Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor

On the face of it, this week seemed long and difficult. The blackwoman had to grab herself by her belief system quite a few times.

See, I believe that we are watching the dinosaur die. Listening as it were, to the sound of irrelevance.

For some reason, I’ve been thinking about Freddie Kruger. I only saw the movie Nightmare on Elm Street in bits and pieces (being a romantic comedy, Katt Williams, Great Debaters kinda sistah) but the ending struck me.

As I recall, the last girl standing was in her bedroom and Freddie had shown up to finish her off. Instead of being afraid, last girl standing looked him in the eye and told him he was finished. She told him she wanted her life back, her friends and family restored. I think I heard her tell him he had no power. He reached out to slay her and....vanished. Into thin air

(SistahSpeak con't)

For me this has been one of the things that living for a while has taught me. You have to refuse to be afraid. You have to be willing to take back your power. You have to decree that your enemies are powerless.

I wonder if Obama ever saw the movie. I know he has been making the moves.

This week I have refused to allow myself to stay in the nightmare. I am looking the bullshit in the face and calling it powerless. It is powerless to stop an idea whose time has come. It is powerless to stop the movement of prayer that has been on the lips of my ancestors for a true measure of equality and real justice. It has been the prayer of decent people of every race for a long, long time.

Maybe the reason people tried calling some of us cultist is because those who have held goodwill and racial harmony in our hearts know an answer when it shows up. If this had been a movie, everyone in the theater would know by now who the good guys are and how it’s gonna end.

I believe that most of us carry the same dreams in the culture of our lives. The culture that is doing the filtering these days seems to be more of a blend than days of yesteryear. I for one find no small pleasure observing this.

One of the fears articulated over and over again by the George Wallace’s of that age, was that integration would lead to race mixing. As a young green eyed girl I was wondering if they knew that green eyes don’t grow in Africa . Not these green eyes. These green eyes were planted in the soil of rape. I guess you can call it one of the perks of owning women. You can tell the world that they are not quite people, rape them at will and since it was done often and most everywhere, everybody could pretend not to notice. I have some compassion for the wives of those men who often had to look at their husband’s children daily. Often they were brought into the house, hence the term.

I feel a degree of compassion for Strom Thurmond. What do you have to tell yourself when you have a daughter whose mother was your maid? How difficult to live such a splintered life without the ability at any point, to speak without the abiding stain of hypocrisy.

Now we have Barack Obama. He is Africa . And Kansas . And Indonesia . And Hawaii . And Columbia and Harvard law. He is Chicago ’s Southside and he is Hyde Park . And soon he will be 1600 Pennsylvania.

His enemies are powerless. The sound you hear now is the rattle that the death of an age, an end of an era, and the beginning of a new age and era make. Right now I’m only listening to the beginning sound. Some of the old ways are dying. Those who clearly see this and are doing everything they know to do to forestall what has become necessary have already lost. The energy has shifted. We are on a different course already.

Now is the time to let the rage and anger go. These shadows belong to a time that must shift. Mankind must find and use a different gear if we are to survive as a species.

Time to take back our power. To allow the enemies to disappear and fade out of existence. This cannot be done in either anger or rage. To make them disappear we have to withdraw our permission. Our anger feeds them and prolongs the process.

I was raised to understand that there is a time and place for everything. This is the time. The place is right here. Like last girl standing I decree that you have no power, you were using mine and I take it back. I want the life I would have had if you had never existed...disappear. Now.

Breathe easy. Works better.

The Urban Educational System
Sephius1, Black Kos Editor

Last week we discussed how the financial resources, at different levels, tie into the resources a school has to work with. It was short, but for a reason. As I mentioned in the start of the series, some pieces would overlap with later parts of series that is to come. So I didn't want go deep into the commercial, and governmental aspects of the financials. That will come later.

This week we'll take a look at how people resources are lagging in an inner city kid's life at every level. Just to rehash where we are at:

Safety, Health, and the Environment - this includes drugs and other substances that can be abuse, sexually abuse, bullying, dilapidated housing, school buildings and community infrastructures.

Financial Resources - this includes the poverty levels of the students, surrounding community, and the resources the school has available.

People Resources - this includes the identifying the different learning levels of students early, their socio-economic status, those who play parental roles, inter-personal relationships, self-image.

This also includes hiring compotent teachers, having a reward process in place for teachers who do well in the classroom, instead linking a teachers livelyhood to the number of students they pass, getting teachers to think out of the box, and have more robust training for teachers to keep their skill up to date.

Solutions - I will propose solutions in this section to help develop a strategy at the school level.


