Harry Belafonte vs. Jay Z

In no uncertain terms, I am solidly on the side of Harry Belafonte regarding this situation between him and Jay Z (he dropped the hyphen).

The one thing I side with Jigga on is that entertainers shouldn't feel a responsibility to act as though they have a social conscience. No one should have to do anything they don't want to, no matter what position they find themselves in.

"But that's what the whole thing si about, so you really agree with Jay"...no, it's not: and no, I don't.

Some Thoughts on the Verdict

In what should be a surprise to no one, I have a few thoughts/statements to make regarding the verdict. Going to start with something...that I already said.

"B. Brown thinks they should just let Zimmerman walk out now and save Florida the cost and embarrassment bound to result from this 'trial'." - June 20, 2013 (Facebook status)

Popularity, Crabs, and Condescension

Can we talk about something for a minute? Seriously, I need to get this off my chest.

Black people are forever saying that racism is an American institution. “It’s as American as apple pie and ‘red, white, & blue’ and all that”…sure it is. No argument there. However, we have our own problem that is equally damaging.

42 - Part II

I actually ended up talking about the movie a lot longer than I expected, so I decided to just make an additional entry regarding my thoughts that don't directly relate to the movie.

The main take-away from the movie - and from Robinson's life - is that quiet dignity always wins in the end: that keeping your head held high, turning the other cheek, and completing other actions that have been turned into catch phrases that canonize good will always produce positive results.

However, that's not all there is to it.

Commencement, Homecoming, Celebrations, and Customs

A while back, the good brother at HBCU Digest asked on Twitter whether homecoming or commencement should be the bigger deal at our schools. Without any hesitation, I stated that homecoming should be the bigger celebration.

The reason has very little to do with the fact that I have attended the best homecoming in America (I don’t care what you DC people say: spending outrageous cash to listen to up-north music is not my idea of a great HC) for seventeen consecutive years. It’s purely based on the other side.

Crying About Onions

I usually don’t do disclaimers, but this isn’t a usual situation.

Nothing I say in this post should be taken in any way to be an endorsement of the event in question. I am in total accord with most of you that the act was despicable – yes, Mr. NABJ president, there’s an ‘e’ in it – and that it should never happen again.

Now it’s time to veer off the path.

Differing Definitions of Diversity

We black folk are funny sometimes.

For the most part, we define ‘diversity’ as meaning “the inclusion of black folk”. In the beginning of the diversity process (i.e. the “colorization of structural America”), this worked since we were the only ones who colorized America.

Dorner Situation Thoughts

I hadn’t planned on this being a two-entry day, but if you watch the news at all…you understand it’s not an ordinary day.

I’m honestly conflicted as to whether I support Chris Dorner. I am not conflicted at all as to how I feel about his stated cause, which is police corruption. Two of my best friends in life and one of my cousins are police officers. I’m sure they would all agree with me that police corruption is a serious problem: maybe not in their units (maybe so), but certainly in general.

The Challenge of Black History Month

It took me a while to think of something to write concerning Black History Month. Then, an idea hit me. What follows is the written illustration of that idea.

Why Brent Musburger Should Not Apologize

Alright, so there's a HuffPost article in which the author is mad at - and demanding an apology from - Brent Musburger for referring to Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos as "black-skinned storm troopers" in an article.

Ease back: I'm not going to defend Musburger's comment. Instead I'm going to rationalize it using four statements.

Thoughts on the Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation Survey

I came across an interesting survey the other day thanks to a friend of mine posting about it. It’s the Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation effort that asked questions of black and white respondents of each sex.

The questions all had 4 or 5 possible responses on Likert type scales. All of the percentages, unless otherwise noted, will be for the strongest response (strongly agree, very important, and so on). Going to pick out a few of these questions and vibe a bit.

A 2011 Review

 What happened this past year? Let's see...

