Challenges have the uncanny ability to sharpen our focus. A knee injury will make you more mindful of walking than ever before. Bad food introduces you to taste buds you never knew existed. Adrenaline enables amazing physical feats.
The same is true for political movements. Progressives are smarting now. Many on the left are disenchanted with the President, disappointed in the pending health care legislation and disillusioned about the 2010 mid-term elections. What’s a movement to do?
Real progress
We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our renewed focus is an opportunity to build a foundation for future success, resilience and empowerment. This means taking stock of the real progress being made in this moment while simultaneously fighting to transition society from its peppered past to a progressive future.
…our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn’t see progress when it came…Let’s take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching. Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were — which was progress.
What victories have we won? A few include:
Passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act, bringing us a step closer to fully realizing equal pay for equal work.
Martha Coakley and others’ recent electoral defeats echo the sentiment of the 2008 Presidential election: candidates who proactively or passively represent a broken status quo will fail. Insiders can no longer combine tepid emotions and bland appeals with party machines and expect victory. They instead must take the hope demonstrated by the 2008 election and marry it to action.
The infinite hope that Dr. King spoke of us present within the progressive movement. Young people are organizing like never before in favor of comprehensive immigration reform reflective of America’s ideals, not its demons. Their hope is moving them to action.
That infinite hope is present in the hearts of millions of ambitious yet unemployed Americans. People are coming together to petition their government to work on their behalf to create jobs rather than give handouts to industries that have turned their backs on their employees. The hope of these workers is moving them to action.
That hope still exists in health care. Amidst the angst of the centrists, the exasperation of many Progressives and the perverse cynicism of corporate and conservative interests, the American people remain thirsty for quality, affordable health care. The current proposals have their differences and flaws, but our communities are speaking up in unison when they demand a health care system that works for them. Listening to the practical, conscientious voice of constituents would have led to a substantive debate that disregarded idiocy while embracing the courageous optimism of the American spirit.
On Tuesday, December 15, 2009, I testified at an FCC workshop entitled “Speech, Democratic Engagement and the Open Internet.” Video of the hearing is embedded below and available on YouTube. The moderator introduces me at 58:27, and my roughly 6 minute remarks begin at 59:07. The Q&A that begins at 1:26:18 (My answers are at 1:28:00-1:29:29 and 1:41:20-1:43:31).
My message was that an open internet is necessary for the political participation of all people of all shapes, sizes, races and income in the future. My full opening statement with references is below.
As new tools of civic and civil protest evolve – as in Iran, where protesters are using social networks to keep the rest of the world apprised of the response to that country’s recently held elections – they present both new opportunities and new challenges for freedom of speech.
Protesting using Twitter
Twitter has been singled out as the key communication platform for protesters and those watching them since last week’s election. It has enabled people around the globe to read real time accounts of the happenings.
It has also enabled people around the globe to participate in the protest in ways some have never seen before.
Such armchair activism has included setting up proxy servers to help Iranian tweeters get around government blockades of the site.
Another example was the attempted DDOS attacks on Iranian web servers from abroad (DDoS stands for Denial of Service, a method of hacking that involves sending lots of web requests every second with the hopes of overloading a web server and rendering a website unusable/unavailable).
Principally, the inclusion of non-Iranians in these protest efforts is a good thing. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. However, these particular actions raise serious ethical and legal questions that must be thought through.
As interested activists and citizens, we must be prudent in our actions to ensure they help more than hurt.
By doing so, do we make our civilian network infrastructure a valid target to an adversary? What risks are associated with a group of private citizens sending an unintended message to a potential adversary in the form of a coordinated network disruption?
Perhaps we are, but I don’t think that’s the case.
Earlier this year, Russia basically did this to Georgia, and caught a lot of flack for it. This sets a precedent that is dangerous, especially if we don’t understand its consequences.
Another question: if the attacks were actually successful, wouldn’t we be destroying the only portals we have into the very place we’re so interested in?
Technology is an increasingly powerful and important part of our society and our culture. As it expands to touch more parts of our lives, we must be ever-mindful of its drawbacks as well as its benefits.
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.
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:
Why exactly is this guy giving this address.
Is he really that interesting/compelling/appropriate?
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.
This post is part of: A day of blogging for justice: Standing up against the police pre-trial electrocution of black children, women and men by taser.
Tasers are instruments of torture.
Torture talk has been all over the news recently. The unfortunate [yet understandable] focus of the conversation is on torture in a military & international context.
