Sisterdoc

Shaq, Dwayne Wade, and Hoopz: Blackface and Drag

2010-11-01T21:23:00.002-04:00

Dwyane Wade’s whiteface Halloween spectacle is generating headlines. Wade, painted in stark white make-up with a parakeet yellow beard as accessory, partied this weekend in Justin Timberlake drag. Wade’s get-up has sparked interesting debates regarding racial imitation.

Certainly, whiteface does not have the same racist, mocking history as blackface. Recall: blackface minstrelsy and films such as A Nigger in the Woodpile (1904) or Birth of a Nation (1915). However, histories are constantly being created, and whiteface is just as racially divisive as blackface. That is, unless Wade’s masquerade is some weird celebration of whiteness—a show of love, rather than theft, to paraphrase scholar Eric Lott …but, sorting out that madness is for another time.

Wade wasn’t the only celeb to play dress-up this weekend. Shaquille O’Neal also opted for mimicry by costuming himself as “Shaqeeta” in a stripey black and grey dress and fake boobs drag.

Together, Wade and Shaq, raise important questions about racial, gender, and sexual appropriation. To put it another way: Wade, a black male, decided to play a white man for a day. He was photographed with a sistah’—hopefully she was not supposed to play Janet Jackson to Wade’s Timberlake. Shaq, a black man, choose to be a black woman for the day. Big Shaq was to viewed seen as being comical—just like Martin Lawrence’s Big Momma and Shenenah, Tyler Perry’s Madea, Eddie Murphy’s Rasputia, Jamie Foxx’s Wanda….you get the picture. The joke is once again on black women.

It gets even odder. Shaq’s rumored extra special BFF, Hoopz from Flavor of Love “fame,” outfitted herself as—get this—a pregnant dude.

One has to wonder what’s behind such racial, gender, and sexual borrowing. Shaq, tell me, is this some form of gender “desire”? Dwyane, was whiteness so irresistible you needed to “suit up” in it? Hoopz, please tell me your get-up is about disrupting gender and sexual boundaries. You are giving us a smack down for inappropriately obsessing over what track athlete Caster Semenya has between her legs, as well punishing us for watching out for women’s’ “baby bumps”—right????

It would be great if these folks were challenging social norms and boundaries. However, they don’t seem to be; they’re just straight up clowin’. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of us can’t use this moment as a way to continue discussions about mimicry as it intersects with the politics of race, gender, sexuality and power. Your thoughts?

Top 40 Election Day Party Jamz!

2010-10-31T20:41:00.003-04:00

It is important to get out and VOTE on November 2^nd. Pack up that boom box and lots of size D Energizer batteries (Radio Raheem style). Turn up the volume and draw in the crowds outside your polling place—remember, you can't block the entrance! Get folks’ attention with this list of feel-good, motivational songs (in no particular order):

A Brand New Day-The Wiz soundtrack

Wavin’ Flag-K’Naan

You Got to Believe Something-Pointer Sisters

Respect Yourself-Staple Singers

I’ll Take You There-Staple Singers

Respect-Aretha Franklin

A Change is Gonna Come-Otis Redding

You’re All I Need to Get By-Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Sisters are Doing it for Themselves-Aretha Franklin

Oh Happy Day-Aretha Franklin/Mavis Staple

Everyday People-Sly and the Family Stone

Someday We’ll All Be Free-Donny Hathaway

I Got You (I Feel Good)-James Brown

Wakeup Everybody-Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

War-Edwin Starr

What’s Going On-Marvin Gaye

Stand by Me-Ben E. King

You and Your Folks/23rd Psalm-Blind Boys of Alabama

You Got to Move-Blind Boys of Alabama

Get Up, Stand Up-Bob Marley and the Wailers

People Get Ready- the Impressions

Beautiful Brother of Mine-Curtis Mayfield

We’re Gonna Make It-Damian Marley

Compared to What-Les McCann & Eddie Harris

Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing-Incognito

Work To Do-Isley Brothers

Fight the Power-Isley Brothers

Somewhere Over the Rainbow-Iz

Brother's Gonna Work It Out-Willie Hutch

Better Days are Coming-Jimmy Cliff

Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho-Mahalia Jackson

Yes We Can Can-Pointer Sisters

Taking it to the Streets-Quincy Jones

I Just Want to Celebrate-Rare Earth

Sunshine (I Can Fly)- Raul Midon

Wonderful World-Satchmo

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours-Stevie Wonder

You are the Sunshine of My Life-Stevie Wonder

Give More Power to the People-Chi-Lites

Man in the Mirror-Michael Jackson

VOTE!!!

Top Twenty Black Horror Films for Halloween!

2010-10-30T21:00:00.006-04:00

Get your scary on with your very own Black horror film festival. These are just a few I get a kick, er, scream out of…

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Black guy doesn’t die first, but the movie’s end is gut-wrenching (pun intended) all the same!

J.D.’s Revenge (1976)

Glynn Turman channels his inner-gangster, complete with a conk and a straight razor… and it works!

The Blood of Jesus (1941)

Spencer Williams crafts a beautifully shot morality tale about staying on the path of righteousness.

Def by Temptation (1990)

The cast from Spike Lee’s School Daze—James Bond III, Kadeem Hardison, Bill Nunn, and Samuel L. Jackson-- reunite for this shocker about temptation and sin. Go Granny!

Street Tales of Terror (2004)

A trio of frightening fictions—stay out of the water, away from abortionists, and don’t trust your drunken friends!

Bloodz vs. Wolvez (2006)

Three words—Hil-ar-ious! When the Wolvez poop on the floor…omg!

Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil’s Son-in-law (1977)

With Rudy Ray Moore starring don’t expect a true scary movie. But, there is a devil, and a mammy…oh boy.

Crazy as Hell (2002)

I miss me some Peter Benton from ER. Get your Eriq La Salle fix—whew he is literally a sexy devil!

Killjoy (2000)

If Michael Jackson came back…as a killer clown.

Kill Joy

Tales from the Hood (1995)

Lessons on staying true to the ‘hood. Sellouts be damned!

Sugar Hill (1974)

“Hey Whitey, you and your punk friends killed my man…I’m not accusing you “honk.” I’m passing sentence and the sentence is death!” A classic Black horror line!

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Ex-NFL'er Bernie Casey turns into a blue-eyed devil and wreaks havoc in Watts.

Abby (1974)

Abby, girlfriend where’d you get that fly white suit? This is a demon with some serious style.

Blacula (1972)

R.I.P. William Marshall and Vonetta McGee.

Scream, Blacula Scream (1973)

Pam “Lisa” Grier reclaims voodoo, reminding folks it is a respectable religion…not some crazy wizardry as other movies would have us believe.

Soul Vengeance (1975)

Yep, this is the infamous movie…Brother Charles gets his revenge with his—ahem—manhood. But this is also a film that has a lot to say about police brutality and recidivism.

Spirit Lost (1997)

Leon shows plenty of booty as he gets busy with a ghost.

Ganja and Hess (1973)

Duane Jones of Night of the Living Dead fame is back. This time he’s with horror Goddess—Marlene Clark. Bill Gunn stars and directs this gorgeous, haunting film.

Ganja & Hess

Son of Ingagi (1940)

The Black middle-class on full display. A monster ape is shaking things up, but Black love prevails.

Chloe: Your Love is Calling (1934)

Racists lynched Mandy’s man—after she steals one of their babies, she plans to walk on their graves. Keep your chin up Mandy!

For more ideas also check out blackhorrormovies.com.

For a scholarly take on Black horror, check out Horror Noire: Blacks in Horror 1890s to Present.

For a whole lotta religion mixed with your horror, check out Nollywood (“Nigerian Hollywood”) films such as 666.

"666"

Hip Hop Halloween Hitz! Top 10

2010-10-30T18:33:00.000-04:00

Ok sinners, get your Halloween remix on with these horror jams (in no particular order)...

A Nightmare on My Street—DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Bones soundtrack—Snoop Dogg and various artists

Mind Playing Tricks on Me-Geto Boys

Chuckie-Geto Boys

Diary of a Madman-Gravediggaz

Snoop Dog’s Hood of Horror soundtrack—Snoop Dogg and Various artists

Tales from the Hood soundtrack—Various artists

Vampire-Kung Fu Vampire

Hokus Pokus-Insane Clown Posse

Now Eat soundtrack-Brotha Lynch Hung

Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys

Kung Fu Vampire

Insane Clown Posse

Blackface madness

2009-10-19T11:28:00.001-04:00

Sisterdoc has been away for more than a hot minute, and for good reason. First, I had to catch up on all of the work I put on the back burner while doing my very small part to help support my POTUS’ election. Then, Sisterdoc’s students merited her undivided attention—and they still do. Along the way, Sisterdoc got really sick, joined a gym and hurt her back, discovered that Entenmann’s chocolate donuts (app)ease back aches better than ibuprofen, and Sisterdoc got wrapped up in the reality detective series First 48 (a show that dreadfully features at least two Black deaths per episode).

Now that I’ve come up for some air, I see that madness still reigns. Did French Vogue really feature a model in blackface! Did Dutch model Lara Stone not see any problem whatsoever with blacking up!

And, speaking of more blackface madness… Did ‘70s actor Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (Hell up in Harlem, Black Caesar, Original Gangsters) in a EUR.web interview really hate on the comedy film Black Dynamite, which spoofs blaxploitation-era films by complaining “how can you pay homage to me in a comedy?” And then, did Fred Williamson turn right around and give kudos to Robert Downey Jr’s. blackface performance in the satire-comedy film Tropic Thunder: “The guy who paid homage to me was a white guy in Tropic Thunder. ... Robert Downey Jr. He did it in blackface with sideburns, looked just like The Hammer. When they reviewed the film in New York and all other venues, they said he did a great interpretation of Fred Williamson. Now, I respect that…” WHAT?!

And still more blackface ridiculouness--why do the Bubble Sisters, a Korean singing group who appeared in blackface, still have a recording contract?

Maybe I should return to my hole until this mess stops.

Strange But True: Crimes and ‘Demeanors II

2009-03-17T16:41:00.002-04:00

Strange But True #1: Musaid Ahmed Saeed owned an unoccupied commercial building, but he didn’t want it anymore. What he DID want was to collect on the insurance policy. So the Detroit man hired two men to burn the place down. But the hired arsonists got caught in their own fire and died. So now, Saeed is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of arson, and conspiracy to commit arson. On top of all of that, he doesn’t have the building anymore to sell or rent out to pay for his legal bills.

Strange But True #2: A group of college students decided they would hold a fund-raiser to contribute money to a diabetes prevention organization. In an odd move, the students opted to sell boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (really, you’ve got to see the irony here). Along comes Sisterdoc who questioned the students’ decision to sell grease, fat, and sugar to help those whose bodies react poorly to all three. This is when things got interesting…one of the students screams at Sisterdoc, ‘It’s not like we’re making THOSE PEOPLE eat this stuff and get fat!” In the words of Dan Quayle, “it’s a terrible thing to lose your mind.”

February 26- A Very Important Day

2009-02-26T16:14:00.004-05:00

Today, February 26, the United States Postal Service and Jackson State University is unveiling a stamp honoring two Civil Rights movement pioneers: Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer. Let's go buy some stamps!

Today is also Sisterdoc’s birthday. On this, the 44th anniversary of Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death, I use my birthday to memorialize him. His sacrifice propelled a chain of Civil Rights activist events that permits me, and millions of other Black folks, to truly live today.

Jimmie Lee Jackson was 26 years old, a church deacon, a hospital employee, and a recently discharged soldier. He desperately wanted to vote, and tried to register five times. He vowed to keep trying.

On February 18, 1965 Jimmie, his mother Viola Jackson, and her father (Jimmie’s grandfather) Cager Lee, age 82, walked over to Zion United Methodist Church in Marion, Alabama for a meeting. A Civil Rights worker was being held in the Marion city jail and the Black community was deeply concerned for his safety. Jimmie, his family, and others in the community left the church for the jail to engage in a peaceful “singing” protest—their plan was to direct their prayers and hymns toward jail.

The group was met at the jail by a barrier of city police, sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers. Minutes later, Alabama’s law enforcement decided that church folk singing for justice was a crime punishable by immediate death.

Jimmie and his family tried to get away from the police by ducking into a nearby café. Troopers followed them. They beat Cager with their billy clubs—battering his 82-year old body. Viola tried to shield her father, only to suffer the same brutality…somehow they both survived. As for Jimmie, state trooper James Bonard Fowler shot him twice in the stomach. Jimmie died on February 26, 1965.

On March 7, in response to Jimmie’s death, 600 Civil Rights activists marched to confront Gov. George Wallace to demand justice and equality in the name of Jimmie Lee Jackson and others. The marchers made it as far as Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. The encounter with troopers became the infamous “Bloody Sunday” captured by television cameras and which was broadcast around the world.

One month after Jimmie’s death, on Thursday, March 25th, 25,000 activists marched to the Alabama state capitol. As a result, Pres. Lyndon Johnson would sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in August. Fowler denied Jimmie Lee Jackson the opportunity to see his octogenarian grandfather finally register to vote.

In 2005, Fowler admitted that he killed yet another Black man. He confessed, “This was a great big feller about 6 foot five. Big feller. He was black as it would be…His name was Johnny Johnson or something; I could never keep him straight from Jimmy Lee Jackson.” The man Fowler killed, on May 8, 1966, was Nathan Johnson, Jr. of Ensley, Alabama. Johnson was shot at point blank range three times in the chest.

In May 2007, Fowler was finally indicted for killing Jimmie. Fowler boasted: "I don’t think legally I could get convicted for murder now no matter how much politics they got ’cause after 40 years there ain’t no telling how many people is dead." In October 2008, Fowler's trial was postponed...justice awaits.

(Image: Jimmie Lee Jackson)

Strange But True II: Crimes and 'Demeanors

2009-02-23T08:01:00.003-05:00

Strange But True #1: When you think of illegal trash dumping, most of us have images of old tires, garbage, perhaps some old appliances left in an overgrown lot somewhere. Not in Detroit. Last weekend, someone dumped ONE TON of frozen chickens in the MIDDLE of the city’s main street—Livernois. Imagine, riding down the street in your car, only to run into this mess. The chickens had been packed last year, and it seems they had spoiled (probably during one of the city’s many power outages). What’s pathetically funny about this incident is that it isn’t particularly unusual for the “D.” They Mayor said he hopes to bring a halt to such practices which happen all too frequently. Wow.

Strange But True #2: Imagine you are in your basement when you hear some burglars upstairs in your house. That is what happened to Patrick Rosario of Bellevue, Washington. But in a funny twist, it was the robbers who were “robbed.” Patrick called 911 as he quietly fled his home. When he got outside, he saw the burglars’ white Ford Windstar van—motor running—in his drive way. So, Patrick got in it and drove to a friend’s house up the street to wait for the police. When the thieves came out with Patrick’s 3 TVs, a computer, and jewelry, they found their wheels “stolen.” A witness said the men looked pretty “startled.” They had to take off running, leaving their loot behind. The police are looking for them…

Strange but True: Death Threats Against Nadya Suleman and PR Firm

2009-02-20T15:37:00.001-05:00

By now we all know that Nadya Suleman has 14 babies. We all know that Nadya is not the most sympathetic figure. She is single, she has no job, and has no home of her own. She revealed that she was “obsessed” with having children, and underwent IVF treatment (a second time), after she already had 6 kids. Of her original six children, one is autistic, another has ADHD, and a third has mild autism.

If all that sounds incredible, what is crazier is that complete strangers have been sending Suleman death threats. These are potential murders intent on making 14 children orphans. Really?!

When these wackos couldn’t get near Suleman, they went after a public relations firm that was managing her media appearances. The Killeen Furtney Group had to end its relationship with Suleman after they received a bunch of emailed threats, 100+ graphically violent and potentially credible in their promise to kill members of the PR firm. The firm also got slammed with nasty phone messages. The hateful people also called the firm’s other clients, even threatening them!

That’s a lot of venom. What’s up with this?

Prince Harry Your Racism is (Still) Showing

2009-02-19T09:05:00.002-05:00

Prince Harry is being sent off to “equality and diversity” school, and none too soon. A few weeks ago, it came out that Prince Charles’ maybe baby--Harry looks a lot like Lady Di’s “special friend” James Hewitt-- likes to use racist language. In a video recently leaked, Harry can be heard calling an Asian, fellow squaddie a “Paki.” Racist! He teases another soldier about looking like a “rag head.” Racist, racist! In 2005, Harry went to a party dressed as a Nazi and wearing a swastika. Racist, racist, racist!!!

It seems Harry gets his hate through nurture and/or nature by way of his grandfather Prince Philip. In 2008, Philip is reported to have said he thought “Eastern women just sit around smoking pipes and eating all day.” In 2006, he is reported to have expressed the belief that the presence of Romanian orphanages is no mistake: “there’s so many over there you feel they breed them just to put them in orphanages.” In 2002, he wondered aloud if Australian Aborigines “still throw spears at each other.” In 1986, Philip warned British students visiting China to leave the country with the quickness or else they would end up “all slitty-eyed.” RACIST!!!!

Harry was recently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and claims he is committed to fighting the “war on terror.” From where I sit, he is the real terror.

(Image: Harry and Hewitt)

Racist Cartoon?- A Gong Moment

2009-02-18T14:00:00.004-05:00

I declare that for the next four years, linking monkeys with the Obama administration is off limits! It is a "Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment" for me. That is, it just doesn't feel right. I shouldn't be forced to get into arguments about when it is ok to associate monkeys with anything that has to do with Blackness versus when it is not. Spare us all--just leave monkeys out of it.

What is a “Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment?” Three decades ago, the great entertainer Nipsey Russell was a guest judge on The Gong Show. On one episode, a White male ventriloquist appeared as a contestant. His dummy was white, but he (inexplicably) sloppily painted it brown, hence, it looked a bit like blackface. As the man told bad, though not racist jokes, Russell gonged him. Russell explained that he gonged the man because something just wasn’t right. Sometimes things just feel wrong. If you get that feeling, don’t doubt yourself. Just gong ‘em!

Dominican Blowout- Hair it is!

2009-02-15T15:18:00.004-05:00

Sisterdoc has been growing her dredlocs (nothing "dreadful" about them) for more than a hot minute now…about seven years. Apart from thinking that those cheap “pack hair” hair weaves look atrocious, I won’t begrudge any sistah for how she gets her style on. I know some of you love the straight-as-a-board silky hair. If so, check out dominicanblowout.com. I read an article about Dominican stylists in the U.S. giving a chemical-free blowout that gets kinky/curly hair smooth as glass. It is supposed to be an all-natural process—just conditioner—no oil, no grease. It should last until you wash it, get it wet, sweat it out, or whatever.

Back in the day, I used to train it up to 135th Street in Harlem with one of my SisterGirlfriends so that she could get her hair relaxed “by the Dominicans.” The beauty shop, and others on the block, had signs in the window trumpeting “Dominican relaxer here!” Their relaxers were supposed to be over-fierce…getting hair straighter for longer. The beauticians also had good PR, invoking a proximity to “the motherland” as a source of their special expertise. Black women seeking a hair miracle would line up at the crack of dawn to get their ‘do did…and it wasn’t very expensive.

Interestingly, the secret to the blowout is some sort of Italian conditioner concoction. Ah, a multicultural effort is in play here.

Let’s hope this new hotness keeps your locks ever lovely. Peace y’all.

Super Bowl Champ Mike Tomlin-Steelers!

2009-02-02T14:04:00.004-05:00

Mike's prayers paid off! The Steelers have done it AGAIN! Six, Baby..six-time champs!

Things to Watch Out for in 2009

2009-01-31T11:24:00.003-05:00

The key phrase for today is “watch out!” While 2009 marks incredible change, there are still a few old school issues we need to keep a look out for:

1. A challenge to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! The Supreme Court is going to hear the challenge, put forth by a Texas district (Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Mukasey). Texas wants Section 5 of the Act, which permits the U.S. government to oversee electoral-law changes, to be ruled unconstitutional. Section 5 protects us from voter racial bias. Even with Section 5, all sorts of funny business has taken place (red lining, the barring of former convicts, denial of bilingual aid, etc.). Without it, things could be worse. Section 5 has prevented (White) majorities from diluting minorities’ voting power. Texas believes now that we have a Black president, we don’t need such racial protections! According to Richard Hasen, an election-law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, this challenge "has the potential to be the most important election case since Bush v. Gore." That 2000 decision cut off Florida ballot recounts and ensured Bush the White House. Read more in this USA Today article.
2. The “suicide” of Billey Joe Johnson. Watch out for this case, as well as that of Oscar Grants’. Johnson was a star high school football player in George County, Mississippi. He had offers from a host of Division I colleges. On the day of his death, he was to attend an awards banquet. However, according to a Mississippi sheriff’s office, one of their deputies pulled Johnson over for a “traffic stop.” For no apparent reason, during the stop, Johnson shot himself with a 12-guage shotgun in the head. Police called the incident a “suicide.” However, when Johnson’s remains were taken to the Cowan Funeral Home, the handlers thought the wounds didn’t match the suicide story. The funeral home operator took photos, and contacted the local NAACP. Oh, and there is speculation/rumor that Johnson was dating a White classmate, and that her father was strongly opposed to the relationship. Purportedly, the deputy and the girl’s father are friends.
3. The Martin Luther King, Jr. kids. Watch out for the siblings to implode this year. With the potential for profit mounting, as folks try to link King with Obama, the squabbling over selling their father’s image is going to come to an ugly head.

(Image: Billey Joe Johnson)

Virgina Tech and Other Campus Problems

2009-01-26T10:06:00.004-05:00

Sisterdoc is a university professor, so campus violence really hits home. Virginia Tech is witness to another horrific crime. Xin Yang arrived on the campus on January 8th to begin a master’s program in accounting. By January 21st, she was dead—decapitated (!?!) by another student, Haiyang Zhu. Haiyang was serving as a mentor to the new student, helping Xin to learn her way around the University.

