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Reasons why your vote is important tomorrow

Rob Fields — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:59:18 +0000

@blogdiva

Not Wednesday. Election Day is tomorrow. Tuesday, November 2. Anybody and everybody who cares about beating back the negativity and the racism that’s being pushed by the Republicans and the Tea Party needs to get their asses to the polls tomorrow. No excuses.

And, if you were one of those Republican-leaning independents, here’s a video that should help clarify things for you:

If that’s not enough, then take a look at these charts that show economic growth under Bush. . .

. . .and under Obama.

Oh, and if you’re concerned about jobs, then check this out:

Thanks to CultureKitchen for these charts and for the video.

Ta-Nehisi Coates on the GOP

Rob Fields — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:24:34 +0000

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a brilliant and thoughtful writer. If you haven't checked out his book, The Beautiful Struggle, please do. It's a powerful story about Ta-Nehisi and his father. He also writes a regular column for TheAtlantic.com, which is where I pulled this nugget about the Grand Old Party:

This is who they are–the proud and ignorant. If you believe that
if we still had segregation we wouldn't "have had all these problems,"
this is the movement for you. If you believe that your president is a
Muslim sleeper agent, this is the movement for you. If you honor
a flag raised explicitly to destroy this country then this is the
movement for you. If you flirt with secession, even
now, then this movement is for you. If you are a "Real
American" with no demonstrable interest in "Real America" then, by God,
this movement of alchemists and creationists, of anti-science and hair
tonic, is for you.

You can read his full post here.

NPR's List of Resources for Haiti

Rob Fields — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:29:51 +0000

Click on the logo above.

This is a place to get started. NPR isn't endorsing these charities and urges you to do your own research. In fact, a great site to check out is Charity Navigator, since it shows the percentage of funds that go to overhead vs. aid. Just so you can go in with your eyes open.

Text donations:

American Red Cross (donation link): Text "HAITI" to 90999 and $10 will be added to your phone bill.
Yele Haiti (donation link): Wyclef Jean's organization. Text "YELE" to 501501 to donate $5

A minute for Haiti

Rob Fields — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:28:36 +0000

If you're here in the States and trying to get info on family or friends who are in Haiti, you can call the State Department at 1-888-407-4747. The homepage indicates that you can donate to earthquake relief by texting 'HAITI' to 90999 and $10 will be donated towards the relief efforts.

I heard a woman being interviewed on the Rachel Maddow show say that on-the-ground estimates put the death toll at 100,000. Anyone who has even the most basic understanding of the pre-earthquake situation in Haiti knows that this is the LAST thing that needed to happen to this country.

Please say some prayers for the people of Haiti as they work to recover from this disaster.

UPDATE: You can also get more insight on the situation (pre-earthquake) via Wyclef Jean's non-profit, Yele Haiti.

Professor Henry Louis Gates arrested for breaking into his own house?

Rob Fields — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:33:36 +0000

Apparently police, responding to a report of breaking and entering in the affluent Cambridge neighborhood, arrested Harvard University's Henry Louis Gates, the pre-eminent black scholar in America. Turns out Gates put his shoulder to his front door, which was stuck, and was seen by a white woman who then called the cops.

As Gawker puts it:

So in case you were wondering: No, not even the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, in the sanctuary of his own home, which is itself practically in the middle of the most prestigious university in the world, which is Gates' employer and playground, is immune from getting hassled because he is black.

Oh, and the white lady who called the cops on him, Lucia Whalen? She's a fundraiser for Harvard Magazine.

That's rich.

Between this and the recent incident at the Philly pool, it's enough to make you wonder how far we still have to go. I mean, in an era of the first black president, the struggle for racial justice is hardly over.

Additional links:

Sharp commentary on the Philly pool situation

Rob Fields — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:15:00 +0000

I've been digging Elon James White's video series This Week In Blackness since I got hipped to it a few weeks ago. Great commentary on the news of the day, particularly as it relates to race and some of the silly beliefs that undergird how this country thinks about it.

In this short spot, Elon shares his thoughts on the situation in last week in Philly where some 60 black children were kicked out of a pool because it was felt "that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club."

Anyway, here's an overview of the situation here on Jack & Jill Politics.

