Black in America on CNN--SOSDD

Being Black In America on CNN

Same Old Show, Different Day

Maybe that is too hard, then again maybe it's too light. Too Black Too Strong, What do you do, you integrate it with cream what use to be strong now is weak, what used to keep you awake now puts you too sleep. That is what happened with this special documentary. With all the hype about this "ground breaking" documentary, the folks who put the teasers together for this really should be lauded. That said the documentary was just pitiful. Not in the content. Lets face it, we've seen this content before. It's like every 20 years the groundbreaking documentary which places African Americans under the microscope for study must come out. Apparently, its like the Olympics with a 15 year lag. Lets see CBS did this possibly in the 60s, ABC did it in the 80s and now CNN in 2000. So by 2018, it will be NBC's turn. The tragedy that I can see is that what was talked about in 1968 hasn't really changed for the better in 40 years. Its like we are taking the same documentary off the shelf, re-packaging it for a new generation and passing it off as something that is GROUNDBREAKING!!! EARTH SHATTERING!!! For me, in a media sense, Groundbreaking and Earth Shattering is Star Wars 1977 or The Matrix 1999. Why, because those films represent evolutionary change. Something that has never been done before. That said, this discourse on race has been done to death. Please don't get me wrong. The dialogue needs to continue but that said, take the opportunity to do something different. For example, DO SOMETHING!!!! As one who studies media and did very little journalism, the rule of thumb is to be objective, be neutral and allow the story to happen. That said, lets go to the rule of the other four fingers and do something else. In one sequence last night, I saw an underground hip hop artist Obrian (Soledad) was highlighting. He didn't have the major deal, he didn't have all the fame of Curtis Jackson but he was progressive and making a positive contribution to society and incidentally, getting evicted from his house. Why is CNN/Time Warner sitting back on their A (you fill in the blank) and allowing this to happen in front of my very eyes? To me breaking the rule of thumb and becoming socially engaged, making sure this man was not evicted and partnered with an agency to give his program some stability would have been the more socially responsible thing to do. This angers me because as we saw earlier, where their was this brother who showed up 5 hours late to his daughter's birthday party, at the urging of CNN, he's put on blast to see his other child in front of a obviously pissed off sister, who is pregnant with twins from another person. To me that mirrors, the Maury Povitch show and played all into the "Baby Mama Drama" frame. That to me is not necessary. In fact it was a disservice all the way around.

Then I have to talk about sponsorship as well. It was good to see the McDonalds commercial her and therewith the little girl talking about owning a chain of McDonalds as well as the other commercials with the African and African American families in the airport. To me that resonated because the showed some degree of social connectivity to what the program was trying to do. But what about other sponsors like Allstate or Meryl Lynch, Met Life, IBM, Microsoft, Nike. It's this gross lack of corporate sensitivity to the issues that the program attempts to bring light which really says volumes. Though I can't say I agree with Michael Moore 24/7/365, I will say that the man not only talks the talk but he also walks the walk. They may be publicity stunts, going to Cuba for health care, asking the members of congress to enlist their children in the Iraq war, or taking bullets into Wal-Mart Corporate Headquarters, the symbolic gestures at least say force you to see you don't have to stand for the status quo. I'm not saying that CNN/Time Warner has to give out cash to solve everyone's problems but what I am suggesting is that corporate politics need to match their charter for social responsibility. An opportunity was missed to really make a difference and instead what I watched was the further exploitation of people's hard times and misery while bolstering high ratings.

Making Black History Everyday

Essentalizing Black Masculinity runs a slippery slope. Often times we have rather dangerous tendency to compare ourselves to a hegemonic ideal. By that, we tend to subscribe our identity to rather co-op our identity to a set of constructs based on the foundation of exclusion. Now what does all that mean? In short, because we have been blinded, and in some cases operate as willing accomplices to the isims of capitalism, sexism, self based racism and of course materialism. Because of these isims capitalism is a rather nasty notorious game we are forced to play. How does this all work into the hegemonic construct? Hegemonics, a term from Antonio Gramschi, is based partially in the thesis of Dos Kaptal by Marx. Where as Marx looks solely at economics being used at the epicenter of class struggle, Gramsci explores the notion of culture and those who control culture very much on the schematic of the Bougoie and the Proletariat. That being the case, if we look at culture and how our this post modern American culture functions on the ideology of materialism, well, unfortunately we have become to accept the myth as now fact. The more stuff you have, the money you have, the more powerful you are perceived to be.

