This week, on Thursday the 12th, I will be a featured panelist at New York University’s Gallatin School. I will be on a panel discussing Black and Jewish Relations as part of their Black History Month Programming. From the look of the panelist it’s going to be a lively and engaging discussion. More information is provided beneath. Also, they are asking people to RSVP, which I believe is so they have an approximate head count. Details below:
Title:
Black History Month – Brick by Brick: Rebuilding Black-Jewish Alliances – A Discussion
The Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts, 715 Broadway, Main Floor, Enter at 1 Washington Place
Open to public?:
Yes
Complete Description:
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts
6:00pm – 8:00pm
715 Broadway, Main Floor
(Enter at 1 Washington Place)
President Obama urges us to come together as one nation and work to renew old alliances and forge new and enduring partnerships.
Alliances between Blacks and Jews have played major roles in shaping American politics and culture. Radical social movements from labor to civil rights were built on Black-Jewish coalitions, influencing civil rights legislation and many other social justice initiatives.
Tensions over housing, community control of schools and other issues eroded Black-Jewish relations but did not completely destroy grass-roots interactions. However, public feuds by leaders from both groups who continuously fling accusations of racism and anti-Semitism have overshadowed the work in communities where Blacks and Jews live side-by-side, promoting peaceful co-existence and social change.
With the election of Barack Obama, America is at a decisive moment in race relations. This discussion examines the history of Black-Jewish solidarity and its collapse, and how understanding the causes of conflicts between these groups may lead to solutions to and development of a model to resolve conflicts among other racial and cultural groups.
Moderators: Michael Dinwiddie, Associate Professor, The Gallatin School, NYU
George Shulman, Professor, The Gallatin School, NYU
Participants: Eric Adams, Senator, New York State
Hasia Diner, Professor, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, NYU
R. L’Heureux Lewis, Assistant Professor, The City College of New York
Dov Hikind, Assemblyman, Brooklyn, New York
Performance: Judith Sloan, Adjunct Professor, The Gallatin School
Please RSVP to studentaffairs.gallatin@nyu.edu or call 212/998-7375.
“I’m writing for my life because I’m scared of a day job.” -Common
The arrival of the recession didn’t really hit me that much. I remember the basic economic principal that I was taught when I was younger, “As the supply of jobs goes down, demand for education goes up.” While this is still probably true, this past week’s events really made me take a deeper stock of my position as an academic and the ways that the University system is insulated, but not impervious. This past Friday, Clark Atlanta University dismissed 100 staff members, including 70 faculty citing financial difficulties. I was quickly humbled by this, because as an undergraduate I attended Morehouse College, spent large amounts of time at CAU, and now have colleagues who are faculty in the Atlanta University Center.
As teachers and researchers, professors have often held a privileged position in comparison to most Americans, but when an entire financial system is in disrepair, all will have to deal with the consequences. In fact, the number of staff on campuses are also vulnerable because institutions of higher education tend to cut support staff before faculty. It appears the bleeding has just begun.
While some will say that CAU’s problems are indicative of poor management that predates the financial crisis, which is not entirely untrue, we should be aware that this is a “canary in the mine.” Institutions like Clark Atlanta University and smaller schools, particularly HBCUs will be particularly vulnerable. I am told that Morehouse and Spelman also terminated all of their adjunct professors. Over a year ago I wrote about the histories and potentialities of these schools which are under distress. A year later, I fear that it has become more clear than ever that many of the schools that opened the doors of opportunity will likely be shutting their doors.
Sadly the irony of the timing in this is not missed on me. During Black History Month, with a stimilus plan (hopefully) on the brink of approval, we’ll wait with bated breath wondering if we can keep these bedrocks of Black History open.
2) Shouldn’t Mikey B chill out for the week since when he shows up, folks show out? Shout out the Hyatt 7, hold your heads!!!! Thanks for giving voice to the voiceless!!! And I think I heard Staten Island Chuck say, “This is for Gaza” before he bit him.
