What Makes a Black Man?

I penned an article for the Rising Oak Foundation Newsletter that was published this week called “What Makes a Black Man?”

It’s the first of a two-part series on the topic. Here’s an excerpt:

The responsible man is always accountable in everything he engages in. The responsible man has a sense of accountability that actively denies hypocrisy wherever it tries to creep in. The responsible man is healthily consistent in his worldview, while be sensitive and introspective enough to realize that he may need to update his view from time to time.

Rising Oak does a lot of great work around the country empowering communities and organizations that focus on strengthening the quality of the lives of Black boys.

Enjoy the piece, and stay tuned for part 2.

One Love. One II.

John Legend's Commencement Address at UPenn

I generally disdain the Cult of the Celebrity. It frustrates me when the unqualified, unverified, and unquestioned present weak arguments and empty claims that are accepted as facts given from experts. While I also reject the Cult of Expertise, I’d take that one over celebrity.

The Cult of Celebrity & the Cult of Expertise often cross paths during this time of year: graduation time. Colleges across the country are hosting commencement celebrations and inviting speakers of all types to inspire students to go off and change the world. President Obama. First Lady Michelle Obama. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Newark, NJ Mayor Corey Booker. John Legend.

John Legend? Yeah, that John Legend.

He addressed the graduating class of UPenn on Monday, the school he graduated from 10 years ago. At first, I saw this as a classic case of the Cult of the Celebrity:

1. Why exactly is this guy giving this address.
2. Is he really that interesting/compelling/appropriate?
3. I bet I’d give a better speech than him

While I will definitely not concede the third point, I was pleasantly surprised with the address he delivered. So much so in fact, that I’d like to share it with all of you.

My key takeaway from the speech was:

Now, I don’t assume that the truth is commonly found. Like its bedfellows of democracy and justice, I believe it is quite rare to find. It is born through process. It is gained through questioning. It is found in listening. It’s about accepting that complex problems require complicated solutions.

Enjoy this, and share it.

One Love. One II.

P.S. Now, back to my hating on the Cult of the Celebrity.

The SuperSpade is Everywhere – on the Kindle, the iPhone, and everywhere else

The SuperSpade is everywhere.

Just a quick note today about ways Brandon and I are making The SuperSpade available to you in as many ways as possible:

• If you’re a Twitter user, make sure you follow Garlin (@garlin), Brandon (@bqw) and The SuperSpade (@superspade).
• If you own a Kindle, you can subscribe to The SuperSpade on your Kindle for $1.99/month. (My personal blog is there too).
• If you read from your cell phone, type http://www.thesuperspade.com into your phone’s web browser. It will work on any phone with Internet access. If you’re using an iPhone, you’ll see a special, optimized version of the site. It’ll look something like this.
• If you use an RSS reader like Google Reader, make sure you add our RSS feed to your list.
• And as always, you can put http://www.thesuperspade.com into any web browser and get to the main site.

Last but not least, we’ll soon be rolling out an email newsletter where subscribers will receive great insider benefits like:

• Tips on how you can be an effective activist and get involved at the local and national level
• Additional in-depth analysis on issues and events
• Connections to other online activists and bloggers working on issues impacting people of color
• A chance to have your voice heard on The SuperSpade
• Much more…

There will be another announcement when the email newsletter is up and running.

Stay tuned and stay connected.

One Love. One II.

Photo Credit: lennbob on Flickr

A Handicapped Inauguration

 

No place for the handicapped

The Inauguration of Barack Obama was an historic, life-changing, captivating experience for nearly everyone who refers to themselves as a citizen of this country or an inhabitant of this planet. Unfortunately, a seat in history’s theater was denied to myself and hundreds of others that wanted to watch the ushering in of an epoch of a renewed American spirit. Amidst the tears of joy, achievement, and progress, existed tears of pain and missed opportunity. Alongside the jubilation, frustration. With triumph, tribulation.

I write here to tell my story of the Inauguration. It may differ from most others that have been written, but all accounts are important. I especially want to thank the angels that were in the crowd to help Ellen and I on Inauguration Day. Warning: this post is very long.

