Daughters of Eve
After an exciting closing week of the 30 day challenge, I took a bit of a break prior to jumping back into the groove and formatting week four. This post will have the last week of the challenge, minus the final 48 hours. I will post that in the grand finale post.
I dove a little more into culture this week, and adding some color to the discussions. Enjoy!
June 17th:
“To Disrupt, Discredit and Destroy” The FBI’s Secret War against the Black Panther Party”
And so I am posting this finally. Although I am not done reading and processing this incredible document, I think it is time to let it be seen. This is from Ward Churchill… and pretty dynamic Native American professor that has done a lot of research into COINTELPRO in relationship to native concerns and other attacks on organizations.
This document breaks down many areas of the attack on the Panthers from the FBI and COINTELPRO…. in a planned agenda to dismantle the Party because of the threat to national security. Whatever that meant….
This document is brutal, and has changed the way that I will ever be able to look at the government. There has always been an investment in keeping the disenfranchised in a certain place…. it is the American way.
I hope you find this document as insightful and disgusting as I do.
“For a number of reasons, in 1967 it began to appear as if the Black Panther Party, a smallish but rapidly growing organization founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland a year earlier, unified movement from the New Left’s many disparate elements. In part, this was because of the centrality the black liberation struggle already occupied in the radical American consciousness. In part, it was likely because the Panthers, almost alone among organizations of color, had from the outset advanced a concrete program and were pursuing it with considerable discipline. It was also undoubtedly due in no small measure to the obvious courage with which they’d faced off against the armed forces of the state, a matter personified by Party Defense Minister Newton’s dubious conviction in the killing of a white cop, and the skill with which Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver was able to publicize it.
In any event, “by 1968-69 the Panthers were considered by many to be the exemplary revolutionary organization in the country and the one most explicitly identified with anti-imperialism and internationalism.” As such, the Party had become far and away “the most influential” such group in the U.S., assessment confirmed by J. Edgar Hoover, when, in September 1969, he publicly declared the Panthers to be “the greatest threat to internal security of the country.” Meanwhile, on November 25, 1968, he had ordered the initiation of “imaginative and hard-hitting [counter]intelligence measures designed to cripple the BPP” and, on January 30, 1969, a considerable expansion and intensification of the effort to “destroy what the BPP stands for.”
Hoover’s agents obliged. Although every dissident group in the United States were targeted by COINTELPRO during the late-60s, the Black Panther Party was literally sledgehammered. Of the 295 counterintelligence operations the Bureau has admitted conducting against black activists and organizations during the period, a staggering 233, the majority of them in 1969, were aimed at the Panthers. And this was by no means all. “Counterintelligence was far more pervasive than the readily available record indicates,” one researcher has observed. “It is impossible to say how many COINTELPRO actions the FBI implemented against the Panthers and other targets simply by counting the incidents listed in the COINTELPRO-Black Hate Group file. The Bureau recorded COINTELPRO-type actions in thousands of other files.”
Several of the operations targeting other African American organizations—SNCC, for example—were explicitly designed to impair the Panthers’ ability to develop coalitions.
The same can be said with respect to approximately half the 290 COINTELPRO actions recorded as having been carried against SDS and other white New Left organizations from May 1968 through May 1971, and at least some of those conducted against Latino groups like the Young Lords and the Brown Berets served the same purpose.
Then there were the myriad operations meant to neutralize specific individuals, number is of course undetermined—which have never been admitted at all.What Party founder Huey P. Newton aptly described as the “war against the Panthers” entailed every known variant of counterintelligence activity on the part of the FBI and collaborating police departments, and thus constitutes a sort of textbook model of modern political repression. It will therefore be useful to examine each of the often overlapping operational vectors of COINTELPRO-BPP in order to better understand the whole.
June 18th
Effects of Systematic Social and Token Reinforcement on the Modification of Racial and Color C
Very interesting research study of how children learn social perceptions of race and internalize those by pre-school age. This study, Effects of Systematic Social and Token Reinforcement on the Modification of Racial and Color Concept Attitudes in Black and in White Preschool Children, points out some interesting findings on how pre-school aged children have already formulated a color bias, and white and black children show preferences towards whiter skin.
“During the last few decades, some of the research workers concerned with the black
community have emphasized the systematic destruction of racial pride and individual
self-esteem of black people. Johnson (1941) postulated that blacks are profoundly influenced by the attitudes of the white community with regard to values and self-estimates, thus limiting the development of racial pride by the biracial system.Numerous investigators have documented the existence of low self-esteem and selfidentity in black children (Bachrach, 1962; Carpenter & Busse, 1969; Frazier, 1941; Goff, 1954; Horowitz, 1939; Johnson, 1941; Keller, 1963; Kozol, 1967; Landreth & Johnson, 1953; Trager & Yarrow, 1952).
Trager and Yarrow (1952) speculated that the child entering school already has a
long past history of social learning. For the child, awareness of the social implications of group membership may constitute an abasing or an enhancing quality, depending upon whether his group is of high or of low social status. Too often for the black child, it is an abasing quality. It has been noted (Stevenson & Stewart, 1958) that racial awareness is prevalent in children three and four years old. In a study in which racial preference was examined, Cross and Cross (1971) found that pictures of white persons were described as being more attractive than those of black persons by black and by white judges at several different age levels.”
I focused tonight on formatting week three… especially after I (yet again) had a misinformed person attempt to compare Irish slavery to chattel slavery. So much knowledge to spread in combating the holes within taught history… and it can be tiring.
Insight into the revolutionary; this is a wonderful piece from the mind and heart of a Black Panther.
“Black Child’s Pledge”
I pledge allegiance to my Black People.
I pledge to develop my mind and body to the greatest extent possible.
I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my People in their struggle for liberation.
I will keep myself physically fit, building a strong body free from drugs and other substances which weaken me and make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my Black brothers and sisters.
I will unselfishly share my knowledge and understanding with them in order to bring about change more quickly.
I will discipline myself to direct my energies thoughtfully and constructively rather than wasting them in idle hatred.
I will train myself never to hurt or allow others to harm my Black brothers and sisters for I recognize that we need every Black Man, Woman, and Child to be physically, mentally and psychologically strong.
