JOHN CHUCKMAN

POSTED RESPONSES TO A COLUMN BY KONRAD YAKABUSKI IN TORONTO’S GLOBE AND MAIL

“…politician’s latest blunder could prove to be his last…”

I very much doubt it.

You know, there is no cure for stupidity.

And this guy’s pathetic constituents have stuck with him through scandal after scandal.
_________________________________________

“The puzzle is why can’t a black person (with very few exceptions) not start or run a business however small?”

That is a very true observation.

Of course, there are some who do, but the number has always been remarkably small.

And this hatred of hard-working Korean or Chinese immigrants who do immediately start small businesses in run-down neighborhoods is not new.

Of course, it is doubly stupid because in many cases such little businesses bring to a neighborhood goods and services which did not previously exist. Imagine being without a grocery store and not having a car in a sprawling run-down area?

Ghettos across America are notable for their lack of stores. Big companies do not like the crime risks, blacks often do not fill the need, but Asian migrants come and offer a needed service.

A couple of decades back, there was a much publicized event in New York with groups of blacks literally terrorizing a Korean grocer for weeks.

Their reason: they thought he was too vigilant of some of them concerning shoplifting.

I can’t help being fascinated by the Trayvon Martin case – by the way the events are unfolding and the ways in which narratives are being constructed and white supremacy is being exposed. It’s interesting to hear the many “takes” on the situation, including the following gems of cognition:

• George Zimmerman isn’t white; he can’t be racist.
• Black and Latino parents shouldn’t allow their sons to wear things that incite fear in white people.
• Trayvon Martin was no angel; he’d recently been suspended from school.  This suggests that Trayvon was probably up to no good on February 26th. So George Zimmerman was simply being proactive, eliminating a threat before it became one.
• When police arrived on the scene, Zimmerman’s back was allegedly grass-stained and wet.  Also allegedly, he suffered from a bloody nose and other injuries to his face and head. This indicates that shooting Trayvon Martin was a matter of self-defense.  I say “allegedly” because, as yesterday’s tape shows, what we see and what we’re told don’t exactly add up…
• And finally, nobody gets this upset when Black people kill Black people, sooooo…

I’m not sure how to spell the sound a record makes when it scratches and stops. But suffice it to say that now is that awkward moment. The rhetorical promises of national unity embedded in lullabies of the Civil Rights Movement and the election of Barack Obama had lulled us into a post-racial hypnosis hope.

The jig is up though. And for Black conservatives who want us to drink that “I am an individual” koolaide like they have:  the jig is up for y’all too.

Folks have worked hard and reached deeply into ridiculousness to obfuscate or re-work the details of Trayvon Martin’s last hour of life – that is, if they acknowledge it at all. It is a luxury and a privilege to be able to ignore this story, finding no connection between it and your life.  The reason the story resonates so powerfully is because if it was Trayvon, then it could be any boy who looked like Trayvon:  Black, male, 17ish, dressed in clothes. Imagine how many sons and grandsons, nephews, cousins, Godsons, and friends such an arbitrary designation ensnares. The “I Am Trayvon Martin” refrain hits home because so many of us could have been.   So many of us could still be.

Last week, I asked my Black Politics class – a very culturally diverse group that includes an Asian-American, two Latinos and a Latina, an Eritrean and an Angolan, two white women, and about five Black folks – to list five national perceptions of Black Americans. I’ll share the ones I remember, but first allow me to explain why they matter – why race matters.

Racism in 2012 isn’t only recognizable at the personal level. It’s not about whether your grandparents or great-grandparents owned slaves or beat Black folks upside the head for daring to demand equal treatment. Rather, it’s about acknowledging, addressing, and owning the embedded institutional and psychological biases for which racism is responsible. Thus, it doesn’t matter that George Zimmerman isn’t white, or that he has a Black friend. He saw a Black guy wearing a hoodie in his neighborhood and grew suspicious of him on sight, which is why he pursued Martin. It doesn’t matter that George Zimmerman was bloodied and bruised by the time the police showed up. Because when you go looking for a fight, you might just find one – and you might just get your ass beat. But the most pertinent point of all is that the fight would never have happened if Zimmerman hadn’t been suspicious of a Black guy in his neighborhood wearing a hoodie in the rain. And followed him with a gun.

Moreover, Geraldo Rivera’s assertion that Black and Latino parents should keep their kids out of hoodies to keep them safe is absurd. I suppose Rivera was well-intentioned, but what if next time it’s not a hoodie that appears threatening to a George Zimmerman type? What if next time it’s a baseball cap, or a denim jacket, or a pair of Jordans, or a white t-shirt, or a pair of jeans? Why don’t we just cut to the chase and discourage Black and Latino parents from having Black and Latino sons? This way, they won’t be around to fill ordinary clothes with their brown bodies, makin ‘em all scary and shit.

Racism involves arbitrary value judgements. There’s no way to compose a comprehensive list of clothing to avoid or neighborhoods, streets, and cities into which you shouldn’t wander if you mean to stay safe. You don’t adjust to folks’ biases; you call bullshit on them.

Finally, can we desist with this “don’t be upset when racism kills a Black guy if you’re not going to be upset when Black guys kill Black guys” meme? For what it’s worth, there are rules to the street game and to street violence. In most cases (based on my experience with The First 48 and The Wire, of course), cats die the way they live.  If money or product comes up missing; if cats disrespectfully encroach upon territory, confusing who got what corners; if your top guy gets got by a rival, then there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action. And, while deplorable on its own merit, Black on Black violence and the killing of Trayvon Martin are not the same. We can and should be outraged by both, but we obscure each tragedy when we try to leverage one for the other.