The SuperSpade at the Inauguration

The SuperSpade will be covering the Inauguration Parade and Swearing In live and in person. My fiancee, mother, aunt, and I will be attending the official festivities with special seating thanks to the Presidential Classroom, a phenomenal program I participated in when I was in High School.

The coverage will be in the form of blog posts here, photos on Flickr, and posts/quotes/pics updated constantly on my Twitter feed.

Further, my personal Twitter feed will be syndicated by the San Josey Mercury Newspaper across the top of their homepage.

Brandon and I are looking forward to covering this historic event, and we’re glad you’ll be a part of our experience.

One Love. One II.

Happy 2009

Happy New Year from The SuperSpade.

I want to personally thank everyone on behalf of Brandon and I for continuing to support our efforts from the time we started this site in November 2005.

2008 was an exciting, inspiring, challenging, and educational year for all of us. As we look ahead to 2009, we can only pray that this year builds upon all those years previous.

I’m not big on resolutions, but there are certain commitments that I’d like to share with you that I want to help guide my thoughts and actions in the coming year.

• The simplest solution is usually the correct one.
• Err on the side of decisiveness.
• Let go of what you can’t impact.
• Long-term thinking does not replace present-day action.
• If you love someone, act on it.

Happy New Year family.

I look forward to having a great time on this site and having great conversations with all of you.

One Love. One II.

Garlin is Getting Married! Now I Need Your Help…

Yes, it’s official.

I proposed to my my girlfriend, Ellen Smith, on December 1st, and she happily accepted! We can’t wait to marry one another and spend the rest of our lives together.

Now we need your help

Ellen and I are finalists in the FOX 2 Detroit Wedding of a Lifetime contest. The contest winner will receive a beautiful, all-expenses-paid destination wedding on Lake Michigan.

I am asking all of you to vote for us to win the Wedding of a Lifetime.

How to vote:

1. Watch our 1 minute video to hear why Ellen and I deserve to win.
   If the link doesn’t work, you can paste http://bit.ly/wedding-of-a-lifetime into your browser address line. 
2. Create an account on the FOX 2 Detroit website. You’ll need to give your email address, name, and address. You don’t have to live in Michigan to vote.
3. Vote for us! You can vote once every hour. Voting ends at midnight on December 14th.

There are only 5 days left to vote, so please vote early and often. The contest winners will be announced on December 15th.

The SuperSpade has been an important part of my life since Brandon and I started the site in November 2005. I appreciate your continued support of the site and of me personally.

Other news

While I’m writing about personal news, I’ll also include that I had knee surgery on December 2nd (the day after I proposed). I’m at home now, recovering, and will hopefully be back up and on my feet before Christmas. Please pray for me. And yes, voting for Ellen & I will make my knee heal faster.

One Love. One II.

Interview: Why Early Voting is Both Important and Revolutionary

On Monday, I was interviewed as part of a small series on Politics and Technology by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine. We talked at length about early voting, why it’s such a big issue this election, what are the types of good & bad things that we can do with early voting data, and ways that people can find out early voting information with tools like Know How To Vote.

I’m looking forward to talking with Jeff again about Politics and Technology soon.

Enjoy.

One Love. One II.

Vote for the Social Media for Social Change Panel

As you may remember, I have been writing for a couple of months now at a site called Social Media for Social Change. The creator of that site, Michelle Riggen-Ransom, is moderating a panel at the upcoming 2009 SXSW Interactive conference called Social Media for Social Change, and, if accepted, I will be a panelist.

Here is a description of the panel:

Exploring ways non-profits and businesses are using social media to drive social change. From forums sharing life-changing information to online communities loaning money to entrepreneurs in Africa: social media tools and applications are powerful and growing. Find out what folks just like you are doing to change the world.

I’ll be talking about the online activism work that myself and others have been doing, specifically how The SuperSpade and other members of blacknetaction are impacting the offline world through our online efforts.

Here’s the comment I left on the panel description page:

This is an important topic, as technology is moving beyond the realm of mere entertainment and utility. Realizing that we can use the social media tools we love and create to not only make money but to make life better in a truly holistic sense is the key to the growth and sustainability of our industry.

