29 Year Old Grandmother

Today I ran across an article from the Quad City Times, which covers Iowa and Illinois about a 29 Year Old Grandmother or rather her 15 year old daughter who had just given birth. The upside of the article was information that teenage pregnancy rates in the area (and across the nation) had fallen in the last ten years. The bad news was that the teens who were getting pregnant may be getting younger. In this instance the new mother was more interested in shopping, rapping and getting back to playing basketball that taking care of her son. It is not that the girl is mean or uncaring, she ia simply a self-centered teenager. By the way, I should add that her mother has three younger children.

This type of story is fodder for ghetto humor, but on the serious side...what will be the fate of both of these single mothers and their children? Is it really blaming the victim to point out that the likelihood that these women, both young and undereducated will be able to develop financially and emotionally stable homes is very slim? Moreover, is it too defeatist to predict that without some major intervention, these children will replicate the lifestyles and choices of their mother and grandmother?

Barack Obama is getting a lukewarm reception from many Black folks. Personally I think that his bi-racial background is irrelevant and is not the cause of the resistance to him. I think that the problem for Obama (and the new vanguard of Black leadership) is that in order to appreciate their success, many Black folks will have to look at their own failures. It is easier to call another Black a sell-out or to say that he/she is not "black enough," or cry about racism rather than admit your own bad choices and short-sided thinking are largely responsible for your situation.

Obama and his peers are not talking about "Black issues" as if Blacks are a separate species from the rest of America. This is disconcerting to folks to believe that without concessions from Whites Blacks can't make it. Whether Obama's universal political message is right for this point in remains to be seen. However even if he does not become our next president, he spells the future of Black politics. With so many Blacks achieving and doing well, it becomes more and more difficult to contend that the majority of our interests and concerns distinct from those of Whites, Asians and Latinos.

A great majority of the new Black middle class have humble roots. Most obtained whatever they have through hard work, luck and a lot of prayer. However many of these same people have friends or relatives who made choices that landed them in jail, poverty, single motherhood or worse in the grave yard. As one kid decided to go to school and get a job after school, his classmate dropped out of school and decided that robbing or hustling was the fast-track to riches---now he's locked up. In another neighborhood, one girl was too invested in going to college to be swayed by her boyfriend's pleas for condom-less sex. Her best friend, not interested in anything but her boyfriend took that bait; gaining a child and lost the boyfriend. A single woman looking for love kept having children, with different men, although each successive child plunged her and the other ones deeper into poverty. While no one is saying the racial discrimination is dead, some have managed to keep moving forward. Unfortunately others make one bad decision after another.

There are no easy answer to stemming generational poverty, but we might start by having some serious talks in communities around the country. Not moralizing, but getting real about how quickly a few bad moves or careless nights can cripple your for life.

Sean Taylor, The Black KKK and Hip Hop

For the past week the Internet world as well as the physical world has been discussing the murder of Redskin's player, Sean Taylor. Where I am in the Washington, DC area, home of the Redskins, the story has been amplified and is a personal loss for many people.

One of the more controversial pieces is Taylor's Death a Grim Reminder For Us All written by sports columnist Jason Whitlock. Whitlock calls Taylor's killers members of the Black KKK and essentially blames rap music not only for Taylor's past misconduct, but also for his death.

Whitlock's comments are too simplistic for my taste. Blaming Hip Hop ignores a host of other factors that contribute to crime and violence, including stupidity, callous disregard for human life and free will. If rap music fell off the earth tomorrow, the crime and violence committed against Black Americans by other Black Americans would not autormatically cease. Moreover, when we point fingers at rap and Hip Hop are we just pointing at rap artists or will we also be pointing at the multi-national entertainment companies and the corporate radio station that disseminate their messages and make the lions' share of the money?

