NYPD's Ferocious Appetite for Black and Brown Men

[originally posted September 6, 2011 via Put On BLAST! ®]

Good morning,

This email blast was scheduled days ago, simply to remind my POB! subscribers about the upcoming court date for the Monumental 5 [www.monumental5.bucktownusa.com]. But the New York Police Department (NYPD) is at it again and I need to fold in the latest news from Brooklyn.

Yesterday (September 5, 2011) at the annual Caribbean Day Parade, NYPD showed again just how much it lusts for Black and Brown men. NYPD has a ferocious appetite  for arresting, detaining, and often times brutalizing men of color. They have made it clear that your class status, your education level, whether or not you're employed, what kind of people you socialize with, where you're from...none of that will protect you from their unprovoked attacks. In fact, as in the case of these two Black men: Jumanne Williams and Kristen John Foy , you can even be an elected official (Williams) and a public servant like Foy (who is the Director of Community Relations for NYC Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio) and you will still be targeted as a threat by NYPD. Only White men, it appears, escape the loathing of NYPD.

NYC Councilmember Williams and Mr. Foy were arrested yesterday at the parade as they tried to exit. They showed their city credentials to NYPD officers who were trying to block their path, credentials that are issued as proof of the position and stature they hold in the city they serve. None of that mattered. At least one of them was thrown to the ground and both were arrested and detained. The New York Times article includes video.

SIDE NOTE: Most media reports that I saw or read indicated that the men were "briefly detained." Perhaps that's the language given by NYPD, a poor attempt to clean up this ugly situation. It's not working. It's tantamount to saying the men were arrested a little.

So it's timely - as I remind POB! subscribers of the Monumental 5 court date [scroll down for details] - that I also reference the Williams/Foy incident as another case of police misconduct against Black men. It will serve as a teachable moment for some, for those who believe that NYPD only arrests people who "must have been doing something wrong." That is not the truth.

I'm told that Williams is holding a press conference this morning to make a statement about the arrests. Bill DeBlasio (who has shown consistent, pro-active support of the community work that activist, writer Kevin Powell and I have done over the years) is calling for an investigation. All of that, and more, is needed in order for people of color to enjoy the peaceful, safe environment that we deserve, and that we pay for with our tax dollars. There is no way for New York to be safe if only White people are the only group of people that NYPD respects. The police department must be held accountable for their misconduct, for the brutal and deadly force, and for the assumption they have that Black and Brown men are inherently dangerous.

To the beholden: I'm not lost on the fact that White people get arrested in NY and that some Black and Brown men are indeed dangerous, so save those counter-arguments. I'm addressing the fact that our communities are disproportionally under siege in New York City and it has everything to do with race. Consider these facts that community organizer Lumumba Bandele shared during our work for the Monumental 5:

"According to the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union]: In 2010 alone, NYPD officers made over half a million stops, 85 percent of which targeted people of color. The reason given by NYPD for what are called "stop-and-frisk" activities were guns. In all of these cases, however, less than 0.2 percent of "stop-and-frisk" resulted in guns being found. According to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Blacks and Latinos represent over 90% of all citywide trespass arrests on NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] property although we make up only 54% of the New York City population."

Read the full statement HERE

During a recent community gathering for the Monumental 5, I addressed a common question you may have asked yourself: "Why do the police terrorize our communities?" The sober answer is "Because they can." But it doesn't have to be this way. Organizations such as the People's Justice Coalition and their Cop Watch program give us concrete examples of what we can do, legally, to let NYPD know that they will not always get away with misconduct and brutal behavior. I strongly encourage you to watch the video below from that event (see part 2 featuring Linda Tigani of Cop Watch, below). It gives insights into how we can create a "culture of observation" against the NYPD. Learn more about that coalition and the organizations that are a part of it at www.PeoplesJustice.org

 

The only thing we know for sure in this life is that we will one day die. In the meantime, I hope we live in peace. We have a right to and must fight for the peaceful living we deserve.

Get in where you fit in!

April R. Silver

Social Entrepreneur, Activist, Writer/Editor

Founder and President, AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. (est. 1993)

Home of Put On BLAST! ®

www.AKILAWORKSONGS.com

The Monumental 5 Still Need Our Support

AS OF TODAY, THE CHARGES

AGAINST THE MONUMENTAL 5

HAVE NOT BEEN DROPPED!

Join Us in Supporting the Monumental 5

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

at 9:30 am

NYS Supreme Court

100 Centre Street

Part F, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10013

[click HERE for directions]

How It Works: If you come to court to show your support, please be prepared to stay all day *or* for as little as a few minutes. No matter how long or how brief the court dates, let our support be stronger than the tactics used to break us down!

If you think police brutality is wrong, come to court. FORWARD this to a friend if you can't attend!

---

MONUMENTAL SUMMER RE-CAP!

