Commentary by Black Kos Editor JoanMar
The podcast revolution passed me by. Really, I don’t know how people do it. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, DailyKos, family, job, bills, friends, TV, cellphone, texting, reading, AND podcasts? That’s too much for me. That’s overstimulation. “You don’t have to make time for them,” I’ve been told repeatedly. “You can listen when you are driving or at bedtime.” Hmmm...no thanks. Listening to music while driving is my therapy. Music keeps me sane. Bedtime is for reading.
True, I have thought about testing the waters a time or two. There’s Pod Save America hosted by that exceptional group of writers who helped President Obama produce some of the greatest speeches of all time. Thus far, I’ve succeeded in resisting the temptation, but I hear that they are really good.
A political podcast for people who aren’t ready to give up or go insane. Pod Save America is a no-bullshit conversation about politics hosted by former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor. It cuts through the noise to break down the week’s news, and helps people figure out what matters and how they can help. They’re regularly joined by journalists, activists, politicians, entertainers, and world leaders. New episodes come out on Mondays and Thursdays. Text the hosts at (323) 405-9944
Then there's Don Lemon who was recently gifted with his own podcast — Silence is Not an Option — and I was tempted...for a minute.
America is in crisis right now. A lot of people want to help, but have no idea where to start. In our new podcast, we’re going to dig deep into the reality of being Black and Brown in America, and explore what you can do to help find a path forward. We’ll have tough conversations with activists, artists, and thinkers about our nation’s deep racial divide. As we look for meaningful and lasting solutions, there is a lot to learn and unlearn. These conversations are going to be challenging—even uncomfortable—but they’re important. Because this time, we get to rebuild America together.
The problem with listening to Don Lemon expounding on race and racism is that I have a long memory. When it comes to calling out and ridiculing “The Damn Fool,” (thanks Kev) nobody does it better than Don Lemon. Nobody. But Wolf Blitzer and CNN have Malcolm X rolling in his grave. I hate to tell you, Wolf, but Don Lemon is not a leader in or of the Black community. Yes, he spoke out forcefully after the public lynching of George Floyd, but I remember him finding common cause with Bill O’Reilly in blaming Black teens for their own victimization. It was Lemon who posited that if young Black men were to just pull up their sagging pants they would avoid being stopped and frisked and humiliated by over-zealous racist cops. I’ll never forgive him for that. When it comes to race, Don Lemon is not quite Terry Crews or Charles Barkley, but he is a johnny-come-lately to this fight and no, I’m not inclined to listen to a 50+-year-old man spout off on his newfound convictions. I’ll pass.
But, good news! I want to report to you that I finally succumbed to the pressure. I went through quite the hassle to get an account with Spotify and to listen to my first podcast in its entirety...and at the end of the 48 minutes, I actually felt teary-eyed.
Into this moment of profound nostalgia for pre-2016 election comes The Michelle Obama Podcast, now streaming exclusively on Spotify. Obama interviews celebrities, close friends, and family members, and talks about her own life and the issues that are important to her. In the first episode, which dropped July 29, she interviews her husband, Barack, about marriage, community, and the value of public service.
At first, I felt it was a little voyeuristic to be listening in on this very intimate conversation, but that feeling quickly dissipated. This couple loves and respects each other; they teased and shaded and openly loved on the other. They covered a broad array of subjects with intelligence and passion and empathy. It was love and respect and beauty in action. The excerpted section below perfectly captures the difference between the humanity of this beautiful couple and the soulless grifters presently squatting in the WH.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA - I mean, my values, in terms of what I think my obligation – my personal obligation – Michelle Obama – is that it is not enough that I succeed on my own. I have to careabout the kid in the desk next to me at school because he’s just as smart but his mom works. And my father always kind of taught us to take in everybody’s full story. Not to judge people, the drunk uncle or the cousin out of work…
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA – Cause you didn’t know what was happening...FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA – You didn’t know what happened to them. You know, we weren't special. And as a result, you know if something good happens to you, if you have an advantage, you don't hoard it. You share it. You reach out. You give back. And I can say that my family, my neighborhood, my notion of community growing up shaped that view and shaped the choices that I made in life as I felt your experiences shaped yours.18:19
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA - I think I figured out once I got to school that if I am chasing after my own success, that somehow, I am going to end up alone and unhappy.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA – Yeah.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA – And that’s why I ended up going into community organizing and the work that I was doing because when I thought about how I was going to spend my life, what I looked at was what those civil rights workers had done...And the freedom writers had done. And I thought, you know, that looks like hard work but it never looks like lonely work.
Mrs. Obama’s second episode was even more impactful than the first. In this episode, she brought a bulldozer to the racist trope of the superhuman black woman. Writer Kovie Biakolo breaks down the heavy burden we’ve been carrying around for centuries:
I get tired of feeling like I have to be a representative, a “good” Black woman; always ensuring that my head is held high as I face the world. And even when that world is unkind to me and my sisters – the girls and women who look like me – I hold onto what I can, and try to maintain an unwavering strength. The sort of strength that my mother maintained, and her mother before her. The sort of strength that poems and stories and songs are written about; the strength that the world compliments but does not see itself as implicated in unnecessarily creating.