Where I tend to agree with Whitlock is that Black folks need to stop sugarcoating bad choices under some misguided sense of racial unity. Everyone who is poor or who comes from a single family home does not become a criminal. Furthermore, let us not forget that the middle class spawns criminals. More often than not becoming a criminal or hanging with criminals is a personal choice, not a survival tactic. Whether you live in a mansion or in the hood, you can't elevate yourself if you continue to surround yourself with the same ol' people and the same ol' influences. Sometimes in order to grow you have got to make a clean and complete break from the past.

Rap and Hip Hop are not the reasons why there is an academic achievement gap or that Blacks lag behind others in business and home ownership and its coarser elements may be exacerbating existing problems. The truth of the matter is that many rap artists have become millionaires preaching to the masses that in order to get paid you just rob somebody or get your hustle on----the days of talking about being a fool for dropping out of high school are long gone. Ironically, other folks consume rap music and Hip Hop as "entertainment" and keep on stepping into college, careers and nice lives. Unfortunately, too many Black youth have made rap music their life guides and as we used to say back in the day, they "got played." They covet the riches regularly displayed in music videos, yet by remaining "true to the streets" they are getting getting neither the education nor the job skills that could put them on a path to attaining at least some of these luxuries.

I have always thought that too much weight has been placed on Hip Hop to heal "Black America." Frankly I thought that that task should fall to policy makers, scholars, clergy and kinfolk. Hip Hop can aid the cause, but I think that it's nuts to think that performers who ultimately are looking to get a pay check will leading any revolution.

I stumbled on an interview with author and music journalist, Toure in Clutch magazine. I agreed with him on several points concerning Hip Hop, especially how it is being scapegoated. Here is a snippet:


Clutch magazine : Lately, hip-hop and black culture are use simultaneously. How do you feel about hip-hop becoming the current representative of our image and culture worldwide?

Toure: Hiphop has long been the lingua franca of my generation and it’s only right because it truly represents this generation, for better and worse. I think it’s a mistake to think hiphop and black culture are synonymous, they’re not, there’s many places where they don’t overlap at all. Black culture is perhaps more diverse now than it ever has been and hiphop is very racially diverse and it’s also international, repped in Japan, Europe, South America, Africa, all over the world. Hiphop comes from black culture and black culture often seems dominated by hiphop but by no means are they one and the same. There are many points of overlap but many points of disconnect.


Clutch magazine: Recently you and Jeff Johnson (Cousin Jeff) hosted BET’s heated debate “Hip Hop vs. America”. While most hip-hop artist don’t accurately portray the actual image and realities of Black America and does little in helping us kill stereotypes and generalization that are placed on us. Do you think hip-hop has become a scapegoat for the problems and issues in our community?

Toure: Yes, I think the elder generation has become increasingly afraid of the impact hiphop is having on the world which is funny because hiphop is as tame as ever. But they’ve been scared of hiphop consistently for the last 20 years or more. Every generation has to have music that scares their parents but this is insane. I was actually very disappointed in the older generation for turning the Imus controversy into a referendum on hiphop, which really allowed the racists to slip away. Why not a referendum on shock jocks or noose-placers? There’s been a preponderance of nooses this year all over the country, that’s much more dangerous than the preponderance of the words bitch and ho. What was lost in the Imus stampede was that nappy-headed ho was really the least of his comments. What he immediately went on to reference was Spike Lee’s School Daze and the scene where the wanna-bes faced off against the jigagboos. He was calling those girls jiggaboos. That’s not a word that you hear often in hiphop or anywhere in black culture, that’s one of those deep curses that you never hear thrown around because it’s too heavy. That’s where he took it and the massive pile-onto hiphop lost sight of the real enemy. But to the older generation hiphop is the real enemy as was disco before us and rock n roll before that and jazz before that. But none of those musical cultures ruined their generation and hiphop isn’t ruining ours. For God’s sake, heavy metal didn’t come under as great an attack after Columbine where many people died because older white people aren’t afraid of heavy metal.

