The campaign and victory of Barack Obama were historic. In leading up the election I received a text that said,
“Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama ran so our children can fly!”**
This message, while inspirational, demonstrates the ways that one of the most historic and powerful presidential runs ever gets looked over, if not just downright ignored. In 1972, the campaign of Shirley Chisholm broke both the gender and race barrier in American presidential politics, but her campaign is still relatively unknown. Let me start this with an admission, I knew that Chisholm ran in 1972 but I had no idea about the discourse she pushed, assassination attempts, and what was certainly more than a symbolic run. At the close of the summer, I got to watch the documentary Chisholm 72- Unbought & Unbossed at Sundae Sermon. As I sat on a hill watching Shirley Chisholm challenge historical figures like George Wallace, George McGovern, and Hubert Humphrey, I was amazed at her vision, inspired by her bravery, and humbled by the ways we leave her out of history. That is a living example of why we need herstory, particularly within the Black community. CONTINUE READING
Over the past week, the media and everyone who could jump on the bandwagon of wagging fingers, frowned brows, and we told you so’s in relation to the Big Three has. While I don’t think all of these sentiments are misplaced, I wonder the most about the people of Detroit, not the Big 3. I’ll make a clear distinction here. The Big 3 being GM, Ford, and Chrysler represent the business interests of the automotive industry. The people of the Detroit Metro area are beneficiary’s and burden bearers of the Big Three’s ability to remain solvent and even profitable in these turbulent financial times. Pretty much we’ve come to the point that industry is realizing that we’re pretty far down the rabbit hole and major changes are going to come down the line. The thing that both scares, and maybe even reassures me a little, is that Detroit has been at the bottom before.
Detroit remains the classic example of the “failed city” the “dead city” the city that was forgotten. Well, while the economics, politics, and social organization of Detroit has been on decline for years, the people and their commitment to change has not been. In many ways, the one thing that these stories don’t talk about are the people in Detroit who despite increasing layoffs, increasing segregation, asset sucking casinos and odds that increasingly mount against them, continue to fight to build a better Detroit.
There is a boatload of critical work happening in education there. There is the push for viable public transportation. There is the movement to slow the “invisible hand” of foreclosures. There is work on urban space and converting brown fields. There is a vibrant arts scene. These people and these voices will remain invisible. Sure, their voices will never get as much press as the Big Three, but they demonstrate a resilience that the rest of the nation is going to have to come to grips with really soon. The age of watching industry fall in one area and not have it affect another is gone. Are fates have been intimately linked and we’ll see these connections with even greater consequence during this financial debacle.
The way people from Detroit tend to get mentioned in these discussions is if they are sitting around getting fat off of union pensions and benefits. If you’ve been to Detroit, lived in Detroit, or know folks who have worked for years for the Big Three, it’s simply not the truth. As we watch the Big Three scramble for assistance, be sure to watch who gets thrown under the bus first. Is it the 20,000 dollar jets or the family that lives on 30,000 a year?
Tune your radio into NPR … okay well maybe you don’t have a radio, in that case, check out NPR.org. On Thursday (November 20th) at 1pm EST to hear me on NPR News and Notes hosted by Farai Chideya. I’m scheduled to be on a segment discussing issues of racial stereotypes.
Check out the article by Jason Fink in AM New York (as one of my friends politely or rudely called it “the subway paper”) entitled, “Racist Incidents Mar Excitement over Obama Election.” If the web version is the same as the print version, you’ll see a quote or two by yours truly. Alright, back to writing for me!
While we were partying in the streets for the election of Barack Obama, Prop 8 in California passed by a small margin of support. There has been a firestorm of reporting, blogging, and reflection on the role that African-Americans played in the passage of prop 8. While I could weigh in on this, I simply won’t. Instead, I’ll point you to a post by Kai Wright on the Root that summarizes the debate and the prospects for the future of organizing around measures like prop 8.