The challenges and threats faculty, staff, and students face on campuses aren’t publicized much, but they are very real and hardly isolated incidents. I have encountered college students carrying weapons. I have found myself working to mediate roommate fights. The incidents of domestic violence…wow! And, employees misbehave, too. Faculty have dropped their pants to moon one another in meetings. Faculty throw things—chairs, pens, papers, and they love to slam doors. Staff and faculty love to send harassing emails to each other. And, you won’t believe the sex’capades that go on between faculty-faculty, between faculty-students, and between faculty-staff-students. Yep, I’ve seen it all. Campuses replicate the dysfunctions we see in our communities. Book smarts clearly don’t always translate into good citizenship or common sense.

Peace y’all…really…Peace, please.
(Image: Ms. Yang)

Obama News...And So It Begins

2009-01-25T20:32:00.005-05:00

After all the Inauguration festivities, Sisterdoc had much work to catch up on. But, there is still a good bit to say about our first week with Obamas.

1. How they’re living. Did you know that the Obama’s moved into what Pres. Ford said was “the best public housing I’ve ever seen!” The White House has 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms. The Obamas will be living on the second and third floors, with 20,000 square feet to roam in. The second floor has six bathrooms, 20 rooms, and a kitchenette. The third floor has a solarium overlooking the National Mall. It also has 9 bathrooms.

2. This isn’t welfare. Did you know that their food and other personal items aren’t free. The Obamas will be billed for their food, toiletries, dry cleaning, etc. Given how much the government has paid for things like toilet seats and screwdrivers in the past, the Obamas might be better off getting their dine on at Georgia Browns, or running down to the nearest CVS for their unmentionables.

3. Give me a break. Beanie Babies is issuing two new dolls—Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia. But, the company SWEARS that the dolls aren’t named after the First Children. I think we should swear not to buy the dolls if this company can’t be honest…and proud…about the inspiration of the product.

4. Shut up and go sit down somewhere. Remember when Harvey Gantt, an African American and purported friend of Michael Jordan, ran for the U.S. Senate against arch-conservative/race baiter Jess Helms? When Helms was running racist ads, the Gantt campaign turned to Jordan, then at the height of his popularity, for an endorsement. Jordan dissed his friend by saying “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” Years later, Jordan added, Republicans buy sneakers…and usually full retail.” Jordan has finally decided to get political, but not without putting his brand and his profits first. Jordan said he was so moved to see Obama on inauguration day that….he is going to issue a new athletic shoe. Who knew Magic Johnson would turn out to be the smart one.

5. Don’t get it twisted. Though the media has focused on the First Lady’s clothing, her ‘model-like looks,’ and her mommy identity, don’t forget…Michelle was Barack’s boss first. That’s right, he worked for her. She isn’t just some pretty face….she is Princeton and Harvard smart, Mayor Daley’s office and Sidley & Austin law firm tough, and Americorps/Public Allies community centered. She could easily be our POTUS. Oh…and not one more mention of her booty…it’s disrespectful.

6. Pulling myself together. Sisterdoc watched Barack gaze into Michelle’s eyes during their first dance…and, whew!, I lost it. Check out the picture above. Oh, and with this kind of Black love on display, entertainment media better stop depicting Black men as brutal bucks and Black women as Jezebels. They better offer me something else besides Training Day and Monster’s Ball.

Peace y’all.

The Pantless Judge- Roy L. Pearson

2009-01-10T20:14:00.004-05:00

Sisterdoc hasn’t forgotten about you Roy L. Pearson. You were the D.C. judge who sued the owners of Custom Cleaners, a mom and pop dry cleaning business, for $54 million over some misplaced suit pants. The cleaners’ owners, the Chungs, insist they found your pants, and have tried repeatedly to give them back. But you pressed on (no pun intended), and became the poster-child for frivolous litigation and the need for legal reform. You refused to accept the pants, claiming they are not yours. You refused $1000 to replace your suit. You refused a $12,000 settlement. Instead, you sued the Chungs for damages and for them to pay for a car service to drive you to a cleaners in another neighborhood. The legal wrangling cost them everything, to include their business.

You finally had your lawsuit thrown out, and the judge noted that you’d engaged in “unnecessary litigation” in the past. But the damage was done…the Chungs’ are an emotional wreak. A fundraiser held for the Chung’s helped them to cover their legal expenses, and wanting to be free of you, they decided not to try to recover the $80K in attorney/court costs that you owed them….if you would just leave them be. You didn’t. You appealed, dragging them in to court again. For this bit of poor judgment, you lost your job as judge…and you lost your appeal.

But you still won’t quit. This week you went to the D.C. Court of Appeals, and you are also hoping to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear your case. Oh, and now you are suing D.C. for $1 million for wrongful termination because they said you lack “judicial temperament.”

Your wife divorced you long ago. You’ve lost your job. You’ve become a global laughing-stock as you’ve become known as the “pantless judge” in the media. All you have to show for all of this is an unemployment check, and that is running out. At this point, you might want to start looking for a new job, and leave this pant suit (pun very much intended) alone.

The Calm Before the Storm-Oscar Grant

2009-01-07T20:03:00.002-05:00

The word for today is… “quiet.” It’s been an eerily quiet day. The calm before the storm, perhaps?

Dethroned Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was joined in jail by his girlfriend Christine Beatty for her 4 month bid. Beatty, like Kilpatrick, has been known to be particularly mouthy (sorry, no pun intended given the nature of those text messages!). But Christine went off to jail in dead silence; a far cry from her yelling “don’t you know who I am!” at law enforcement.

Ashley Todd, the liar from Texas who claimed a Black man carved a “B” for “Barack” on her cheek, quietly began her probation program. All those conservative bloggers who initially believed Todd's lie, and bordered on racism in their support of her, are now oddly quiet.

Stephon Marbury still sits quietly on the Knicks bench, standing firm on his claim that his $20.9 million contract be honored as part of his buyout.

And, there should a hell of a lot more noise being made to get to the bottom of the MURDER of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old. Grant was yanked off of a train by BART (Bay Area) police who were investigating some kids fighting in another compartment of the train (we know now there was no fighting). Grant, who was riding with family members, pleaded his innocence. Officers first threatened to taser Grant. Witnesses report Grant begged not to be stunned, first because he was not involved in any wrong doing, and then because he has a toddler daughter. Officers then pressed Grant’s face and belly down flat on the concrete. One officer stood on Grant’s neck. Another officer—Johannes Mehserle-- stood over Grant, unholstered his gun, and fired a shot into Grant’s back. In the words of the Grant family attorney, “without so much as flinching the Officer Mehserle stood over Grand and mercilessly fired his weapon, mortally wounding Mr. Grant with a single gunshot wound to the back.” Grant never saw it coming. See KTVU footage of the murder of Oscar Grant here. And a different view from Alameda County News here.

(Image: Oscar Grant)

2008 Year In Review

2009-01-01T19:30:00.008-05:00

With the new year comes a host of “The Best of 2008” reviews. Sisterdoc thought she’d get in on the action by reflecting on the year's memorable (or crazy). In no particular order:

1. The Olympics. China put on an unmatched Olympics event. I visited China the year before the event, and I got to see first-hand some of the preparations. The Opening and Closing ceremonies were stunningly beautiful—two words that take on glorious new meaning…Bird's Nest. Jamaica showed up and showed out in Track and Field—we’ll never forget Usain Bolt and Shelley Ann-Fraser in the 100. Cullen Jones (Swimming) was overshadowed by Michael Phelps hype. But Phelps can thank Jones for that 4x100 gold medal. The Olympics weren’t all good, however. NBC’s Matt Lauer came off as racist as he made fun of Chinese citizens’ English (Matt, how many languages do you speak?) and when he said that the sound of bass drums during the opening ceremony were “intimidating.” Then there was Angel Matos (Taekwondo) of Cuba. He violently attacked the referees, kicking one of them in the face. For his breach of good sportsmanship, Matos got a lifetime ban from sports.

2. Nathaniel Abraham stepped out of prison in 2007 dressed like a “big baller, shot caller” in a hot pink and white pimp suit after serving 10 years in juvie jail for murdering Ronnie Greene, Jr. back in 1997 when Abraham was a mere 11 years old. Sisterdoc expressed profound confusion at the great outpouring of support for Abraham—free rent, free furniture, college scholarships, a music recording contract, job offers. More, the very day Abraham was released, the Detroit News reported that there are hundreds of sweet, beautiful, loving children in the foster care system, none of whom have even been seen by a dentist or a doctor. Where is all the love for these law abiding children? Surprise, surprise. In 2008, Abraham disappointed us all, throwing away his second chance at the good life by selling ecstasy. After just over a year of freedom, today Abraham is back in jail. Maybe he and O.J. Simpson can exchange letters, lamenting their blown opportunities.

3. The Wire, which ended this year, kept me thoroughly entertained for 5 thrilling seasons. It will go down as the greatest television series of all time…just mark my words. It was smart, realistic, insightful, and explained our sociopolitical world better than Time and Newsweek combined. It had few slips (I’ll let that "Spiderman Omar" mess pass). It also worked to help me understand Kwame Kilpatrick’s and “The Ministers’” hold over The D.

4. Kwame Kilpatrick. When The Wire went off the air, Kilpatrick filled the drama-in-a-chocolate-city void with his “Texts and Sex” scandal. He was cocky ‘til the end, and is planning his political come back as we speak. But there are still some lingering questions: who is Carmen Slowsky? Why did councilperson Barbara Collins come to work wearing a tiara? And, did Carlita Kilpatrick really give exotic dancer Strawberry a beatdown for grinding on Kwame at the Monoogian Mansion just before Strawberry was mysteriously murdered?

5. OBAMA!!!! Actually, as excited as I am about our new POTUS, I am also pretty darn interested in Michelle’s potential. She and ‘Rack have very similar training and credentials, I’d like too see what she is going to contribute to our national and global dialogue. I’d like folks to put to rest now any more talk of her booty, her red dresses, and whether she wears pantyhose or not. Michelle is an intellectual and talented professional…treat her as such. Oh, and don’t dream of throwing a shoe at my new POTUS. Trust...his secret service won’t play that!

6. R. Kelly. I am not sure what I am more shocked about, that R. Kelly beat the pedophile charges even though there is video tape evidence (to include tapes from the botched raid of his home in Florida) or that women were writing in to Essence magazine vehemently defending him. But what beat all was his post-acquittal BET interview with Toure. Toure asked Kelly if he still liked teenage girls. And 41!!! year old Kelly didn’t say “hell NO.” Stupid a$% Kelly said, “When you say teenage, how old are we talking? ”

7. Michigan. The whole darn state fell apart. The car companies went to the feds hat in hand, and weren’t even smart enough to drive their own vehicles—the photo-op would have been great marketing, but I guess if the companies were forward thinking, they wouldn’t be bankrupt. Then, the University of Michigan’s football team was lead to its first losing season by salty-mouthed coach Rich Rodriguez who doesn’t get the concept of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But, at least Rich Rod isn’t Rod Marinelli who will forever be known as the losingest football coach when he didn’t lead the Detriot Lions anywhere, to include out of a 0-16 losing season.

8. Lots of folk passed on this year. I didn’t see Bernie Mac’s passing coming at all. But Rachelle Farrell sent him off beautifully. As for other celebs, I miss Ivan Dixon a handsome, talented actor who had the stature of a Sidney Poitier. A trailblazer, Dixon should be remembered for far more than Hogan’s Heroes or Car Wash. Remember him for Nothing But a Man or The Spook Who Sat by the Door. I miss Rudy Ray Moore…I mean, he didn’t take himself too, too seriously and his “raps” and dozens playing still stand the test of time (though we’ll pretend that Petey Wheatstraw, Devil’s Son-in-Law didn’t happen). Levi Stubbs’ passing hurt, particularly in a year when Chris Brown and Lil’ Wayne are entertainers of the year. Stubbs had a pure, soulful, resonating voice. There will never be another. I miss Eartha Kitt. She was more than Cat Woman (Prrrr) or Lady Eloise (“Marrr-cus Darr-ling”). Kitt was on the right side of politics, ecological matters, and racial pride.

9. Ashley Todd. She claimed a Black man in “shiny shoes” in the Bloomfield neighborhood of my Pittsburgh assaulted her at an ATM, carving a “B” on her face…presumably for Barack Obama. Todd lied, and she made several mistakes in the process… #1 A Black man doing dirt on well-traveled Friendship Ave., in the predominately Italian-American neighborhood of Bloomfield. Only Todd, who is from Texas, would fail to realize that Pittsburgh is not just a city of neighborhoods, but it is a city of segregated neighborhoods, and that nobody is going to miss a seemingly prolonged assault on Friendship Ave. #2 “Shiny shoes”…tee hee. She’s been watching too many blaxploitation movies. #3 the ‘ole BBM/”Gus” claim. Todd said a “big Black man” threw her to the ground, tried to sexually assault her, tried to rob her…all with a dull knife. Then, he took the time to carve a “B” on her face. #4 The backward “B” carved on her face indicating self-mutilation. #5 Asst. Chief Maurita Bryant don’t play!

10. Wal-Mart. Poor wages, virtually non-existent health care benefits, forced overtime, and being “on call” on days off. Hostile company take-overs, union busting, sexist and racist hiring practices. Dirty stores, low-quality meats and produce, made-in-America is really made in China, Swaziland, and Bangladesh under horrific conditions. Sisterdoc has heard all the Wal-Mart tales, but somehow the trampling death of Jdimytai Damour on Black Friday after a poorly planned, aggressive Black Friday marketing campaign was just too much.

(Images: Barbara Rose Collins; Angel Matos; Ivan Dixon)

Memphis Wants Pres. Obama in its Jail!

2008-11-19T09:47:00.001-05:00

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama made history…twice. On this date, thanks to the city of Memphis, Obama become the first President-elect to be assigned a Booking Number (#08725976). [Thanks to http://thadmatthews.blogspot.com/ for turning Sisterdoc on to this injustice].

It seems that one of the local campaign offices placed campaign signs in public places that are (purportedly) to be free from such signage.

Instead of citing the local office (which, frankly seems like harassment), Memphis Public Works employee Gene Soucy cited Barack Obama. When Obama, who knew nothing of this sour-grapes hater’ation, did not show up to court this week, they ISSUED A BENCH WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST! Fortunately, an attorney who also happens to be a Democrat, was around the courthouse and rushed in to get a delay for December 8, 2008 until things can get straightened out. To see the case entry, go to http://jssi.co.shelby.tn.us/ and click the “GS Case History” tab. From there, type in our President’s first and last name, and you will see his “criminal court case information.” Note that they list his race as “U” for “unknown.” They also don’t know his birth date.

As the above image (taken this summer) of McKellar Lake near the Jack Carley Causeway in Memphis shows, campaign signs which were posted and then removed should not be on the Public Works’ radar.

Some of you will recognize the irony of Memphis doing this. Yes, it is the place where Dr. King, Jr. was assassinated. What is more shocking is that Dr. King was in Memphis fighting for the civil and labor rights of the city’s public works employees. And now this group has conspired, even against their supervisor’s and mayor’s knowledge, to criminalize the President, denying him of his own rights.

Wow, it is really going to get crazy in our country. Brace yourself…

The End of the SAT exam?

2008-11-16T11:20:00.003-05:00

Wake Forest (North Carolina) is a highly ranked, highly selective university. Earlier this year, the institution took a bold step by no longer requiring the SAT as part of its admissions process. The University believes that the SAT is a “weak measure of academic ability” and that it “misevaluates [their] students’ academic strengths” as well as undercuts their diversity and talent pools.

Sisterdoc remembers all too well her introduction to standardized tests. While in elementary school, I was evaluated for the Pittsburgh Public School’s gifted students program. I recall one of the warm-up questions, “your mother goes to the store to purchase bananas, what color are the bananas that she brings home?” My answer: green. Some of my friends answered “brown.” The correct answer was yellow. [I knew almost immediately things weren’t going to go well for me]. An actual exam question asked, “you are watching television, but you cannot hear it clearly. You want to make the broadcast louder. What is the name of the button you use to make the broadcast louder?” My answer: sound. One of my friends answered: “we don’t have a TV.” Another friend said, “up.” Correct answer: volume (up).

When my parents shopped, they needed to make sure groceries lasted. They purchased green bananas to provide us access to inexpensive, but fresh fruit for a longer period of time. On the other hand, my friend’s folks purchased bananas off the “day old” (or older) clearance table. Theirs was a similar mission—access to a healthy, inexpensive, albeit less fresh snack. This isn’t just a Black thing; rather, it reveals a cultural bias in the exams based on class status. The same goes for the TV question. Our TV, such as it was, was so tiny it didn’t have room for a bunch of labels. VHS, UHF, a knob marked sound was about all we got. Common sense told us to turn the knob to the left to turn the sound down, or to the right to turn it up. I wasn’t accepted to the gifted program.

In California, a recent SAT study revealed that high SAT scores correlate with family income, but not necessarily with good grades. That means the test may speak to rich peoples’ experiences, but may not be a good predictor of their intellectual chops. If I am rich, I stand a better chance of getting a question right that asks me about my motor boat simply because I have one versus a kid who only knows the shoe leather express.

To be sure, if the contours of my life had continued to rise and fall on my performance on such tests, there would be no Sisterdoc. I’ve written books, articles, and book chapters. I am a professor at a pretty impressive university. Even today my creative energy is fueled by bananas that are more green than yellow.

I also bring racial and class diversity to the ivory-tower. Policy-makers are often White (or non-Black) and upper-middle class, but make decisions about Blacks and the lower-class. People like me are needed to give policy-makers a reality check, as well as to create policy for a populace they know best.

What do you think about Wake Forest’s decision to get rid of the SAT requirement?

Black men ask if they'll be seen in a different light

2008-11-16T10:27:00.001-05:00

Sunday, November 16, 2008
By Carla Hall and Marjorie Miller, The Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- Hakeem Holloway may be a classically trained musician who has played with orchestras around the world, but when he crosses a Los Angeles city street wearing his typical uniform of jeans and a hoodie, white women have been known to eye him, a black man, and clutch their purses more tightly to their sides.

Frank Gilliam, the dean of the University of California, Los Angeles' School of Public Affairs, sometimes flies first class. When he does, white passengers often ask Dr. Gilliam, who is black, if he's a record producer -- if they talk to him at all.

Even as millions of black Americans revel in Barack Obama's victory, some still wonder if this transformative moment in American politics truly will transform perceptions of black men. How much, if at all, they ask, will Mr. Obama's victory shatter that glass ceiling?

The country may have become accustomed to seeing and hearing minorities populating numerous levels of power in almost all professions, but many people still cling to images that can be stubborn to erase.

Mr. Holloway, a 31-year-old double bassist with a master's degree in music performance from the University of Southern California, says one problem for blacks is that success often blinds people to color -- in the wrong way.

"We have plenty of black comedians, actors, athletes," Holloway said. "And plenty of time, everybody regards those people as not black. Michael Jordan? 'He's not black. He's Michael Jordan.' Barack Obama? 'He's not black. He's Barack Obama.' "

Murrell Garr Jr., associate pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in Yorba Linda, expresses the hope that many feel: "As black men, we feel we have a voice now. We've been crying out in the wilderness. We have skills, qualities. Now people will give an ear to what we're saying."

In the past, some whites often did not listen, instead projecting their racial anxieties. "The image of the black man is fear," said Damian Thompson, 35, a self-employed graphic designer. "I think Barack changes that and brings us the respect we deserve.."

Others couple hopefulness with skepticism about the ability of an Obama presidency to change ingrained racial perceptions.

Some black men worry that an Obama presidency could foster the perception among some whites that racism no longer exists, dispelled magically.

Warner Bros. executive Chaz Fitzhugh, 53, who is black, earned undergraduate and master's degrees from Harvard and has counted conservative and liberal whites among his friends.
"The message I've heard from my conservative friends loud and clear is, 'OK, you guys got what you want so stop your whining,' " said Mr. Fitzhugh, who managed a good-natured chuckle even though he admitted the comments annoy him.

"The perception will be that racism is essentially over and done -- and that if you screw up, it's all on you," Mr. Fitzhugh said. "It's true in some ways but naive in a lot more."

First published on November 16, 2008 at 12:00 am

Kudos to Pres. Bush-Emmett Till Act Passed

2008-11-09T16:13:00.003-05:00

Giving props when props are due…Kudos to President Bush for, on October 7th, signing into law the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. The “Till Bill” gives the Justice Department more resources to investigate unsolved murders from the civil rights era.

The bill commemorates Emmett Till, the 14-year-old who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955.

Ralph Nader asks if President Obama is an 'Uncle Tom'

2008-11-05T20:48:00.005-05:00

Ralph Nader had to get 'checked' by Shepard Smith of Fox News (of all people, of all networks) for calling Obama an "Uncle Tom." Just moments after Obama was named President-Elect, Nader repeated and defiantly asked if Obama was going to be a Tom to corporations. Smith was appalled by Nader's hate, and rightly so. Nader has shown his true racist colors. See it all here.

Oh What an Election Night-Can You Feel A Brand New Day!!!

2008-11-05T17:05:00.015-05:00

Let's get some sleep shall we, because now the real work toward change begins.

44th President Barack Obama "Oh Happy Day!"

2008-11-05T09:02:00.004-05:00

Excerpts from the Victory Speech delivered by our next President:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer…

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America…
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America…

This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Soulja Boy & Orlando Jones Thank Slave Masters

2008-11-03T08:37:00.006-05:00

According to BET and Eurweb.com, 18-year-old rapper Soulja Boy thought slavery was a very, very good thing. BET’s Toure interviewed (Stupid) Soulja Boy at BET’s “The Black Carpet” event. He asked the artist to name an historical figure he hates the most. Toure provide a few hints for the young’un: Hitler, Bin Laden, or the slave master.

According to Toure, (Stupid) Boy responded, "Oh wait! Hold up! Shout out to the slave masters! Without them we'd still be in Africa. We wouldn't be here to get this ice and tattoos."

If this is true, I wish I could chalk this up to youthful ignorance. But 40-year-old actor/comedian Orlando Jones offered a similar sentiment as the character Steven in the film Primeval. He said (paraphrasing)—'thank goodness for slavery because it got Black folks out of Godforsaken Africa.' In either forum, these are outrageously racist things to say.

Both Soulja Boy and Orlando Jones need a visit from the Drop Squad.