Black folks often are accused of “making this into a race issue,” and seeing racial prejudice where, supposedly, none exists. Well, this time, it’s much harder to make that argument with a straight face, and expect to be taken seriously. One need not make this into a race issue. It is one because race is an issue. While sundown towns, in their overt display of intolerance for the differently hued, are now few and far between, their exclusions are no less implied. The fact remains that if your skin is too dark, there still are places where you do not belong. And there are folks, either purposely or subconsciously, who set out to enforce that implied power. I’ve read that Trayvon Martin’s family lived in the same gated community that George Zimmerman was “protecting” from him…

Right.

So what did my students say were national perceptions of Black Americans?  They say that Americans generally view Blacks as lazy, criminals, athletes or entertainers, ghetto and unsophisticated, religious, and as soul food eatin’.  To be fair, my class is but a cross-section of one university in one town.  But my students also live in the same world you and I do, which makes their perceptions nonetheless valid, and nonetheless sobering.

Despite all the progress – all the great challenges and great works championed by great Black Americans, despite the presence of a Black American family living in the White House instead of cleaning or serving it, the stereotypes continue to define us.  They relegate us to our lowest common denominator – phenotypic Blackness, and their simplest, most base interpretation of Blackness.  In other words, you ‘d be hard pressed to find a Negro that wasn’t a lazy, chicken-eating, church-going hoodrat criminal.  Nothing could be farther from the truth, but that’s the prevailing narrative.  And it’s why race still matters.

HAT TIP: By David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, the elder statesman of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, died after a months-long battle with colon cancer today, according to three sources close to the Payne family. The longtime politician was 77.

Payne announced last month he was under treatment for colon cancer but said that he expected to make a full recovery. Last week, though, his health took a turn for the worse.

He was hospitalized at Georgetown University Hospital, but on Friday was flown back to New Jersey on a medical transport. After arriving at Teterboro airport, he was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Payne, a Democrat who represented New Jersey’s 10th congressional district for 23 years, was placed in hospice care and died early this morning.

The state’s first — and currently its only — black congressman, Payne headed one of Newark’s most powerful political dynasties. His son Donald Payne Jr. is the Newark City Council president, as well as an Essex County Freeholder. His brother and lifelong political partner, William, is a former state assemblyman.

“He’s had a tremendous impact on the state, country and the world,” William Payne said.

Payne was up for re-election this year and facing a primary in June. Despite his condition, he vowed to run again only last month and refused to take a leave of absence.

A former teacher, insurance executive, city councilman, and county freeholder, Payne’s lifelong dream was to become a congressman. In 1988 he finally achieved that goal and was returned to Congress 11 times — by some of the widest margins in New Jersey congressional history.

While in the House of Representatives, Payne was known as a tireless advocate for his constituents, a champion of education and a de facto ambassador to Africa. He helped secure $100 million to help prevent and treat Malaria and HIV/AIDS, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

“New Jersey has lost one of its greatest leaders in the fight for equality and fairness for all Americans, and one of the greatest advocates for families of the Garden State,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, whose 8th district shared parts of Montclair, South Orange and West Orange with Payne.

“Donald Payne was a true trailblazer – a champion for education and civil rights who sought to combat injustice all over the world. I will greatly miss my friend and brother,” Pascrell said in a statement released this morning.

Payne was recognized in Congress for having the most supportive record on issues regarding the Northern Ireland peace process. He helped win passage of a resolution declaring the killing in Darfur genocide and he authored the Sudan Peace Act, facilitating famine relief efforts.

State Sen. Richard Codey called Payne’s legacy a strong one, and one that merits emulation at all levels of government, particularly with regard to oppressed peoples.

“He was bigger than life but never conducted himself that way,” Codey said by phone this morning. “If you were violating somebody’s rights, you better get out of the way.”

Although Payne was well-known for his interest in African affairs, Payne, for instance, also long supported peace initiatives to end sectarian violence in Ireland, Codey said.

“People always associated him with Africa and advocating for Darfur and he did, but color didn’t matter to him, just your civil rights,” he said.

HAT TIP:  PHILLY.COM

Wed, Feb. 29, 2012, 11:52 AM

By Martha Woodall, Mark Fazlollah, Kristen A. Graham, and Joseph Tanfani

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Federal authorities are investigating why a company owned by the son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was paid $450,000 by an education firm that has received millions in contracts from the Philadelphia School District, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Agents from the FBI and U.S. Treasury Department served two search warrants early Wednesday for Chaka Fattah Jr.’s records, the first at his apartment at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton.

Shulick

They also seized Fattah’s records and a computer from the Logan Square law office of David T. Shulick. He is president of Delaware Valley High School, a for-profit company that contracts with school districts to educate students with discipline problems.

The younger Fattah, 29, known as “Chip,” is owner of a consulting company called 259 Strategies L.L.C. that works as a subcontractor for Shulick’s companies. Fattah Jr. has working space at the law office.

The $450,000 payment from Shulick’s company is more than 10 percent of the approximately $4 million that Delaware Valley will receive from the School District this year.

Ron Sarachan

“We are cooperating with the investigation,” said attorney Ronald A. Sarachan, who jointly is representing Fattah with Gregory P. Miller. “We’ve been in communication with the government.”

Sarachan said he was “hopeful” that the investigation would be quickly resolved.