These principles I pledge to practice daily and to teach them to others in order to unite my People.The Black Panther, October 26, 1968
by Shirley Williams
Great interview with Angela Davis from PBS. Two important things stuck out to me… 1# bringing the information about Martin Luther King Jr. re-assessment of the civil rights movement that was happening at the exact point that he was killed. He was questioning many things… including the integration of economics and racism. Interestingly, he was assassinated at that point.
#2, Angela Davis answer to guilt about the fact that she lived when so many others died in this fight. She lived and got out of her incarceration…. Her answer is profound. We owe them something…. What will you do?
“Interviewer: The last line in the essay Skip Gates has in The Future of the Race is— “only sometimes do I feel guilty that I was one of the lucky ones. Only sometimes do I ask myself why.” I wonder whether you ever feel guilty for having been one of those who have survived?
Davis: Well, I think about it. But I don’t know whether I feel guilty. I think that has to do with my awareness that in a sense we all have a certain measure of responsibility to those who have made it possible for us to take advantage of the opportunities. The door is opened only so far. If some of us can squeeze through the crack of that door, then we owe it to those who have made those demands that the door be opened to use the knowledge or the skills that we acquire not only for ourselves but in the service of the community as well. This is something that I guess I decided a long time ago.
Interviewer: But still there were those who were arrested around the same time you are were still in prison? You got out — you got off in some ways because you had become such a cause celebre that there were others who didn’t have.
Davis: I mean that’s true but I am actually addressing your question about guilt, and I’m trying to suggest that maybe there are other ways to deal with it than with guilt. So rather than feeling guilty is what I have done is to continue the work. As soon as I got out of jail, as soon as my trial was over, first of all, during the time I was in jail, there was an organization called the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis, and I insisted that it be called National United Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners.
As soon as my trial was over, we tried to use the energy that had developed around my case to create another organization, which we called the National Alliance against Racist and Political Repression. And, what? in June it will have been 25 years since my trial was over. I’m still working for the freedom of political prisoners, Mumia Abu Jamal, the Puerto Rican political prisoners, such as Dinci Pargan, for example, Leonard Pelletier. I’m involved in the work around prison rights in general. I think the importance of doing activist work is precisely because it allows you to give back and to consider yourself not as a single individual who may have achieved whatever but to be a part of an ongoing historical movement. Then I don’t think it’s necessary to feel guilty. Because I know that I’m still doing the work that is going to help more sisters and brothers to challenge the whole criminal justice system, and I’m trying to use whatever knowledge I was able to acquire to continue to do the work in our communities that will move us forward.”
http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1998/01/x01.htm
War Against the Black Panthers
The dissertation of Huey P. Newton, written in 1980 to defend his Doctorate degree. It is called War Against the Panthers; A Study of Repression in America. This appears to be the full text of the dissertation… Huey the academic… the Ph D. And reading his own words are so powerful…..
“This dissertation analyzes certain features of the Party and incidents that are significant in its development. Some central events in the growth of the Party, from adoption of an ideology and platform to implementation of community programs, are first described. This is followed by a presentation of the federal government’s response to the Party. Much of the information presented herein concentrates on incidents in Oakland, California, and government efforts to discredit or harm me. The assassination of Fred Hampton, an important leader in Chicago, is also described in considerable detail, as are the killings of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins in Los Angeles. Supporting evidence for a great deal of this dissertation has come from two federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the Party: one initiated in 1976 in Washington, D.C., and still pending against the FBI and other federal agency officials,3 and another which ended after a nine-month trial in Chicago, Illinois.4
It is logical that Oakland, California, should be the focus of hostile government actions against the Party because it is the place where the Party was founded, and it is the center of its organizational strength. In discussing Party leaders, including myself, and events in which they were involved, there has been a persistent temptation to write personally and emotionally. Individuals, with all their strengths and weaknesses, make significant differences in the outcome of political struggles; however, their roles are too often romanticized, clouding an understanding of the political forces propelling them into struggle. I have tried to maintain an objectivity consistent with scholarly standards by placing the roles of the involved personalities in proper political perspective. To aid in this effort, I will be referred to throughout this study in the third person. This dissertation is then, by necessity, illustrative, not exhaustive; a history in brief, not a biography of the Black Panther Party [BPP].
What is perhaps most significant about [this study] is that it suggests how much we still do not know. How many people’s lives were ruined in countless ways by a government intent on destroying them as representatives of an “enemy” political organization? What “tactics” or “dirty tricks” were employed, with what results? Perhaps we shall never know the answers to these questions, but this inquiry about the BPP and the federal government will hopefully help us in our search for “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
I want everyone that has sent me studies, videos and articles for the black history challenge…. Thank you!!! I am not ignoring or forgetting you. I plan to pump those out too…. maybe in an encore?!?!
Trying to get through the back log. It is so incredible and I am so blessed to have such incredible people who are invested in this with me. The support is incredible. I thank you from the bottom of my heart…. which is just red and has no culture… its all heart.
Love yall.
UC Berkeley Library Social Activism Sound Recording Project: Black Panthers
Here is the site for the UC Berkeley Social Activism Sound Recording Project; The Black Panther Party. It is an incredible archive of interviews, information and a timeline.
Tupac was the son of two panthers, mother incarcerated on crimes of the revolution… father killed. His mother was pregnant in jail with him. The son of two panthers…. fighting the revolution in the womb.
We lost Tupac in his own youth… he would write about his life as a gangsta and then write this incredibly impactful and heartfelt songs that made you feel… something. He wasn’t just a boy on the block… he was a warrior before he was even born and you can feel that in his music. He was learning to embrace it, and then he was taken.
I chose to highlight this particular song of his because he is talking about his mother… not fully understanding but learning his mother’s struggle and speaks of his father as a coward because he was gone. Refers to his father as a stranger, “…. no love for my daddy cause the coward wasn’t there. He passed away and I did’t cry… cause my anger wouldn’t let me feel for a stranger”. His father’s death by revolution eventually equated the death of his son… such sacrifice, such loss to the world.
In an PBS Frontline interview with Eldridge Cleaver, a year before his death, he said this about the correlation between tupac and Huey…
“GATES: Eldridge, many people compare Huey Newton with Tupac Shakur. And some people even suggest that without a gangster culture, that is, 30 years ago, a person like Tupac would have emerged as a leader of a revolutionary group like Huey P. Newton.