"Dumb Nigger" Receipt from Journeys

2008-10-29T10:01:00.003-04:00

A young, college-attending Brother named Keith Slater purchased a pair of shoes at a store called “Journeys” in Overland Park, Kansas (Oak Park Mall). After doing some additional comparison-shopping, he found the shoes for a much cheaper price at another store. So Brother Keith went back to Journeys to return his shoes. He got his money back, and with it a receipt that identified him as “Dumb Nigger.”

Here is video of KMBC-TV’s new report. http://www.kmbc.com/video/17768384/index.html

It seems that the store programmed in the option “Dumb Nigger” into its computer and that employees must select that option to appear on receipts. As you can see, employee #355 made that selection by scrolling through a number of other codes to opt for this hateful statement to be printed on Keith’s receipt.

Sisterdoc says start a campaign to SHUT ‘EM DOWN!!!!

Oak Park Mall
11683 West 95th #126
Overland Park, KS 66214
(913) 859-9418

Blame a Black Man: Ashley “the mugger/carver hoax” Todd

2008-10-26T23:40:00.004-04:00

Charles Stuart (Boston), Susan Smith (South Carolina), Bob Allen (Florida), Brian Wells (Erie)…they all blamed a big Black man for their nasty, criminal deeds. Add to this list the bizarre case of Ashley Todd.

Taking the hate-mongering coming out of the McCain-Palin campaign to its race-bating, expected end, Todd (a McCain campaign volunteer) claimed last week that a big Black man (bBm) rolled up on her at an ATM in my beloved Pittsburgh to rob her: “a six foot four African American of medium build, dressed in dark clothes wearing shiny shoes." [Shiny shoes? WTF?] She said that the bBm was just about to run off with her coin when he noticed her John McCain bumper sticker on her hooptie. The bBm, Todd claimed, return to beat her up and carve a “B” on her cheek—as in “B” for Barack.

It was all a lie (the backward “B” was a clue). The ‘blame a big Black man’ fiction strikes again. Most are writing Todd off as mentally ill. But that didn’t keep her, like so many others, from exploiting the brutal buck stereotype. The danger is that it sets up innocent Black men for a modern-day public and/or prison system “lynching.”

Thanks to Todd, we came THIS close to seeing real violence. She riled up all sorts of hate…far right-wingers Andy McCarthy, Dan Riehl, Noel Sheppard, Josh Painter all stirred up the venom, as did FOX News.

Police Chief Maurita Bryant has placed Todd under arrest and is charging her, for now, with filing a false police report. Bryant said, "We don't feel she should be able to walk out onto the street….We wouldn't want any further harm to come to her."

And…I don’t want to see her out on the street perpetuating stereotypes and thereby bringing harm to those in my community.

(Image: Keith Srakocic/AP)

Songs of Change (A List)- What are your favorites?

2008-10-20T12:11:00.002-04:00

Without exception, “change” has been accompanied by soundtrack. While snatching control of the White House from the Republicans, Bill Clinton paraded in to Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” And, on his inauguration day, Clinton was serenaded by Aretha “The Queen of Soul” Franklin with a rousing rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream.”

Barack Obama took Stevie Wonder with him on the campaign trail to get folks rallying ‘round to the funky change anthem “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

Social and political protests and movements can’t get started until the music is settled on: “We Shall Overcome”…. “Say it Loud [I’m Black and I’m Proud]”… “War [What is it Good For].”

So, let’s get the conversation started. When Obama takes the White House, what should his song be? And, what are some of your favorite songs of change? Here are a few classic songs of change (in no particular order) to get you thinking:

Black Am I (Junior Kelly)
War (Edwin Starr)
War (Bob Marley)
Free Nelson Mandela (Special AKA)
The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)
Sign ‘O’ the Times (Prince)
We are the World (USA for Africa)
Strange Fruit (Billie Holiday)
Mississippi Goddamn (Nina Simone)
Fight the Power Pts. 1 & 2 (The Isley Brothers)
Fight the Power (Public Enemy)
Say it Loud-I’m Black and I’m Proud (James Brown)
A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)
We Shall Overcome (Rev. Charles Tindley)
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (Nina Simone)
Happy Birthday [Martin Luther King, Jr.] (Stevie Wonder)
Lift Every Voice and Sing (James Weldon Johnson)
911 is a Joke (Public Enemy)
Fuck the Police (NWA)
You Must Learn (KRS-One)

Honorable mention: X-Clan

Pittsburgh's Slavery Shame

2008-10-19T16:49:00.002-04:00

I saw this incredible story in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Anya Sostek. Note how slave-holding Pittsburghers "got around" laws which would free Black slaves.

The year was 1825, and though a 6-year-old girl named Sally couldn't sign her name, she could sign away the next 22 years of her life.

With the mark of an "X," Sally promised to serve Pittsburgh attorney John McKee in exchange for food, clothing and lessons in the "art and mystery of a house Servant and Cook." At age 28, she'd be granted her freedom, as well as "two suits of women's apparel ... one of which shall be new."

Sally's story -- and the stories of dozens of other slaves, indentured servants and free blacks in the earliest days of Western Pennsylvania -- was unknown until last year, when an employee in the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds office stumbled upon the word "Negro" in an 1816 property record.

Upon further investigation, the office found 56 records involving the status of blacks in Pittsburgh prior to 1865, all detailed in scrolling handwriting along with mundane matters of land ownership and property transfer.

The records -- fleshed out in the context of other newly discovered and little known historical information -- are the focus of an exhibit, "Free At Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries" that opens Saturday at the Sen. John Heinz History Center. The exhibit, created by the University of Pittsburgh, runs through April 5.

"When we talk about the existence of slavery here, people are surprised," said Laurence Glasco, an associate professor of history at Pitt and history director for the exhibit. "We usually think of Pennsylvania as the land of the Quakers and the Liberty Bell, and it doesn't quite go with that image. Bringing the original documents close to a visitor has a powerful effect of really, emotionally, transporting the person back to that era and making it real."

Visitors to the exhibit can learn about Robert Mason, who traveled to Virginia in 1851 to buy and free his wife, Julia, for the sum of $600. Or about 24-year-old William Johnston, who filed a paper certifying that he was born of free parents because he was "about to descend the Ohio River in the capacity of a fireman on a Steamboat."

Robert Hill, vice chancellor for public affairs at Pitt and an amateur history buff, first read about the discovery of the documents in a Post-Gazette article last November. He requested copies of them and started to read through their cryptic cursive script, only to find the documents raising far more questions than they answered.

How widespread was slavery in Pittsburgh, he wondered, and how long did it last? What were all these references to Negro "indentures" in the documents? And how many of Pittsburgh's most prominent citizens -- those with names such as Neville, Craig and McKee that today adorn city streets -- were slaveholders?

After months of digging, he and his team turned up answers that "are rewriting history," said Mr. Hill, who is also executive-in-charge of the exhibit. "We've pulled together little known and unknown facts to tell the story of this town as it relates to slavery in a way that had not been done before."

The overarching theme, he said, was that despite Pennsylvania's much-celebrated 1780 Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act -- the first legislative action by any state to end slavery -- the process of actually moving from slavery to freedom was slow, murky and convoluted.

What the 1780 law did was to mandate that no one born in Pennsylvania after March 1 of that year would be born a slave.

But because slaveholders had balked at the cost of feeding, clothing and caring for the children of slaves in their possession, the law allowed for a 28-year period of indentured servitude for the children of slaves -- under the logic that a slave owner essentially loses money feeding and clothing slave children until they become sufficiently productive around age 14, and the owners need an equal amount of time to recoup their investment.

"I thought either you were a slave or you were free," said Mr. Hill, remarking on the indentured status of children like 6-year-old Sally, who signed legal contracts binding themselves to their owners.

Because Sally had no parents in the state of Pennsylvania, two attorneys -- one of whom, Magnus M. Murray, would go on to become mayor of Pittsburgh -- also approved the contract on her behalf.

Initially, at least, some slaveholders also skirted the law by taking their pregnant slaves to Virginia to give birth (thus, getting to keep the children as slaves), not registering slaves under the law and illegally indenturing the children of indentures.

"What we're seeing is this transition period where it's changing, but it isn't there yet," said Dr. Glasco, noting that indentured blacks did not exist in other states in significant numbers during that time period. "It's a shocking combination of freedom and un-freedom side by side."

That combination included blacks who enjoyed freedom and even prosperity from the very inception of the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Free blacks accompanied Gens. Edward Braddock, John Forbes and George Washington on their initial forays into Pittsburgh.

Several of those blacks become wealthy business owners, living side by side with whites in Downtown Pittsburgh. Benjamin "Big Daddy" Richards, a butcher who became rich selling to military posts, and his son, Charles, were two of four blacks who signed the Petition of 1787 that resulted in the creation of Allegheny County.

One of Pittsburgh's early wealthy blacks was a doctor, Martin Delany, who also went on to edit Frederick Douglass' North Star newspaper. Another, George Vashon, became the first black graduate at Oberlin College, the first black lawyer in New York State and the first black professor at Howard University.

At the same time, many -- though by no means all -- of Pittsburgh's most prominent white citizens owned slaves. Of the 21 original trustees of the University of Pittsburgh at its founding in 1787, eight were slave owners, said Mr. Hill.

The names of those slave owners read like an Oakland street map -- from Presley Neville to John McKee to Isaac Craig, said Mr. Hill from his fourth-floor office in Craig Hall on Craig Street.

The exhibit also includes a display of an early 19th century George Beck painting of Pittsburgh, a simulated slave ship and wax figures dramatizing slave escapes.

"When you read biographies, history books, autobiographies -- there are millions of words, and this stuff isn't in there," said Mr. Hill. "We fill in the puzzle of what early life in Pittsburgh was like related to slavery and racial matters."

Will Obama Lose Because of the "Bradley Effect"

2008-10-18T18:55:00.003-04:00

100,000 people of all races and hues showed up to see (soon to be POTUS) Obama in St. Louis this weekend…But, will they all actually VOTE for him?

With just over two weeks until the election, some are beginning to fret over the “Bradley Effect.” The Bradley Effect is a theory which describes when White voters tells pollsters that they will vote for a Black candidate—to appear liberal, progressive, and non-racist—but really, they are going to vote White.

Obama is five to six points ahead in the polls, however it is unknown how many of those “points” reflect the reports of, well, liars.

In 1982, Tom Bradley (for whom the theory is named) was thought to be a run-away favorite, but on election day he lost to his trailing White, Republican opponent George Deukmejian. In 1989, Douglas Wilder went in with a nine-point lead, but scraped a win by less than one percentage point. David Dinkins secured a helluva big 18-point lead in 1989’s mayoral race, but just narrowly won over Rudy Giuliani.

Obama supporters cannot be complacent at this important time. The election isn’t won. Obama could fall victim to another cheat in Florida…or in Ohio…or, still yet, the Bradley Effect. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!

(Images: Tom Bradley [Time]; St. Louis [NYT])

How to Spot a Criminal--They'll Blame a Black Man

2008-09-15T09:15:00.005-04:00

On August 23, 2003 a White dude named Brian Wells walked into the Pittsburgh National Bank in Erie, PA with a real, live bomb locked around his neck. Brian passed a note to tellers saying he was being forced to rob the bank. If they didn’t give him cash, he and they would blow up. Petrified, bank employees gave him $8,700. A pizza deliveryman, Brian claimed that a “group of Black men” had taken him hostage after duping him to make a delivery to a bogus address. These Black men purportedly fitted Brian with a collar bomb, one so intricate, that it could not be removed from Brian’s neck. As Brian fled the bank, police caught up with him and while police watched, the bomb blew Brian to bits.

Five years later the FBI confirmed what Sisterdoc knew then—no Black people were involved in the odd, poorly planned crime whatsoever.

According to law officials, here’s how it really went down. Some guy named Ken Barnes and some woman named Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong met up with another guy named William Rothstein at a gas station. William called Mama Mia’s Pizza asking Brian to deliver a pizza to a fake location. They were all part of the robbery gang. When Brian showed up at the location, he discovered his buddies wanted him to wear a real bomb, not a fake one, to scare the tellers and to rob the bank. That’s how Brian ended up with a bomb around his neck. According to police, the robbery was supposed to finance the hiring of a hitman, for $200,000, to kill Marjorie’s father. Oddly, Ken was the hitman looking to get paid.

Marjorie is in a mental hospital for the criminally insane because, in addition to all of this, she killed her boyfriend James Roden because he was going to tell police about the robbery plot. Oh, and William died of cancer. With Brian dead, that only leaves Ken to go to jail. Wow.

What gets me is how readily and easily the ‘scary Black man’ is invoked by the real criminals. When Charles Stuart shot his pregnant wife in the head, killing her and their baby, he blamed a Black man, claiming the Brother was trying to rob them. Susan Smith strapped her two kids into her Mazda Protégé and rolled the car into a lake, drowning them. She blamed the disappearance of her kids on a carjacking Black man. Then there was Rep. Bob Allen of Florida. He propositioned an undercover Black police officer in a park’s public bathroom, offering $20 for oral sex. Allen’s defense—he was afraid of the “stocky Black guy” and rather than become a “statistic” and get robbed in the park, he offered sex. Yep. That was his story, and he stuck to it.

The problem is, as what occurred in the Stuart and Smith cases, police actually find innocent Black people to arrest. Still, racists keep invoking the scary Black man stereotype because they assume the public will buy in to it. And, sadly the public does…at great risk to Black lives.

(Images: Brian's final moments)

Gentrification Blocks Black Folks' Blessings

2008-09-14T11:36:00.002-04:00

Sisterdoc hates gentrification. Here’s why:

I was born and raised in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh. Homewood is one of the ‘Burgh’s predominately Black neighborhoods housing the (hard) working-class. Black influx and White flight began as early as 1860. By the 1950s, any lingering Italians (as well as a few Irish and German immigrants) were packing their bags for all-White communities like Bloomfield and Polish Hill.

Homewood has the best homes (huge and brick with wide porches) and the best streets (wide, many are brick and pothole free) and the best location (easily accessible to all parts of the city). So, I guess it was us Black folks that weren’t liked.

Given its wonderful structural qualities, it is no surprise that Homewood is being transformed again, this time by gentrification. The predominately White, middle-class gentrifiers have done a land-grab and renamed their little slice of Homewood heaven “North Point Breeze”—thereby associating themselves with the neighboring, wealthy, predominately White neighborhood “Point Breeze.” And, disassociating themselves with the poorer, predominately Black “Homewood.”

Of course, home prices have skyrocketed in “North Point Breeze.”

The North Point Breezers don’t interact much with folks who live in Homewood proper. Rather, they like to call the cops on Homewood denizens to complain of drugs and drunkenness.

Interestingly, these gentrifiers did nothing when a 22,000 square-foot Beer World (rather than a desperately needed grocery store) opened up on the border between Homewood and the newly defined North Point Breeze. Instead, they made Beer World their one-stop shop for booze and snacks. Oh, and they called the cops even more to complain of (Black) drunkenness.

With Homewood light on medical/social services to improve the lives of Black folks, and subsequently to improve the neighborhood, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center decided to take over the Beer World building. In it, they want to open up a health and mental health crisis center. Yeah! Homewood is finally getting some help! Or are they….

The North Point Breeze folks are protesting, picketing, and suing to stop the deal. They don’t want their “property values jeopardized.” They don’t want their kids who are enrolled in the pricey Shady Lane private preschool to have to see—what, Black folks getting care and treatment??? Perhaps they don’t want 135 to 150 jobs being made available to the Homewood community.

For their part, UPMC is trying to convince these gentrifiers to stop thinking about Homewooders as “thems” and start thinking about Homewood/North Point Breeze as a community of “us.”

Sisterdoc can only hope.

(Image: Gentrifiers' beloved Beer World)

Racist Murder Goes Free

2008-09-13T14:46:00.004-04:00

BBC News is reporting that a US appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former Ku Klux Klansman jailed last year over the deaths of two black teenagers in Mississippi in 1964. Here is a synopsis of the BBC's report:

Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee were both aged 19 when they were killed.

They were said to have been kidnapped and forced into a vehicle owned by James Ford Seale before being tied up and drowned in the Mississippi river.

Their bodies were found months later during a search for three well-known civil rights activists - Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney - who had disappeared in the area.

Seale, 72, was serving three life terms on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy over the deaths. The court agreed with arguments by Seale's lawyer that a legal time limit for prosecuting the case had lapsed.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court had failed to recognize a statute of limitations applied to the case.

Seale was first arrested in 1964 but authorities freed him, citing lack of evidence.

The charges were dropped at the time because local police were colluding with the Ku Klux Klan, federal prosecutors have said.

He was rearrested in January 2007 after he was found to be very much alive - despite his relatives' claims that he had died.

The key witness in his trial, confessed Klansman Charles Marcus Edwards, said during the trial that Seale attached heavy weights to the teenagers and dumped them alive into the river.

JUSTICE FOR CHARLES EDDIE MOORE and HENRY HEZEKIAH DEE!!!

(Image: That Murdering *#@^# Seale)

Who is Ben Jealous?

2008-09-12T09:20:00.003-04:00

The NAACP has chosen its 17th president--Benjamin Jealous. He hadn't come up on my radar before (not like Bruce Gordon, Kweisi Mfume, Myrlie Evers-Williams, or Ben Chavis), and perhaps he is unknown to you. So, here is what the NAACP is circulating:

Dear Sisterdoc,

Next week a new chapter will begin at the NAACP when Benjamin Todd
Jealous, 35, becomes only the 17th President of the NAACP in its 99-year
history. Mr. Jealous has spent his professional life working for the
very social justice concerns for which the NAACP advocates. We believe
that he is a perfect match, and I think you will agree.

A life-long community activist, Mr. Jealous organized his first voter
registration drive at age 14, with a determination that stemmed from
being raised in a family that has actively supported the NAACP for five
generations.

He began his career as a community organizer with the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund working on issues of healthcare access in Harlem. At age
21, Jealous moved to Mississippi to work as a field organizer as part of
a successful campaign to stop the state's plan to close two of its three
public historically black universities, and convert one of them into a
prison.

During that time, he took a job at Mississippi's Jackson Advocate
newspaper investigating human rights abuses. His reporting for the
frequently firebombed weekly paper was credited with exposing corruption
amongst high-ranking officials at notorious Parchman State Prison. His
investigations also helped to acquit a black small farmer who had been
wrongfully and maliciously accused of arson.

He soon became Managing Editor at the Advocate, and eventually went on
to serve as Executive Director of the National Newspaper Publishers
Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 black community
newspapers. While at the NNPA, he rebuilt its 90-year old national news
service and launched a web-based initiative that more than doubled the
number of black newspapers publishing online.

His career path has also included leadership positions at Amnesty
International, where he directed the U.S. Domestic Human Rights Program
and published their widely acclaimed 2004 report, Threat and
Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in
the United States, leading efforts to rebuild public support against
racial profiling post 9/11.

Most recently, Mr. Jealous served as President of the Rosenberg
Foundation, an independent institution that supports civil and human
rights advocacy related to the economic interests of working people.

A Rhodes Scholar as well as an accomplished activist, Mr. Jealous is one
of the best and brightest of his generation; and he represents a new
generation for the NAACP. To learn more about him, visit the NAACP
website.
[http://www.naacp.org/about/leadership/executive/jealous/index.htm]

I hope you will join me in welcoming Benjamin Todd Jealous to our
organization. I know we can expect great things from his leadership.

Sincerely,

Julian Bond
Chairman of the Board, NAACP

Apology for Slavery and Jim Crow

2008-09-11T08:55:00.005-04:00

Sisterdoc spied this on the NAACP website. It is interesting because the call is for an apology for slavery AND for Jim Crow practices. The Jim Crow part is key because is serves as a reminder of how Jim Crow was a legalized, modern form of slavery-era rules and practices. Think: Black codes, Sunset Laws, Segregation, Bans on interracial marriage... So, for those folks who often say that slavery was long ago, and why don't Blacks leave the past in the past. This call for an apology serves as a reminder that racist practices did not end a century and a half ago. Jim Crow was of our and our parents' generation and its effects still remain (Jena 6 anybody?).

On Tuesday, July 29 2008 the United States House of Representatives passed,
by a unanimous vote, H. Res. 194, a resolution apologizing for the enslavement
and racial segregation of African Americans. This resolution was significant for
several reasons, including the fact that it addressed not only slavery but the
“separate but equal” Jim Crow era as well.

This legislation is an important first step in recognizing a very important aspect
of American’s history and recommitting ourselves to bringing about an end to
the disparities and injustices that continue to plague our Nation as a result of
the dehumanization of an entire race. In passing this resolution, the House of
Representatives has sent a message to all of the American people and others
that the most powerful nation in the world is willing to look honestly at some of
the most shameful parts of its history, accept responsibility, and apologize for its actions.

The NAACP Washington Bureau has been in negotiations with Senator Tom
Harkin (Iowa) to author a companion resolution in the Senate; we are hoping it
will be introduced in the near future. The NAACP also strongly supports H.R.
40, legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (MI) to take the next
step toward healing our Nation by addressing and seeking remedy for the
lingering effects if this deplorable institution.

Peace and Blessings Imam W.D. Mohammed-R.I.P.

2008-09-10T16:29:00.004-04:00

Imam W. D. Mohammed passed away yesterday. He cared deeply about the spiritual and political health of African-Americans. His vision of cross-cultural cooperation was unmatched. Rest in Peace Imam.

From the Detroit Free Press by NIRAJ WARIKOO

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, a major Islamic leader in the U.S. who led thousands of African-American Muslims to orthodox Islam, died today [Sept. 9] at his Illinois home, his family said in a statement confirming earlier reports. He was 74.

Born and raised in Hamtramck, Mohammed, also known as Imam W.D. Mohammed, was the son of Nation of Islam leader and Michigan native Elijah Muhammad. After his father’s death, Mohammed transformed the Nation from a black nationalist organization into a group that embraced a more mainstream Islam that rejected racial and ethnic divisions.  

He was considered to be the biggest Muslim leader in the U.S. among African-Americans and probably had more followers than any other Muslim leader in the U.S., say Muslims.   

In metro Detroit, Muslims were stunned to hear of his death. He had spoken 10 days ago at a Detroit convention of his followers. During his Friday sermon, he repeatedly praised Jesus and stressed the importance of living a moral life.  

