Sunday, April 22, 2018
How We Cope
From the NY Times Race/Related -
We asked readers about whether they felt their race contributed to how others behaved around them in their daily lives. Here are some of their responses, lightly edited for clarity.
I keep my Platinum American Express Card near my driver’s license so that law enforcement can see that I am a “citizen,” someone in the upper middle class, without overtly saying so. – Christopher Scott, 58, Chicago
When I go into stores, I try to avoid wearing large purses or a lot of layers. I am educated (with a master’s degree) and have a career, but that does not matter because I cannot wear that as my skin color is worn. – Shawna Francis, 31, Columbia, Mo.
I have registered my car with the N.Y.P.D. with stickers all over the car saying that I am in an “anti-theft program.” What I am really doing is to “mark” myself as friendly to the police so that I can get respect. – Miriam Allen, 61, New York
I try not to talk to people and keep to myself, usually I listen to music or I talk to the people I went with. I try to stay away from other patrons unless they're black. – C.S., 39, New York
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/RR_1293.html?nlid=38867499
We asked readers about whether they felt their race contributed to how others behaved around them in their daily lives. Here are some of their responses, lightly edited for clarity.
I keep my Platinum American Express Card near my driver’s license so that law enforcement can see that I am a “citizen,” someone in the upper middle class, without overtly saying so. – Christopher Scott, 58, Chicago
When I go into stores, I try to avoid wearing large purses or a lot of layers. I am educated (with a master’s degree) and have a career, but that does not matter because I cannot wear that as my skin color is worn. – Shawna Francis, 31, Columbia, Mo.
I have registered my car with the N.Y.P.D. with stickers all over the car saying that I am in an “anti-theft program.” What I am really doing is to “mark” myself as friendly to the police so that I can get respect. – Miriam Allen, 61, New York
I try not to talk to people and keep to myself, usually I listen to music or I talk to the people I went with. I try to stay away from other patrons unless they're black. – C.S., 39, New York
https://static.nytimes.com/email-content/RR_1293.html?nlid=38867499
Starbucks is Not Alone
From CNN -
Starbucks isn't the only chain that's faced claims of racial bias
By Amir Vera
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/20/us/racial-incidents-at-restaurants-and-starbucks/index.html
Starbucks isn't the only chain that's faced claims of racial bias
By Amir Vera
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/20/us/racial-incidents-at-restaurants-and-starbucks/index.html
Making a Statement
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-carrey-rudy-giuliani-portrait-trump_us_5adade10e4b089e33c8842b2
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Unapologetically Black
An excerpt from CNN -
Beyoncé and Lamar show what it means to be 'unapologetically black'
By John Blake, CNN
Part of what was so thrilling about Beyoncé's and Lamar's achievements is that they seemed indifferent to the white gaze. They weren't arrested, killed or fired from their jobs. They were applauded.
Consider the gushing tributes to Beyoncé's performance from many white critics such as Jon Caramanica of The New York Times. Though she was the first black woman to headline the largely white music festival in California, she didn't adjust her performance to the white gaze. It was drenched in black culture: There were references to the black marching bands and Greek step shows that are part of historically black college culture, and vocal snippets from Malcolm X and black singer Nina Simone. Beyoncé also performed part of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," known as the black national anthem.
~~~~~~~~~~
There's an uncomfortable truth, though, about Lamar's and Beyoncé's successes:
Many white Americans have long accepted black people's humanity when they are performing, says Stephanie Batiste, a performance artist and an associate professor of black studies and English at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"If you're an athlete or a musician, your blackness is acceptable," she says. "If you're not performing, white audiences view your blackness with suspicion."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/21/us/beyonce-lamar-unapologetically-black/index.html
Beyoncé and Lamar show what it means to be 'unapologetically black'
By John Blake, CNN
Part of what was so thrilling about Beyoncé's and Lamar's achievements is that they seemed indifferent to the white gaze. They weren't arrested, killed or fired from their jobs. They were applauded.