Additional link:

This Week In Blackness

So much Michael

Rob Fields — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:40:20 +0000

Lots being written about the Michael Jackson in these days following his untimely death. Here's just the tip of the iceberg that I've seen:

VIbe Magazine's Danyel Smith: "He gave himself to the world. And Michael Jackson left nothing but blood on the dance floor."
The Nation's John Nichols: "He projected into the world (the genius and strength) of African-American culture."
Nelson George: "Along with Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, and so many other media legends, Michael made the '80s a golden age for black pop culture."
An appraisal by the NY Times' Jon Pareles: "In the end, the superstar and the recluse were not so far apart. "
Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth: Michael Jackson is Gone, But The Sad Facts Remain
Duke University's Mark Anthony Neal: Dear Michael: Love Letters from Cyberspace
Author Eisa Ulen: "Even when he pissed us off, we understood him. Who among us doesn't understand internalized self-hatred? Whether we were light or dark, trying to survive in a white neighborhood or trying to survive in the 'hood – we all knew what he was going through."
Filmmaker Ralph Richardson: "Before Obama, there was Michael Jackson, a talented, welcoming figure that could bring white and black people together. "
Ebony Magazine's Bryan Monroe's Q&A with Michael from December 2007: Michael on the state of the music business: "I think the answer is just phenomenal, great music. Just reaching the
masses. I think people are still searching. There’s not a real musical
revolution going on right now, either. But when it’s there, people will
break a wall down to get to it. I mean, ‘cause before Thriller, it was
the same kind of thing. People were NOT buying music. It helped to
bring everybody back into the stores. So, when it happens, it happens."
The Rev. Al Sharpton eulogizing Jackson outside the Apollo Theater: "Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color, way before
Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama,"
Sharpton said. "Michael did with music what they later did in sports
and in politics, and in television. And no controversy will erase the
historic impact."

Apes, police violence and diversity

Rob Fields — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:57:35 +0000

By now–particularly if you live in or around New York City–you're aware of how much sh*t the NY Post stepped in by publishing the above cartoon by cartoonist Sean Delonas earlier this week.

While there's been a lot of coverage on the cartoon and the subsequent uproar, two items in particular stand out to me and are really worth sharing.

First, over at Jack & Jill Politics, Baratunde Thurston talks about the work of UCLA psychologist Philip Goff, who has studied the link between seeing blacks as apes, monkeys, etc and treating them brutally." He writes:

In short, what Dr. Philip Goff and his colleagues have found is a clear connection between the psychology of racism and real harm to black people. Further, they have been working with police departments across the nation to study their records, analyze their people and adjust their training in order to save the lives of black people and improve the effectiveness of policing. This is truly where the academy meets the streets.

While it's not the same, it makes me think of the process that the military uses to get soldiers to think of the enemy as sub-human. All the easier to kill them, right?

At the same time, I came across this post on diversity by Dr. Lester Spence:

There are at least two reasons why affirmative action, or programs that increase diversity “for diversity’s sake” are beneficial even when there are no substantive differences in the outlook between the various “diverse groups.”

The first is psychological. I don’t think I’ll ever forget my middle son’s response when I asked him why he was going to vote for Obama in the mock election:

Because white people need to know black people can do it too.

He understands at 8 what it takes years for some to understand–this isn’t about black self-esteem, at all. Whites need to routinely be exposed to non-whites (and women) in positions of power, regardless of attitudes, so their conception of power, their conception of (in this case) what it means to be American can change and grow. And we need to see this too, so our own conception of what our country is capable of can change. Note this has nothing to do with US. We routinely accomplish without the need for “role models.”

But the second thing is material. In order to stave off societal death as long as possible, we need to have our cultural and human capital distributed as widely as possible. Having non-whites in positions of power and authority does that–regardless of the attitudes and policy stances those non-whites take. We cannot solve our current crisis if we continue to rely on a subset of our population for answers to our problems, just as we cannot hope to win any modern war if even 10% of the eligible population is sitting on the sidelines.

So, in the first case, I think it's important to point out a clear link–in case anyone was wondering why this was a big deal–between the dehumanization of Blacks and increased levels of police violence against us. And it's unconscionable that the NY Post didn't get that the culture has shifted, that our first African American president has basically tied his presidency to the "stimulus bill," and that any reference to "stimulus bill" and apes would be seen as a reference to Obama. Moreover, it's unacceptable that with one cartoon, the Post seems to be giving encouragement to the assassination of a President.

But, see, this is where it would've been extremely helpful to have a diverse workforce among the editorial staff of the Post, as Dr. Spence points out. If there were more people of color involved in this kind of editorial review, somebody could've flagged this and caught it before it went to press. It's stupid not to be more aware of the cultural landmines that are out there if you're a big-city daily newspaper. Not that it wouldn't have happened, but I suspect the chances would've been significantly lower if the Post had its "cultural and human capital distributed as widely as possible".

Finally, why should I live in the most diverse city in the country and be insulted by one of our major newspapers? It just shows how, even though much as changed, there's still a lot of work to be done.