Book Review by Brittany Brown

Ghettonation

By: Cora Daniels

The author, Cora Daniels, is an award-winning journalist, and she describes in the book, Ghettonation, the process in which the behavior that is typically associated with African-Americans in the inner-city, i.e. the ghetto, is becoming more prevalent in mainstream America. Daniels identifies particular characteristics that she has noticed in her thirty years as an observer of “ghetto” behavior that she feels qualifies her as an expert on the phenomenon. Also, Daniels acknowledges that this phenomenon is afflicting significant segments of blacks in the country, and that this is a negative phenomenon that perpetuates negative stereotypes of African-Americans. However, before a critical analysis of the text can be given, an explanation of what Daniels means by “ghetto” is needed.
The most common denotation of “ghetto” is usually something similar to the following: an economically depressed community inhabited by low-income minorities. It is a physically tangible place, with borders that can be entered and exited. This is indeed similar to the definition that is given by Daniels, but her introduction offers multiple  denotations in the form of a dictionary excerpt. Among them is that “ghetto” means “behavior that makes you say ‘Huh?,’actions that seem to go against basic home training and common sense,” and also that it is “used to describe something with inferior status or limited opportunity...”

Two things should be of note with these definitions. The first is that obviously, the term “ghetto,” for Daniels, comes with negative connotations. Second, as opposed to the first definition of “ghetto,” the latter definitions indicate not a place that one can just travel to, but a state of mind. This is a claim that Daniels tends to follow throughout the length of the book. It is that the idea of “ghetto” is no longer reserved for locations. Daniels’ ghetto is a mindset that individuals can have in their heads, so this shows that not just the area is “ghettoized” or affected negatively, but there also exists this same infection within the people.

There is much to say about this connotation of the word though. Sure it is used quite frequently by many in the manner that Daniels uses it, but Daniels’ proclamation that “ghetto” is infiltrating mainstream America is a bit overblown. In the introduction to the book, Daniels describes two television incidents that made her realize that “ghetto” is a mindset. In one incident, Martha Stewart said about herself, “Oh, I can get ghetto when I need to.” In the other, Paris Hilton, during an episode of the show, “The Simple Life,” mentioned that a truck was “ghetto” when it would not start. Daniels says that when she heard Stewart, who she calls “queen of all that is proper,” and Hilton, the multi-million dollar heiress, use the word, she knew that it was a more prevalent issue than she had previously believed.

These two incidents do not indicate some pandemic that has swept the nation however. If anything, it only implies that certain features of African-American culture have become more widely accepted into the American mainstream. In this case, it is language. The suggestion that because Stewart and Hilton said “ghetto” is evidence of the prevalence of the mindset is highly unlikely. It only represents the adoption of popular speech into high society, not the development of a Ghettonation.

The beginning of each chapter of Ghettonation begins with a section “That’s so ghetto...” In it, Daniels has lists of things one can consider typical of the ghetto. Such lists include ways people in the ghetto supposedly speak, the way they dress, their diet, actual quotes heard by the author, the supposed behavior of ghetto inhabitants, as well as their financial habits. This also does not help advance her point. It is merely a list of stereotypical behavior compiled by the author, and offers no information that proves the “ghettoization” of America.

Also, Daniels’ lists do not necessarily represent anything negative as her definition of “ghetto” suggests. For example, the first line under the “What We Say” section is an example of a particular way of speaking common in African-American vernacular English (AAVE). It is the phrase “I seen” such as in “I seen that movie.” This is a sentence structure that is common among numerous groups of African-Americans across the country. There is nothing dangerous to the nation about this. It appears that the author is making a common mistake. Daniels is guilty of mainstream chauvinism in that she assumes that, because a particular behavior or peculiarity that a certain demographic possesses is different from the mainstream of a population, it is thus flawed in comparison. This is the case with regard to “ghetto” speech or AAVE. African-Americans have a history and culture quite distinct from that of mainstream America, and part of this difference is reflected in language. It would be interesting to see what position Daniels would take if the way of speaking under discussion was Cockney English. Would she still consider this dialect of English just as bad as AAVE?

A similar argument can be made against other parts of the “That’s so ghetto...” segments of the book. Unorthodox baby names, particular attire associated with a “ghetto mentality,” and the preoccupation with the acquisition of material possessions are all considered “ghetto” by Daniels, but again, these can all be considered merely mundane attributes of a race or ethnicity. Anthropologically speaking, there are no positive or negative attributes when it comes to the culture of a group of people. It is only their particular way of living.               

The chapter of Ghettonation, “Livin’ Large,” gives a further explanation of “ghetto.” Daniels says that “At its heart... ghetto is thinking short-term instead of long-term. Today is the most important because tomorrow doesn’t matter.” She offers two personal anecdotes to support this statement. The first is that she saw a billboard depicting the rapper 50 Cent, and displayed was a quote by him that said “Where I am from there is no Plan B. So take advantage of today because tomorrow is not promised.” This quote does a lot to explain what Daniels means by “thinking short-term.” She is saying that the ghetto sometimes offers little hope of advancing, little hope of a future, and so the emphasis in the lives of those that live in the ghetto can be of on the present. Also, Daniels has the experiences of another, 50 Cent, who grew up in the ghettos of New York, to help substantiate her claim.

The second anecdote, however, is not as convincing. Daniels once became acquainted with a teenager, Sanjay, whose parents emigrated from India to the United States. Despite the fact that he lived in a predominantly black neighborhood and spoke like his peers in the community, Sanjay dressed quite differently in that he did not wear expensive brand clothing. He was also astounded by the fact that the author had cable on her television. This showed that Sanjay, though from the same community as his peers, grew up with a different mindset, one that expected him to live within his means.

For Daniels, this anecdote may be satisfactory for proving her point, but it is not hard to see that it is lacking. It does not support the “ghettoization” of America because though this mindset that Sanjay possesses is different from that of typical “ghetto” behavior, it is also different from the behavior of American culture at large. This comes not from a recent “ghettoization” but from the concept of the American Dream. The American Dream has always been a material one, and there is an element of austerity that is prevalent Indian society. The Western concept of credit is not as widespread in that region of the world, and therefore, living within one’s means is quite common. However, in the U.S., Americans have had a history of credit, of buying without being able to pay for it. It is a part of Americana, and it existed decades before the development of “ghetto” culture.

At many times in the book, it appears that some of the information was merely filler. It seems that instead of positing material that would have contributed to a better understanding of the work, Daniels instead offers unnecessary information that did little to support her position. Aside from the superfluous anecdotes, another case of her redundancy is the sixth chapter of the book, “Nigga What, Nigga Who.” In this chapter, Daniels creates a conversation out of the lyrics of popular rap songs. What she is trying to accomplish from such a creation is not clear. What can be assumed is that Daniels is attempting to creatively show the negative elements of rap music and how it promotes “ghetto” behavior, but this could have been more successful if she would have written a traditional chapter and related actual instances of violence and misogyny to the lyrics of songs.

Also, right before the last chapter, “Do You Speak?”, Daniels allows an entire page for the reader to include their own observations of “ghetto” behavior. Though this too may seem like a creative endeavor to promote reader involvement with the text, this appeared to be filler as well. Indeed, it is admirable that Daniels attempts to get the reader thinking about the information in the text, but the page would have been put to better use if it contained material to support her argument. With regard to Daniels’ frequent use of anecdotes, the conversation that made up all of Chapter 6, and the blank page before Chapter 9, Ghettonation would have been a better read if these aspects of the book was altered by the editor.