Shulick, who was interviewed Wednesday morning by agents at his home, said he was told that neither he nor Delaware Valley were the focus of the investigation.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the school,” Shulick said. “We have nothing to hide, and we let them in and let them search [Fattah Jr.'s] office unfettered.”

In a later e-mailed statement, Shulick said Fattah Jr. “is being victimized merely because his last name is ‘Fattah.’ “

” . . . He is dealing with issues that nobody without the last name ‘Fattah’ would have to deal with,” Shulick wrote.

The FBI has been asking questions about Fattah Jr.’s business operations for at least a year.

In January 2011, agents went to the South Florida home of Mikel Jones, a lawyer and childhood friend of Fattah Sr., as part of an investigation into Jones’ finances.

During a daylong conversation, they also asked Jones why he had paid more than $90,000 to 259 Strategies and to American Royalty, another Fattah Jr. firm that provided luxury services to well-heeled clients, according to an FBI document that summarized the conversation.

It surfaced last year in a federal fraud case against Jones. He was convicted and is appealing.

Jones, who ran a personal injury law firm, told the agents that he hired the younger Fattah to help expand his business – and because Fattah had “access,” the document said.

The FBI said Jones told them Fattah “had some good ideas, but he could not remember any of them offhand.”

“I know what this looks like, but there was no quid pro quo,” Jones told the agents, the document said.

“Did I overpay him? Was it a good investment, strictly speaking? No, but I was desperate and he had access,” Jones said. The nature of that access was not described.

In an interview with The Inquirer last year, Fattah Jr. said his work for Jones had nothing to do with providing access to his father or anyone else.

“I came up with a lot of ideas,” he said. “Mr. Jones was a client of my concierge service, and I also acted as a management consultant in terms of finding new clients for his personal injury firm, period.”

Fattah declined to go into detail on his work for Jones, but said that many of the payments from clients were used to purchase goods or services for them. American Royalty charged membership fees.

“We might get a call at 3 a.m. saying a client needs a jet in the morning,” he said in a 2007 interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal. “We have access to one of the top private jet companies in the country, so we’re able to make that happen.”

In 2007, the Capital Grille restaurant in Philadelphia filed a police report alleging that American Royalty had failed to pay a $15,000 bill. Fattah settled the tab, saying it was run up by a client.

Federal agents arrived about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday outside Fattah’s home, and at Shulick’s office shortly after 10 a.m. They left the law office about 50 minutes later, carrying a Dell desktop computer and boxes of records.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation said that while some agents were serving search warrants and collecting documents at Fattah Jr.’s residence and the law office, other agents were conducting interviews with other people, including Shulick.

Shulick said he believes that the inquiry is focused on the younger Fattah, who has been doing work for Shulick since 2009, according to documents and interviews. Shulick said Fattah Jr. works as “a contracted employee” for the law firm, the school, and his charity, the Judith B. Shulick Memorial Foundation, named for his mother.

Last May, when Shulick threw out the first pitch at a Phillies game, Fattah Jr. posted a video on YouTube.

Earlier this month, Fattah Jr. appeared before the York City school board pitching a $1.5 million contract for Delaware Valley and describing himself as the company’s director of business development, according to a published report.

Rep. Fattah has been a supporter of Shulick’s schools as well.

He sought a $375,000 federal transportation grant to replace the school’s fleet with “green clean fuel burning vehicles,” according to his website. The grant was not approved.

Rep. Fattah, whose district covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, is the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and has long pushed for education funding.

“I stand by my son,” he said in a statement. “Nothing came of the request for funds, and my son had nothing to do with any request for funds.” He said he would “await the results of the investigation before making further comment.”

His spokesman, Ron Goldwyn, said the investigation does not involve Fattah Sr. or the congressional office.

As Occupy continues to shape-shift the question for those intimately involved is what next?  How do they create structure and leadership, radical strategic goals and public politics that will define them past this initial burst of action? One prudent piece of advice is to watch out for the Democratic Party and their associates bearing gifts. Ultimately, their goal is to reduce the militancy of Occupy and to squeeze out a few votes for moderate politicians. These politicians will mostly pretend at wanting to change the political and economic order but do little once elected to challenge real contradictions of class and race. Any alliance that is not well prepared will end in cooptation. Despite the impressive beginning of the mostly white-led left leaning groupings important decisions lay ahead on how to move forward and movement build.

For those of us who are looking to create similar motion in the Black community, that has mostly not responded to the Occupy actions we must come up with an analysis of what is possible today. We have to show that we can move the black masses with actions and institutions that demonstrate a sense of power. Taking a brief look at groups that made an impact in the past using the politics of self-determination should provide some direction. Although we can’t duplicate the historical circumstances and conditions that led to the rise and prominence of these groups, we can learn some lessons from their development and take what makes sense for us in today’s environment.

In the Post-Reconstruction era the two most active outpourings of mass political organizing in the Black community took place in the 1920s and mid-century.  Each period had numerous competing political lines inclusive of a sharp upswing in nationalist sentiment.  Several factors played a role in the rise of activity and nationalism: overtly racist laws that could be battled, brutal white violence (Red-Summer/lynching’s/Jim Crow), international upheaval and the cry for self-determination and against imperialism after major European wars. There was also the advancement in international communism/socialism and revolutionary nationalism as alternative ideologies for liberation struggles that became widely known.

During these periods two organizations in the US dominated self-determination politics, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the Nation of Islam (NOI). Both were able to pierce the consciousness of a critical mass of Black people and become important carriers of the ideological dreams of large segments of the community. They focused on building organization that spoke truth to power and developing commercial enterprises that could impress and impact the larger Black community.

