So recently I have been feeling the need to tinker with this blog. I want to redo it, but I haven’t figured out what I should do. This page went through a major a revision a while back but I gave that up for laziness and because I felt like people were taking blogging “too seriously.” (Insert your own interpretation) Some of you may remember my old page, which had more than the Blackblog. I just sat down to look at the old html and stuff I had set up and I realized something sad. All the pages I created and mock-ups were on my old laptop which fried and died. So I guess I’ll be starting from “scratch” again. That is unless the rest of my life zooms ahead. I only sat down to do this because my next deadline for work related materials is December 1st, which seems really far away, but surely isn’t. If you’ve got suggestions, drop me a line in the comments. Oh, and I changed over to Blogger’s comment feature, which may or may not work. If that doesn’t work hit me at blackatmichigan@hotmail.com.
Share with friendsSo looks like BAMN has been “exposed” to the U of M community. Honestly this has been some time in the making, but glad to see it’s happening in a semi-systematic manner. Below you will find the NAACP UM Chapter’s statement at last night’s MSA meeting regarding BAMN.
The University of Michigan Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People publicly denounces BAMN for their actions at the University of Michigan this past Thursday. The rally had no positive ramifications and only served to humiliate and embarrass black Michigan students and black people everywhere. The rally perpetuated myths and stereotypes about the black community that pervade this campus, nation and world. While the high school students were able to leave the campus and go home, and the white organizers of BAMN were able to go on living their privledged existences with no consequences. The black students at the University of Michigan were left to clean up the mess and reassemble their destroyed pride and dignity. Because of this under no circumstances will BAMN be allowed at any U of M Chapter NAACP meetings, which includes but is not limited to: emailing our membership, attending our events or making general announcements. If BAMN organizers would like to participate in NAACP meetings as individuals then they are more than welcome. But under no circumstances will BAMN be allowed to organize in or around the U of M Chapter NAACP in the future. On Monday, Novemeber 7, 2005 NAACP President Riana Anderson will be meeting with BAMN organizers to talk about how they can better improve their relations with the black community.
The MSA meeting was apparently quite an event. Alex Moffett outlined her version of the event in a much more detailed letter that I may post later. There are, again, a number of interesting pieces on Affirmative Action, but I was most intrigued by Mara Gay’s “The gags have got to go.” I was so intrigued by her piece that I penned a response. I’m not sure if I’m going to send it to the Daily.
My response to Mara Gay’s piece:
I appreciate Mara Gay’?s discussion of the last Thursday’?s events, but I think she misses a few key factors. First, the day of silence was designed to highlight the silence that would ensue if Affirmative Action programming was eliminated among all communities of color, not just the Black community. It is all too often that our dialogue on Affirmative Action and programs that are historically tied to it (i.e. ethnic studies, multicultural centers, etc.) are limited by a Black and White racial dialogue. While it is true that Black students compose the largest minority group on campus, it should be equally telling that other groups are underrepresented and often less “heard”? among the debates on Affirmative Action. Second, while the BAMN rally has consistently been characterized as out of control, there were a number of formerly gagged students who attempted to intervene in the chaos but were unable to change the high school students’? actions. The gags for some did come off, but their message still wasn’?t received. Third, there is the old adage that the “squeaky wheel gets the oil”?, which I believe is one major reason BAMN has consistently gotten national attention. Many progressive communities have consistently organized to amplify the voice of organizations that provide an alternative to BAMN (i.e. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Critical Moment, The Independent, etc.) but locally until recently most groups could make very little headway on getting their views represented. Now that there are more visible and acknowledged alternatives, I implore all to get involved or at least attend a meeting so that you can gain greater knowledge. It appears that now is the time for other voices to rise, but not necessarily be “loud?.” If we take the business of organizing against the MCRI seriously, then we will continue to argue with strong logic and drawing appeal to the population that is on this campus and far beyond. The majority of this state does not look like U of M, whether you measure it by class, race, sexual orientation or political orientation. So the best question that I think can be asked is, “?What type of voice and what kind of message affect the masses of Michigan?” Now that the gags are off, the squeaky wheel has been exposed, and the MCRI is forging ahead we must seriously consider how this fight for equality will be engaged and won.
After a rather quiet spell, things are really not quiet anymore on campus. I know a number of folks who are alums check in and ask about campus, well no longer will I be able to say, nothing is going on. I truly think the public denouncement of BAMN and visible support for it is new.
