Thursday, December 7, 2017
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Black Wall Street
An excerpt from OZY -
HISTORY HANGS HEAVILY OVER TULSA’S LONE BLACK COUNCILWOMAN
By Nick Fouriezos
To engage with Vanessa Hall-Harper is to grapple with the tragic history of race relations in Tulsa. Reckoning is the only option when sitting down with the 46-year-old, who, within minutes, is digging into what was — and what could have been.
They called the city councilor’s North Tulsa district “Black Wall Street” in the early 20th century, when African-American aristocrats paraded their automobiles down roads lined with more than 200 Black-owned businesses. But on May 31, 1921, everything changed. Resentment over Black wealth erupted, with white vigilantes taking to the streets, killing at least 300 of their neighbors of color and firebombing their businesses in what would be dubbed a “race riot” by the history books — and then promptly forgotten.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/history-hangs-heavily-over-tulsas-lone-black-councilwoman/82011
HISTORY HANGS HEAVILY OVER TULSA’S LONE BLACK COUNCILWOMAN
By Nick Fouriezos
To engage with Vanessa Hall-Harper is to grapple with the tragic history of race relations in Tulsa. Reckoning is the only option when sitting down with the 46-year-old, who, within minutes, is digging into what was — and what could have been.
They called the city councilor’s North Tulsa district “Black Wall Street” in the early 20th century, when African-American aristocrats paraded their automobiles down roads lined with more than 200 Black-owned businesses. But on May 31, 1921, everything changed. Resentment over Black wealth erupted, with white vigilantes taking to the streets, killing at least 300 of their neighbors of color and firebombing their businesses in what would be dubbed a “race riot” by the history books — and then promptly forgotten.
http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/history-hangs-heavily-over-tulsas-lone-black-councilwoman/82011
Rugby's Changing Face
An excerpt from OZY -
RUGBY'S CHANGING FACE: FROM THE PRIVILEGED TO THE DOWNTRODDEN
By Tal Pinchevsky
Since its birth in early 19th-century Britain, rugby has largely remained a bastion of upper-class privilege. The sport spread across the breadth of the British Empire but remained an elite activity in most countries even after the end of colonial rule, despite occasional dents to that shell of privilege. Now, an emerging breed of young rugby players is challenging that old order more decisively than ever.
A refugee from the Ivory Coast, 21-year-old Karwhin recently joined the Redcliffe Dolphins rugby club near Brisbane, Australia, a team that in the past has given the country several national players. After living in a refugee camp along the Bosnia-Croatia border as a child, Admir Cejvanovic is now a fixture on Canada’s national team for rugby sevens — a faster, seven-a-side version of the sport. Mo Mustafa, a Palestinian refugee who settled in Britain, represented England students internationally before taking up medical studies. Italian national team player Mata Maxime Mbanda’s parents came to Italy from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ohio-born Carlin Isles bounced around the foster care system before emerging as among the United States’ top rugby sevens players. In war-torn Benghazi, young Libyan men have formed a rugby union, and the city is building a stadium that will host Middle Eastern and North African teams in an international tournament next year. And the Tre Rose rugby club in the Italian province of Alessandria is made up almost entirely of Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war in their homeland.
http://www.ozy.com/the-huddle/rugbys-changing-face-from-the-privileged-to-the-downtrodden/82159
RUGBY'S CHANGING FACE: FROM THE PRIVILEGED TO THE DOWNTRODDEN
By Tal Pinchevsky
Since its birth in early 19th-century Britain, rugby has largely remained a bastion of upper-class privilege. The sport spread across the breadth of the British Empire but remained an elite activity in most countries even after the end of colonial rule, despite occasional dents to that shell of privilege. Now, an emerging breed of young rugby players is challenging that old order more decisively than ever.
A refugee from the Ivory Coast, 21-year-old Karwhin recently joined the Redcliffe Dolphins rugby club near Brisbane, Australia, a team that in the past has given the country several national players. After living in a refugee camp along the Bosnia-Croatia border as a child, Admir Cejvanovic is now a fixture on Canada’s national team for rugby sevens — a faster, seven-a-side version of the sport. Mo Mustafa, a Palestinian refugee who settled in Britain, represented England students internationally before taking up medical studies. Italian national team player Mata Maxime Mbanda’s parents came to Italy from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ohio-born Carlin Isles bounced around the foster care system before emerging as among the United States’ top rugby sevens players. In war-torn Benghazi, young Libyan men have formed a rugby union, and the city is building a stadium that will host Middle Eastern and North African teams in an international tournament next year. And the Tre Rose rugby club in the Italian province of Alessandria is made up almost entirely of Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war in their homeland.
http://www.ozy.com/the-huddle/rugbys-changing-face-from-the-privileged-to-the-downtrodden/82159
He Tried to Help
An excerpt from CNN -
Obama tried to save Trump from a colossal mistake
By Michael D'Antonio
With every revelation in the Trump-Russia controversy it's becoming clear that the most important moment in Donald Trump's transition involved the man he seems to detest the most.