Consider the gushing tributes to Beyoncé's performance from many white critics such as Jon Caramanica of The New York Times. Though she was the first black woman to headline the largely white music festival in California, she didn't adjust her performance to the white gaze. It was drenched in black culture: There were references to the black marching bands and Greek step shows that are part of historically black college culture, and vocal snippets from Malcolm X and black singer Nina Simone. Beyoncé also performed part of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," known as the black national anthem.
~~~~~~~~~~
There's an uncomfortable truth, though, about Lamar's and Beyoncé's successes:
Many white Americans have long accepted black people's humanity when they are performing, says Stephanie Batiste, a performance artist and an associate professor of black studies and English at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"If you're an athlete or a musician, your blackness is acceptable," she says. "If you're not performing, white audiences view your blackness with suspicion."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/21/us/beyonce-lamar-unapologetically-black/index.html
Black Women Are Dying in Childbirth at Record Rates
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Easing the Dangers of Childbirth for Black Women
By The Editorial Board
The rate of maternal mortality in the United States, already higher than in other wealthy countries, has risen by more than half since 1990. The grim increase is largely because of alarmingly high rates among black women, who nationally are three times as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as white women.
In New York City, the numbers are even more staggering. Black women here are 12 times as likely to die from childbirth-related causes as white women. They experience severe, life-threatening complications from pregnancy and childbirth in about 387 out of every 10,000 births, according to city data. That is triple the rate of white New Yorkers, and roughly comparable to complication rates in Sierra Leone.
The disturbing phenomenon has been closely examined by The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica, which in recent months have laid out the shameful details of how we have failed to protect the lives of black women in pregnancy and childbirth. One stunning find: Wealthier, more educated black women in New York City are also dying or almost dying in childbirth at a far higher rate than their white neighbors. One city study found that black college-educated women were more than twice as likely to experience severe complications from childbirth as white women without a high school diploma.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/childbirth-black-women-mortality.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Easing the Dangers of Childbirth for Black Women
By The Editorial Board
The rate of maternal mortality in the United States, already higher than in other wealthy countries, has risen by more than half since 1990. The grim increase is largely because of alarmingly high rates among black women, who nationally are three times as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as white women.
In New York City, the numbers are even more staggering. Black women here are 12 times as likely to die from childbirth-related causes as white women. They experience severe, life-threatening complications from pregnancy and childbirth in about 387 out of every 10,000 births, according to city data. That is triple the rate of white New Yorkers, and roughly comparable to complication rates in Sierra Leone.
The disturbing phenomenon has been closely examined by The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica, which in recent months have laid out the shameful details of how we have failed to protect the lives of black women in pregnancy and childbirth. One stunning find: Wealthier, more educated black women in New York City are also dying or almost dying in childbirth at a far higher rate than their white neighbors. One city study found that black college-educated women were more than twice as likely to experience severe complications from childbirth as white women without a high school diploma.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/childbirth-black-women-mortality.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Racism Shapes Customer Service
An excerpt from the NY Times -
Beyond Starbucks: How Racism Shapes Customer Service
By Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
While well-designed racial bias training is certainly a positive step forward and an important public statement, research on the long-term effectiveness of such training is mixed at best. Instead of relying primarily on trainings to remedy bias, if they truly want to transform the way they serve customers, companies need to make structural changes. For instance, they should standardize scripts and provide employees with specific protocols for managing these situations. Such efforts can institutionalize norms of behavior for employees when they interact with customers.
But even before putting new processes in place for employees to follow, companies must systematically assess the current state of their customer service. We encourage businesses to begin by conducting internal audit studies of customer service. Many of the service behaviors we discussed are subtle. To detect bias in these behaviors requires quantifying different aspects of customer service and comparing treatment quality across a range of customers. After all, a store manager may conclude that an employee is doing a great job upon hearing him say “Have a great day!” to an Asian customer but not recognize that the same employee says “Have a great day! You should come back and try our new blonde cappuccino, with soy!” to a white customer. It is only after identifying these disparities that companies can develop targeted interventions to combat biases.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/starbucks-racism-customer-service.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Beyond Starbucks: How Racism Shapes Customer Service
By Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim
While well-designed racial bias training is certainly a positive step forward and an important public statement, research on the long-term effectiveness of such training is mixed at best. Instead of relying primarily on trainings to remedy bias, if they truly want to transform the way they serve customers, companies need to make structural changes. For instance, they should standardize scripts and provide employees with specific protocols for managing these situations. Such efforts can institutionalize norms of behavior for employees when they interact with customers.