CLEAVER: This is an a historical perspective because they do not understand that Tupac is a child of Huey Newton and Malcolm X. That Tupac would not have been who he was had he not been born of parents who followed Huey Newton. Afeni Shakur and Amumu Shakur were members of the Black Panther party. And it was because of that experience that they were able to raise Tupac with the mentality and the spirit that he had. So talking about going back like that, saying that Tupac would have been Huey, you cannot unring the bell.
GATES: But Tupac was a gangster, wasn’t he?
CLEAVER: Huey was a gangster.
GATES: Oh, he was?
CLEAVER: I’m not– I’m talking about a real gangster. Tupac, they were talking about gangster rap. Huey P. Newton was a gun toting gangster, but that’s not all he was. I’m saying he went through that experience as a criminal, but the thing about Tupac was his spirit and his rebellion against oppression. This comes from the way that he was raised and the values that were transmitted to him.
His father died in a gun fight with the New York police department and so Afena was a very strong stalwart of the Black Panther party and Tupac was raised like that. He is what we call a panther cub. And that was what he was about.
And that is why it was such a blow, [Tupac’s] liquidation, and many people think that it was the COINTELPRO that took him out because the story doesn’t hold up because anybody who knows Las Vegas knows that after the Mike Tyson fight there, there is no way that anybody going to drive along upside of another car, shoot them and drive away because it’s gridlocked for blocks around there, man. So that is not what happened. There is more to it than that.”
Enjoy the music of Tupac, and listen to the lyrics of his pain….. and remember the incredible sacrifice that was made on so many levels.
All Power to the people… forever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb1ZvUDvLDY
2Pac – Dear Mama
Oh… and for those who question that no one remotely close to today’s times is effected by the racism, slavery, racist social and legal policies of the past…. read the post about Tupac. I was in my early 20’s when he was killed…. Tupac’s parents were a revolutionary sacrifice of the movement. Trace the trauma…. and when we do that, let’s give them enough respect to feel it. It should hurt us all somewhere deep inside. When we listen to his music… bump it in the car, hear it at a BBQ or in a movie soundtrack… we should never discredit the struggle… never forget that his brilliance and legacy was one born of pain.
“It’s time to fight back, that’s what Huey said… two shots in the dark, now Huey’s dead”. – Tupac
June 19th
This… This…. This is still the fight. The Panthers felt that the police occupied Black communities like the military occupies territory, like an invading force. And to read this, I know that it hasn’t changed.
If we don’t care about these incidents, we are doomed to live them in our own neighborhoods and see our own children subjected to this type of injustice. Prayers for peace to 7-year-old Aiyana Jones and her family. Justice is the only way….. No one is free until all of us are free.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/
174859/ why-aiyana-jones-matters#ixzz2W i1417Q7
Interesting to watch the integration of the Juneteenth holiday… and the potential confusion or slight opposition to it.
Happy Juneteeth everyone! Happy total freedom from chattel slavery day for all Black people. Until we all are free… none of us are free.
Can You See the Pride In the Panther (a poem)
Can You See the Pride In the Panther
As he grows in splendor and grace
Topling obstacles placed in the way,
of the progression of his race.
Can You See the Pride In the Panther
as she nurtures her young all alone
The seed must grow regardless
of the fact that it is planted in stone.
Can You See the Pride In the Panthers
as they unify as one.
The flower blooms with brilliance,
and outshines the rays of the sun.
– Tupac Shakur
Letter to My Unborn Child –
“Dear Lord can you hear me? Tell me what to say to my unborn seed, in case I pass away. Will my child get to feel love? Or are we all just curse to be street thugs? Cause being Black hurts….” – Tupac
I am sorry he didn’t get to experience how beautiful it is too before he had to go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPmNQmmMZ84
People often do not understand the significance of music to Black people and black culture. Throughout history it has been one of the only things we had to teach, feel, show and enjoy together. It was a shared experience that always told our story… and throughout generations it has energetically embodied the struggle, holding our history of that time.
Public Enemy was a powerhouse in the 80’s and 90’s. They brought the revolution to young minds… and I remember feeling empowered by the sound… it wasn’t played on the airwaves much.
They embodied their rage… and made lessons in their music. But much like any movement… they were not liked by mainstream (white) media or America much. They were labeled racists and dismissed. But what mainstream white America didn’t seem to understand was that they were not dismissed by Black and inner city, or low economic people. Not at all…
And also like others of revolutionary minds… the rage that empowered also ate up Flavor Flav from the inside, turning him to self destruction. It is a theme…. one that continues to oppress those who are oppressed until they oppress themselves in a means to cope with the pain and trauma they are now awake to.
Forgiving Racial Injustice: The Murder of Emmett Till –This video is incredible. It shows real footage, interview with his mother today, his cousin who was 12 at the time and in the room….I am not sure how a people can look at this video and understand just a little bit… the rage… the Black rage, the fear, the sadness, the anxiety, the hopelessness for justice, diminished self worth as a culture of people… for generations.And then (bring it even more to now) that the latest study shows a Black person is killed every 36 hours by some form of law enforcement. It is not over… it has never been over, and sometimes it feels like we are the only ones who have to fear that. Others get to act as if it does not exist anymore….http://www.cbn.com/tv/1427782020001
Such a beautiful young man. And as horrible as the pictures might be, so was his crime… and the injustice that was done to his memory and his family.And here are a few of the comments made about the article done in Look magazine in response to the article. Here is what people thought…. and might still. The trauma of our past has continued over and over again, re-traumatizing the plight of African Americans. And when we think of “moving on” we have to understand what foundation African Americans stand on. In our whole history within this country… this is the example of continuous reminders that we have never been equal, and have always been a little less important… or human, to the idea of America.
…I want to cancel my subscription to your magazine at once. I will not have my home contaminated with…filthy, dishonest articles…
Mrs. W. R. Prevost
Utica, Mississippi…To publish this story, of which no one is proud, but which was certainly justified, smacks loudy of circulation hunting. Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam did what had to be done, and their courage in taking the course they did is to be commended. To have followed any other course would have been unrealistic, cowardly and not in the best interest of their family or country.
