Chiara, Dante, Chirlane, and Bill de Blasio
Comfortable with black folks
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver Velez
Was reading The New York Times this morning, and found this article of interest. "Many Black New Yorkers Are Seeing de Blasio’s Victory as Their Own" It opened with quotes, from black folks around town.
A black janitor in Brooklyn almost shouted out the name when asked about his vote in the mayoral race. Bill de Blasio, he said, “knows my struggle.”
In the Bronx, some African-American voters defaulted to a shorthand: “the man with the black wife.” Nobody thought it necessary to explain whom they meant.
And in a Brooklyn housing project, a lifelong resident said he was tired of mayors who, in his mind, had pitted blacks against whites. Mr. de Blasio, he declared, “is black and white.”
The quote that stood out and caused me to think was this one:
“His biracial family represents so many things and possibilities, too many to even get into,” said Leon Ellis, a Harlem restaurateur. “When people saw his family, they felt, ‘Here is someone who understands and relates to me on a level on which I can be comfortable.’ ”
Long before I became a cultural anthropologist by training I was already exposed to multiple "other" cultures and sub-cultures due to family politics and geographical moves, as well as the "mixed" nature of our family at home. This early immersion into differences allowed me to become open to same. Not always comfortable at first contact, but my toolkit or knapsack for survival soon included "openness" and "listening" as well as "not judging". Throw in enjoyment. Knowing when I'm uncomfortable or not at ease then presents me with an internal dialogue—how much of it is "me"—my preconceived notions of culture, class, and gender, and why am I reacting? What then am I to do about it?
I cringe every time I hear the canard, "One of my best friends is (fill in the blank with black, gay, latino, asian, jewish... yadda, yadda) as a way to shut-down or dismiss notions of prejudgement or bigotry. And yet, there is a kernel of truth embedded in that tired phrase, because if one is truly a friend, truly open to the intimacy of friendship, brother and sisterhood, one must have developed some understanding and acceptance of both difference and common humanity. On a level playing field of face-to-face and beyond surface social interaction and discourse.
No matter where we live, if we are to develop coalitions between and among people of diverse ages, racial, ethnic, class and gender identities, we need to address comfort levels and zones.
I've often talked about my reasons for adopting this sig line quote:"If you're in a coalition and you're comfortable, you know it's not a broad enough coalition", from Bernice Johnson Reagon
In that "Big Tent" we call the Democratic Party, in building "mass movements", "progressive coalitions" or in "grassroots organizing" not enough attention is paid to this question of comfortability.
Black Kos is, in and of itself, one of those zones. A place in cyberspace to rub typeface together on a cozy porch, the home of some black folks who have welcomed all comers willing to relax for a while, discuss the days doings, both political and personal. Steeped in history, grounded in the present, and looking towards the future.
We need more places in real life (and online) where the walls between and among us are challenged, and where we can learn and experience new perceptions. Few people who live in monochrome, mono-class areas are going to up and move. Take a good look at groups you belong to, your workplace, your neighborhood. Assess their demographics. If none offer opportunities to get out of a box, try thinking of ways to expand your borders. It may not be comfortable at first, but the rewards outweigh the dis-ease.
Some folks reading here may not have grown up with black culture(s) with all its nuances. My "blackness" is not a matter of skin tone—we run the gamut from beige to ebony. Blackness for me is barbershops and beauty parlors, Harlem bars, do-wops on the corner, jazz, r&b, and gospel, church ladies in big flowered hats holding funeral fans, rappers in the Bronx and bourgies heading out to Sag Harbor or up to Oak Bluffs for the summer, code-shifting from standardized "white" speech to BVE seamlessly. It is having kin "down-south", calling unrelated folks auntie and uncle, playing word games with rhythm and rhyme. It is food and competitions each year over potato salad and macaroni and cheese casseroles. The collard greens debates are endless. It is a history of pain and laughter, of shared sufferings and triumphs. It is an odd combination of class solidarity and ambition to move up in life. Scratch a black corporate type and you'll find that grandma was more than likely a domestic worker, and grandaddy was a Pullman porter. It is the black of black power, black pride and Black Panthers, laced with James Brown horn sections, and doing the bus-stop at a club. It is the stress of feeling racism, overt and covert—daily—and learning to brush it off, shrug and rarely let it stop you unless an incident or two turns it to boiling rage. My black worlds expanded to include creole gumbos in Baton Rouge, and roti, callalou and peas and rice in West Indian neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It became the Afro-Caribbean-accented sibilant sounds of spoken Spanglish in El Barrio, and the hiss of Puerto Rican mamis aiming a "chancleta" at an unruly child, while serving up Cafe Bustelo and rice and beans. Spanish Harlem's black traditions of bomba and plena expanded black for me to include Celia Cruz' Cuba, and took me to the religious Candomblé terreiros (temples) of Brazil.