This causes us to overlook the torture and murder of citizens here at home, victims of racial profiling, police brutality, and excessive use of lethal force by law enforcement.
This issue is not new, but the instruments of this type of torture are ever-evolving. While military torture involves tools like the waterboard, our domestic version uses the taser.
Torture mentality has perverted our entire system
What happens at the top always impacts the bottom. Lawless leadership leads to lawless practices on the ground. When the Bush Administration OK’d torture, low-level interrogators became torturers. On the local level, when police chiefs embrace tasers as “non-lethal” alternatives to guns, people get killed unnecessarily.
Leadership complicit in torture and murder must be held accountable at all levels.Further, we need to preemptively demand that our leaders craft policies that prevent death, not enable it.
Our wars here at home on petty criminals and the disenfranchised should not be ones that result in capital murder.
What you can do
Contact your local police chief and ask whether officers are carrying tasers. Look up their contact information by searching for their zip code on USACOPS. If they’re using tasers not, thank him or her. If they are carrying, do the following:
Ask: Is the entire force armed with tasers?
If not, which units have them?
Ask: Do officers carry both tasers and guns?
Ask what the motivation is for this policy.
Ask: What’s the usage protocol for tasers? This will answer the question “when should tasers be used in place of guns?”
Suggest: Stop carrying tasers
Direct them to our site documenting taser abuses in the US. Let them know that you’ll feel safer if police enagaged in non-lethal ways whenever possible. You know that the officers are well-trained and highly professional, and you just want them to do the best they can without taking lives.
Simply asking these questions will cause leadership to reflect on their policy. Reflection is the first step to change.
I was recently asked to comment on an article by Linda Burnham about how the Left, specifically the anti-Capitalist Left, should feel about and work with the Obama Administration. It’s called “Notes on an Orientation to the Obama Presidency”.
There is real debate about how ardent Leftists, Progressive activists, think-tanks, etc. should approach the government under President Obama. Groups that have felt alienated by American politics and the pervasiveness of Conservative ideology have been frustrated & cynical for the past 60 years. They are not content with incremental solutions to big problems. They are almost offended when with presented with nuanced distinctions in policy or rhetoric that at the end of the day is not demonstrably different from the status quo.
While I find myself in this group much more often than not, there are some real opportunities to make progress on a fundamentally Progressive agenda. We must take proper advantage of these times, lest this once-in-a-generation opportunity pass us by.
I’m just as excited as the next activist to see so many people engaging in the electoral process this year. People are phone-banking, canvasing, knocking on doors, calling their congress members, etc. All of this volunteerism is beautiful, an expression what passionate political participation by an informed and interested citizenry should look like in a democracy.
What’s not to like?
Well, there is actually one big thing not to like: Very, very little of this is sustainable. That’s right. 95% of this enthusiasm and participation will likely die the day after election day, with the other 5% dying the day after inauguration day.
Republicans don’t like Community Organizers. Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin ridiculed them specifically in their speeches last Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. This modern crop of Republicans has demonstrated how much they hate grassroots organizing in many ways with their hatred or unionization, their damnation of dissenters inside and outside of the government, and their willingness to ignore the rights, thoughts, and actions of the people of foreign nations that they decide to invadedestroyoccupy “help”.
While these positions on their own are outrageous and not in line with the ideals of the America that Republicans claim to love so much, it is consistent with another thread of modern-day Republican rhetoric and practice: racism.
For every generation leading up to [and including] the current one, the only foray for Black people to better their lives collectively has been through community organizing. When I say community organizing, I don’t just mean the highly visible ones like Malcolm & Martin, I mean the invisible ones that most of us will never hear or speak of that sacrifice their time, treasure, and talents so that people’s day-to-day lives are better and that their voices are heard. This is the path that nearly all Black politicians have taken to attain the capital needed to even run for office, let alone win. For one to minimize the work of organizers is to minimize the thoughts, actions, and efforts of all minorities and underrepresented groups who wish to uplift themselves individually and as a whole.
Today, The SuperSpade is teaming up with Black bloggers across the country for “A Day of Blogging for Justice – Against – Extra – Judicial Electrocution – Tasers.” This project is being headed up by African American Political Pundit and Francis Holland, who have created Electrocuted While Black for “tracking and reporting on pre-trial, extra-judicial death penalty, because it’s 21st century lynching, by another name.”