In relative obscurity, Marcus Garvey built the UNIA and positioned it on the world stage. Headquartered in New York, it became the largest organization in Black history, nationalist/Pan Africanist or otherwise with over 2 million members worldwide (wow imagine if UNIA had a face-book page!). Its ability to develop commerce and create institutions and customs that promoted cultural pride and self-defense gained it a legacy it still has today amongst the poor and working class Black community. Garvey and the UNIA touched an ingrained human nerve, to not ask for or even demand to be integrated into a society that discriminates against you. Instead of taking on a default position of the powerless, the UNIA focused on the desire to build a society that can lay claim to protecting the interest of your people. The powerful concept of nationalism even with all of the internal mistakes made by Garvey created a resilient support base. It took the weight of the federal government and its first COINTELPRO operation to finally cause the downfall of Garvey and eventually the movement he led. However the UNIA remained alive through Garvey’s imprisonment, deportation and death. While obviously the UNIA was left in a much weakened state after Garvey’s arrest, the idea was never completely destroyed. Every time you or I speak of self-determination or we “buy black”, we are invoking Garvey.

The Nation of Islam which derives parts of its ideology from the Garvey movement also deserves study by those interested in moving Black independent politics forward. The NOI capacity to build business enterprises particularly in the 1950’s and 1960’s, teamed with the dynamic activism of Malcolm X, and the alternative vision of building a Black society made the Nation a creditable alternative to the dominant integrationist approach of the early 1960’s.. In general, the Black working class and poor viewed the NOI as a potential protector and organizer of the community. The ability of the NOI to maintain community respect is astounding considering its trials and tribulations. The NOI has been constantly ravaged in corporate media, by mainstream politicians and Black leaders throughout its existence. It’s a Muslim organization amongst an overwhelmingly Black Christian population; it has survived its own role in the killing of Malcolm X– its leading organizer who grew to legendary status in the Black community after his assassination; COINTELPRO operations and infiltration of its leadership; the death of its leader and leading figure Elijah Muhammad followed by the temporary breakup of the organization. None of this has been enough to destroy the organization as compared to other prominent groups of the 1960’s. Less than 15 years ago, the NOI organized the largest gathering of Black people (overwhelmingly men) in the history of this country much past its own peak years.

The rhetorical abilities of Minister Farrakhan, the NOI’s still substantial business holdings, and its grassroots connections still make it relevant today, even if somewhat diminished. The NOI could become a leading force in the Black community by choosing to commit to a strategy of controlling a contiguous land mass (as its ideology states) as opposed to being spread out across the United States. But the potential confrontation with the state and the comfortable life of its top leadership, as in the past, suggest such a strategy won’t be employed.

These organizations present some obvious lessons for young activist to consider in planning out future attempts to create dynamic radical change in our community. In developing next steps for organizing, lessons can be learned from what the organizations accomplished and what they didn’t. Here are some that individuals and organizations should consider in creating a Black movement.

Lesson 1 – Choosing Geographical Spaces For Our Organizing Efforts

Both groups focused on land, but never created liberated territory. They never controlled the political apparatus of any land mass. Garvey made actual attempts in Africa, but was met with expected resistance from local and international players. In the states the UNIA and the NOI followed a similar pattern of opening up “chapters” wherever they could, but with apparent little thought to where the most strategic places to build  as opposed to the most popular areas to gain attention. The NOI in its mission statement called for the establishment of separate territory for Black people in the United States, but it did not pro-actively move its resources toward such a goal. There were passing ideas that seemed meant more for theatrics than the actual re-locating of resources and bodies where the possibilities of black control over political and economic structures could be attempted.

Today we need to choose strategic geographic locations if our goal is to push further than in the past. Without attempting this strategy our movement will always succumb to stronger forces because our access to control resources and develop economic plans will be so limited as to not matter. Broadening our approach to think more expansively than neighborhood/community organizing but more locally than national efforts. The neighborhood/community model gives us little room to win control over important local seats in government. This leaves us in a situation that makes our groups easy to squeeze by larger forces

Starting national campaigns requires a great deal of money and influence that our groups individually or collectively don’t have. This again makes us easily ignored or demagogued if necessary by national media. Specific action on a national level also bumps up against the majority support our community has for the Obama administration, so while the position might be right, it would likely result in even less community support. This is still not yet a revolutionary time in America. Efforts to discredit radical politics or militant calls are relatively easy, particularly if they come from Black organizers. Besides rhetorical cries, we won’t see any return on our effort because we won’t be able to project our message. People will counter “Look at Occupy, why can’t we do that?”  Simply put, it is a white-led movement which was able to gain media access through mass arrest. Our groups have not shown the ability or desire to sustain such an effort or to agree to move forward on such ideas. In a non-political fashion mass arrest are already taking place in our community and have not seemed to capture the attention of corporate media or have they spurred our larger community to action.

Our movement needs to recognize the political reality of our position in order to ensure that we don’t engage in plans which satisfy the few but do nothing to shift the conditions and political reality of our community. Considering the limited resources of movement groups, we have to stake out a plan of action that is strategic and worthy of our efforts. By targeting a city/town of appropriate size and demographics we can create a buffer from attack, place people in needed positions, gain access to resources and create a model of development. In addition a small city can have enough fronts of struggle to create excitement, by emphasizing the need for community organizing where we can gain solid victories. The focus on a city takes into account our strengths and weaknesses and diminishes the ability to isolate radical/progressive politics if it has support.