Read the rest of the article at: Clutch Magazine Online

Conference on James Brown at Princeton University

Some may question why the need to have a conference discussing the life and work of James Brown...I say why not. Who was more quintessentially American and simultaneously more Black than him? James Brown's career spanned several decades...a feat within itself. Furthermore, aside from just the music, his life touched the world of politics, the criminal justice system and now estate law---given all the variety of children and ex or not ex wives who seem to be popping up. I would have loved to see this type of discussion closer to the people who were influenced by James Brown's music. However I would rather see this discussion occur at Princeton than not.


" Ain't that a Groove": The Genius of James Brown
A Princeton University Two-Day Symposium


November 29

6:00pm-9:00pm

Richardson Auditorium

"On the ONE" : Thursday Night Keynote Roundtable & Concert Film

6pm-7pm: Welcome by Valerie Smith, Princeton University & Film screening

7pm-9pm: Keynote Roundtable featuring:

Robert Christgau , Rolling Stone Magazine, NPR, Princeton University

Fred Moten, University of Southern California

Alan Leeds, tour manager, journalist, archivist

Farah Griffin, Columbia University

Moderator: Daphne A. Brooks, Princeton University

---

November 30

9:00am-6:00pm

Richardson Auditorium

9:00am - Opening Remarks -Daphne A. Brooks

9:30am-11:30pm - "It's A Man's Man's Man's World": Black Power, Black Masculinity

and the Politics of Funk

Mark Anthony Neal, Duke University

Jason King, New York University

Thomas F. DeFrantz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Robert Fink, UCLA

Moderator: Tera Hunter, Princeton University

---

1:00-3:00pm - The Funky Precedent: Revolutionizing Rock, Birthing Hip Hop—

Theorizing James Brown's Musical Innovations

Kandia Crazy Horse, Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock 'n Roll

Rickey Vincent, Funk: The Music, The People, and the Rhythm of the One

Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, the Roots

Harry Weinger, A&R, Universal Music

Moderator: Joshua B. Guild, Princeton University

---

3:30-5:30pm - "Mama Don't Take No Mess": Black Feminist Readings of James Brown

Reginald Jackson, Yale University

Imani Perry, Princeton University

Mendi Ob adike, Princeton University

Ernest Hardy, Blood Beats: Vol. 1 Demos, Remixes & Extended Versions

Moderator: Tavia Nyong'o, New York University



5:30-6:00pm - Closing Remarks by Cornel West, Princeton University



Registration is required. Please visit us on the web at https://www.princeton.edu/africanamericanstudies/news/events to register today!

Nooses and Shoving Race Under the Carpet

I saw Rev. James H. Cone on Bill Moyers show this evening. Moyers had invited him to expound on his October, 2006 talk at Harvard titled,Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree. In both the originating speech and the television discussion there were a lot of big ideas thrown about. However the Cliff Notes interpretation is that the United States, a Judeo-Christian nation has to reconcile its religious principles with its historical treatment of Blacks. Cone discussed the lyrics of the song "Strange Fruit" made famous by Billie Holiday and said that we can't understand the full meaning of the Christ's crucifixion until we understand the import of lynching---"black bodies swinging" on our country's conscious.




Nooses may not scare Blacks as they did a century ago, but the fact that they are resurfacing is unsettling. Like the crackers in the Klan who did their dirt at night, the hanging of nooses are the clandestine work of Whites who walk amongst and believe that it is their right to keep Blacks in line. While Whites can shrug off nooses, Blacks are often forced to wonder if their White co-worker or neighbor is someone who feels entitled to hang a noose to signify the need to put an uppity negro in his/her place.

