Last day of the month of black history

Wow it's already the end of February hard to imagine. This took a slight turn from what I expected due to recent events, but I still think it went pretty well. So here is the last bit of wisdom I'd like to leave you with in honor of black history month:

"People may not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get."

- Frederick Douglass

Contemporary history

All History is current; all injustice continues on some level, somewhere in the world. - Alice Walker

1.3%

It's been a long day. But for so many others it's been longer. A rally began at 8am to address the horrible racial climate the past two weeks. The tipping point that enough was enough? A noose hanging in the main libraryon UCSD campus. I saw a lot of committed people today, a lot of hurt people, a lot of STRONG people. Following are links that I feel best describe the situation, however I'd like to note that we did not by any means "storm" the chancellor's office (as the Washington Post suggests), we walked in peacefully, occupied te space peacefully, and left peacefully.

An article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022604263.html

A video: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/feb/26/race-relations-ucsd/

An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community must work to provide that community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard. -- Stokely Carmichael

I'd also like to thank Sunshine Market and the Wellness Center for providing food, drinks, and sunscreen to students participating in the rallies today.

(A few photos from my phone: 1) Demanding action 2) "Real Pain, Real Action" beginning of the march into the Chancellor's Complex 3) Rally on library walk 4) Sit-in in the Chancellor's office

A comment on the lukewarm reaction to recent events.

“Never wound a snake; kill it.” - Harriet Tubman

If you take a stance of relative inaction, don't be surprised when an even nastier second attack arises.
First a party in poor taste, then hate speech, now a hate symbol (crime). What comes next.

Living history, UCSD campus

There has been a great deal of unrest shall we say the past week or so on the UCSD campus, which I think answers Langston Hughes' question of whether or not a dream deferred explodes. The desire for equality, for representation, for an appropriate racial climate on our campus has been a long time coming -- and unfortunately it took a racially insensitive party and a provoking broadcast to bring it all to a head for the UCSD administration to finally do anything about it.

So, this entry is dedicated to history that's being lived here on my campus. A shoutout to Fnann Keflezighi, my House Advisor, the vice-president of BSU and one of the leaders of the campaign for a better racial climate here on campus (you can hear her speak on one of the videos in the link below). I didn't make it to the teach-in or the march today, but my heart is with your cause.

A link to some media coverage of today's rally.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Students-Walk-Out-of-UCSD-Teach-in.html < 2 videos

Face it with courage

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

-Maya Angelou

Unarmed truth and unconditional love

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final say in reality."

- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., his name is practically synonymous with the US Civil Rights movement. He did a lot of good, made some missteps, but the gains made would arguably have never come about with such force were it not for his steady hand, revolutionary ideas, and collected persona to bring them to fruition. So here is a link to his speech for the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. It is not so oft heard or known as his "I Have a Dream Speech" but it is truly wonderful. The transcript is also provided below the media player to hear the speech.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlknobelpeaceprizeacceptance.htm

A quick plug for Americanrhetoric.com -- this is a truly great resource for important speeches in US history.

Children of the 90s

Today instead of a quote I'm going to give a shoutout to the media of the 1990s for prevalence of sitcoms featuring black families. We were the first generation raised on as many predominantly black cast sitcoms as predominantly white. Ask a 90s kid of any age to sing the theme song of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, he or she will be able to -- if not, slap them. You have my express permission.

A few favorites:
Family Matters
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Sinbad
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
Sister, Sister
Smart Guy
The Wayans Brothers
The Steve Harvey Show
In Living Color
A Different World

etc etc.

By the way --
In west Philadelphia born and raised on the playground you know I spent most of my days. Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool and all shooting some b-ball outside of the school, when a couple of guys who were up to no good, started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared she said "you're moving with your auntie and uncle in bel-air." I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and there were dice in the mirror if anything I could say that this cab was weird but hey man forget it yo home to bel-air. I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8 and i yelled to the cabbie "yo smell you later" I looked at my kingdom I was finally there to sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-Air.