That said, I can speak on this only because I, with all due deference, represent a part of the talented 10^th who have been afforded the time, the life chances and other opportunities to wrestle with these power dynamics and pontificate upon them on demand or at will. The converse of this goes back to my power thesis. Power in this country is personified by money and material items part due social systemic reinforcement; the media, the court system; the social systems. Sadly, we as Black folk are not critical of these messages we receive and thus we easily accept it. Black men are not supposed to show emotion, Black Men are to act as patriarchs, we’re suppose to have this cool pose that Majors and Bilson talk about. The reality is that we are supposed to be Teflon. Its not possible but we try to do it. This in turn leads to illness and premature death by black men at the hands of other black men, white men, and even black women.

Everyday I don’t flash, loose my cool, loose my self respect, stay out of jail, get closer to that Ph.D.—believe it or not, that’s how I make Black History everyday.

FX of Stress

Today I had an attack. A panic attack. I really don't like to talk about them but unfortunately I actually have them. This part of the legacy I have from NCSSM. Fortunately, this has been the only one of the year.

OK, as I sigh, what is a panic attack like? Well--I can only speak from my own experience because everyone responds to stress differently. In my case my heart begins to beat a little faster than normal. That's what I like to call stage one. This usually can be controlled by slow deep breathing. I breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. The breathing is preformed from my diaphragm. How I know how to do this, I don't know it's just instinctive. Stage two is a bit different. The heart beat is faster and my head begins to get a little dizzy. My breathing is a bit faster. But some how I am still cognizant. I am in control of my faculties and I usually can still self regulate. I know that I have to take some time away from the immediate situation or stimulus and go back to stage one self regulation. Deep breathing and mentally refocusing on something that calms me down. Usually this is a picture of a lake or water hitting rocks. In some cases I need actual physical stimulus to touch. There is some tactile response. Touching my dog or some furry animal usually brings things into a clearer perspective. It is at this time where I usually have to take one dose of clonazapam. That's a drug which is used by those with epilepsy to arrest a sezure. That's somewhat of a prophylactic. Stage three is usually pretty hard to address. I've hit stage three a few times I have hit stage three more with meds as opposed to without. What is stage three like? Stage three is heavy duty. This usually comes about from multiple stressors from the mind becomes inundated or flooded. The flight or fight mechanism becomes activated meaning my body is in a state readiness to do that "gamma radiation alters his body chemistry," type stuff. Strangely there is some truth to that. When I had my first real attack, at the age of 20, (I had just discovered my girlfriend had been cheating) I became extremely angry ripping a sink out of a wall. I think the other time this happened was when I experienced a tremendous sense of powerlessness working at NCSSM for an oppressive supervisor. Mind you this episode in my life took the course of some seven to nine years. The first time I panicked there I wound up in the emergency room going through a battery of cardiac tests. This was in 1998. The second time this happened involving NCSSM, from what I remember, my entire body seized up. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. This lasted for nearly 2 and a half hours. I really didn't want to tell anyone about this because the impression society has of people who experience this is that, you can't handle stress. Not good under pressure. One of the unwritten rules of our family is that we don't really believe that much in psychiatric assistance because we have Jesus. Being I am one who backs up Jesus with Buddhism I am pretty sure that some folk in the fam would say, that's your problem, you don't go to church enough, you don't practice Christianity and because of that God is punishing you. Yes we have folks in our family who this way, along with those who believe in republicanism. Stage three is probably among the worst of my panic attacks because that's then when I really need help. I usually need someone to "talk me down." At stage three, I have to take a double dose of my clonazapam because that functions almost like a nervous system reboot. When my emotional state is flooded to the point where I cannot cope, when I am quiet, my muscles have seized up and I get the 1000 yard stare I am in deep trouble because then I will hyperventilate or in todays episode, a new symptom manifest itself: my right hand involuntary began to shake/shiver. I was really scarry. All this was happening as I was driving. So if you have read through this point you kinda know the pattern. Two pills along with deep breathing and wham-- I didn't wake up for six hours. --