But even before putting new processes in place for employees to follow, companies must systematically assess the current state of their customer service. We encourage businesses to begin by conducting internal audit studies of customer service. Many of the service behaviors we discussed are subtle. To detect bias in these behaviors requires quantifying different aspects of customer service and comparing treatment quality across a range of customers. After all, a store manager may conclude that an employee is doing a great job upon hearing him say “Have a great day!” to an Asian customer but not recognize that the same employee says “Have a great day! You should come back and try our new blonde cappuccino, with soy!” to a white customer. It is only after identifying these disparities that companies can develop targeted interventions to combat biases.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/starbucks-racism-customer-service.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Happy Slaves?
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
School Apologizes For Asking Students To List ‘Positive Aspects’ Of Slavery
“To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity,” the superintendent said in a statement.
By Elyse Wanshel
“We are fully aware that there is a concerted effort by the far-right nationally to reframe slavery as being ‘not that bad’ and trying to revise the civil war as being about ‘states rights’ and not about slavery,” he told HuffPost in a Facebook message. “We were concerned that this assignment fell in line with that ideology and were naturally concerned, as well as other parents.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-texas-pros-cons-slavery-assignment_us_5ada30a5e4b01c279db434ca
School Apologizes For Asking Students To List ‘Positive Aspects’ Of Slavery
“To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity,” the superintendent said in a statement.
By Elyse Wanshel
“We are fully aware that there is a concerted effort by the far-right nationally to reframe slavery as being ‘not that bad’ and trying to revise the civil war as being about ‘states rights’ and not about slavery,” he told HuffPost in a Facebook message. “We were concerned that this assignment fell in line with that ideology and were naturally concerned, as well as other parents.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/school-texas-pros-cons-slavery-assignment_us_5ada30a5e4b01c279db434ca
Mac & Cheese Recipes
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/best-macaroni-and-cheese-recipes_us_5a81b6dfe4b044b3821fb524
Friday, April 20, 2018
Thursday, April 19, 2018
This is Not an Isolated Incident
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Calling the police on black people isn’t a Starbucks problem. It’s an America problem.
By Karen Attiah
It’s good that Starbucks, with its announcement this week that it will close thousands of stores for a day of “racial bias training” in May, is taking steps in the right direction after a video of two black men getting arrested in one of its coffee shops went viral. But white America’s habit of needlessly calling the police on black people is not just a Starbucks culture problem. It’s an American culture problem.
The tragic examples are all over the Internet. In McKinney, Tex., in 2015, after a neighbor called police about a pool party, a responding officer used brute force on 15-year-old Dajerria Becton, slamming the girl to the ground by her hair and jamming his knees into her back and neck. The video of the sobbing, 100-pound, swimsuit-clad girl went viral. The officer was fired.
That same year, South Carolina officer Ben Fields was fired over a viral video of him flipping a black high school girl over her desk and dragging her across the classroom. Her offense? Refusing to put away her cellphone.
And, of course, who can forget what happened in 2009 when a woman in Cambridge, Mass., called 911 to report a possible burglary in her neighborhood? The man she called the cops on was renowned black Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. He was arrested and charged — for trying to get into his own house.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/calling-the-police-on-black-people-isnt-a-starbucks-problem-its-an-america-problem/2018/04/18/e871d504-4330-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?utm_term=.cf7377430434
Calling the police on black people isn’t a Starbucks problem. It’s an America problem.
By Karen Attiah
It’s good that Starbucks, with its announcement this week that it will close thousands of stores for a day of “racial bias training” in May, is taking steps in the right direction after a video of two black men getting arrested in one of its coffee shops went viral. But white America’s habit of needlessly calling the police on black people is not just a Starbucks culture problem. It’s an American culture problem.