In conclusion, though Cora Daniels offers an interesting look into the phenomenon of “ghetto” life and culture, some of her conclusions on the subject are erroneous. Her belief that the nation is acquiring a “ghetto” mentality is hard to adopt, and it surely doesn’t warrant a fear of such a behavior becoming mainstream. Also, despite Daniels’ journalist background, she may have benefitted from a better editorial process. However, though there are indeed flaws in Ghettonation, Daniels generates interesting questions that must be asked and addressed by not just the African-American community, but the entire nation.     

Black Feminist Movement

While I do believe there is still a need for black women to promote equality and fairness for themselves in the black community and in American society as a whole, I also believe that while the Black feminist Movement combined, with Affirmative Action, has advanced black women in the area of education and in the workplace, it has also caused considerable harm to the black family and to relationships between black men and women.

Black women have made significant gains in education and in the workplace. But I don't think it was because white America saw that black women faced triple oppression racially, sexually, and socio-economically, and wanted to lift them up. I believe that black women were educated, hired, and promoted to silence the Black Movement and the Women's Movement by "catering" to two oppressed groups in one person. This so-called acceptance into society was great for black women, because it meant that they were admitted in to more collages, entered into fields that had been closed to them, earned more money, and became more independent. Black men were left in the cold, and saw their places on college campuses, in the workplace, and eventually as breadwinners in the home decrease as compared to black women.
I believe this division has played a major part lead to what we see going on now in the black community and in black man/woman relationships. Staring in high school, more black girls/women are in the classrooms because black boys are not supported, encourage, or expected to excel in many public schools. At the college level, black men are practically non-existent as students and as instructors. In corporate and not so corporate America, more black women hold positions at every level. More and more women are owning and running businesses, buying homes, raising children alone, and cry out that they don't need or want a black man to live a successful life. Every time I hear a black women say that I cringe. I can't help but think that the Black Feminist Movement played a part in that. But I don't for one minute believe it was ever intended to weaken our community and families. Black feminists only wanted to have black men and white feminists to understand that they were oppressed too, and deserved to have their voice heard in the struggle. It's sad that it has been turned around and used as a tool of white America to keep black men and women from communicating and working together to better ourselves as a whole.

Bring Your A Game

Tell me what you think about this video aimed at young Black men

Without Sanctuary

For a view of lynching, click here

Black Dating in a Hip Hop Society

Left of Black-Episode 5

Tim Wise Interview with Laura Flanders

Full Interview with Laura Flanders for GRIT TV, 9/24/10

Facing Race 2010 Final Plenary: Amazing Conversation – Check it Out!

Facing Race 2010 Final Plenary: Amazing Conversation – Check it Out!

Fannie Lou Hamer Walking Off the Plantation: Questioning and Transforming America

Fannie Lou Hamer was born 1917 October 6 in Mississippi in the midst of the racial madness and social mayhem called White supremacy in which walls of brutal separation were built in life and law to imprison and suppress a whole people, and in spite of this, she lifted herself up to look over and beyond those walls, imagining freedom and dared to begin the life-long and heavy task of tearing down those walls and working and struggling for freedom. And in this she has lifted up a light that lasts, left us timeless lessons and a name that endures as an eternal monument for the struggling and freedom-loving peoples of the world.

The lessons of her life are not exhausted in her audacious and uncompromising struggle and defiance at the Democratic National Convention in 1964, but rather expressed in the wholeness of her life, the ordinary and extraordinary, the simple and the complex. And so, although there are numerous lessons to learn from the sacred text of her life, I choose three overarching and essential ones, given added significance in the context of a current election that cries out for remembrance and recognition of the path paved by Black people in this historic struggle.

Mrs. Hamer comes into self-conscious being and begins her journey on the road to world recognition when she decides to walk away from the plantation that imprisoned her. She says, “In 1962 nobody knew I existed. . .and I hadn’t heard of them either. Then one day, the thirty-first of August, I walked off the plantation”. This is her first lesson then—that the will to be free must come from within and that to be free we must walk off the plantation, that is to say, away from the physical and psychological sites that imprison and oppress us. SNCC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, had come to launch a campaign for voter registration and Mrs. Hamer had gone to a meeting to hear them speak of freedom. But no matter what they said or did, she had to embrace the idea and possibilities of freedom herself and commit herself to the awesome work and struggle to achieve it. And she had to make up her mind to stay steadfast on the way to freedom in spite of a rough and rocky road, full of signs and sites of casualties and costs of every kind, including the possibility of losing one’s life in the cause of freedom. Indeed, she said death is a daily threat and “I may be killed, but I’ll be standing up for God and my race until my time comes”. But she said, if she falls in battle, it will be “forward in the fight for freedom”.

Secondly, Mrs. Hamer taught us to question America in order to relieve it of its cherished illusions and reconceive and reconstruct it in the interest of a more expansive freedom and human flourishing. For her, this meant questioning the whole country, not just Mississippi, but the North and South, East and West of it. She said, “I question America”, in its claim to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”, when people are threatened with death daily because they “want to live as decent human beings”, want to exercise the right to vote, dare to imagine themselves equal and believe freedom is the natural and undeniable right of everyone.

For her, ourselves, history and humanity, we also must constantly question America, question its involvement in wanton waste and war and the human wreckage left in their wake. We must question continuing inequities in wealth, power and status, the privatization of social wealth and the socialization of private debt and the violation of civil and human rights in the name of security defined in a context of manufactured fear. And we must question the peddling of a parasitic patriotism that sucks human sensitivity from its hosts and feeds on the false and deforming fears it creates.

But to question America is also to question ourselves and what society has made of us, how we relate to each other and the world, how so many of us are caught in the madness of a consumerist society, finding freedom in our capacity to buy, and assembling countless reasons why we are comfortable in oppression, don’t want to help the hungry and homeless, hate the Palestinians and the people whose countries we invade and whose oil, water and lives we claim as our own, and don’t do more for Darfur or feel a grossly twisted need to humiliate, starve and dominate a small Black country called Haiti. And we must ask why we think Barack is a funny name and not Baruch, Obama and not O’Reilly, Takisha and not Tabitha, Chang and Chun and not Chatterley and Cheney, Rain Cloud and not McCloud, Vilakazi and not Van Buren, and Srinivasa and not Schwarzenegger?

To walk away from the plantation, regardless of how comfortable and comforting and to constantly question ourselves and society, leads us to dare to transform ourselves, society and ultimately the world. And this means, Mrs. Hamer taught us, that “every step of the way you’ve got to fight” and that “people have got to get together and work together”. It is, she stated, in our interests, for “nobody’s free until everybody’s free”. And only by working and struggling together, can those who suffer—Africans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians and Europeans—end their personal and collective suffering, “make this country what it has to be” and “live as decent human beings”.