Now how do I feel -- physically I am fine. No twitching-a little residue fatigue but othewsie OK. Emotionally I am so drained. I feel as though I am wounded in the sense where I am not supposed to have this type of disorder. I don't like mentally falling apart. To me it demonstrates weakness. I'm supposed to be calm cool and collected under preasure. Unfortunately that's not the case. Society and I think I have even bought into the fallacy of cool pose. Stress doesn't phase me. Can't cop out. I really messes with your self confidence. Part of our family mantra goes back to the notion possibly of William T Russell who probably stated I don't get strokes I give em. Feeling or emoting. Is that something African American brothers are allowed to do. If we do emote -- show our emotion there are a plethora of negative emotions linked to that display, from the dominant society as well as our own. If we don't emote, then we open ourselves up to a plethora of physical damage, hypertension, strokes, ulcers, cancer, self medication.

I don't know how to do this and do it right-- be an African American (African by design American by trade), a good husband (financially stable as well as a loving partner), the quintessential dad (I had father figures but not a stable father) and a supportive son. To do all this and be productive while being aggressive and ambitious setting high standards living up to high standards it’s a challenge. I wonder how the William Russells and their brothers who proceeded me did it and made it look so easy?--

Media Social Currency Index Points

Media Social Currency Index Points

([X]Encoders)([Y]Media) =[XY]Media Representation/[C] Decoder [A] Social Positionality [CD] Decoder Raced (and or) Gendered SES = ones individual social currency as it relates to the media text.

Here is a theory: The politics of media representation and social currency

-- the concept centers around education, media and race. My logic is that African American young boys view education not at the ticket out or the opportunity self liberation. That are a number of factors which contribute to this but what represents the paramount crux is how being intelligent is seen as being emasculating or being white. -- There is no power associated really with being formarlly educated-- the basic package of k-12 and quality secondary education. What is seen as powerful are the mantras "gangsterism." First you get the money-- then you get the power, then you get the respect. How is power personified or symbolized in the underclass communities. What gets one respect. Our culture (the American capitalistic culture that is) sees power as control. Control of money, control of other people, the control of self, the control of the materials. How does one achieve that power?

In many cases people are born into that structure however, if one is of the historically marginalized underclass, it's not meant to be unless they go through creative social capital mining. In some cases folk use their body as their ticket-- be it through athletics or entertainment-- which is ok however the odds are overwhealmingly not in one's favor. That said, others seek the underground economy as a means to an end.

That said, power and respect are media defined. Our society is media saturated and folks use media to a great extent -- so far as a means of informing one's self about the social world..

The media inundate the masses with a plethora of social messages which a non critical audience willingly accept--this plays into the hypodermeic needle theory. I want to extend that theory a bit further by saying as people look to the tube, be it traditional or virtual, that tube informs people's opinions, perceptions of realities et al. So if one is constantly surrounded by various messages saying X then the probality of that person buying into that message are extremely high. Hall counters this notion by suggesting that audience read texts on one of three ways, they accept it, they reject it or they negotiate it. The question I would raise to this notion is awareness. Does one have a choice in how they read the message? Further, does one have a choice as they encode the message? Now this is where the class dynamic comes into play. If one had a choice -- meaning if they were informed about the messages-- on the surface and below the surface would they choose to believe it? Its almost equivalent to knowing what is poison as to what is healthy. Who would knowingly drink battery acid? No one. So who would knowingly watch a program or consume a text that is toxic? (for that matter, how do you define a toxic text) No one. The problem is that the practice has continued, media toxicity, that audiences are desensitized to the linkage of the preformatative nature of media consumption. If you are within the dominant society this notion fits because most of the texts are encoded by the dominant society. So mathematically, positive plus positive equals positive. So messages produced by the dominant other which personify power are consumed by the dominant audience equate to a heightened sense self esteem. -- So if I see an image of a white man flying (self propelled) without strings, as a white boy, I begin to believe this and as a white adult male, the chances are I will create a some way to fly (self propelled). -- the reality is that there was a man who actually pulled this off. Black people watching the same message are more than likely not to accept this. This could possibly address the issue of why many older black people do not buy into the science of space flight. As for sports, people buy into to that because its more relative and obtainable-- it is their reality that they have been saturated into since the time before time. -- Again-- here is where the class aspect comes into it. If one has not had the opportunity for exposure to anything but an environment that is physically based, they encode it.