A noose, hung on a tree for Whites at a Jena, LA high school was the impetus for fight that led to the arrests and convictions of Black youth in the Jena Six cases. Subsequently we have seen a rash of copycats noose hangings around the country. Noose sightings include the University of Maryland- College Park, The U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Columbia University. We all know that the noose is a symbol of hatred, but many people are less willing to accept that it is also a symbol of terrorism. The noose was/is a way to express White supremacy---or rather the idea that it was right and just that Whites wield all political and economic power. The purpose of the noose is to instill fear, by the threat of death, in the hearts of Blacks. Whites who conformed to this principle believed that brutality and violence against Blacks was justifiable in the maintenance of the racial/power status quo. The resurgence of the noose is a way to say---you may now be able to get a college education or professorship or a good job, but we White folks are still in charge.

Once again, discussions about race are no where to be found in this presidential election. Even with Barack Obama as a contender, it is easier for Whites to shove aside nooses and other remmants of the past, such as racial slurs a la Don Imus on the extreme back burner. By continuing to downplay the importance and history of racist symbols such as nooses, Whites portray Blacks as merely ultrasensitive. This depiction then allows them to gloss over how racism still has the ability to impact the everyday lives of Black people. Racism is alive and well and can be seen in the inability of a Black man to catch a cab, to the disparities in loans between Blacks and Whites with the same salaries and credit history to a criminal justice system which seems better at arresting and convicting Black youth than Whites.

However as long as hanging a noose is viewed as an isolated incident or a prank, there is never any reason for Whites to look at how racism and racist attitudes affect the institutions that govern our society. Under this fog, Whites are able to comfortably assume that since everyone has equal opportunitites, the Black person who does not make it is simply lazy or stupid. They never have to consider that the Black person may be unduly hindered by institutional racism that equates Blackness with inferiority and thus rewards Whiteness.

After the Civil War, the noose was a way to terrorize Blacks into accepting that their only role in society was as the servants of Whites. The man or woman who dared in action or word to challenge White authority met his or her fate at the noose. While some lynchings were covert affairs, others were public spectacles where throngs of Whites gathered often with their children and perhaps bringing a picnic lunch. Public lynchings were a way of reinforcing for Whites, particularly the poor and uneducated ones, that they were indeed in charge and could not and would not be supplanted by Blacks.

White Americans remain squeemish about the issues of race. Many Whites harbor the concern that given the history of Blacks in this country that not only do they hate Whites but are also waiting for the moment when they can exact the big payback. Moreover, in order to have a frank and meaningful discussion, Whites would have to first acknowledge that they are descendents of lynchers (killers of Blacks) or of the multitude of spectators who watched Blacks die as sport or of those who remained silent as Blacks were cheated, exploited and killed. At the bare minimum, "Whites"---particularly those who claim to be of immigrant stock have to acknowledge that have benefited from this country's social, economic and political system that for 300 odd years exploited Blacks---first as slaves and then through legal segregated Blacks which restricted the ability of Blacks to become educated or to obtain a range of jobs that would have put them on equal footing with Whites.

If a real race dialogue were instituted, Blacks would have the burden of actually listening to Whites articulate their insecurities and prejudices about race. More important after the validation of past injustices and contemporary fears Blacks would have to chart a new course that not only heals their psyches but also builds a foundation for further social, economic and political gains. By continuing to point to the sins of White folks, Blacks are not forced to deal substantively with our collective shortcomings.

While both Hillary and Barack yank about being the change candidate, neither one of them is talking about uniting the country on our most important issue. For different reasons, both candidates are willing to dance around race for fear of offending White voters. Leadership---real leadership would mean that before we run around the world and preach to sovereign countries about human rights and democracy that we would get our own house in order. We are not equipped to deal with any authority with the Israeli-Palenstinian situation or with the Sunnis and Shites because we have not found a way to deal with our own sectarian divisions. If were truly on the road to unifying the United States, we would then have a viable model to export abroad. Unfortunately, all that we are selling to them is the same lies and mythology about equality that we pedal to those at home who believe that we can do better--and thus puch for tangible social justice.