What I Need You to Do: VOTE!!!

In order to make the panel happen and have the dialogue occur on a large, public platform, we need you to go vote for it. Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to the Social Media for Social Change Panel Description page
2. Where it says Your Vote, click 5 stars, which means that you find this panel “Amazing – This justifies a trip to SXSW.“

Please vote before voting closes on August 29th. Vote early and vote often! If you’re feeling extra generous, sign up and leave a comment with your thoughts on the topic. Then, take a look at some of the other extremely interesting panels.

Thansk in advance!

One Love. One II.

The SuperSpade at Netroots Nation

The one and only Brandon Q. White is holding down The SuperSpade at the Netroots Nation conference in Austin, TX this weekend. The conference is an annual meeting of the minds of progressive activists who’s primary work is being done via the Internet.

Most importantly, Brandon will be leading a panel discussion today designed by the two of us called Black Blogging Beyond Obama. The goals of the panel are to discuss what the importance and position of Black online activism is and should be when we broaden our scope beyond election-focused efforts. Here’s a summary:

Black bloggers voice will be paid close attention given Obama’s candidacy and while the increased attention and addition of new voices are welcome; our collective voice is just as pertinent for issues unrelated to Obama’s campaign. As such, what steps should we be taking now to make sure that this message is not lost on each other and the larger blogosphere/media infrastructure?

I know B will knock it out of the park today and this weekend, raising the level of thought in Black political discourse to ever-increasing heights.

UPDATE: Video of the panel is availabe here.

One Love. One II.

Introducing: Black on Black Thought

The tag line for The SuperSpade is Black Thought at the Highest Level. So it is in the spirit of elevating Black political discourse that we launch a unique new series called Black on Black Thought, a collaboration between us and James Dickson, a Black libertarian conservative blogger who is the author of The Young and the Conservative at The Washington Times.

With Black on Black Thought, twice weekly we’ll explore various topics with James presenting a conservative perspective at his site and us presenting a progressive perspective here. To date Black conservative and Black progressive have never been juxtaposed in this way. Showcasing the diversity existent in Black political thought is not only a timely experiment in ideological exploration, but it is a necessary conversation that lays the foundation for Black political pride and Black political power.

We look forward to your participation in this journey with us.

One Love. One II.

UPDATED: The SuperSpade on NPR's 'Day to Day' Thursday

Last week I recorded an interview for the Day to Day show on NPR. I was asked a series of questions relating Barack & Michelle Obama’s “terrorist fist bump,” as well as the election as a whole and whether or not there was an understanding of the Black experience in white America.

That interview is set to air on Thursday, 25 June 2008. Check your local listings to find out when it’s on in your area so you can hear it live. For those that can’t here it or those who are in places where there’s no NPR, I’ll put a link on this site as soon as I have one.

UPDATE: I’ll be on the What’s the new what? segment of Day to Day. The audio and my comments will be available on NPR’s site.

One Love. One II.

Garlin writing at Social Media for Social Change

I want to give you all a heads up on a new site that I’ll be writing for called Social Media for Social Change.

I came across the site’s founder, Michelle Riggen-Ransom, while reading about her debate with a technology on whether true altruism actually existed. I emailed her after reading about that discussion, and let her know that I was interested in working with her to create a meaningful dialogue within the tech community on Social Media for Social Change. I’m looking forward to making that happen.

You can read my intro post on the site here. I’ll let you know when I post up there and provide links, but I encourage people to check Michelle’s site out and add it to their reading list.

One Love. One II.

National Conference for Media Reform 2008 Wrap-up

I’m not back in Seattle after attending the Free Press National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, MN this past weekend.

There were lots of interesting panels and compelling speakers, my favorite of which being:

• How Independent Media Creates Change, which featured my friend and Brave New Films founder, Robert Greenwald.
• Power in Your Pocket: Cell Phones and Social Change, which I loved because it talked about how cell phone technology can be used as an organizing tool.
• News for the People: Can Black Radio provide the News we need? because it featured my friend and mentor Bruce Dixon‘ along with the brilliant Dr. Jared Ball.