Lesson 2 – Individual Choice vs. Larger Community Needs; Where Should I As An Individual Organize

An analysis of where to organize should start with where can our efforts gain results. One should look at the number of fellow activists and organizations in close approximation. What is the access to resources and how they can be used to develop ideas on building commercial enterprises? What are the demographics of the community, city and state that one lives in? These should be some of the primary questions that be asked so that what can be accomplished can truly be analyzed. Many of us come from or live in neighborhoods that we want to live and organize in. However should we make a serious analysis of where to organize based on these personal sentiments? I know organizers who move for love, jobs and education all the time, most will never consider moving for the movement they sometimes swear to.

There may be a sense of abandonment if we move but it may be a self-defeating process to stay when the opportunity to make changes is limited. Does it make since for us to stay where we represent a considerable minority like in large cities but are constantly out maneuvered by larger forces? In large cities those in power easily play upon racial differences. Corporate media manipulate issues of crime and poverty and boot-strap images to convince us our poverty is self-inflicted. Police brutality is always seen as a “bad apple” issues and never systemic. Again without the resources to counter we are left “spitting in the wind”. In large numbers Black people are returning to the South for a less expensive life-style and to escape big-city police forces. Organizers must follow the people and evaluate location for where it makes sense to organize, which may not be where we are comfortable, but it is where we are needed.

Lesson 3 – Choose an Organization Carefully but Choose One.

I understand and support individual efforts to create institutions that support our community. This is sometimes led by the desire to get away from personality conflicts (I apologize to all those I conflict with who have personalities). Those aspects of social interactions that happen whenever more than one person gathers can’t be avoided, although they should be addressed. This alone should not be reason enough to stay out of political organizations. Political organizations have to do a better job of understanding the psychology and making groups more attractive as to make our groups as personally fulfilling as religious or spiritual groups, trade organizations or other groups we join for personal gain. Knowing that people today have a shorter attention span and crave immediate satisfaction from their activities is both a challenge for groups and individuals as we pursue movement building.

The importance of an organizational apparatus is that when events lead to upheavals organizations can turn those events into movements, rebellions and revolutions. Sometimes organized movements facilitate action and sometimes they are in the backdrop of so called spontaneous events (that are usually planned but make better propaganda if we are told it was organic) that cause a spark. Even in those cases loosely where organized groups or individuals help create motion, they are very rarely prepared for the outcomes. This does not mean that organizations will make the right moves but it does means they are ready to make different moves. Looking at the uprisings in North Africa and the Arab world the groups who were most organized did not necessarily start or trigger mass action. They were however able to take advantage and become the leading forces after the initial actions. While organizations can be destroyed and are constantly shifting and changing their structure and collective resources allow for movements to reach new levels and it’s important to be a part of them.

Lesson 4 – Commerce has to be part of an organizations plan, otherwise there will be no growth and no sustainability

Organizations who desire to gain the attention of the Black masses must build an economic engine that can impress the larger community and provide services to the community. As a so-called minority group who sees the riches of American capitalism everyday and is fed a diet of Horatio Alger tales – commerce matters. The ability to showcase what economic progress looks like strikes a chord in the larger Black community. This is obviously difficult to achieve because Black people post Jim Crow and the Black Power movement put less emphases on where we buy and who we buy from. In many ways a closed unequal racial economic and political order allowed for Black community economic opportunities that a more open unequal economic system does not. We can count off the number of Black targeted enterprises which are not Black owned. This is most damaging when it comes to the information industry. Discussion is either nonsensical because it’s about the celebrity and sports world, the new opiate of the masses. Or the range of debate is limited to integrationist minded liberal vs. conservative. Broader discussions are left out of corporate media because of the danger they pose in challenging American patriotism, race relations, foreign policy, etc. Corporate sponsored diversity, which means it’s ok to hire a few more Black faces as long as we get all the Black cash, will not allow discussions that go beyond the paradigm that is set.

Without a plan that is sustainable, the Black community will probably agree with the ideas espoused but will not join and support those groups. The “branding” of both the NOI and UNIA was established partly through its ability to show how working within the organizations could actually change ones economic status for the better. People who could not and did not want to achieve status in the American political system found an alternative. The NOI in particular moved from small business ventures to owning millions of dollars worth of property and land. Yes bean pies and Muhammad Speaks/Final Calls are what the nation is known for, but at one point owned restaurants, book and grocery stores and farm land. The UNIA did much the same but also ventured into eye opening enterprises to capture the imagination of the Black world.

Any plan today has to start small and has to be practical in raising money outside of the funding word and dues collection. Again depending on location, pooling relatively small sums of money can lead to small economic enterprise, like taxi companies, rental property, grocery stores, gas stations, etc. These small business ideas can be the generators of wealth for an organization that does it correctly. On a larger scale if there is a focus on taking the reins of a small city/town we can demonstrate how public/private partnerships can work, land trust ideas, and public led development. Without tackling these issues the rhetoric of change will not impress a critical mass of our people.

Conclusion

There are of course great challenges to movement building. Overreaching is a continual mistake made by movement groups. We decide to duplicate the vision of larger organizations but miss the mark on planning. The ability to create achievable strategic plans is essential in creating the conditions that can build a movement. The need for creating strong propaganda network that can highlight tangible work is a staple of any organization that wants community support. Although there are more tools open to us today, via social networking sites and other new media, we also have to contend with the over stimulation of information people receive today. Although most of it is corporate waste, it serves it purpose of keeping us intrigued with everything outside of our conditions and viable ways to address them.