“To us, he was more than just an imam and a teacher. He was a father figure for us,” said Dawud Walid, an assistant imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad, which was named by Mohammed after he left the Nation of Islam. “History will show that he has been thus far the greatest Muslim leader in the history of America.”  

Walid was a student of Mohammed and was shocked to hear of his death.   

“From God we come, and to him we return,” said Mohammed’s nephew, Sultan Muhammad. “Imam W.D. Mohammed’s passing is a great loss not only to Muslims in America and around the world, but in particular to his family. We would ask for prayers for him.”

  “He was a reviver of the religion,” said Imam Abdullah El-Amin, head of the Muslim Center in Detroit. “He saved a lot of lives, including mine…He brought a whole lot of people to the correct worship of Islam, almost with just a wave of his hand.”  

Kyle Ismail, 35, a Muslim leader from Chicago, said he spoke today with Mohammed’s daughter, Laila Mohammed, who told him that her father had died.

  “He gave us everything,” said Ismail, who just saw Mohammed on Saturday.   After Mohammed broke from the racial teachings of the Nation of Islam, Minister Louis Farrakhan then later broke away from Mohammed and formed his own separate group. While Farrakhan often got more media attention, Mohammed attracted a greater number followers, according to his supporters.  

On Aug. 29, Mohammed spoke to thousands inside a hall in Cobo Center.  

“He's a superb leader," said Nadir Ahmad, 58, of Detroit, before his lecture. "He has a sober message of good morals, but also a commonsense approach to life and religion."   

In his talk, Mohammed urged personal responsibility and praised Jesus and Muhammad, Islam's founder, saying both were great teachers.   He stood on the podium slightly hunched over, a compact man with glasses and a modest brown suit who spoke in measured tones.  "

We all ... should be trying to be Christlike," he said.  Ahmad said Mohammed "has always called for cooperation between faiths." 

Image: David P. Gilkey/Detroit Free Press

Post-Kwame Drama in Detroit

2008-09-07T18:47:00.002-04:00

Now that the (‘Yalls Boy)King Kwame has resigned and is going off to jail, Sisterdoc is realizing just how sadly entertaining Detroit drama has been. Not since The Wire have I been so riveted by television. However, Detroit politicians are like a gift that keeps on giving.

For example, I will be watching the nightly news for Councilwoman Barbara Rose Collins. She is worth a few laughs thanks to her affinity to show up for work in “Miss America” tiaras...there she is in the photo.

Then there is Martha Reeves, Councilwoman (see photo). Yep, she is the scratchy-voiced lead singer of the Vandellas. You can count on her to have little idea what is going on in the “D.” Like when she didn’t notice Tiger Stadium was largely a big pile of rubble. Reeves might be living her anthem “no where to run, no where to hide” if the FBI get her on some Synagro bribery mess.

And lets not forget about Monica Conyers (that's her in the center). She gets to lead City Council because the current Council president Ken Cockrel moves up to acting-Mayor. Monica called Cockrel “Shrek” in a laughable outburst during a Council meeting…and later got schooled by a 13-year old for her immaturity. Ms. Moni in the Middle may also be in the FBI’s crosshairs for Synagro payoffs. When things get hot for Monica she has a habit of disappearing for weeks at a time. When she reemerges, she always brings mess…like when she had the cops called on her at the Democratic National Convention because she tried to jump bad over a hotel room.

Still, we aren’t done with Kwame yet. Let’s not forget funds purportedly funneled to him via his father thanks to his daddy’s 10K per month “consulting” fee…he charges it to those who want to do business in the D. And, let’s not forget the women: Carmen Slowsky- mystery woman he had an affair with. Strawberry- was she killed on the Mayors orders? Christine Beatty- lost her job, husband, and soon, her freedom. Sharon McPhail and Ella Bully-Cummings- both lost their jobs. I have a feeling there is more to come from these sistahs.

Oh, and hardly funny…but the Detroit school system is 45 MILLION dollars in debt.

Wow!

Sarah Palin...That's Nasty! (A Hoax)

2008-09-06T12:56:00.007-04:00

UPDATE: Apparently the journalists got this one wrong, and the bikini photo is a fake. As for my feeling about this pick...well, that is still really, real.

Ick... I just threw up in my mouth.

Palin continues to set women-- and just about anybody else with a lick of sense-- back.

Staycation in Detroit- Eat at Cozy House

2008-08-30T14:23:00.002-04:00

Pittsburgh isn’t too far from the “D”-- just around six hours. So, with economic times being what they are, a staycation in Detroit seemed like a good idea. Afterall, Kwame Kilpatrick is on a court ordered staycation, with a tether. So, what’s good enough for the Hip Hop Mayor should be good enough for lowly old Sisterdoc and Brotherdoc. And it was…generally. Let’s start with the fabulous.

This year was the (free) 26th annual African World Festival in Detroit at Hart Plaza. We breezed through on a steamy Saturday, August 16. I am so glad we did. There were vendors galore selling all things Black…”soul” mixtapes, DVDs (poor Tyler Perry…if you only knew), shea butter, black soap, textiles from across the continent of Africa, jewelry, clothes, all manner of Obama wear, carvings, art, bags (poor Coach…if you only knew)…wow! Sisterdoc picked up: a nice workbag made from a patchwork of African cloths, loc jewelry, shea butter, and a Barack and Michelle “Yes We Can” pin. Then we took in a double-dutch demonstration and a step-show. We got a kick out of the stilt-walkers—jammin’ up high! Sisterdoc got a little line-dance instruction. Music filled the air. And food filled the ole’ belly. Ethopian, Caribbean, soul food, and even a little Greek and seafood. We had to get back on the road, so we missed Mo’Nique and the OJays. But, we’ll catch the event again next year…fabulous, for sure.

Then, on the 23rd, we took in the (free) Heidelberg Project Festival over on the East side of the D. There was plenty of spoken word, comedy, and a fashion show. There was a hair show too, but we had to hit the road, so we missed it. This Festival is unlike any I’ve ever been to. This Brother, Tyree Guyton, was raised on Heidelberg Street. He watched with dismay as his neighborhood turned into one of the worst, blighted communities—more empty lots and condemned houses than homes. Poor city services left the place trash strewn. So Tyree started picking up the trash, refashioning it into art. Vacant lots became “lots of art” (clever!) and the dilapidated homes became giant art sculptures. I liked what he did with the abandoned houses…he strung up stuffed animals, shoes, discarded appliances, and what not to create what to me looked like some seriously spooky haunted houses. He likes to mark his creations with his trademark polka dots and, of course, he makes sure to thank God on most everything. Tyree turned his neighborhood into an art project, bringing in tourists, vendors, and revenue. Fabulous, for sure.

Before hitting the road, the ‘Docs took a ride down McNichols, trolling for restaurants. Our plan was to get lots of take-out and have a little buffet when we got back home. A few places were (unexpectedly) closed. Others, too crowded given our time crunch. So we settled on two places—Rono’s Caribbean at 14001 W. McNichols and Cozy House at 7504 W. McNichols. Cozy House was wonderful! A beautiful young Sister greeted us at the door, and handed us a menu—one full of imagination. Okra… Salmon salad… Ribs… Catfish… Tempura shrimp… Crab… Smothered chicken… Meat loaf…Steak… Red beans… Black eyed peas… yams… collards… mac and cheese… cakes… pies.. Wow! We got a blackened catfish dinner and a chicken dinner with THREE sides. Yum. While we waited for our order, the “chef” sent out a little taste of muffin. When we got home, I couldn’t get enough of the cornbread stuffing with gravy, which was good-as-whew! And don’t even get me started on the sweet potato muffins! The interior of this restaurant is pristine and sprawling. I hope this joint makes it. They try really hard to please.

Rono’s Caribbean on the other hand did not. Take-out was handled through bullet-proof glass, and you had to yell your order at the waiter. You waited for your food in a tight little entryway that was so hot, I thought I was going to faint. Hello…can a Sister get a cup of water???? I ordered the curry chicken, while Brotherdoc tried the jerk chicken. We also put in an order for some curry powder and homemade gingerbeer. And then we waited… 10, 20, 30 minutes. We went to the parking lot, but no one even noticed we had left. I decided to go back about five minutes later to see if someone had missed us…they hadn’t. I tapped on the glass for someone to tell us what was up. A guy peeked out and said, “its coming.” And then he disappeared. Another five minutes, and our order was given to us through one of those bullet-proof slots that rotate open. We can’t figure out why it took 40 minutes to get our food. Nothing in our order was fresh cooked. The rice was, literally, h-a-r-d…like when you leave it out all day, uncovered. The chicken was dry, dry, dry and hard. There was no curry or jerk sauce to speak of. Just dry rice and chicken. They did give us a small spoon-full of cabbage, which was really tasty. As for the “homemade” gingerbeer, it was just a bottle of soda from the grocery store, but they charged us the special price of $2.75 instead of the regular buck-fifty for a pop. We were really disappointed, especially since Rono’s cost the same as Cozy’s, but Cozy’s gave you lots, lots more (delicious) food. Next time, we’ll try Karibbean Kitchen—sources tell me it’s the good joint. But we will be sure to hit up Cozy House again!

(Images: The Heidelberg Festival)

IN MY LIFETIME!!! A DREAM REALIZED

2008-08-29T10:27:00.004-04:00

OHH YEA!!!! POTUS-in-67-days Barack Obama knocked it out of the park last night! Sisterdoc was nervous. She is still hating on that traitor-turned race-baiter, Bill Clinton….but Bill knows how to deliver a speech. So, I wondered if ‘Rak was going to measure up. OHHH YEA!!!! The speech worked because it toned down some of the rhetorical flourish, to focus on the substantive. He broke it all the way down: McCain doesn’t get it…tax cuts for the middle-class…eliminating capital gains taxes for small businesses…breaking away from a dependence on foreign oil…tapping natural gas reserves…he is a patriot, not a celebrity…higher salaries for teachers….affordable college education…lower health care premiums...no more homeless vets…no more AK-47s on the streets…no more Bush policies!!!

And, Barack accepted the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” He echoed King by imploring us to not walk alone, never turn back, and to keep marching. Folks were in tears!

Which brings me to my mother. With a lump in her throat, my mother told me that there were so many reasons that this day was the most important day of her life. But one thing she said stood out. She said that she was glad that our country was witnessing this achievement while those hateful Jim Crow era people are still alive. My mother is glad that many of those segregationists are witnessing a Black man, with a very Black name, about to enter the White House. You see, my mother’s parents (my grandparents) struggled hard for their right to vote. My mother had a bayonet pointed at her by a National Guard soldier when they stormed her neighborhood during the riots. My mother has had some tough experiences. But, she wants those people, who denied her so very much, to see it with their very own eyes---Black people will never be bowed or beaten.

Barack was speaking to my mother when he said:

“At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise, that American promise, and in the words of scripture-- hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Mom…no more dreams deferred.

Why Hillary Fans Choose McCain over Cynthia McKinney

2008-08-27T09:45:00.003-04:00

Last night, Hillary delivered one of her best-read speeches (certainly better than her “I don’t feel no ways tired” gaff). She spent 85% of the time reminding folks of why she is great. The reminder of the time she said she supported Obama….but she didn’t tell her fans that she was just doing campaign jousting when she said Obama was not ready to lead. She didn’t tell her fans in specific terms why Obama is the best candidate.

Lacking a clear message from Hillary on what Obama can do for them, die-hard female Hillary supporters continue to threaten that since they can’t put their woman into the White House, then they will either not vote at all, or they will vote for McCain. In voting for McCain, they eschew what Hillary believed in (women’s rights/choice, reduction of global warming, going green/ebbing global warming, a sane Supreme Court pick, ending the war…). Why would they, quite literally, sell their souls?

Suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton may give use a clue. Anthony and Stanton gave lip-service to the abolitionist movement… that is, until Black men earned the right to vote ahead of White women. Seeing Black men’s advancement as a challenge (sound familiar?), Anthony and Stanton hooked up with the notorious racist newspaper publisher George Train, and begin circulating their own (White) women ‘right to vote’ appeals while throwing Blacks under the bus. For example, Stanton pointedly declared of Blacks, "Sambo and Dinah" are not fit to share citizenship with "the Daughters of Jefferson and Washington.” Anthony, on the other hand, remained silent when asked to speak out against the lynching of Blacks.

The racial divide among feminists have been well-documented. Lani Guinier asked, “Why not come together around concrete proposals to better the lives of poor and working-class women, rather than merely championing the stepping stones to which many college-educated professional women now feel entitled? From the proliferation of HIV among black women to the double bind of work and family faced by all women, it is time for a women's agenda that enlists support from all classes, all races and from men as well as women.”

The root of resistance is obvious--the poor, working-class, and the sick are seemingly not part of the agenda for Hillary supporters.

This is all clearly about race and not really about womanhood, or else these women would not threaten to withhold their votes entirely. Because, there IS a woman running for President…Cynthia McKinney. And, McKinney has chosen as her running-mate Rosa Clemente. These Sisters are saying interesting things about women’s rights, the war, multi-racial coalitions, the Patriot Act, and even hip hop. Heck, if Hillary supporters turned their attention to McKinney/Clemente instead of McCain, then they could prove Amari Baraka wrong…their run is not an “empty gesture.”

Michelle Obama Speech...Simply Beautiful!

2008-08-26T11:14:00.002-04:00

Sisterdoc loves her some Michelle Obama.

I am thrilled that she was able to deliver a speech last night at the DNC. Some have wondered why she was given the time. I can think of several reasons. First, relative strangers (e.g., a ‘representative’ of the working class; a union leader) have been permitted to speak to Barack’s qualities. What’s wrong with a more intimate picture into the lives of the Obamas? “Family values” was the platform of the G.O.P….well, hey, the Obamas have got some great family values as well. Second, Michelle is just so smart! There are first ladies—LisaRaye, anybody—and then there are FIRST LADIES. Michelle’s speech on the surface was about values, but it also revealed important insight into how Barack thinks. Michelle told us that he values hard work, but also understands that sociopolitical inequities can disrupt conviction and prevent success. He gets gender inequities. He believes in parental responsibility and involvement. Who can quarrel with that?

And Michelle was just so GOOD. I love this part of the speech:
I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history — knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country…
And Michelle is a class act. Because I can’t say “Hillary Clinton” these days without it feeling like hot, steamy poo in my mouth. But Michelle showed up the Clinton hatemongers with this line:
People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.
Michelle took some heat for her “for the first time I love this country” comment. No problem Sister, I know what you mean. But just to set the record straight, Michelle proclaimed: “I love this country.”
To see that talented, professional, giving, and loving Sister up there…heck, for the first time I am lovin’ this country too! (Um, for a minute).

I am with Michelle on this one ‘fo sure!!!:
Let us stand together to elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America.
And while we’re at it. Forget Joe Biden, put ‘Chelle on as V.P. or Secretary of State. Condi got the hook up. Let’s give one to Michelle—she’s got legal, public service, and policy experience.

White Flight...Prison Breaks

2008-08-24T20:24:00.003-04:00

Just over three decades ago, an interesting trend was taking place in the state of Michigan…women were escaping from prison like crazy!

In 1975, Rebecca Hatcher jumped the fence of a Michigan’s Scott Prison, walking away from her sentence for unarmed assault with intent to rob. After her escape, she moved to Tennessee, married, had a kid, and got on with her life.

In 1976, Susan LeFevre cleared a fence from Michigan’s Scott Prison, leaving behind her sentence for selling heroin to an undercover cop. After her escape, she moved to California and into a “mansion,” married, had three kids, and got on with her spendy life.

Technology and snitches caught up with these two women, and they are all now back in the “D.”

There is something interesting about all of these cases. First, the media persists in referring to these (White) women in cutesy terms such as the “Moms” and “Desperate Housewives.” Second, both women have people advocating for their release since, it is argued, they stayed out of trouble after their escapes.

Sisterdoc is getting whiffs of racial disparity here.

35 years ago, Barbara Corley, who is Black, walked away from the Detroit House of Corrections. Barbara was in prison for assault, writing bad checks, and carrying a concealed weapon. After her escape, she moved to South Carolina, married, and got on with her new life. Corley claims the state of Michigan knew exactly where she was since back in 1980, accompanied by her attorney, she turned herself in to authorities for her escape. She claims that she worked out a plea-deal. The State says they have no record of this, and believe she is lying. There are other things missing in addition to these purported legal records, there are no no pretty family pictures of Corley, no cute "Desperate Housewife" headlines, no calls for her release.

Also, take this week’s case of Robert Cooper (White) versus that of Jason Smith (Black). Cooper is a known scam artist. He is described as charming and a smooth talker. He is wanted in at least three states for ripping off the elderly—dozens of them to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Police knew of Cooper’s “trademark ruse,” as they called it, of faking chest pains and then walking away from hospitals and police custody when police leave him unguarded. And still, they left him uncuffed and unguarded in a Michigan hospital…you know the rest. Compare this to Jason Smith, a car thief and burglar, also wanted in three states. Smith is described as a “huge arrest.” Smith has real heart problems and even underwent emergency heart surgery in a Michigan hospital. In Smith’s case, police bragged it never even crossed their minds to leave him unguarded, while in Cooper’s case police said it would have been too expensive in time and resources to keep him under guard for 48 hours. Police hope technology or a snitch will locate Cooper one day. As for Smith, he has deputies posted on him around the clock while he spends the next two weeks recovering from open-heart surgery.

According to scholar Richard Culp, historically Whites have been more successful at prison escapes than Blacks. I am beginning to get a sense as to why. Sisterdoc says prisoners should be treated equitably. Stop the trend of minimum security for some, but maximum security for others. Keep our streets safe...fairly.

(Image: Susan LeFevre and fam'; Barbara Corley)

Spanish Olympics Teams' Racism

2008-08-18T11:54:00.003-04:00

Some of Spain’s athletes and fans continue to lose their racist minds. In 2004, Luis Aragones, the coach of Spain’s men’s soccer team, told his player Jose Antonio Reyes to “tell that Black [expletive] you are better than him.” Aragones was referring to the Black French player Thierry Henry. That same year (and pretty much ever since), Spanish soccer fans shout monkey sounds at rival Black players. This year, Spanish fans showed up to a Formula One racing event in blackface to mock driver Lewis Hamilton, a Black driver from England. Today, the Spanish athletes have turned their racism toward their Chinese Olympic hosts.

The Spanish men’s basketball team posed for a sponsor’s camera advertisement by making stereotypical Asian “slant eyes.” One player, Pau Gasol, also plays for the L.A. Lakers. Another, Jose Calderon, plays for the Toronto Raptors. Gasol apologized for the portrayal indicating that he felt victimized be the team’s ad because it wasn’t particularly funny and it made him look clownish. Oh…and it wasn’t supposed to be racist or offensive Gasol said. Calderon was angry that anyone would challenge him on it: “we did it because we thought it was going to be something nice….but somebody wants to talk about it. It is too much of a big deal with you guys [the press]…” The men’s head coach of Spain’s team, Aito Garcia Reneses, made it sound like political correctness run amok—“I can’t understand anything more.”

What I understand is this ad, which is running, needs to be pulled and that the racisms coming out of Spain’s athletics has got to stop. Yuck.

Follow-up: It has just come to my attention that the Spanish tennis Olympic team posed for a similarly racist photo in February. That's them gathered around a table.

Kwame Kilpatrick…the Next Willie Horton?!!!

2008-08-14T10:41:00.004-04:00

This morning a Detroit judge removed Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s court-ordered tether, thereby permitting Kilpatrick to travel to the Democratic National Convention. It is being speculated that the Republican judge set Kilpatrick loose so that the Mayor can be seen (and videotaped) in the proximity of Barack Obama. The Republicans are already running ads in Tennessee invoking Kilpatrick as a scary, incompetent Black man. The ads ask voters to consider whether they really want to elect another (potentially scary and incompetent Black man) to the White House. UGHHH! It is Willie Horton all over again.

The Horton story in a nutshell: In 1974, in Massachusetts, Horton and two others robbed a gas station, and in the process murdered the attendant by stabbing him 19 times. Horton earned life in prison without parole. Just over a decade later, Horton was given a “weekend pass” from prison. The passes were given out as part of a rehabilitative furlough program Massachusetts Governor Francis Sargent first instituted in 1972. However, when in 1986 Horton received his pass, it was not Sargent who was in the Governor’s mansion, it was Michael Dukakis. And, it so happened that Dukakis was running for President against George Bush (not “W,” but his daddy).

While on his pass, Horton walked away from his confinement and kept on going until he ended up in Maryland. In Maryland, in 1987, he broke into a house and knifed the male owner. When the guy’s fiancée showed up, just back from her engagement party, Horton beat and raped her. Horton was convicted for this crime and sent to a maximum-security prison in Jessup, MD.

Bush supporters ran two political ads. One featured Horton prominently, and it accused Dukakis of being a liberal who opposed the death penalty and would let a murderer out of jail to roam the country. The second ad, the “Revolving Door” ad, again referenced the furlough program, and feature a revolving jail door in which criminals left the prison as they pleased. The association of Dukakis with a scary Black man cost Dukakis the election. The Willie Horton ads, even today, are counted as some of the most controversial racial propaganda in history.

Kilpatrick isn’t Willie Horton. But it won’t be hard to paint a similar picture given the stories and scandals surrounding him—assault on police officers, perjury, extra-martial affairs, a $8 million judgment paid by tax-payers for his lawlessness, a rumored party with strippers, the murder of a stripper after she was beaten by the Mayor’s wife, racist rants, his father under investigation by the FBI for corruption, $400 million missing from the public schools, 911 operators who curse out and then hang up on emergency callers….

Kilpatrick—STAY AWAY FROM THE DNC!!! RESIGN NOW!!! You’ve destroyed your city; don’t continue to put yourself in a position where you can be used to destroy Obama!!!

Justice for Arletha! When Did We Stop Caring?

2008-08-13T12:22:00.003-04:00

My very first blog was about four little girls in Washington, D.C. who had been killed by their mother Banita Jacks. The school-age girls had disappeared from school at least four months earlier, and had been dead for at least two weeks before anyone even noticed they were missing. Now we have the case of Arletha Hopkins, the 36 year old wife of Mobile, Alabama minister Anthony who was murdered FOUR YEARS AGO and hidden in her husband’s freezer. Her body was discovered just two weeks ago. What gets me is that no one tried to investigate what happened to her…even though she had delivered a baby just two and one half weeks before her disappearance, and that her husband was walking around with the motherless newborn.

