, from what I hear, Ivy Leagues do not favor middle and lower class black youth. So suck it up white people, in the general sense, it's not so bad.
Oh, and Lino Graglia is a BITCH!!!!
And here's a general list of arguments from his lecture:
1. the only reason for race preference is because blacks underperform
2. the gaps (between the races) are too great to be ignored or overcome
3. the root (of the problem) is poor black academic performance
a. there is a 4 yr gap in reading and math between white and black students
4. the gap IS NOT decreasing--that is "pure fantasy"
5. without "preferences" the number of blacks (at ivy league schools?) would drop below 11%
6. instead of going to schools where they can compete, blacks go to schools where they are academically inferior
7. "Ethnic Studies" (was created) to (try to) prove white racism and conceal inferiority
And here's a link to one of his essays, ***warning, it is not for the egalitarian of heart***:
"The Affirmative Action Fraud"
Monday, October 01, 2007
Quote of the Week:
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.
--Stevie Wonder
Book of the Week:
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Event of the Week:
"African-American Male/Latino Empowerment Summit" AALO
(How do you do you in Academia Successfully?)
Keynote addresses by Michael Eric Dyson and Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.
--Stevie Wonder
Book of the Week:
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Event of the Week:
"African-American Male/Latino Empowerment Summit" AALO
(How do you do you in Academia Successfully?)
Keynote addresses by Michael Eric Dyson and Joe Hernandez-Kolski
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Next on the Mic!!!
Featuring Sir AMP (The Cunning Linguist of KU)
Apathetic Desires:
guiltless appetites, consuming neophytes
consumptive apathy, reductionist strategies
messianic deliveries in the church of greed
emotional bulimia succeeding gratuitous feed
antipathetic collectivists, antiseptic strategists
hygienic demagogues white-washing moral fabrics
prophesied enlightenment? heliotropes are morally anemic
cathartic practices oxygenate while you morally asphyxiate
guilt subsumed within the democratic machinations
squeeze the lungs tighter constricting inhalations
air pressure rises and release becomes imminent
consumptive fires spread through the bellows exhalations
omniscient eyes prime
seismographic paradigm
more, but why?
pandora’s box opens
unfulfilling prophecies
dreams startled awake
the omniscient eye of a free-market conspiracy
emblazons subliminal visuals inside and outside the enigmatic psyche
mass-produced psychology syncopating automatons’ rhythms
producing mechanized didacts propagating cloned seeds
guilt at the vanguard of the battle scence
white-washed stigmas legislate proper hygiene
pseudonyms make the planet shine - they wanna keep the race clean
kaleidoscopic imperialism shining underneath the green
supplemental cultural narratives are replacing moral imperatives
hermeneutic context is industrial appeal
unsung questions capitulate to tyrannical prerogatives
get past the mask to find what the subterfuge reveals
helplessly we wait
apathy consumes action
guilt sheds like snake skin
manumitted emotions enslave sovereigns’ burgeoning potential
inaction fuels the embers of the fires
what refuge remains is ostensibly inconsequential
the appetitive gluttony of apathetic desires
AMP is new to the Black Tuesday Collective. Bringing an Environmental/Literary/Activist approach to the African American experience, AMP is a true scholar and gifted linguist.
Apathetic Desires:
guiltless appetites, consuming neophytes
consumptive apathy, reductionist strategies
messianic deliveries in the church of greed
emotional bulimia succeeding gratuitous feed
antipathetic collectivists, antiseptic strategists
hygienic demagogues white-washing moral fabrics
prophesied enlightenment? heliotropes are morally anemic
cathartic practices oxygenate while you morally asphyxiate
guilt subsumed within the democratic machinations
squeeze the lungs tighter constricting inhalations
air pressure rises and release becomes imminent
consumptive fires spread through the bellows exhalations
omniscient eyes prime
seismographic paradigm
more, but why?