Even after gaining success many pitfalls are waiting. Commerce breeds conservatism, personalities lead to disagreements and growth brings new ideological mixes that have to mold together. Of course the biggest challenge will be the State and a compliant corporate media apparatus that will work to crush by force and or propaganda anything that seems successful and is outside the paradigm of what is allowed.  However these are the problems that dedicated organizers should want to have because this means progress as opposed to living our lives in small group encampments where event planning becomes the staple for successful movement practices. This generation has to learn from both the mistakes and successes of what is now a more distant past and push to make progress that can be measured not by how many talks we give but how many lives we change by creating a real Black movement.

In the tradition of John Henrik Clarke’s classic anthology “William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond,” this volume provides a striking critique of Marable’s text. In 1968, Clarke and his assembled writers felt it essential to respond to Styron’s fictionalized and ahistorical Nat Turner, the heroic leader of one of America’s most famous revolts against enslavement. In A Lie of Reinvention, the editors sense a different threat to an African American icon, Malcolm X. This time, the threat is presented as an authoritative biography. To counter the threat, Ball and Burroughs respond with a barbed collection of commentaries of Marable’s text.

The essays come from all quarters of the Black community. From behind prison walls, Mumia Abu-Jamal revises his prior public praise of Marable’s book with an essay written specifically for this volume. A. Peter Bailey, a veteran journalist who worked with Malcolm X’s Organization for Afro-American Unity, disputes how he is characterized in Marable’s book. Bill Strickland, who also knew Malcolm X, provides what he calls a “personal critique” of the biography. Younger scholars such as Kali Akuno, Kamau Franklin, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Christopher M. Tinson, Eugene Puryear and Greg Thomas join veterans Rosmari Mealy, Raymond Winbush, Patricia Reid-Merritt, Amiri Baraka, Margo Arnold, and Karl Evanzz in pointing out historical problems and ideological misinterpretations in Marable’s work. AVAILABLE MAY 2012!

After I came across this pathetic Brigham Young University (BYU) video, I felt compelled to offer, as a Black History Month gift to y’all, a little perspective.

Black history month? Why? What for? There’s no white history month?

I trust that you’re not the one saying this right now. But if this happens to be your first line of reasoning about Black history, then the answer to “why” is “because of people like you.”

***

Why is history ever important? Because we can always do and be better. We acknowledge our shortcomings and learn from our mistakes. If we know history, we can recognize the patterns and adjust the course of action. If we know history, we can create a future that’s better than our past.

Why Black history? In a word, slavery. I don’t think folks really grasp the depth of that damage. It would ensnare generations of Black Americans over hundreds of years in struggle: for identity and dignity, acceptance and inclusion. As a result, the question remains how and where do we fit into American history? And also, how do we cement the idea that Black history is American history?

You ever seen the scramble that precedes Black people singing happy birthday to Black people? The first step usually is to decide which version we gon’ do, Stevie Wonder’s or the old tried and true. This decision, although harmless, represents what W.E.B. Du Bois called ‘double consciousness.’ Specifically, DuBois said:

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,–an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

I mean, if we choose to go the traditional route, nobody’s being “torn asunder” or nothing. It’s just that something so simple also embodies the inherent “two-ness” that is almost impossible to escape.

I consider myself pretty fair-minded when it comes to issues of race in that I don’t run screaming that every juxtaposition of Black and white is innately racist. Rather, I can accept that we’re still figuring each other out. And in that quest, there’s gotta be some room to ask questions without fear of judgment or scorn.

Nonetheless, I’m sensitive about our disconnectedness from Blackness (by using this term, i don’t mean to imply that there exists a universal and comprehensive approach to Black culture. However, for many of us, we can call it when we see or feel it, even if we can’t settle on intellectual definition or description of it.). It simply isn’t enough to pay homage to Black history by using some baritone-voiced brotha to narrate McDonald’s commercials. Or by using PSA-type interludes between shows to proudly announce that NBC or whoever “celebrates Black History Month.” Celebrate how? By saying the words? The major networks don’t even play Roots anymore.

I hate that the cats – Black folks included – at BYU “turn to BET” or watch the commercials to honor Black History Month in January, March, or April “or something like that”. I hate that Martin Luther King, Jr. is oftentimes the only luminary of Black history that ever comes to mind for folks. Malcolm X gets a little play, but he was “like, um, bad.” And that’s about the extent of it. A couple of years ago, I was discussing one of my Black Politics courses with an American immigration attorney who seemed well-versed in matters of European and Latin American history and culture. Met with Black Politics though, she said: “Black Politics? What is that, like, Martin Luther King?”

-___-

I’m offended by the lack of reverence for Black culture – from my own folks, and from others. Even as a Black man (he’s biracial, yes. But judging by his Al Green skills, culturally, he Black) presides over the United States of America, and the free world, folks know little to nothing about Black history and culture. For example, the dude doing the interviewing in the BYU video is doing it in Black face makeup. But more importantly, of all the students he interviewed, only 3 recognized that something wasn’t right about homie’s face. It’s not ok to be this oblivious, but it is possible because the students don’t have to know any better. Not that they don’t know any better; they don’t even have to.

In the last two years, I’ve taught several courses at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and my students’ insistence on running as far away from Blackness or Black history never ceases to amaze me. They want desperately to assert their individuality (which is cool), but do so by ignoring and even trivializing their ancestral history. While enrolled Howard University, a premier predominantly Black college, these lil cats wanna convince themselves that living while Black plays little to no significant role in their lives. Ok.

