MLK

this morning i attended the 25th annual brookyln tribute to dr. martin luther king jr at the brooklyn academy of music. for me, MLK remains one of the most influential scholars/theologians/drum majors for justice and change in history. i admire his courage, his diligent advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations, his understanding that racial injustice was not a mere stain on the history of these united states; but the very thing that may destroy it. i admire his sociological imagination and his ability to see war in vietnam and the myth of spreading democracy as being hypocrisy magnified in light of the gross denial of basic democratic privileges to classes of people based on race. most importantly, King was able to understand that the cause of civil rights did not end with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and various other policy and legislative directives passed and implemented. in fact, the latter part of King's life was spent supporting causes that led to him being discredited, mocked, and even harassed by the FBI. King went from being celebrated internationally, to having his phones tapped and conversations recorded and being openly attacked and undermined.

the man left such a rich legacy. i really look forward to teaching my nephew and my future children about that legacy. but i think i'd like to move beyond elementary activities where children write their own dream speeches. i want to move beyond the quixotic, idealistic vision of "colorblindness". beyond songs of patiently waiting to overcome. the event at BAM frustrated me because it focused on The Santa Clausification of King. Dr. Cornel West describes the Santa Clausification of "towering freedom fighters" as:

[...]a nice little old man with a smile with toys in his bag, not a threat to anybody, as if his fundamental commitment to unconditional love and unarmed truth does not bring to bear certain kinds of pressure to a status quo. So the status quo feels so comfortable as though it's a convenient thing to do rather than acknowledge him as to what he was, what the FBI said, "The most dangerous man in America." Why? Because of his fundamental commitment to love and to justice and trying to keep track of the humanity of each and every one of us. [...]in the market-driven world in which celebrity status operates in such a way that it tries to diffuse all of the threat and to sugarcoat and deodorize what actually is rather funky. these folk are such powerful forces that are threats to powers that be. Of course, Jesus is a grand example; I'll speak as a Christian. And, of course, we've seen Jesus being Santa Clausified the last two thousand years."

this collective absence of the truth behind Kings work is what truly annoys me. today's event was filled with elected officials who were looking for a sound bite by preaching to the choir about that dream. while King's dream is still profound, i think focusing on this cookie cutter image of a hand holding, negro spiritual singing preacher man takes away from practical grassroots advocacy efforts, including him organizing a Poor Peoples campaign and helping to bridge the knowledge gap that ignored the connection between racism and economic injustice. King was killed in memphis while scheduled to support black sanitation workers who were striking for better wages and better work conditions.

all in all, my appreciation for Dr. King has to do with what he represented: a man whose love for and service to God was mirrored in a deep love for humanity. this was something he recognized as being central to his heart for the despised and voiceless. for example, when asked to defend "joining the voice of dissent" against the war in vietnam, King replied:


"[...]when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I nevertheless am greatly saddened that such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment, or my calling. They seem to forget that before I was a civil rights leader, I answered a call, and when God speaks, who can but prophesy. I answered a call which left the spirit of the Lord upon me and anointed me to preach the gospel. And during the early days of my ministry, I read the Apostle Paul saying, "Be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of minds." I decided then that I was going to tell the truth as God revealed it to me. No matter how many people disagreed with me, I decided that I was going to tell the truth."


Happy MLK Day!

P.S:

meh.

so much for updating this thing on a consistent basis, huh? i suck. i have a notebook (page) full of wonderful topics, but i've been a little busy with life. i should get better because i actually like annoying people with what i write about.

i've been itching to write a piece on faith and social justice, and starting a couple more themes to force myself to contribute more, even if it's just posting a song that's been in my mind all day. also, i've deleted a bunch of posts i'd previously written. a bunch. the reason is because i want to change the direction and tone of this thing to be more of a reflection of who i am and who i'm becoming in Christ. so no more dissecting playboy interviews by belligerent singers who go on racist rants, no more posting secular music, especially since i stopped listening to the crap a while ago (which has, among other things, actually done my soul some good). but we'll see...

hollerrr

my semester is officially OVER. the writing commences...right...NOW!

gentrification in brooklyn

finally went to that exhibit at MoCADA a little while ago. here's a write-up on it that i had to do for a class on community arts and community development:

Honestly, no single issue has tormented my conscience more than the contentious nature of gentrification. Gentrification is a process. Contrary to common misinformation, gentrification is not a white or wealthy person moving into 912 Gates Avenue in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. It simply starts with this person, usually an artist, subjected to a life of semi-poverty and who's after the benefits of cheap rent. When that one person tells their friend about this “cheap, but cool and cultural” neighborhood they just moved into, their friend moves in. Then their friend’s friend. Then their friends, friends, rich friend moves in...