Jackie Robinson

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.

- Jackie Robinson

Stability comes from insides, let's fix this...

There are moments we lose touch with what's really important. When our worlds are flipped upside-down, permutated in ways we never even considered, we must recognize we are the only ones who can set it right again. We must not wait around for others to fix things for us, to put the pieces back together, we have to do it for ourselves.

And so a beautiful quote by poet Lucille Clifton:

Even when the universe made it quite clear to me that I was mistaken in my certainties, in my definitions, I did not break. The shattering of my sureties did not shatter me. Stability comes from inside, not outside.

- Lucille Clifton

UCSD students response to the "Compton Cook-out" controversy

A contrast to accomodationism: activism

“To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.”

-W.E.B. DuBois

WEB DuBois was in effect a somewhat bitter enemy of Booker T Washington (see previous post). Washington's contemporary, DuBois emphasized the need for activism, the need to demand visibility and respect. One of the founders of the NAACP, DuBois encouraged academic (he had a PhD himself) schooling for higher level jobs rather than vocational learning to keep blacks relegated to the lower rungs of socioeconomic status.

photocredit: (http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/bigelow/classroom/moore/harlem/images/dubois285.jpg)

Missed a day, woops < for 2/17

"Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top."

- Booker T Washington

Booker T Washington is a famous figure in black history who lived around the turn of the century. He is known for being an "accomodationist" -- meaning he felt in order to build up black membership and respect in society, black people had to thrive within the norms created by whites and thereby prove that they were capable and deserving of being moved up in society. In effect, he believed strongly in a merit system of moving up in society for blacks as a collective (despite the contradictory idea that black people should not have to prove their humanity). He was the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute, a vocational college for black students.

Does it explode?

A Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore --

and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over --

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I'm leaning toward the exploding theory right about now.

President's Day

Happy President's Day to those of you who get it off -- Happy Monday, to those who don't =D.

So I had some tough choices to make (not very tough) about the subject of today's post. I figured it should reallybe presidentially related in light of the holiday. On the one hand I wanted to raise awareness of the reportedly six US presidents who come from black heritage (in the very least according to the one-drop rule). But I'm going to be honest here, I have midterms all week, and not much time to do all the research. So instead I'll leave you with a link to the some information, and their pictures are below.

My other option was to quote Barack Obama because he's half-black, and the true definition of an African-American (his father being African and his mother being American). And those of you who know me well know how much it would irk me to quote him, particularly by calling him 'black'. But for the sake of president's day, and since he is the sitting president, I will set aside my biases and quote him nonetheless.

Regarding Kanye West: "He's a jackass." - President Barack Obama

^ A statement I can stand behind.

Presidents with reportedly (although in some cases either not confirmed nor acknowledged) black "roots":
1) Thomas Jefferson  2) Andrew Jackson   3) Abraham Lincoln   4) Warren G Harding  5) Calvin Coolidge
6) Barack Obama

Random basic info on this: http://www.stewartsynopsis.com/Black_presidents.htm

Since it is the Olympics and all...

1968 Mexico City Olympic Games

Gold and Bronze Medalist American Sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith

The highest crime...

In every man's mind the good seeds of liberty are planted, and he who brings his fellow down so low, as to make him contented with a condition of slavery, commits the highest crime against God and man.

-- Henry Highland Garnet (Abolitionist)

"Never play a thing the same way twice"

We all do 'do, re, mi' -- but the other notes you have to find yourself. - Louis Armstrong

Something other than the race problem...

But for the national welfare, it is urgent to realize that the minorities do think, and think about something other than the race problem. - Zora Neale Hurston (Author of Their Eyes Were Watching God)

Sojourner Truth a strong woman

A speech later named "Ain't I a Woman" by Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree) who was an escaped slave later instrumental in the Underground Railroad, abolition of slavery, and fighting for women's suffrage. I had trouble deciding whether this should go this month or next month for women's history month, you just might see it again next month in full text. Here is the "more relevant" section for this month:

"Ain't I a Woman"

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?