But the most valuable part of the conference was the opportunity to meet so many great people in the hallways, at the parties, and around the city. I met folks I’d only worked with online, and others for the first time. These people I met and interacted with for the first time in person included:

• Friend and fellow Black blogger Baratunde
• Black blogging pioneer Chris Rabb of Afro-Netizen
• Veteran activist and writer Bruce Dixon
• Feminist blogger Samhita Mukopadhyay of Feministing
• Freelance journalist Kristal Brent Zook
• Award-winning journalist George Curry
• Popular liberal blogger Atrios
• Many, many more…

I also was on a panel Sunday morning called Where We’ll Take It: Young Leaders on the Future of Media. I was on the panel with Jenny Lee from Detroit Summer and 2 other young activists (I was actually the oldest member of the panel). It was a very passionate discussion, and one that was extremely well received by the large audience that attended. I spoke mainly on the importance of localization and new media focusing more on local news and stories, as well as the rise of Black activism online. As soon as Free Press sends me the audio and the video, I’ll put it up on the site. (UPDATE: The audio is here.)

I enjoyed myself, I enjoyed my panel, and I enjoyed interacting with all of the great people I met. This conference has great energy, even better than last year’s. Though it still has a long way to go as far as having more people of color in attendance, they better on that than they did last year as well. All in all, this was a definite step in the right direction.

Throughout the coming year, I’ll be doing more media reform work with Free Press, and I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

One Love. One II.

What The SuperSpade is up to

It’s been quiet around here lately, and I apologize for that. Despite the apparent silence, some great things have been in the works and will be coming down the pipe shortly. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Michigan Policy Summit

Brandon hit a home run with his Michigan Policy Summit a couple of weeks ago. The nationally-recognized, progressive voices of Amy Goodman and Jim Hightower keynoted the event, but the most important parts of the Summit were the training sessions and regional breakouts that gave activists chances to network and plan what to do to advance the progressive agenda throughout the great state of Michigan.

Here are some pictures from the event taken by an attendee.

National Conference for Media Reform

I will be participating in the Free Press 2008 National Conference for Media Reform, which June 6-8 in Minneapolis, MN. Specifically, I will be speaking as part of panel on the final day of the conference entitled “Where We’ll Take It: Young Leaders on the Future of Media“. In this session, I’ll be sharing my vision for progressive leadership in the 21st century. I wrote about why I’m attending this year’s conference at the Free Press blog. I’d encourage as many of you that are able to register and attend.

You may remember my attendance of this conference last year. I had an amazing time, and the relationships that began there have layed the foundation for some of the great work that The SuperSpade has done over the past year.

One Love. One II.

Advertising on The SuperSpade

Some of you may have noticed the ad that displayed on the left side of The SuperSpade over the past week. That ad was from MoveOn.org, the first advertiser ever on The SuperSpade, and we thank them for looking to us to communicate their progressive message.

There may be other readers, companies, or organizations out there that want to display their progressive messages on The SuperSpade. If you are interested, send an email to me at garlin@thesuperspade.com to find out more. We will sell ad space on this site from time to time for causes and organizations that we support and that are relevant to our readers.

Thanks again to MoveOn and to all the readers of this site. Brandon, Steve, and I will continue to serve you to the best of our abilities.

One Love. One II.

A SuperSpade ties the knot…today!!!

At approximately 5pm today, our very own SuperSpade Steve DeVougas will be getting married in South Carolina. I hear the weather is beautiful right now and I just wanted to wish Steve and his new bride Sharece all the best as they embark on a new and exciting chapter in their lives. On behalf of Garlin and the entire SuperSpade community, we wish you nothing but happiness, joy, and peace.

For more info on the lovely couple, visit this site.

Congratulations Steve!!!

Let’s Get Married…I think

So, ya boy is getting married in three days and I need to write my vows.  Me and My ol’ lady are saying some words to each other before we give it the standard heave ho.  As such, I need to write something sweet. 