While I do believe that individuals migrating to certain neighborhoods have the right to live wherever they feel comfortable, and since I have long ago embraced my inner capitalist especially when it comes to neighborhood economic development and planning, I can’t help but cringe whenever these personal decisions become a gauge for developers on how ready a neighborhood is for whatever they determine “revitalization” to mean. It starts to get sticky when plans are drawn out by city planners, private developers, corporations, and even elected officials to plow through established communities without the involvement of the very people who helped to sustain these neighborhoods for decades in the first place.

The people who stayed are members of a community. Despite the implications of exclusive housing policies, the socio-economic phenomena of white flight, extreme poverty and lack of access to valuable resources, and a steady depletion of life chance, these communities of people managed to establish for themselves a common culture. They speak a common language, have elders who preserve the institutional memory of this community, and young people who wish to add to it through whatever medium their destiny forces them to choose. This to me is significant.

My concern with gentrification is the way, as a process, it starts with undermining what was already established thereby making it fairly easy for these new inhabitants to impose their will on people who call their neighborhoods not only home, but self.

I visited the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts's gentrification exhibit with this very thought process. Located in the Fort Green section of Brooklyn, MoCADA’s intentions were obvious: prepare for the public an exhibit showcasing the artistic community’s response to gentrification, make this art accessible, instrumentalize it for the purpose of community empowerment, make it art that is created by members of displaced communities, and make the subject matter one that is transparent by having experts come in discussing what gentrification means (both its definition and implications).

Advertisements for the event itself expressed open frustration about the economic, structural, and cultural changes taking place in their Brooklyn community. The pieces on display were ranged from passive aggressive and sarcastic, to openly angry. Some spoke of the "white washing" of formerly communities of color. One painting in particular was an advertisement for the exhibit. Called "Stinky Cheese", it poked fun at the pretension and disconnection found in bringing into poor neighborhoods things that poor people don't at all relate to, care about, or can't afford (like bringing into food poor communities gourmet shops when the majority of residents are on food stamps or where the rates of diet-related diseases are disproportionately high due to the overabundance of fast food, etc). It reaffirmed my concern about the cultural aspects of gentrification: it offends without empowering a community of people by refusing to work with the resources presently available. Instead, the tendency, whether intentional or not, is to wipe that resource out without bothering to assess its significance to people, places, and events.

this hiatus makes me sad

there's really not any real reason why i haven't been updating. i'm really not that busy. just really tired all the time. oh and my nephew took my laptop a bath. so for the about a month and a half i had no computer.

some quick updates:

1. i moved to my own place! it's gorgeous with bright light, white paint, cool roomies, and a fun neighborhood.
2. i got water baptized on april 2nd, 2010!!
3. after just 2.5 months into my locing process, i removed them bad boys. they just got on my nerves and i really wanted to just wash my hair and actually feel my scalp. recently, i got my hair dyed a gorgeous chestnut brown, and i'm back to rockin' my 'fro.
4. i'm learning how to drive (judge not. i'm from brooklyn. we don't do vehicles smaller than buses)

that's all i could think of. the blogging resumes with 25 more things, gentrification in brooklyn, the media's obsession with single black women, some songs of the day, this post i've been working on about haitian's and adoption, and other random stuff.

peace.

new exhibition at MoCADA

toronto-based artist specterart has created some interesting billboards in anticipation for the museum of contemporary afrcian disasporan art's current exhibition called The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks (see below). the exhibit has been running since february 4th, and will up until may 16th of this year.

here's an exert from the press release:

This exhibition, guest curated by Dexter Wimberly, will examine how urban planning, eminent domain, and real estate development are affecting Brooklyn’s communities and how residents throughout the borough are responding. The exhibition will include the works of several Brooklyn-based artists, as well as those who have been forced to relocate as a result of gentrification. In addition to works of art featured at MoCADA, there will be a schedule of public programs taking place throughout Brooklyn.

i'm definitely visiting very soon. they're also supplementing the art with forums with community leaders and urban planners about gentrification and what it means for urban living. get excited!

i think these billboards are fun:

new hollywood has not a sprinkle of color?

word though?