N.B. A story from 2001 involving MSA and BAMN. Thanks for the reminder of the history and the link Rob.
Last week we lost the life of Rosa Parks, the legendary civil rights figure. People are writing a lot about Rosa and how her decision not to give up her seat. As we reflect on those who have led us to this point, me must also ask, where are we now, and where are we going?
Rosa Parks’ body will be on display until Wednesday at the Charles H. Wright museum in Detroit.
In local campus news, last week’s National Take Affirmative Action Day, certainly had action, though not all of it affirmative. While SSAA hosted a gag-in, BAMN staged a rally with Al Sharpton. The big problem apparently occured when there were some clashes intiated by the high and middle school students that BAMN imported.
Today’s Daily has a number of stories on Affirmative Action relatd stuff. There is and editorial that compares the BAMN and SSAA event. *Ignore the fact that it states the SSAA rally piggy-backed on the BAMN rally. NTAAD is an initiave of USSA, a group that BAMN has no affiliation with, but SSAA has been affiliated with for years. Hey journalists don’t always get it right.*
There is are a couple of responses to Alex Moffett’s letter on why she was silent. Even Carl Cohen weighed in, ah gotta love him.
And finally what did the NAACP’s five fingers say to BAMN’s face? Answer= Click Here.
Looks like there is a rising tide of anti-BAMNism. This is not a new thing to folks who have been following BAMN or those involved in the Affirmative Action activism.
We will see where it all goes.
UPDATE: The Michigan Appeals court ordered the Board of Canvassers to certify the MCRI for the 2006 ballot. There is still the chance for legal challenges, but it really looks like this will be on the 2006 ballot.
I got on the bus and made my way to DC this weekend for the Millions More Movement. For those that missed it, this was the 10 year commemoration of the Million Man March. I attended the Million Man March when I was 16 and it was, arguably, one of the most powerful days of my life. My sister attended the Million Woman March, which I’m told was also powerful, despite the weather. Remarkably when I heard the prospect of the Millions More Movement, I was very hesitant to attend. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to mess up the image that I held of MMM (1995). But at the 11th hour, I decided to get on the bus (a number of U of M Black orgs put their heads and funds together to sponsor a bus to DC- good job ya’ll). After arriving to the mall at approximately 9am, I was a little skeptical that turn out was going to be strong. But as the day went on, the mall really filled out. I’m not saying it was as large as the MMM (1995) but there were certainly a large amount of people there! The speeches during the day were good, though not everyone did me proud (please see Jim Jones of the Diplomats). The crowd was in really good spirits and I ran into a bunch of old friends and associates who were on the mall listening. This MMM was designed to incorporate a range of voices from different backgrounds. Farrakhan and his co-conveners made an effort suggest the need for unity among folks of color in particular. I’m not sure that message got through to all the invited communities, judging from the overwhelmingly Black audience, but I think it’s a beginning. Farrakhan delivered a pretty strong closing address, which for some reason, struck me as suprsingly nationalist (which I don’t have beef with). I guess that’s just because it appeared to me that as time wore on Farrakhan had been getting more middle of the road. All in all it was an amazingly positive experience and I’m glad I attended.
moving through places… just had to bring back the Mos Def real quick. So I’ve been on the road a little bit, so some of this will be Michigan related, and some of it will not be.
My friend recently sent me this picture, it’s a shame that I have to share the same birthplace as that man!
Recently, I went on a nice roadtrip out to NY, but when I got to the mountains of Pennsylvania we were brought to a hault. Normally this happens when travelling back east in the winter due to snow, weather conditions,etc. but this time, there was a house in the road! There were apparently a few pre-fabricated houses that had big issues and slid off the road. Just thought this was weird, if you wanna see click here.
I didn’t get a chance to mention how I liked David Betts’ piece “Authentically American” in Wednesday’s Daily, reminds me of the old Du Bois double consciousness. I have to admit at first I was scared, thought it was gonna end up being a “thank God I’m American and not there” stuff, but I think he did a good job of getting at the tensions of a global identity. If you haven’t checked it, you should check the Souls of Black Folk, saying it’s a classic is an understatement.
On the book tip, the baba of my rites of passage recently released his first fiction novel called They Tell Me of a Home. I’ll start reading it soon, but you should check it. And if you’re reading this, you may or may not know who my baba is, but he is a genius, which is not an overstatement.