pandora’s box opens
unfulfilling prophecies
dreams startled awake
the omniscient eye of a free-market conspiracy
emblazons subliminal visuals inside and outside the enigmatic psyche
mass-produced psychology syncopating automatons’ rhythms
producing mechanized didacts propagating cloned seeds
guilt at the vanguard of the battle scence
white-washed stigmas legislate proper hygiene
pseudonyms make the planet shine - they wanna keep the race clean
kaleidoscopic imperialism shining underneath the green
supplemental cultural narratives are replacing moral imperatives
hermeneutic context is industrial appeal
unsung questions capitulate to tyrannical prerogatives
get past the mask to find what the subterfuge reveals
helplessly we wait
apathy consumes action
guilt sheds like snake skin
manumitted emotions enslave sovereigns’ burgeoning potential
inaction fuels the embers of the fires
what refuge remains is ostensibly inconsequential
the appetitive gluttony of apathetic desires
AMP is new to the Black Tuesday Collective. Bringing an Environmental/Literary/Activist approach to the African American experience, AMP is a true scholar and gifted linguist.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Guest Poet Coming to the Stage...
Real Talk Vol.3
I was birthed to a generation that has conditioned itself to promote selfishness
A generation that prides itself in screaming "look what i got!" and broadcasting what you dont have
Flossin
And instead of seeing that we all struggle
We steady tossin ourselves to the sharks of vices and big businesses
When what we missin is that our culture, in itself, has become big business
See execs sit at long tables, debating over ways to maximize their profits off of our ignorance
And we let em
We’ve divided ourselves senselessly, a people that once had the
Potential to be the supreme example of unity
Now, black youth grow up with a distorted view of "by any means", coming up with dreams of cars and big necklaces that, to me, resemble slave chains
Something went wrong
Somewhere in between all those old church songs and today's 50 Cent
We lost our common sense on how to maintain
But honestly, who do we blame?
Cause I dont think its just rap music
And hip hop never asked to raise our kids
So maybe we should step up and take responsibility for our own, or we'll keep missin out on what the real problem is
Understand that before all the Don Imuses and Micheal Richardson's, the problem still remained
And if every rapper in the world disappeared today, things would still be the same
But, this game has never really changed
Way back, slave masters use to put us to shame by tearing apart the family
Removing the male and disrupting the mother's sanity by forcing her to breed more workers
With no man in the home, women were left alone with the task of raising boys into men who would one day grow up to be fathers
And today, black fathers are now viewed as an endangered species
Standing as a testament to Willie Lynch's means of destruction
Corruption now sweeps through our neighborhoods
Leaving no trace of name or identity
And it leaves me to question if this is how God meant it to be
Because, how could a people so beautiful and gifted, so easily be lifted out of our natural course
I dont have all the answers, but I do know that, unless we force ourselves to become our own biggest critics, then young black boys and girls will continue to turn up as statistics on the daily news
And we'll continue to be misviewed as a people without hope
...But I'm not having it
Because for every drug advocate, there's a college graduate
And for every pacifist, there's an activist
We just have to decide that we will no longer hide behind the shadows of self-destruction
Because somewhere, there's and 11 year old child who's silently screaming for instruction
His eyes are as big as the Moon
And his imagination has the type of innocense that would move masses
As he sits in his room, he slowly puts on his glasses and his backpack to get ready for school
In his left hand is a revolver and in his right hand is a textbook
And if none of us are strong enough to stop him, we'll look up and lose this child who used to believe that he could grow up to change the world
And I cant live with that on my conscience
....Can U?
David Abdullah Muhammad aka "Brotha Newz" 2007
David was born in Kansas City, MO and currently resides in Overland Park,KS
He is a Senior at Emporia State University, majoring in Secondary Education (Social Sciences). David has aspirations of teaching high school and running a successful martial arts school. Beyond that, Brotha Newz continues to write dope pieces, make Hajj, and search for a woman who will be his queen, mother, and father.
I was birthed to a generation that has conditioned itself to promote selfishness
A generation that prides itself in screaming "look what i got!" and broadcasting what you dont have
Flossin
And instead of seeing that we all struggle
We steady tossin ourselves to the sharks of vices and big businesses
When what we missin is that our culture, in itself, has become big business
See execs sit at long tables, debating over ways to maximize their profits off of our ignorance
And we let em
We’ve divided ourselves senselessly, a people that once had the
Potential to be the supreme example of unity
Now, black youth grow up with a distorted view of "by any means", coming up with dreams of cars and big necklaces that, to me, resemble slave chains
Something went wrong
Somewhere in between all those old church songs and today's 50 Cent
We lost our common sense on how to maintain
But honestly, who do we blame?