The tragic examples are all over the Internet. In McKinney, Tex., in 2015, after a neighbor called police about a pool party, a responding officer used brute force on 15-year-old Dajerria Becton, slamming the girl to the ground by her hair and jamming his knees into her back and neck. The video of the sobbing, 100-pound, swimsuit-clad girl went viral. The officer was fired.
That same year, South Carolina officer Ben Fields was fired over a viral video of him flipping a black high school girl over her desk and dragging her across the classroom. Her offense? Refusing to put away her cellphone.
And, of course, who can forget what happened in 2009 when a woman in Cambridge, Mass., called 911 to report a possible burglary in her neighborhood? The man she called the cops on was renowned black Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. He was arrested and charged — for trying to get into his own house.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/calling-the-police-on-black-people-isnt-a-starbucks-problem-its-an-america-problem/2018/04/18/e871d504-4330-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?utm_term=.cf7377430434
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Kendrick Lamar Wins a Pulitzer
An excerpt from CNN -
Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer is a thumb in the eye of Trump
By Clay Cane
Kendrick Lamar has created the perfect fusion of politics and hip hop, and on Monday he got a Pulitzer Prize -- and of course he did. In a time when hip hop is supersaturated with vapid pop hits and petty feuds, Lamar is socially resonant and musically gifted. He is the voice of this generation, and the first hip hop artist to win the music Pulitzer, for his 14-track "Damn."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/opinions/kendrick-lamar-pulitzer-cane/index.html
Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer is a thumb in the eye of Trump
By Clay Cane
Kendrick Lamar has created the perfect fusion of politics and hip hop, and on Monday he got a Pulitzer Prize -- and of course he did. In a time when hip hop is supersaturated with vapid pop hits and petty feuds, Lamar is socially resonant and musically gifted. He is the voice of this generation, and the first hip hop artist to win the music Pulitzer, for his 14-track "Damn."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/opinions/kendrick-lamar-pulitzer-cane/index.html
Monday, April 16, 2018
Don't Disrespect
An excerpt from VerySmartBrothas -
Don’t Disrespect Our Anthems: 6 Black Songs Off Limits to Taylor Swift and Other White Musicians
By Michael Harriot
I recently did a radio show on which I ran down the top five cookout songs of all time. The host, a white woman who swears she’s embedded in black culture, went on and on about how she loved this song, but during her diatribe, the black people in the room kept giving each other the secret black side eye; none of us believed her because she kept telling us how she was such a huge fan ...
... of “Frankie Beverly and the Maze.”
Look, I’m not one of those black supremacists who pepper their conversations with references to “the white devil,” but if Nickelback tries to remake “Before I Let Go,” black people are going to need some reparations. The brave men and woman of Maze didn’t sacrifice their lives for Frankie Beverly’s right to wear a white painter’s cap only to have his legacy marred by rockabilly bands who want to remix our music for a rodeo after-party. Frankie Beverly didn’t die for this.
You’re probably saying to yourself: “But Frankie Beverly isn’t dead,” and you’re right. But I can’t be certain that hearing Vince Staples sing this tune wouldn’t kill Frankie. While that might sound like hyperbole, how can you be so sure?
I don’t think we should take any chances.
https://www.theroot.com/dont-disrespect-our-anthems-6-black-songs-off-limits-t-1825285036?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-16
Don’t Disrespect Our Anthems: 6 Black Songs Off Limits to Taylor Swift and Other White Musicians
By Michael Harriot
I recently did a radio show on which I ran down the top five cookout songs of all time. The host, a white woman who swears she’s embedded in black culture, went on and on about how she loved this song, but during her diatribe, the black people in the room kept giving each other the secret black side eye; none of us believed her because she kept telling us how she was such a huge fan ...
... of “Frankie Beverly and the Maze.”
Look, I’m not one of those black supremacists who pepper their conversations with references to “the white devil,” but if Nickelback tries to remake “Before I Let Go,” black people are going to need some reparations. The brave men and woman of Maze didn’t sacrifice their lives for Frankie Beverly’s right to wear a white painter’s cap only to have his legacy marred by rockabilly bands who want to remix our music for a rodeo after-party. Frankie Beverly didn’t die for this.