This last lesson on transformative struggle teaches us that this current election and others must not be simply symbolic, but approached as vital areas of engagement and struggle for serious social change. Mrs. Hamer says about the significance of one election, “There was nothing symbolic about this election. I’m sick of symbolic things; we’re fighting for our lives”. Thus, for Obama’s election to be more than a useful symbol for a country unable to criticize and seriously change itself, it must be part and parcel of our struggle to save and expand lives. And if “we are fighting for our lives”, we must do as Mrs. Hamer, lift ourselves above the walls and ways of self and social imprisonment, walk away from the various plantations of social pain and consumer pleasure, constantly question ourselves and society, imagine a new world and in the process of self and social transformation, open the way for a new history and humanity to emerge”.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Black Studies, California State University-Long Beach, Chair of The Organization Us, Creator of Kwanzaa, and author of Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle, [www.MaulanaKarenga.org].

Why This FAMU Freshman Chose an HBCU Over Harvard

When a boy enters first grade at the age of 4 and high school at the age of 12, it's a foregone conclusion that the child will end up at a Harvard or a Stanford or a Cornell. Right? Not if the boy is Ralph Jones Jr., a 16-year-old freshman at Florida A&M University who has received national attention in recent days for passing up opportunities at the 45 other schools that accepted him -- including the prestigious institutions listed above -- to attend the Tallahassee, Fla., HBCU.

Jones said that for him it wasn't about whether or not a school was an Ivy League -- he thought about location, scholarship offers, campus atmosphere and the institution's engineering program in making his decision. "Entering college at the age of 16," Jones told The Root, "I think that my motives behind choosing were a little bit different than other people's. One, I looked at distance from home. Florida A&M is about 300 miles away from my hometown of Atlanta, so that was something that was really important to me, whereas if I had gone somewhere that was considered an Ivy, that would have been a good 2,000."

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Domestic Violence

Left of Black-Sex Positive, Black Sexuality

Eminem on 60 Minutes

Anderson Cooper interviewed Eminem on '60 Minutes' Sunday night, and the rapper talked about his rough upbringing, how he writes his rhymes and his near-fatal overdose.
Anderson also asked Eminem about being accused of being a misogynist and homophobe, and Eminem said he's been branded with these labels because he is white.
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Sermon on the Mall: Mocking Savior, Symbol and the People

Even with the religious trappings of prayer and professions of faith; confessional tears and talk of visits, voices and visions from heaven; and the gathering of the message-seeking, like-minded multitudes, the recent sermon on the Mall in Washington was clearly not what it seemed or sought to be. Indeed, it was in a real sense, a mockery of the Savior whose teachings and faith it claimed to foster; a mockery of the symbol of a movement whose message it claimed to mirror; and a mockery of the people who embrace the faith, mirrored the message and made the man-symbol and the movement possible.

Indeed, neither Jesus, the Christian Savior, nor Dr. Martin Luther King, the symbol of the civil rights movement, was truly and rightfully represented in their message or meaning for this country and the compelling issues of our time. Nor was rightful homage paid to the people, African Americans, who brought King into being, who shaped and shared his faith, gave meaning to his message and was the cause and core of the Movement that made him possible and great. Thus, in spite of trying to shake the image of the ramblin’, rantin’ radio host, hawking racist wares and wild views, and to assume a racially and religiously repentant posture, Glenn Beck did not succeed.

In spite of his appeals to “meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus,” it was a Jesus and Christianity redefined and different from the faith of King and of my father and mother. Indeed, the country was offered a Jesus without clear and consistent concern for social justice, a Lord without preference and priority for the least among us, and a Savior disassociated from his teachings on light and love for “all who are in the house,” and good works and will for and towards all in the world.

At this Mall and media-supported sermon, crafted to emulate or suggest the Sermon on the Mount, Dr. King would ask, where were the praise and presence of the meek and the merciful, the peacemakers and those that preach or even try to practice love or at least tolerance toward real or imagined enemies? Indeed, it was not a Christianity of the humble or peacemaker. It was a Crusader Christianity championed there with concerns for the warrior, not for the weak or the vulnerable; claims of guidance from God; deference to man-and-moose hunters and calls for more honor, respect and funds for warriors. And therefore, there were no questions or concerns about the promise and work of peace and the welfare of the people made poorer by war or other injustice.

The holding of the rally to coincide with the date of the historic Black Freedom Movement March on Washington was, in a real sense, a violation of the memory and history of King, the Movement, and the people who made both. The claim Beck makes on King and the Movement is neither religiously, rationally or morally sound. To embrace King’s legacy one must learn, understand and appreciate it, and ultimately live it. It is a legacy deeply rooted in the history and culture of his people and cannot be separated without disrespecting them and distorting truth. At the heart of King’s mission and meaning is racial and social justice, love and peace, and the righteous struggle to achieve these goals; not personal preparation for heaven isolated from the suffering, oppression and injustice in the world.

King criticizes America for bouncing bad checks and depriving Black people of “the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” He condemned racism, militarism and poverty in the midst of riches and war and its waste of human life and resources. And he advocated a love that embraces, even enemies, as brothers and sisters, and worthy of respect as sons and daughters of God. He would defend freedom of religion for both Beck, the Mormon, and also the Muslims and would not remain silent in the face of attacks on Muslims, their faith, and their sacred text. And he called a religion that claims to be concerned about the human soul and not with the social conditions that scar the soul, a “dry as dust” and “moribund” religion.

Lacking the internal capacity to create a moral foundation for his emerging movement, Beck has decided to appropriate ours to give his project a moral veneer he would otherwise not have. He has said “Black people don’t own King,” so he’s reclaiming him. However, he is not simply claiming King, but lifting him out of the context of his coming-into-being in order to deny Black people, both the man and their history. King belongs to and emerges out of Black history and culture, in the same way Moses does out of Jewish history and Confucius out of Chinese history, and his message, as all great messages, is both particular to his people and universal in its relevance for the world.
Likewise, our Movement is particular to us and yet it has relevance for the world. That is why it is a model and has meaning for oppressed, marginalized and struggling people everywhere. Beck also asserts strangely that he, company and kind, will “reclaim the civil rights movement” since, he says, “we were the people that did it in the first place.” This is racially arrogant, rationally absurd and intellectually untenable and dishonest. Again, Beck seeks a source of moral grounding he does not find of similar weight and worth in his own history, but he obviously finds it difficult to give due credit to Black people. And the presence of Blacks among “the multitudes” to endorse and entertain does not in any way disprove this.

Beck’s claim of our history, our struggle and social justice tradition comes easier when we, ourselves, cast them off like no-longer-needed clothes and he picks them up and uses them as a costume to give moral meaning to his message and movement. However, King was in no way uncertain or timid about expressing the unique and central role Black people played and must continue to play in the radical transformation of America. He affirmed that “(Black people) bring a special spiritual and moral contribution to American life – a contribution without which America could not survive.” And he asked us at the outset to struggle in such a way that “when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to say ‘there lived a great people, a Black people, who injected new meaning and dignity in the veins of civilization’ ”. Indeed, he said, “this is our challenge and our overwhelming responsibility” regardless of the difficulties, obstacles and absurdities we encounter along the way.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach, Chair of The Organization Us, Creator of Kwanzaa, and author of Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle, www.MaulanaKarenga.org.