Cause I dont think its just rap music
And hip hop never asked to raise our kids
So maybe we should step up and take responsibility for our own, or we'll keep missin out on what the real problem is
Understand that before all the Don Imuses and Micheal Richardson's, the problem still remained
And if every rapper in the world disappeared today, things would still be the same
But, this game has never really changed
Way back, slave masters use to put us to shame by tearing apart the family
Removing the male and disrupting the mother's sanity by forcing her to breed more workers
With no man in the home, women were left alone with the task of raising boys into men who would one day grow up to be fathers
And today, black fathers are now viewed as an endangered species
Standing as a testament to Willie Lynch's means of destruction
Corruption now sweeps through our neighborhoods
Leaving no trace of name or identity
And it leaves me to question if this is how God meant it to be
Because, how could a people so beautiful and gifted, so easily be lifted out of our natural course
I dont have all the answers, but I do know that, unless we force ourselves to become our own biggest critics, then young black boys and girls will continue to turn up as statistics on the daily news
And we'll continue to be misviewed as a people without hope
...But I'm not having it
Because for every drug advocate, there's a college graduate
And for every pacifist, there's an activist
We just have to decide that we will no longer hide behind the shadows of self-destruction
Because somewhere, there's and 11 year old child who's silently screaming for instruction
His eyes are as big as the Moon
And his imagination has the type of innocense that would move masses
As he sits in his room, he slowly puts on his glasses and his backpack to get ready for school
In his left hand is a revolver and in his right hand is a textbook
And if none of us are strong enough to stop him, we'll look up and lose this child who used to believe that he could grow up to change the world
And I cant live with that on my conscience
....Can U?
David Abdullah Muhammad aka "Brotha Newz" 2007
David was born in Kansas City, MO and currently resides in Overland Park,KS
He is a Senior at Emporia State University, majoring in Secondary Education (Social Sciences). David has aspirations of teaching high school and running a successful martial arts school. Beyond that, Brotha Newz continues to write dope pieces, make Hajj, and search for a woman who will be his queen, mother, and father.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Texts on Colorism
Brief book/film list on the color complex/race changes. Enjoy!
Books
Passing by Nella Larson
The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
Black No More by George Schuyler
The Color Complex by Kathy Russell
Trick Baby by Iceberg Slim
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Don't Play in the Sun by Marita Golden
The Black Notebooks by Toi Derricotte
Mulatto America by Stephan Talty
Films
The Jerk
Imitation of Life
Black Klansman
The Landlord
School Daze
Whiteboys
Cosmic Slop
These are just a few to get you going. Please feel free to add more items in the comments section or email me: cartertwin@hotmail.com
Books
Passing by Nella Larson
The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
Black No More by George Schuyler
The Color Complex by Kathy Russell
Trick Baby by Iceberg Slim
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Don't Play in the Sun by Marita Golden
The Black Notebooks by Toi Derricotte
Mulatto America by Stephan Talty
Films
The Jerk
Imitation of Life
Black Klansman
The Landlord
School Daze
Whiteboys
Cosmic Slop
These are just a few to get you going. Please feel free to add more items in the comments section or email me: cartertwin@hotmail.com
Saturday, September 08, 2007
A Letter to My Elder(s)
I wrote this e-mail to a gentleman who I met in this last year who shows a genuine interest in alleviating some of the problems of the black community. Most importantly, he is interested in ending the cycle in which the black youth are encapsulated. I wrote this to him as a response to something we (Black Men of Lawrence) were discussing only the night before. I was writing it, and it blew-up into something very important, but unexpected. So, I'm offering it to you here:
I wanted to e-mail you about what was being discussed last night at the black men of lawrence gathering. Mostly, I wanted to discuss the education thing. Derrais and myself were discussing what your associate was saying about the youth and we agreed that a drastic difference between your generation (or at least his) and our generation is that the black community had more control over the school system. One of the greatest sacrifices that black people made to facilitate integration was selling their children to the machinations of a white dominated educational system. Rather than the school board having to answer to a black majority, the schools now have to answer to a white majority. The white majority never did--and still doesn't--care about or desire their children to learn black history. Derrais and my experiences both attest to that reality. I would assume that it is no better anywhere else in the midwest, and probably worse as you approach inner-city schools that are controlled more directly by the state. I think that No-Child-Left-Behind is a part of that. By having a federal program that decides what kinds of information a student must know in order for the school to be accredited, the schools are pressured even more to ensure that the black students assimilate. Since the black students are not interested in assimilation, drop out rates are only more likely to increase.