It seems that the 37-year old Anthony had been sexually abusing one of his daughters, unbeknownst to Arletha, since the girl was at least 11 years old. In 2004, Arletha unexpectedly came home one evening to find Anthony hurting the girl, who by then was 15. Arletha put the “Rev,” as he was called by neighbors, out of the house. However, before Arletha could take any action, such as reporting the incest to the police, Anthony convinced his abused daughter to let him back into the house. Once inside, “allegedly,” Anthony killed his wife and with the help of his daughter, placed the body in the freezer.

And there Arletha stayed, with no one reporting her missing, until about two weeks ago when the abused daughter, now 19, walked into a police station seeking protection for herself and her seven other siblings. The daughter told it all. Police found a body in the family’s freezer, and arrested the “Rev” while he was preaching a sermon at a revival.

The question remains: why did no one report this woman missing? According to Arletha’s family, Arletha was “sweet and caring” and had phoned them just days before her murder to check on the condition of an ailing uncle, and to pray with him. A few days later, after her murder, Anthony phoned her family claiming she no longer wanted to have contact with them…and they didn’t seem to question this or try to reach her! They never tried to see their grandchildren?! Arletha had just given birth, but no hospital inquired when she didn’t return for follow-up care for her or the child. Anthony and Arletha were active members of a church. A church member wondered what became of Arletha when Anthony began showing up with the children, but without Arletha. The church member claims Anthony could not provide a satisfactory answer to explain her disappearance…but then nobody in the church phoned the police!! Soon after, Anthony moved to a new church, and to further protect his secret, he pulled his children out of school, claiming to home-school them. Arletha was officially ignored and forgotten about by those whom she seemingly had been so “sweet” and “caring” to in the past.

What a disgrace. Justice for Arletha!

(Image: The Rev. Hopkins)

Anton Dunn- Crazy isn't Cute

2008-08-06T08:51:00.003-04:00

Anton Dunn is 42 years old. He likes to post videos on Youtube under the alias “The Trashman.” The Trashman claims to be waging a one-man war against Black people—starting with Black women and their newborns. Dunn is Black.

In March of this year, The Trashman appeared in a video (no, I will NOT link to it) claiming that he purposefully infected 12,000 to 15,000 Black girls in New York with HIV. His motive was two-fold. First, he sought to get revenge against some unknown Black woman who infected him. Second, he wanted to act as a sort of community mentor for young girls. Ummm hmmm. The Trashman wanted to teach little girls an important lesson about the dangers of having unprotected sex. To ensure they were infected, The “Pedophilic” Trashman claims he had sex with each child twice.

His claims are highly unlikely—no women have come forward. And, given his claims that he just recently started molesting little girls, it would have been quite impossible to have sex 30 thousand times. Still, no one raised much of an eyebrow over his threats against Black children.

The Trashman didn’t warrant the attention of local police, the FBI, and even the FDA until, on July 24th, he posted videos claiming to be doing away with Black babies by poisoning Gerber baby food products. Seven days later, Dunn had been located, arrested, arraigned, and settled into his jail cell to await trial. Apparently, threats of product tampering against “interstate commerce” (aka, a big company) can get you on a bunch of agencies hit-list and facing 10-years in prison. Threats against Black women or their babies…not such a big deal.

This real-life Uncle Ruckus has wreaked havoc and spread hate, so I am glad he was finally silenced. It’s just too bad it couldn’t have happened sooner.

Dunn says he simply wanted to “cut down on the Black population.” It looks like his antics are going to find only Dunn himself going bye-bye. Dunn is done.

Rick Ross- Just Say No to Studio Gangster'itis

2008-08-05T09:48:00.004-04:00

Ahhh….chooo!!! Sisterdoc is allergic to gangstas, be they the real kind that shoot bullets, or the fake, studio kind that shoot their mouths off about their wanna be criminal lifestyle.

The Smoking Gun, with more than a little bit of help from the Florida Department of Corrections’ human resources office, has exposed rapper Rick Ross for what he really is, a fine upstanding citizen who was gainfully employed as a corrections officer back in the day. According to his 86-page personnel file, Ross—real name William Leonard Roberts—earned a “Certificate of Appreciation” for his perfect work attendance record while a corrections officer. It also seems that protecting our communities was a long time interest of Ross/Roberts because also back in the day he spent a year at Albany State studying criminal justice. In all, Ross would have made any mother proud….until…

Until Ross stole the real Freeway Ricky Ross’ name and persona and started talking about being a drug kingpin. Ross/Roberts said, “when I say I’m rich off cocaine it’s because I did it” and “I never ratted on a nigga, I never prosecuted a nigga, I never locked up a nigga, that is first and foremost” and this gem—“you know I’m strapped to the teeth. We got more bullets than we got dollars.”

It is a sad day when a Brotha is embarrassed to admit he did right by his people by going to going to college, getting a good job, and avoiding that narcotic. And, what does it mean when someone would rather assume the identity of a death dealing drug dealer than that of a smart, hard working man. Really???

The real Rick Ross is getting out of prison in two years, and he is none too happy about studio gangstas trying to ride on his infamous coattails. William Leonard better start putting in those job applications—I hear he is pretty good about coming in to work everyday.

Gong Moment #9- Slave Humor

2008-07-10T17:23:00.004-04:00

Ok. Ole' Sisterdoc has had enough. What is up with all the slave and Klan jokes in the newspapers these days?

(Images: Bizarro; Rubes)

Flint, MI: Just Say No To Crack

2008-07-09T18:57:00.005-04:00

Everybody knows that Sisterdoc spends more time in Michigan than she should. This morning, she was warned to avoid visiting the city of Flint...that is, if she is going to bring along her stylin' and profilin' brother.

Flint Police Chief Dicks (c'mon, that's his name) announced that people who wear their britches too low will be arrested: "this immoral self expression goes beyond free speech. It rises to the crime of indecent exposure, disorderly persons." While Sisterdoc thinks getting a look at someone's dingy tighty whiteys is icky, she doesn't mind a nice crisp pair of cotton Hanes boxers with the tartan pattern...er...but I digress.

Obviously, this is a law imposed to keep the brothas in Flint in check (and yes, Dicks is Black). And, I feel really really sorry for that poor White kid who the police found, searched, and then let go with a warning in front of reporters' cameras just to prove that the law isn't motivated by racial bias.

The Flint Police have kindly provided a guide to saggin' sanctions (see image). I, for one, am glad they are on their j-o-b on this one. I mean it isn't like Flint's crime rate is above the national average, or that they just laid off 46 police officers, or that Dicks didn't just get his home raided by federal investigators for "misuse of funds."

12 Things to do in Black Pittsburgh

2008-07-07T19:36:00.004-04:00

A New York Times reporter recently spent a whirlwind 36 hours in my beloved Pittsburgh, making 12 stops to some of the city’s hotspots. But as is the case, BLACK Pittsburgh didn’t come up on this reporter’s radar. Odd, since Black history is so much of Pittsburgh’s story. To remedy the situation, I add my 12 Pittsburgh “must do’s” (in no particular order):

12. Jazz in the Park: Every Tuesday from 6:30-8pm in Wilkinsburg…FREE!
11. Zumba: Latin rhythm dance and fitness classes at the Dance Café on 7th…$5.00
10. The Black Family Reunion: August 2-3 in Mellon Park…FREE!
09. Mt. Ararat Baptist Saturday Nights Live Worship: Skip the club. Get your praise and your worship on over on Paulson…FREE!
08. Freedom Corner: A monument to Black Pittsburghers and their efforts in the civil rights movement. Also a subtle reminder of how much land was stolen from the Hill District due to gentrification. On the corner of Centre and Crawford…FREE!
07. Abay Ethiopian Cuisine…Yum…the Zilzil Tibs made SisterDoc forget all about her ‘no red meat’ aspirations…under $20.00
06. Pittsburgh Steelers…Check out the next Black Super Bowl Champion Coach Mike Tomlin…cha ching $$$
05. Kuntu Repertory Theatre: The oldest and largest African American arts organization. In Oakland…$20.00
04. VIP Styles: Downtown barbershop for a tight cut and some good chatter…$8-20.00’ish
03. Bible Center Church of God in Christ: Beautify Homewood every Saturday morning by volunteering with Pastor John Wallace, Ph.D. Get a true feel for those who love Homewood…FREE!
02. Pittsburgh Courier: On East Carson. Just peek into the offices of the oldest and most prestigious Black newspapers…FREE! (if you can get in).
01. Carnegie Library of Homewood: Family friendly. Lots of Black literature. Beautiful architecture…FREE!

Image: The Pittsburgh Crawfords

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T10:35:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July! Rep'in the U.S.-- our Olympic track and field team! Beautiful!

Nader Invoking the One-Drop Rule...In Reverse

2008-06-26T21:20:00.002-04:00

Independent presidential candidate Ralph “I’m Showing My True Colors” Nader, accused Obama of “trying to talk White” and of appealing to “White guilt.” Damn. But there was another racist statement that Nader offered that merits some additional scrutiny. Nader said Obama is “half African-American.” “HALF?” So here we are in 2008 and Black folks still can’t get away from one-drop rule measurements. “HALF?”

It used to be that people were automatically Blackened even if generations before there was thought to be an African American in the gene pool. Folks dug deep into family history, coming up with ridiculous metrics such as octoroon or quadroon. Up until Obama’s presidential run, he would have most certainly been considered Black—no question. More, Obama has self-identified as possessing an investment in Blackness—while celebrating his diverse racial and ethnic memberships.

But then certain people got it into their minds that powerful, voting Black folks should be told that Obama must be viewed from a different “one-drop” angle, that of White blood. Somehow, biologically, Obama is not Black (enough) and not worthy of Blacks’ attention to his campaign. The real implication is this: if Black folks are going to vote for a “White” man, why not vote for…well, Nader. Forget the issues—this is about skin color. Heck, even Charles Steele of the SCLC said Barack was “of the system,” while Michelle had “slave blood” running through her veins. Rush Limbaugh had a field day with this mess.

Folks don’t be fooled by this latest desperate tactic to shift attention away from what Obama seeks to do. But what a novel strategy of reversal this is—bigots alternately grabbing at drops of Black blood (for Whites) and White blood (for Blacks) to confuse and alienate. Now, that is truly desperate. Change can’t come soon enough.

What's up with "Juneteenth"?

2008-06-19T12:05:00.003-04:00

"But out of either ignorance — or indifference — many blacks persist in their efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday." --DeWayne Wickham

Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas on January 1, 1980, through the efforts of Al Edwards, State Legislator. Representative Edwards actively sought to spread the observance of Juneteenth all across America.  Today, 27 states recognize “Juneteenth” as an official state holiday. But what's up the holiday that purportedly commemorates the fact that some Blacks in Texas learned about their freedom nearly two years too late? Here is DeWayne Wickham's (USA Today, 3/12/07) view:

Real Black History Too Often Gathers Dust

"Now that Black History Month is over, I have something to say about black history: Let's get it right.

For too many African-Americans, black history has become a twisted mix of urban legend and pop culture. And for more than a few whites, the truth of the treatment their racial ancestors meted out to blacks is buried beneath a mountain of denied history.

What am I talking about? To begin with, there's Juneteenth. For years it has been hawked by black advocates as a "commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States." It was on June 19, 1865, that blacks on Galveston Island, Texas, were told of the Emancipation Proclamation, which actually freed few slaves.

Abraham Lincoln's wartime proclamation, which took effect Jan. 1, 1863, freed slaves in parts of the South controlled by the Confederacy where the order could not be enforced, and left in bondage slaves in places under Union army control.

By the time blacks on Galveston Island were told of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War was over, and that presidential act was widely believed to have no effect in states that had returned to the Union. So in January 1865, Congress passed a constitutional amendment that outlawed slavery.

The End of Slavery
Slavery in the USA officially ended Dec. 6, 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified. But out of either ignorance — or indifference — many blacks persist in their efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Then there is the issue of what caused the Civil War. More than a few whites now say the bloody conflict was fought over states' rights — and not slavery. I suspect this dodge has found supporters among a lot of people who have never bothered to read the constitution adopted by the 11 states that formed the Confederacy.

That document, adopted in March 1861, just one month before Confederate forces fired the first salvo in the Civil War, is irrefutable evidence of the South's motivation for seceding from the Union. It forbade the enactment of any law "denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves." It also mandated that territories or states that might later join the Confederacy would allow slavery to exist within their borders.

Slave vs. Free States
These two measures were an obvious response to the KansasNebraska Act, which the U.S. Congress enacted in 1854. That law sought to temper the competing demands of slavery supporters and opponents over how the two states would be admitted into the Union. The abolitionists wanted them to be admitted as free states, and the pro-slavery forces pushed for them to come in as slave states. Under the federal law, the people of those new states were allowed to decide whether slavery would be allowed within their borders. That move threatened the delicate balance between slave and free states and — combined with the election of Lincoln — pushed the South toward a breakaway war.

Finally, there is this: Democrats did create the Ku Klux Klan, Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. When the National Black Republican Party said as much last year in a radio commercial, the group came under a blistering attack. But the Klan was created by Southern Democrats. So, too, were the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, which were used in the South to relegate blacks to a subservient social position, and restrict their political and legal rights.

The black GOP organization was historically correct in what it said. But in trying to link the bad acts of Southern Democrats of a bygone era with the Democratic Party of today, the group went too far.

Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond were the linear successors of those mean-spirited Southern Democrats. They and others like them found a home in the Republican Party when they were frustrated in their opposition to black civil rights gains of the 1960s.

This is the history that isn't widely taught during Black History Month."
(Image by Benny Joseph. 1976 Juneteenth Parade, Houston.)

R. Kelly and the “Doppelganger Set Me Up Defense"

2008-06-15T21:31:00.004-04:00

By now we all know that R. Kelly walked. But how did he do it? Well, he did it by way of what I call the “Doppelganger Set Me Up Defense.” R. Kelly asserted that wasn’t him on the videotape; just somebody who possessed an uncanny resemblance to him. And, the alleged victim said, it wasn’t her on the tape; just somebody who also possessed an uncanny resemblance to her. Wow. What are the odds?

So, what we have here is proof positive that Doppelgangers exist. Doppelgangers are an IDENTICAL REPLICA of a person.

Kelly’s acquittal means that what REALLY happened is this totally plausible scenario:

The R. Kelly Doppelganger just so happened to set its sights, not on the real-life child protégé’ of Kelly’s, but on HER Doppelganger. So the Kelly Doppelganger and the Child Doppelganger hooked up for a pornographic romp in---just by coincidence--Kelly’s very own house. Totally innocent stuff, really. But, it sure did get the real Kelly and the real child sweating for a while. Of course, Kelly has no connection to pedophilia (no, don’t even think of Aliyah) or to kiddie porn (no, don’t even think about the photos confiscated from his house in Florida).

So, it turns out after six years of waiting for justice, we got instead the “Doppelganger Set Me Up Defense.” But here is the special thing about Doppelgangers: if a person and its Doppelganger should meet, then both will PERISH!…Perhaps someone can set up their introduction?

Racist Political Ads in Switzerland

2008-06-04T10:40:00.003-04:00

Over at The Root.com, Joel Vacheron presents an interesting post on how some Swiss politicians used racist political ads to stoke the flames of xenophobia around immigration. Vacheron reports that a majority of the Swiss citizenry rejected such hateful tactics. Perhaps such ideological forthrightness will find its way to the U.S., South Africa, Germany, France, China....

One can only hope.

Bye Bye Billary! Hello OBAMA!!!

2008-06-04T10:07:00.004-04:00

Barack Obama has secured the Democratic nomination!!!!

But, there is some talk that Miss Hillary (as John Lewis calls her) has some "demands." First, she wants Obama to help her pay off some $40 million of her campaign debt!

And she wants him to work some sort of magic so that her (super delegate) political supporters, who ignored their constituents' preferences for Obama, get re-elected. These traitors to the people in their districts are facing challenges from Obama supporters. Sisterdoc says if you came down on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of "right," then you deserve to lose your post.

Sisterdoc isn't one to engage in gossip mongering, but... Is it true that Oprah (for Barack) and Maya Angelou's (for Hillary) friendship has been strained lately? C'mon now Sisters, don't fight.

Maya you could make it all up to us by revising the 1993 inaugural poem you wrote for he-who-will-go nameless here. Try this:

Here, on the pulse of this new day

President Obama, may you have the grace to look up and out

And into your Sisterdoc's eyes, into

Your Brotherdoc's face, YOUR country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

CHANGE IS COMING.

(Image: New York Times/T.C. Worley)

Hillary’s Sickening Ass(assination Hint)

2008-05-30T19:47:00.003-04:00

While Sisterdoc was in Montreal giving a talk about Black folks and the digital divide, hatemongering Hillary was hinting away about how she could benefit if oh, say, accidentally-on-purpose Barack Obama was assassinated.

In an interview with the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, Hillary explained that it was too soon for her to drop out of the race. She reminded us that Robert Kennedy was gunned down in June 1968 after winning the California primary. Here is what Hillary said:
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. "

The implication: she will stay in the race just in case Obama is gunned down next month (!!!) This way, she can slide right in as the Democrat nominee. Ew… And this on the heels of her comments about winning the White vote: "Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, White Americans is weakening again” […]

Hillary, who today is citing sexism as a reason for her trailing in the nomination race, reminds me of suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Anthony and Stanton gave lip-service to the abolitionist movement… that is, until Black men earned the right to vote before White women. Seeing Black men’s advancement as a challenge (sound familiar?), Anthony and Stanton hooked up with the notorious racist newspaper publisher George Train, and begin circulating their own (White) women ‘right to vote’ appeals while throwing Blacks under the bus. For example, Stanton pointedly declared of Blacks, "Sambo and Dinah" are not fit to share citizenship with "the Daughters of Jefferson and Washington.” Anthony, on the other hand, once opted to remain silent when asked to speak out against lynching.

Hillary seems to be blazing a similar trail. She is using racist rhetoric, appealing to hard-working White Americans to deem Obama elitist and out of touch. And, rather than being silent, Hillary has come dangerously close to invoking the lynching of Obama.

That’s nasty Hillary. Really, really nasty.

(Image: Hillary Clinton; Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton)

Klan Humor- WTF?!!?

2008-05-28T18:55:00.009-04:00

To comic strip artist Leah Rubins ("Rubes")...Klan humor simply isn't cute or funny.

A Lot of Sumthin' Sumthin'

2008-05-17T11:38:00.003-04:00

Sisterdoc works at an institution where they just LOVE a faculty retreat. In addition to end of the semester craziness, Sisterdoc found herself ‘retreating’ with three different faculty groups. But, I am back now, and apparently none too soon. Much has happened.

1. It has been nearly six!!! years, but R. Kelly is FINALLY going to trial for what Tyrone Malone has dubbed “Pee Gate.” Obviously, there is much that is bothersome about this case—can you say ‘pedophile?’ However, what saddens me most are those who have defended Kelly, while throwing the child under the bus. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard and/or read Brothers and Sisters comment: “girls aren’t what they used to be,” and “it’s clear she’d been having sex a long time before Kelly got to her.” Perhaps girls—the key word here is GIRLS—are feeling their sexuality more thanks to R. “you remind me of my Jeep, I want to ride it/Girl you look just like my cars, I wanna wax it” Kelly. Gail Wyatt’s research published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect concludes that: 40% of Black women reported some form of sexual abuse prior to the age of 18; and that African American girls are most vulnerable during preadolescent years from ages 9 to 12. Other Brothers and Sisters have said the girl’s mother should be on trial, not Kelly…sigh. There are a variety of reasons and ways sexual predators get their hands on children. Predators know how to exploit situations—poverty, under-education, the lure of their job or celebrity, preying on troubled youth, opportunities for abduction, etc. Instead of blaming the victim, we should all be asking ourselves what tools are we putting in our communities’ tool boxes to protect all of our children.

2. The south Texas town of Edcouch has finally abolished a 70+ decade anti-Hispanic law which banned “Spanish or Mexicans” who are not MAIDS OR SERVANTS from occupying “any building.” This segregationist law was enacted on December 9, 1931 and carried a fine of $100 per violation. Oh, and today, Edcouch is 97% Latino.

3. We pay tribute to the late Luther P. Jackson, Jr., 83. Prof. Jackson was the FIRST Black faculty member in Columbia University’s journalism school. According to Jet, he was also one of very few Black reporters at the Washington Post in the 1960s.

4. The first Black president I ever met-- Bowling Green State University’s President Sidney Ribeau (pictured here)-- answered the call of Gen. Colin Powell and TimeWarner Chairman Richard Parsons to assume the presidency of Howard University. Who can refuse those two? Congrats to Howard. You are getting a terrific leader. Hey Sidney, do you need a Sisterdoc on your team?

5. Twanda Carlise is a former Pittsburgh councilwoman doing some hard state prison time for taking some big time kickbacks, for buying a fur coat on taxpayers dime, and hooking up her mother’s ‘special friend’ with a phantom, albeit well-paying job. Well, girlfriend pulled a stunt that would make Clay Davis of “The Wire” step back and say, ‘sheeeeeeeeeetttt.’ While Carlise was already under indictment for illegal spending on the city’s dime, it was just discovered she went out and charged a Las Vegas trip for her and her moms to the city as well. File that under ‘no she didn’t.’

A Whole Lot of Nothing Going On

2008-05-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

There has also been much inaction since I’ve been away on my faculty retreats.

1. Hillary ‘Bigot’ Clinton just won’t go away. I am particularly intrigued, however, by an Obama-Edwards ticket.

2. Flavor Flav’s sitcom ‘Under One Roof’ just won’t go away. Oh, look. There is an episode promo for this series on now…gag… I just threw up my mouth.

3. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick just won’t go away. This isn’t just about text messages that would make R. ‘sex me’ Kelly blush. Rather, this is about corruption, criminal spending, the firing of do-gooders, and lying. This is about a leader who let his city decline so much that 911 operators hang up on you in emergencies, police won’t come out on calls, broken water mains and collapsed roads go without repair, pit bull fights rage in broad daylight, garbage goes uncollected, property values are in the negatives…Detroit is a great city, and it deserves a honest, visionary leader.