1.3 People Resources

- Family -

Every day of childs life is a school of sorts. The first learning environment is the family. It sets the tone for years to come. So much so that when your child is beginning to learn language, and how to talk, scientist have discovered that if you talk to your child in that "goo-goo, ga-ga" language, you actually hinder their speech development, thus making it harder to learn once they start school. We all have done it, but I have tried to not talk that way to my young cousins who are now 5, and 8, but were able to write there name when they started kindergarten. I had some learning software installed on my computer that taught the alphabets, so when ever they came over to visits they always want to jump on the computer and play the "alphabet game". I would write their name on a piece paper and let them write it as best they could. I guess the reason I ultimately took on the responsibility is because their mother is a single parent and they didn't have any positive male role models.

And it's not a female vs. male thing. A home without a good father distorts his daughter(s) view of men. She's never introduced to the idea of a good man, and so she is immediately distrustful of most men. A son never gets introduced to the idea of being a good man that provides for his family. If a home is without a good mother, then a daughter never learns nuturing skills like conflict resolution (my mother always knew how to end verbal disagreement between me and my brother, with civility), intuition, child rearing (that's not to say fathers don't share in this, but the fact the women carry the child for nine months, I think it comes more naturally). And if either parent is absent any child would never see the interpersonal relationship between their mother and father, which is necessary to secure a child's foundation and to give a level of confidence that the child can use to step out and explore the world.

Siblings also add to this learning environment. Having a sibling, hopefully, allows a safe space to allow some "good" rivalries do develop (like competing to get better grades), as well as, an understanding of hierarchy and your place in it (stuff like the oldest child gets more privileges).

- School -

Once your in the school environment, the teacher is probabaly second when it comes to time spent with a child. Most kids almost treat their teacher as a second parent, sometimes confiding in them things that they would never in their real parents, or atleast embarassed in doing. However, teachers are not the only figures school kids come in contact with. There's the school nurse, the custodians, the cafeteria people, the principle, and other administrative people. The kid is not only seeing the different levels of power for the first time, but they are introduce the concept of mentoring, if only on a cursory level. The adults that the kid comes in contact with should keep him/her on the straight path. Unfortunately, those in positions of authority over children sometimes abuse it. You have teachers having inappropriate relationship with the kids, teachers having inappropriate relationships with other teachers, or other adult figure (you don't think the kids know, but children see everything), the concerns of children not being addressed like bullying. Good teachers need to be found, paid better, and encouraged to think outside of box. Teachers need to be just as intuitive about their student, as the parent of the student is. Often times a parent hears something for the first time from a teacher whether it's a learning disability, the child disrupting the class room, self-image issue about weight, or race, and bad interpersonal skills like not sharing. Teachers are our best, and first line of defense, to prevent a child from slipping through the cracks. It would be a worthy venture to pay them more and allow them some latitude when needing to think outside of the box, epecially when a child shows they may have learning disabilities.

Next Week >> 1.4 Solutions

One of the best parts of spring is baseball season. Sadly fewer and fewer blacks are playing in the major leagues.

Comcast ≫ Black Players drop to 8.2% of major leaguers

Major league baseball recived its best grade ever for hiring, even as the percentage of black players dropped again last year.
...... More ►

Stories like this remind people how complex the world really is.

LATimes ≫ An unusual blend of cultures: Mexican and black

Every Sunday, on a chewed-up soccer field in Pasadena, Mexican immigrants play a game they learned barefoot in the dusty pueblos along a remote stretch of the Pacific coast. The Costa Chica team -- named for the picturesque coastline south of Acapulco -- has cut a winning path through the heart of an immigrant-dominated league in Pasadena, capturing three championships in two years.

Its players are agile and swift. And they've quickly earned the respect and admiration of opponents who at first didn't know what to make of their talented adversaries.

"Are you really Mexican?" they are sometimes asked. Their skin is dark. They look Honduran, Dominican or even African American. Black Mexicans? "No existe!"

But Costa Chicans -- many dark in complexion with puchunco (curly or kinky) hair -- are Mexicans with cultural and racial histories going back hundreds of years to the Spanish conquistadors and the African slave trade....... More ►

NYTimes ≫ Compromise Is Reached on Harlem Rezoning

The Bloomberg administration’s proposal to rezone 125th Street in Harlem cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday when the area’s three City Council members signed off on a compromise plan that would limit the height of new buildings, add moderately priced housing and provide financial aid to businesses displaced by the rezoning.

The proposal was then approved by the Council’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee in a 10-to-1 vote. The agreement between the City Planning Commission and the council members, Inez E. Dickens, Robert Jackson and Melissa Mark-Viverito, virtually assures the plan’s passage by the full City Council later this month.