More from the website, “We are blogging today against police and other security entities across America, Canada and around the world involved in Extra-Judicial Electrocution by Tasers. African American political Pundit has called it a campaign against “on the spot pre-trial electrocution” of members of the public (many who are of African descent).”
The sick thing about the use of tasers is that it is often portrayed as a less severe form of punishment because proponents say, “Well, at least I am not using a gun.” This belies the fact that you can die from being tasered such as how “17-year-old Darryl Wayne Turner died: He had cardiac arrest after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer shot him with a Taser gun.
And I know that it is very strategic for blogs to insert pictures or use videos to help illustrate their points. However, the downside of this strategy is that things are not “real” unless someone can supply visual evidence. So when I think about tasers, I automatically revert to one of my favorite books, “The Invisible Man.” In the opening scene, our nameless protagonist gives a speech in front of the city’s leading White men accepting a scholarship and after the speech, he is pressured to fight with other Black boys in a ring blindfolded. After being pummeled, the White men put a couple coins and dollars on a rug and force the boys to fight over the money. Little to the boy’s knowledge, there is an electric current running through the rug and in excruciating detail, the protagonist describes the pain of being electrocuted.
Again, being tasered is a small but significant part of being Black in America. Our stories must be told by us because according to an African Proverb, “Until the Lions have Their Historians, Tales of the Hunted will Always Glorify the Hunter.”
Artists are important to movements.Their creativity gives movements vibrancy. Their notoriety gives movements visibility. Their passion makes movements inspiring.
The myth of the post-racial society is becoming more and more pervasive. The problem is that it is itself based on a conservative, racist mode of thinking about race in America that equates progress with individuals. Using this as a measuring stick, makes it possible for the Fox News’ of the world to attack individuals and Black folks collectively.
If instead we saw that progress can only be meaningfully defined as collective improvement, we would focus on solving the root causes that lead to individuals making the choices that look stereotypical. Who knows, maybe CNN will go at it like that? I doubt it.
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.
Let me preface this post by saying that I’m not a lawyer, nor have I ever tried to be one. The following is a lay person’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, so any/all lawyers are more than welcome to jump in and add to/correct this interpretation.
On the plane back from the National Conference for Media Reform, I had a discussion with a labor attorney who also attended the conference and was from Seattle. Among other things, he told me the following:
The Constitution only grants one right: the right to bear arms [the 2nd amendment]. Everything else described in the document is essentially a limit on the government, not the granting of a particular right.
I thought that was really fascinating if it was true. If that is the case, then we really need take a hard look at how we talk about our “rights,” and about how we defend, ensure, and advocate for those “rights.” By telling me this, he almost made me want to quit my job and apply to law school as soon as I deplaned. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
1) First off, why is there not more coverage of the relief efforts of people impacted by the earthquakes in China and Myanmar? In case you hadn’t read, nearly 70,000 people died in this earthquake and millions more are now homeless. To help put it in context, imagine instantly losing 7 people in your life without being able to say goodbye and multiply that grief by 100,000. I guess coverage of the earthquake is worth far less than what the DNC RBC planned to do with the Michigan and Florida delegates. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
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 thegreatwork that The SuperSpade has done over the past year.
I look forward to writing after the Michigan Policy Summit is over, whew! I wanted to let the fam know that I will be on the radio tomorrow from 11:00am to 11:30am on 101.9 WDET talking to Craig Fahle about the Michigan Policy Summit. You can listen live through the website or just tune in to the show if you are in the Detroit area. Please tune in and show love,
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
UPDATE: The show was great and you can check out the show here. I don’t know how to splice it down to my segment but try to fast forward to about halfway through the 2 hour segment.
Like many of you, I am outraged that the three detectives were acquitted of killing Sean Bell. Sean was 23 the night he was set to be married the next day and though he was unarmed, the cops thought him dangerous enough to deserve being killed. And Sean wasn’t just killed, he was shot 50 times. It is crap like this that make me upset as to why Black people fear and distrust the police.
I know there will be rallies held in New York to protest this miscarriage of justice and if you are in the area, you should go. After the marches though, Bell’s story like Amadou Diallo and others will be filed in the Black consciousness as the continuing saga of injustice that has plagued Black folk since we were kidnapped from Africa. Surely this is worth Black folk being bitter right?
Bell was killed at a strip club and the undercover detectives were there to investigate if there was prostitution going on. Prostitution is wrong I get it. But quite frankly, how in the world do you investigate prostitution? I mean you tell me that these detectives couldn’t have set up a camera and watch the footage from the precinct? Aren’t there enough unsolved murders in the hood that could be a better use of these detectives’s time? And while I don’t have a J.D., how is it these detectives were not brought before a jury?