If You Missed the Community Gathering

at The House of the Lord Church

Then Watch the Videos Below...

featuring

performance artist TULANI KINARD

HOTLC pastor, the esteemed REV. DR. HERBERT DAUGHTRY

attorney KENNETH MONTGOMERY

activist KEVIN POWELL

event producer CYNICAL SMITH (Bucktown USA)

hip hop artist GENERAL STEELE (Smif N Wessun)

activist LINDA TIGANI (People's Justice) Must See "Cop Watch" Info (2nd video, 21:00)

legendary hip hop producer and DJ PETE ROCK

...and others!

video donated by Earl Christian, III of Urban Wall Street 

Next Week: More Info, more video presentation, donated by

Dynasty Presents in association with The Glassman Film Company

Get the Facts and the Backstory at

www.Monumental5.BucktownUSA.com

Twitter: #Monumental5

Press Contact

AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc.

Email: pr@akilaworksongs.com

Phone: 718.756.8501

"Psychology Today: Stop Publishing Racist & Sexist Articles" (from Change.org)

The following is from Change.org. Go to this link to SIGN THE PETITION.

On May 15, 2011, Psychology Today contributor, Satoshi Kanazawa posted an article entitled "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" (now removed from their website, but reblogged here). We demand that the Psychology Today editorial board publicly account for how and why this racist and sexist article was allowed to be published on the Psychology Today website, and take transparent steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

Kanazawa's article is nothing more than a vile regurgitation of racist and sexist beliefs about black women disguised as "objective" and "scientific" research findings, and contributes to a historical legacy of using distorted "science" as a tool to justify violent ideas about and treatment of black women. Kanazawa has a history of writing biased and error-ridden articles that attempt to justify racist beliefs. Other scientists have discredited his research and his legitimacy as a social scientist has been called into question. That Psychology Today publishes Kanazawa's often problematic articles casts serious doubt about the trustworthiness of their publications as well as the rigor of their editorial process.

Psychology Today is not just a magazine and website, but it's also a site that people access resources for mental health services for their well being. Publishing damaging and crude articles such as Kanazawa's demonstrates a profound disrespect for anyone who turns to Psychology Today for these resources.

Though Psychology Today has removed the article from their website without explanation, the editors have not acknowledged or taken responsibility for publishing the article, discussed the editorial standards they require from their contributors and whether this article satisfied those standards, or explained why Kanazawa remains as a contributor, despite being discredited by other social scientists. Psychology Today editors have a journalistic and ethical duty to be both transparent about how this article was published and accountable for this failure in public trust.

Because of the damage that this kind of misinformation creates for both the public and Psychology Today, we demand the following:

1) a public statement from Psychology Today editors demonstrating accountability for the article itself and the editorial conditions that allowed this article to be published on your website,

2) the removal of Satoshi Kanazawa as a contributor to your website, magazine, and any other Psychology Today publications based on his history of discredited research and repeatedly submitting racially biased articles to Psychology Today, including this most recent disturbing article that your editors chose to abruptly scrub from your website,

3) and the development of more thoughtful and sophisticated strategies for identifying how racism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia, and other oppressions and biases shape any so-called "objective" scientific inquiries, methodologies, and findings that your contributors examine in your publications. These strategies should be communicated to the public in an effort to be more transparent about how you are disrupting bias in your reporting.

Also, please visit this additional important change.org petition demanding that "psychological professional associations to devise a formal statement alerting the public that, given their track record, Psychology Today should not be considered a reliable source of psychological knowledge."

“Sing Your Song”: Harry Belafonte on Art & Politics, Civil Rights & His Critique of President Obama

A Family Watches "Freedom Riders" by Stanley Nelson

I went to my brother and sister-in-law's home in Virginia two weeks ago for Mother's Day. Jenny B. Silver had wished for an extended Mother's Day weekend with her children so we obliged. It was a sweet weekend of enjoying each other's company and playing with Hoshi (my brother and sister-in-law's dog). Saturday, we took Ms. Silver shopping where she picked the gifts of her choice. That night, we went to a Japanese hibachi steakhouse but on Mother's Day my brother cooked a traditional soul food dinner, a highlight of the day.

 

The other highlight was Freedom Riders, the documentary by renowned filmmaker Stanley Nelson. The new film is based on the journey of young activists who, in the spring of 1961 (50 years ago this month), decided to challenge Jim Crow laws of the south. I'd brought the DVD to watch on the train ride to Virginia but didn't get that chance so I asked my family if we could watch it together. My mother agreed reluctantly. It was sometimes difficult, she said, to re-live this particular past.

 

I think you'll agree, if you watch the film tonight on PBS, that Freedom Riders is an instant classic. Eager to capture the personal feelings of someone familiar who had lived during this time, I got my mother on video. Click the image below to hear from the woman who birthed and raised me. She was 13 when the Freedom Riders came to the state where she was born.

 

click images above to WATCH VIDEO

 

Know Stanley Nelson and Firelight Media

I've known about Freedom Riders for about nine months now. Last summer AKILA WORKSONGS (AW) was hired to do a Put On BLAST!® email marketing campaign (POB!). While I missed the screenings then, I acquired a copy of the DVD in April from a friend working on the film's community outreach. And on May 4, Oprah dedicated a show to the historic journey and it included Stanley. It was exciting to watch Mr. Nelson being warmly appreciated by one of the most powerful media titans in the world. Yet I was floored to find out later that POB! was a part of Oprah learning about the film in the first place!