The rezoning of 24 blocks of Harlem, stretching from Broadway east to Second Avenue, and from 124th to 126th Street, centers on 125th Street — a cultural touchstone for African-Americans in the city and beyond. It has led to widespread opposition in the neighborhood because of concerns that it will change the character of the low-rise street and speed gentrification in the area, including forcing out long-term businesses and low-income residents....... More ►

Humor has been one of the most important tools in the black cultural tool box. It has helped us overcome all sorts of crushing sorrows.

Ebony/Jet ≫ Black Humor on the Viral Web

Redd, Richard, Robin, Bernie, Dave, Tracy, Kat. Here Now, Missing in Action, or Gone to that Comedy Club in the Sky, we have been always been able to make each other laugh. We can’t always make our selves happy, but we can make each other laugh. And that has been hilarious to everyone else as they look on. Mostly we didn’t care if you got the joke or not. We found humor in our selves as being both people and black, without hesitation to bring up our imperfections, quirks, and tweaks that make us who we are. Our best humor is based in reality, as all the best humor is. The fact of the matter is no one makes better fun of us than we do of ourselves.

We use humor to make the bitter easier to swallow. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the Mary Poppins song says. And most our laughs come from something that is real about us, good or bad. And trust me, most of us never get to see the funniest stuff. Y’all don’t

know Big Dre, from St. Louis. He is the funniest man I know. And you each have your own champ, who cracks up your church, job, frat, lodge all the time. And we do it onstage, on the corner, in our songs, and raps...... More ►

There is nothing worse then watching politicians being used when they should be on the look out for it. Mugabe is using his historic position as the hero of African liberation to stay in power and destroy his homeland. Sadly many nations in southern Africa are being cowered by him and refuse to call him a bully and a despot

NYTimes ≫ South Africa Shifts on Zimbabwe Vote

South Africa’s government, in what appeared to be a significant shift, called on Thursday for the rapid release of results from Zimbabwe’s presidential election, saying it was concerned by a delay that has increased fears of violence. “The situation is dire,” said Themba Maseko, a South Africa government spokesman in Cape Town. “When elections are held and results are not released two weeks after, it is obviously of great concern.”

President Thabo Mbeki had previously said the electoral process must take its course and there was no crisis following the March 29 elections. Mr. Mbeki, who has been a strong supporter of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, reiterated that position on Monday during a visit to the United Nations, chiding Zimbabwe critics who have urged prompt publication of the vote tallies.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Maseko’s statement Thursday reflected a change of position by Mr. Mbeki himself. But Mr. Mbeki has been under criticism at home for his insistence on quiet diplomacy in dealing with the crisis in Zimbabwe, where the economy has collapsed, bringing hyper-inflation, shortages of food and fuel and 80 percent unemployment. Millions of people have fled to South Africa...... More ►

This situation is so on again off again. But at least the violence seems to have quited (somewhat) although there are some reports it maybe starting again.

WaPo ≫ Kenyan President Names Rival As PM

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his political rival Raila Odinga agreed on the details of a 40-member cabinet Sunday, implementing a power-sharing deal they reached in February.
The two leaders had bickered for weeks over key ministries as Kenyans grew increasingly worried that the country was again slipping into the violence that killed an estimated 1,000 people and displaced as many as a million after the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election....... More ►

As the increasingly affluent black middle class starts to travel around the world more and more stories like this are being told.

The Root ≫ Extra Baggage on a Trip Home

Three weeks into my 5-month stay in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, these words revealed themselves; reached out to the American girl stationed in the country that raised her mother and father. I'd been to Ethiopia three times since the age of ten. Yet, I knew the fourth trip would be different—longer than the others and designed for a little personal, post-undergrad study abroad. Equipped with a basic knowledge of Amharic and the mindset of a seasoned tourist, I opened up a tattered copy of Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name and discovered a travel buddy.

We had plenty in common. Both writers, both expecting our journeys to bring us some concrete sense of self-definition. Baldwin in Europe, me in Ethiopia. But what of this implied ubiquity of racial tension? My hometown of Washington D.C was definitely a hub for menacing social forces: economic injustice, political correctness, racial stereotyping—the usual suspects. Leaving D.C. meant escaping the burden of race-based discrimination. How could there be discrimination in Ethiopia? Nearly every face I saw resembled mine.

Three months into my stay in Addis, a face like mine said "no". Flat out, no. It was late at night. My sister and I entered an upscale, French restaurant to use the restroom. By then, I had learned the rules a bit. Conversations with friends and family had revealed some of Ethiopia's secrets. The ever-increasing foreigner population was often given preferential treatment in stores and restaurants—Ethiopian establishments combining Western ideals with economic interests....... More ►

This sad drama continues.