Thanking the Black Press

Today is Thanksgiving. For many folks this means family gatherings that help us to remember the blessings and good fortune in our lives. I am appreciative of many things, my loving family (those with me in flesh and those with me in spirit), good friends and generous mentors. I also want to remember and appreciate those fearless people who paved the way for Black folks. One of those people was Frances L. Murphy III, former publisher and chief executive of the Afro-American Newspapers who died yesterday at age 85.

Black newspapers get a bum rap today. In an age of 24 hour news, the weekly cycle of many of these newspapers puts them at a severe disadvantage. By the time that they come out, the news that they are reporting is stale. Moreover, lack of resources often means that they rely heavily on wire services rather than on reported pieces. There are other things to nitpick about---regular typos, a tendency not to rigorously scrutinize Black officials and an advocacy of Democratic rhetoric that leaves no room to consider other, perhaps more viable points of view. The reality is that most Black folks do not bother to read Black newspapers anymore. While some people point to the decline of the Black press as progress---evidence that Blacks are now "mainstream," we should not forget that newspapers such as the Afro-American, Amsterdam News, The Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier for decades were sources of news for Black citizens who were ignored by the White press. They also transmitted crucial information about what was going on in our communities.

Black newspapers not only reported on events, but also served as catalysts to events by informing their readers how issues impacted their lives and how they could get involved to make change. Black newspapers also had a mandate set the record straight and give an honest and balanced account of what was happening to Black Americans in this country. We know that too often the mainstream media gets stories about Black folks wrong. Today, in many cases the bad reporting is the result of laziness or a lack of understanding---however in prior decades, wrong reporting was frequently intentional the result of racism that could not fathom Blacks as anything but criminal, evil, and ignorant.

Personally, I think that we still need a Black press, but one updated for the 21st century. In the age of the Internet, the most popular Black websites are focused on entertainment and sports. In a time when the world is getting more complex and the need for substantive information is more necessary it is problematic that there are not strong and diverse media voices out that are targeting Black Americans. Granted, there are a few shows on local newspapers and television programs that are still keeping up the fight, but their effectiveness and appeal is stymied because they are underfunded and seem to be stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, in terms of how they view the world and its relation to Blacks Americans. Most of these show fail to talk about improving our circumstances in a pro-active way that depends mire on our intellect and collective resources and less on making White folks see the error of their ways. For instance, what can Black communities and Black leaders be doing to stem the number of high school drop-out and close the achievement gap? What knowledge do we already have to accomplish this and what networks already exist to disseminate the necessary information? What would be a 10 year "Education Plan," created by a coalition of civil rights organization look like and how could it operate?

So today, I thank people like France L. Murphy III who were about the business of empowering Black folks long before we used terms like "empowering." To France L. Murphy, a member of Delta Sigma Theta and the daughter of Delta Sigma Theta founder Vashti Turley Murphy, I say a heartfelt, "Skee-Oop."

Spoken Word Artist Saul Williams Calls Rap Artists...

Today I was struggling trying to get the spirit to actually put words to screen. I am not the most disciplined writer and usually have to be "moved" by something to write. Well Saul Williams moved me albeit late this day.


On MySpace.com I was forwarded a radio interview that had Saul dropping some serious knowledge about the state of Hip Hop. Ironically it was a morning "wake up show" and he certainly woke a few folks up with his words. He associated much of commercial rap with Republicans for its glorificiation of money. He's on to something---Reagan and his successors said on the same message that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In short, do it yourself because the government could care less if you are hungry, homeless or illiterate. Hurricane Katrina was the best example of this type of mentality. The people too broke, sick, or old to leave New Orleans were left to fend for themselves and then were maligned because they became casualties. The prevalent rap message is not too different-- I got mine, you better get your own. The only real difference between the Republicans and rap artists is that Republicans can generate capital, exploit people and wage war under the cover of government and law, while the rap artists do not have that same immunity.


Saul continued lobbing grenades by saying that most rap artists rather than being rebels or threats to society are actually defenders of the status quo. Much of today's rap music, according to Saul has allowed Black folks to build up a tolerance to bullshit and has made them complacent---perhaps unwilling to rock the boat even to seek their own freedom.


