I'm well acquainted with reviews and critical writing. I used to write articles of that nature for a living. Ten years of writing my opinions about politics, social justice issues, books, films. I've been teaching creative and academic writing for the past 15 years. I am quick on my feet intellectually speaking, and as a semi-retired dancer, literally speaking. However, I've been introduced to a young man whose rhetorical and critical skills are both stunning and heartwarming. Check out New York-based Jay Smooth's video: "How To Tell People They Sound Racist." He nails both the concept and the practice with metaphorical grace. For those of us who have trouble getting the point, he provides that often missing piece of information: Why this is important. Nice move, Mr. Smooth.
You can find Jay Smooth and his vlogs at illdoctrine.com
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
President of the Diaspora
So, what I want to know is, how is our current president expected to "[tamp] down the emotions of the case" as Peter Baker and Helene Cooper report in today's New York Times?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/politics/25gates.html
"The case" being the arrest of the "belligerent" Dr. Gates on his own front porch in Cambridge, MA. Everyone is taking sides and placing bets. I'm in. Post-racial America has gone up in smoke and down in the ashes of illusion. History has risen up to greet us once again. The systemic nature of race, class, law and 'order' is staring us down head on, like an oncoming train. How will we transform ourselves in time to avoid the crash and burn? Stay tuned and fasten your seat belts because the ride promises to get even bumpier, as if that were possible. I'm keeping my eyes wide open and my pen poised to sift through the rhetoric and the behavior.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/politics/25gates.html
"The case" being the arrest of the "belligerent" Dr. Gates on his own front porch in Cambridge, MA. Everyone is taking sides and placing bets. I'm in. Post-racial America has gone up in smoke and down in the ashes of illusion. History has risen up to greet us once again. The systemic nature of race, class, law and 'order' is staring us down head on, like an oncoming train. How will we transform ourselves in time to avoid the crash and burn? Stay tuned and fasten your seat belts because the ride promises to get even bumpier, as if that were possible. I'm keeping my eyes wide open and my pen poised to sift through the rhetoric and the behavior.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Man in Blue (or one of them)
As I sat and reflected this afternoon on Dr. Gates, my brother, my next door neighbor, Rodney King, my father, my friends and my own experiences with the police, I remembered one of my encounters with an arrogant, nasty, male, power-abusing member of the Oakland Police Department (OPD).
15-20 years ago, a squad car pulled up beside me as I sat in my parked car in front of the house next door to mine. The male police officer in the car asked me why I was parked in the wrong direction. It was common for cars to park in any direction on our block and it had been so for many years. I’d never received a ticket for doing so and I never saw any of my neighbors with tickets on their cars for ‘wrong direction parking’. The abusive male police officer sat in a squad car with his younger, blonde, female partner at the wheel. After I explained that I was waiting for another driver to vacate the parking space in front of my house, this truly nasty man decided that he needed to respond to my explanation by telling me that I needed to thank him and call him “sir.” As a matter of fact, he told me that I needed to say, “yes sir” to him in response to his query. It was as if I had no right to answer his question with an intelligent explanation. I believe that it was the intelligence that set him off. This intelligence sets many men and privileged people of various backgrounds off because “no one likes a smart nigger.” That’s an old saying, and one that bears weight and has done so for far too long. Basically, I break stereotypes in many ways, one of those ways being my high level of and depth of intelligence. Once I open my mouth, it’s all over for those who are threatened by intelligence. Of course, this is their problem, but it can become my problem in some instances. In this instance it had the potential to become a very big problem in that I could come to physical harm. My parents who both grew up in Jim Crow south had prepared me well for situations like this, as had my life in America of 40 years.