apparently vanity fair's celebration of hollywood's fresh talent is limited to the lily white and rail thin? weren't some of the hugest films of 2009 starred by women of color? does vanity fair need a reminder about Precious? Avatar? or how about Slumdog Millionaire? i

then there are the small screen and tv young actresses of color like jurnee smollett of the great debaters, erica hubbard of lincoln heights, keke palmer of akeelah and the bee, afro-latina tessa thompson from veronica mars, monique coleman of high school musical, america fererra, selena gomez, frida pinto, and the list goes on and on...

my problem is sort of complicated. this exclusion makes me wonder if women of color in hollywood are overlooked, or if they are merely an afterthought? the former would mean that their talents and efforts are dismissed and disregarded, the latter implies that their talents are in fact acknowledged, but they will never be on par with the likes of kristen stewart and friends.

either way, if both are realities, i'm sort of nervous for my baby sister, and countless other actresses who have hopes of contributing to breaking seemingly unbreakable barriers in theatre and film...

quote of the day

"i'd rather be a small fish in a big pond with mad favor from God." - choklate moore

race, race, baby!

so, i really love talking about race, and deconstructing white psychology, stereotypes, myths, and straight up ignorance on various fronts. i think it's interesting how talking about race makes people feel super uncomfortable, but watching people's progression from discomfort to somewhat clarity from hearing a different perspective is why it's important to challenge each other.

i don't always get to discuss things from an anti-racist perspective without getting called everything under the sun. even today while volunteering at a training at one of nyc's whitest, most expensive, most prestigious universities, i had an encounter with someone who was made uncomfortable by something i said. the floor we occupied was decorated with oil paintings of former board of trustee presidents. when i joked about the intensity in the stare in one portrait, this is the conversation that ensued:

girl: yea, it's totally creepy that the one guy in that painting over there is staring directly at us
me: haha. it kind of makes me uncomfortable..
girl: (laughing) it's really bizarre that they're all old men and really rich looking
me: ...and white
girl: (shocked and clears throat uncomfortably)

her reaction intrigued me. it wasn't something i said to start trouble, it was me wondering aloud something i assumed was very obvious. but instead of acknowledging that one very obvious fact about the former presidents (and interestingly enough, the racial break down of that university), she reacted as though i had said something so perverse, offensive, and taboo. this is why i've started this component of my blog: i want break down and analyze these reactions as they occur, as well as more drawn out responses to inquiries regarding race...and class, gender, heteronormativity, etc in my personal life and in the media. i'm also learning and stumbling as i go along, so sometimes i'm going to straight up fail with my observations, so just bear with me and "let's talk about race, baby"!

majora carter is my shero!

The legacy of discriminatory urban renewal initiatives and policies throughout the 20th century has damaging effects on the lives of Americans who had no choice but to relocate to or remain in neighborhoods middle class whites had the opportunities to move out of. Redlining prevented any real revenue generating sources from entering these communities, national policies especially the GI Bill and highway expansion acts provided not only opportunities for folks outside of the urban centers to establish businesses in suburban communities, but served as a catalyst for white flight and urban blight. The South Bronx is one example of how once thriving communities have turned into wastelands abandoned by elected officials and a community who has no idea how to approach its many problems.

Majora Carter has been on a mission to change the unique yet unfortunate fate of the South Bronx which has become a dumping ground for industrial and material waste. As a result, the SB is characterized by disproportionate incidences of public health concerns, astronomical poverty rates far above the national average, high unemployment, high rates of truancy and, consequently, incarceration.

We never get the opportunity to speak about environmentalism and its relationship to inequality and the continued disenfranchisement of poor people of color. Even when she presented to Al Gore what organizations like Sustainable South Bronx and Green for All plan to do in communities like the South Bronx across America, she was offered money as a solution and not any real encouragement for large-scale support by public officials.

Majora wants to dramatically change the face of the South Bronx, a place where she grew up. She wants to open up green spaces, combat noise pollution, and create a public works project focused on bringing Green Collar jobs to the South Bronx, to name a very few. She uses various approaches to meet a variety of needs, such as purchasing 50 shares of stock in a waste manufacturing company which gave her the opportunity to sit at shareholder meetings, raise propositions, concerns, and solutions. She rallies the South Bronx community to take to the streets demanding the end of environmental racism. She has even collaborated with policy analysts, city and private community development organizations to draft blueprints, policy proposals, and budgets to leverage support in the local and state government.

I became interested in environmentalism because I realized that the voices of low income people of color was absent from this cause. My white, liberal, middle class, college educated friends are the face of the Green movement, but poor black and Latino folks are the ones who are impacted the most. It's still worth having a conversation about how the legacy of urban renewal and suburbanization had such damaging effects on poor communities of color. This video is worth the watch.