I try to imagine the hell I would raise if one of my people suffered a death like Sean Bell. The fact is that while I never knew Sean, he is my brother and your brother too. Our prayers go out to Bell’s family and friends as they and we try to sort out this injustice.
Our good friend and true SuperSpade Jill Tubman from Jack and Jill Politics put up this awesome piece about the future of the Civil Rights Movement and how technology figures into the equation. I have posted the piece in its entirety and it is a must read.
“What would happen if W.E.B. Du Bois or Marcus Garvey had a laptop?” Du Bois helped found the NAACP in 1909, and Garvey, a rival, started a back-to-Africa movement around the same time.
We are the answer to that question. In the vacuum of black leadership 40 years after Martin Luther King’s death, it’s his spiritual grandchildren that are carrying his mission forward now and not the civil rights groups he might have recognized. From the WaPo piece (emphasis mine):
In New York, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which helped shape the movement’s philosophy after adopting Mohandas K. Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolent protest, is scarcely known outside Manhattan. CORE conceded that it now has about 10 percent of the 150,000 members it listed in the 1960s. Read the rest of this entry »
Our very own Garlin was featured in an article in Al Jazeera (English edition) discussing Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy 40 years later. Garlin’s contribution is below but you can read the entire post here along with our friend Professor R L’Heureux Lewis, affectionately known as Dumi. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s up fam, I found this great article in Salon.com that discussed how we can all save energy by running appliances that run all night. Though this was not mentioned in the article, I did think about my slight obsession with making sure all of my gadgets are fully charged because I am on the road so much. I posted the article in its entirety, enjoy.
Cut up to 10 percent of your electric bill simply by turning off “vampire” appliances that run all night. Read the rest of this entry »
The murder of Benazir Bhutto leaves the world with many questions, puzzles the world with many implications, and presents to the world both challenges and opportunities. There are political realities in Pakistan, throughout the Middle East, and across the world that now exist due the killing of this woman. However, these are neither the most sensible nor the most appropriate issues to be discussed at this point. What we, the media, and anyone conversing on this subject should be grappling with is the fact that a woman, a daughter, a wife, a mother of three, was murdered because she had different ideas. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s up fam, for those that haven’t heard, former Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated two weeks before before parliamentary elections where her party (Pakistan’s People’s Party) was widely expected to win the majority of the seats, making her Prime Minister. She was someone who truly believed in democracy. Politically, this is groundbreaking because Pakistan’s leader, Pervez Musharraf will rightly or wrongly be suspected of having his hand in allowing or ordering this attack to occur. No matter what, the US again pledges allegiance to an “ally” who really isn’t helping with the so-called war on terror and has a horrible record on human rights. Bush called on Musharraf to continue with elections. And what is Bush going to do if Musharraf doesn’t follow through? Nothing. Did I mention Pakistan has nuclear weapons?
More importantly, Bhutto’s father was hanged, one brother dies mysteriously and her other brother died in a shoot out. Her life embodies the importance to not think of progressive values as a fad. Being a martyr is appealing when it is not you or someone you love. Martyrs can be the heroes we admire and have all the super human qualities we can imagine. The downside is that too many of us think we could never be martyrs but if we are all going to die, then effectively we are all martyrs in a sense, provided we live a life of meaning and purpose.
Like leaders before her, there will be a long standing debate as to who is best suited to carry on Bhutto’s dream. I just ask that when we think about our heroes and honoring their legacy, we should be very careful to make sure we support their ideas over their personality. And I know it’s cool to rock t-shirts of Che, Malcolm, MLK, and others but I have a new rule: You can’t wear apparel that features activists until you read their book(s) AND are doing something in your life to further their vision. Bhutto’s loss is very unfortunate but if you think democracy (or any other cause worth fighting for) was accomplished by one person, you are sadly mistaken and never use the term movement in your vocabulary.
Condolences to family, friends, and supporters of the dream that is and life that was Benazir Bhutto.
As you prepare to wrap up the year, I want to alert everyone to a very important event regarding drug sentencing. On December 11, the U.S. Sentencing Commission plans to hold a public meeting where they are expected to vote on whether to make the new, lower crack cocaine guideline retroactive.
