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
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