 

My first introduction to the master filmmaker was via Ras Baraka in 2001. At the time I didn't know who was behind a documentary that Ras kept talking about. Once I watched Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind, however, I understood what all the raving was about.

 

In 2003, AW managed and publicized the  National Black Writers Conference where Dr. Brenda Greene featured Mr. Nelson and his latest project, The Murder of Emmett Till. Another classic. In 2006, AW began working with Byron Hurt, one of Nelson's mentees. Nelson executive produced Hurt's Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, the award-winning film documentary that also aired on PBS. Over the years, I'd come to watch and/or promote other Nelson projects: Running: The Campaign for City Council (2002), Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice (2005), Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple (2006), and Wounded Knee (2008).

 

I do not understand how one becomes as prolific and uniquely revealing as Stanley Nelson. He makes hard working people look like slackers. However it happens, I'm thanking God for Firelight Media. The company's work is necessary in our journey for self-knowledge as a community. The writer Joan Morgan once said, "I don't know how you can call yourself a Black writer if you haven't studied James Baldwin." By extension, I don't know if you one can claim they know the Black experience if they haven't seen a Stanley Nelson film.

 

Freedom Riders airs on PBS tonight but you can also own a copy, get background educational information, join the outreach campaign, and/or make a donation to keep this kind of documentary filmmaking alive.Take the next step now.

Rev. Al Sharpton and April R. Silver Endorse Rhymefest for Alderman

"We are asking them to get involved and give back.  Che is doing that. I am here today because I support Che "Rhymefest" Smith. If he was a negative force, I would not be here today.” 

~ Rev. Al Sharpton

"Hip hop culture at its best teaches us love of self, love of family, and love of community. It teaches us to be pro-active and to ignite positive change. Che "Rhymefest" Smith's run for Chicago's 20th Ward Alderman is a great symbol of hip hop as a tool for change.

His candidacy also represents the kind of dedication we all should have to our communities. What I respect most about Smith is that when he got 'sick and tired of being sick and tired' of the injustices in his community he decided to do something about it. He didn't get stuck complaining, or being apathetic, and or being indifferent. He decided to stand up and give of himself. I applaud him for that and I encourage people to support his important campaign in any way that they can."

~ April R. Silver
Editor of the anthology Be a Father to Your Child: Real Talk from Black Men on Family, Love, and Fatherhood (featuring Che "Rhymefest" Smith)

The run-off election is Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

Please vote. For more information, please visit www.FriendsOfRhymefest.com

TONIGHT: Haiti Community Forum

If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view the online version



BAMIA (Black and Male in America) and BK Nation
present
“Help Haiti: What We Can Do Now To Rebuild”
An Open Forum with Q & A Session

TONIGHT!
Monday, April 5, 2010
7:00pm - 9:00 pm
(Doors Open at 6:30pm)

Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-2711
(Downtown; at the corner of Clinton St.)
www.brooklynhistory.org
Subway Directions: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall; A, C, F to Jay St/Borough Hall; M, R to Court St.

Featuring Panelists:
APRIL R. SILVER (AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc.)
JACQUES-PHILIPPE PIVERGER (The Global Syndicate; PineBridge Investments)
JUNY FRANÇOIS (J. François & Associates, LLC)
MARIE MARTHE ST CYR (The Lambi Fund of Haiti)
RON DANIELS, Ph.D (The Haiti Support Project)
YVES C. FRANÇOIS (Three Properties Developers)
Moderated by KEVIN POWELL, Activist, Author of Open Letters to America

Free and open to the public
Live stream exclusively via www.kevinpowell.net
“Help Haiti" video by Byron Hurt
Special Performances by Jeff Jeudy and Maritri (www.maritri.net)
Traditional and contemporary Haitian music by DJ Hard Hittin Harry (www.myspace.com/hardhittinharry)

Co-Sponsors: The Twenty First Century Foundation, The Lambi Fund of Haiti, AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc., and Global Shoes • Producers: Kevin Powell, April R. Silver, and Juny François, Esq. • For venue info: 718.222.4111 • For event info: 718.756.8501 / info@helphaitionline.org / www.helphaitionline.org • For Media Inquiries: Thysha Shabazz at AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. / 718.756.8501 / thysha@akilaworksongs.com

Put On BLAST! c/o AKILA WORKSONGS | PO Box 250553 | Brooklyn, NY 11225 | US

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The Color Blue

posted originally via Put On BLAST! listserv (www.putonblast.com)

Peace, Fam.

Spike Lee told Kevin Powell last night that the Michael Jackson Tribute that he's doing (and the one that everyone is talking about) is STILL happening today at Prospect Park in Brooklyn (12 noon - 5:00pm). Disregard any rumor that it's canceled. There may be a little rain, but so what. More details about the tribute are at www.40acres.com. It's going to be a beautiful event!