To be sure, one can transcend race. But for how long? And how much of your soul and consciousness must you sign over in order to be post-racial? How much of your history are you willing to forget or let slide? How much shit are you willing to swallow? Let’s go back to this BYU video for a second. The interviewer asks, “would you rather date a Black guy who acts like a white guy? Or a white guy who acts like a Black guy” The question itself is ridiculous, but that’s neither here nor there because the folks answered it. And answered confidently. One girl responds, “white guys that act like Black guys are kinda tools…” But a Black guy that acts a like a white guy? “…is good. Classy.”

Just so we’re clear, guys “acting like Black guys” = bad. Guys “acting like white guys” = “good.” There’s a song by Big Bill Broonzy that goes:

If you is white, you’s alright,
if you’s brown, stick around,
but if you’s black, hmm, hmm, brother,
get back, get back, get back

yeah…

But it’s not just “them” who perpetuate narratives of inferiority as they relate to Black Americans. It’s “us” too; we still celebrate the fortuitousness of being born with lighter skin and “gooder” hair. Appreciating natural hair and dark skin required effort, an almost-movement. And I mean, preference is preference, but Black folks’ complexion obsession (the contemporary manifestation of field- and house-slave tensions) still has the power to divide and devalue. And still does. See the Dark Girls documentary if you think this race stuff remains much ado about nothing.

So what next? What do we do?

Stop revising history. Stop whitewashing it. Stop dismissing it as something old, and therefore irrelevant.

Stop pretending like slavery didn’t institutionalize and inculcate (to a certain extent) racism. Stop pretending that Black Americans with their ancestry firmly rooted in America don’t have some legitimate beefs and a legitimate ax to grind with America. It is a complicated relationship imbued with egregious and protracted acts of disregard and denials of human dignity which were codified by policy.

Policy – what we stand for; what we value; who we value.

It was hard to escape Blackness this weekend, as Whitney Houston’s home going celebration seemed to be broadcast everywhere. As resistant as I am to religion, I can’t escape the enormous gravitational pull of the Black church. That music, that spirit, that connection between the ancestors and the living, and the spirit of God. It penetrates the soul, and soothes it. It is fortifying. It is uniquely ours – Black Americans’, and the world got a glimpse into what is, perhaps, as a culture, our greatest source of strength.

So what now? What next? We must celebrate Black history – and all folks’ histories – by being honest about them, and embracing the entire spectrum; the good, the bad, the ugly, the shameful. Don’t change the narrative to make it more palatable, or to make historical aggressors seem less fucked up. Tell it like it was and let us create the tools to work our way through it.

We have to acknowledge our differences and embrace the role they play, have played, or will play in our lives.

Moreover, the solution lies first in Black folks loving being Black, and all that it implies and encompasses. We have to love the triumphs and trials – Barack Obama and Flavor Flav. And our non-Black brethren gotta know that our group has room for both, and yet, is not solely defined
by either. Just as the best and worst among your group, doesn’t comprehensively tell your story.

In other words, see us like we see you. Acknowledge and respect our culture like we must also do for you.

I LOVE being Black. The history and cultural traditions are so rich, and so empowering. I wouldn’t trade it for all the good credit and enunciated r’s in the world. While I celebrate Blackness at every opportunity, you, technically, only have to do it for a month – and for the shortest month at that. Try this: take Black History Month as an opportunity to get to know us, collectively. If you do and someone ever asks how you celebrated Black History Month, you’ll have more to say than “I have a Black friend; I watched BET; I listened to 50 Cent.”

Ignorance is a disease, friends. Let us arm ourselves accordingly.

Come Together is a record most British fans of the indie genre would know well as a track that stradles the boundaries of indie rock and acid house music. It’s a remix of a gospel-inspired Primal Scream track that appeared on their critically accaimed ‘Screamadelica’ album of 1991, a collaboration between the band and house DJ Andy Weatherall. The track embodies the euphoric idealism of the acid house movement in the UK, melding synthesised sounds with acoustic brass and a slow thumping beat and a gospel choir’s refrain “come together as one”.

Its eclecticism mirrors the the message of a sampled speech from the beginning which reads as follows:

“This is a beautiful day… It is a new day… We are together, we are unified… and all in accord… Because together we got power… ”

“Today on this program you will hear gospel, and rhythm and blues, and jazz. All those are just labels. We know that music is music”

The speech sampled is Jesse Jackson’s from the 1972 Wattstax Music Festival in Watts, Los Angeles that was celebrated in the 1973 movie documentary Wattstax by Mel Stuart. The speech, it seems, sits perfectly with Primal Scream’s eclectic music and the unity sentiment of Come Together.

However, if you’ve ever seen the Wattstax speech, you’ll notice some glaring omissions: words among these words spoken by Jesse Jackson that were cut from the sample (rendered here in bold type).

“This is a beautiful day… It is a new day… it is a day of black awareness, it is a day of black people taking care of black people’s business… We are together, we are unified… and all in accord… Because together we got power… and we can make desisions… ”

“Today on this program you will hear gospel, And rhythm and blues, and jazz. All those are just labels. We know that music is music… All of our people have got a soul, our experience determines the texture the tastes and the sounds of our soul. We may say that we are in the slums but the slums are not in us… We have shifted from bed bugs and dog ticks to community control and politics”

Jackson went on to recite the Civil Rights era call-and-response poem ‘I am somebody’ (see a great version here).

From the speech Primal Scream clearly ommitted the refernces to the black community, giving the illigitimate impression of the speech as a universal claim for music and togetherness. When Jackson refers to togetherness and unity he is refering to the Afro-American community which had its own divisions at the time.