I asked Derrais how much black history he had in his youth, and it appears to me that if you asked all of the more advanced black students to find a commonality that explains their status as academics in contrast to their dropped-out counterparts, you'd probably find that most of us had parents that were engaged in our education. Furthermore, and most importantly, they taught us black history where the school system didn't. I contend that, either it is job of the black community to demand that some alternate history and racially respectful curriculum be added in the school systems--or at least the black community provide that black history base to their pre-pubescent child's home life.
I think an important way of developing the black youth, would be to create a short book list of "must-reads." A list of books that will give black children the kind of background that they need to love themselves and respect what they are learning. The only book that I'm certain of is the Autobiography of Malcolm X, which should probably be read during the middle school generation. I think that a brief black inventors book should be a part of the elementary school period. Also in high school should be the alternative history of the United States, such as Howard Zinn's People's History or something along those lines.
To me it seems that black youth fail to embrace education because it is white washed. They teach that the Greeks invented math, science, and philosophy. They teach that everything of value in our lives is white. I guarantee you that no more than 1% of black youth know that math, science, and philosophy was originally taught to Greeks by Africans. Even fewer think of Egyptians as black--because they are consistently presented as white. Astronomy is just as African as it is European. They don't teach that the Mayan calendar included eclipses--which means that astronomy existed in the "New World" at least a 1000 years before Columbus. The school system is denigrating towards minoritized histories. Whiteness is treated as fact, and imperative. Black youth have nothing to love about themselves, and even less to love about a school system that teaches that for white students but not black students.
Think of it this way. How do white people learn their identities? How do black people learn their identities? White people learn it everywhere, and all the time. Black people have to search for it. If black people are inundated with sensory information that tells them that the nature of blackness--authentic blackness--is criminality, ignorance, and irrelevance, and no one is correcting that sensory information, then it should be no surprise that the black youth are on the purely survivalist level. Why should they develop beyond that; they've been told their whole lives that they should aspire to nothing more than survival.
As I said in my last e-mail. Black people have all of the skills necessary for success, it is merely misplaced energy. When black people are doing for self, you can see the abundance of talent, focus, determination, dedication, and discipline that we all inherently have. When black people feel like they're not benefiting from their efforts--like white-washed schools--you can literally watch their energy turn from enthusiasm to exasperation. Then, when they are punished for their disinterest--because the whole of society tells them they should be interested in whatever it is that white society is inundating them with--they are traumatized.
My generation is only one generation removed from social revolution. Our heroes are at most ten years removed from the Civil Rights Movement. We only know the aftermath of those efforts. What black people really need is to take a cold look at the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and see how much has changed. I can say, and see, that while the laws have changed, little else has. Even the laws are getting reversed--into de facto forms of archaic Jim-Crowism.
Watch the supreme court decisions in regards to integration, affirmative action, and civil rights legislation. Ask yourselves, how much of Martin Luther King's work is sticking around? School integration? White flight fixed that, and the supreme court is ending it now. Affirmative Action? George Bush and congress have taken care of that--but the supreme court got first bite. Civil Rights legislation...such as the Voting Rights Act? How many of us actually vote? Not enough to matter as a political block. Our voting has been destroyed by gerrymandering, gentrification, the electoral college, and direct bigotry. To my generation, we don't see the glories of the Civil Rights Movement. To us, it was nothing more than a failed black unity movement...cause we don't even have unity.