Some of us, who are black have little or no contact with those who are lumped together as "whites". I've never quite figgered out what "white" is. I rarely hear "white culture" addressed unless by white supremacists. If by white culture one means U.S. culture that is surely a misnomer, since so much of U.S. American culture has black roots. I'm more familiar and comfortable with those groups who have an ethnic identity, though classed as white, because New York City has always had Italian, Irish, Greek, Jewish, Polish enclaves. I've lived in them all—from Bensonhurst to Astoria. That only covers white folks. I lived in Chinatown and in South Asian Jackson Heights too.
I've been having some interesting discussions with my students recently, some of whom have never lived outside their monochrome towns in upstate NY or Long Island, or who come from inner-city barrios and 'hoods. For many of them, the campus experience is the first time they've had the opportunity to room with, eat with, go to classes with and develop friendships outside of what they were raised with. It is not always comfortable for them. But most are working at it, and we've had a spate of racial and gender incidents on campus that have spurred further discourse.
That brings me back to the de Blasio victory in NYC. Sometimes a political victory has more meaning than simply the votes that are cast, and the finances that back campaigns.
Back in May in a post "The race to Gracie Mansion" I attached a poll, asking the question of readers of Daily Kos, "Which Democrat is your pick for the primary?"
The results were interesting but not predictive.
Christine Quinn 20% 692 votes
Bill de Blasio 18% 619 votes
Bill Thompson 1% 61 votes
John Liu 3% 104 votes
Anthony Weiner 52% 1729 votes
Sal F. Albanese 1% 36 votes
Ceceilia Berkowitz 1% 43 votes
Erick Salgado 0% 15 votes
Randy Credico 0% 24 votes
3325 votes
I picked de Blasio. Sure, I looked at his positions, listened to the debates, but something told me he had the ability to bring New Yorker's together that went beyond his positions.
He won in a landslide—73.7% to 24.9% for Lhota.
Compare that to:
2009 Bloomberg 50.7% Bill Thompson 46.3%
2005 Bloomberg 58.38% Freddy Ferrer 39.01%
2001 Bloomberg 50.3% Mark Green 47.9%
1997 Rudy Giuliani 55.16% Ruth Messinger 42.93%
1993 Giuliani 50.7% David Dinkins 48.3%
Beyond simple political slogans, party platforms, and stances, my gut said New Yorkers were no longer comfortable with Bloomberg—so that knocked his clone Quinn out, nor would community folks embrace Weiner—who is neither comfortable nor truthful (though he had the attention of all the media). New Yorker's, even those who are not black or latino, were made "uncomfortable" about "stop and frisk" (thanks to the hard work of progressive groups and organizations).
But at a deeper level New Yorker's, who live cheek to jowl in a "city that never sleeps" who ride subways and buses with an eclectic mix of folks, whose cab drivers hail from all over the world, whose small neighborhoods for the most part—even if they are ethnic enclaves—sit next to, or border difference, found comfort in a hope for a future community that is reflected in the de Blasio family. Black and white, West Indian and African, German and Italian, LBGT friendly (Chirlane was an open lesbian in earlier years) struck a chord in many voters—beyond party rhetoric.
I believed then that my home town would embrace moving forward, after many decades of autocracy and fear-mongering. After almost twelve years of Bloomberg and eight with hater Giuliani New Yorker's have looked for both comfort and comfortably and are reaching for progress in that regard.
Here's hoping for a better tomorrow for New Yorker's. Congratulation to Mayor-elect de Blasio and his family, and the thousands of his campaign workers. Congrats to the citizens of NYC. I realize no mayor is going to be able to "fix" all of the city's problems. But New Yorker's being comfortable with this man and his family in the top spot says plenty to me.
Though no longer living in my home town, now peering down to it from the Catskill mountains to the north, I will always be a New York City girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just saying..... Talking Point Memo; For Communities Of Color, Mass Surveillance Is All Too Familiar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Oct. 26, thousands of people from across the U.S. attended the Stop Watching Us rally -- the biggest domestic protest against surveillance to date. The event showed off a diverse grassroots coalition consisting of more than 100 organizations, including the ACLU, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Demand Progress, Free Press, Generation Opportunity and Young Americans for Liberty.
But while the NSA was the rally's official target, many of the speakers discussed events that predate the agency's post-9/11 spying programs. In fact, the mass surveillance of innocent people has been a problem for years.
Communities of color, immigrants and Muslim Americans have experienced the destructive effects of surveillance -- in all its forms -- for decades. In the 1950s and ʼ60s, the FBI spied on leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. to try to discredit and destroy the civil rights movement. Anti-immigrant policing policies have empowered law enforcement throughout the U.S. -- but especially in the Southwest -- to target Latinos, who are subject to sweeping deportations and a prejudicial criminal justice system.