AAAS and Me

The more I learn about the history of AAAS in this country, the more I see just how important it is not just as an African-American, but as a well-rounded, educated person. Even as a young child, I always had a passion for history, sociology, and anthropology. I love to learn about and engage in intelligent discussions about race, religion, politics, and culture. But I find that most Americans are especially close-minded and limited in their knowledge about other cultures and ethnic groups, even though diversity of its people is what makes the US what it is.

That’s why I love the AAAS program at Uni. of Memphis. This major touches and builds upon every discipline that I’m interested in, and the things that I learn about can be useful in dealing with people on a day-to-day basis. So many of the issues that plague the black community today has its roots in the exploration of Africa by the Europeans in the 1400s, the colonization of the New World, and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. While the history of an entire people was stolen and hidden for hundreds of years, new histories and cultures were born throughout the world. Those Africans that were deemed “less than human” or “savages” held on to as much of their history as they could, formed new families, passed on their traditions, and helped to build the most powerful countries in the world.

I’m taking four classes this fall, but it feels like just one. In each of my classes (four different subjects and concentrations), the same themes pop up over and over again. AAAS ties literature to history to sociology to politics to religion. I can’t think of another discipline that does that. The Uni. of Memphis is very fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and dedicated group of professors to teach such a board range of classes and maintain a strong AAAS program. I wish more students knew about the benefits of taking AAAS classes.

Promiscuity: Educated Women vs. Hood Girls

Sexual promiscuity is sexual promiscuity. It’s not bad or good, negative or positive, and certainly not rated by socioeconomic class. It simply is what it is: a sexual behavior. While promiscuous sex has perks, it can definitely roll out consequences. Staying protected is essential, and remaining emotionally guarded is a must, unless you’re naturally polyamorous. Primarily, I encourage all women to be sexually empowered, whether it is with one partner or many. However, I find that there are some double standards when it comes to women of different socioeconomic statuses sexing it up.
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Reflection on my Studies

Below is a reflection from one of the students in the Intro Class of AAAS

by Zerriyan Jackson

During my study this week on the definition of African American studies I learned about my purpose as an African American. I understand that as an African American it is our purpose to uplift one another and maintain our heritage. Our history is so rich with stories of struggle, survival, greatness, and sacrifice and victories. Our pioneers made many sacrifices for us, such as the right to education so that we are able to teach each other. Our purpose is to educate each other of our heritage and culture. That is very important because we are engulfed with European culture and history and only filtered selective information about African American History. I personally liked Carlene Young’s definition of African American Studies. The individuals that seek higher education have gained the tools and knowledge to pass on more knowledge to their peers and the generation behind them. Therefore, African Americans have the responsibility to go back to their communities and enrich them with better resources to build themselves up. Especially blacks, who grew up in the “hood”, all too often seek a better life and opportunities for themselves and tend to forget to go back and impart some of that knowledge that they set out to discover. I think that more interest in African American studies would happen if blacks took more pride in their heritage; which is tough because some black kids are teased for their dark skin color or “nappy” hair texture. And that alone can cripple a child’s spirit because they have no control over their genetic make-up. Our history books do not emphasize African Americans and their importance to the United States and I believe that if more blacks demand a change for more acknowledgment in history books there could be a better sense of understanding of blacks and who they are.

SAT and ACT Scores-2010

From: blackstar1000@ameritech.net

National SAT scores by various categories for class of 2010
By score and group:

* 1721: Students reporting family incomes
of more than $200,000 a year
* 1714: Students who had taken AP
or honors courses in natural sciences
* 1636: Asians
* 1580: Whites
* 1558: Students who took core curriculum
* 1546: Students who previously took PSAT/NMSQT (a pre-SAT)
* 1523: Boys
* 1510: Students reporting family incomes
of $60,000 to $80,000 a year
* 1509: National average
* 1496: Girls
* 1444: American Indian
or Alaskan natives
* 1407: Students who did not take
core curriculum
* 1400: Students who did not take
PSAT/NMSQT
* 1369: Mexican and Mexican Americans
* 1363: Latinos (excluding Mexicans,
Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans)
* 1349: Puerto Ricans
* 1329: Students reporting family incomes
of less than $20,000 a year
* 1277: African Americans

Source: SAT 2010

National Average ACT Composite Score by Race/Ethnic Group, 2010

Asian American/Pacific Islander 23.4
Caucasian American/White 22.3
American Indian/Alaska Native 19.0
Hispanic 18.6
African American/Black 16.9

Source: ACT 2010

At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance

Rosa Parks was often described as a sweet and reticent elderly woman whose tired feet caused her to defy segregation on Montgomery’s city buses, and whose supposedly solitary, spontaneous act sparked the 1955 bus boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement.

The truth of who Rosa Parks was and what really lay beneath the 1955 boycott is far different from anything previously written.

In this groundbreaking and important book, Danielle McGuire writes about the rape in 1944 of a twenty-four-year-old mother and sharecropper, Recy Taylor, who strolled toward home after an evening of singing and praying at the Rock Hill Holiness Church in Abbeville, Alabama. Seven white men, armed with knives and shotguns, ordered the young woman into their green Chevrolet, raped her, and left her for dead.

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Ron Walters Rememered: A Jazz and Justice Tribute

This week Jazz and Justice paid tribute to Dr. Ron Walters. To help with that host Tom Porter invited a powerful collection of guests to discuss Walters, his work, his politics, his impact and the enormous political and academic vacuum that must now be filled. Among his guests were Drs. Toni-Michelle Travis, Clarence Lusane, Wilmer Leon, Amiri Baraka, Maurice Jackson and others. This was truly a great show that covered more than Walters’ life and work but that of others as well. The discussion ranged from politics to music and beyond in what was a genuine display of Jazz and Justice.
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1965 debate between William F. Buckley and James Baldwin

The Media Resources Center at the University of California at Berkeley has made available online a 1965 debate between the late William F. Buckley and the late author, James Baldwin. Buckley was a national figure from the time he founded the conservative “National Review” in 1955 at age 29.

The UIC Library lists 45 titles of the 54 titles authored by Buckley, the first being God and man at Yale: the superstitions of academic freedom, published in 1951, and the most recent being Rake: a novel, published in 2007. In the UIC University Library “The National Review” is available in print format from1955 and electronically from 1975. The CNN article referenced below gathered some of its information from the electronic resource Contemporary Authors Online, an electronic resource accessible through the library Website.

View the “Debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, October 26, 1965. Sponsored by the Cambridge Union Society, Cambridge University.” The topic of the debate was “The American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro”. [Requires Windows Media Player or Flip4Mac ]

Excerpted from the MRC blog:

On February 27, 2008, William F. Buckley, conservative author, journalist, TV commentator, and all-around pundit died at 82 (SEE CNN article for details ). For those of us who came of political age in the 60s and 70s in the embrace of the New Left, Buckley was something of a right-wing anti-Christ. We loathed his patrician accent and showy erudition; his quirky mannerisms and his maddening condescension. But mostly, we hate him for his infuriating habit of glibly bashing everything we held sacred.

Now, forty years later and from the perspective of political developments in the last few decades, Buckley is looking better and better. Even if one still disagrees with his politics and social viewpoints, Buckley’s wit and intelligence, his commitment to civil and informed discourse must be acknowledged and at least grudgingly appreciated.