But what if I don’t want to be strong? What if, just for a moment, I want to be weak? As a Black woman, am I allowed to be weak?
Despite the casual delivery, I have to believe that this was no accidental disclosure by Mrs. Obama. Here's how she framed it:
It is unusual, and it is, you know, it's a direct result of just being out of, out of body, out of mind. And spiritually, these are not, they are not fulfilling times, spiritually. You know, um, so I, I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression. Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.
(my bold)
Mrs. Obama admitted that dealing with the murderous inaction of an imbecilic incompetent who is allowing the novel coronavirus to run unchecked, the acts of wanton brutality and petty cruelties against our community, the attempts to dismantle everything her husband worked so hard to achieve, while at the very same time bald-facedly appropriating his successes left her struggling with “low-grade depression.” With this one act of fearless admission, Michelle Obama gave Black women — and men — the freedom to fully and unapologetically claim our humanness and all the complexities that come with being human. We — especially us black women — we feel pain, we feel off-centered, we feel weak, we are frustrated, and yes, sometimes — I daresay given today’s realities, most times — we are seethingly angry. Yes, we are phenomenal. Yes, we will continue to rise. But sometimes we get so danged tired of wearing this spirit-sapping superwoman cape around our shoulders. We too get depressed; deal with it. A huge thank you to our #ForeverFLOTUS!
So, now I’m a convert. I eagerly look forward to the rest of this season’s Michelle Obama Podcasts. I especially look forward to her sitting down with the next Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.
What about you? Do you listen to podcasts? Who or what are your favorites? What do you think of what you've heard so far from Mrs. Obama?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has officially chosen California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Harris, who ran for the presidency herself, is a historic choice: She’s the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman to be a major-party nominee for the vice presidency. Among the candidates favored by Democratic voters in recent polls, Harris brings extensive governing experience to the position, though aspects of her record have long prompted progressive criticism.
Harris has been in public service for decades; she was elected to the Senate in 2016 and served as the state’s attorney general and San Francisco’s district attorney before that. A former candidate in the Democratic primary, she’s known as a charismatic campaigner. And she and Biden are fairly close ideologically: Both staked out more moderate positions during the party’s presidential contest, though Harris has a liberal record in the Senate.
Harris’s nomination, which followed a lengthy vetting process, sends a message about the future of the Democratic Party — and its commitment to women and Black Americans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her experience at Howard University is crucial to understanding the woman who could be the first Black vice president in US History. OZY: KAMALA HARRIS’ TOUGHEST RACE … IN COLLEGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The voters were relentless in vetting their candidate and held high expectations. They wanted a representative with global awareness and quizzed the candidate on everything from the war on drugs to access to voting machines to the accelerating race for the White House. Kamala Harris has called it the toughest campaign of her career — the time, that is, she won a slot as freshman representative on the Liberal Arts Student Council at Howard University.
That campaign launched a political winning streak that came to an end when the California U.S. senator bowed out of the presidential race late last year. But even that loss served only to boost her standing, as Joe Biden affirmed Tuesday when he named Harris his vice presidential running mate. The selection is historic for the 55-year-old Black woman of Indian descent, who, if the Democratic Party ticket wins, would break all sorts of barriers in a job held only by white men for the past 230 years.
As Harris drives ahead in the campaign, her freshman-year college campaign is just one example of how Howard shaped everything from her views on race to public service and community building.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under pressure from protesters in the former capital of the Confederacy, Levar Stoney bucked tradition and preempted state law to remove a street of statues, putting his reputation and reelection prospects on the line. Politico: The Black, Millennial Mayor Who Tore Down His City’s White Monuments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night before, protesters had gathered in front of an equestrian statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on the city’s famous Monument Avenue, demanding that it come down. George Floyd had been killed in Minneapolis a week earlier, and the effects were rippling across the country. Here, in the former capital of the Confederacy, the protesters targeted the nation’s most prominent memorial to the military commander who fought to protect slavery. Police officers had responded with tear gas, claiming the demonstrators were violent, and now the people gathered in front of City Hall blamed the mayor, Levar Marcus Stoney, for an assault they saw as unprovoked.
“Stoney, Stoney, Stoney,” chanted the crowd in a rhythmic taunt.
When the mayor stepped out of the government building, he was met with boos and cries of “Resign!” and “Where were you last night?” A protester handed him a red-and-white bullhorn so he could speak over the crowd, but Stoney still had trouble making his apology heard. “It was wrong, and it was inexcusable,” he said, promising that the perpetrators of the tear gas attack would be held accountable. After listening for an hour to the citizens’ complaints and frustrations, in the hope of easing the tension, he asked to join them that evening in their planned two-mile trek from the state Capitol building to the site of the memorial dedicated to the man who surrendered Confederate forces 155 years ago. With scattered applause amid a few shouts of disapproval, the crowd grudgingly obliged.