However, I have always been of the opinion that you should promise to do or not do certain things when you write your own vows.  So I figured the blogosphere is far better than my one head and a stack of R-n-B cds.  Thus I am asking for your assistance.  What do you think I should promise to do for my future wife that is not a rehash of the standard vows?  In the words of the late Ike Turner, I need to put some stank on it.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  I am also open to any advice the vets have for a young whipper snapper going through this life changing event.  And dont worry, I will chronicle all of the changes of married life for posterity.  Because at 24 1/2, this should be quite the adventure. 

Wish me Godspeed and thanks in advance,

Steven M DeVougas

It’s our anniversary!!!

Two years ago this month, The SuperSpade was born and everything this site and community has become would not have been possible were it not for you. I speak for Garlin and Steve when I say that we are constantly renewed and inspired by your support. And through it all, we always strive to speak from the heart and provide analysis and commentary to help you in your day to day. So continue to grow with us as together we live life, learn from each other and our mistakes, and exchange experiences and love with people with whom you will probably never see. We live a good life,

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Jena 6 and a word on civility

For all the new folks that found the site and particularly interested in the Free the Jena 6 piece, I appreciate your presence. What I don’t appreciate is the sewage that I see in some of the comments. The subtitle for this site is Black Thought at the Highest Level which means that this is not a place for vulgarity, cheap one-liners, or otherwise uncivil dialogue.

If you cannot make your point without reason and tact, let me inform you that there are thousands of sites that appreciate such discourse. The SuperSpade is not one of them.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Brandon’s new venture: Reporter for Michigan Messenger

First, I want to just applaud and thank Garlin for holding down The SuperSpade. Our regular readers know that for the past several days, there have been new posts from G it seems like every hour. So if I can squeeze in an announcement, I am pleased and excited to let you know that I am now a reporter for the Michigan Messenger.

This new online newspaper/blog is a collaboration of journalists and professional bloggers across Michigan with the goal of breaking news and influencing the conversations about issues. To borrow from my colleague, Michigan Messenger “is part of the Center for Independent Media’s – a not-for-profit organization that fosters diversity of ideas in the national debate by educating and training people on the use of new communications technologies – New Journalism Program.”

My beats include Detroit politics, African-American issues, prison reform & drug sentencing, K-12, and CD-9. I have two articles up right now relating to Alternatives for Girls and the other on auto insurance redlining. I do encourage you to visit the site and show love, especially if you are from or live in Michigan. Like Garlin, I will be posting on The SuperSpade just as often and cross-post on both sites at times too.

Most importantly though, this opportunity would not have presented itself had it not been for you the reader, (my family) continually coming back to the site, posting comments, calling Garlin or I because you were afraid to put a comment, etc. Your participation in The SuperSpade community has truly made my dreams come true.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Introducing Dr. Calvin Mackie

In our continuing effort to present unique and authoritative voices and perspectives on the days’ issues, I’m honored to introduce Dr. Calvin Mackie as a new guest contributor to The SuperSpade. He’ll be writing on a variety of issues including Hurricane Katrina and the recovery efforts, as well as motivational, societal, and politcal pieces.

Besides being a close mentor and dear friend of mine, Dr. Mackie is a speaker, author, and public servant who currently sits on the Louisiana Recovery Authority. More about him here.

I’m excited about what he’ll bring and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it all.

One Love. One II.

Garlin’s new gig: Blog Host for Brave New Films

I am pleased to let you all know that I have recently begun serving as a Blog Host & Writer for Brave New Films. This is truly a blessing to be able to continue to share the ideals that have been birthed and discussed on The SuperSpade with new audiences. This opportunity would not have been possible without the love and support from The SuperSpade Family.

I would like to thank Robert, Jim, and the rest of the folks at Brave New Films for welcoming me onboard. I encourage you all to take a look at the site, as there is some great content that inspires actions that will change this world for the better.

I’ll still be writing here on The SuperSpade just as often, and I’ll be cross-posting items on both sites at times too.

One Love. One II.