Now, the point of this post is not to cry foul at the band’s censorship of some important aspects of the speech but to ask: what can music mean to us?

The edited speech by Primal Scream points to an idealistic universalisation of music that all genres are just labels, music is music and it unifies people and gives them power. This fits well with the acid house ethos and Primal Scream’s own eclecticism that borrows heavily from black traditions.

But Jackson’s speech’s message is far from this cosy glow of universal appreciation and empowerment: ‘All of our people have got a soul [and] our experience determines the textures, the tastes, the sounds of our soul’. Jackson’s speech contradicts the universalist message, his message is one of identity politics: he says “our experience determines [our soul]“, not ”we have a soul regardless of experience“.

In this sense black music comes from a black (“our”) consciousness that is a result of the stuggles of black existence in the US: poor housing, under-employment, prejudice and so on.

Primal Scream are of course white Europeans who could never really know what it feels like to be black and poor in the USA. But perhaps we – all of us – can ‘feel’ the pains and joys of a black consciousness (or consciousnesses) vicariously in the music of black artists like Isaac Hayes and Marvin Gaye. So while musical invention can perhaps only be determined by a community experience, its enjoyment – its fulfilment – can bridge the vicarience of community experience.

Primal Scream’s selective borrowing underscores this: a component of experience is lost on us but found in us when we enjoy such music, the same can be said for the music of any time, place or struggle. Knowing it is impossible, but feeling it is for the taking from the music of those that know it.

And that, brothers and sisters, is a recipe for solidarity.

By Raynard Jackson

As America celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday this week and is getting ready to celebrate Black History Month in February, I have reflected on the state of liberalism and its impact on the Black community and have concluded that I am very confused!

What am I confused about?  Before Obama’s election as president, no one thought we would ever see a Black person elected president because of racism.

Since Obama has been elected president, can one reasonably postulate that racism has become less of an issue?  If the answer is no, then how do you explain Obama’s election?  Remember, conventional wisdom was that America was too racist and would never elect a Black president (and remember, whites are still a majority of the electorate, so therefore, there were a lot of whites who voted for Obama).

If the answer is yes, then why do liberals constantly blame the plight of Blacks on racism?  You can’t have it both ways.

So, whites are too racist to care about the plight of Blacks, but no longer too racist to vote for a Black candidate for president?

Is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president that took almost two years before he met with the Congressional Black Caucus (despite meeting with gay and Hispanic groups sooner and more frequently); is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president who told the CBC last September to “stop complaining” [about him not doing anything for the Black community]; is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president who has fewer Blacks in his administration than George W. Bush?

Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver (from Kansas City, MO and Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus) famously said last year, “if Obama was white, we would be marching on the White House.”  Cleaver was making reference to Obama not paying attention to the Black community.

Here you have the first Black president of the U.S. who is doing everything in his power to ignore the very community that gave him 96% of their vote.  And people like Cleaver are giving Obama a pass simply because he Black?

Why was there no outcry from the NAACP, the Urban League, Al Sharpton, or Jesse Jackson about Cleaver’s racist comment?  So, it’s racist when a white person in power ignores the Black community, but it’s ok if a Black person in power does the same thing?

King fought and died for the principles he believed in.  King constantly criticized both Kennedy brothers over civil rights; he constantly criticized Johnson over Vietnam.  I can’t imagine King giving Obama a pass simply because he was Black.  His moral compass would not have allowed him to remain silent.

Cleaver, and those who think like him, does a great disservice to everything that King stood for.

There are more Black elected officials than ever before, but the pathologies in our community are getting worse (unemployment, crime, teenage pregnancy, etc.).

Who is to blame for this?  White folks?  Devall Patrick, the Black governor of Massachusetts, has not improved the plight of Blacks in his state.  David Dinkins (New York), Tom Bradley (Los Angeles), Coleman Young (Detroit), all former mayors, never improved the plight of Blacks in their cities with their liberal policies.  Was that because of racism also?  The two exceptions to this were former mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson and former mayor of Washington, DC, Marion Barry.  Why were they so different than the other Black mayors?

They focused on increasing Black entrepreneurship by increasing more opportunities for private sector and government contracting.  These two mayors created many Black millionaires, who created jobs, and hired people who paid taxes and helped to create stable communities.

So, on the one hand, Blacks said America would never elect a Black because of racism.  Blacks then turn around and say Obama can’t do anything to specifically address the needs in the Black community because of racism (meaning white racist will accuse Obama of being partial to Blacks).

I am confused!

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm.  He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com), Freedom’s Journal Magazine (www.freedomsjournal.net), and U.S. Africa Magazine (www.usafricaonline.com).

Watch award-winning author and filmmaker M.K. Asante deliver Vanderbilt’s annual Walter R. Murray Jr. Lecture. Hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a rare, remarkable talent that brings to mind the great artists of the Harlem Renaissance,” Asante is the author of three celebrated books and films. Murray was the first African American to serve on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust and is a founder of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni.

BlackmanVision, Ragga Gyal D’bout!, 1993

Short documentary on the outrageous female fans of ragga––dancehall music. The three women speak out about how ragga music is the only music that glorifies big women and dark-skinned African descent women.

ReelTRAILER

2011, 1:01

Contemporary Swedish filmmaker Göran Olsson has edited documentary footage of the Black Power Movement, shot by a group of Swedish journalists. Released in 2011, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 features Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Bobby Seale. The film received the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

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