Author's posts
Nov 14 2008
On the Twoness of Being
Back in January, as the Democratic Primary heated up in an epic battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, there was a lot of what I would categorize as “silly talk” pitting women’s issues against those of African Americans. I can’t claim to have been untouched by that strain in our leftward attempts at coalition though. There were charges from both sides that were deeply painful and only occasionally a real discussion about how these systems of hierarchy and oppression are very much alive in our culture.
I remember that during those days, I found solace and guidance in the words of the one group who felt this tension deep in their souls…African American women. I traveled around the nets to find and listen to their voices and wrote an essay that attempted to capture some of it. At the time, these women were busy reacting to an op-ed by Gloria Steinem. But its these words that I remember most.
After reading Steinem’s Op-Ed I felt invisible…as if black and woman can’t exist in the same body. I felt undocumented…as if the history of blacks and the history of women have nothing to do with the history of black women.
Look, I’m not going to go head to head with Steinem and argue what is most pressing for womyn in America – race or gender. What I do know is that as a US womyn of color living in this country is that the two are so inexplicably interlaced that I resist ANY individual that pits once against the other.
Further, by casting the debate as between Black men and White women, Steinem renders the woman of colour invisible, reaffirms the binary Black-White paradigm of race, and demands we take a side in the epic battle between race and gender.
Nov 13 2008
My New Hero: Bob Herbert (Updated)
Last night Bob Herbert was on Tweety’s “Hardball” along with Howard Finemann to discuss Bush’s interview (youtube link) with Heidi Collins of CNN. During the interview, Bush finally admits to some “mistakes” during his presidency…he wishes he hadn’t said “dead or alive” when talking about Bin Laden after 9/11, he wishes he hadn’t said “bring ’em on,” and he regrets the “Mission Accomplished” banner.
Tweety and Finemann had a few laughs about it all…Bush finally admitting mistakes and talking about how his wife had been the one to call him on them.
Then they asked Herbert for his thoughts. Bob was sober – no laughs. He pointed out that there were no apologies for things like extraordinary rendition, torture, etc. It totally caught Tweety off guard. He had to admit the seriousness of the reality Herbert was referring to and somehow explain his casual approach to it all. It was truly a profound TV moment.
Nov 09 2008
Organizer-In-Chief
Throughout this most recent campaign I, like all of you, have been trying to get a handle on just who this man is that we have now elected as our next President. So many of us are projecting our hopes, fears, and cynicism onto who he is and what kind of President he will be, that it often gets confusing.
I continue to have lots of questions that will only be answered in the days to come. But the one thing I feel pretty certain about is that if you look at Obama’s history and how he ran his campaign, this is a man who believes in community organizing. The question is, how will that affect how he governs?
Nov 09 2008
She said what?????????
This is going to be a short little essay about something I saw today that busted my chops. Not sure if others will be interested, but I wanted to say something.
I would guess that you’re all aware that Michelle Bachmann was re-elected (boo-hiss-boo). Really, it was a pretty big disappointment for the rest of us who live in this state. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to vote against her.
Anyway, she’s all wonderful and cudly about Obama winning now – after she accused him of being anti-American. Here’s what she told Politico:
Nov 08 2008
Keeping an Eye on the Lame Duck
OK, so I’ll admit it, I’m a Rachel Maddow groupie. But watching her show, I really appreciate that in the middle of everyone focusing all of their attention on the election and feeling the need to pontificate on every word Obama says, she is spending at least a few minutes keeping her eye on the criminals that will continue to be in office for the next two months.
Rachel has a segment called Lame Duck Watch (that’s a link to the video of last night’s segment) where she’s highlighting what the Bush administration does over its last few days in office (boy, does that feel good to write!!)
In last night’s installment, Rachel tells us that the Bush administration has, this week, scrapped the work they were doing on Mideast peace. I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing – I don’t trust what those guys would even try to pull off in that arena. And given their love affair with everything Israeli and complete dismissal of Palestinian concerns, it was destined to fail anyway.
Nov 05 2008
What they’re saying
I originally got a “gig” on the front page here at DD because I made an attempt to write a weekly roundup of some of the discussions going on in the diversosphere called Blog Voices. Over the months, I’ve veered off that course, but I thought that the day after the United States elected the first Black President, it might be time to check in and see what folks are saying. This is definitely not an exhaustive look, but I checked in with some of the folks whose writing has had an impact on me and would like to share some of what I found with you.
First of all, Kai over at Zuky wrote an amazing piece before the election that he titled The Palin’ Identity that captures the message of this campaign in a very powerful way. I’ll give you a taste, but mostly encourage you to go take in the whole thing.
Nov 04 2008
America…moving beyond the shadows
According to an article in the Charlotte Post, Obama had a telephone call with black leaders on election eve, Monday night. Included in the call were Rev. Joseph Lowery, Oprah Winfrey, Donna Brazile, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn.
After talking about the issues facing the African American community and the response to his campaign, he waxed eloquent for awhile.
Nov 03 2008
Maddow – A Star is Born
About six months ago, our own buhdy decided to start The Maddow Movement to try and get MSNBC to give her a show of her own. Here’s what he said in his opening statement.
The Maddow Movement represents an achievable, desirable goal on the part of the Netroots to meaningfully change the framing, spin and tone of the news by helping to get more progressive…and less conservative…voices heard in the national media conversation. Thus both flexing our power as news “consumers” and helping to move the national media away from its role as apologists and enablers of the failed policies of the right wing of America.
As we all know, in September The Rachel Maddow Show was launched. Not only that, it has been hugely successful. Ratings show that she is serously beating the Bopsy Twins on Faux News for the much coveted 25-54 year old age demographic. And she was featured in the New York Times Magazine two weeks ago.
Nov 01 2008
On The Day of the Dead
At some point every Halloween since 2006, I find myself going back and reading an essay by one of my favorite bloggers, Madman in the Marketplace, titled Dia De Los Muertos. Since it gives me such a jolt of inspiration every time, I hope Madman won’t mind if I share alot of it with you today.
First of all, a little background on the Day of the Dead from wiki:
Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the Anglo Saxon perspective, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.
Oct 28 2008
If we really did believe
Just imagine what our educational system might look like if we really did believe that children are our future.