Black Net Action

B and I have been busy lately, so that’s why it’s been kind of slow around here. Brandon is at Yearly Kos representin’ well. I attended a very interesting Blogger meetup here in Seattle courtesy of KOMO-TV (Seattle’s ABC affiliate). There has also been some stuff happening behind the scenes. For nearly a year, B and I have wanted to organize & connect with Black bloggers to make some impact on the offline world. We had several ideas, but none of them really stuck to the wall. That has changed now.

black net action is an effort to create a virtual meeting of the minds in the Black blogosphere. Inspired by the work we and others did with the whole CBCI/Fox fiasco, we are going to build on those relationships to create more positive change. We will definitely keep everyone abreast as the plans for the group form more concretely. Understand that it is because of you who read The SuperSpade that we have been blessed to grow to the level we have, and form the relationships we’ve formed with you and other bloggers with similar interests. I speak for myself, B, and Steve when I say: Thank You.

One Love. One II.

The SuperSpade in Chicago

What’s up fam,

I am notoriously private with things that I should normally share with my family. Readers of The SuperSpade know that I end every post with “Stay up fam.” So as my family, I am happy to announce that I will be representing The SuperSpade in Chicago at the 2007 Yearlykos Convention, an annual gathering of progressive members of the Netroots that view blogs as a tool for changing the status quo. Moreover, I am part of the Chicago 17, a group of young, diverse, and progressive bloggers that normally wouldn’t have been able to participate in the convention. (I am a full time organizer…enough said)

I am very grateful to the donors that made it possible for me to go, (hat tip to Kid Oakland and the whole team!) and I speak for Garlin and Steve when I say we are forever in debt to you as your insightful comments (on the site or on the phone) continue to enrich the depth and breadth of The SuperSpade. If you will be in Chicago, make sure you drop me a line.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Fill out The SuperSpade 3 Minute Survey

For those of you who have not had a chance, please take 3 minutes to fill out our survey to help make this website serve you better.

If you already filled out the survey, thank you!

The SuperSpade 3 MINUTE Survey

In order to make The SuperSpade: Black Thought at the Highest Level the best website it can be, Brandon, Steve and I want to ask you all questions about how you use The SuperSpade.

We have put together a 3 minute survey that we would like you to please fill out. It asks about how often you read The SuperSpade, and things you like and don’t like about the site.

Please take 3 minutes and fill out the survey and help us better serve you.

If you have any problems or questions, email TheSuperSpade@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post.

One Love. One II.

Categories:
SuperSpade
Survey

The SuperSpade live on Air America Radio

Right now, resident SuperSpade Garlin, will be on Air America Radio at the National Conference on Media Reform. This show is being streamed live right now and you can listen right now at www.airamerica.com, then click on listen.

We will continue to reach out to the people and invite them to the family. And if at all possible, we will try to bring you a recording of Garlin’s segment. Good work G,

Stay up fam,

Categories:
Radio interview
Garlin

SuperSpade Categories

By now you’ve noticed the new categories section on the right side of all of our SuperSpade pages.  Now I’d like to officially explain what it is and how it works.

Brandon, Steve, and I went through and categorized every post written on the site.  We did this to better organize things for readers and make it easier to find stories on specific topics.  We’ve also created our own personal categories for stories written by each of us respectively, which you can see by clicking “Posts” under each of our names in the “Contributors” section on the right of each page (you can still get to the profiles by clicking “Profile”).

Going forward, you will see at the bottom of each post a list of which categories that post belongs to.  You can click these categories to see all of the other posts in the same category.

You all know that Brandon, Steve, and I have our own respective, unique closing salutations for our writings.  Now, those familiar signatures will be another way that you can link to all of the stories written by that story’s author (for example, clicking on “One Love. One II.” below will take you to stories authored by me).

On the right side of the pages, we will keep a set of 12 categories, which provide a pretty good cross-section of everything we’ve written.  This is not a comprehensive list of all of the categories we have, and this list will change from time to time by request and by topic frequency.

Please enjoy the new features.  This should give everyone a great way to access content on The SuperSpade.  Please leave questions and/or feedback as comments on this post.

One Love. One II.

Have you Registered?

Since I’m now pretty much settled into my new place, I finalized establishing myself as a resident of the State of Washington yesterday.  What does that mean?  I did three things:

1. Got a new Driver’s License
2. Switched my tags over for my car
3. Registered to vote

#3 is what I’m stressing here.  We’ve talked about ensuring that you are registered early before, and I want to re-iterate that point again today.  As the 7 Nov 2006 election draws near, please make sure that you are registered properly.  You can do so by going to sites like this to get the ball rolling.