WEAR BLUE!
As so many of you already know, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast 4 years ago this past week. August 29 is a big anniversary date for that region, for our community, and for the world. As a simple but meaningful show of thoughtfulness, Kevin and I asking people to wear something BLUE in honor of those who died from, as well as those who survived, Hurricane Katrina.

Now, August 29 will forever hold an extra powerful meaning for our community. It is the birthday of our beloved Michael Jackson and it is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is the day that God picked for Katherine Jackson to give birth to Michael and it is the day that God picked to trouble the waters in New Orleans. If you think calmly for a moment, you will see the power of the color blue as it relates to this date.

In Yoruba/African culture, blue is the color of Yemoja, an Orisha. Simply defined, an Orisha is a force of nature (or what I like to call "a piece of God Almighty on earth"). Yemoja is "the ultimate symbol and the personification of motherhood...divine, human life." From this energy, we are blessed with many things, including children and the "principle of everlastingness." The ocean, also the color blue, is the "largest environment for life in the world." It is there - to the ocean, to the water (the classic symbol of life and motherhood) that we go to seek healing and cleansing. Yemoja brings us clouds and rainfall because we can't be nurtured without the life-sustaining, refreshing properties of water.

But in life, everything has an opposite. When the dark side of our humanity gets to roam free in the world, dark things happen and life loses many battles. God troubles the waters, the ocean explodes, and we drown in its outrage. While the history books say that Hurricane Katrina was one of the greatest natural disasters that this country has ever experienced, many of us know that the story is deeper than that. The depth of the disaster had more to do with human neglect than nature. And we have Spike Lee's ground-breaking documentary "When The Levees Broke" for much of the insight on this story. Had it not been for the prejudiced abandonment of black people and people who were poor by government agencies that saw them as dispensable, then Hurricane Katrina would not have been as catastrophic.

God also troubles the ground we stand on, our dreams are disrupted, so we seek escape as best we know how. We learned yesterday, from the Los Angeles Coroner's office that Michael Jackson died from a prescription drug overdose. But many of us know that the story is deeper than that. The life and death of Michael Jackson represents a complexity that baffles most. Gone too soon, he (and the good he symbolized), left many of us yearning for a less harsh world. I think it fair to say, however, that his need for escape was unknowable and it appears to have cost him his life.

So on the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (and later Hurricane Rita)...and on what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st birthday, I hope the rain continues, quite frankly. Let it do what it do! The need for cleansing is a deep-rooted need so let's be rained upon.

Today, I will wear the color blue because I believe in the maternal, healing properties of water and the ocean. It will be my superficial way to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson and to honor the memory of those were lost in Katrina's passage. Tomorrow, I will continue to do the work required to make life more bearable.

I hope to see you in the park!

Lovingly,

April R. Silver
Social Entrepreneur, Activist, Writer
www.aprilsilver.com

REMEMBER MICHAEL JACKSON (August 29, 1958)
REMEMBER KATRINA SURVIVORS (August 29, 2005)

Notes on Yemoja from "Black Gods: Orisa Studies in the New World" by Gary Edwards & John Mason

Lani Guinier's Take on the Skip Gates "Mini-Drama"

From TheRoot.com
By The Root Brass | Posted: July 27, 2009 at 11:03 am

A Beer Bromance at the White House? Can Obama's beer fest do anything to improve the relationship between black people and the cops who arrest them? Or does it waste valuable presidential time?

I applaud President Obama’s willingness to step into this debate. Frankly, however, the conversation that needs to happen goes well beyond the one between President Obama, Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley. The president is in a position to use this encounter to engage the country—and not just the participants on the now infamous porch scenario—in a thorough vetting of the multiple ways that race still interacts with gender and class and power in our society as whole. Both the police officer and the professor, unfamiliar with each other, were nevertheless playing out longstanding clashes between town and gown. Fighting it out on that porch scene were the expectations of respect that come with privilege and property against the expectations of respect that come with a badge and a gun. Pitting these two powerful narratives against each other was a legacy of racism and social control from a time in our history when blacks did not own property; they were property. At the same time, we have a contemporary criminal justice system that exercises outsized control as the major urban policy instrument for controlling the poor.

The conversation might begin with the hope of figuring out what each man should or could have done differently to de-escalate this situation. But the ultimate goal of the conversation should be to explore the encounter as a potent learning moment for the entire country. The mini-drama that occurred on a porch in Cambridge is much bigger than the encounter between Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley, in other words. This is a story of America that we ignore at our collective peril.

—Lani Guinier

Beneath Low: BET, Lil Wayne Set the Stage for Child Pornography

Last night, live at the BET Awards in Los Angeles, a room full of head-bobbing, consenting adults bounced to Drake and Lil Wayne’s back-to-back performances of the hit songs “Best I Ever Had” and “Every Girl.” I watched, underwhelmed. I wanted more “Michael” in what was supposed to be this award-show-turned-Michael-Jackson-tribute. I watched, ever puzzled by the Lil Wayne phenomena that has captivated the music industry. I watched, wondering when the set was going to end.