This tells the story of just how racist America is. Yes, I live, and many of us live in a police state and yes, those people in uniforms who carry guns on their persons far too often push the limits of power and in doing so, abuse us. I’m still angry that I couldn’t do anything about my situation of 15 or 20 years ago since none of my neighbors were outside. I looked. Not one person was out on his steps, in her driveway or standing in front of her house. It would have been much easier to avoid this outrageous encounter if someone else had been present to witness it. In addition, the young woman officer who was driving the squad car looked away when I looked over at her after her partner told me to revise my answer and “sir” him. Since I had no backup, I said “Yes sir” and he replied with something nasty like “That’s more like it.” Then he and the silent young blonde woman police officer drove off in their Oakland Police Department registered vehicle. However, I couldn’t see a car number and I had no name to use in filing a complaint. So, basically a ‘wanna be slave master’ lived his dream on my block on 62nd Street in North Oakland.
So, when I read about the events of Dr. Gates’ arrest and I read the stupid, droning opinion pieces and supposed news reports of this situation, I get angry all over again because I don’t think I’ve heard one intelligent thing said about it, except for the attempts at reporting the events as they unfolded. The rest of the noise has been just that, noise, and I’m not just referring to the media in terms of conservative, liberal, democratic or republican. There’s been far too much noise on all sides and far too little thoughtfulness. That’s what’s been missing, thoughtfulness. I can no longer give my attention to the rest.
15-20 years ago, a squad car pulled up beside me as I sat in my parked car in front of the house next door to mine. The male police officer in the car asked me why I was parked in the wrong direction. It was common for cars to park in any direction on our block and it had been so for many years. I’d never received a ticket for doing so and I never saw any of my neighbors with tickets on their cars for ‘wrong direction parking’. The abusive male police officer sat in a squad car with his younger, blonde, female partner at the wheel. After I explained that I was waiting for another driver to vacate the parking space in front of my house, this truly nasty man decided that he needed to respond to my explanation by telling me that I needed to thank him and call him “sir.” As a matter of fact, he told me that I needed to say, “yes sir” to him in response to his query. It was as if I had no right to answer his question with an intelligent explanation. I believe that it was the intelligence that set him off. This intelligence sets many men and privileged people of various backgrounds off because “no one likes a smart nigger.” That’s an old saying, and one that bears weight and has done so for far too long. Basically, I break stereotypes in many ways, one of those ways being my high level of and depth of intelligence. Once I open my mouth, it’s all over for those who are threatened by intelligence. Of course, this is their problem, but it can become my problem in some instances. In this instance it had the potential to become a very big problem in that I could come to physical harm. My parents who both grew up in Jim Crow south had prepared me well for situations like this, as had my life in America of 40 years.
This tells the story of just how racist America is. Yes, I live, and many of us live in a police state and yes, those people in uniforms who carry guns on their persons far too often push the limits of power and in doing so, abuse us. I’m still angry that I couldn’t do anything about my situation of 15 or 20 years ago since none of my neighbors were outside. I looked. Not one person was out on his steps, in her driveway or standing in front of her house. It would have been much easier to avoid this outrageous encounter if someone else had been present to witness it. In addition, the young woman officer who was driving the squad car looked away when I looked over at her after her partner told me to revise my answer and “sir” him. Since I had no backup, I said “Yes sir” and he replied with something nasty like “That’s more like it.” Then he and the silent young blonde woman police officer drove off in their Oakland Police Department registered vehicle. However, I couldn’t see a car number and I had no name to use in filing a complaint. So, basically a ‘wanna be slave master’ lived his dream on my block on 62nd Street in North Oakland.
So, when I read about the events of Dr. Gates’ arrest and I read the stupid, droning opinion pieces and supposed news reports of this situation, I get angry all over again because I don’t think I’ve heard one intelligent thing said about it, except for the attempts at reporting the events as they unfolded. The rest of the noise has been just that, noise, and I’m not just referring to the media in terms of conservative, liberal, democratic or republican. There’s been far too much noise on all sides and far too little thoughtfulness. That’s what’s been missing, thoughtfulness. I can no longer give my attention to the rest.
