Last Thursday, October 8, 2015 to be exact, Cliff Huxtable’s favorite grandbaby, took yet another step away from our endearing hearts. In her latest formation, as the spunky Raven-Symone’, our deares Olivia outraged the interwebs by uttering the following during a discussion regarding racial assumptions based on names, “I’m not about to hire you if […]
Raven-Symone’, Watermeloandrea, Wylecia, and Sweet Sweet Karma! Read More »
Monday, August 24, 2015 marks the beginning of a week of activities in commemoration of the devastation that struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in the form of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans, the magnificent jewel of the coast, was and, is the epicenter of attention by the media (and by default the American
In advance of Katrina-palooza Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, while watching a Saints game outside a local New Orleans’ barroom, I met Prudence Brown, one of the Dyett 12. The Dyett 12 are a group of Chicagoans who have taken to a hunger strike to save their neighborhood high school, named for Walter Henri Dyett. Dyett was an African American
How An Act of Prudence Upped the Ante for Justice in 2015 Read More »
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was at a meeting of organizers, academicians, and theologians and asked, what is that we (the organizers) needed from the others. My response was “paper.” The thinking behind my one word response is based upon a very realistic view of the world we live in versus the
Of all the things folks are talking, tweeting and facebooking about – Iggy Azelea winning rapper of the year (really?), Bill Cosby rape charges, even the Mike Brown non-indictment ruling – none will have a bigger impact on poor and marginalized communities than the coming Health Center funding cliff. That’s right, in October of 2015
The Fiscal Cliff No One Sees Coming Read More »
Charles E. Cobb Jr., former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field secretary, recently wrote a very good article “Black people had the power to fix the problems in Ferguson before the Brown shooting. They failed (http://wapo.st/1DtwxSV).” While Mr. Cobb makes some excellent points regarding the Civil Rights Movement as it relates to the events that
Black People Had the Power – They WERE Failed Read More »
First, calm down. I am still a great fan of this juggernaut of Bootstrapping Black Power, but sometimes the times call for things to be said that run counter to the popular notions. Furthermore, to deny the shortcomings of our heroes and sheroes is to deny them of their humanity while lifting them to a
Frederick Douglass Was Only Partially Right Read More »
Over the past few months, especially the past few days, the word justice has littered my social network pages in response to the various killings of unarmed civilians*. As a career community organizer, whose field of work is often described as social justice, I have given this word justice quite a bit of mental time.
This Thing Called Justice Read More »
Much ado has been made in our post-racial America about the use of code words to mask the true racial undercurrent. You know, urban and inner-city when what is meant is Black. We see it all the time and the only novelty these days is that we are now post-racial and supposedly beyond such things.
Code Word: Community Read More »
In late June, I participated in NPN’s Equity Breakfast discussion about equity, inclusion and economic growth in the City of New Orleans. Interestingly enough, just about a week later I moderated a town hall panel discussion on Inclusion in the Silicon Bayou as part of the Essence Festival’s #YesWeCode Hackathon. The focus of the hackathon
Does New Orleans Have a Future in STEM? Read More »