Click to hear the entire interview

Let's Put Damon Wayans out to Pasture

For the record, I never thought that Damon Wayans was that funny. Yes, In Living Color was a good show but it was an ensemble cast, it was not solely dependent on Damon Wayans. On the real---if the Wayans family had waited for me to support their subsequent efforts they would be mighty hungry and definitely homeless.

Now Damon Wayans, the same person who tried to copyright the word nigger is defending Don Imus. People of intellect and good faith can disagree, but Damon Wayans, just like D.L. Hughley before him are trying to defend an ad hominem attack on some female college students as defensible humor. Moreover, Wayans is placing himself as the spokesmen for all Black Americans by saying that Black folks thought that the comment was funny---that it is culturally based. I guess that Wayans simply writes off every Black person who does not agree with him as "bourgie."

This Black woman certainly did not think that Imus's statement was funny, nor did I think that D.L. Hughley's comment on David Letterman was funny or Damon Wayans' latest addition. I have already expressed my views on the Imus affair in the essay, "Hip Hop's (Still) Invisible Women," located at http://www.AlterNet.org/story/51933 so I am not going to re-hash all of that. The bottom line is that if slamming some college athletes for not being their idea of glamour girls is the only way that D.L. Hughley and Damon Wayans think that they can get a laugh, it is no wonder that both of their careers have taken a nose dive.

I could care less about Imus or his defenders, because I will not respond as a victim to actions or words of boars and bigots. However I do know that racist and sexist speech should not be used wantonly on our public airwaves.

Read what Wayans said below---I don't think that Cameron Turner agrees with him either:

TURNER'S TWO CENTS:

Wayans disgraces himself by defending Imus"When he called them nappy headed hoes I was like, 'Wow! He's right!" -- Damon Wayans (on The View, 11-7-07)

*Damon Wayans has, evidently, lost his mind. The veteran comedian/actor/writer actually went on national TV (ABC's The View) last week and said that Don Imus was "right" when he called the members of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team "nappy headed hoes."

The former star of My Wife and Kids said he wasn't offended by Imus' comment because, "black people can say that about each other." Wayans grinned and giggled in solitude as The View panelists and audience responded with shocked, nervous laughter, head-shaking and groans of disapproval.

As Sherri Shepherd struggled to get a word in over the uncomfortable cacophony ("Damon! You know what, Damon?"), Joy Behar challenged Wayans directly: "These women are not hoes," she said, "They're highly respected sports (stars)."

Then, as if his original statement wasn't crazy enough, Wayans clarified and expanded position by saying something truly ignorant: "Black people at home are laughing right now. White people are going, 'That's not right!' (But) it's all cultural." No it isn't.

First of all, Damon, I guarantee you that a whole lot of black folks - the majority, in fact -- were not laughing at your pro-Imus statement. Just like we didn't laugh when Imus opened his mouth and ignited this whole controversy.

Under certain circumstances black people who are good friends agree to play around with insults (including the wretched n-word and b-word). But that has to do with individual relationships, not ethnicity. There is no across-the-board acceptance of crude, demeaning language within black culture. I, as a black man, can not just walk up to a sister, call her by the h-word (even in jest) and think she'll be okay with that. Then again, it would never cross my mind to do that because, like most African-Americans, I have home training.

Even if Damon Wayans' false premise was true, it wouldn't excuse Imus. If black folks give one another conditional permission to use inflammatory language that permission stops with us. Sorry, but white folks don't get to do it. Especially a race-bating instigator like Don Imus, who takes pride in behaving like a donkey's rectum.

Imus was not "right." He was malicious, racist and sexist. Damon Wayans disgraced himself and undermined us by defending him. Thanks for listening.

I'm Cameron Turner and that's my two cents. I'd love to hear yours. Holla back at TurnersTwoCents@aol.com. -- "Think! It Ain't Illegal yet!"