The Open Road Wasn’t Quite Open to All

or almost three decades beginning in 1936, many African-American travelers relied on a booklet to help them decide where they could comfortably eat, sleep, buy gas, find a tailor or beauty parlor, shop on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls, or go out at night. In 1949, when the guide was 80 pages, there were five recommended hotels in Atlanta. In Cheyenne, Wyo., the Barbeque Inn was the place to stay.
Read more here

Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair and Body Politics in Africana Communities

Blackberries and Redbones features engaging scholarly essays, poems, and creative writings

that all examine the meanings of the Black anatomy in our changing global world.

The body, including its hair, is said to be read like a text where readers draw
certain interpretations based on signs, symbols, and culture. Each chapter
in the volume interrogates that notion by addressing the question, “As a
text, how are Black bodies and Black hair read and understood in life,
art, popular culture, mass media, or cross-cultural interactions?”
Utilizing a critical perspective, each contributor articulates how
relationships between physical appearance, genetic structure, and
political ideologies impact the creativity, representation, and everyday
lived experiences of Blackness. In this interdisciplinary volume,
discussions are made more complex and move beyond the “straight versus
kinky hair” and “light skin versus dark skin” paradigm. Instead, efforts
are made to emphasize the material consequences associated with the ways
in which the Black body is read and (mis)understood.

The aptness of this work lies in its ability to provide a meaningful and
creative space to analyze body politics—highlighting the complexities
surrounding these issues within, between, and outside Africana
communities. Blackberries and Redbones provides a unique opportunity to
both celebrate and scrutinize the presentation of Blackness in everyday
life, while also encouraging readers to forge ahead with a deeper
understanding of these ever-important issues.

To read chapter abstracts and to purchase the volume please visit: www.blackberriesandredbones.com

FBI Informant-Part 4

I post these clips in response to the revelation that Civil Rights photographer and icon Ernest Withers was an informant for the FBI during the late 60's and early 70's. Here is another informant Darthard Perry giving his account in 1980.

FBI Informant-Part 3

FBI Informant-Part 2

FBI Informant-Part 1

Careers for Graduates with a Degree in African American Studies

Click here for article

Ernest Withers AKA ME-338-R

*Double Exposure by Marc Perrusquia

This article about Ernest Withers was in todays, Sunday September 12th's Commercial Appeal. the link is posted above for those who missed it. The first reason I thought this article was important to post on the blog was the amazing black and white photos by Ernest Withers. As a black and white photographer myself, I found the images of the civil rights movement to be astonishing. A few more of his photos can be found here. He was know as the original civil rights photographer. He photographed the events in the Emmett Till murder, Little rock Nine, integration of Ole Miss, 1968 sanitation strike, as well as Dr. Kings Death. Secondly, the article gave light to parts of the civil right movement I have scarcely heard before. I have heard of the FBI and other secret government organizations being involved in Memphis during Dr. Kings death. This article dives into the FBI's involvement in Memphis like nothing I have read before. The article marks Ernest Withers as ME-338-R, a domestic intelligence informer. He had a front row seat to the civil rights movement and antiwar movements, that the government thought was a threat to national security. The government put up a fierce campaign against King. They also broke up a Black Panther style militant group called the Invaders in Memphis in the 1960's. Lastly, after reading this article I was most curious about what my fellow peers thought about it. Please comment on your thoughts of the FBI's involvement with the civil rights movement. Why was it considered a national threat? What was J. Edgar Hoovers reasons behind such dirty tricks? Then consider if the FBI had programs such as COINTELPRO, described in the article, over forty years ago; then what is the FBI doing now that you wont find out for another forty years?

How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart

She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38.

Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.

Read More here

Defecting Black Vote Spells Big Trouble for Democrats

It’s no overstatement to say that Barack Obama would not be president if Latino and especially black voters had not turned the 2008 election into a holy crusade—not an election, in the traditional sense, but a holy crusade. That bears repeating because minority voters do not decide presidential elections. White voters do. But 2008 was the exception, solely because Latinos and blacks saw an Obama White House as the fulfillment of the American racial dream.

It took barely two years for that dream to come unraveled. The newest Gallup poll found that black voters are poised to desert the voting booth en masse in November. By a nearly 2 to 1 gap, whites are more likely to say that they are thinking about the November elections than blacks. This divide is far greater than the typical white-versus-minority voter participation gap found in recent midterm elections.

Read the rest here

Incorporating Religion and Spirituality into Social Work Practice with African Americans: Interview with Nancy Boyd-Franklin, Ph.D.

When I was a social work intern, I worked with an African American mother who had AIDS and whose 6 children were HIV+. The father of her children had been an IV drug user who had died of AIDS. The mother was in poor health, and rarely sought her own treatment. I had a hard time tracking her down because she spent most of the day, every day, on public transportation with one child or another taking them to and from medical appointments. I remember being on the bus with her one day (because that was only place I could meet with her), listening to her talk about how she had successfully fought hospital administration to get treatment for one of her kids. Being the eager social work student that I was, fully prepared to acknowledge my clients strengths and resources, I told her that I was in awe of her strength. “How do you do it?” I asked her. Her response totally caught me off guard. She said, “The good lord will give me only as much as I can handle.”

Read the rest and listen to the podcast interview here

The GOP's New Fake Racial History

Almost 50 years ago, the Republican Party made a decision to embrace the backlash generated by civil rights among white Southerners.

Traditionally, they had been staunch Democrats, but they were also culturally conservative, and as Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Party embraced civil rights once and for all, they were up for grabs. The Republican Party offered them a home, a steady, decades-long realignment ensued, and today conservative Southern whites comprise the heart of the GOP -- just as culturally liberal Northerners, who called the GOP home before civil rights, have migrated to the Democratic Party.

Read the rest here

Obama's Picture

I am not putting this up for the article per se, but for the picture. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

The Miseducation of a Nation: Unveiling the Illusion of History

As always, I'd like to begin by offering peace and respect to all that honor humanity in words and deeds. The struggles of daily life often create distractions, and I like most become a victim of life circumstances, but as long as we are living, we must keep striving for higher ground. To do that, we must first accept that history is a matter of perspective (place, space, and time), but truth is universal and transcending. Perception makes it difficult to recognize truth. One’s perspective is based on one’s experience. People cannot understand of what they have had no experience. This is understandable and in many ways hard to argue against. I can’t fault my students for not knowing material I have not taught them…but if I teach them a lesson, they are then expected to know it.
Read more here

Glenn Beck and "Restroing Honor" rally

Written from the perspective of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jasiri X responds to Glenn Beck's rally and the growing racial and economic divide in America. From the police's brutal beating of Jordan Miles in Pittsburgh and murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland, the increasing poverty and joblessness, to the ever expanding racial division lead by the rhetoric of those like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin...Dr. King's dream has turned into a nightmare.
Read more here

My Mic Sounds Nice: Women & Hip Hop

A couple of days before this documentary aired I was asked on Twitter, Who are your Top 5 female emcees? My answer was: MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Salt N Pepa, Yo Yo, and Lauryn Hill, because they had the biggest impact on my young mind and vulnerable feminine self.
They key to that answer is the because. Now if we're talking strictly skillz, slice 'em in half with sharp ax where the minds grasps the tongue, then I would still say MC Lyte and Lauryn Hill, but I'd also line up Rah Digga, Jean Grae, and Bahamadia. But in keeping it centered on those who raised me so to speak, those who had my ear when I first stepped out into those late 80's early 90's streets, fresh-faced with dimples and my little red arriving every month, feeling like I was grown, unaware that the wolves could smell me coming from down the block--then I gotta stick with those 5.