So in short, power is capital. The image of power represents social currency. Who controls that image of power is key.

Here's An Oldie but a Goodie

In preparing to watch the CNN documentary/Town Hall Meeting-- Black In America , I actually found some of my earlier writings regarding white supremacy and the KKK. This was published in June of 2005 i think. Consider this a warm up because I am about to really bring the heat after this CNN piece. Sorry for the re-run but consider it one of those "lost episodes."
Enjoy-- Peace

New white supremacy

Using "Bushspeak," this is an act of terror and the enemy will be met by shock and awe. Cross burnings represent old school racism. This does not bother me. What does bother me is the new racism. In my world, legalized white supremacy surrounds my everyday life. Like Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and apple pie, racism stands broadly side by side, shoulder to shoulder, with truth, justice, and the American way.

There are many cases, but I will use two to prove my point. In February of this year there was brouhaha over a busing issue in Wake Forest. White parents in the Wakefield community exhausted countless hours of the Wake County School Board to criminalize the DuBois modular school decision. The DuBois center was located in a predominantly African-American community. Far worse, the local news media, WTVD, WNCN, WRAL, fanned the fire by couching the story in racialized terms such as color lines and bad rap. In one particular story, no African-Americans were on camera, rendering members of DuBois center invisible.

Moving to state government, there are far more African-Americans at the low end of the pay scale, professional development tracks and managerial positions, yet African-Americans (men and women) represent the high-end disciplinary problems. In our culture, our state, our city, whiteness represents normalcy and undeniably, membership has its privileges.

Admirable as it may be, who can't protest a cross burning? When does the real protest start; when we fight the goliaths of legalized white supremacy and new racism?

W . RUSSELL ROBINSON

Heaven or Helms

I have to admit, some days I am astonished and amazed by the goodness that white people are capable of while dually I am astonished and amazed by foolishness white folk can be capable of. July 4, 2008 was the last independence day for North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. The Head Female In Charge aka DA WIFE stated that she would wear all white on the day he died. Luckily I was able to talk her down from that but at the same time I can understand her frustration and bitterness towards this man. It was almost like what my dad said on the day Elvis Presley died some 31 years ago. I like Elvis, since he's dead. To me that represents some sort of a moral discursive conflict. That said, I try not to consider myself an extremist in my political beliefs. That said, I also have to admit that I am human and I have made my share of enemies. Take my former boss for example. During my bit of employment mortal combat, I have to admit there were a few times where I had some pretty destructive thoughts about the woman and I am sure I was not on her birthday card list either. So I have a strong feeling if the situation were somewhat related, she conked out prematurely or even just simply conked out from natural causes, I would more than likely do something celebratory. If I am not mistaken, that usually was done when the oppressor came to their demise. From a slave master to Sadam Husain, ding dong the witch is dead.

Strangely this brings me to my meditation for the day. As Helms was being prepared to be lowered into the "deep six," the governor ordered that all flags be lowered to half staff in remembrance of Helms. When I read that a state employee decided not to do so in protest, I was pleasantly. When I learned that the man was white, I nearly had a heart attack. The 51 year old man had a crisis of conscious and just simply could not do something to honor Helms. Lets face it, was not exactly North Carolina's version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I mean this man opposed civil rights legislation, demonized homosexuality, fought the arts and pretty much damned anyone who had AIDS. By previous definition, Jesse Helms represents the emblematic visage of Southern White Folks. He knew how demonstrate true Southern Hospitality (provided you were white) while being one of the true strongholds of hegemonic male constriction-- simply put, White Male Patriarchy. He was a devout segregationist how wheedled the whip of power. That said, from my family's interactions with his office, he was dedicated to public service. I mean lets face the facts, his morals were skewed (and that is being nice). The converse however is that he was a model politician who just had questionable morals. He believed in service. Now-- that said, I do have a beef with the governor as well as the state personnel system who punishes a man who chooses to exercise political dissent. This individual, L.F. Eason a 51 year old white man, put it pretty bluntly:

"I don't see how anybody could celebrate his career. Everything he did was such a disservice to this state."