Then the little girls came onstage…literally the little girls. “Are those children?” I asked out loud, in disbelief. Then the camera panned the audience. Everyone was still head-bobbing as the little Black girls huddled around these superstars.

“Are those little girls on stage…for this song?!?!” I, still in disbelief, lost breath and forced myself to exhale. “Why are these little girls featured on this performance? Is somebody going to stop this?” Again, the show was live, though for a nano-second, I was hoping that a hunched-over stage manager would bust through from back stage to scoop up the children, rescuing them from harm’s way…from being associated from this song. But instead, what those girls witnessed from the stage was hundreds and hundreds of adults (mostly Black people) staring back at them, co-signing the performance. These girls, who all appeared to be pre-teens, were having their 15 minutes of glam on one of the biggest nights in televised Black entertainment history, with two of pop culture’s biggest stars at the moment, with millions of people watching. They must have been bubbling with girlish excitement, shimmering like princesses all night. Pure irony: one of them wore a red ballerina tutu for the special occasion. And we applauded them.

But did no one care that Lil Wayne’s song Every Girl is about grown men and their sexual escapades with women? Did the meaning and intent of the song matter to anyone, this song whose hook and other lyrics required a re-write in order to get air play? “I wish I could love every girl in the world.” That’s the radio-friendly version of “I wish I could f--k every girl in the world.” But Lil Wayne’s BET performance was the clean edit of the song. Perhaps he (and the show producers) thought that there was nothing wrong in featuring the children in the clean version. Perhaps we were supposed to see the whole bit as cute and innocent. Absolutely not. There’s no other way to cut it: in presenting little girls in a performance of a song that is about sex, group sex, and more sex, BET and Lil Wayne set the stage for child pornography. It doesn’t matter what version of the song was played, much like a man who batters women is still an abusive man, even if uses flowery phrases while battering.

In the song, Lil Wayne mentions superstar Miley Cyrus, but Cyrus gets a pass on this lyrical sex escapade because, as he acknowledges, she is a minor. Huh? Why, then, is he comfortable with featuring four minors, these four little Black girls, in the show? How deep exactly is this inability of some men to respect women, and how deep is Lil Wayne’s disregard for the safety of little girls?

I’m told that one of the girls is Lil Wayne’s daughter. That doesn’t matter. In fact that makes it worse. Last night we were reminded that there are few safe spaces for our little girls to be children; that some of us are willing to trade their innocence for a good head nod. BET and Lil Wayne are beneath low because, in effect, they have given premium assurance to these and other little girls that their best value, their shining moment, their gifts to display to the world, all lie within a context that says they are f**kable.

- - - - - - - -

The programming at BET has been heavily criticized by artists, concerned citizens, college students, parent groups, social justice organizations, media reform activists, and many others for over a decade now. Their programming seems hell bent on broadcasting the worst pathologies in the Black community. Some have joined the anti-BET movement by simply tuning out. Others have been more pro-active. National letter-writing campaigns and other activities designed to shame and/or pressure the network into improving its programming have been in play for some time now. Boycotts have been called as well. Two years ago, for example, the network found itself in the line of fire as it planned to air the very controversial series “Hot Ghetto Mess.” Advertisers, such as State Farm Insurance and Home Depot, responded to pressure and requested that their ads be disassociated with the series (though, their ads could be placed in other programming slots). None of this has made a difference. In fact, it seems to have emboldened the network, for it is now expanding. In the fall, BET is due to launch another channel.

As a social entrepreneur and activist, my entire life/work has been dedicated to standing up for what’s right, especially within the culture of hip hop. When identifying what cancerous elements exist within the Black community, many fellow activists agree with Chuck D (of Public Enemy), and even Aaron McGruder (of The Boondocks), when they targeted BET as one of those elements. That said, I didn’t think that we would ever have to take the network to task for what amounts to child pornography.

But millions of Black people are not offended by the network and welcome anything BET has to offer, no matter how much it continues to unravel the fabric of our community. Imagine, if you will, BET as a human being and the viewers as the community. You would have to imagine BET as a drug dealer, with his swag on…perhaps outside standing atop a truck, the community crowded beneath him. Imagine him throwing nicely wrapped gifts into the crowed, or giving away turkeys at Thanksgiving. Or maybe it’s Mother’s Day and he buys dinner and teddy bears to all the single moms and grandmothers around the way. Despite his best efforts and despite the approval of his fans, he is still a drug dealer, pimping death to the masses.

Proverbs is full of sacred text that teaches us that there will always be fools amongst us. Some of them will be highly paid, protected, and given world-wide platforms to show off what they do best. And these fools (be they performers, corporate executives, or others), will have fans and loyal supporters, and a place to call home, like a BET.

