Broken Record

I sometimes confront white hostility to “all that black crap” when discussing race with friends or acquaintances. Their exasperation with what they view as black obsession over victimization or beating the dead horse of slaver is clear. The want to stop the broken record of black complaint.
It’s easy to sympathize with them. I have felt much the same exasperation but with white ignorance, sometimes willful ignorance. When I hear things like, “MLK would never want affirmative action to exist today,” or that Emmett Till was a sexual harasser for whistling at a white woman, I have to hold my tongue and cool my impatience/annoyance. (Affirmative action is a pale ghost [no pun intended] of what MLK advocated for in society and Emmett Till was brutally murdered for simply whistling at a white woman.) It’s a teachable moment and I have to bear the burden of playing the broken record if only in an attempt to dispel ignorance with knowledge.
It doesn’t have to be this way. If black and white would listen to one another with respect and concern, then perhaps we can finally throw away each other’s broken records!

Protecting the Guilty

ABC News: DNA Clears 200th Wrongfully Convicted:

“What’s also troubling is how common these exonerations have become since the first reversal in 1989. It took 13 years to reach the first 100 DNA exonerations, but just five to double that number [emphasis mine]. For prosecutors and judges, as well as defense attorneys, the exonerations raise a larger question: How many others, innocent of their crimes, are behind bars?”

(Via ABC News.)

Black people know the answer: a whole lot!

In a world where people still assume your guilt based on your skin color, where class determines punishment or leniency, this number shouldn’t be all that shocking. Black folk have known all too many of their number are in prison wrongfully. Science is forcing white society to confront evidence of its personal and institutional racism, its sometimes overt and sometimes subtle racism among other social pathologies (e.g. lust for vengeance instead of a thirst for justice, etc.). I wonder how much will it take before people start to reconsider their positions? This country is not accustomed to looking in the mirror.

Why I’m not a Conservative

Facts. They are a show stopper! Ignorance mixed with a touch of condescension and a complete lack of self-knowledge make for a very strong common pattern among these so-called conservatives: they come off like sophomoric fools. The recent interview by Jon Stewart of John Bolton on a recent episode of The Daily Show is a grand example of this common pattern. Bolton’s comment, “[Officials in the administration] should be judged on their performance,” is particularly poignant. By that standard alone, Bush’s presidency is a near-complete failure. (To those who think that the lack of a major terrorist attack in the US is proof of competence, I have one word: Katrina.)
Bolton interview (about 9 minutes):

And the recap setting the record straight (about 5 minutes):

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is Hip-Hop

I was asked recently what I thought was the state of hip-hop today. I felt inspired:

Hip-hop is an art form that in classic African style, unites the word and the drum. It lives on in the hearts and minds of the true heads. You, me, that white girl with the nipple rings that knows every word spit by Talib Kweli, that Korean cat in Seoul who memorized every one of Rakim’s joints. It is alive and well and forms the nucleus of an entire urban culture to which you and I take part. Rhymes, skills, things of that nature…
Now that segment of the music industry (as opposed to art) often misnamed “hip-hop” and confused with the art form is a pimp game with large corporations as the pimps, “artists” as the whores (“This is Why I’m Hot”), and the music buying public as the johns. It too is alive and well and with some hubris purports to BE the former. Don’t get it twisted…
Make your next move, your best move. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Black like Me

I recently read an article about Barack Obama that got me incensed. All I could think was “Player Hater!” After calming down and looking over a post + comments on the Barbershop Notebooks, I came across a great comment by “Afrikabelle.”

Comment on “Barack Obama – Professional Bulls***er?” Article:

“Here, Obama stands, with the potential to single-handedly brush the 450-year old chip off the African-American shoulder, destroying whatever venom lives in little Black boy psyches, whispering to them that their kind could never be president. And yet, all the talented tenth men and women want to do is to hop on big media and use Obama as an excuse to hear their own selves sound intelligent.”

(Via The Barbershop Notebooks.)

Politics in a well functioning democracy is about the art of the possible, the art of compromise. Al Sharpton has as much chance of becoming president as Ralph Nader. Yet that’s what all too many black folk expect in the first black president. My father-in-law (a man who had to drive around with a gun in the South) said something to me about Bush I won’t soon forget, “He [Bush II] forgets that he’s president of all the people.” Not everyone in this country is a card carrying pro-Lifer or communist. In fact, no one is “red” or “blue.” I’m pro life, pro gay rights/marriage, pro business/entreprenurship, pro worker rights, pro affirmative action/civil rights, and pro environment. What does that make me? Your typical voter.

Continue reading “Black like Me”

Sunlight as Holy Water

A recent report by two Villanova professors came out that claimed 85% of Catholic dioceses had problems with embezzlement in the last 5 years, 11% of them had cases involving sums exceeding $500,000. Wow!
It goes to show the problems with unearned trust and blind submission that the Catholic Church faces today. Despite the claims of the hierarchy, the institution hasn’t proven to be the sanctified Bride of Christ it is supposed to be. Rather, it has proven to be a very human institutions with all the typical foibles humanity encompasses. From sex abuse to embezzlement, the Church will have to come to terms with a laity no longer naive enough nor passive enough to blindly submit to any cleric, perhaps even the Pope, no matter how close to Christ that cleric is supposed to be.
The Roman Catholic Church will have to learn that secrecy is the mother of lies and deceit.