With all of the talk of past election/voter fraud & intimidation that has happened in past elections, we have a choice between two reactions:

1. Behave as if pre-emptively defeated, and not vote
This is the whole “They’re gonna cheat anyway, so I might as well not bother.”  This is dangerous because it says that fear of election stealing in this case will lead to the paralysis of staying home on election day.  I know in my heart that we face challenges everyday, including election day.  Yet many most of us are able to work through these challenges and do what we need to do for ourselves and our families.  I submit to you that it is imperative to the well-being of you and your loved ones to vote your conscious and hold to account those who have misled you in the past.  I do not subscribe to the notion that those who have the opportunity and ability to voice their support of dissent of anything and chose not to are credible as critics.

2. Vote, believing that when we act collectively we are unable to be defeated
Here’s a secret: it’s a whole hell of a lot harder to steal a landslide than it is to steal a close election.  Why don’t we make these bastards take the election by having record turnout?  At the end of the day, I want to feel like I tried, like I said my piece, like I gave it a shot.  I don’t feel that there is anything wrong with that.  I am confident that if our people commit to voting, commit to becoming active participants in causes that affect them, commit to holding accountable those who have misled, mistreated, or misguided them, then we will be well on our way to understanding why voting matters.

I’m going with option 2 above.  If you disagree, tell me why.

One Love.  One II.

The SuperSpade Bi-Centennial

This is the 200th post in the history of The SuperSpade!

We want to send a big thank you to all of our readers, commenters, supporters, and contributors.

We have grown tremendously, and the future is bright. The future is bright because of your willingness to seek information from many sources, and rejecting the notion that the only place to find out what’s happening is thru corporate media. The future is bright because of your willingness to look at current events critically and understand how they directly impact your daily lives. The future is bright because of your willingness to embrace a spirit of action and participation in what you believe in, being not only hearers and readers, but doers also.

Again, thank you for the support. Continue to spread the word about this community we are building, this movement we are organizing, this vision we are realizing. The SuperSpade site in the coming months will be adding new features that will promote even more participation from our readers and supporters. As always, send all questions, comments, and site suggestions to TheSuperSpade@gmail.com.

One Love. One II.
The SuperSpade. Black Thought at the Highest Level.

Insight

I’m excited to introduce a new feature to The SuperSpade today called “Insight.” On the third Friday of every month, Dumi from Black at Michigan will present thoughts and observations on what’s happened over the last month from the perspective of a genius.

We thank Dumi for coming onboard and welcome him to The SuperSpade. Enjoy.

COTET: The Bigger Picture on Double Standards

I’d like to point you all to the second question posted on Chronicles of the Expecatant Tenth, and my comments in response to it. The question deals with how a woman are treated and addressed in the midst of the misogyny that is commercial hip-hop. However, I see this as openning up discussion on the broader issue of double standards and how we confront/destroy/embrace them.

I look forward to your commentary, as I see this as an extension of the things we have been discussing on The SuperSpade with regard to personal and familial and community relationships.

Chronicles of The Expectant Tenth

I’d like to welcome to the internet’s network of Black Thinkers the Chronicles of the Expectant Tenth. People have seen this site on my profile and said “you’re writing for another site?!?!?!” The answer to that question is: kind of. This site has been started to create discourse on a series of questions that Black people are facing today. The topics will range from the political to the social to the psychological. My contributions to this site will be as an avid participant and commenter on questions posed. When I post comments, I will provide links to them here. I encourage you all to do the same by commenting on COTET and also posting your COTET comments on The SuperSpade.

You can read my comments to the site’s first question on “An All Black World” here.

Community is about mutual support. Let’s make our voices heard.

The SuperSpade hits 50!!

No, we have not been around for 50 years. But we have now posted 50 times!! This is a great milestone. We appreciate all of the love and support from our readers. Please stay tuned to our site, continue to support it by reading and commenting, and send any feedback, questions, and love to TheSuperSpade@gmail.com.