I really have been debating on writing a letter or even a column about this because I don't know if it will be printed. At the same time, I do believe it is important that this man be treated properly within the state personnel system.. As far as I am concerned, his politics definitely place him in a different category of whites-- Hell, he doesn't appear to be white folk. I have to give credit in this case where credit is due. Hats off to L.F. Eason!!!!!

A Thinking Television Project-- High on Merit Low on Ratings

I was reading a paper recently discussing the issue of media literacy linking it to a critical pedagogy. The paper centers around a project called, "Thinking Television." In short, we have a professor at a university in Georgia who has taken on the task of fusing media literacy with an emancipator media project as the writer puts it, within the general rubric of "critical media literacy." What does this mean? I interpret critical at this point to fall within the realm of critical race theory. In short, we see many structures in the United States through the lens of race, class, gender and of course power through economic and social means. What I really liked about this paper is that it examined the intersections of media literacy and praxis within a structured setting. What the author attempted to execute really was a serious inquiry into the meaning and myth making process within a post modernistic society. The post modern mythology is informed via electronic means of production and dissemination. The post modern mythology particularly within our 21st century construction espouses tales congruent in some cases with the likes Homer and Voltiare. The stories are constantly driven by the dominate or hegemonic discourse. It is here where we really are able to examine how the interlocking mechanics of this project. The professor provides students with an opportunity to create their own television program treatments under the premise that programs generate revenue and appeal to a mass audience demographic which I believe is 18 to 25. Looking at the paper and the results yielded, the professor seems to be at a crossroads of sorts where he is wondering if he should continue the project. His problem or better yet his question is does his project really make a difference. Some points that he has mentioned is his students are primarily white, they have disassociated themselves from any type of social consciousness, and have divorced themselves from the sensitivity of stereotypes so much to the point where their standpoint blocks them from being critical of the material they create. Again, going back to the theory of this paper, hegemonic discursive control, it really answers a question that I have had for years now as to why network television represents the great white way. As Peggy Macintosh puts it, "Being White means never having to say you are sorry." A life free of impunity represents a fantsy that few classes of people live but many reach for. I looked at this question pretty much since 1982 when I was 12 years old. As a grown up who is more informed of the politics of race and power, it as though we (the other folk) are in a constant state of negotiation. Lets get specific. As a kid, I loved TV. In fact, I would venture to say now that TV was like a narcotic to me. It was always there, it rarely talked back and it numbed me when I needed to escape from the realities of my life. Around that time I was coping with some rather complicated issues for a 12 year old. My mom and dad had split, I was relocating from one place to another. In short there were few constants in my life except television. I was able to be absorbed into the worlds of espionage, high crime, high tech, science fiction, fantasy, you name it. Without thinking, I would watch shows there white men would do some pretty damn interesting heroic things. I mean lets face it, how many people do we know who could get blown up all to bits in as a test pilot and by the end of the next commercial, run sixty miles per hour. Who wouldn't want to live a life of a hobo who had the ability whenever he got angry or nervous could creatively transform himself into a different creature and with brute strength solve their immediate problem regardless free of property damage. But my personal favorite is the man who live the ultimate lone ranger fantasy. He gets an extreme plastic surgery make over after being shot for dead and given all the money and resources of a billionaire to take a bite out of crime. Instead of a horse, he has a trusty black sports car/crime lab/tank/rockeslead. Of course the common denominator is that these are all white men and the masterminds behind these creations are of course white men. At 12 years old, with a complicated living situation (to say the least) this stuff as drastic as it may sound, is like crack for kids. If you are a white person ingesting this stuff, it feeds into the mythos of white male superiority. At the risk of sounding cynical, these urban legends represent a wonderful life. However, if you are not, then the hidden message is that the closest you can ever come to this wonderful life is that of being subordinate, and you better be glad you have that opportunity. Its like Affirmative Action on the terms of Uncle James (Jim) Crow. Imagine the Lone Ranger under these terms... "Tonto, you can ride with me, hell you can even ride beside me but you keep a slight distance. You can feed my white horse but don't ride my white horse. When I ride into this Indian spot, you are my trusty trained savage. Now I have civilized you and you are my shinny representation of how I things aught to be. You are my creation and you are the new representation of the crazy savages. Now, don't let me get scalped either. You speak that language they talk son in short you work for me. Now lets get to stepping." Me personally, I might watch that because it is honest--brutally honest. Needless to say, in my version, when Tonto bent over to shine the hoof of the white horse, a brown wooden arrow pierced the heart the lone ranger, thus liberating Tonto to start his own horse breeding ranch somewhere in the central continental United States.