Under One (Coonish) Roof

2008-04-20T17:51:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday, April 16 at 8pm, this already pitiful world took a nose-dive into the depths of hell. Does Sisterdoc sound melodramatic? Well, I have just two words for you—Flavor Flav. That’s right. MyNetworkTV and producer Darryl J. Quarles has given the king of coons his own sitcom, entitled “Under One Roof.”

This series is as tasteless as one of Flav’s purple pinstripe suits. Calvester (Flav) is described on the show as a “ghetto low-life heathen.” I don’t know about that, but he is a loud-mouth ex-con who shows up on the doorstep of his wealthy brother Winston’s (Kelly Perine) mansion. Winston, of course, is ultra-conservative and married to a White woman named Ashley. Winston and Ashley have two children. Their daughter Heather is a dim-wit tramp. Their son Junior is brainy, but of course knows absolutely nothing about Blackness. Also in the household is Su Ho, the maid who offers malapropism infused Asian proverbs while speaking in broken English. She also wears Cultural Revolution era Chinese robes.

In the series premiere, viewers get to meet a whole gaggle of Calvester’s ex-con friends. Apparently the jail where Cal did time catered almost exclusively to pimps and “junk in the trunk” strip-club dancers-turned- Cal’s “baby mamas.” The humor in this sitcom is supposed to come from watching Cal’s world clash with Winston’s—pimps in the living room and Calvester in bed with his exceptionally frisky and horny former cell-mate “Pumpkin” (played by Tiny Lister, if you can imagine). Cal’s tacky decorating taste next to Winston’s “Pottery Barn” aesthetic is also made obvious.

If you like a series that would present an entire episode based upon jokes about convicts raping each other in jail—tune in next Wednesday for more fun. If you don’t, go to www.mynetworktv.com/contact.php and ask them to take this mess of the air immediately. In addition to being far more scandalous than the ‘90s sitcom “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” which by the way was a “slave-era comedy,” you also can tell the network that at 50 years of age, Flav is too damn old to be playing a version of Will from “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment #7-Hanes Exploits Hate Speech to Sell Drawers

2008-04-19T17:47:00.009-04:00

The Passing of Aime Cesaire

2008-04-19T17:19:00.002-04:00

Aime Cesaire, one the founding fathers of the Negritude Movement, with Leopold Sedar Senghor, Leon Gontran Damas, Birago Diop, and Bernard Dadie, in the early 1930s, passed away Thursday in Fort-de-France (Martinique) at age 94.

According to the International Herald Tribune, "Aime Cesaire will be buried in his native Martinique on Sunday despite suggestions that the poet and politician belongs with other honored figures in the Pantheon of Paris. Some French officials, including Culture Minister Christine Albanel and former presidential candidate Segolene Royal, had asked that Cesaire be buried in the hallowed Pantheon.

A public memorial ceremony is to be attended by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, soccer great Lilian Thuram and Caribbean officials such as Cuba's culture minister, according to a government statement. Officials at the capital of the French overseas department are opening park-and-ride areas and will provide free bus service to residents. Only relatives and top government officials will be allowed at his burial following the ceremony.

Thousands of people clutching Cesaire's picture or wearing T-shirts in his memory crowded into a soccer stadium Friday to view his body and pay their respects. They sang and recited his poetry as they surrounded his coffin, placed in the middle of the stadium beside candles and flowers."

Remember MOVE?

2008-04-10T09:03:00.004-04:00

After 30 Years, the MOVE 9 Must be Paroled
Color of Law
By David A. Love, JD
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board

Seven years before the 1985 bombing of the radical Black collective MOVE - in which the Philadelphia police firebombed a block of Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia, killing five children and six adults, and destroying 61 homes - there was the first MOVE siege.

On August 8, 1978, officers of the Philadelphia Police Department were involved in a confrontation with MOVE members at their Powelton Village headquarters in West Philadelphia. Officer James Ramp was shot and killed. Nine MOVE members were convicted of third degree murder, conspiracy and other lesser offenses, and sentenced to 30-100 years.

Now the eight remaining members are up for parole. They have been exemplary prisoners, and should be released. But many would argue that they should not have been imprisoned in the first place.

The judge said that he had “absolutely no idea” who killed Officer Ramp. Moreover, he reasoned that since the MOVE defendants called themselves a family, he decided to sentence them as a family.

Some observers have concluded that the officer was a victim of police gunfire. While the ballistic report claims that the officer was shot from a downward trajectory, the MOVE members were in their basement at the time of the incident. “But let’s think about this for a minute. You don’t have to be a ballistician to figure this one out. It’s just common sense,” said Linn Washington, Jr., veteran journalist with the Philadelphia Tribune and professor at Temple University.

In an interview with journalist Hans Bennett, Washington - who was on the ground reporting on the 1978 siege - noted that according to police sources, Ramp was killed by police. “You’ve got four male MOVE members in the basement allegedly armed, according to police testimony. A basement by its very nature means it’s below ground level.… So, anything they’re shooting out of the windows has to be at an upward trajectory. They would have to shoot up to get out the window. Ramp was directly across the street at ground level. So how could something hit him, in what was said to be a downward type angle, when MOVE members were firing upward from that basement?”

There were other problems with the case, including the destruction of evidence by police. The police destroyed the MOVE house after the siege, despite a court order barring them from doing just that. Unfortunately, although this act of official misconduct is reprehensible, it is not surprising. After all, this was the Philadelphia of the 1960s and 1970s, under the racist regime of police chief-turned mayor Frank Rizzo. And Philly’s Finest were the perfect picture of corruption, brutality, obstruction and frame-ups, particularly regarding their treatment of the city’s residents of color, and political activist organizations such as the Black Panthers.

Throughout the nation during this period, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, political prisoners such as the MOVE 9 were created.

To the untutored, the term political prisoner conjures up images of the old Soviet Union, of Communist China or some far-flung dictatorial regime. But the concept of the American political prisoner is very real, one which makes a mockery of the spoon-fed narrative of a fair, blind and equitable justice system. Under that narrative, those who swear to uphold the law always do so with vigor, while all of those who are behind bars are dangerous individuals who certainly did something wrong to get there, but nevertheless received due process.

In reality, prisons are America’s foremost method of social control, providing cover to a regime of failing schools, systemic economic inequality and joblessness among poor communities and communities of color. Secret offshore prisons provide the backdrop for the bogus U.S. war on terror. And on the domestic front, imprisonment serves as a potent tool to quell political dissent and neutralize burgeoning social movements. Moreover, prison stocks are traded on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, no efforts imaginable would allow the MOVE 9 to regain the 30 years they have lost languishing behind bars. However, parole would be a step in the right direction. Their supporters are signing an online petition, and contacting the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole to make their voices heard.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member David A. Love, JD is a lawyer and journalist based in Philadelphia, and a contributor to the Progressive Media Project, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, In These Times and Philadelphia Independent Media Center. He contributed to the book, States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons (St. Martin's Press, 2000). Love is a former Amnesty International UK spokesperson, organized the first national police brutality conference as a staff member with the Center for Constitutional Rights, and served as a law clerk to two Black federal judges. His blog is davidalove.com.

Image: Police dropped a bomb in this West Philadelphia neighborhood. This is the aftermath of this shocking use of police force/brutality.

Pow Wow: Dance for Mother Earth

2008-04-09T17:31:00.005-04:00

This weekend (April 5), Sisterdoc and Brotherdoc attended the 36th Annual “Dance for Mother Earth” Ann Arbor Pow Wow. It was our first Pow Wow. We had an enjoyable, educational time.

And, it was not without its controversy.

First, the fun and educational: There was well over 1000 Native Americans participating in this Pow Wow. The People of the Three Fires—the Ojibwa, Odawa, and Bodewadimi—were particularly well represented. According to our program, “the modern day Pow Wow evolved from the Grass Dance Societies that formed during the early 1800s. The dances were an opportunity for the warriors to reenact their brave deeds for all the members of the tribe to witness.”

The Pow Wow ritual had specific parts to it. There was the “Grand Entry,” which marks the beginning of the Pow Wow. Here, every participant dancer, in full regalia, lines up and proceeds forward. A Head Dancer leads the multitude of tribes, all with their unique dance styles, through the entry. Other parts were the Drum Roll Call, Tiny Tot Exhibition, and Exhibition Dancing.

Sisterdoc also enjoyed the “Intertribals.” These dance sessions permitted people of different Native nations to share the dance floor—I can’t describe how beautiful this was, both visually and spiritually (such unity!). There was also “Contest Dancing” in which the dancers were divided into categories by age and style. For example, there was “Women’s Jingle Dress,” “Men’s Fancy” (a crowd favorite), “Men’s Traditional,” “Women’s Fancy Shawl,” and so on.

Now, for the controversy: This Pow Wow was held indoors at the University of Michigan’s Crisler Arena (where the basketball games are held). This made for a slightly tense Pow Wow this year because 1,390 tribal ancestral remains are being held by the University of Michigan in “boxes, drawers, and filing cabinets.” Obviously, the various Nations want the remains back. A peaceful awareness raising protest was part of this year’s Pow Wow. The remains were uncovered from various burial sites (construction dig sites to U of M). U of M says they get to keep the remains because they are “culturally unaffiliated” under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Sisterdoc noted that U of M President Coleman did not address/clarify the remains issue, but she did pay a very nice tribute to Irving “Hap” McCue (1933-2008). Hap taught UM students the Ojibwe language for over 35 years.

This annual event is beautiful, humbling, and enlightening.

Image: Geezhig Bressette, age 11, of the Ojibwe tribe in Sarnia Ontarioat performs a ceremonial dance at the Ann Arbor Pow Wow in Crisler Arena on Saturday. (PETER SCHOTTENFELS/DAILY)

Senator Barack Obama Commemorates Martin Luther King Jr.

2008-04-05T21:39:00.004-04:00

April 4, 2008
FORT WAYNE, Ind. --As Mike said, today represents a tragic anniversary for our country. Through his faith, courage, and wisdom, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. moved an entire nation. He preached the gospel of brotherhood; of equality and justice. That's the cause for which he lived --and for which he died forty years ago today. And so before we begin, I ask you to join me in a moment of silence in memory of this extraordinary American.

There's been a lot of discussion this week about how Dr. King's life and legacy speak to us today. It's taking place in our schools and churches, on television and around the dinner table. And I suspect that much of what folks are talking about centers on issues of racial justice --on the Montgomery bus boycott and the March on Washington, on the freedom rides and the stand at Selma.

And that's as it should be --because those were times when ordinary men and women, straight-backed and clear-eyed, challenged what they knew was wrong and helped perfect our union. And they did so in large part because Dr. King pointed the way.
But I also think it's worth reflecting on what Dr. King was doing in Memphis, when he stepped onto that motel balcony on his way out for dinner.

And what he was doing was standing up for struggling sanitation workers. For years, these workers had served their city without complaint, picking up other people's trash for little pay and even less respect. Passers-by would call them "walking buzzards," and in the segregated South, most were forced to use separate drinking fountains and bathrooms.

But in 1968, these workers decided they'd had enough, and over 1,000 went on strike. Their demands were modest --better wages, better benefits, and recognition of their union. But the opposition was fierce. Their vigils were met with handcuffs. Their protests turned back with mace. And at the end of one march, a 16-year old boy lay dead.

This is the struggle that brought Dr. King to Memphis. It was a struggle for economic justice, for the opportunity that should be available to people of all races and all walks of life. Because Dr. King understood that the struggle for economic justice and the struggle for racial justice were really one --that each was part of a larger struggle "for freedom, for dignity, and for humanity." So long as Americans were trapped in poverty, so long as they were being denied the wages, benefits, and fair treatment they deserved --so long as opportunity was being opened to some but not all --the dream that he spoke of would remain out of reach.

And on the eve of his death, Dr. King gave a sermon in Memphis about what the movement there meant to him and to America. And in tones that would prove eerily prophetic, Dr. King said that despite the threats he'd received, he didn't fear any man, because he had been there when Birmingham aroused the conscience of this nation. And he'd been there to see the students stand up for freedom by sitting in at lunch counters. And he'd been there in Memphis when it was dark enough to see the stars, to see the community coming together around a common purpose. So Dr. King had been to the mountaintop. He had seen the Promised Land. And while he knew somewhere deep in his bones that he would not get there with us, he knew that we would get there.

He knew it because he had seen that Americans have "the capacity," as he said that night, "to project the 'I' into the 'thou.'" To recognize that no matter what the color of our skin, no matter what faith we practice, no matter how much money we have --no matter whether we are sanitation workers or United States Senators --we all have a stake in one another, we are our brother's keeper, we are our sister's keeper, and "either we go up together, or we go down together."

And when he was killed the following day, it left a wound on the soul of our nation that has yet to fully heal. And in few places was the pain more pronounced than in Indianapolis, where Robert Kennedy happened to be campaigning. And it fell to him to inform a crowded park that Dr. King had been killed. And as the shock turned toward anger, Kennedy reminded them of Dr. King's compassion, and his love. And on a night when cities across the nation were alight with violence, all was quiet in Indianapolis.

In the dark days after Dr. King's death, Coretta Scott King pointed out the stars. She took up her husband's cause and led a march in Memphis. But while those sanitation workers eventually got their union contract, the struggle for economic justice remains an unfinished part of the King legacy. Because the dream is still out of reach for too many Americans. Just this morning, it was announced that more Americans are unemployed now than at any time in years. And all across this country, families are facing rising costs, stagnant wages, and the terrible burden of losing a home.

Part of the problem is that for a long time, we've had a politics that's been too small for the scale of the challenges we face. This is something I spoke about a few weeks ago in a speech I gave in Philadelphia. And what I said was that instead of having a politics that lives up to Dr. King's call for unity, we've had a politics that's used race to drive us apart, when all this does is feed the forces of division and distraction, and stop us from solving our problems.

That is why the great need of this hour is much the same as it was when Dr. King delivered his sermon in Memphis. We have to recognize that while we each have a different past, we all share the same hopes for the future --that we'll be able to find a job that pays a decent wage, that there will be affordable health care when we get sick, that we'll be able to send our kids to college, and that after a lifetime of hard work, we'll be able to retire with security. They're common hopes, modest dreams. And they're at the heart of the struggle for freedom, dignity, and humanity that Dr. King began, and that it is our task to complete.

You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice. But what he also knew was that it doesn't bend on its own. It bends because each of us puts our hands on that arc and bends it in the direction of justice.
So on this day --of all days --let's each do our part to bend that arc.
Let's bend that arc toward justice.
Let's bend that arc toward opportunity.
Let's bend that arc toward prosperity for all.

And if we can do that and march together --as one nation, and one people --then we won't just be keeping faith with what Dr. King lived and died for, we'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often, and "let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Healing and Hope with Obama

2008-04-02T21:06:00.001-04:00

Healing and Hope with Obama:
Negotiating Race, Racism and Reconciliation
Dr. Maulana Karenga

Some of us are sufficiently satisfied just to share space and special
moments with them, to have them turn and tell us something nice, to
smile at us without racial arrogance, paternalism, maternalism or
studied meanness, and to have them concede our humanity and spend an
afternoon with us doing tennis, herbal tea and small talk. And then
there are those among us who want and demand only respect in personal
encounters, justice in social exchange and an equitable sharing of
societal wealth and power. We do not seek public office or White praise
and, like Malcolm, we make a clear distinction between being responsible
to our people and responsible to those in power. We know that often to
be responsible to our people requires us to be outrageously
irresponsible in the eyes of our oppressor. As we say in Us, it is a
good thing to be criticized and condemned by the oppressor. For it
raises and reinforces the ethical distinction and division between us
and them.
It has been part of the burden and heaviness of our history, then, that
we as an oppressed people have had to produce and at least partially
support people among us who would see some measure of humanity in our
oppressor and try to bring out that humanity and save them and us from
the savagery masquerading for centuries as civilization. They have
counseled them like King, empathized with them like Oprah, racially
identified with them like Obama and reminded them like Langston Hughes
and most of us that we, too, sing and celebrate America. And this, too,
has been our burden and obligation: that some of us must be ever on the
battleground for something better, fighting fiercely to hold onto
hard-won gains and advance ever forward in the ongoing struggle for an
expanded realm of human freedom and human flourishing in society and the
world.
Everyone must concede Barack Obama’s Philadelphia speech was historic in
content and consequence if rightly read and approached. But it was not
without its flaws and problematic character. He did what he could,
working with what he had, in the context of the media-driven right-wing
thrust to undercut his campaign for the presidency and in the process
call into question the legitimacy, not just of Black liberation
theology, but also of the Black church itself, as a historically
community-and-culturally-based institution. The beneficial consequences
of his speech depend on a real, long and hard look at the realities of
White racial dominance and the rejection of any attempt to equate our
oppression with the unease of those who carry it out, or support or
benefit from it.
Furthermore, it’s untrue and an uncalled-for concession to Whites who
might need it, to reductively portray Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his
generation as trapped in the past with “memories of humiliation, doubt,
fear, anger and bitterness.” This is obviously bad and bogus history.
For this is a generation which refused to be humbled, who did not doubt
the rightness of their cause nor the victory of their struggle, whose
rightful concern about White violence was counterbalanced by courage,
whose anger was righteous, and whose moral and spiritual groundedness
was a shield and shelter against the racist bitterness and bloody
resistance to our struggle for freedom and justice from the other side.
It is this generation that expanded the realm of human freedom and
provided a moral vision, vocabulary and model of struggle that resounded
and still resonates around the world. The memories of this generation
are of Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Joseph
Lowery, and Martin and Coretta Scott King, and of the reaffirmation of
our social justice tradition and our Africanness and the commitment to
struggle this represented.
Another problem here is that Obama talks about America, i.e., the U.S.,
as if it is a living self-existing being, granting blessings because of
its loving and nurturing nature. But the U.S. did not give freely; our
people fought to open up this space and to expand the realm of freedom
and possibility in this country. And they did it, not because they
engaged in self-blessing and self-congratulatory conversation about this
country, but because they took it to task, courageously confronted it
and dared to change it.
Also, Obama represents a tendency of those who believe a declaration of
“newly” discovered disorders and damaged psyches among Black people is
liberating or at least required to put Whites at ease. Thus, he says
that the Black “church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the
fierce intelligence and shocking ignorance, the struggles and success,
the love and yes the bitterness and bias that make up the Black
experience in America.” This is at best awkward and uncalled for and
would most likely not be a way his advisors would counsel him to speak
of a Jewish synagogue or even a Catholic church. Mom Mabley’s “We do
crimes too” is not appropriate here. And it certainly does not explain
his relationship, as he claims with Rev. Wright, unless there’s some
mystery in it we’ve missed.
Symptomatic of almost every liberal’s audacity to hope is an
accompanying problem of denial of the continuing realities not simply of
race, but more fundamentally of racism. Thus, Obama denies that racism
is endemic to U.S. society, i.e., native and constantly present, and
conflates race with racism. But contrary to popular belief and
persistent hope, racism is here in raw and redressed form, brutally
evident in the attenuated life chances and life conditions of peoples of
color. And this rough racist reality in no way resembles the racial
discomfort, insecurity and unease that Obama asks empathy for. Human
empathy is one thing, claiming moral equivalence of oppression and
unease and failing to deal with the difference is a whole ‘nother thing.
We clearly need a new vision of justice and democracy, one in which we
are not what Malcolm calls “victims of democracy”, a racial arrangement
in which “we, the people” are defined as White; justice is determined by
wealth and power; and the future of our people depends on the patronage
and petitioned kindness of White folks. No, this is not what Harriet
Tubman lifted us out of enslavement for, what Frederick Douglass and
Fannie Lou Hamer sacrificed so much for; nor for what Malcolm, Martin
and millions more were martyred. Ours is a more expansive view of human
freedom and human flourishing, and we cannot and must not accept
anything less than that which our history and humanity demand of us.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Black Studies, California State
University-Long Beach, Chair of The Organization Us, Creator of Kwanzaa,
and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture,
[www.Us-Organization.org and www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org].

Black Women Are Not Feeling the Feminists' Pain

2008-04-02T19:32:00.000-04:00

Black Women Are Not Feeling the Feminists' Pain
By Marjorie Valbrun | TheRoot.com

Is the sisterhood in peril?

March 17, 2008 -- Note to Geraldine Ferraro, Gloria Steinem, and complainer in chief, Hillary Clinton: Get over yourselves.

Your cries of reverse racism, your complaints about overt sexism in the campaign, your vocal protests about media favoritism being shown BarackObama, ring hollow.
We are not feeling your pain. None of you are symbolic of female oppression. You are all well-educated and well-connected. You are influential and have ready access to the media. You have had more opportunities than most black women could ever dream of and we doubt you could ever relate to the level of sexism and racism we regularly face.. We know you couldn't even begin to understand what it's like for black men.

Last time we checked, none of you were struggling with the challenges that average working women – both black and white – deal with everyday: making ends meet, finding safe and affordable childcare, paying the rent or mortgage, getting jobs that pay a living wage and offer opportunities for advancement. Amid all of this, regular working women are trying to find personal fulfillment and build a sense of self.

You privileged ladies already have a huge sense of self, and an even bigger sense of entitlement. Your words have only served to widen the divide between us and you, and your faulty and misguided perspective that Obama, a black man, is the enemy only serves to underline the divide.

Obama is not getting a free pass because he's black; he's getting more scrutiny because of it. He did not get where he is simply because he's a black man; he got where he is in spite of it. Your piling on Obama is one very warped expression of 'girl power.'

Somehow we don't believe this was what Betty Friedan was thinking when she wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963 and launched the modern women's movement.. The movement was built on the premise that women were smarter than men believed, wanted more than men felt they deserved, were more ambitious than men were comfortable with, and had dreams bigger than the boundaries men set for them. It was about being politically affirming, not politically divisive.

The movement was not about being nasty, and calculating, and intellectually dishonest. And it was definitely not about playing dirty politics – like men. You make us wonder if you ever were really one of us now that we clearly see you have become one of 'them.'