On May 1, 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission proposed an amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to reduce the sentencing ranges for crack cocaine offenses by two levels. The amendment went into effect on November 1, 2007, and will affect 70 percent of crack cocaine cases sentenced in federal courts, reducing sentences by an average of 15 months.
In breaking but not surprising news, it was revealed today that Iran is not actually developing nuclear weapons. From the New York Times via truthout.org.
Washington – A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to be a major factor in the tense international negotiations aimed at getting Iran to halt its nuclear energy program. Concerns about Iran were raised sharply after President Bush had suggested in October that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to “World War III,” and Vice President Dick Cheney promised “serious consequences” if the government in Tehran did not abandon its nuclear program.
Now before you think that this report will actually end the saber-rattling regarding Iran, please put your dancing shoes back in the closet. The Bush administration has already shifted its justification against Iran by citing Iran’s meddling in Iraq. We are very much not out the woods yet and I would ask for all of my liberal-minded friends to not think that evidence or facts prevail in Bush’s world. Please continue to speak out against war escalation and not just in safe progressive bubbles.
My piece begins at the 14.18 mark and lasts for approximately 8 minutes, through 22.32, but I encourage you to listen to the voices and perspectives of the other Black bloggers featured. They are:
We’ve stated our position here, and this interview was a chance to communicate it on another platform. The issue to me is about embracing the next generation of activism and respecting the results that online activism has produced. The SuperSpade, Color of Change, and members of the blacknetaction coalition are committed to making a difference today, tomorrow, and beyond in a transparent, accountable, and measurable way.
Date: November 13, 2007
Subject: Baisden’s “apology”
Dear family,
Last Friday, less than 24 hours after you and thousands of other ColorOfChange.org members wrote to his bosses at ABC Radio, Michael Baisden issued an “apology.” It shows that we got Baisden’s attention, and that wouldn’t have happened without you.
We hoped Baisden was really going to step up, but he didn’t. Baisden’s statement fails every test of a decent apology. First, it misleads listeners about how he came to defame us. Then, it misrepresents the real interests of the Jena 6 families, to take another shot at us. Finally, it tries to sweep all the damage Baisden has caused under the rug, while doing very little to rebuild his listeners’ confidence in ColorOfChange or in online organizing as a strategy. Read the rest of this entry »
Popular talk radio host Michael Baisden should be commended for his efforts raising attention to the Jena 6 but he foolishly squandered all that when he got involved in the same old crabs in a bucket mentality that consistently cripples the efforts of Black folk to do good. I can not put it better than Jack and Jill Politics, “For reasons that appear at best, self-serving, he and another DJ have gone on the attack against the laudable leadership Color of Change has shown in bringing needed attention to the plight of the Jena 6 families.” The SuperSpade enthusiastically supports the work of Color of Change because they have four characteristics that are sorely missing in traditional Black leadership model; principled, transparent, bold, and accountable. I challenge you to go to their site and tell me what you disagree with. Read the rest of this entry »
Until we have federal legislation in place regarding these hate crimes, as African Americans we need to band together to show our “Economic Power” by refusing to spend ANY money that day from fast food restaurants to gas.
There are calls for these sorts of actions all the time, and they are usually motivated by positive intentions: solidarity, taking a stand, being deliberate with your economic power. We see them on all sorts of issues, from gas prices to impeachment. These are all good things, but I question their effectiveness. For one, this sort of action can only successful if it is extremely specific and if it is sustained.
I used to have a quote that I used in my signature that said, “Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.” Fortunately, the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have a historian through the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
The tribunal was formed to hear testimony by experts and survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After 30 hours of testimony, the preliminary findings are unfortunately not surprising.
Jill Soffiyah Elijah, the Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School and Chief Judge for the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, announced the Tribunal’s preliminary findings “It is our view that the U.S. government has committed crimes against humanity particularly in relation to its failure to maintain functional levees that should have protected the City of New Orleans from flooding; … it was the reckless disregard and, in some instances, negligence of the U.S. government, the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans that created the devastation we continue to see today.” Read the rest of this entry »
I want to alert folks who live in Michigan that there is an opportunity for you to get down to Jena, LA to support the Jena 6 as Mychal Bell is sentenced. Thankfully, Arielle Tours Charters have offered to take people down to Jena.
The bus leaves September 19th at midnight (from Oak Park) to return on September 21st at 5pm. If there was ever a reason you needed to use your sick time, this is it. The cost for the trip (which includes lodging) is only $168!!!! This is when you think to yourself, “They are only charging $168?” You read that right and for folks that have money but can’t make it, please sponsor someone else to go. I know folks are diligent in signing petitions but this experience will be a special moment because at our core, this miscarriage of justice infected us with outrage the moment we were first introduced to this story.