But as long as there will be fools amongst us, there will also be wise ones - a small group of people concerned about the long term health and well being of the community. This small group will often go unheard and they will be outmatched. They will struggle over which problem to address first: the child pornographer, the batterer, the pimp, the prostitute, the thief, the slumlord, or the system that enables it all. They will get tired and their defense will pale in comparison to the almost crushing offense. And they will be betrayed from within. Historically and universally, this is what happens in the struggle for what is right. But eventually, with continued pressure, something will shift. A radical new thinking will emerge, and the fools will lose their stronghold.

The sure expectation of victory, however, can not be understated. It is a concrete ingredient in the struggle against the death that is being paraded in our community…as necessary as letter writing campaigns, economic boycotts, symbolic and actual protests, and other pressure-oriented activities. It is indeed possible to bring more life into our community.

###

NOTES ON HOW TO RE-POST OR RE-PRINT THIS ARTICLE. YOU MUST...
1. List the copyright info as: © 2009 by April R. Silver or Copyright 2009, by April R. Silver
2. Include this entire blurb directly under the article: "April R. Silver is a social entrepreneur, activist, and writer/editor. She is also founder of the communications agency AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc. Her first book is the critically acclaimed anthology "BE A FATHER TO YOUR CHILD: REAL TALK FROM BLACK MEN ON FAMILY, LOVE, AND FATHERHOOD." Contact Info: silver@aprilsilver.com or www.aprilsilver.com"

"To Black Women" (An Excerpt)

"To Black Women"
An excerpt from "Invisible Women? A Black Woman’s Response to Don Imus Most Recent Sexist-Racist Remarks" By April R. Silver (April 9, 2007). Revised June 2009


When she reached adulthood, an enslaved African from long ago - Isabella Baumfree - changed her name. We know her now as Sojourner Truth. When Harriet Tubman fully grasped an understanding of the world in which she lived, she began to map out her own survival and that of her family larger community.

Both women, and others like them, were keenly aware of their unique skills, talents, and missions in life. They granted themselves permission to think, organize, speak, and lead. The weight of racism and sexism was ever present for them, but it did not immobile them. When they weren’t invited to help solve or speak about the problems of the day, they crashed the party. They did not wait for any common man or any leader to encourage them to stand up for their right to be free and live well. Tubman, for example, was one of the first social entrepreneurs in our ancestral line. She owned 27 acres of land in upstate New York. She acquired it and other properties so that she could establish safe havens for her family and her community. Truth and Tubman are sacred models of woman leadership, a legacy of power that is our ancestral inheritance.

Though from over a hundred years ago, the examples are relevant today. But we need not dig so far in time to be encouraged and ignited. Fast forward to the 20th and 21st centuries. We have modern models of leadership that range from Camille Yarbrough and Sonia Sanchez to Fannie Lou Hamer and Shirley Chisholm, to countless others. And there are millions of unrecognized Black women who have made a hard decision to combat hate, whenever it emerges.

Ignorance can be combated in various ways. If you are a writer, write on our behalf. Let some of your stories be about helping us heal from this often loveless world. If you are a performer, then dance with us, sing about us…more. If you are an organizer, then embed fairness amongst men and women in everything that you do. And if you are without a means to support yourself at any given time, or without a loving partner to ease the burdens of the day, keep pushing anyway. Never mind about finding fault, “find another way,” as my mother says. In every single aspect of our lives, we must be self-permitted to tell the truth about our lives and stories that shape them. Somebody, quite naturally, is going to be offended in the process. Invariably, someone is going to tell us how wrong we are for focusing on our lives and our stories. But we get to tell the truth regardless of who is offended or is made uncomfortable.

And I strongly believe that we should partner with Black men and anyone else who stands in support of our truth-telling. The battle for the respect of Black women, however, is ours to lead.

Me and President Barack Obama? Part 2

The National Father's Day rally was as much of a success as it could be considering the torrential rain, thunder, and lightening that punctuated the day. For a rally that was scheduled from 10 am to 2 pm at the Lincoln Memorial and with rain that started at 8:30 that morning, the rally didn't have a chance for a good turn out. The rain, mostly the lighting bolts, I'm sure, kept everyone away, including President Barack Obama. He did send a video message, though.

The celebration of fathers is taking center stage these days and The President has committed to making that a steady happening, all while encouraging more fathers to step up to the plate. He has also committed to doing a series of town halls on the topic of fatherhood throughout the country, so stay tuned to this blog, my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter for updates.

Me and President Barack Obama? GTFOH!

The 44th President of the United States of America is supposed to be speaking at the National Father's Day Rally tomorrow...the same rally where I'm speaking (see June 18 post below). I heard that he couldn't wait to hear my remarks about "BE A FATHER TO YOUR CHILD," and its 24 amazing contributors!

No seriously, President Obama is supposed to speak on the segment after my segment. Just found out. Wow. Stay tuned.

If I had five minutes with the president, what would I say??

"Identify yourself, please."