Richard Lauchli
Collinsville, Illinois… If you are slurring the people of Mississippi because they did not condemn the two white men, then remind yourself that the two men did not deliberately start the chain of action. For that matter, neither did the Till boy. All of it was precipitated by backgrounds and events outside the main actors in the drama. Regrettable to be sure. But you and I are as much to blame for the killing as the ones who were directly involved…The things is done and nothing anyone can do will bring the Till boy back, but if we fail to learn the obvious lessons from this, there will be other and worse such cases…
C. R. L. Rader
Marion, North Carolina…If the Till boy were my own son, and he were white in color (as I am) and he conducted himself by molesting a Negro woman…I would approve and understand if the Negro husband did likewise…
Walter Tate
Brooklyn, New York
American Experience . The Murder of Emmett Till
One of my family of the heart mentioned Emmett Till today and I thought… he deserves some space today. In 1956 Look magazine published a piece about the murder of Emmett in 1955… at 14 years old, and his confessed killers were released… free.
Here is the article and interview with the killers, the story and reason they killed him. ” I like niggers — in their place — I know how to work ’em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, niggers are gonna stay in their place.”
This is post slavery, during Jim Crow laws… and the killing of Black children was legal. This was less than 60 years ago…. Who says this stuff has NO impact on us today? My mother was a child in the South when Emmett was killed.
“The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi
By William Bradford Huie
Editors Note: In the long history of man’s inhumanity to man, racial conflict has produced some of the most horrible examples of brutality. The recent slaying of Emmett Till in Mississippi is a case in point. The editors of Look are convinced that they are presenting here, for the first time, the real story of that killing — the story no jury heard and no newspaper reader saw.
Disclosed here is the true account of the slaying in Mississippi of a Negro youth named Emmett Till.
Last September in Sumner, Miss., a petit jury found the youth’s admitted abductors not guilty of murder. In November, in Greenwood, a grand jury declined to indict them for kidnapping.
Of the murder trial, the Memphis Commercial Appeal said: “Evidence necessary for convicting on a murder charge was lacking.” But with truth absent, hypocrisy and myth have flourished. Now, hypocrisy can be exposed; myth dispelled. Here are the facts.”http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/sfeature/sf_look_confession.htm
I love when my friends send me a message to say Happy Juneteenth. I love acknowledging such a monumental time in our history that has contributed to a different future…. hope for a different future…. hope for healing.
And to ALL my friends…. Happy Juneteenth to you. It represents another step to healing together.
Never understood people who feel they have the RIGHT to be offended or judgmental about our ancestral pain. It is the height of White Privilege in a continued racial world. And so I honor Maya Angelo for writing this poem… embracing our strength, our resilience, our power… in written word. And Still…. we will rise!Her voice is like a loving hug from the ancestors I will never know.
“Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.”
– Maya Angelou
I love when my friends send me a message to say Happy Juneteenth. I love acknowledging such a monumental time in our history that has contributed to a different future…. hope for a different future…. hope for healing.
And to ALL my friends…. Happy Juneteenth to you. It represents another step to healing together.
This poem… and this video are incredible beyond words.
“Million Man March Poem
The night has been long,
The wound has been deep,
The pit has been dark,
And the walls have been steep.Under a dead blue sky on a distant beach,
I was dragged by my braids just beyond your reach.
Your hands were tied, your mouth was bound,
You couldn’t even call out my name.
You were helpless and so was I,
But unfortunately throughout history
You’ve worn a badge of shame.I say, the night has been long,
The wound has been deep,
The pit has been dark
And the walls have been steep.But today, voices of old spirit sound
Speak to us in words profound,
Across the years, across the centuries,
Across the oceans, and across the seas.
They say, draw near to one another,
Save your race.
You have been paid for in a distant place,
The old ones remind us that slavery’s chains
Have paid for our freedom again and again.The night has been long,
The pit has been deep,
The night has been dark,
And the walls have been steep.The hells we have lived through and live through still,
Have sharpened our senses and toughened our will.
The night has been long.
This morning I look through your anguish
Right down to your soul.
I know that with each other we can make ourselves whole.
I look through the posture and past your disguise,
And see your love for family in your big brown eyes.I say, clap hands and let’s come together in this meeting ground,
I say, clap hands and let’s deal with each other with love,
I say, clap hands and let us get from the low road of indifference,
Clap hands, let us come together and reveal our hearts,
Let us come together and revise our spirits,
Let us come together and cleanse our souls,
Clap hands, let’s leave the preening
And stop impostering our own history.
Clap hands, call the spirits back from the ledge,
Clap hands, let us invite joy into our conversation,
Courtesy into our bedrooms,
Gentleness into our kitchen,
Care into our nursery.The ancestors remind us, despite the history of pain
We are a going-on people who will rise again.And still we rise.”
– Maya Angelou
June 20th
“Knowledge is an antidote” – Kool Moe Dee……
Why do you think they hide it from us? Unlearn and relearn history, its your responsibility now.
GOP Official Resigns After Racially Charged Attack
Amazing how the ignorance of others becomes visible. Amazing to me the audacity of others.
“Rodney Davis will win and the love child of the D.N.C. will be back in Shitcago by May of 2014 working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires,” Allen wrote. “The little queen touts her abstinence and she won the crown because she got bullied in school,,,boohoo..kids are cruel, life sucks and you move on.. Now, miss queen is being used like a street walker and her pimps are the DEMOCRAT PARTY and RINO REPUBLICANS.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
2013/06/20/ jim-allen-resigns_n_3475551.htm l
The Negro or Black National Anthem “Lift every voice and sing” is ingrained in our culture and in our spirits. I knew this song from a young child and cannot tell you how…. more important to me then the pledge of allegiance. Written in 1899 by James Weldon Johnson as a poem (later set to music with his brother), this song resonates in a way that mirrors our struggle….
And to hear it from Aretha Franklin is pure beauty to the soul. If you can’t understand how the music of survival has always been within the heart of Black people…. listen to her sing our song.
“Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn, had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come, over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought, us thus far on, the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet, stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.[5]”
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=XGqx4asAJqs
Interracial Family Finds Swastika on Minivan –
It is a privilege to not have to worry about the insensitivity, hatred and complete violence targeted at you, or your family, because of the color of your skin. People should not under-estimate the psychological damage that this type of hate does to people of color, and this is an everyday fear. And it is a real fear. (there are brain studies to show the changes in brain chemistry due to trauma or chronic fear).