Don’t ask, just do.
For more information for the Michigan trip, click here
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
p.s. For folks that live elsewhere, I would encourage you to find out if there are local organizations that would be willing to organize buses for folks to get to Jena. And if no one steps up to the plate, YOU step up.
If you live in Michigan, you need to make your presence felt at the Michigan Policy Summit, 2007. It is going to be held at the Lansing Center in Lansing, MI. From the site: This dynamic, first-of-its-kind daylong policy forum initiated by Michigan’s progressive community is taking place in Lansing on Sept. 8, and we want you to be a part of it! Read the rest of this entry »
I typically don’t listen to talk radio outside of NPR, but thankfully I came across the Michael Baisden show today and he was focusing on the Jena 6. I know his show is broadcast across the country and I hope that his show raises the consciousness of his listeners as he lent huge support to the rally taking place on September 20th.
In a small still mostly segregated section of rural Louisiana, an all-white jury heard a series of white witnesses called by a white prosecutor testify in a courtroom overseen by a white judge in a trial about a fight at the local high school where a white student who had been making racial taunts was hit by Black students. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
I just wanted to take a step back to really observe blogging as part of the broader national progressive movement. The universal nature of blogs naturally encourages writers to pen stories that are national in scope so as to capture the broadest swath of readers. The problem as I see it is that too many bloggers follow three troubling paths,
1) Writing relentlessly on the latest breaking story (often national in scope) and expressing the progressive interpretation.
2) Fear of writing original commentary for fear of being too exposed.
3) General lack of writing about local stories, fearing a lack of interest and/or possibly burning bridges.
Do you see these things happening on progressive blogs at-large? What do you look for when reading blogs? What do you see in The SuperSpade? I think that the national movement we all think or talk about is being impeded when we all write about the same thing. Our real power is finding the common values amongst our very unique stories and instigating change at the local level that organically builds into a national movement. Your thoughts?
Earlier this week I had a little back up in my tub’s drain and when I went to take a shower, my feet became submerged in a puddle. Not a good look! So I turned off the shower to let the tub drain and I proceeded to lather and get SuperSpade fresh. After I finished lathering, I turned the shower back on, rinsed, and got out. While I was drying off, I was ashamed at how much water I waste by taking showers everyday.
As I try to be more environmentally aware of my actions, I know that water is fast becoming a scarce resource. Before I leave this earth, there will more than likely be military conflicts between countries over access to water unless we really get serious about conservation. A while back, I wrote about the growing and troubling nexus between the environment and national security.
Most troublesome though is that there are millions of people in this world that will never be able to take a shower in the way that the West is accustomed to. My shower experience made that sad reality visceral and stark. Sometimes it is easy to forget how privileged we are in America and my shower experience helped me empathize with those less fortunate on a deeper level.
From now on, I am going to take “dry showers.” Give it a try and let me know what you think. If I am way behind the curve on this, that’s cool too.
AgentX’s creative comment regarding new possible names for the CBC got me thinking about the sad paradigm of current Black and/or progressive organizations whose work is mostly or wholly supported by corporate donations. This model is crippling our communities because the leaders of these organizations can’t really say nor do what needs to be done for fear of disrupting the money stream. On the other hand, the masses accuse these same organizations for not doing anything to help the people that are really hurting. This cycle breeds distrust and non-results. I believe the work we really need to do can happen until we do two things, 1) actively want less and 2) build up our own socially conscious businesses/institutions that are supported by the community. Talk to me,
The Jack Lessenberry Show had an interesting discussion on the relevance of protests today. The debate is whether actions of civil disobedience, violence, or general disruption are as effective as they were in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. People on both sides present cases.
This is a needed discussion, that is timely in most corners of this nation, including at the University of Michigan. Do protest marches and rallys still matter? If they don’t why don’t they and what is a more effective way to bring about change?
About The SuperSpade
The SuperSpade: Black Thought at the Highest Level, is a forum that presents critical, intellectual perspectives on the current issues, seeking to elevate the level of Black political thought. The goal of this space is to provide actionable commentary on social, political, and personal issues affecting the daily ... Continue reading »
I was recently asked to comment on an article by Linda Burnham about how the Left, specifically the anti-Capitalist Left, should feel about and work with the Obama Administration. It’s called 