In the "Two Lesbian Women of Color Beat Down by NYPD!" post that I announced earlier today, there's an acronym in that announcement that might stump you, as it did me: LGBTSTGNC. When I was in college I once saw a slogan posted on one of the bulletin boards: "DEFINE, EXPLAIN, CLARIFY." That's all it said but it stuck with me all these years. So today, I looked up LGBTSTGNC to find its meaning and here is what I found: http://www.utne.com/The-Most-Inclusive-Acronym-Ever-LGBTSTGNC.aspx. More specifically, here's a direct quote (the links marked in this quote are not mine):

"LGBTSTGNC refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, transgender, and gender-nonconforming people, according to an article in Left Turn magazine’s April-May issue (original article available here)."

A teachable moment was lost in the announcement today. The larger issue was clear: "The NYPD remains out of control and we will not stand for aggression nor violence against the LGBTSTGNC community. Let's come together!" With my organizer's hat on, however, I wondered how many people would get stuck on and turned off by what seems so foreign, this new label of "LGBTSTGNC." Plenty. In fact one comment spoke to one person's willingness to attend but the "LGBTSTGNC" was off-putting. It's childish to be so shallow or narrowly-focused. That said, a teachable moment was lost, nonetheless.

Practicality is important if the goal is to ignite an at-large community into positive action. To explain to an ignorant audience what LGBTSTGNC means would go a long way. It matters not if we think that people should be knowledgeable about social justice and human rights issues. Too many people are not. And it doesn't matter about what internal struggles a group endures when they try to define and re-define themselves. Many people outside that group could care less about that struggle. It's all fodder for the laugh mill for some people...be it: Negro vs. Black vs. African-American vs. Afro-American vs. African-In-America vs. Colored. Or be it feminist vs. womanist. Even funnier to some is "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual."

At every corner, it's important use our communications to identify and explain who we are and what we do...in 30 seconds or less (or in under 140 characters ), lest the masses flip the channel.

Two Lesbian Women Beat Down by NYPD

Important News That's Been Circulating...Especially on Facebook:

No Justice No Peace!! Protest the NYPD's 77th Precinct's Racist and Homophobic Attacks Against Lesbians of Color

On Saturday May 16, 2009 two Lesbians of Color were brutally attacked outside of the Ife Lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. After being beaten by several officers yelling sexist and homophobic slurs they were arrested. Join the S.O.S. (Safe OUTside the System) Collective and GLOBE (A group to Support and Empower the LGBT community of Bushwick) to show the 77th Precinct that our community will not allow racist and homophobic cops to brutalize and harrass our parties and our communities. The S.O.S. Collective is a program of the Audre Lorde Project. GLOBE is a program of Make the Road NY.

Current Endorsers:

CAAAV, Nodutol, Casa Atabex Ache, Girls for Gender Equity, Immigrant Justice Solidarity Project, INCITE, New Yorkers for Safe Transit, Right Rides, SWOP-NYC (Sex Workers Outreach Project - NYC), SWANK (Sex Workers Action New York) The Justice Committee,The Malcolm x Grassroots Movement, and The Sylvia Rivera Law Project.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact either Ejeris Dixon edixon@alp.org or Karina Claudio karina.claudio@maketheroadny.org. If your organizations is interested in endorsing please contact Ejeris edixon@alp.org.

About the S.O.S. Collective and the Audre Lorde Project
The S.O.S. Collective works to challenge hate and police violence that affects LGBTSTGNC people of color in Central Brooklyn. We are guided by the belief that strategies that increase the police presence within our communities do not create safety. Therefore we believe in fighting the root causes of violence by building stronger relationships within our communities to prevent, intervene, and hold attackers accountable outside of the system.

The Audre Lorde Project is a community organizing center of LGBTSTGNC people of color. Through mobilization, education and capacity-building, we work for community wellness and progressive social and economic justice. Committed to struggling across differences, we seek to responsibly reflect, represent and serve our various communities.

About GLOBE and Make the Road New York.
GLOBE is a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people primarily from communities of color in Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Brownsville and other parts of central and north Brooklyn. Our mission is to empower our communities through organizing and education. Our membership is intergenerational, ranging from age 14-50+. Globe is one of the few New York City groups founded by, led and constituted by low-income LGBTQ people of color organizing around public policy issues that have impact at the city-wide, state-wide and national level. Globe is a project of Make the Road New York.

With over 5900 members, and offices in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, Make the Road New York (MRNY) is the largest membership-based immigrant organization in New York City. Make the Road New York promotes economic justice, equity and opportunity for all New Yorkers through community and electoral organizing, strategic policy advocacy, leadership development, youth and adult education, and high quality legal and support services.

I plan to attend!

I'm With Boycotting Barnes & Noble, If...

This image has been circulating around the Internet. I saw it on Facebook this weekend and I got it twice this morning. Rightfully so, there is a call for a boycott of this bookstore. The claim is that this picture was taken at a Barnes & Noble in Florida and that we should boycott all Barnes and Noble stores and their afflilates. I'm with that...if we can prove that it's Barnes & Noble that we should be boycotting.