All the more so because I truly pray for these young girls today, out here carrying the same daddy and abuse issues that most of us do, only now there's a strong pimp game on steroids going on in these streets and glorified in the rhymes. The average age a young girl gets turned out seems to be dropping down to numbers that surely signal hell has arrived or perhaps has always been; this digital world where stripping is glamorized and sex tapes are seen as a ticket to the big show. With the internet, social networks, texting turned sexting, the traps for young girls, and god help those with little or no self-esteem, have been set in every direction; it's to the point where one can only hope they can shake off the slings and arrows, as avoiding them altogether seems highly unlikely.
Read more here

Revisiting Racism

By John Burl Smith

from thedish@ga.net

On August 12, 2010, CNN's AC360° aired the Doll Study Revisited: Girl Calls Her Skin "Nasty," which reexamined the famous "Doll Studies" (1939) conducted by Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark. Although not expressed, there seemed to be doubt about the validity of the Clark's work, especially in light of today's "color blind society." An updated version of the study, CNN said, The goal was to determine the status of children's racial beliefs, attitudes and preferences as well as skin tones biases at two different developmental periods. Specifically, kindergarten and middle childhood youngsters attending grade schools either in the Northeast or Southeast regions of the United States of America were tested by same race female testers.

The study was comprised of 133 children -- 65 early and 68 middle childhood subjects. There were 75 African American and 58 white children of which 64 came from 4 Northeastern and 69 from 4 Southeastern schools. The 8 schools were from suburbs around New York City and Atlanta (within a 2-hour radius). Very similar to the Clarks' studies, the results seemed to shock commentators, as well as researchers, since 70 years have elapsed between the two studies.

Following the original studies by the Clarks, there were suspicions that the black psychologists used "junk" science to concoct their results to give a false impression about effects of segregation and the doctrine of "separate-but-equal." Today, many thought that effects they measured were temporary and had faded with time, especially after the so-called changes that occurred since Brown v Board of Education (1954). The fallacy in such thinking results from white refusal to acknowledge that slavery/segregation produced persistent residual effects that society reinforced.

Interviewed for Eyes on the Prize (11-3-85), Dr. Clark spoke candidly. The attempt on the part of my wife and me was to try to understand how black children saw themselves -- whether they viewed themselves as equal to others. In fact, what we were trying to do is see how children develop a sense of their own being, their own person. Dr. Clark analysis highlighted the essential fact underlying blacks' perilous existence -- development of their self perception.

Although, whites and blacks went through slavery in tandem, each perspective was very different. Whites determined everything about slaves' lives and slaves were forced to accept and adapt to any demand made upon them by whites. White skin represented power, status, wealth, beauty and any other positive characteristics imaginable. Simultaneously, a slave's skin color was a stigma, a badge of servitude, a depository for attributing any characteristic whites despised. A slave's blackness stood out as no other pigment, drawing to him or her the dread and wretchedness of perpetual bondage.

Emancipation did not free slaves of what was their badge of dishonor. A curse that slave descendants spent their existence -- whitening and lightening -- trying to remove. Black skin means one can be denied equal access to the bounties of US citizenship ? the right to vote, equal pay, employment, education, etc.-- even though all justifications for such treatment have long since been proven false. Moreover, slave descendants' skin color justifies the denial of "equal protection" codified under the 14th Amendment to prevent discrimination, disparate treatment and hostile environment -- unequal justice, lynching, murder by police, school-to-prison pipeline, predatory lending, etc.

Dr. Clark explained what the process of segregation did to children he studied. Oh, of course, I saw the warnings signs, even before I knew there was going to be a case [Brown v Board of Education] against segregation. My wife and I saw them as fairly indicative of the dehumanizing effects of racism, of which segregation is the most concrete manifestation of racism, no question about that. In fact, we saw that so clearly that we were reluctant to publish the results, because the results of our studies were so indicative of the dehumanizing, cruel impact of racism in our allegedly "democratic society" and you know, these children were internalizing that. They saw themselves in terms of the society's definition of them as inferior. That's not a pretty thing to- and it was hard for us to pretend to be objective about it.Dr. Clark's perceptive statement has been borne out by the CNN study. The source of children's self perception is information from the society at-large. Metaphorically, like an umbilical cord, society feeds the young images of how it perceives them and they build up what is called "residual-self identifying imagery" which serves as the basis of their personality. All one needs to do in order to understand this process is to observe society's message to realize that nothing has changed. A white skin still represents power, status, wealth, beauty and any other positive characteristics imaginable. Whereas, blackness is still a depository for everything negative ? ignorance, indolence, ribald, poverty, crime, lack of opportunity, unemployment, degradation, homelessness, welfare, etc.-- attributable to people in American society.

The dehumanizing impact of racism on a child's psyche is profound. Look at television, videos or movies; the desirability of being white is overwhelming. Children see white people perform all the positive functions of society, while they are inundated with negative roles blacks play in society. Unlike the Clarks' studies, the CNN study assessed both white (58) and black (78) children; however, the systemic socializing impact of racism was remarkably similar. The reality of the CNN study is that American society is breeding racism today just as it did during slavery or put another way, slavery never ended!

(Source: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/)

Call for Papers

NCBS is accepting abstracts for individual paper, poster, panel, session, roundtable discussion, workshop, town hall meeting that explore the Black experience locally, nationally, and/or globally from a variety perspective. Of particular interest are presentations that comparatively explore these experiences, as well as those that examine the discipline of Africana/Black Studies using multi-layered frameworks and methodologies. Papers that incorporate various combinations of race/nationality, class, gender, and sexuality, through the lens of but not limited to Afrocentric, cross and multicultural, diasporic, feminist, postcolonial, postmodernist or transnational interpretative schemes are welcomed. Send a 150-400 word abstract for a panel (one for the panel subject and one for each panelist), and/or individual paper and poster presentations. For roundtable discussions submit a 500 word abstract that explores the discussion topic. For town hall meetings submit a 500 word abstract specifying the roles of the facilitator(s) and recorder(s).

Audio-visual needs (e.g. power,point, monitors, tv etc.)--presenters have to contract equipment from the hotel--NCBS "will not" be responsible for supplying presenters with equipment.

*All conference presenters must pre-register for the conference.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE October 15, 2010

“Sharing the Narrative of Shirley Sherrod: Lessons in Race and Racism”

From the Afro-Am List-Serve at h-net.org

It is no accident or unintended error that the false accusation of racial bigotry against Shirley Sherrod, former Director of the USDA in Georgia, and the manufactured racial controversy around it, have all but disappeared in the media with no penalty for the perpetrator or his friends at Fox, and no follow-up investigation and exposure of the racialized wilderness into which these self-appointed saviors of White privilege and power are leading the country. But before the issue recedes too far in the short-term memory of those cultivated to endure only quick and uncomplicated messages sent and received, it is important to extract some of its valuable lessons.