You’re probably saying to yourself: “But Frankie Beverly isn’t dead,” and you’re right. But I can’t be certain that hearing Vince Staples sing this tune wouldn’t kill Frankie. While that might sound like hyperbole, how can you be so sure?
I don’t think we should take any chances.
https://www.theroot.com/dont-disrespect-our-anthems-6-black-songs-off-limits-t-1825285036?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-16
Beychella
From the Washington Post -
Beyoncé’s Coachella performance wasn’t just pure entertainment. It was a historic cultural moment.
By Elahe Izadi
Beyoncé’s Coachella performance wasn’t just pure entertainment. It was a historic cultural moment.
By Elahe Izadi
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2018/04/15/beyonces-coachella-performance-wasnt-just-pure-musical-entertainment-it-was-a-historic-cultural-moment/?utm_term=.99f6290c8dbf&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Arrested While Black at Starbucks
From the Washington Post -
Two black men were arrested waiting at a Starbucks. Now the company, police are on the defensive.
By Alex Horton
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/04/15/two-black-men-were-arrested-waiting-at-a-starbucks-now-the-company-police-are-on-the-defensive/?utm_term=.bb1c34017240
Two black men were arrested waiting at a Starbucks. Now the company, police are on the defensive.
By Alex Horton
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/04/15/two-black-men-were-arrested-waiting-at-a-starbucks-now-the-company-police-are-on-the-defensive/?utm_term=.bb1c34017240
A Second Grader Knows
Black kids know, as early as the 2nd grade, that they can be killed by the police.— Ryan P. Haygood (@RyanPHaygood) April 12, 2018
Directions: Add a predicate to each sentence below.
1. The police officer: “killed a boy”—2nd grade Black student in New Jersey pic.twitter.com/FIRWmVPVZi
Recommended Books
From Salon TV -
Junot DÃaz’s five books for all
https://video.salon.com/m/Bk4tzxp3/junot-dazs-five-books-for-all
Junot DÃaz’s five books for all
https://video.salon.com/m/Bk4tzxp3/junot-dazs-five-books-for-all
Saturday, April 14, 2018
He's No Hero
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
James Comey Is No Hero
The former FBI director has a low opinion of the president who fired him, but his disregard for Justice Department rules helped put Trump in the White House to begin with.
By ADAM SERWER
Comey’s admission that he believed Clinton would win is also dramatically at odds with Comey’s own sworn testimony before the Senate in May of 2017. “There was a great debate. I have a fabulous staff at all levels and one of my junior lawyers said, ‘Should you consider that what you’re about to do may help elect Donald Trump president?’” Comey said. “And I said, ‘Thank you for raising that, not for a moment because down that path lies the death of the FBI as an independent institution in America. I can’t consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected in what way.’” Now, Comey admits Clinton’s political fortunes were a factor in his decision, which means that by his own assessment, he personally put the FBI’s political independence at risk.
Comey’s explanation in a Higher Loyalty also makes little sense. If a potential Clinton administration’s legitimacy might be thrown into question by concealing the restarted investigation, why did Comey not have even greater concerns about a Trump administration, given the fact that the FBI believed that Trump’s campaign may have been drawing aid from a hostile foreign power, an allegation far more serious than mishandling of classified information?
~~~~~~~~~~
Comey has a long record of public service, and Trump has none to speak of more than a year into his presidency. Yet there’s another way in which the virtuous and forthright Comey resembles the degenerate and deceitful Trump. Both are the main characters in their own cinematic dramas, the heroes of their own great epic stories, a mindset that blinds each of them to the consequences of their actions on other people.
Comey cares a great deal about honor, and regards the president as dishonorable. But in 2016, Comey robbed the American people of the opportunity to fairly judge each candidate in the 2016 election. That would be the case even if Clinton had prevailed; that she lost simply dramatizes the consequences of his decision. He chose honor over duty, and the nation, the political process, and the independence of FBI all continue to suffer for it.