Similarly, police in New York City and elsewhere use stop-and-frisk practices to racially profile African-Americans and other people of color. And since 9/11, the FBI has infiltrated Muslim-American communities, particularly in New York.
Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA's programs shocked us all. But given that millions have lived with these kinds of unconstitutional intrusions for years, we need to recognize that the surveillance state operates online and offline and affects everyone.
AP Photo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twenty years after the end of apartheid, when the African National Congress swept to power, the party is facing perhaps its fiercest electoral challenge yet. New York Times: Storied Party of Mandela Faces South Africa Unrest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Alton Dalasile got his first job as a miner in the late 1980s, he immediately joined the National Union of Mineworkers, a powerful organization that not only fought for workers’ rights but also battled the brutal system of racial segregation known as apartheid. When his union’s political ally, the African National Congress, was on the ballot in 1994 in South Africa’s first fully democratic election, Mr. Dalasile enthusiastically cast his ballot for Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president.
Last year, Mr. Dalasile gave up on his union amid a violent season of wildcat strikes that ended with 34 miners being gunned down by the police here in August and joined a radical upstart union that accused the old guard of selling out to mine bosses. Now Mr. Dalasile is contemplating what was once unthinkable: voting against the African National Congress in elections next year.
“They have abandoned and betrayed us,” Mr. Dalasile said. “The A.N.C. is no longer the party of the poor man, the working man. They care only about enriching themselves.”
Next year South Africa will hold elections for its National Assembly, which elects the country’s president. Twenty years after the end of apartheid, when the African National Congress swept to power on a wave of international good will, Mr. Mandela’s party is facing perhaps its fiercest electoral challenge yet.
Joao Silva/The New York Times
Thousands rallied in Marikana last month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's leader has launched a "one-stop shop" to access and pay for government services electronically in order to cut corruption and bureaucracy. BBC: Kenya launches Huduma e-centre to cut bureaucracy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
President Uhuru Kenyatta said public inefficiency had bred corruption, wasted time and "cost billions".
A pilot centre has been set up in the capital, Nairobi, where customers can access a range of self-service counters linked to government databases. Known as Huduma centres, they will be rolled out across the country.
Huduma, which means "service" in Swahili, is part of a government plan to fully digitise government services.
Kenya is one of Africa's most technologically advanced countries, with a widely used mobile phone money transfer service and a cluster of tech start-ups.
But President Kenyatta said this had yet to reach government services: "For a long time Kenyans have been subjected to moving from place to place in search of services from the government," he said at the launch of the pilot centre.
President Uhuru Kenyatta (second right) logged his details at the pilot Huduma centre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a time and on a planet where we think we know everything, scientists used Google Earth to identify a "lost world" perched on a lonely mountain in Africa. Google: How Google Earth helped find Mozambique's lost forest of Mount.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep within the heart of the African nation of Mozambique there stands a mountain. Unknown to scientists and mostly undisturbed by humans since, well, since perhaps the dawn of our species, this mysterious mountain, clothed in dense green virgin rainforest, rises up from a golden ocean of savannah. In addition to the ecological isolation by the surrounding savannah, the mountain is isolated due to political events; the civil war that ravaged parts of Mozambique from 1977 to 1992 also helped preserve this area, untouched.
Mount Mabu stands approximately 1,700m (5,600ft) high and is home to what is believed to be the largest medium-altitude rainforest in southern Africa.
The locals knew of this mountain, of course, but scientists had no knowledge of it before 2005. This is when scientists at Kew Royal Botanical Gardens first set eyes upon it, thanks to Google Earth's satellite maps. Google Earth collects and curates global satellite images and makes them freely searchable by the public.
It all started when Julian Bayliss, a conservation biologist for Kew Gardens and a technical adviser for the Government of Malawi, was searching Google Earth maps for potential unknown biodiversity hotspots in Africa. He was specifically looking for areas that were at least 1,600m (5,400ft) above sea level where there was a lot of rainfall since those conditions meant the place would likely be forested. Mount Mabu fulfilled all these criteria and further, due to its ecological isolation, it looked quite promising. Additionally, Mozambique's long-running civil war, the lack of accessible roads in the area and limited knowledge of the forest's existence also served to protect this region.
Further research revealed that Mount Mabu was unmapped, unexplored, unlogged and totally unrepresented in the scientific collections or literature anywhere in the world. The electronic discovery of this lost world was brimming over with intriguing possibilities.
The view from Mozambique's Mount Mabu at sunrise.
Image: Tom Timberlake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brazil was the last place in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888, that meant that the final years of the practice were photographed. NPR Blog: Photos Reveal Harsh Detail Of Brazil's History With Slavery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has given Brazil what may be the world's largest archive of photography of slavery, and a new exhibition in Sao Paulo is offering some new insights into the country's brutal past.