Hillary Clinton, earlier in the campaign you complained that your Democratic opponents were 'piling on' and 'taking a page from the Republican playbook.' The truth is you've taken a page directly from Karl Rove's playbook and appropriated his defining doctrine of win at any cost, take no prisoners, and when everything else fails, resort to shameless race baiting. How unoriginal.

The sisterhood, at least your version of it, has been unmasked. You have proven you will do and say whatever it takes to win, even if that means doing irreparable harm to your political party and the good relationship you once had with black women. Honest and fair political discourse is being hijacked by your hypocrisy and that is certain to hurt the genuine efforts of white and black women working hard to form alliances on common and larger feminist causes.

Geraldine Ferraro, you said that Obama was 'lucky' to be where he is and should 'thank' you.
'In all honesty, do you think that if he were a white male, there would be a reason for the black community to get excited for a historic first?' You asked. 'Am I pointing out something that doesn't exist?'

What you fail to point out is that black people overwhelmingly voted for Bill Clinton for president not once, but twice. And we did the same for John Kerry, Al Gore, and other white candidates that came before them. Over the years, black voters have also supported plenty of white female candidates for Congress – including Hillary Clinton – and in statewide races.
When many Americans turned their backs on BillClinton after Monica Lewinsky and impeachment, black people stood by him as steadfastly as they would any member of their family. That's because we believe deeply in the power of forgiveness and redemption, but if you and other Clinton cohorts keep this up, we won't be so forgiving at the polls, even if Clinton is the nominee.

We remember, Geraldine, that you also derided Jesse Jackson when he ran for president in 1988. 'If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race,' you said then. Your comments then, and now, seem to consistently imply that no black male candidate can legitimately run for office or engage voters with his ideas, policies proposals or vision for a better America . We can probably guess what you think of black women candidates.
And by the way, what's wrong with the black community getting excited about a historic first? Aren't you in fact excited as well about the possibility of a historic first female president? Or did this point elude you even though you once tried to become that historic first?

Gloria Steinem, you wrote in the New York Times that Obama would not have succeeded if he were a woman because gender is 'the most restricting force in American life.' Yeah, right. Tell that to the thousands of unemployed black men in America who would gladly trade places with you and women like you whose lives bear few examples of social and economic deprivation.

Black men don't control a whole lot in this country; not the media, not Wall Street, not Capitol Hill. So when did they start holding you back or becoming your oppressors? White women have benefited from generations of white privilege and now that one black man has managed to play, and win, by the rules, you cry sexism?

We understand your frustration with the campaign and the failings of the packrat media coverage, we have our frustrations too. Nonetheless, it's entirely too convenient to try and turn Obama into a symbol of sexism, or reverse racism, or the manifestation of biased gender politics. The media is fascinated and obsessed with 'firsts' and the possibility of the first black or woman president will undoubtedly continue to drive much of the focus and narrative of the campaign coverage.

So how about taking a deep breath and a couple of steps back to get some perspective.
Obama is appealing to voters of both genders and all racial stripes precisely because he's not playing the racial victim. Perhaps if Clinton stopped playing the female victim, other voters would flock to her too.

Marjorie Valbrun is a journalist based in Washington, D.C.

Brotherdoc: Beauty and the Beast-Stop the Racism!

2008-03-21T23:58:00.002-04:00

Brotherdoc: Beauty and the Beast-Stop the Racism!

Brotherdoc is on point today regarding how LeBron James is resurrecting King Kong imagery. With the James/Gisele Vogue cover photo, we get a modern take on the dark-savage-Other in contrast to the light-civilized-Center. Click the Brotherdoc link above to see the troubling images.

Obama- Yes We Can!

2008-03-21T23:01:00.004-04:00

Sisterdoc is still riding high from (soon to be POTUS) Obama's speech-- yep, I have the "audacity of hope" too! I had a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, right along with the future First Lady, as I listened to Obama's "race" speech. It's been a long time since I've heard such a poignant and complex treatment of race relations presented in mainstream media. It's been a long time since Sisterdoc felt like she was witnessing history in the making.

Don't get it twisted. There is no "cult of personality" fawning over Obama here. And, who really thinks Obama has been getting "a pass" while folks like Stephanie "Hillary's Shill" Tubbs Jones insists on calling Obama a Somali. And then there is the McCain camp's backdoor attacks on Obama through the very selective editing of Rev. Wright's sermons. Frankly, Obama has been catching hell.

Still, Obama has used media to communicate democratic ideals that have been absent from this country's discourse for far too long. Nope, he isn't bamboozling us with "3 a.m." diversions.

And speaking of diversions-- as the image attached here reveals, Rev. Wright isn't some hate-filled lunatic. Rather, someone in Bill Clinton's crew thought Rev. Wright was mainstream enough to attend this breakfast. That's Rev. Wright with Bill Clinton. The breakfast was held just one hour before Kenneth Starr was to release his report on the Monica Lewinsky mess.

Of course, there is more to Obama than his rhetoric. But Sisterdoc makes her living studying discourse. She believes it is important. She believes that discourse is culture, and that discourse leads to change. Folks are feeling Obama's discourse, and they are seeing a hope and a change-- "A More Perfect Union"-- on the horizon. Check out brother Tyrone Malone on this point.

Black Media Archive

2008-03-21T11:28:00.002-04:00

Sisterdoc needs all the readers she can get. However, I want to direct you to a blog and podcast that is one of the most important resources for Black history on the web. The BMA: Black Media Archive podcast presents ORIGINAL speeches, texts, documentaries, and images related to Black history. For example, Sisterdoc just finished listening to a Fannie Lou Hamer speech from October 15, 1969. The speech is about the Viet Nam War, racism, and hurricane Camille. One need only replace Viet Nam with Iraq and hurricane Camille with Katrina, and Hamer could be talking about the U.S. today.

Other podcasts feature Malcolm X on television, the movie The Jackie Robinson Story, full sermons by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes reading his own poetry, a speech by Kwame Nkrumah…In all, over 120 important documents are presented!

The podcasts are paired with the BMA: Black Media Archive blog. The blog provides you with background on what you are hearing or seeing in the podcasts.

Sisterdoc has no affiliation with BMA. In fact, she doesn’t even know who runs the site. However, the resource is incredible. The BMA also needs our contributions to keep this effort alive.

Angela Bassett on Walk of Fame

2008-03-21T10:59:00.002-04:00

Actress Angela Bassett become the 2,358th celebrity to earn a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame! Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne, and Rick Fox were among those celebrating the event.

Bassett was born August 16, 1958 in NYC and raised in St. Petersburgh, FL. She earned a bachelor’s degree in African-American Studies from Yale in 1980 and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1983. She is the co-author of “Friends: A Love Story” with her husband, actor Courtney B. Vance. [Check out this beautiful family!]

Sisterdoc can’t wait to see Bassett play Suzanne Louverture in the coming the film Toussaint.

21st Century Blackface

2008-03-12T17:18:00.016-04:00

Tropic Thunder (opening Aug. 15) is a Ben Stiller comedy starring Robert Downey, Jr. as Kirk Lazarus. Now, try to keep up here: In the movie, Lazarus is a serious, Oscar-winning actor who is cast in a Vietnam War film. The twist is that Lazarus (played by Downey) takes a role in the war film that was written for a Black man. In order to keep the role, Lazarus dyes his skin and pulls on a wig to play the Black character named "Osiris." Stiller promises that Tropic Thunder is a satire of prima donna Hollywood actors. The goal of the film is to skewer actors self-indulgent enough to do really stupid things, to include a White man taking a job that could go to a Black actor.

On this point, let me be clear: I hope Stiller is clever enough to reveal to audiences that it is not unusual for White actors to latch onto meaty roles that could otherwise go to the ever-underemployed Black actor. We’ve seen such casting before: Susan Kohner as Sara Jane in Imitation of Life (1959), Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart, or (again) Jolie as “Fox” (Mark Millar’s comic version of a brown/black Catwoman) for the coming movie Wanted.

But there is another issue here. Downey hopes of his blackface character Lazarus/Osiris: “if done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago.” Oh no! Are we talking the same Peter Sellers who appeared in “brownface” in the film The Party to portray Hrundi V. Bakshi, an actor from India? In The Party, Bakshi is a straight up buffoon who attends a swanky Hollywood party but: loses one of his shoes, speaks gibberish (“birdie num num”) as a stand-in for Hindi, has no understanding of appliances or technology, floods a home with soap bubbles, and develops a relationship with an elephant. To be sure, Sellers’ brownface and his depiction of an Asian as a childlike buffoon is racist. If this is the standard for Tropic Thunder, Stiller should pull this movie now!

It is also notable that blackface is "in" these days in all sorts of odd ways. Jolie “bronzed up” to play Pearl. Equally troublesome was the blackening of Black actors Forest Whitaker and Kerry Washington for their roles in the Idi Amin biopic The Last King of Scotland.

Sisterdoc encourages readers to revisit Watermelon Man starring Godfrey Cambridge as a White bigot turned Black. Good satire, great casting, and (hee hee!) excellent use of “Whiteface.”

(Images: Tropic Thunder; Peter Sellers in "brownface" in The Party; Forest Whitaker in "blackface" in The Last King of Scotland; Godfrey Cambridge in "whiteface" in Watermelon Man.)

Black Governor Watch: David Paterson

2008-03-11T11:49:00.003-04:00

With the impending resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson, the current NY Lt. Gov., will be only the third Black governor since Reconstruction. He will be the first Black governor for New York. He will make history alongside Deval Patrick (Mass.) and L. Douglas Wilder (VA).

Spitzer is in trouble for frequenting prostitutes. Spitzer's actions rise to scandal level because he has marketed himself as an incorruptiable, virtuous politician who has also been quick to indict others' professional and personal ethics. Spitzer took on Wall Street, attempting to bust up corruption in the financial district. His opponents said he had a "holier-than-thou" attitude.

Paterson, a Democrat, seems to be well-liked all around. He is a Harlemite. He is the son of Basil Paterson, a NY state senator from 1965-1970. David Paterson is a graduate of Columbia University and Hofstra University School of Law. He was elected to the state Senate in 1985, and by all accounts represented districts such as Harlem well. He earned the post of Senate minority leader in 2002. In 2004, he addressed the Democratic National Convention-- the first blind person to do so.

Yes, in addition to being NY's first Black governor, Paterson will also be its first blind one. An infancy ailment took virtually all of his sight. Still, he can memorize and deliver lengthy, highly engaging speeches. He has stored in this memory banks legal references which he can pull up at the drop of a hat during debates. He possesses an incomparable intellect...as well as wit.

Paterson would serve out the nearly three years left on Spitzer's term.

Black TV Milestones: Max Robinson

2008-03-11T11:27:00.004-04:00

Max Robinson. In 1978, Robinson joined ABC’s World News Tonight to become the first African-American network news anchor. Prior to joining ABC, Robinson was an award-winning journalist for his coverage of the 1968 riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin, for his coverage of antiwar demonstrations, and for his documentary about Black life in Anacostia. He hoped to bring a Black perspective to ABC, but encountered significant racism. In a Youtube.com clip, Robinson can be seen in an unscrambled satellite feed engaged in a profanity-laced tirade in response to a lack of professionalism and a lack of hard work exhibited by his co-workers. In 1983, Robinson left ABC for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Robinson passed away in 1988, however his legacy can be seen in the accomplishments of television journalists such as Bernard Shaw (CNN-1980), Ed Bradley (CBS’ 60 Minutes-1981) and Bryant Gumbel (NBC’s The Today Show-1982), Deborah Roberts (ABC’s 20/20, World News Tonight, Good Morning America - 1995), and Gwen Ifill (PBS’ Washington Week in Review and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer- 1999).

Sybil Wilkes of the TJMS- Don’t Become Robin Quivers!

2008-03-07T09:18:00.003-05:00

Plenty of bloggers out there have called Tom Joyner and his sidekick J. Anthony Brown to the carpet for their coonery and buffoonery on the syndicated radio program The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Cincinnati-based attorney and activist Nathaniel Livingston, Jr. even went so far as to file a complaint with the FCC a few years back. Livingston tired of Joyner and Brown’s “jokes” in which Black folks were regularly referred to as “coons” and “jiggaboos.”

The one voice of reason for many years was “news anchor” Sybil Wilkes. Wilkes offered a “different side of issues”—her contributions were always coonery-free. When Joyner and Brown reduced important issues to the utterly absurd, Wilkes would jump in to remind listeners of the more serious, key debates. When a distinguished guest came on the radio program, it was Wilkes who conducted the interview. Wilkes could be counted on to ask the serious and smart questions.

But no more. Today, Wilkes laughs the hardest and the loudest. She no longer leads the way as the smart, informed, news anchor. Instead, she is often the first one to rile Joyner and Brown up with her own highly questionable jokes. The sole voice of reason and wisdom has ceded to the jokey joke atmosphere of the TJMS. Today, Joyner rarely teases Wilkes for using “big A words.”

There was a time when I had my students tune in to the TJMS just to listen to Wilkes. I held her up as someone who carved out a unique radio career while provided a good community service to listeners. Wilkes has been in radio since 1985 in markets such as Chicago, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Charlotte. She earned degrees in Political Science and Communication Studies from Northwestern University. But I must remind Wilkes of her own motto, “to whom much is given, much is expected.”

Indeed, we expect much from Wilkes. The TJMS needs her wisdom and relevancy more than ever—these are very serious times. Soon, one will wonder if there is significant difference between Wilkes’ performance of “news anchor” and that of another famous “news anchor”—that of Robin "selling out women on a daily basis" Quivers of the Howard Stern Show.

Will the old Sybil Wilkes please come back!

(Image: Brown, Joyner, and Sybil Wilkes)

Teeth Stereotypes

2008-03-02T12:11:00.012-05:00

When the media wants to “Other” or stereotype someone or some group, it often does so by making them look ridiculous. Sisterdoc has noticed that no body part is left untouched by the media’s caricaturing…not even the teeth.

For example, during World War II, we saw lots of anti-Japanese propaganda which worked to dehumanize through false representations of teeth.

Similarly, the representation of Blacks’ teeth work to reduce Blackness to the irrelevant and the comical.

In the cases of Michael Strahan selling milk, or that of Tony Sinclair, the Tanqueray gin pitch-man, please remember that ad copy is carefully scripted first. Only the “best” images are then released. Even paparazzi come to look for certain images. It is no coincidence that the photos of these Black men reveal not only a wide smile, but also their gap. While these men are not being presented as dangerous "brutal bucks," it is hardly any better that they are confined to another predominate stereotype-- the smiling coon/pickininny.

In Support of Our Black Farmers

2008-03-01T21:17:00.003-05:00

Sisterdoc is waiting to see what comes of the Farm Bill of 2007. The Farm Bill is legislation introduced by Sen. Obama (D-IL), and if passed it will permit Black farmers to collect their share of a $50 million settlement from the USDA.

According to Black Farmers Justice, the USDA discriminated against Black farmers by denying them government loans and other resources. Instead, the USDA funneled billions of dollars to White farmers, thereby giving them a monopoly on providing food for this nation.

According to a 2004 Washington Post report, in the 1920s there were over 1 million Black farmers. Today, Black farmers are a dying breed at less than 30,000. In a lawsuit brought against the USDA by a North Carolina farmer-- an African American named Timothy Pigford-- the extinction of Black farmers was the government’s plan. Pigford v. Veneman became a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Black farmers… and they won. Any Black farmer who sought and was denied support from the USDA farm subsidy program from 1981 to 1999 could receive a settlement. But then, the USDA cheated.

Instead of paying up, the USDA, with help from the Justice Department, spent 56,000 attorney hours and more than $12 million fighting the first 129 claims alone. In the end, of the 94,000 farmers who sought to collect their settlement, the USDA turned 81,000 away in a spiteful obstruction of justice. Farm Bill 2007 should get Black farmers justice by allowing them to re-file their claims against the USDA so that they can finally collect their money.

In the meantime, the National Black Farmers Association was formed to organize Black farmers who are determined to hold on to their farms and to fight “foreclosure caused by racial discrimination under the United States Department of Agriculture.”

Sisterdoc wishes our Black farmers every success.

(Image from MSNBC: Dr. John Boyd, Jr. Pres. of the National Black Farmers Assoc.)

Black TV Milestones: Jesse Jackson

2008-02-29T13:09:00.005-05:00

Syria Releases Hostage to Jesse Jackson. In 1983, Jackson accomplished what Pres. Reagan could not—secure the release of Lt. Robert Goodman who had been shot down over Lebanon and was being held by the Syrian government. Reagan spoke disparagingly about Jackson and his trip to Syria, calling it “grandstanding.” Reagan also refused to accept Jackson’s telephone calls before Jackson left for Syria because Reagan had “initial misgivings” about attempts to free Goodman. On January 3, 1983 Reagan had to watch from the sidelines back in the U.S. as Jackson emerged from Syria with Goodman. Jackson met with Syrian Pres. Hafez al-Assad who said that he was moved by Jackson’s “human appeal.” The stakes were high as Goodman had endured beatings and interrogations by his captors. Reagan, Goodman, and Jackson would appear at the White House for a celebratory photo-op. Reagan conceded, “you can’t quarrel with success.” Jackson went on to repeat this feat of freeing hostages several times. In 1984, Jackson secured the release of 22 Americans being held in Cuba. Cuban Pres. Fidel Castro would only negotiate with Jackson for their release. In 1991, he secured the release of 500 “international guests” held in Iraq. In 1999, Jackson was again successful when he traveled to Belgrade to meet with Yugoslavia Pres. Slobodan Milosevic to secure the release of three U.S. POWs.

(Image: Pres. Reagan, Lt. Goodman, and Rev. Jackson. Photo by Darryl Heikes, U.S. News and World Reports)

Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment #6: Sexism in a Shoe

2008-02-28T18:59:00.003-05:00

Brotherdoc: NFL Combine "Slave" Auction

2008-02-27T14:17:00.001-05:00

Over at Brotherdoc, there is a provocative blog entry about this year's NFL combine and its resemblance to a slave auction. Check it out here: Brotherdoc: NFL Combine "Slave" Auction

February 26- A Very Important Day

2008-02-26T09:21:00.007-05:00

Jimmie Lee Jackson was 26 years old, a church deacon, a hospital employee, and a recently discharged soldier. He desperately wanted to vote, and tried to register five times. He vowed to keep trying.

On February 18, 1965 Jimmie, his mother Viola Jackson, and her father (Jimmie’s grandfather) Cager Lee, age 82, walked over to Zion United Methodist Church in Marion, Alabama for a meeting. A Civil Rights worker was being held in the Marion city jail and the Black community was deeply concerned for his safety. Jimmie, his family, and others in the community left the church for the jail to engage in a peaceful “singing” protest—their plan was to direct their prayers and hymns toward the jail.

The group was met at the jail by a barrier of city police, sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers. Minutes later, Alabama’s law enforcement decided that church folk singing for justice was a crime punishable by immediate death.

Jimmie and his family tried to get away from the police by ducking into a nearby café. Troopers followed them. They beat Cager with their billy clubs—battering his 82-year old body. Viola tried to shield her father, only to suffer the same brutality…somehow they both survived. As for Jimmie, state trooper James Bonard Fowler shot him twice in the stomach. Jimmie died on February 26, 1965.

On March 7, in response to Jimmie’s death, 600 Civil Rights activists marched to confront Gov. George Wallace to demand justice and equality in the name of Jimmie Lee Jackson and others. The marchers made it as far as Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. The encounter with troopers became the infamous “Bloody Sunday” captured by television cameras, and was broadcast around the world.

One month after Jimmie’s death, on Thursday, March 25th, 25,000 activists marched to the Alabama state capitol. As a result, that August, Pres. Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Fowler denied Jimmie Lee Jackson the opportunity to see his octogenarian grandfather finally register to vote.

In 2005, Fowler admitted that he killed yet another Black man. He confessed, “This was a great big feller about 6 foot five. Big feller. He was black as it would be…His name was Johnny Johnson or something; I could never keep him straight from Jimmy Lee Jackson.” The man Fowler killed, on May 8, 1966, was Nathan Johnson, Jr. of Ensley, Alabama. Johnson was shot at point blank range three times in the chest.

In May 2007, Fowler was finally indicted for killing Jimmie. Fowler boasted: "I don’t think legally I could get convicted for murder now no matter how much politics they got ’cause after 40 years there ain’t no telling how many people is dead." Hopefully, Fowler will go to trial this spring.

Today is Sisterdoc’s birthday. On this, the 43rd anniversary of Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death, I memorialize him. His sacrifice propelled a chain of Civil Rights activist events that permits me, and millions of other Black folks, to truly live today. Please, always exercise your right to vote.

(Image: Jimmie Lee Jackson)

Flint Urban League Asks ‘Are You Black Enough?’

2008-02-25T18:55:00.004-05:00

The Flint Journal reported that a biracial employee, Jamie Kendall, was asked if she was “Black enough” to lead the organization. Apparently, the Flint Urban League didn’t like Kendall’s answer because, though seemingly qualified based on her previous hard work for the UL, she did not get the job. Kendall is suing-- as she should be.

Sisterdoc only has the newspaper report to go on, but it seems Kendall’s Blackness was challenged based on her light skin color. This is “colorism.” You’ve heard the sayings, ‘light is right, if black get back.’ You remember ‘paper bag tests.’ You may have been one of the Sisters in 2007 offered free admission to a Detroit club—but only if you possessed light skin. You’ll notice that advertising tends to propagate such colorist divisions.

In an earlier post, Sisterdoc worked to remind readers that an investment in Blackness is not tied to skin color. With skin color off the table, a particularly challenging question is exposed: how might we explore the level of someone’s identification with, and investment in, Blackness? Scholars call such identifications and investments “identity politics.” Identity politics means claiming membership in a group as a political point of departure. This means that being Black enough is NOT about fixed, biological, set characteristics like skin color. Identity politics IS about investing in what matters to a group socially, politically, and materially.

Clearly their skin shades don’t tell the tale, but Ward Connerly, Dorothy Height, Al Sharpton, Tiger Woods, Clarence Thomas, and Lani Guinier each represent a vast range of relationships to Blackness. And clearly we shouldn’t presume that if you are dark enough, you are Black enough.

This isn’t identity politics. This is just plain wrong.

What is Your Blackness Quotient?