I think that might be the problem. If the powers that be allow folk to who don't look like them to start controlling some of these post modern myth factories, quite a few of these stories might have a different ending. Can you imagine a Six Million Dollar Man who critically weighs the pros and the cons of his bionic servitude. -- Wait a minute, you want me to do what to whom? Why should I go to Cuba and steal their stuff when they have done nothing to us.

What about an Incredible Hulk who actually takes Zoloft to keep himself keep himself calm and actually does work as Dr. Bruce Banner (or whatever his name would be that week) in an underserved underrepresented community. Would he hulk out when his bills were due? Would he hulk out to stop a gang war.

And then lets not forget the Knight Rider, Michael Knight who is loaded and has a talking car to boot. Could you imagine Michael Knight as a global citizen going to Duarfore. How about Devon Miles who actually had ties to Nelson Mandela who was constantly frustrated by bureaucratic red tape who just finally says to hell with it and sends an uneducated Michael into Johannesburg undercover to bust Mandela out of jail.

To me, that’s some imagination when you become critical within the myth making factories. Why don't we ever see anything like this? Like Macintosh says, "Being White Means Never Having to Say You Are Sorry."

Transgression, Power, and Emotional Affairs of the Heart

Damn!

Every time I use that particular explicative, there is a picture in my mind of a music video with this big Las Vegas like flashing light with the word DAMN in big all capital letters. Strangely, this will be a slight deviation from my query into the hearts and minds of white folk for a bit of self reflection. Recently I talked with one of my friends from way back in the day-- she's one of my sister friends/extended family part due to the fact that I have no biological siblings (that I know of at least). She hipped me to an alumni web site where I could re-connect with fellow NCCU eagles. On the surface it seems beguine. Beneath the surface, well lets just call it Pandora's box. I go on the site and see a former friend who suddenly is single. Just a little history:

He and I were at NCCU during our undergraduate years.

I attended his wedding.

I was there for an emergency medical procedure.

He was a groomsman at my wedding.

He made some cheesy remarks about my marriage... Particularly he said because I was a practicing Budhist/Baptist that my marriage would go straight to hell. (Specifically, he stated that God said my marriage would suffer an affair.)

Now up the present. He is divorced due to an emotional affair.

Now all this took place in the last two years; this of course lead to our immediate break in contact. In fact, when I did see him in 2006, I refused to tell him we were expecting our first child. Now to find out that he had some (you fill in the blank) happen to his marriage, and I wasn't there makes me feel kinda like a heal. I made a promise to myself when I saw him in the hospital coming out of emergency surgery that I would be his protector of sorts. Something tells me I may have blew it or either I set an impossible standard.

Self reflexivity is not too kind. In fact it can be like that big sign I was talking about earlier. --

This is the part I guess where I make an appointment to talk with my shrink (yes, black folks have shrinks as well as Jesus) or book the two of us on Dr. Phil. Maybe it’s a bit of guilt. A previous shrink stated that guilt is a useless discussion. There are some points that I agree with regarding that, however the majority of that I do find myself at the point of an internal conundrum. Maybe the guilt I am feeling is possibly an emotional prophylactic reflex (patent pending) that enables a long overdue healing to commence. (Now that is oprah speak/logic)

That said there is a part of me that also states that emotionally, I cannot allow myself to be bullied by the life of someone who has yet to come to terms with their transgressions towards me. Transgressions to transgress. That is an interesting philosophy, in the sense where one celebrates the ability to ackafool. The politics of foolishness within the context of impunity--all this in Russellspeak. Do we as a people, as a society, even as a race of people relish in the ability misbehave-- particularly in the presence of authority or is it the other way around? Do we use transgression as a vehicle of political, secular, gendered, and spiritual conditioning?

If we approach this question through the lens of race then I would say the answer is a thunderous affirmative. History provides us with a text and recorded incidents illustrating this fact. That said transgression does not operate singularly without a mechanism-or someone employing the Archimedean lever of power. One must have power to exercise transgression. That said, one can also make the claim that there also exists a counter transgression.