My point is, your generation saw it all. You saw the good, ran with it, and in-between all of your success--the rest of us slipped through the cracks. While the black middle class rose, the black lower class fell. The black youth that you are concerned with are not (necessarily) the children of the black middle class. They are the children of the people who DID NOT benefit from the Civil Rights Movement. They are the second generation of integration losers. Our grandparents were farmers, and ghetto residents. We felt the sting of the neo-conservative movement; and the bitter loss to the neo-liberalist movement. While the black middle class shakes their head at the losses and changes. The black lower-class is racing through the ghettos keening with their guns, tears streaming down their hardened faces, wondering where hope went.
I'm sending you a set of song lyrics attached to this e-mail. It's a song by the Hiphop group Dead Prez. The song is titled "They Schools." It's uncensored because I think it's important to our understanding of their perspective. I honestly don't think that any of the black youth comprehend their problem on the level of Dead Prez--many of them probably FEEL that, but are incapable of comprehending or articulating what's wrong in their world. I'm also giving you a link to something I wrote called the "Black Student's Manifesto." I wrote it a while ago when a childhood friend of mine insinuated to another friend of mine that being an AAAS major was anything but worthwhile. It only speaks to the idea of black identity. Hopefully some of this helps to make sense of the perspective and problem of black youth today. It's no easy task that you're pursuing. You're not only battling against the hardened hearts of black youth, but in order for you to reach them at all, you must be willing to put up a fight against the white majority who might be the foundation of your income. To win this fight, you must have a healthy fear of the battle.
Black Student's Manifesto
I hope this wasn't too long. I wasn't thinking very linear. But I hope it helps some. I'll drop by your office sometime next week.
Chris
Thursday, September 06, 2007
For those who don't know me, I spit. When I say I spit, I mean I rap...on occasion. And, I'm not bad. At least I think I'm better than most of the people you hear on the radio. Needless to say, when Docta' Carter invited me to write on his blog, it was perfection. It fit. But as of yet, I have not placed any of my work on here. I'm usually afraid to. I like what I write and have every intention of using any worthwhile bar I put together. However, I wrote a set the other day. It will inevitably be an album opener in the future, but I wanted to put it on here. So, as Missy Elliott once said, "copy written so don't copy me." I can't stand biters, as if anyone on here is prepared to take on my lyrics in a public arena. You'd have to be an idiot. Thank God I am.
There's a title for this, but I'm never going to say it outright. I want people to choose their own titles. It will mean different things to different people. Any questions, just ask:
There's a title for this, but I'm never going to say it outright. I want people to choose their own titles. It will mean different things to different people. Any questions, just ask:
I pledge allegiance
To the salvation of the nation
The end of brown incarceration
To the death of assimilation
I swear my dedication
To equalitarian integration
Even if it means separation
Cause I will neither hate
Nor wait
On any caucasian
For my emancipation
My soul's vexation
Is false representation
Borne of ofay media motivation
H.E.R. commercialization
A product of capitalist dollarization
My persistent dis-representative spiritual taxation
Will only turn this slow burn
Into a cultural conflagration
My small ax
Will fight back
Without the slightest hesitation
I embody individualization
But have never forgotten my communal originations
Though you attempt my homogenization
I will not fall prey to your monolithic presentations
Force fed criminal acculturation
And societal dreg inebriation
I will not be your photo negative imitation
Nor your self-indulgent propogandation
Through our collective demonization
I will uproot the very foundations
Of your glorified civilization
Not liberal but independent
Revolutionary 'til we finish...
~Complex
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Call for Papers
Pacific Sociological Association: The Crossover: Hip-Hop, Commercialization and American Culture
2008 PSA Meeting – April 10th-13th, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel in Portland, OR.
Presentation proposals are now being accepted for The Crossover: Hip-Hop, Commercialization and American Culture session of the 2008 Pacific Sociological Association meeting in Portland, OR, April 10th -13th 2008. The session organizer seeks presentations from faculty and/or graduate students who are currently involved in research on the effects of commercialization on Hip-Hop music and culture and also on how the commercialization of Hip-Hop has affected the broader American culture in the last 25+ years. All disciplines are welcome!
Please send presentation titles and abstracts of 200-250 words via e-mail or mail (e-mail is greatly preferred) by November 1st 2007 to Michael Barnes at the addresses below. Make sure to include home department and institutional affiliation with your proposal.