Imagine having to make the decision of when to start teaching your child to be hypervigilant of the hate they will encounter, (and I say when), because of their race. It is a normal decision that Black parents make.
And here is an example of why.
http://abcnews.go.com/m/
blogEntry?id=19452109&sid=76238 74&cid=7623874
5 things you didn’t know about Frederick Douglass
Fredrick Douglas…. former slave turned abolitionist, is an incredible figure in the movement to freedom and rights for African American people. He has a statue going up at the capitol. Did you know that the capitol was partly built by slaves?
5 Great facts about Fredrick Douglas and his new statue to go up in the emancipation hall.
“5. The abolitionist’s statue will stand in a place built by slave labor
It is no small symbol that Douglass’ statue will stand in the U.S. Capitol, a landmark built partly slave labor. They quarried the stones used in the columns, walls and floors.
Douglass’ statue will be featured prominently in Emancipation Hall and will be one of the first big visuals millions of Americans see when they arrive.
Douglass’ statue is the first to represent the District of Columbia and the third of an African-American at the Capitol. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks from the civil rights era also have statues as does abolitionist Sojourner Truth.
The unveiling comes on a day when many states celebrate “Juneteenth,” a day in 1865 when African-American slaves in Texas were finally told they were free.”http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/19/politics/douglass-5-things/?hpt=po_c2
Paula Deen Uses the N-Word: 8 Shocking Details From Her Deposition
Paula Dean? Why yes….. Paula Dean. Modern day racist scandal in the news…. and it is aversive (and some covert) racism at its best. The amazing thing is, that she does not see herself as a racist. The deposition and information coming out from the lawsuit against her and her brother Bubba is amazingly….. racist.
And here is a perfect snapshot of modern day racism that is hidden behind preferences and details that supports this notion that it is not racist. Guess what… if it smells like a …. it’s racism.
Enjoy Paula’s thoughts… here are two I find particularly fascinating. Can you use the word Nigger in a nice way? Hmmmm…..
“2. She really wanted to stage that Southern plantation-style wedding. But she didn’t because the media wouldn’t understand.
Jackson said she was put in charge of arrangements for Bubba’s wedding, which Deen apparently said she wanted to have a “true Southern plantation-style theme.” What, pray tell, does that mean? “Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n—-rs to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts, and black bow-ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around,” Deen reportedly elaborated. Alas, the wedding Deen envisioned never came to be. “We can’t do that because the media would be on me about that,” she reportedly told Jackson. In her testimony, Deen said that she actually was referencing the “beautiful white jackets with a black bow-tie” she saw the wait staff of “middle-aged black men” wearing at a restaurant she visited “in Tennessee or North Carolina or somewhere.”
“6. She doesn’t think the N-word is bad, as long as it’s used in a joke.
Deen said that she and her husband taught her children not to use the N-word in a mean way. Asked when exactly that word be used in a not-mean way, she said either when repeating what you may hear “black people” say in the kitchen or when used in a joke.”
Here’s the Racist Paula Deen Deposition Transcript
Here is the full deposition from Paula Deen. And I hope that she is not able to cook for any public shows where she makes money off of the off-white people who watch her, and from the off-white recipes she choices to exploit.
Our pride is important enough to protect it from those who would exploit it and then laugh in our faces. May she have a mirror put in front of her face so she can see her reflection clearly. And may we all see what racism looks like, and how dirty it feels.
http://eater.com/archives/2013/06/20/heres-the-racist-paula-deen-deposition-trancript.php
And a third that is amazing from dear Paula Deen? Glad to know that every man tells jokes about Niggers. And that it means they have a sense of humor.Now…. how should I explain that to my 11 year old son and make sure he stays confident in his ability to rule the world? Hmmm……
“4. She doesn’t think that watching porn or being racist at work makes you a bad boss.
In her deposition, Deen was asked whether the fact that her brother admitted to watching pornography and using the N-word at their restaurant caused her to have concerns about him running their business. She responded, “just because he’s got a sense of humor does not make him a bad person or incapable of running a business.” Questioned as to whether jokes of a sexual or racist nature are in poor taste at a place of work, she responded, “We have all told off-color jokes … Every man I’ve ever come in contact with has one.”
Blessed Solstice to all. May the growing strength of the sun remind us that shedding light equals growth. May we shed light so that we may all grow. Plant the seed…. watch it grow.
I find some of the theories in this dissertation to be spot on. Understanding the “Sociocultural, sociohistorical, and sociopolitical effects on African American women’s sense of self”, it is important to see the intersectionality of oppression around being Black and being woman.
“In order for clinicians to recognize cultural differences, clinicians first need to make reasonable efforts to learn about the cultures of their clients and the impact of culture on their clients’realities. One part of understanding African American women’s realities involves the recognition that African American women’s experiences of 5 psychological distress are impacted by their membership in two traditionally marginalized groups. Namely, they are simultaneously African American (a socially constructed racial group that has been, and continues to be discriminated against based on phenotypic characteristics) and female (a group that has traditionally been subjugated based on sex). In order to increase the presence of African American women on their caseloads, and to maintain therapeutic relationships with African American female clients, clinicians may need to increase their awareness of what it means to be both African American and female (Davenport & Yurich, 1991).”
http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1723&context=etd
June 21st
Exactly…..
Food Network won’t renew Paula Deen’s contract
Lesson of today? It is NOT ok to be a racist. Even Food Network says so….
And now Paul will have to reflect on her words and her jokes, and remember that there are people behind the label of Nigger… People that are incredible, talented, intelligent, compassionate human beings. And those “Niggers” even have children who should never have to be subjected to celebrities that think it is ok to label and dismiss the humanity of people based on the color of their skin or their culture. Thank you Food Network for standing up for all people.
All Power to the People…. all the time.
Incredible glimpse into the memory of Little Bobby Hutton’s murder… and a Panther’s reflection. And after his death in 1968, he finally got a grave marker in 2003…. A tragedy that any community wouldn’t memorialize the life of this young man, who gave his life and killed by the system.
“BOBBY HUTTON – The Day My Beloved Brother Comrade was Murdered
——————————————————————————–
On April 6, 1968, two days after Martin Luther King had been murdered, I got dressed and prepared to go to Central Headquarters of the Black Panther Party (BPP) along with Panthers Jimmy Charley and Terry Claridy. I read a chapter of the “Red Book – Quotations by Chairman Mao” before I left. We arrived at Central Headquarters at 45th and Grove St. to get assigned to various locations to sell the Party’s newspaper “The Black Panther,” collect donations and pass out leaflets in the community about the barbecue for the “Free Huey Newton” defense committee to be held at then called – Defremery Park on April 7th.
Later that evening, around 4pm, other Panthers and I, in groups of two and three, were circulating in the community and going to high schools spreading the word that despite the murder of Dr. King, they should stay cool, lay low and refrain from all counterproductive and random violence, because riots would cause nothing but mass genocide. If trouble erupted, it would be open season on blacks and the BPP would be the first attacked.
Around 6pm, some Party members and I met at a Panther’s apartment off San Pablo Ave. We decided that we would ride in three vehicles transporting food and supplies for the barbecue picnic and at the same time we would observe and patrol the police activities in the Black community.
Around 7:30pm, after patrolling and picking up supplies for the rally, two policemen turned their cruiser south observing and following us onto 28th street and Union street where we had stopped for a minute for Eldridge Cleaver who had to urinate. Eldridge and L’il Bobby Hutton were riding in a 1961 Ford with several other Panthers. I was riding shotgun, in the center of the back seat, armed with a banana clip 30 caliber carbine. Panther Charles Bursey was to the left of me and Donnell Lankford was to the right. The officers pulled their cruiser to a stop in the middle of the street side by side with these vehicles. (The 1961 Ford with Florida license plates had been observed all week because it was known by the Oakland Police as a Panther vehicle.) Gunfire erupted at once, two wild shots were followed instantly by a deluge of lead that riddled the squad cars and shots were fired by police into the rear window of the 1954 Ford in which I was riding.
More policemen flocked to the shooting scene. Charles Bursey was able to get out of the car and escape the scene. Donnell Lankford, who was to the right of me, attempted to open the door so we could take cover, but the door was jammed. The door finally came open, but as soon as we tried to exit the vehicle, there were about a dozen police with their guns and shotguns drawn and thrust into our faces. They were making racist, insulting remarks while we were lying face down, handcuffed behind our backs, helpless on the pavement. They made statements such as, “you niggers just lost Martin Luther King and if you make one move we will not hesitate to blow your heads off.”
We were then put into the police paddy wagon. Donnell, John L. Scott and I were the first to be arrested. The over- reactionary pigs sprayed mace into our eyes after we were already handcuffed and helpless. As the police wagon drove away from the scene, I could barely see out the back, but it appeared to me that there were black people running behind the wagon saying, “Free these brothers, you racist cops.” I told my comrades in the police wagon that this was a deliberate ambush, attempting to commit genocide against the BPP.
The booking officer asked me if I wanted to make a statement after being booked. I said no, I was taking the 5th amendment until I consulted with my attorney, Charles Garry. They put Lankford, Scott and me into different holding cells. I could hear racist statements like, “They should kill Eldridge Cleaver. He’s like a wild animal running amok.” Note: the ambush of other Party members was still going on at this time. Later that night, Harold Rodgers, Charles Garry’s assistant attorney, visited me in my cell and told me that one Party member did not survive. That was the Party’s first member and treasurer, Bobby James Hutton.
Long Live the Spirit of L’il Bobby Hutton.
Terry M. Cotton, former political prisoner and BPP member
Loved this song from the first moment I heard it…. enjoy the voices of incredible musicians…. with an incredible revolutionary message for true freedom. (the theme song from Panther)….. Cause I’m Gonna stand! You?
“We will not bow down to racism
We will not bow down to injustice
We will not bow down to exploitation
I’m gon’ stand, I’m gon’ standNow this is time for free your mind and your soul
Yo our official story has never been told
Ladies you got to demand what you want
And what we want is respect, right
Come and take a walk with me a closer walk
With thee see what only I can see
Sisters check this, watch thisFreedom….”
Sitting here with my boy and hubbie, preparing for our adventure tomorrow…. visiting the grave of Huey P Newton and then the grave of Little Bobby Hutton. We are watching the Panther movie…. so he can learn the importance of who we are visiting and the privilege of what we are doing tomorrow. He is pretty excited….
This documentary is incredible. Done by HBO…. and the readings of slave narratives are compelling and heart breaking. Here is the full documentary… starts with Samual L. Jackson. Powerful….. the words of our ancestors come to life… the words of slaves.
June 22nd
And tonight’s theme? For God’s Sake, Give More Power to the People! Atleast that is what the Chi-Lites said in 1970…
“There’s no price for happiness, there’s no price for love
Up goes the price of livin’ an’ you’re right back where you was
So whatever you got, just be glad you got it
Now we’re gonna get on up an’ get some more of it”
Found out today that Huey P Newton’s ashes were actually spread out at the Golden Gate Bridge…. he is not buried. But the highlight in that? I got to actually see and touch the records from his death. Research is amazing.
Tonight I want to honor the memory of Geronimo Pratt…. Black Panther activist that was incarcerated for 27 years on trumped up charges until his sentence was overturned due to mistruths and deceit. He died at 63… dying in 2011. (released in 97).
It is the systematic oppression and the legalities of the prison industrial complex that has become the new Jim Crow. How a person becomes a threat to national security and then imprisoned for 27 years on false charges is unthinkable to me.
Tonight I shine a light of respect for Geronimo Pratt and all the other jailed revolutionaries… that fought for my rights and lost their own.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/03/california.pratt.death/index.html
We have spent a month talking about the historical and collective trauma of oppression, chattel slavery, the middle passage, Jim Crow era, transgenerational trauma and retraumatizition of Black people in America. And I still don’t think I could have summed it up as well as Nina Simone in Mississippi Goddam.During the fight for desegregation, she wrote this song with such profound lyrics that they pulled together the feelings of a whole era… and with the historic trauma of an entire race of people. This song was written in 1963… My mom was in her teen years…. this was her life.
Everyone watched… everyone knew… and everyone continued to watch as the nation dehumanized and stripped Black people of a place in society. And they watched…..
So here are the lyrics to an incredible song… sung with a little humor and even more fight. She was a gem…. that taught history and culture with the tone of her voice.
“The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of itAlabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi GoddamAlabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi GoddamCan’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayerAlabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi GoddamThis is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yetHound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my lastLord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayerDon’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying “Go slow!”But that’s just the trouble
“do it slow”
Washing the windows
“do it slow”
Picking the cotton
“do it slow”
You’re just plain rotten
“do it slow”
You’re too damn lazy
“do it slow”
The thinking’s crazy
“do it slow”
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don’t know
I don’t knowJust try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi GoddamI made you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t we
Picket lines
School boycotts
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and meYes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me Sister SadieOh but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying “Go slow!”
“Go slow!”But that’s just the trouble
“do it slow”
Desegregation
“do it slow”
Mass participation
“do it slow”
Reunification
“do it slow”
Do things gradually
“do it slow”
But bring more tragedy
“do it slow”
Why don’t you see it
Why don’t you feel it
I don’t know
I don’t knowYou don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBiAtwQZnHs
Mary Reynolds
I cannot read through these without sickness in my guy, and the stirring of saliva in my mouth before throwing up. I know these stories… ones like them, as many of us do, but to read them in the dialect and with the genuineness of them… it is unimaginable to me.
The trauma from these experiences are clear to me as a social worker. Can you see them too? Can you imagine how these slaves were raised and conditioned, and then how they raised their children, and their children, and their children?
Here are two examples from this one slave’s interview, her name is Mary Reynolds.
“We prays for the end of Trib’lation and the end of beatin’s and for shoes that fit our feet. We prayed that us niggers could have all we wanted to eat and special for fresh meat. Some the old ones say we have to bear all, cause that all we can do. Some say they was glad to the time they’s dead, cause they’d rather rot in the ground than have the beatin’s. What I hated most was when they’d beat me and I didn’t know what they beat me for, and I hated they strippin’ me naked as the day I was born.”
“When we’s comin’ back from that prayin’, I thunk I heared the nigger dogs and somebody on horseback. I say, Maw, its them nigger hounds and they’ll eat us up.’ You could hear them old hounds and sluts abayin’. Maw listens and say, Sho nough, them dogs am running’ and Gawd help us!’ Then she and paw talk and they take us to a fence corner and stands us up gainst the rails and say don’t move and if anyone comes near, don’t breathe loud. They went to the woods, so the hounds chase them and not git us. Me and Katherine stand there, holdin’ hands, shakin’ so we can hardly stand. We hears the hounds come nearer, but we don’t move. They goes after paw and maw, but they circles round to the cabins and gits in. Maw say its the power of Gawd.”
More slave narratives can be read here.
June 23rd
Random blog post I found today that was very insightful. Understanding the Black experiences most often start with understanding the White difference and privilege.
“But it underscored for me the importance of proactive education in overcoming our country’s racial history. Because really, this “I’m glad I’m white” notion probably lives deep inside most of us white folk, whether we are conscious of it or not.
What if this little cherub didn’t have the upbringing and education to check that automatic response? How easy would it be, even subconsciously, for “I’m glad I’m white” to gradually morph into “It’s better that I’m white” and eventually to “I’m better because I’m white” if there wasn’t a strong message to counter that?
And I wonder if a black child watching the same video, or learning about that same chunk of history, might have the opposite gut response. I’m sure there’s some pride there in seeing someone like Dr. King doing such courageous and world-changing work. But at the same time, they’re seeing that 1) people that look like them were seen as dirty and inferior, and 2) people that stood up for change, though they had support, were doubly mistreated and eventually shot and killed. I always think of civil rights movement education as inspiring. But maybe there’s another layer to it that I have – in my white ignorance, perhaps – never considered. If a white child thinks “I’m glad I’m white,” could a black child think, “It sucks that I’m black?”
I watched a video interview of Dr. Joy Degruy, author of “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” where she explained very clearly how much our country’s racial history still affects blacks today. African Americans in general have had to fight not only the white status quo, but their own slavery-era ancestral habits in order to climb toward equality.
Take, for example, education. If you were a child of a slave, and you were caught knowing how to read, you’d be beaten. Or your family would be beaten. Or separated. Or worse. Education had horrible consequences for blacks for a very long time in this country. So parents taught their kids to act dumb in order to keep them safe. The dumber you talked, the safer you were. Those were truths – not assumptions, not ignorant habits, but truths – that got passed down for generations. Fear – especially fear for one’s children – is a powerful and insidious oppressor.
We’ve come a long way, I think, but we still have so much vital work to do in this area. The civil rights movement really wasn’t that long ago. One generation from me. Two generations from these kids I teach. There’s a lot of subconscious junk that is still quite fresh in the larger scheme of things. Maybe it’s not enough to teach kids that skin color doesn’t matter. Maybe we need to dig deeper than that, uncomfortable as it might be.”
Through the ups and downs of the day, I find myself feeling so incredibly blessed. I sat there on the grass of Little Bobby Hutton’s grave with my family and felt the circle of my adolescent years meet my adult mother years. I got to teach my children more about their history, and I was able to connect with the spirit of someone that I have read about since high school.
I read my Juneteenth poem to him and cried… the tears came a bit unexpectedly. Although I should have expected them, because when I was able to touched the death record of Huey today, I teared up as well.
And I didn’t try to stop them. The incredibly profound realization that I was touching Little Bobby’s grave, cleaning the overgrown grass from his headstone, was such a privilege for me. And I was there with my children, reaping some of the benefits he fought for that he never got to experience.
And so tonight I am reminded of how blessed and grateful I am. I am thankful for the opportunity to honor him today… and in turn I was able to honor each of us as well.
In Search of Manhood: The Black Male’s Struggle for Identity and PowerVery interesting topic…. very complex and important to understand. I am very self reflective about this piece here; In Search of manhood” The Black Male’s Struggle for Identity and Power.
“Overview
Within the cultural framework of America, the systemic structure is characterized by White male patriarchy that allows for Black males to have the ability to negotiate the way in which they have been socialized and institutionalized to think, act, and behave because they are men. However, the reality of race and the lack of diversity in the purest sense, impedes upon this effort and cripples the black male’s ability to truly transition into manhood. He is left to constantly struggle and fight for an identity, for power, for respect, and for understanding of who he is versus what he is projected as: a nigger.The “nigger” does not exist in a cultural vacuum, but is rather an “expressive of the cultural crossing, mixing, and engagement of Black male culture with the values, attitudes, and concerns of the white majority” (hooks, 1994). The reactionary behaviors and coping mechanisms that manifest from this cultural group may appear incomprehensible to one who is not challenged with an anomalous form of self-awareness defined by a conflicting identity that forces the Black male to view himself through the lens of the dominant culture that does not perceive and does not allow him to function as equal.
The pressure to conform to white male patriarchal standards of manhood as protector, disciplinarian, and provider are representative of such a dilemma for Black males. Despite the unconscious internalization and acceptance of the white male patriarchal standards, inequities in education and employment and limited access to educational opportunities prevent the expression of these behaviors (Harris, 1995, p. 279).
This paper will evaluate how the historical and contemporary antecedents of social oppression in American culture and the formation of a White male patriarchal system serves as a catalysts to the complex identity formation of Black males, the performance of masculinity, and the striving for power. A self assessment of challenges, biases, and beliefs experienced and held by the author in working with this population as well as competencies that can be utilized in working with this population, will be also be identified.”
Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews –
Ingrained racist tendencies are powerful…. and still have a strong impact individually and on society.
“A study in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science presents strong evidence that even people who aspire to tolerance — who would consider themselves nonracist — still harbor unconscious biases powerful enough to prevent them from confronting overt racists or from being upset by other people’sracist behavior. The authors say the results suggest attitudes so deeply ingrained that protective legislation and affirmative-action programs are required to overcome them. The results may even offer clues as to how other societies have spiraled into genocide.”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1870408,00.html#ixzz2X78JvTLT
June 24th
Nikki Giovanni doing a poem and dedication to the revolutionary memory of Tupac. I remember the day he died. I remember listening to his poems read on the radio for days afterward… I remember feeling the loss of someone who spoke of our pain and the world was listening.
This is a beautiful reflection of honoring a beautiful man.
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?feature=player_embedded&v =2fFyFZeYwnw
Ben Harper – I’ll Rise a capella 1996
Such a powerful rendition of Maya Angelou’s poem…. powerful and full of soul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GZEoeBlIUHk#at=46
Video speech of Bobby Seal from the 45th Panther Reunion in 2011.http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/45th_Year_Reunion/video/BobbySeale.wmv
The Conceptualization and Measurement of Symbolic Racism
Straight out of University of California (L.A.) we have the study of “The Conceptualization and Measurement of Symbolic Racism”. Very intriguing and interesting work. Another research study that shows empirical information about the validity and damage of racism…. today.
“The dismantling of the Southern Jim Crow system in the 1960s cemented basic civil and political rights for African Americans. It also catalyzed a gradual shift in the racial attitudes of the white public to the current near-unanimous support for general principles of equal treatment and nondiscrimination (Schuman et al., 1997). Nevertheless, African Americans continue to experience substantial disadvantages in most domains of life. Remedial government policies remain on the political agenda, but they have often met substantial white opposition.
Several explanations for that opposition have emerged. One is that the “old fashioned racism” of pre-civil-rights days has been replaced by some new form of racism, such as “symbolic racism” (Kinder and Sears 1981; Sears 1988; Sears and Kinder 1971), “modern racism” (McConahay 1986), or “racial resentment” (Kinder and Sanders 1996). A second emphasizes group conflicts stemming from structural inequalities, such as realistic group conflict theory (Bobo 1988), threatened “sense of group position” (Bobo 1999), or social dominance theory (Sidanius et al. 1999). A third invokes non-racial political processes, such as elites’ agenda control and the white public’s political ideologies and values, rather than whites’ racial prejudice (e.g., Sniderman and Carmines 1997; Sniderman and Piazza 1993).
Of the “new racisms,” symbolic racism and its brethren have perhaps stimulated the most attention in social psychology (Biernat and Crandall 1999), sociology (Hughes 1997; Krysan 2000; Schuman et al. 1997) and political science (Hurwitz and Peffley 1998; Sniderman, Crosby, and Howell 2000). Numerous studies have shown that symbolic racism is strongly associated with whites’ opposition to racially targeted policies, typically outweighing the roles of other important political attitudes, such as ideology, party identification, and attitudes toward the size of government, as well as of more traditional racial attitudes (e.g., Alvarez and Brehm 1997; Bobo 2000; Henry and Sears 2002; Hughes 1997; Kinder and Sanders 1996; Sears et al. 1997; Sidanius et al. 1999).”
This guy is incredible. As a fan of flipsyde… and an old friend/acquaintance of one of the band members… I have had the pleasure of meeting this man on a video set one day. He is a good dude… nice and intelligent. I wish I had seen his play. I want to support this kind of work; a reflection of the real struggle of Black men in the inner city…. in Oakland and places like it.
For those who cannot relate, know that THAT is privilege playing in your life, and be grateful. This kind of work should be seen around America.
Cops and Robbers from Charles Berkowitz on Vimeo.
Dr.DeGruy on KPFA
During a KPFA fundraiser, they played one of Dr. Joy Degruy’s speeches in parts. You can fast forward some of the promotion… It is a good one.
About 20 minutes into this Dr. Joy hits white and black racism vs. prejudice vs. dislike… and White privilege.
Then about 30 minutes in she talks about the difference in chattel slavery and the systematic changing of axiology to socialize and normalize oppression and chattel slavery.
About 40 minutes in she talks about adaptive behavior confused with culture…. as a part of social learning and stress related injury. AND the modeling of broken behavior and the effect on children (secondary trauma).
And what does Dr. Degruy say about how slavery effected White people? I found the clip I was looking for. Some of this might be a repeat of previous audios but they play a different segment on this one. About 48 minutes and 30 seconds in…. she talks
“What you are seeing there is an absence of any level of empathy. You are seeing an absence of even emotion really… you have children so close they can smell him”.
“WHY AREN’T THEY HORRIFIED?”
This is powerful…. Too much for many people to wrap their minds (and hearts) around. And thus cognitive dissonance.
I hope people listen to this. I uploaded it on my dropbox to share.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/
x5lsi1z2b04xzt8/ Dr%20Joy%20on%20kpfa.m3u
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