The image above certainly looks like a Barnes & Noble window display, but we must be sure. If anyone has more details about this picture, please share them here or at pr@akilaworksongs.com. I'm with joining a boycott, putting the store on blast, writing a letter, and putting pressure on the chain. And I offer this as someone whose book is retailed at this chain. But I believe we must be precise in our defense. Even in all my battle fatigue on the madness of race, I know we must first ask an important question: How do we know this is BN and not a Border's, for example?

Holla back!

ars.

An Apology From The Post...Really?

This morning, Ariel "Asho" Fernandez sent me a link to the New York Post cartoon. I saw it and was like, "Oh My God! What the hell....?" I was speechless and hurt...and pissed off! Then I came to my senses and all I could yell was "It's The New York Post! What can we expect?!?!"

Then I wondered if I should send out a Put On BLAST! to let folks know about this dead-wrong cartoon. I wasn't sure so I asked my business partner and he said, "You have more important things to do." I agreed and went back to work.

The cartoon emails kept coming throughout the day. It had spread like wild-fire on the Internet. Somewhere around 3 or 4 pm, the story landed on CNN with Reverend Al Sharpton and Jeff Johnson enlightening viewers to why this cartoon was offensive, wrong, and "inappropriate."

Cut to the written response from one of the top editors at The New York Post. CNN showed this and the written response from the cartoonist. Pure arrogance! Racist and utterly obnoxious. Then I thought to myself, "It's the Post! What can we expect?!?!"

I continued working and ended up on the phone with Lumumba Bandele-Akinwole. I was wondering if he could understand my growing frustration with some of the demands that were starting to surface.

"Have you heard about the New York Post cartoon?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Did you see my Facebook status? I wrote "It's the Post! What do you expect?!?!"

***

Here's the thing: The New York Post has BEEN wrong...waaaay before this fool (Sean Delonas) put ink to a pad in his racist cartoon. They have a loooong and rich history of being the sloppiest kind of so-called journalism, of demonstrating their hatred of black people, and of being the newspaper that is the platform for idiotic, racist thinking. There is a Queens based organization, CEMOTAP (the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive To African People), that has been calling out The Post (and many others) for years on top of years. I know. I go to their rallies and support their work and respect their research. They and other activists have done the work that proves what apparently many people are just now finding out: The Post is a racist "news"paper. The boycott on them was called a long time ago. Maybe some people didn't get the notice. Or, maybe some people got it and didn't heed it. Humph....

The Post is exactly why I do what I do via my communications agency. It is why progressive social justice activists and media rights activists (such as Rosa Clemente, Ester Armah, and others) do what we do. We fully understand the function, the power, and the motiviation of corporate media. The late Kwame Ture said it best: "Capitalist media always lies. Even when it looks like they are telling the truth, it's a double-lie."

When that knowledge is embedded in your understanding of how corporate media works and it takes hold of you, then you spend your time creating and building independent media. You spend your time, your talent, and your hard earned money building media platforms that tell the truth. You take matters into your own hands. You build on-line, interactive communities, for example, so that you have a platform to counter the racist, sexist lies that are upheld in society. You struggle to be a voice of sobriety even while many people are intoxicated by the allure and convenience of shiny glossy media.

You don't go around buying The Post or demanding an apology from these fools. That kind of supplication is exactly what an oppressed person would do! There is no power in begging for a apology from those who don't care about offending you. In fact, it is the perfect way to affirm their power over you.

"Powerful people never have to prove anything to anyone. By extension, powerful people never apologize to powerless people for the actions they take in order to stay in power."

- John Henrick Clarke


Here another way of looking at this (in no particular order):

1. Yes, we should express our outrage. My mother has always taught me: "Deal with BS head on! Don't act like it doesn't exist. Call it what it is."

2. Be outraged today, but support independent, progressive media all year round.

3. Stop buying and reading The Post. You have a quarter in this madness if you buy it or if you read in on-line. You just do! This is not to say that other newspapers and media outlets don't lie. Of course, they do. The media is privately owned and it has private interests to protect. But The Post is the worst, my God!

4. If the age of Obama has got you excited and you are looking for some group to join or some service project to attach yourself to, or you need a outlet for your rage, you will surely find hundreds of organizations that could use your time and talent TODAY! But keep this in mind: Often times, these organizations don't have money to pay big advertising dollars in the big newspapers you might read or the commercial radio stations you might listen to. You just might have to look for them in some un-traditional places. There are no short cuts there, but if you seek them, they will appear.

5. Historically, we are a community of people who have been oppressed. To some extent, every action we take is a reaction to some offense, be it current day or in our genetic memory bank. Even with that being true, some things require more strategic reactions. Begging for apologies is just not the way to go. It's not smart or empowering. Some may argue that an apology is the first step toward the healing process. That would be true if the offenders really means it.

If you want to check out the kind of media that is constructive and seeks to empower, vist my website (www.akilaworksongs.com). We stand behind or alongside some rather progressive artists, activists, organizations, and media makers. Google the names in this message. Expand your horizons and start a healthy media diet. Do all of this and more, and most of all retire The Post.

ars.