Michael Barnes
Session Organizer: PSA 2008
Department of Sociology
University of California-Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
mpbarnes@berkeley.edu
For additional submission information from the Pacific Sociological Association and more details on the conference:
http://www.pacificsoc.org/2006/06/2008_annual_mee.html
Michael Barnes
Session Organizer: PSA 2008
Department of Sociology
University of California-Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Email: mpbarnes@berkeley.edu
Visit the website at http://www.pacificsoc.org/2006/06/2008_annual_mee.html
2008 PSA Meeting – April 10th-13th, 2008 at the Marriott Hotel in Portland, OR.
Presentation proposals are now being accepted for The Crossover: Hip-Hop, Commercialization and American Culture session of the 2008 Pacific Sociological Association meeting in Portland, OR, April 10th -13th 2008. The session organizer seeks presentations from faculty and/or graduate students who are currently involved in research on the effects of commercialization on Hip-Hop music and culture and also on how the commercialization of Hip-Hop has affected the broader American culture in the last 25+ years. All disciplines are welcome!
Please send presentation titles and abstracts of 200-250 words via e-mail or mail (e-mail is greatly preferred) by November 1st 2007 to Michael Barnes at the addresses below. Make sure to include home department and institutional affiliation with your proposal.
Michael Barnes
Session Organizer: PSA 2008
Department of Sociology
University of California-Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
mpbarnes@berkeley.edu
For additional submission information from the Pacific Sociological Association and more details on the conference:
http://www.pacificsoc.org/2006/06/2008_annual_mee.html
Michael Barnes
Session Organizer: PSA 2008
Department of Sociology
University of California-Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Email: mpbarnes@berkeley.edu
Visit the website at http://www.pacificsoc.org/2006/06/2008_annual_mee.html
Monday, August 27, 2007
Quote of the Week:
I've always been proud to be black. But proud and obsessive are different things.
- Jacob Lamar
Websites for t-shirts
Urban Profile
Artistic Tees
House of Nubian
Book of the Week:
Their Own Receive Them Not
by Horace L. Griffin
Opportunity of the Week:
I have a call for submissions list for all writers. Contact me for more information
carterda@ku.edu
I've always been proud to be black. But proud and obsessive are different things.
- Jacob Lamar
Websites for t-shirts
Urban Profile
Artistic Tees
House of Nubian
Book of the Week:
Their Own Receive Them Not
by Horace L. Griffin
Opportunity of the Week:
I have a call for submissions list for all writers. Contact me for more information
carterda@ku.edu
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
NYC here I come!
I am at the airport right now waiting to board my flight to NYC. Just ahead of me is a tv with a CNN news alert. Apparently, the east coast has has some weather issues (i.e. tornado warnings). How bout that?
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Call for Submissions: Words, Beats and Life Journal
Call for Submissions: Words, Beats and Life Journal
It Ain’t My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop
Many believe rap music to be culpable for the failing within black communities. Jay-Z and Lil’ Jon have become more popular targets than racism and poverty for political pundits and self-appointed race men. The WBL Journal staff is looking for submissions that address this re-emerging phenomenon. The overarching theme for this issue is “It Aint My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop,” but below you will find themes to guide your research.
From C. Delores Tucker to Bill Cosby: Conservative Attacks in Black Face
In the past 10 years, we have seen a record number of Black men and women running for elected office as Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The writer can delve into explanations for black and Latino leaders’ support of more conservative candidates, such
as Russell Simmons backing Michael Bloomberg in New York and Michael Steele in Maryland. Authors could also explore why some hip-hop artists, such as 50 Cent and Eazy E, and “activists” like Jeff Johnson are slowly beginning to support more conservative candidates. One can also address Mr. Cosby’s disparaging remarks about hip-hop dialects and the lower class communities of color. One can also examine the Citizen Change and
Vote or Die campaigns, their agendas and effectiveness. (Russell Simmons’ work with the Urban League traditionally conservative Hip-Hop Reader project).