The first lesson is this: American society is not really ready to deal with /race as reality/, only as spectacle and special topic, quickly covered on the daily and nightly news – and even then only as a superficial and episodic concern about racial attitudes, speech and the routine talk about tolerance. To deal seriously with race and the raw reality it is, is to deal with /racism/, a system of denial, deformation, and destruction of a people’s history, humanity and human rights based exclusively or primarily on the false concept of race. And here race is not peoplehood or ethnicity, but a socio-biological category constructed by Europe to assign human worth and social status using White people as the exemplary model.

It is to deal with racism as imposition – daily violence and domination; as ideology – a system of ideas negative to the dominated to justify domination and dominance; and as institutional arrangements – structures and processes that promote and preserve White racial domination and dominance. In a word, it is to deal with White dominance in wealth, power and status and the detrimental and deadly impact this has on the lives of Black people and other peoples of color.

Secondly, another lesson to be learned is how vulnerable Black people remain even in supposedly liberal circumstances and even with a Black President – indeed, even within his administration. Shirley Sherrod had been loyal, loving and deeply committed to a post-racist, just and good society. She had been doing an excellent job for Black, White and other farmers. She lectured in 1986 at the NAACP gathering, explaining the need for racial reconciliation. She had used her personal narrative of helping, in spite of initial reservation, a White farmer infected with an acute case of social ignorance, personal arrogance and racial resentment directed toward her whom he had come to for help.

It was a classic Black Christian story of refusing to reciprocate hate, and a civil rights activist’s call to unite the have-nots across racial lines for progressive social change. But a rightwing blogger had taken her narrative and made it appear as if she were saying the opposite and fearing a White negative response to this ’86 narrative on racial healing mistranslated as denying Whites help would hurt President Obama, his officials forced Mrs. Sherrod to resign. They did not investigate or even show her the common courtesy of a call into the office to be questioned and heard. Instead, she was called in her car, asked to pull over and text in her resignation. They have since apologized and asked her to return.

Thirdly, the lesson is that President Obama and his administration cannot justify or sustain, in good faith, the tendency and willingness to sacrifice right, reputations, careers and innocent persons on the altar of rightwing allegations, attacks and disruptive agendas. They seem not to have learned from the sacrificing of Rev. Wright, Van Jones, and ACORN that evil unresisted reinvigorates itself and continues until challenged and checked.

Clearly, Obama must change the way he and his advisors soft-shoe, tiptoe and bend in the wind of rightwing hot air madness. Indeed, he must not constantly retreat, sacrifice persons and principles to appease people who hate and harass him as a way of life and will never be satisfied with anything except his failure, his political absence and a new address. Even then, they will try to discredit him and deny his achievements. Catering to them can only encourage them, foster contempt from them and others, and make insecure anyone with an activist history or intention of working with the poor, preyed-upon and less powerful to achieve social justice.

Another lesson to be learned here is that this is not just about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Van Jones or Shirley Sherrod, but about the rightwing agenda to regain dominance in national politics, to disrupt, delay and destroy any hope or move forward on a progressive agenda. And this means disrupting the Obama presidency and using race-baiting against Obama and Black people. It means attempting to whip the White majority into a racial frenzy, to make them feel victimized, not by corporate greed or prior Republican administrations’ policies, but by the scary ascendance of a Black president, and any signs of Black people seeking social justice and demanding an end to White-skin privilege and monopoly on wealth, power and status.

In this regard, it is more than a coincidence that in the midst of Obama’s push for rightful restitution for Black farmers, Mrs. Sherrod, one of their most effective advocates, is targeted and forced to resign. This not only affects the status of the designated bill to do this, the Pigsford II initiative, but again raises questions about the justice of this effort. As a matter of history, this initiative grows out of a class action suit won by Black farmers for decades of discrimination in the South by the USDA officials. Even the USDA conceded discrimination through denying and delaying loans and restrictive monitoring. Now the rightwing and Republicans are trying to block payments, disqualify claims and thus deny long overdue justice to these Black farmers.

Finally, the lesson here is also that there is a ruthless ideological war being waged by the rightwing to delegitimize our rightful social justice claims, to appropriate our identity as a moral and social vanguard and to reverse the moral order, manufacturing White wounds and worries, and inventing White victims while denying Black ones. Indeed, they seek to hide the fact that it is not race or racial difference that divides and discredits this country, but racism; not the way people look, but the unequal way they are forced to live based on the way they look and the way they are unjustly judged. Clearly, we cannot let this stand and our response must be our continuing and self-conscious, righteous and relentless struggle.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach, Chair of The Organization Us, Creator of Kwanzaa, and author of /Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle. /

Call for Articles-New Journal from ASALH

CALL FOR ARTICLES
*The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) proudly announces the creation of /Fire!!!: The Multimedia Journal of Black Studies./ Designed to connect Black Studies scholarship with the Digital Revolution in the Age of Communication, /Fire!!!/ serves as a contemporary conduit through which Black Studies knowledge can be distributed. The journal’s/ /unique contribution is the use of the digital world in providing a peer-reviewed venue for scholars who utilize multimedia evidence to advance their theories and interpretations.

/Fire!!!/ is a multi-disciplinary journal that serves primarily the social sciences, arts, and humanities. The journal welcomes research that crosses the lines of traditional disciplines and focuses on contemporary issues that expand the intellectual realm of Black Studies. Our goal is to use media to increase the kinds of primary evidence that can be brought to bear to expand knowledge.

/Fire!!!/ is interested in obtaining articles, review essays, and reviews for its February and August 2011 issues. All articles and review essays should be between 7,500 and 12,000 words. The maximum file size for each (including media) is 10 mb. /Fire!!! /publishes reviews of feature films and documentaries, audio recordings, theatrical productions, websites, museum exhibits, and books relevant to teaching courses on Black life, history, and culture. Scholars interested in submitting reviews should contact the editors before submitting.

/Fire!!! /will be distributed to institutional libraries through JSTOR. If you are interested in contributing to this cutting-edge publication visit our website for submission guidelines. www.fire-jbs.org

Questions? Contact the editors at: editors@fire-jbs.org

Racial Wealth Gap

Did we really need this study? Being an African American, I do not expect to see a change until people change and people of color are treated fair and given equality in opportunities to obtain wealth.

Rev Jackson's remarks

I agree with Re. Jackson. There are those people with authority who think that they can intimidate other people who havae less authority than they have.

Jackson's Talk on 'Slave Mentality' Gets Amens

Jackson's Talk on 'Slave Mentality' Gets Amens

Racial Wealth Gap Increases Four-Fold

Click here for article

The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African American Women Single and Lonely

Black women have an inordinate amount of faith in both Black men and Black churches. My position is that such blind and unwavering faith in either is misplaced. It is my belief that the Black church, structured around traditional gender roles which makes women submissive to and inferior to men, greatly limits females. Single Black women sitting in church every Sunday are being subtly brainwashed, soothed and placated into waiting without demand for what they want to magically come to them. Who is doing this to Black women? The male standing at the front of the Church in the role of spiritual leader, that's who!
This is the true reason that there are so many single, never married Black women in the United States - Black churches. Black women should abandon Black churches and focus more on themselves, their needs and those of their children than those of Black men or a religion which Black men use to castigate and control an entire race of women.
Read more here

Call for Papers

*Black Religion and Spirituality (BRS) in the 21st century: Challenges and Opportunities*

OCTOBER 13, 14, 15, 2010
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI–Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center

Throughout our history in the Americas, African Americans have
entrenched/devoted themselves in/to issues of justice and engagement. The 5 th Annual Black Religion & Spirituality (BRS) Conference, to be held in East Lansing, Michigan, October 13-15, 2010, affords opportunities to explore these issues in a public forum. The theme is *Black Religion and Spirituality:* *Implications for Social Justice and Community Engagement*. * *This conference will focus on the diversity of faiths among African Americans and how they are addressing challenges and opportunities in the 21 st century including emphasis on the following:

1. Examine the diversity of faiths in the African American
community.

2. Examine the variety of means by which these diverse
faiths are addressing challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.