One image at the exhibition, for example, has been blown up to the size of a wall. "Things that you could never see, suddenly you see," says anthropologist Lilia Schwarcz, one of the curators of the new exhibition called Emancipation Inclusion and Exclusion.
In its original size and composition, the image from photographer Marc Ferrez, one of the most impressive photographers from 19th century Brazil, shows a wide shot of a group of slaves drying coffee in a field. Their faces are indistinct but the overall impression is one of order and calm. But once the picture is blown up, the expressions become distinct and details emerge. A female slave is breastfeeding a child in the field; clothes that look neat are seen to be tattered.
"Expanding the photos, we can see a lot of things we couldn't see and the state didn't want to see," Schwarcz says. "We do not want to show slaves only like victims."
Slavery in Brazil lasted for 300 years, and it imported some 4 million Africans to the country. These images were taken during the waning days of slavery and Brazil's monarchy. Many were commissioned by the state in an attempt to show slavery in a better light.
Sergio Burgi with the Moreira Salles Institute, which donated the photographs to the show, says blowing up the images shows the underlying brutality of the system. In another image, slaves are lined up waiting to be taken into the field. All are barefoot. In between them, once the image is enlarged, we can see many young children.
Slaves at a coffee yard in a farm. Vale do Paraiba, Sao Paulo, 1882
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember conservatives are often very willing to push the boundaries of common decency because they only care about winning, not their methods. MSNBC: Rightwing white candidate wins local race after pretending to be black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He got his constituents’ votes, but he may not have their trust for very long.
By a small margin, a white anti-gay activist has ousted a 24-year African American incumbent from his position on the Houston Community College System Board of Trustees – and he did it by pretending to be black. Dave Wilson, who until recently was described in the press as an “unsuccessful candidate in several local political races,” decided to take a shot at the HCCS Trustee job, even though he knew he was running in an overwhelmingly black district. So he tried to see if he could subtly convince voters he was black, too.
In an interview with KHOU reporter Doug Miller, Wilson said he was “shocked” that he won.
“I’d always said it was a long shot,” he said. “No, I didn’t expect to win.”
Wilson sent campaign fliers to community members that used stock photos of African Americans with messages like, “Please vote for our friend and neighbor, Dave Wilson.” He even boasted an endorsement from Ron Wilson. Houston voters probably thought he meant former state Rep. Ron Wilson, who helped create the Texas Human Rights Commission, debated Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and led the fight to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a recognized holiday in the state, according to the Houston Chronicle. But the Ron Wilson in question was actually his family member with the same name, an Iowa-dwelling cousin who Wilson grew up playing baseball with.
In one of those mailers, he made a point to tie his opponent, incumbent Bruce Austin, to Houston’s openly lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, pointing out that they both supported “sodomy,” “marriage between a man and a man,” and “that a man can use a woman’s bathroom.”
Austin told KHOU he was disgusted by the mailers, adding that he may pursue a recount, since he lost by a mere 26-vote margin.
“I don’t think it’s good for both democracy and the whole concept of fair play,” he said of his challenger’s campaign. “But that was not his intent, apparently.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
They were a special group of men, but they were hindered and stepped on every inch of the way. But without their valiant efforts, their expertise and bravery, the world would be definitely be an even worse place than it is.
The must honored, forever.
Tuskegee Airfield
For the Tuskegee Airmen
These men, these proud black men:
our first to touch their fingers to the sky.
The Germans learned to call them
Die Schwarzen Vogelmenschen.
They called themselves The Spookwaffe.
Laughing. And marching to class under officers whose thin–lipped ambition was to wash the niggers out.
Sitting at attention for lectures about ailerons, airspeed, altimeters
from boring lieutenants who believed you monkeys ain’t meant to fly.
Oh, there were parties, cadet-dances, guest appearances
by the Count and the lovely Lena.
There was the embarrassing
adulation of Negro civilians. A woman approached my father in a bar where he was drinking with his buddies. Hello, Airman. She held out her palm. Will you tell me my future?
There was that, like a breath of pure oxygen. But first they had to earn wings.
There was this one instructor
who was pretty nice. I mean, we just sat around and talked when a flight had gone well.
But he was from Minnesota,
and he made us sing the Minnesota Fight Song before we took off.
If you didn’t sing it, your days were numbered. "Minnesota, hats off to thee…" That bastard!
One time I had a check-flight
with an instructor from Louisiana.
As we were about to head for base,
he chopped the power.
Force-landing, nigger. There were trees everywhere I looked. Except on that little island… I began my approach. The instructor said, Pull Up. That was an excellent approach. Real surprised. But where would you have taken off, wise guy?
I said, Sir, I was ordered
to land the plane. Not take off.
The instructor grinned. Boy, if your ass is as hard as your head, you’ll go far in this world.
-- Marilyn Nelson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Black Kos Community Front Porch