Panthers: Hip-Hop’s Black and Brown Radical Roots
Many people refer to hip-hop as “multicultural movement.” Interestingly enough, very few hip-hop artists have made it a priority to move beyond discussing this phenomenon as a movement of multicultural consumers. The author should look at how hip-hop generation activists and organizers are moving beyond the black/white racial dichotomy of the 20th century. With the immigration debate, terror bills and the general xenophobia pumped out of your local TV and radio station, how are hip-hop generation youth moving beyond, working through or navigating around personal racial politics? What effect is this environment having upon the state of the individual communities in America across color lines? Ideally, authors should place hip-hop within a historical context of Black radical activists who worked across racial boundaries.
Parental Advisory: A History of Censoring Black Speech
The author can investigate and build a timeline of censorship of Black music and political speech. One can also explore the ramifications of such censorship. We are trying to convey a link between the two, and show that Black music and political commentary are often one in the same. Writers can also look at how government agencies such as the FBI and local police have followed rap artists such as NWA and 2 Live Crew, much like they did individuals and organizations like Amiri Baraka and the Black Panther Party. Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, and Rush Limbaugh have all tried to use their influence to silence rappers.
Ridin’ Dirty on 85: Rap’s Great Migration to the South
On their most basic level, articles covering this topic should look at how New York-based rap artists have responded to the great remigration of Black people and culture to the South. This section is intended to provide a contemporary look at the state of rap music and its migration to the south. This phenomenon should not be looked at in a vacuum but rather be tied to census data outlining the impact of African American Migration from the Northeast to the South and Midwest. This migration of culture need not just be tied to the music itself, but to the democratization of access to the necessary means of production, promotion and distribution of music and culture.
Same Old Song: The Blues, Gospel and Hip-hop
Firstly, one can document the critique from the religious establishment of Black popular music and contemporary gospel. In this section, we are especially interested in the effect of denigrating Black popular culture in African American Churches. It would also be important to look at examples of how churches have appropriated Black popular culture in the creation of “gospel happy hours,” “hip-hop choirs,” and even “hip-hop churches.” In addition, the author could explore the explosion of Christian hip-hop and the fusion of traditional gospel styles and hip-hop. One can also write about how fringe religious sects such as the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation exploit hip-hop as a vehicle for proselytizing their dogma. It would be appropriate to examine the use of hip-hop to promote Islam, and how that stands in opposition or solidarity with Muslims and Christians. This article can consist of interviews, essays or scholarly reviews outlining the history of condemnation of contemporary Black music by Black churches or mosques.
From Bridging the Gap to Passing the Torch: Where Do We Go From Here?
This article should examine bonds made between civil rights generation and current youth activists in attempts to make mutual progress.
Submission Forms
Scholarly Submissions
Multimedia
Creative Writing
Research Papers
Visual Art
Essays
Interviews
Photography
Poems
Short stories
Process of Submitting
All submissions are accepted on a continuous basis and need not be limited to the themes outlined below. All submissions designated as scholarly require an abstract of 150 words or less and up to five key words. All scholarly submissions should also follow the APA style guide. Please send all submissions to: submissions@wblinc.org, or in the case of compact discs:
WB&L Journal / 1524 Newton. St. NW / Washington, D.C. 20010. Deadline for submission for this issue is October 19, 2007.
It Ain’t My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop
Many believe rap music to be culpable for the failing within black communities. Jay-Z and Lil’ Jon have become more popular targets than racism and poverty for political pundits and self-appointed race men. The WBL Journal staff is looking for submissions that address this re-emerging phenomenon. The overarching theme for this issue is “It Aint My Fault: Blame it on Hip-Hop,” but below you will find themes to guide your research.
From C. Delores Tucker to Bill Cosby: Conservative Attacks in Black Face
In the past 10 years, we have seen a record number of Black men and women running for elected office as Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The writer can delve into explanations for black and Latino leaders’ support of more conservative candidates, such
as Russell Simmons backing Michael Bloomberg in New York and Michael Steele in Maryland. Authors could also explore why some hip-hop artists, such as 50 Cent and Eazy E, and “activists” like Jeff Johnson are slowly beginning to support more conservative candidates. One can also address Mr. Cosby’s disparaging remarks about hip-hop dialects and the lower class communities of color. One can also examine the Citizen Change and
Vote or Die campaigns, their agendas and effectiveness. (Russell Simmons’ work with the Urban League traditionally conservative Hip-Hop Reader project).