Now 39, Stoney is the youngest mayor in Richmond’s history, a Black millennial who came into office promising change and embodying a fresh face for a tradition-bound city. But as the unrest following Floyd’s death expanded to a call to pull down America’s remaining monuments to Confederate figures, he found himself in an unenviable position: mayor of the city with the country’s biggest collection of Confederate monuments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For community activists on the South Side of Chicago, words are insufficient, and an embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement requires caring for communities that both Democrats and Republicans have ignored. New York Times: Are Racial Attitudes Really Changing? Some Black Activists Are Skeptical
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the 1970s, before the full exodus of white residents, the erosion of local businesses, the crack epidemic of the 1980s and the disinvestment that followed, it was the trees that signaled the societal elevation of Black families — separating those who moved here from the urban high rises they fled. An apple tree greeted Antoine Dobine’s family in 1973, he said. The tree meant a yard. A yard meant a home. And a home meant a slice of the American dream, long deferred for Black Americans.
“Pear trees, peaches, apples, it was beautiful,” Mr. Dobine recalled. “Before the white people left.”
Today, as activism against racial inequities raises questions of whether anything will actually change for many Black Americans, Mr. Dobine’s street in Roseland tells a different story about that same American dream, and the place for Black people within it. The fruit trees have been replaced with overgrown lots. Residents say gangs use the abandoned areas to stockpile weapons, which children sometimes find. The police are omnipresent, a source of comfort for those who believe they deter crime, and an instigator for others who say they perpetuate abuse.
But more than anything, it’s the consistency of the neighborhood’s struggle that bothers its tight-knit group of activists, who are skeptical that the nation’s current focus on racial injustice will mean tangible improvements in the lives of those who most need it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An expectant Black mother in America lives with the fear that her baby has a 1 in 13 chance of being born with sickle cell disease (SCD), and that her child may suffer a lifetime of debilitating medical conditions and live only into his 40s. While SCD affects 100,000 Americans, African Americans are disproportionately impacted by SCD. Sickle cell disease is also one of many explanations for higher rates of illness and mortality from COVID-19 among Black populations in the United States. Although data is just beginning to be collected, findings from the Medical College of Wisconsin suggest that people who have SCD and become infected with COVID-19 are at a high risk for a severe case of the disease and a high fatality rate. Similar to other co-morbidity illnesses Black Americans disproportionally face, social determinants including socioeconomic status, implicit health bias and healthcare access contribute to the ongoing challenges impacting people with SCD and who also are extremely vulnerable COVID-19.
The Black Women’s Health Imperative, which promotes physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being for the nation’s 19.5 million African American women and girls, sees and understands the dire health consequences that both sickle cell disease and now COVID-19 have on our communities. As a top priority, we are addressing the challenges facing those living and working with the diseases, using our broad-based reach and power and advocating for policies that provide more equitable and adequate access to treatments for Black patients and other vulnerable patients in this country.
Previously, there was just one drug for people living with SCD – hydroxyurea – three new drugs have been approved since 2017. Each of these new treatments can be used as monotherapy and can provide additional pain and hospitalization reduction and anemia improving benefits when used with hydroxyurea. There are also alternative options for patients for whom hydroxyurea therapy is inappropriate. According to a report published in 2019, 17 new treatments are being developed. Despite these exciting advancements in sickle cell disease treatment, a multitude of barriers exist that could prevent access to patients who need them most.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the September 2018 launch of Melbourne rap label 66 Records at the Gasometer Hotel in Collingwood, a heaving crowd bounced under the venue’s giant disco ball to booming bass. But that jubilation ended at about 2am when a fight broke out.
The violence culminated in the street with one intoxicated attendee losing control of a car, pinning another teenager between two parked cars. The victim David Dada – a third cousin of the label’s founder Abraham Poni – lost his leg.
News outlets falsely reported the incident as a case of so-called African gang violence – part of a trend of exaggerated reporting on crime in Melbourne’s African diaspora communities, in the lead-up to the 2018 Victorian state elections.
The pressure almost ended the aspirations of the then 19-year-old label bosses Poni and John Nelson.
66 records — Fetish -Youtube screen shot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voters in oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago have returned to power the government of Prime Minister Keith Rowley for five more years in Monday’s general elections amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But main opposition leader and former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is contesting the tight race, demanding a recount in three marginal Parliament seats separating her United National Congress, UNC, from Rowley’s People National Movement, PNM.
“The battle was so close that we are not officially conceding until we get the results of the recounts we’ve demanded in three key marginal constituencies,” Persad-Bissessar posted on her Facebook page Tuesday following the announcement that PNM candidates had won 22 seats in Parliament while the UNC won 19.
Map of the Caribbean showing the location of Trinidad and Tobago — Pinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY’S PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