“For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth [emphasis mine] comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” (John 3:20-21)

Biden’s Reservoir

I’m sad to say that Joe Biden not only stepped on his tongue, but he spilled some of his racial beans as well. I won’t comment on the offensive nature of his remarks since others have already done such a good job. I will say that Biden’s remarks are much like those of Michael Richards or Isaiah Washington in that they come from a deep reservoir of cultural sentiment (or should I say resentment?) towards black and/or gay folk. It doesn’t matter what his intentions were. In fact, I have no doubt that Biden’s intentions were generally benign, but that matters little when he opened his mouth merely to find a place for his political foot.
UPDATE: My man got on to speak on the O’Reilly Factor.

Disagreeably Agreeing

Here, a good man was taking a position that as he understands it, is of God. Yet, many of us saw sanctimony, arrogance, even hatred. The arguments are so pitched and positions so entrenched that they can cause hard feelings among the closest of friends. (Even I fell victim to my emotions getting ahead of my judgment.) I knew that the debate was important, but there had be a better way.

Recently, I had a long email conversation with some friends about an article on gays. Naturally, differences arose and one particular guy voiced his strong opposition to it on the grounds that it is “against God.” I took exception to this. At one point, he made some very personal disclosures and his experiences with “working with gay men” and relatives dying of AIDS. Not exactly trivial stuff or glib commentary.
He rooted his entire argument on the grounds of the dictates of his faith, dictates whose very nature are unyielding and absolute. I knew this to be a powerful means for living a sanctified life “apart from the world”, but very, very dangerous when operating in it, esp. the public square. His arguments elicited accusations of “holier-than-thou” sanctimony and the like, which upon reflection were unfair but typical in today’s political environment of acrimony and bitter suspicion. Here we have a good man taking a position that is God’s as he understands it. Yet, some of us saw sanctimony, arrogance, even hatred in his words. The debate is so pitched and positions so entrenched that they can cause hard feelings among the closest of friends. (Even I fell victim to my emotions getting ahead of my judgment.) I knew that the debate was important, but there had be a better way.

Continue reading “Disagreeably Agreeing”

Saying Yes

Stephen Colbert in his singular wit imparts some real wisdom. I love his take on cynicsim.

AlterNet: MediaCulture: Stephen Colbert’s Address to the Graduates:

“Now will saying ‘yes’ get you in trouble at times? Will saying ‘yes’ lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying ‘yes’ begins things. Saying ‘yes’ is how things grow. Saying ‘yes’ leads to knowledge. ‘Yes’ is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say ‘yes.’
And that’s The Word.”

Stephen Colbert in his singular wit imparts some real wisdom. I love his take on cynicsim.

Da Cos – The Hater Player

Instead of confronting Dr. Hill directly, Mr. Cosby chose to personally attack a young, untenured professor by denigrating his character and assaulting his work. To add insult to injury he attempts to intimidate him by calling his superiors! These aren’t the actions of someone I can respect.

What’s Beef?

I [Dr. Marc Lamont Hill] didn’t bother to ask how Bill Cosby, who I was sure wasn’t in Atlanta, knew that I was on the radio discussing him. Instead, I asked what he was saying about me. He replied, “He’s calling you a liar and a hustler. He’s saying that you have a ‘hip-hop website’ and that you can’t be trying to help Black people with a ‘hip-hop website’”[sic]

Now “Da Cos,” as one of my great friends calls him, has gone and done it and personally attacked one of my friends. Which puts him high up on my you-know-what list.
It’s obvious from Mr. Cosby’s rants and ravings that he can’t with civility or aplomb deal with people who have intelligent, principled disagreements with him. Instead he throws tantrums like a child who he can’t get his way. I can understand his antipathy for Dyson, who wrote a book and is admittedly fair game. But my man Dr. Hill wrote an op-ed that gave a reasoned argument against Cosby’s “lightly dipped in truth” (I love that phrasing) self-help philosophy. He then followed up with a blog entry that gave Cosby respect and admiration for his philanthropy, but reiterated his issues with Cosby.
Instead of confronting Dr. Hill directly, Mr. Cosby chose to personally attack a young, untenured professor by denigrating his character and assaulting his work. To add insult to injury he attempts to intimidate him by calling his superiors! These aren’t the actions of someone I can respect. In his self-righteousness, Mr. Cosby seems to expect that those around him (less wealthy? less influential?) to just bow down no matter how stupid he behaves or how vicious his rhetoric. He resorts to baseless character assassination when he can’t deal with opposing points of view esp. when they are cogently presented. Talk about leading blacks vs. black leaders…

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