Panthers: Hip-Hop’s Black and Brown Radical Roots
Many people refer to hip-hop as “multicultural movement.” Interestingly enough, very few hip-hop artists have made it a priority to move beyond discussing this phenomenon as a movement of multicultural consumers. The author should look at how hip-hop generation activists and organizers are moving beyond the black/white racial dichotomy of the 20th century. With the immigration debate, terror bills and the general xenophobia pumped out of your local TV and radio station, how are hip-hop generation youth moving beyond, working through or navigating around personal racial politics? What effect is this environment having upon the state of the individual communities in America across color lines? Ideally, authors should place hip-hop within a historical context of Black radical activists who worked across racial boundaries.
Parental Advisory: A History of Censoring Black Speech
The author can investigate and build a timeline of censorship of Black music and political speech. One can also explore the ramifications of such censorship. We are trying to convey a link between the two, and show that Black music and political commentary are often one in the same. Writers can also look at how government agencies such as the FBI and local police have followed rap artists such as NWA and 2 Live Crew, much like they did individuals and organizations like Amiri Baraka and the Black Panther Party. Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, and Rush Limbaugh have all tried to use their influence to silence rappers.
Ridin’ Dirty on 85: Rap’s Great Migration to the South
On their most basic level, articles covering this topic should look at how New York-based rap artists have responded to the great remigration of Black people and culture to the South. This section is intended to provide a contemporary look at the state of rap music and its migration to the south. This phenomenon should not be looked at in a vacuum but rather be tied to census data outlining the impact of African American Migration from the Northeast to the South and Midwest. This migration of culture need not just be tied to the music itself, but to the democratization of access to the necessary means of production, promotion and distribution of music and culture.
Same Old Song: The Blues, Gospel and Hip-hop
Firstly, one can document the critique from the religious establishment of Black popular music and contemporary gospel. In this section, we are especially interested in the effect of denigrating Black popular culture in African American Churches. It would also be important to look at examples of how churches have appropriated Black popular culture in the creation of “gospel happy hours,” “hip-hop choirs,” and even “hip-hop churches.” In addition, the author could explore the explosion of Christian hip-hop and the fusion of traditional gospel styles and hip-hop. One can also write about how fringe religious sects such as the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation exploit hip-hop as a vehicle for proselytizing their dogma. It would be appropriate to examine the use of hip-hop to promote Islam, and how that stands in opposition or solidarity with Muslims and Christians. This article can consist of interviews, essays or scholarly reviews outlining the history of condemnation of contemporary Black music by Black churches or mosques.
From Bridging the Gap to Passing the Torch: Where Do We Go From Here?
This article should examine bonds made between civil rights generation and current youth activists in attempts to make mutual progress.
Submission Forms
Scholarly Submissions
Multimedia
Creative Writing
Research Papers
Visual Art
Essays
Interviews
Photography
Poems
Short stories
Process of Submitting
All submissions are accepted on a continuous basis and need not be limited to the themes outlined below. All submissions designated as scholarly require an abstract of 150 words or less and up to five key words. All scholarly submissions should also follow the APA style guide. Please send all submissions to: submissions@wblinc.org, or in the case of compact discs:
WB&L Journal / 1524 Newton. St. NW / Washington, D.C. 20010. Deadline for submission for this issue is October 19, 2007.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Personal and Academic Progress
Quote of the Week:
To be black is to live with anger as the defining emotion of a racial experience. To be successful is to learn how to keep the emotion from consuming or debilitating black ambition.
Audrey Edwards and Craig K. Polite
Book of the Week:
Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop
by Michael Eric Dyson
Event of the Week:
University of Kansas McNair Scholars Programs will host a research symposium this Friday. Scholars from various academic disciplines will present research on topics ranging from Biology to Poetry Therapy.
(Click here for details)
To be black is to live with anger as the defining emotion of a racial experience. To be successful is to learn how to keep the emotion from consuming or debilitating black ambition.
Audrey Edwards and Craig K. Polite
Book of the Week:
Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop
by Michael Eric Dyson
Event of the Week:
University of Kansas McNair Scholars Programs will host a research symposium this Friday. Scholars from various academic disciplines will present research on topics ranging from Biology to Poetry Therapy.
(Click here for details)
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