Uptown Notes

This Sunday, in Harlem, find out and discuss the direction for the new Black Left.

This is sssssssooooooo ignant and ssssssoooooo wrong, but I really did laugh out loud!

Mos is back on the radar. Dropping a project and reuniting with Talib Kweli this week. I’m there.

This post will not be a lofty tribute to Brother Malcolm, if you would like to see one like that, check it out here. This will be a call to action, because that is one of the things El Hajj Malik El Shabazz was about. Today is a National Day of Action to Stop the Execution of Troy Davis and today I saw a heinous video of a young teenager brutalized by the Police of Toledo. I do not doubt that Malcolm would have been disturbed to action by both. Let’s honor him by doing the work!

I spend most days in the classroom teaching on issues of race, social class, mobility and opportunity. The discussions I have always intrigue me, particularly because most of my students are people of color from working class backgrounds. After listening and reading, I’m beginning to think the belief that anything is possible, clouds us from seeing what is probable. I say this not to be a pessimist, rather because I wonder what the line between naivete and willful denial of reality is. And if there are or what are the consequences for this thinning line for our people.

When is Black public opinion not public opinion… just ask the washingon examiner and Stephen Colbert!