In many ways, folks have been shocked that voting for Left or progressive politics doesn’t necessarily mean that you support social justice or equality for all. I can’t help but think that we have assumed for far too long that coming from a certain background, speaking a certain tongue, wearing certain buttons inherently connects our struggles for justice. In reality, a social justice orientation is taught one, a lived one, a challenging one. If we are not forever questioning our oppressions and our own privileges I’ve come to believe we are playing party or ideological politics, not engaging in politics of change and justice. Our inability to see our connectedness and divergences in our struggles have ended up making justice for “just us.”
I’ve been glad to see folks driven to action surrounding this regressive action of Prop 8 and I hope it is overturned. But I am most hopeful that we as activists, scholars, and everyday people take intersectionality and our linked fate to heart. This is not a single identity issue, this is not just about same-sex marriage, this is about the rights of people. The attempts to circumscribe rights of any people, is an affront to the rights of all people. In the same ways that I’m glad to see folks rallying against Prop 8, I wonder what our country would look like if I we consistently rallied against these neo-states rights campaigns. Whether Prop 187, Prop 209, or Prop 2, we see the same attempt to limit rights and opportunity under the guise of political choice. Only when we stand collectively will we see the power of the people in living the message of Dr. King in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Yesterday Outgoing President George W. Bush gave a speech on the market at the Manhattan Institute, this is probably my favorite and ridiculous quote,
The record is unmistakable: If you seek economic growth, if you seek opportunity, if you seek social justice and human dignity, the free market system is the way. The triumph of free market capitalism has been proven across time, geography, culture, and faith. And it would a terrible mistake to allow a few months of crisis to undermine 60 years of success.
No seriously people, this has got to be one of his all time funniest quotes. Sure the other things he’s said have left me in stitches, but this is just unreal! It’s been amazing how little attention he’s received over the past few months and I’ve had a sinking suspicion that he’s going to give us one more ridiculous Bush move before he goes out of office. But in the meantime, I’ll be laughing at his absurdity.
*If you don’t know why this is funny, maybe this little quote can help you out.
So I’m often frustrated by what plays on the radio… well actually I don’t even listen to the radio so I can’t make that claim accurately, but recently a couple of cool videos have come to my attention. These videos display a visual creativity that has been missing in Hip-Hop of late. Check them out below.
The election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden (dang, I keep forgetting about him) one week ago was a remarkable event. While most folks will look at the election of Obama as simply an act of racial transcendence, in reality, it represents one of the most sophisticated, yet grounded electoral campaigns in modern history. Having working with the Democratic party in the past, I can imagine the transition to the Obama model of organizing wasn’t without bumps and imperfections, but the end result was powerful. Despite Guiliani and Palin smearing (and this was indeed a smear to them) community organizers, the Obama campaign embrassed these everyday folks with a deep commitment for community development and change. While many of us contributed in our own ways to the campaign, I am forever impressed and indebted to the brave folks who went to organizing for the Obama Campaign fulltime. I’m thinking particular of folks who gave up steady jobs for the prospect of a campaign that was often counted out before he began. My hat is off to the folks I know personally who made that sacrifice and brought the victory home:
Monique P.
Shimaa A.
Jackie B.
Christina H.
And I’m sure I’m forgetting others, please charge it to my head and not my heart. Nothing but respect to you all. Though I did not know him, Terence Tolbert, was one such courageous person that was unable to see the victory while on this side. Thank you all for putting in hours beyond hours … ironically, now the work begins!
Beneath you can see a version of the electoral map that more accurately reflects the way the nation voted. For more information on this check out Mark Newman of the University of Michigan’s page.
On November 10th, Miriam Makeba b.k.a. Mama Africa transitioned to the ancestral realm. She was a powerful voice both musically and politically. Her work on Black Liberation in her native South Africa and globally beautifully demonstrated the richness and importance of Pan-Africanism and African Aesthetics. May her life in the ancestral realm be blessed for her work on this planet has blessed us all. Press play below and celebrate her work!
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