Trump fired Comey for self-interested reasons, an act that may amount to obstruction of justice. But by that point, Comey had proven himself unfit to hold his office.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/james-comey/557981/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20180413&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
James Comey Is No Hero
The former FBI director has a low opinion of the president who fired him, but his disregard for Justice Department rules helped put Trump in the White House to begin with.
By ADAM SERWER
Comey’s admission that he believed Clinton would win is also dramatically at odds with Comey’s own sworn testimony before the Senate in May of 2017. “There was a great debate. I have a fabulous staff at all levels and one of my junior lawyers said, ‘Should you consider that what you’re about to do may help elect Donald Trump president?’” Comey said. “And I said, ‘Thank you for raising that, not for a moment because down that path lies the death of the FBI as an independent institution in America. I can’t consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected in what way.’” Now, Comey admits Clinton’s political fortunes were a factor in his decision, which means that by his own assessment, he personally put the FBI’s political independence at risk.
Comey’s explanation in a Higher Loyalty also makes little sense. If a potential Clinton administration’s legitimacy might be thrown into question by concealing the restarted investigation, why did Comey not have even greater concerns about a Trump administration, given the fact that the FBI believed that Trump’s campaign may have been drawing aid from a hostile foreign power, an allegation far more serious than mishandling of classified information?
~~~~~~~~~~
Comey has a long record of public service, and Trump has none to speak of more than a year into his presidency. Yet there’s another way in which the virtuous and forthright Comey resembles the degenerate and deceitful Trump. Both are the main characters in their own cinematic dramas, the heroes of their own great epic stories, a mindset that blinds each of them to the consequences of their actions on other people.
Comey cares a great deal about honor, and regards the president as dishonorable. But in 2016, Comey robbed the American people of the opportunity to fairly judge each candidate in the 2016 election. That would be the case even if Clinton had prevailed; that she lost simply dramatizes the consequences of his decision. He chose honor over duty, and the nation, the political process, and the independence of FBI all continue to suffer for it.
Trump fired Comey for self-interested reasons, an act that may amount to obstruction of justice. But by that point, Comey had proven himself unfit to hold his office.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/james-comey/557981/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20180413&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
Single Mom Rocks
From BlackAmericaWeb-
Single Mom Breaks The Internet With Law School Graduation Photos
By Diannah Watson
Single Mom Breaks The Internet With Law School Graduation Photos
By Diannah Watson
https://blackamericaweb.com/2018/04/13/single-mom-breaks-the-internet-with-law-school-graduation-photos/
A Raging Buffon
An excerpt form the NY Times -
Tethered to a Raging Buffoon Called Trump
by Richard Cohen
We are tethered to a buffoon. He rages and veers, spreading ugliness, like an oil slick smothering everything in its viscous mantle. He’s about to bomb Syria. He’s not about to bomb Syria. His attention span is nonexistent. He attacks the foundations of our Republic: an independent judiciary, a free press, truth itself. His cabinet looks terrorized, the way Saddam Hussein’s once did.
President Donald Trump is dangerous. The main things mitigating the danger are his incompetence and cowardice. We live in a time that teaches how outrage can turn to a shrug, how the unthinkable repeated over and over can induce moral numbness, how a madman’s manic certainties can overwhelm reason. He is very busy; people resist; he opens another front; people shake their heads. It’s hard to remember on Friday what happened on Monday. Trump’s is the unbearable lightness of the charlatan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/opinion/trump-hitler-europe.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Tethered to a Raging Buffoon Called Trump
by Richard Cohen
We are tethered to a buffoon. He rages and veers, spreading ugliness, like an oil slick smothering everything in its viscous mantle. He’s about to bomb Syria. He’s not about to bomb Syria. His attention span is nonexistent. He attacks the foundations of our Republic: an independent judiciary, a free press, truth itself. His cabinet looks terrorized, the way Saddam Hussein’s once did.