Oh, last week looks like Black folks took to the polls, well at least go polled, in a major way. Looks like 2 percent of Black folks support old G.W. Bush. So maybe Kanye was right or it’s the other way around ;)
I would comment on this opinion, but come on, is there really a need? We’ll see how I feel later.
So last week when I posted David Betts’ story on being, I missed a great letter by Riana Anderson, president of the NAACP- UM Chapter. She does a good job about raising the issue of reporting the event as student-centered, which it was not. Now of course, the question that then arises, what do you do about incidents between non-students and students? Do you crack down on non-students presence everywhere? I recently went to a local club (prior to the shooting) where they demanded my U of M id to enter, despite it being an open party.
On Tuesday, the Daily published a letter written by Sharon Lee, SCOR president,in conjunction with a number of APIA and graduate organizations on the U’s reaction to the recent alleged hate crimes. It’s a good read.
As the news of Katrina relief begins to slow from the media flourish, you’ll soon be seeing/hearing the effects of Bush and company “loosening” the Affirmative Action policies on hiring.
So Bush also nominated Miers, which was out of the blue for me, but there are some theories going around.
Lastly, if you haven’t checked it out, do check out Blackprof.com. They have good commentary and are featuring a set of guest commentators.
This is a picture of the Trotter House main floor. If you click the picture you will be taken to images of the new renovated Trotter House. After you check out the pictures, check out the Trotter House. It even features wireless now!
Photos and “Hotter Trotter” courtesy of Riana Anderson.
So for some time now, well since I’ve been at U of M, the issue of race and crime reporting comes up. In today’s Daily David Betts throws his hat in the ring about what’s wrong and what should be done. As you know, I personally love how almost every Black man available within 40 miles is indicted by each crime alert. But Betts tries to go a little deeper in his editorial. I appreciate the effort, but his call to action, is nothing more than a restatement of what he said he wasn’t interested in doing.
He opens up with…
“I was really psyched up to write my column for this week. I was going to blast the Department of Public Safety for the vague suspect descriptions and general emphasis on making sure black people don’t act up while white members of the campus community are allowed to run relatively free.”
And draws the piece to a close with…
“what we need to be doing is going to DPS and the AAPD and asking them, “What goes into a suspect description?” We need to explain to them why “baggy, hip-hop clothes” is an ineffective, racist remark. We need to ask them, “Why there is so much emphasis on having a presence at every black function?” We need to dedicate a lot of the energy spent on complaining to making sure the gentleman that was accidentally shot is OK.“
I agree with Betts that there are no easy answers. I think the answer is going to lie in a multi-fold approach institutionally: (communicating and pressuring DPS and AAPD to work on the descriptions they present), socially (fighting against stereotypes of Black men), and communally (being accountable for our actions). We can’t sacrifice anyone in this fight.
So, unless you’ve been under a rock, last week on campus news of an alleged hate crime made it to the inboxes of many at U of M. The incident involves two Asian-Americans and a White student. So the details are not yet clear, but there is a blog that has been created tracking what’s going on with the case and responses. Check it here. Though the verdict is still out, but if nothing else, we can see how quickly the APIA community at U of M mobilized to raise awareness and raise concerns. Thought for the day, if the urinating incident had happened to a Black woman, what would have been the campus reaction?
A little birdie told me that I didn’t have to pay attention to the Michigan Daily this year, except for on Wednesday’s. Wednesday features some columns by Black writers, I look forward to hearing something interesting, if not, I’m gonna have to diss that little birdie ;)
Yesterday, the Trotter House officially saw it’s revival. I didn’t make it to the re-opening, but I would be willing to post pics of the new place if folks have them. Drop me an email at blackatmichigan@hotmail.com.
And thanks to the Michigan Daily, I don’t have to worry about John Roberts and Affirmative Action. Yeah, thanks guys. I also like how they omitted how we still don’t know how he stands on things like affirmative action, how quickly files go missing from the public domain… maybe they were swallowed up by Katrina or Rita. I kinda feel like we’re in for a long ride!
So, got issues with the D? Got ideas for the future in the D? Wanna go to the D? Is your belly full but you’re still hungry? Then get that good food for thought on Friday August 26th at Belle Isle in Detroit. More details… click here! Be there or be rectangular!