NYTimes ≫ Protest by Zimbabwe’s Opposition Falters as the Army Makes a Show of Force

The call by Zimbabwe’s political opposition for people nationwide to stay away from work on Tuesday to protest a 17-day delay in releasing the results of the presidential election largely failed to interrupt the normal flow of life in the cities.

The relative ineffectiveness of the one-day protest says much about the long odds the opposition faces in ousting the nation’s long-entrenched autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, despite reports from independent monitors that he badly trailed the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, in the March 29 election.

People lucky enough to have jobs in a country with 80 percent unemployment explained that they could not afford to lose a precious day’s pay by participating in the work stoppage.

“We have to eat,” said a man who guards people’s cars and identified himself as Michael. He gave only his first name for fear of retribution. Some said they were afraid that the police would punish them if they heeded the opposition’s call and stayed home from work, which is known in Zimbabwe as a stay-away. ...... More ►

There's something wrong with children doing childish things being charged as adults.

Ebony/Jet ≫ Critical Evaluation: Adult Time

It’s tax time again. I can think of a few things I don’t want my taxes to go to: pre-emptive wars, bank bail-outs, no-bid contracts for Halliburton and Blackwater, the salaries of the White House, and jails where children are serving adult time after being convicted of adult crimes.

Each year over 20,000 juveniles are charged and tried in the criminal judicial system. Although current statistics on the exact number of juveniles currently serving time in adult correctional facilities seem to be unavailable to the public, it is estimated that there may be over fifteen thousand juveniles serving time alongside adults in prison. Given the difficulty in obtaining these statistics, that number is probably much higher.

Over the past week, a widely-viewed video circulating in the news and on the Internet shows a teenaged girl receiving a physical beating. The video contains only a short clip of a thirty-five minute battery, which resulted in a concussion, two black eyes, and diminished hearing in one ear. Apparently, the girl was lured to the house where six of her fellow cheerleaders assaulted her while two boys acted as look-outs. All eight kids have been arrested and charged as adults.

It’s the being charged as adults I have a problem with. Certainly, what you see on the video is repugnant. The girls’ actions are vicious and pre-meditated. But what you don’t see are adults, or kids acting like adults....... More ►

The Root ≫ The Latest Wave of Black Genius

As a literary writer trying to navigate a publishing world that seems most receptive to urban romance and street lit (for more on this particular quandary read Martha Southgate's spot on essay in the New York Times Book Review) the issue of genius is both one of inspiration and sustenance. While it is true, I'm sure, that my white contemporaries write with the inspiration of Henry James, William Faulkner or Virginia Woolf, I am not sure that the inspiration feels so direct and personal. For me, black geniuses of yesteryear – Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, James Baldwin – do not feel like distant icons, they feel like family. In this way, black genius, as I define it, isn't a question merely of phenomenal talent mixed in with a soupcon of luck. I look to genius as confirmation that if I study my cultural canon, work hard and apply both my intellect and imagination, I may one day write a book that is meaningful for my generation, and perhaps generations to follow.

So who are our contemporary black geniuses? As Keith Adkins wrote in his recent post about Daughters of the Dust and Rebecca Walker so powerfully seconded, there was a moment in black film, in the early to mid nineties, when we knew what we were seeing was groundbreaking: Julie Dash, Charles Burnett, John Singleton, Euzhan Palcy and in the next wave, Darnell Martin,Reggie Rock Bythewood, Gina Prince Bythewood and Kasi Lemmons. These filmmakers followed in the immediate footsteps of Spike Lee, our modern day Oscar Micheaux, by making films that spoke to not only our community but to the world. These were all part of what Trey Ellis so presciently called the N.B.A. – the New Black Aesthetic....... More ►

I have always been amazed at how conservatives can keep two conflicting opinions in their heads at the same time.
My Elitist Marxist Insufficiently Black Black Separatist Christian Muslim Terrorist Candidate......More ►
┗ by Laughing Vergil (dopper0189)

This has been a good read so far. Examining black conservatives political opinions.
Diaries by blacksnob (dopper0189)
┗ Fear and Loathing in Black America: Clarence Thomas and Barack Obama......More ►
┗ Juan Williams Thinks Barack Obama Is Kissin' Way Too Much of Your Black Ass......More ►

This has been an incrediable series.
Diaries by StormBear (dopper0189)
┗ Black History: The Native Americans......More ►
┗ Black History: Overseers......More ►

Thank you for reading. As always we hope these stories lead to meaningfull discussions. That's what makes blogging so great. We can talk about the hard stuff, items of substance, the issues the media ignores. Even whe we forget to wear our flag pins.

- Dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor