I was in Houston for the Health Disparities Conference, and heard about the ruling while literally taping (Michel Martin told us about it). And it took the wind out of my sails. Just sucked the energy out of the room.My thoughts in no particular order: (more…)
Jamal Bryant used to run the NAACP’s youth wing. Now Bryant has his own church. Empowerment Temple. I haven’t really spoken much about the mega-church phenomenon. But then I saw the Empowerment Temple’s website.And was rendered even more speechless than I was.
Me, my man Jimi, and my other man Cobb did the thing. Cobb and I from the state of Texas. Jimi in Kentucky.Up for discussion? Video game addiction, Cheney’s issues, and Nader.Listen here. And do let me know what you thought.
We all know that black people die sooner, are more likely to be afflicted with a range of ills, and less likely to get care. Some of this is pure economics. But this dynamic goes up the socio-economic scale, indicating that this is not just “class” by another name.My own research looks at the degree to which media narratives about black people make them less likely to mobilize to combat some of these disparities–HIV/AIDS for example.Today I go to Houston to present my research at the MD Anderson Center for Research in Minority Health. I conducted an experiment manipulating stories about male HIV/AIDS to see what type of effect “down-low narratives” had on people exposed to them.The results?The stories generated significant antagonism towards black men, and in some cases made people less likely to want to mobilize politically to deal with the disease.It should be available on video later, and I’ll send a link to it. If you by chance are in the Houston area and want to holler please feel free to do so as I’m available through email.If not? Look out for Prometheus6 and others at tomorrow evening’s Democratic debates.
For those of you who don’t know, my wife has her own radio show called Chocolate Chats. Last week I was the guest, but tonight she’s going to run a full hour and deal with the black presence in new media. Among her guests will be Craig Nulan (from Mobilepage.net but who also pops up from time to time on various black blogs), Steph Renee of Soul Sanctuary, Jennifer James of Mommy Too Magazine, and Carlos Muhammad of Luv4self publishing.Her show usually goes only a half hour, but she’s going to go for an hour this time out. Should be a fascinating conversation, and one that I think a number of folks out there should be interested in.
A number of people have answered my simple question. How far could you travel when you were a kid?I decided to actually answer this question myself by way of google maps. By walking/bike riding? The farthest I went unsupervised was about 7 miles on foot. And from the comments it sounds like I’m on the short end. Taking the subway from Harlem to Brooklyn (or was it vice-versa) is a lot more than seven miles (though it isn’t on foot).What we lose from this is not only autonomy (and audacity to quote from Craig Nulan), but also a sense of community. Checking out an interview with Grace Lee Boggs on Bill Moyers, as well as reading Keith Owens’ post about the lack of grocery stores in Detroit, helped to crystallize this for me. (more…)
So there’s at least one obvious place where 1+1=3….or perhaps in T3’s case, more than 3.But I’m not talking about that.If I’ve got one skill…and come into contact with someone with another skill, how many do we have in total? We’ve got the two skills…but then we’ve also got a third skill, taken from combining the two other skills.Read The Difference. Without a doubt, the best book I’ve ever read on the power of diversity.
Here I’m talking about Tyler Perry’s new show.
There’s a long history of “supporting our own” within black communities. One of the latest versions of this is the idea of seeing a black movie–any black movie–on the weekend it comes out. The other part of this though, is keeping our criticism quiet. Because if we open our mouth, not only could the show get cancelled, but we might not get another shot at it. Artistic racial solidarity at its best.
The folks at YBP Guide believe that people are hating on Tyler Perry and they shouldn’t, given his success and I imagine his rise from nothing.
Me? I believe it ain’t hating…unless it is.
Every subjugated group has to deal with these issues. So what the folks at YBP Guide are saying isn’t new.
But I’m on the other end of the spectrum. The only way we can improve is through careful but unrelenting critique.
Hey. My wife hosts a show on talkshoe.com called Chocolate Chats. She’s been doing the thing for a minute now, and has decided to interview me…which means that for about a half hour or so our kids will likely have the run of the house. If you’ve got some time give a listen and call in. My wife runs a pretty tight ship as far as time…and at the same time combines that with a pretty loose improvisational style. I’m not sure what we’re going to talk about tonight…it’ll probably be a combination of politics, news, and family life. I think it’ll be worth a listen though.
When I was young, I could walk or bike up to five or six miles away from home. I sometimes told my parents where I was going, but often did not. I didn’t call them when I made it to the spot. I didn’t call them when I was on my way back.A couple of times I remember getting into scrapes. Probably took a loss or two. But it enhanced my appreciation for the world around me.Fast forward some 26 years.My kids barely play outside without supervision. My oldest daughter is 12. By her age I think i’d done most of the travelling I talk about above.(“But it’s dangerous!”)I’m not so sure. I don’t have the time to pull the stats out, but I’m thinking the odds of being a victim of random crime hasn’t increased as much as we THINK it has.What do we lose?