2008-02-23T11:16:00.003-05:00

Randall Kennedy, a Harvard law professor, knows how to come up with a book title that sells. On the heels of the provocatively dubbed, “Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word,” Kennedy brings us “Sell Out: The Politics of Racial Betrayal.” Kennedy asks readers to consider a single, complex question: can the actions of a Black person be traitorous (if not ruinous) to other Black people?

This question is intensely personal for Kennedy. In 2006, Kennedy testified on behalf of Nicholas Minucci, a White man accused of a racially motivated baseball bat attack against Glenn Moore, a Black man in Howard Beach (NY). Minucci beat Moore in the head with the bat, while repeatedly calling Moore “nigger.” Minucci then robbed Moore. Kennedy testified that “nigger” does not always have to carry racial connotations. He also said that “nigger has many meanings” and “can be put to many different uses.” Kennedy explained that the n-word is often a friendly salutation, and can be heard comically throughout popular culture. (Sisterdoc is no legal expert, but I think getting beat in the head with a bat while being called a nigger could never be construed as a “friendly salutation” or comical.) When Kennedy was asked by an incredulous prosecuting attorney if the term is derogatory, he hedged by saying, “it can be.” Kennedy saw himself as protecting Minucci’s liberties. Quite a few Black folks saw Kennedy as sell out.

It isn’t the first time Kennedy was hit with the charge of selling out. When critiques about racism and the law are offered up, Kennedy is quick to offer that Blacks (men in particular) are often engaged in criminal activity. A former colleague, Derrick Bell, finds Kennedy infuriating, and has asked him to “come home.”

“Come home” implies that Blackness has a center—a home. It also implies that one can lose their way. Losing one’s way may mean turning your back to Blackness (its unique history, experiences, and cultural tropes). To be clear, there are some that lose their way. There are still others who not only lose their way, but also kick back at those who remain closely tied to Blackness. The difference is important. Those that kick back are called sell outs. Sell outs cast Blackness as deficient, adding fuel to the already raging “Othering” and stereotyping fire. Sell outs are not simply silent on Blackness issues, rather they advocate against them. Sell out identity is tied to the notion that there is a purposeful rejection of a particular kind of Blackness.

The question becomes, ‘what, exactly, is that particular kind of Blackness that is being rejected?’ Perhaps this moment is not an ‘either you are Black, or you are not’ proposition. Maybe it is scalable. That is, perhaps there is a Blackness quotient, or BQ.

I would like to think I have a high BQ. I identify as Black, as well as with Blackness. I champion Black advancement and empowerment. I have Black credentials—I hold memberships in ‘up with Blackness’ kinds of organizations. I write books celebrating Black identities. And, of course, I have Black friends. When I clap to music, I do so on the 2 and the 4, rather than the 1 and the 3 beat. Apparently, I’m blowin’ up with Blackness. But it is likely that Kennedy can say the same. We know he has books about Blackness, and in the past he has written positively about it. And, I presume he has Black memberships and Black friends. I’ve never seen him at a concert or party, but let’s give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt on the beat thing too. So, how might we conclude his BQ is on the light side?

Ok, so I don’t know how to evidence the BQ scale…perhaps it is like the community standard for obscenity, “I know it when I see it.” I think there is something productive about a community standard coming from within a community with a “compelling interest” in how they are being talked about or treated. I also think it is ok that a precise definition is elusive. The imprecision acts much like a morality litmus test. We can say, 'I don’t know what right is exactly, but I will be hyper-vigilant to stay on the right side of right so as not to slip toward wrong.' In this regard, one can be ever-monitoring that their BQ is some kind of ‘right.’

I do know that buying into Blackness has little to do with race classifications. In other words, you need not check the ‘African American’ box to be invested in Blackness. Japanese-American Yuri Yochiyama was friends with Malcolm X. She was with him when he was assassinated. She wrote in her memoirs of, "cradling [Malcolm’s] head in my hands, I was shocked." Spike Lee left that key bit of reality out of his movie. The biracial Bob Marley, a key figure in the Rastafari Movement, rarely saw his Blackness questioned. Two White civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner died at the hands of the KKK for their investments in Blackness.

Your turn to weigh in. What is a sell out? How is this term useful, or divisive? Does it presume a Blackness center or BQ?

(Image: Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law)

The New Black- Same As It Ever Was

2008-02-20T20:47:00.002-05:00

Over at Brotherdoc, there is an interesting blog entry about a Washington Post article entitled, “Their Deepest, Darkest Discovery.” According to this newspaper article, scientists have created a material that is blacker than anything that is in existence.

What is funny about this Washington Post report is the language used. Much of the article sounds like double entendre for America’s racist relationship to blackness:

“99.955% black” (The one-drop rule gone wrong.)
“A Roach Motel” (Ick!)
“Voraciously sucking up all surrounding” (They are moving in.)
“It can give those who gaze on it a dizzying sensation” (Protect your women!)
“Invisible” (This speaks for itself.)

If you think Brotherdoc and I are reading too much into the Post article, consider how Robert Moore (1992) in his essay “Racist Stereotyping in the English Language” explains how we might interpret “black” words:

“Some may blackly accuse me of trying to blacken the English language, to give it a black eye by writing such black words. They may denigrate me by accusing me of being blackhearted, of having a black outlook on life, of being a blackguard—which would certainly be a black mark against me. Some may black-brow me and hope that a black cat crosses in front of me because of this black deed. I may become a black sheep, who will be black-balled by being placed on a blacklist in an attempt to blackmail me to retract my words.”

According to Moore, if you give us a pass on our interpretation, well, you aren’t being niggardly, rather… that’s very white of you.

John Wallace Rebuilding Homewood Block by Block

2008-02-17T17:09:00.003-05:00

Kudos to John M. Wallace, pastor of the Bible Center Church of God in Christ (Homewood section of Pittsburgh). This Rev. is also a noted PhD. Rev. Dr. Wallace’s day job is Associate Professor of Social Work (Univ. of Pittsburgh). Wallace’s research and ministry focuses on the role of faith-based organizations in the revitalization of urban communities.

Wallace is not just all talk. Wallace invites members of his congregation and willing college students to join him in cleaning up the Homewood area of Pittsburgh. You’ll find Wallace leaving his Bennett Street church on Saturday mornings, broom and trash bag in hand, to embark on some heavy duty beautifying. It gets even better—Wallace also delivers small gifts to the residents of Homewood (a bottle of water or a small snack). All that he asks for in return is their prayer requests. Wow!

And it doesn’t stop there. Wallace’s congregation is buying up vacants around his church and renovating them. The renovation efforts are done in conjunction with his youth program. Youth pitch in on the renovation, learning some useful skills along the way, and in the end they get their very own youth center. By the way, they aren’t building a run-of-the-mill youth center. This one is all about empowerment and development. For example, art classes will be offered. A barbershop and hair-braiding salon is on tap. A recording studio is going in there too.

Homewood could use more Wallaces. The neighborhood is tough—too many shootings and other violence, too much drugs, too little economic growth, and too little attention paid to this community’s strengths and heroes.

Sisterdoc knows of what she writes. Upland Street, Formosa Way, and Braddock Avenue was once home. Sure, there was (and is) blight; but Sisterdoc also remembers that her house, built of brick, has stained glass windows, and that it has architecture you can’t find in homes anymore. The streets are wide and level. And somehow the hilly South Side with its claustrophobic alleyways is seen as “prime” property these days?!

I believe in what the Rev. Dr. Wallace is doing. Why not stop by the Bible Center Church of God in Christ at 7236 Bennett and tell him that you do too.

(Image: 7340 Frankstown Ave., Homewood)

What Does a Brotha' Have to Do to Get Some Love?

2008-02-16T13:18:00.005-05:00

Sisterdoc was watching Fox 2 News (Detroit) on Thursday when 13 year-old Jeremia was featured in an adoption story. There are more than 4000 children in Michigan’s foster care system, and Jeremia is one of them. He said he has never had a real family, and that he dreams of someone calling him “my son.” Viewers learned something else very important about Jeremia: “When somebody says I can’t do anything. I prove them wrong in a positive way. When my (foster) dad said I couldn’t achieve a 3.0, I got a 4.0…and I was glad about it!”

Sniffle…. Folks, you should have seen this adorable boy! [Check out myfoxdetroit.com and search "Heart gallery"].

The very next day, Fox 2 News aired a story about Nathaniel Abraham. Nathaniel was eleven when he shot and killed a man, Ronnie Greene, Jr. Nathaniel spent 10 years in jail and was released last year (2007). Nathaniel left jail representin’ a style and swagger that left folks wondering how soon he would find himself behind bars again (yep, that's him in the picture). This week Detroit multi-millionaire/real estate tycoon Herb Strather signed Nathaniel to a record contract so that Nathaniel can release “real and raw” rap music, though we are assured there will be “no n-word” and “no misogyny.” Herb even hooked Nathaniel up with music producer Mike Powell. They are now planning a CD release party.

Sisterdoc is glad that Strather is working to keep Nathaniel on the straight and narrow. According to the National Governor’s Association, in 2004 the Detroit area had a recidivism rate of 44%. This means that approximately 3,900 out of 10, 000 released inmates will find themselves back in jail within two years.

However, kids in foster care need some support too. According to a February 2008 report, foster children aren’t receiving the very basic of needs and services. They aren’t getting medical care. They don’t even get to see a dentist. They don’t have stable placements, and they frequently experience severe abuse.

I wonder what Jeremia’s future would hold if he was afforded the same kind of attention, mentoring, and resources as Nathaniel. Does Jeremia have to murder someone and do time before someone reaches out to him? What if we took the amount of the CD release party alone and put it toward Jeremia’s education or health care fund? Perhaps we would worry less that some in foster care might end up behind bars too.

(Image: Nathaniel Abraham walking out of prison)

SUCCESS! Racist T-Shirt Protest SUCCESS!

2008-02-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, February 9 the readers of Sisterdoc joined in on a protest regarding the marketing of Obama products featuring racist Jump Jim Crow images. We won! The products have been removed from the site. Kudos to CafePress for responding to our concerns. We are happy to support businesses that support us.

CafePress.com sent the following message to Sisterdoc on Tuesday, February 12:

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Prayers for Northern Illinois University

2008-02-14T21:21:00.009-05:00

Send up your prayers to the Northern Illinois University family. Today, a gunman opened fire upon 17 students and one professor. Sisterdoc’s friend, co-author, and Soror narrowly escaped the violence.

Some will recall that NIU was locked down in December 2007 due to an anonymous threat, accompanied by a racial slur, promising a mass shooting.

(Craig Watson/The Beacon-News, via Associated Press. A student is led away from the scene of the shooting.)

Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment #5: Gary Coleman's Abuse

2008-02-14T21:10:00.004-05:00

What is a “Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment?” Three decades ago, the great entertainer Nipsey Russell was a guest judge on The Gong Show. On one episode, a White male ventriloquist appeared as a contestant. His dummy was white, but he (inexplicably) sloppily painted it brown, hence, it looked a bit like blackface. As the man told bad, though not racist jokes, Russell gonged him. Russell explained that he gonged the man because something just wasn’t right. Sometimes things just feel wrong. If you get that feeling, don’t doubt yourself. Just gong ‘em!

It seems that former Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman secretly married a movie-set extra, Shannon Price, last August. Unlike the popular media, it doesn’t strike me as odd that Coleman was a virgin (“I wasn’t saving myself, she just happened to be the one”). Neither the age difference, nor the height difference, strike me as particularly odd either. He is 40 years old and 4’8”; she is 22 years old and 5’7’. What does strike me as odd, and also bother me enormously, is that this young lady is enduring domestic abuse. According to People.com, Shannon revealed: “we may go a week and not speak to each other…he lets his anger conquer him sometimes…he throws things around, and sometimes he throws it in my direction. I don’t like the violence.”

GONG to Gary Coleman for being a wife batterer. GONG to the popular media (e.g., People; Inside Edition) for making this domestic violence sound like funny ‘odd celebrity news,’ rather than the crime it is.

The World's Gone Mad-Part 3-Pres. Bush

2008-02-12T21:24:00.000-05:00

Tiger Woods shrugs off a sports reporter’s lynching comment, but GEORGE BUSH says today, “lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest” and that lynching jokes are “deeply offensive.”

I want to say kudos to President Bush for co-signing on what we have all known for a very, very long time-- the noose represents one of the worst kinds of racist violence. As Bush put it, “the noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice.”

Of course, I agree with the President. But why, then, would Bush promise to veto the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act which “gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the department with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability?” Why did then-Governor Bush watch a hate crime bill die in a Texas Senate committee? Why didn’t Bush support the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act? In fact, Pres. Bush (I know you’re reading this), do you remember meeting with the Byrd family and gay rights lobbyists:
"I went to Governor George W. Bush and begged him to help pass a Hate Crimes Bill in Texas," Mullins (a Byrd Act lobbyist) said. "He just told me no. Just like that. It was cold in that room.”

Without the President’s full support for hate crime legislation, such talk of “gross injustice” is just that...talk.

(Image: AP Photo/Ron Edwards)

The World's Gone Mad-Part 2-The NAACP

2008-02-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

The NAACP taps raging bigot and sexist D.L. Hughley to host its Image Awards.

Sisterdoc is a Lifetime member of the NAACP. However, she is thinking about turning in her card. For their 39th Image Awards show, airing on Fox on Thursday (Feb. 14), the NAACP has tapped D. L. Hughley as host. Last year, Hughley went on Jay Leno to co-sign on Don Imus’ racist rant against the Rutger’s basketball team. Hughley said of the Rutger’s women, “those WERE some nappy headed women” and “those were some of the ugliest women I’ve ever seen.” Who DOES something like that?!

Hughley is only one part of this problem. The national arm of the NAACP, which oversees the Image Awards, has been “overcooking my grits” for years. Remember when they repeatedly awarded Martin Lawrence an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Award for “Martin”? Or, nominated Jaleel White (“Steve Urkel”) for the same? Remember when Isaiah “gay slur” Washington won Best Actor for “Dr. Burke”? Or, remember when they nominated R. Kelly for Outstanding Album for Chocolate Factory, right after his pedophile bootleg video was leaked.

In 1997, the Image Awards had gotten so bad that one local chapter, the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch, protested its own organization—the national NAACP! The chapter parted ways with the national NAACP governance by protesting yet another “Martin” nomination. The local chapter also lashed out at offensive shows such as Homeboys in Outer Space, Goode Behavior, Malcolm and Eddie, Sparks, and the Wayans Brothers.

Where, O, Where is the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch today? We really need them. But then, can anyone really disabuse Hughley of his kind of capitalizing logic to justify his own hatred:
When Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic remark, he had a number-one movie, and his Q rating went up. Michael Richards made his statement, and sales of Seinfeld went up 70 percent three weeks in a row. Isaiah Washington made an anti-gay slur. Grey's Anatomy has never been stronger. Don Imus, his numbers went through the roof. (A.V. Club interview)

As for you, the NAACP: anytime you want to start a new search for a President, we are ready. And, hopefully Bruce Gordon’s resignation was a wake-up call, and that you will get your Board in order. Remember when Gordon raised $2.6 million for the Katrina Relief Fund but was chastised for not getting Board approval first? Remember when Gordon united leaders from across the country to present a unified position on the post-Katrina government response, and the Board said he should not be trying to “set policy?” Remember when the Board said Gordon shouldn’t try to initiate a Medicare Part D enrollment effort (with Bill Cosby and Danny Glover) because it was thought to be “service” and not “advocacy?”

We all want the NAACP to rise to its rightful place in leadership once again.

The World's Gone Mad- Part 1-Nas and Kelis

2008-02-12T21:06:00.001-05:00

Nas and Kelis arrived at the Grammy Awards in matching “N*gger” wear.

Why did Nas and Kelis walk the Grammy red carpet modeling these offensive outfits? Nas has an album coming out entitled N*gger, and the couple exploited the live’ness of the Grammy’s to promote his music. Stopping to speak to a CNN reporter, Nas worked to explain his choice of CD title: "It's all the experiences we got through every day -- all ethnicities, black white, indifferent. We've all been discriminated at some point whether it's in the Dominican Republic, whether it's China, whether it's Iraq where soldiers get their heads blown off for reasons we don't know why[…] no longer are black people n*ggers, today it's also me and you." Huh? Kelis tried to make this mud a little clearer by adding that John Lennon recorded “Woman is the Nigger of the World.” Well, Lennon’s protest song was to be inspiring. Can you imagine Lennon in a t-shirt hawking "Woman..." as the latest Def Jam joint? Here is an excerpt of Lennon’s particularly feminist tune, which makes an urgent call for action:

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it
We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be a slave, we say that she don't love us
If she's real, we say she's trying to be a man
While putting her down, we pretend that she's above us…

Nas is, quite simply, a media-savvy marketer. When asked to reflect on the provocative notion that “hip hop is dead,” (the title of his last CD) Nas passed on this opportunity to be even a bit political by saying, “that was last year, and that’s been done. That train has left the station.” Yep. That was last year’s album. We are all now supposed to move on to the new one.

So, Nas got his 15 seconds of expiring fame, and CNN allowed him to join the Katt “Wearing a Noose as Jewelry” Williams club of setting Black folks back at least a millennium.

Nas was loud and wrong about something else. He said he was worried about Blacks’ voting rights expiring every 23 years, and wanted a new president to come in to change laws so this cannot continue to happen. Nas (I just know you are reading this): on March 30, 1870 the 15th Amendment assured you the right to vote, and that does not expire. The Voting Rights Act of 1967 is a permanent federal law. It does have a few sections that must be renewed, such as the availability of bilingual voting materials or the use of federal poll watchers, but the right for Blacks to vote does NOT expire.

I wonder if the same people who tripped over getting a peek at Janet Jackson’s breast are flooding the FCC with calls about CNN showing Nas’ shirt and letting him say n*gger on live TV. Oh, wait, a woman’s body is offensive, but N*gger, well that’s just entertainment.

Rebirth of Jump Jim Crow

2008-02-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

To the readers of Sisterdoc, regardless of whom you will be voting for,
I am asking everyone to send a complaint to: http://www.cafepress.com/OBAMA_TAP for selling “Tap Dancers for Obama” products, which very clearly draw upon blackface minstrelsy imagery. The customer service link is at the bottom of their webpage, highlighted in green. Cafepress offers a “disclaimer” indicating that they only market items created by others. This should in no way give them a “pass” for selling racist products.

(Image from Cafepress.com)

Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment #4: Black Man's...What!?

2008-02-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

What is a “Nipsey Russell-Gong Moment?” Three decades ago, the great entertainer Nipsey Russell was a guest judge on The Gong Show. On one episode, a White male ventriloquist appeared as a contestant. His dummy was white, but he (inexplicably) sloppily painted it brown, hence, it looked a bit like blackface. As the man told bad, though not racist jokes, Russell gonged him. Russell explained that he gonged the man because something just wasn’t right. Sometimes things just feel wrong. If you get that feeling, don’t doubt yourself. Just gong ‘em!

The hosts of a BBC talk show, “Gardeners’ Question Time,” were asked by an audience member to offer advice on how to nurture the Rhodochiton Volubilis plant, commonly known as the BMW or “Black man’s willy.” Guest panelists chortled their way through some double entendre fueled racist banter as they talked about the BMW. Author Bob Flowerdew (this can’t be his real name!) said “only ever seen one close up...” Horticulturalist Anne Swithinbank chimed in, “I’ve never seen one in my life. They don’t really like the cold, as you can imagine. They shrivel up and look very unhappy.”

Among the non-racist, the rhodochiton volubilis is called “purple bells” plant. So, where did the “BMW” moniker come from? My only guess is based on the plant’s description per plantpress.com. According to the site, the plant produces rose’ish colored flowers, and “the petals form the tubular purple-black, protruding centre.”

Some listeners to the broadcast did not find the “Carry On-style humour,” as the Brits call it, funny, and took their complaints to the BBC. The BBC apologized.

GONG to the Gardners’ Question Time, the audience member, Flowerdew, and Swithinbank.

(Image from Plantpress.com)

Mike Carey- Making Black History

2008-02-06T18:53:00.001-05:00

It has been an incredible week of “firsts”—hooray, Obama! Another “first” we shouldn’t overlook is the contribution that Mike Carey made to Super Bowl XLII this past weekend. On February 3, 2008 Carey became the first African American to lead an officiating crew in a Super Bowl game. Carey landed the coveted referee assignment based on a stringent merit system that saw him earn the highest ranking among all NFL referees.

Carey has been an NFL official for 18 years, but a referee much longer than that. In 1972, he officiated Pop Warner games in San Diego. In 1985 he became a WAC conference official. He joined the NFL in 1990 as a side judge, and has been moving up ever since.

When Carey was asked by the Michigan Chronicle (a member of the Black press) about his historic first, he spoke of the importance of change, “I think of the social revolution going on and the social position of the world and you can see change happening right before your eyes.” Carey also didn’t forget to pay homage to his African American elders: “I’m proud of being the first, although there were others, like Al Jury and Johnny Grier, that paved the way for me. I appreciate them and I’m humbled.”

We appreciate you too, Mike Carey.

Super Phat Tuesday! Vote (for Obama)!!!

2008-02-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

Since today is Fat Tuesday and Paczki day, you might want to indulge in a little celebration and nosh when you return from voting on this ever important SUPER TUESDAY.

Or, if you want to be a little more fired up as you go to the polls, check out Ken Rudin's article on NPR.org. In it, he breaks down the trickery and slickery engaged in by "Billary" as they attempted to cast Barack Obama's race, specifically his Blackness (not his Whiteness), as problematic. Rudin writes:

...politicians friendly to the Clinton campaign suddenly felt the need to remind us about some of the less savory aspects of Obama's past [...] To many observers, what these Clintonites were doing was obvious: deliberately raising these issues while feigning distress that the evil Republicans would bring it up should Obama become the nominee.

Also in December, Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator, had this to say during a speech in which he endorsed Clinton: "I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There's a billion people on the planet that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal."

Kerrey denied any ulterior motives. Then came an anonymous campaign in which e-mails were sent out claiming Obama "is a Muslim," attended a "Wahabi" school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran, and refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. None of this is true.

Sisterdoc says, 'forget about a dream deferred, I want mine now!"