Two days after the election, Barack Obama delivered a face-to-face warning to Trump about the risk of keeping retired Gen. Michael Flynn around. Trump ignored the advice and instead invested maximum trust in Flynn as he made him national security adviser.
Obama's effort to save Trump and the nation from Flynn is full of painful irony. Remember, Trump is the man who spent years promoting racist conspiracy theories suggesting Obama was foreign-born and thus not legally qualified to be president. Flynn, whom Obama dismissed because of concerns about his leadership, then mocked Obama's ally, Hillary Clinton, with chants of "lock her up" during the campaign.
Obama could have stayed mum. A lesser man would have savored the knowledge that Trump and Flynn were headed for crisis. Obama did his duty by trying to help his successor.
The judgment Obama showed was typical for a president who, prior to politics, was an expert in constitutional law and understood his responsibilities to fulfill the oath he took to "preserve, protect and defend" it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/opinions/obama-tried-to-save-trump-from-mistake-opinion-dantonio/index.html
Obama tried to save Trump from a colossal mistake
By Michael D'Antonio
With every revelation in the Trump-Russia controversy it's becoming clear that the most important moment in Donald Trump's transition involved the man he seems to detest the most.
Two days after the election, Barack Obama delivered a face-to-face warning to Trump about the risk of keeping retired Gen. Michael Flynn around. Trump ignored the advice and instead invested maximum trust in Flynn as he made him national security adviser.
Obama's effort to save Trump and the nation from Flynn is full of painful irony. Remember, Trump is the man who spent years promoting racist conspiracy theories suggesting Obama was foreign-born and thus not legally qualified to be president. Flynn, whom Obama dismissed because of concerns about his leadership, then mocked Obama's ally, Hillary Clinton, with chants of "lock her up" during the campaign.
Obama could have stayed mum. A lesser man would have savored the knowledge that Trump and Flynn were headed for crisis. Obama did his duty by trying to help his successor.
The judgment Obama showed was typical for a president who, prior to politics, was an expert in constitutional law and understood his responsibilities to fulfill the oath he took to "preserve, protect and defend" it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/opinions/obama-tried-to-save-trump-from-mistake-opinion-dantonio/index.html
Monday, December 4, 2017
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Friday, December 1, 2017
Trapped in Trump's World
An excerpt from New York Magazine -
America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World
By Andrew Sullivan
This past week was, in some ways, the most potent distillation of the Trump era we have yet encountered. This is not because any single incident is worse than any previous one over the past year. It’s because the last few days have brought all of them together in a new, concentrated way — a super-storm, as it were, of liberal democratic destruction. We have deranged tweeting; truly surreal lies; mindless GOP tribalism; evangelicals making excuses for the molestation of minors; further assaults on the free press; an unprecedented attack on the most reliable Atlantic ally; the demonization of personal enemies; stupendous tribal hypocrisy with respect to sexual abuse; the White House’s endorsement of a foreign neo-fascist hate group; the vengeful hanging out to dry of a Cabinet member; and the attempt to pass a catastrophic omnibus piece of legislation in one mad, blind rush in order to get a “win.” And all in a few days!
At its center is mental illness. It radiates out of the center like a toxin in the blood. And this, again, is nothing new. On Trump’s first day in office, with respect to the size of his inauguration crowd, he insisted that what was demonstrably, visibly, incontrovertibly false was actually true. At that moment, we learned that all the lies and exaggerations and provocations of the previous year were not just campaign tools, designed to con and distract, but actually constitutive of his core mental health. He was not lying, as lying is usually understood. He was expressing what he believed to be true, because his ego demanded it be true. And for Trump, as we now know, there is no reality outside his own perfervidly narcissistic consciousness.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/andrew-sullivan-america-is-trapped-in-trumps-delusions.html
America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World
By Andrew Sullivan
This past week was, in some ways, the most potent distillation of the Trump era we have yet encountered. This is not because any single incident is worse than any previous one over the past year. It’s because the last few days have brought all of them together in a new, concentrated way — a super-storm, as it were, of liberal democratic destruction. We have deranged tweeting; truly surreal lies; mindless GOP tribalism; evangelicals making excuses for the molestation of minors; further assaults on the free press; an unprecedented attack on the most reliable Atlantic ally; the demonization of personal enemies; stupendous tribal hypocrisy with respect to sexual abuse; the White House’s endorsement of a foreign neo-fascist hate group; the vengeful hanging out to dry of a Cabinet member; and the attempt to pass a catastrophic omnibus piece of legislation in one mad, blind rush in order to get a “win.” And all in a few days!