President Donald Trump is dangerous. The main things mitigating the danger are his incompetence and cowardice. We live in a time that teaches how outrage can turn to a shrug, how the unthinkable repeated over and over can induce moral numbness, how a madman’s manic certainties can overwhelm reason. He is very busy; people resist; he opens another front; people shake their heads. It’s hard to remember on Friday what happened on Monday. Trump’s is the unbearable lightness of the charlatan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/opinion/trump-hitler-europe.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share
Seeking Whiter, Richer Students
From the NY Times -
Colleges Recruit at Richer, Whiter High Schools
By Ozan Jaquette and Karina Salazar
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/opinion/college-recruitment-rich-white.html
Colleges Recruit at Richer, Whiter High Schools
By Ozan Jaquette and Karina Salazar
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/opinion/college-recruitment-rich-white.html
Pounded by a Mexican
From the Huffington Post -
Boxer Wearing ‘America 1st’ Shorts Gets Pounded By Mexican Opponent
The message on those boxing shorts is truly below the belt.
By David Moye
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rod-salka-america-1st-shorts-francisco-vargas_us_5ad0ee0fe4b016a07e9c2a24
Boxer Wearing ‘America 1st’ Shorts Gets Pounded By Mexican Opponent
The message on those boxing shorts is truly below the belt.
By David Moye
 |
| TOM HOGAN/HOGANPHOTOS |
Friday, April 13, 2018
Just Being Can Be a Problem
From VerySmartBrothas -
How to Make White People Uncomfortable
By Damon Young
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/50-ways-to-make-white-people-uncomfortable-1825188582?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-12
How to Make White People Uncomfortable
By Damon Young
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/50-ways-to-make-white-people-uncomfortable-1825188582?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-12
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Black Genius on Full Display
An excerpt from the Root -
Atlanta, Donald Glover and the Invisibility of Black Genius
By Michael Harriot
However, like the previously mentioned pieces of art, it will likely never be hailed for its genius because it is too black. But Atlanta’s blackness alone doesn’t preclude its value being perceived by the masses. There is another noticeable element that Glover subtly infuses into the show that might make it immune to white applause:
Atlanta doesn’t give a fuck.
The show’s subversive personality doesn’t even try to accommodate white sensibilities. It is not unapologetically black, because it seems to be unaware that an apology is even necessary. It is “I don’t give a damn if they’re watching” black. It is dripping with wet-lemon-pepper-wings seasoning, the hilarity of Caucasian puppy love and indifference to white eyes. Even the title of the “Sportin’ Waves” episode seems unaware that there exists a whole world outside of blackness.
https://www.theroot.com/atlanta-donald-glover-and-the-invisibility-of-black-ge-1825116384?utm_source=theroot_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-04-10
Strange Fruit - Lynchings in America
An excerpt from VerySmartBrothas -
Dear White People: If a Memorial Dedicated to Lynchings of Black People Makes You Uncomfortable, Good
By Panama Jackson
What stood out most about the story on 60 Minutes were the pictures of lynched black people, often with several (up to as many as 15,000) people standing around watching the execution of illegal justice for “crimes” committed by black Americans.
In many of the communities, the lynchings were public spectacles, outings for the entire family to attend, dressed in their Sunday best, with callous articles written that read as if the public torture and deaths of black people were just what one did on a warm afternoon in September. As is often the case with American history, oftentimes it was.
Watching that story pissed me off. No more than usual, but it still pissed me off—though not for the reason you might think.
What truly pissed me off was that I knew for a fact that CBS would receive complaints that it had had the nerve to show the pictures of bodies hanging from rope as a public spectacle. I know that white people HATE seeing their fucked-up-ness. They hate it. They think none of it is necessary to see. To many, the story can be told without the pictorial proof of hate.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/dear-white-people-if-a-memorial-dedicated-to-lynchings-1825117175
Dear White People: If a Memorial Dedicated to Lynchings of Black People Makes You Uncomfortable, Good
By Panama Jackson
What stood out most about the story on 60 Minutes were the pictures of lynched black people, often with several (up to as many as 15,000) people standing around watching the execution of illegal justice for “crimes” committed by black Americans.
In many of the communities, the lynchings were public spectacles, outings for the entire family to attend, dressed in their Sunday best, with callous articles written that read as if the public torture and deaths of black people were just what one did on a warm afternoon in September. As is often the case with American history, oftentimes it was.