That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?



Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

A comment on power...

"Power doesn't have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and self-justifying. When you have it, you know it." - Ralph Ellison author of Invisible Man
 

The rose that grew from concrete

Some words of wisdom that are particularly topical to my life right now, and maybe to yours:

You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, even months analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, should’ve, would’ve happened or you can leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on. - Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur 1971-1996

Heaven Help Us All

So today was my birthday and my cousin took me to the Gospel Brunch at the Anaheim House of Blues where the group singing performed Heaven Help Us All by Stevie Wonder. It was beautiful. I don't have their rendition, but here's a link to Stevie Wonder singing it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yOecqyWtvs

We need not have a history of selected races or nations...

"We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice."  ~Carter Woodson, 1926

Carter Woodson created "Negro History Week" in 1926 for the purpose expressed above and was celebrated the second week of February to commemorate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and (roughly) Frederick Douglass. The week was later expanding into a month.

Civil Rights and Belt Activist

Pants on the Ground
Okay so if you watch American Idol, this was pretty much the highlight of the season so far -- otherwise you may have heard Brett Favre singing it, or seen this singer on The View.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMwhl4IrPNc

Here's a link to the video if you missed it.

The singer was 62-year old "General" Larry Platt. He was a civil rights activist in Atlanta in the 1960s who was often in close proximity to Martin Luther King Jr. In Georgia, there's a Larry Platt day in honor of his dedication to the Civil Rights Movement.

Funny how an hilarious American Idol contestant has such an incredible story, granted I don't know THAT much, but it's still an interesting story no? Maybe not, lol.

February 4th: Bill Cosby

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure - Bill Cosby


No analysis, no extra comments, just a statement.

Where strange fruit hangs...

Strange Fruit

sung by Billie Holiday*

Southern trees bear strange fruit

Blood on the leaves

Blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck

for the rain to gather

for the wind to suck

for the sun to rot

for the tree to drop

Here is a strange and bitter crop

Left: Billie Holiday photo by William P Gottlieb

Right: Lynching of two black youths, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in 1930 Indiana

*While famously performed as a ballad by black torch singer Billie Holiday, the poem which inspired the song was written by a white Jewish man named Abel Meeropol shocked at the lynching of the two young men pictured above.

Words from August Wilson

August Wilson is the highly acclaimed writer of plays such as Fences and The Piano Lesson which each earned him a Pulitzer Prize in Drama. His work tends to focus on "the black experience" in the US from the 1940's onward. Here are a few selected quotes from him:

Advice for life:
“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.”

Concerning attitudes toward music:
“Take jazz or blues; you can't disregard that part of the African-American experience, or even try to transcend it. They are affirmations and celebrations of the value and worth of the African-American spirit. And young people would do well to understand them as the roots of today's rap, rather than some antique to be tossed away.”

Concerning the Civil Rights Movement:
“I first got involved in theater in 1968. At the height of a social tumult, I was a poet.”

Because I'm a UCSD Student...

Let's kick this puppy off with a quote by good ol' Thurgood Marshall.

"A child born to a black mother in a state like Mississippi...has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for." - Justice Thurgood Marshall

For those of you unfamiliar with the Justice, Thurgood Marshall was
- The lawyer who tried and won Brown v Board of Education
- The first black man to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court
- Had a record as a liberal judge, particularly in protecting civil liberties (different from civil rights) and personal privacy
- Served on the US Supreme Court for 24 years, retiring only 2 years before his death at 84 years old
- Has a college named after him at University of California, San Diego (hence the mention in the title)

In response to this call for action, I'd like to think that were he alive today (and even at the time he died in 1993) he would be able to see that we are SO much closer to achieving that goal. That a black baby born in Mississippi has far greater prospects now than anytime in US history.

I begin with this quote because from the very early days of the "abolition period" (where I would argue the fight for equality and not just fight for recognition of people's humanity began) in the US, this was the goal which people aimed to achieve.