3. Provide for a network of academics, practitioners, and
community members.

4. Explore the impact of faith communities on Black people.

5. Develop a research repository of collaborative
partnerships with academic scholars and diverse faith communities.

Abstracts for Papers should be sent to:
Dr. Gloria S. Smith
gsmith@msu.edu or
301 Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824.

The deadline for submissions is July 30, 2010. Individual papers will be
accepted and formed into panels based on quality, critical thought and
relevancy. Request for audio-visual support will need to be received by
August 15, 2010.

Registration fee for presenters is $100.00. Registration fees must be
submitted upon acceptance to be included in the conference program.

Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa

n little more than a century, the religious landscape of sub-Saharan Africa has changed dramatically. As of 1900, both Muslims and Christians were relatively small minorities in the region. The vast majority of people practiced traditional African religions, while adherents of Christianity and Islam combined made up less than a quarter of the population, according to historical estimates from the World Religion Database

Since then, however, the number of Muslims living between the Sahara Desert and the Cape of Good Hope has increased more than 20-fold, rising from an estimated 11 million in 1900 to approximately 234 million in 2010. The number of Christians has grown even faster, soaring almost 70-fold from about 7 million to 470 million. Sub-Saharan Africa now is home to about one-in-five of all the Christians in the world (21%) and more than one-in-seven of the world's Muslims (15%).¹
Read more here

Blacks in Memphis Lose Decades of Economic Gains

For two decades, Tyrone Banks was one of many African-Americans who saw his economic prospects brightening in this Mississippi River city.

A single father, he worked for FedEx and also as a custodian, built a handsome brick home, had a retirement account and put his eldest daughter through college.

Then the Great Recession rolled in like a fog bank. He refinanced his mortgage at a rate that adjusted sharply upward, and afterward he lost one of his jobs. Now Mr. Banks faces bankruptcy and foreclosure.

“I’m going to tell you the deal, plain-spoken: I’m a black man from the projects and I clean toilets and mop up for a living,” said Mr. Banks, a trim man who looks at least a decade younger than his 50 years. “I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. But my whole life is backfiring.”

Not so long ago, Memphis, a city where a majority of the residents are black, was a symbol of a South where racial history no longer tightly constrained the choices of a rising black working and middle class. Now this city epitomizes something more grim: How rising unemployment and growing foreclosures in the recession have combined to destroy black wealth and income and erase two decades of slow progress.

Read the rest here

Justice Breyer on the Dred Scott Decision

Thank you for inviting me to deliver a lecture to the New-York Historical Society. I am a great admirer of the Society’s commitment to preserving the history of the United States. And I am glad you are continuing to increase the public’s awareness of the Supreme Court’s contributions to our nation’s history.

This is an especially interesting time for the Society to be discussing the Court because it is, for the fourth time in the past 15 years, about to have a change in its membership. As soon as my friend and colleague Justice Stevens announced his intent to retire, public speculation began as to whom President Obama would nominate to replace him. Commentators will begin discussing and debating the nominee’s legal views and how the presence of a new member will affect the Court’s decisions. The public’s interest in a change in the Court’s membership reminds us that the Court, for all the technical cases it decides, also can decide controversial, contentious cases that raise questions that lie at the heart of contemporary political debates.

Read the rest of the post here

Blacks, mirroring larger U.S. trend, 'come out' as nonbelievers

Standing before a room full of fellow African-Americans, Jamila Bey took a deep breath and announced she's come out of the closet.

Her soul-bearing declaration is nearly taboo, she says.

"It's the A-word," said Bey, 33, feigning a whisper. "You commit social suicide as a black person when you say you're an atheist."

Bey and other black atheists, agnostics and secularists are struggling to openly affirm their secular viewpoints in a community that's historically heralded as one of America's most religious.

At the first African Americans for Humanism conference recently hosted by the non-profit Center for Inquiry, about 50 people gathered to discuss the ins and outs of navigating their dual identities as blacks and followers of the non-religious philosophy known as humanism.
Read the rest here

Has Reality TV Become Black Women's Enemy?

Remember the ''real'' housewife named Sheree? Whose only claim to fame is that she was once married to a professional football player? Remember how she yanked housewife Kim's blond wig and called her white trash outside of a fashionable Atlanta restaurant? (Kim, the sole Caucasian Atlanta ''housewife'' whose married lover's checks allows her to pay $3,000 on a regular basis to get the fat rolled from her thighs.) Read the rest here

``I abhor racism, I think it's a bad business decision to ever exclude anybody from your restaurant, but at the same time, I do believe in private ownership.'' -- Rand Paul
If you notice, they have never been on our side.
``They'' meaning social conservatives. ``Our'' meaning African-American people.
They were not there in the century after the Civil War, as conservative Southern Democrats violently repressed would-be black voters, made a shadow government of the Ku Klux Klan, turned a deaf ear to the howling of lynch mobs and lynch victims. They have not been there in the half century since, as conservative Southern Republicans fought affirmative action, poverty programs and attempts to ban the American swastika, i.e., the Confederate battle flag, from public lands.
They have never been on our side and always, they have claimed ``principle'' to justify it. So remarks like the one above that got Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul in trouble last week are surprising only in the sense that one is surprised to hear an oldie on the radio one hasn't heard in awhile.
Read the rest here

A longstanding debate about the relevance of "The Black Church" has resurfaced recently. In February Princeton University religion professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. penned an op-ed piece for The Huffington Post titled "The Black Church Is Dead." This created a firestorm of sorts amongst black professors and clergy while the matter was debated even further on blogs and social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Read the rest of the article here

My Hip Hop Role Model

A few years ago the young and tumultuous life of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was depicted in a motion picture titled after his 2002 debut album, Get Rich or Die Trying. The film was accompanied by a soundtrack and a book length autobiography, From Pieces to Weight. His music, film, and autobiography tell a rags to riches story of a poor black kid from Jamaica Queens, New York who hustles his way out of chronic poverty, rising from a nihilistic drug dealer to a hip hop superstar and businessman. His story of struggle and hustle is the mythological stuff that consumers of hip hop love and what is typically called the American Dream. Hip hop artists thrive off of this mythology and without it hip hop would not be hip hop. In fact, no hip hop artist is credible and authentic apart from this myth.
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Henry Louis Gates and a Response

THANKS to an unlikely confluence of history and genetics — the fact that he is African-American and president — Barack Obama has a unique opportunity to reshape the debate over one of the most contentious issues of America’s racial legacy: reparations, the idea that the descendants of American slaves should receive compensation for their ancestors’ unpaid labor and bondage. Read more of Gates' article here.
Read a response here