Music

I’m not even going to lie: music stunk in 2011. Usually I can come up with long lists of songs I’ve liked, but I’m going to struggle to come up with a decently long list of songs that actually came out (or really hit the scene) in 2011. Since I enjoy, challenges, though…

Just Because

*This was originally written a while back (about three weeks ago), so the timing will be off as the note reads. However, the theme is large enough that there’s still a lot of applicability here.

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Anyone who’s read my equality pieces knows how this subject burns me. Let’s get to it.

There are fewer social actions that I like less than when black people stick up for black people just because they’re black. This is no better than discriminating against people because they’re black. Anyway, there have been a few recent cases of this that I’d like to vibe on.

The Six-Man Tag Team Match

I’m sure many of you have heard about Cornel West and Tavis Smiley going in on President Obama, basically saying he doesn’t do enough for the poor and/or black folk. Steve Harvey then went after West and Smiley. Then of course, my favorite professor/columnist (110% sarcasm) Boyce Watkins went after Harvey and placed Tom Joyner in the Harvey camp.

Sounds like the makings of a six-man tag team match - which may be a propos with SummerSlam in the rearview. Smiley has had issues with Obama from the start that have to be considered personal: I feel comfortable saying this because I’ve seen Tavis air out some of these issues with my own two eyes. West’s issues with the president have been more professional, but he’s had quite a few.

Black People Are Racist...No, They're Not...Wait, What?

There may be quite a few statements that sound like generalizations. I kindly ask that the framework of these being through my experiences and observations be remembered. Thanks.

When I first came up with this subject, I thought “we are some racist [folks]”, which should help explain the title. Then I thought “it’s not that we’re racist, it’s that we’re race-conscious - probably too much so. It may be that our race consciousness is more extroverted, but that’s another thought for another time. Now I’ve had the experience of being in mostly-black groups and mostly-white groups: be they social, academic, or professional.  Race comes up a lot more often when I’m within the former as it does when I’m within the latter. We often talk about being black in general, some standard of blackness in particular, or how our membership in said groups may affect black people as a whole. We do this for two reasons: nature and nurture.

On Display

I’m attending a firm beach party on Sunday. I thought about it this morning and I’m really going to be on display. Those of you who are (or were) black graduate students know full well of what I speak. As far as black folk, there are two sister attorneys - one of whom is the absolute truth - and me. There are about 50 people who work in this office and I think the guest list is about 75 total. As the title suggests, on display.

Courtrooms California and Congressional Conundrums

This one may be shorter than normal, because I don't know how much I'll have to say. We shall see.

1991. Cops have beaten King mercilessly for almost a minute and a half, which we see on videotape. Some of us are horrified. Some of us are not. I think everyone knows the plethora of emotions and reactions that different segments of the population had - which were only heightened by the later verdict that allowed the four officers to walk.

Black people (generally speaking) saw the entire situation as a reminder of the racial caste system that has - yes, 'has': not 'had' - always been present in America. To their credit, I think most white people saw issue with the whole thing as well. I'm not sure they extrapolated the verdict to the extent that black people did, but they understood the problem that the Rodney King situation identified for some and highlighted for others.

Patriotism, Capitalism, & Being Black In America

Race and politics are two very funny things. Since I have an interest in both, it probably isn’t much of a surprise that I started thinking about how the two often intertwine.

(Just to get this out of the way, I will not talk about Michelle Obama’s quote.)

I’ll use enough words without including basic facts, so I’ll leave those out and begin with patriotism. I will admit that the first time I heard the national anthem after 44 was elected, it sounded a little bit different than it ever did before. Still does. I don’t think it’s out of line or inaccurate to say that many black people feel the same way I do - about the anthem itself and the country in general. I’ve always been among the first to say that the overall effects of Barack Obama’s election are overstated, but at the same time I realize that the election gave many black people a pride in this country that they’ve never felt before. The election hasn’t really done anything monumental, but it has had some positive effect.