Watching that story pissed me off. No more than usual, but it still pissed me off—though not for the reason you might think.
What truly pissed me off was that I knew for a fact that CBS would receive complaints that it had had the nerve to show the pictures of bodies hanging from rope as a public spectacle. I know that white people HATE seeing their fucked-up-ness. They hate it. They think none of it is necessary to see. To many, the story can be told without the pictorial proof of hate.
https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/dear-white-people-if-a-memorial-dedicated-to-lynchings-1825117175
How About "Congratulations?"
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fox-5-dc-anchors-black-student-20-colleges_us_5acbdf40e4b07a3485e78869Check out @FoxNews anchors call a young black man, Michael Brown, “obnoxious” for applying to and getting accepted with full scholarships to 20 colleges.— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) April 5, 2018
Either we’re “lazy” and need to “work hard,” or we’re “obnoxious” when we excel for working hard.#Racist#SitDownAndShutUp pic.twitter.com/QWGPVVcdpD
Monday, April 9, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Making Money Online
From StumbleUpon -
35 Creative Ways to Make Money Online
By Sophie Miura
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/29NJjj/:jPcV8Ttc:l19_EslK/www.mydomaine.com/make-money-online
35 Creative Ways to Make Money Online
By Sophie Miura
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/29NJjj/:jPcV8Ttc:l19_EslK/www.mydomaine.com/make-money-online
Evictions in America
An excerpt from the New York Times -
In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America
By EMILY BADGER and QUOCTRUNG BUI
RICHMOND, Va. — Before the first hearings on the morning docket, the line starts to clog the lobby of the John Marshall Courthouse. No cellphones are allowed inside, but many of the people who’ve been summoned don’t learn that until they arrive. “Put it in your car,” the sheriff’s deputies suggest at the metal detector. That advice is no help to renters who have come by bus. To make it inside, some tuck their phones in the bushes nearby.
This courthouse handles every eviction in Richmond, a city with one of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to new data covering dozens of states and compiled by a team led by the Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond.
Two years ago, Mr. Desmond turned eviction into a national topic of conversation with “Evicted,” a book that chronicled how poor families who lost their homes in Milwaukee sank ever deeper into poverty. It became a favorite among civic groups and on college campuses, some here in Richmond. Bill Gates and former President Obama named it among the best books they had read in 2017, and it was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
But for all the attention the problem began to draw, even Mr. Desmond could not say how widespread it was. Surveys of renters have tried to gauge displacement, but there is no government data tracking all eviction cases in America. Now that Mr. Desmond has been mining court records across the country to build a database of millions of evictions, it’s clear even in his incomplete national picture that they are more rampant in many places than what he saw in Milwaukee.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/07/upshot/millions-of-eviction-records-a-sweeping-new-look-at-housing-in-america.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America
By EMILY BADGER and QUOCTRUNG BUI
RICHMOND, Va. — Before the first hearings on the morning docket, the line starts to clog the lobby of the John Marshall Courthouse. No cellphones are allowed inside, but many of the people who’ve been summoned don’t learn that until they arrive. “Put it in your car,” the sheriff’s deputies suggest at the metal detector. That advice is no help to renters who have come by bus. To make it inside, some tuck their phones in the bushes nearby.
This courthouse handles every eviction in Richmond, a city with one of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to new data covering dozens of states and compiled by a team led by the Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond.
Two years ago, Mr. Desmond turned eviction into a national topic of conversation with “Evicted,” a book that chronicled how poor families who lost their homes in Milwaukee sank ever deeper into poverty. It became a favorite among civic groups and on college campuses, some here in Richmond. Bill Gates and former President Obama named it among the best books they had read in 2017, and it was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
But for all the attention the problem began to draw, even Mr. Desmond could not say how widespread it was. Surveys of renters have tried to gauge displacement, but there is no government data tracking all eviction cases in America. Now that Mr. Desmond has been mining court records across the country to build a database of millions of evictions, it’s clear even in his incomplete national picture that they are more rampant in many places than what he saw in Milwaukee.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/07/upshot/millions-of-eviction-records-a-sweeping-new-look-at-housing-in-america.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top-stories
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