At its center is mental illness. It radiates out of the center like a toxin in the blood. And this, again, is nothing new. On Trump’s first day in office, with respect to the size of his inauguration crowd, he insisted that what was demonstrably, visibly, incontrovertibly false was actually true. At that moment, we learned that all the lies and exaggerations and provocations of the previous year were not just campaign tools, designed to con and distract, but actually constitutive of his core mental health. He was not lying, as lying is usually understood. He was expressing what he believed to be true, because his ego demanded it be true. And for Trump, as we now know, there is no reality outside his own perfervidly narcissistic consciousness.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/andrew-sullivan-america-is-trapped-in-trumps-delusions.html
Kaep Receives Ali Award
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Colin Kaepernick receives Muhammad Ali Legacy Award from Sports Illustrated
By Des Bieler
For risking a lucrative athletic career in his prime by staging protests against injustice, Colin Kaepernick has often been compared to Muhammad Ali. Thus, in giving the former 49ers quarterback an annual award named in honor of the boxing icon, Sports Illustrated declared that “no winner has been more fitting than Kaepernick.”
In an essay, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg wrote, “In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it. But still, it is his truth. He has not wavered from it. He does not regret speaking it. He has caused millions of people to examine it. And, quietly, he has donated nearly a million dollars to support it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/11/30/colin-kaepernick-receives-muhammad-ali-legacy-award-from-sports-illustrated/?utm_term=.5cf0c25fffe8
Colin Kaepernick receives Muhammad Ali Legacy Award from Sports Illustrated
By Des Bieler
For risking a lucrative athletic career in his prime by staging protests against injustice, Colin Kaepernick has often been compared to Muhammad Ali. Thus, in giving the former 49ers quarterback an annual award named in honor of the boxing icon, Sports Illustrated declared that “no winner has been more fitting than Kaepernick.”
In an essay, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg wrote, “In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it. But still, it is his truth. He has not wavered from it. He does not regret speaking it. He has caused millions of people to examine it. And, quietly, he has donated nearly a million dollars to support it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/11/30/colin-kaepernick-receives-muhammad-ali-legacy-award-from-sports-illustrated/?utm_term=.5cf0c25fffe8
Thursday, November 30, 2017
The Power of Howard
An excerpt from the Undefeated -
‘This Is Us’ recognizes the power of Howard University
As a senior, I know exactly how the show’s character Randall Pearson felt visiting The Mecca for the first time
BY PAUL HOLSTON
If you didn’t catch the midseason finale of the NBC series This Is Us, you missed seeing on national television the moment a young black boy full of joy arrives on the main campus of Howard University, a place where blackness is unapologetic and excellence is vivacious.
One of the most touching moments of the show’s second season is a throwback to the ’90s in which high school junior Randall Pearson (Niles Fitch) asks his adoptive father, Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), if he could visit the historically black university after initially filling out an application for Harvard University. Randall has been trying to figure out for a while where he would like to go to college.
After Jack agrees to plan a trip to Howard with Randall, the episode soon shifts to The Yard, the symbolic heart of the campus. The environment and the Afrocentric energy that thrives throughout The Mecca immediately overwhelms Randall. Randall and Jack then walk to the Valley on campus and are greeted by Keith, a friend of Randall’s who is a Howard freshman, and Craig, another student who is a member of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma (shout out to the MAB!). Keith offers to give Randall a tour, and to Randall’s surprise, he gets the comfort of being at an HBCU (historically black college or university). From walking the halls of Founders Library to eyeing a young woman who walks by him on The Yard to chilling in one of the dormitories with Nas and Lauryn Hill’s If I Ruled The World gliding in the background, the show does a great job of showing how many Howard students feel during their first experiences at The Mecca.
https://theundefeated.com/features/this-is-us-recognizes-the-power-of-howard-university/
‘This Is Us’ recognizes the power of Howard University
As a senior, I know exactly how the show’s character Randall Pearson felt visiting The Mecca for the first time
BY PAUL HOLSTON
If you didn’t catch the midseason finale of the NBC series This Is Us, you missed seeing on national television the moment a young black boy full of joy arrives on the main campus of Howard University, a place where blackness is unapologetic and excellence is vivacious.
One of the most touching moments of the show’s second season is a throwback to the ’90s in which high school junior Randall Pearson (Niles Fitch) asks his adoptive father, Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia), if he could visit the historically black university after initially filling out an application for Harvard University. Randall has been trying to figure out for a while where he would like to go to college.
After Jack agrees to plan a trip to Howard with Randall, the episode soon shifts to The Yard, the symbolic heart of the campus. The environment and the Afrocentric energy that thrives throughout The Mecca immediately overwhelms Randall. Randall and Jack then walk to the Valley on campus and are greeted by Keith, a friend of Randall’s who is a Howard freshman, and Craig, another student who is a member of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma (shout out to the MAB!). Keith offers to give Randall a tour, and to Randall’s surprise, he gets the comfort of being at an HBCU (historically black college or university). From walking the halls of Founders Library to eyeing a young woman who walks by him on The Yard to chilling in one of the dormitories with Nas and Lauryn Hill’s If I Ruled The World gliding in the background, the show does a great job of showing how many Howard students feel during their first experiences at The Mecca.
https://theundefeated.com/features/this-is-us-recognizes-the-power-of-howard-university/
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