Law Enforcement
This week I've heard enough law enforcement stories to last me for a lifetime. My friends had a visit from law enforcement when they failed to make a prenatal care appointment (no kidding!). Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was handcuffed on his front porch as he and the driver of his airport transit car were suspected of breaking and entering his own home in Cambridge, MA. Police state, police brutality, abuse of power, got a gun got a badge got a uniform makes right—all of this is swirling around and forming more poetry. "Land of the free and home of the brave," my ass. The 'free' are those who abuse power and the brave are those who refuse to believe that the 'free' are anything more than cowards. The true brave and free are those who speak truth to power and stand for something of value. What do you have to say? Who do you speak truth to? What do you stand for?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Hot as Hell
Folks are saying that it only got to 98 degrees in PH today. Only? How hot does it have to get before they admit that Dante's Inferno just might be a reality. Thank God for cross ventilation, 78 degrees at 9:30 pm and the promise of an overnight low of 58. Yeah, I know, I'll believe it when I feel it which I might not be able to because inside my house it's still 90-something. On to the rice dream.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The things of the dead and the living
This was one of my deeper thoughts a few weeks ago when my brother emailed me and said that he didn't want to go through our recently deceased aunt's purse because he felt strange about it. I'm amazed at the depth of compassion and insight that I can muster for other people.
"I understand how you feel about going through Aunt Mary's things. I think that is a part of the legacy our ancestors leave for us. We all will at some point in our lives have the experience of 'going through the things of the dead', the things they leave behind for us to settle for them and the things we have to settle for ourselves. I guess it's a 'coming to terms' with things as they now are as a result of the change that their lives and deaths have made in our lives."
Our cousin passed away in late February and our aunt passed in late March. Our mother has Alzheimer's dementia and heart health challenges. This is no fun at all.
I've been suffering from back, neck and shoulder problems from a past auto accident. Some days all I can do is lay flat on my back because that's the only time I don't hurt. I keep a towel at work so that I can lay on the floor and read student's papers, which is a good portion of my job. One of the folks at work was kind enough to make me a stand on which I can place my papers while I type and write feedback for students. I've never been a complainer and all of this asking for accommodations and adjustments at work and elsewhere makes me uncomfortable. I can't sit for long periods of time, so when I go to church, I end up standing in the back of the sanctuary for part of the service. I get uncomfortable about this because it brings attention to me. People see me get up at odd times and walk down the aisle. This makes me nervous, so I wait until the last possible minute, until I'm so uncomfortable I have no choice but to get up from my seat.
Where this all leads is back to the beginning. I can muster up quite a bit of compassion for others and not nearly enough for myself.
"I understand how you feel about going through Aunt Mary's things. I think that is a part of the legacy our ancestors leave for us. We all will at some point in our lives have the experience of 'going through the things of the dead', the things they leave behind for us to settle for them and the things we have to settle for ourselves. I guess it's a 'coming to terms' with things as they now are as a result of the change that their lives and deaths have made in our lives."
Our cousin passed away in late February and our aunt passed in late March. Our mother has Alzheimer's dementia and heart health challenges. This is no fun at all.
I've been suffering from back, neck and shoulder problems from a past auto accident. Some days all I can do is lay flat on my back because that's the only time I don't hurt. I keep a towel at work so that I can lay on the floor and read student's papers, which is a good portion of my job. One of the folks at work was kind enough to make me a stand on which I can place my papers while I type and write feedback for students. I've never been a complainer and all of this asking for accommodations and adjustments at work and elsewhere makes me uncomfortable. I can't sit for long periods of time, so when I go to church, I end up standing in the back of the sanctuary for part of the service. I get uncomfortable about this because it brings attention to me. People see me get up at odd times and walk down the aisle. This makes me nervous, so I wait until the last possible minute, until I'm so uncomfortable I have no choice but to get up from my seat.
Where this all leads is back to the beginning. I can muster up quite a bit of compassion for others and not nearly enough for myself.
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