As the clock struck midnight and November 20th rolled in I thought about how 1.20.09 was emblazoned in my memory. I recall seeing bumper stickers years ago that had the date and “Bush’s Last Day” proudly marked. I waited for the date and was glad to see it arrive. I was in DC for inauguration weekend, so like many others, I was out partying. I knew that I had to get up at the crack of dawn, so I left my celebration and attempted to hail a cab to my residence. The weather in DC was a bitter, bitter cold, but I didn’t worry because as I approached a major thoroughfare I saw an ample number of cabs. I saw people hopping in and out of cabs and raised my hand to hail one. As I stood with my hand out, buzzing from the revelry of the weekend, taxis buzzed past me.
Today I’ll on NPR‘s New and Notes on their bloggers roundtable discussion inauguration and coming challenges for Barack Obama. You can find out where it airs in your area here.
Update: Here is the link so you can take a listen. I was featured with Faye Anderson of Anderson@Large and the soon to launch Tracking Change wiki. It was a fun great discussion.
“I have been dismayed at the degree to which abysmal ignorance seems to prevail among state, city and even Federal officals on the whole question of racial justice and injustice… But this white failure to comprehend the depth and dimension of the Negro Problem is far from being peculiar to Government officials…. It seems to be a malady even among those whites who like to regard themselves as “enlightened.” … I wonder at [persons] who dare to feel that they have some paternalistic right to set the timetable for another [person’s] liberation. Over the past several years, I must say, I have been gravely disappointed with such white “moderates.” I am inclined to think that they are more of a stumbling block to Negro’s progress than the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner.”
The event is finally arriving, the inauguration of Barack Obama. And while I am a strong critic of Barack Obama I can appreciate a good celebration, so I’ve decided to go on a hate moratorium and attend. As a result a bunch of folks have been asking me where I’m going to be at. Well I’ll only tell you dependent on how you do on this quiz, much like a NCLB test, your answers are gonna be of consequence. Don’t “study long and study wrong” and I’ll see you in D.C.
Answer: D – Look folks, the inauguration is going to be live. Many folks, especially young black folks, will be coming from all over. This, however, does not mean that we gotta “show out.” Before you think I’m just hating, let me suggest I have attended more than one of the aforementioned events (for research purposes of course) and know what it’s all about. A note to clubs: Please stop trying to charge people 100 dollars to stand around inside staring at the same people they saw standing in line earlier that evening or in the cold at the Mall. No really, your party is not a ball (which I can’t figure out why they cost so damn much anyway) and you and I both know that the promoter didn’t vote anyway. Let’s be collectively minded and save some dough. Well everyone except all the fake ballers with sunglasses on in the club who are trying to “pop champagne” they can go into bankruptcy for all that I care. CONTINUE READING
So I had no intention of writing a review of the new movie on Biggie, Notorious, but the reviews that I’ve been reading have left me with no choice. I will keep my comments brief and give you the punchline upfront. The movie sucks, if you have ten dollars I can think of plenty of other things to spend it on. In fact, if you were going to take someone else, you two can put your money together and get two snuggies … they even come with a free reading light. Alright, to my review/thoughts.
I got a chance to see the movie at screening in Chicago, which means I spent no money on it, meaning I’m as objective as they come… well as objective as I can be. I’m a Hip-Hop head, I consider Biggie one of the all time greats. I love Hip-Hop. I am a tough critic of movies, so going in I decided to take it easy on the film. Coming in, it was my hope that Notorious was not another Too Legit. I hoped that it would capture the complexity of cat who could drop Suicidal Thoughts and Dreams. CONTINUE READING
There are a million things to love about New York (for that matter a million to hate as well) but one of my favorite has to be how vibrant the Arts are here. Recently, I had the chance to check out one of my brothers weave his craft in the city. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is the truth. Read that again, the man is the truth! I have been familiar with Bamuthi’s musings and deeds since the mid-90s but his recent show The Break/s: A dream journal presented as a mixtape for stage, which headlined the Hip Hop Theater Festival demonstrates not only that he’s a great performer but that he is beautifully human.
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