iReport: Black and Brown Gun Violence In America with Special Investigative Reporter, Jim Crowe

Unequivocally tragic is an understatement of the catastrophe at Sandy Hook. As a parent, I did as a majority of us did Friday; prayed, and hugged my son. Now that the shock has left my system, and I've had time to examine some of the factors in this case, I'm left with some critical questions aside from the obvious. In my professional life, I explore issues of race and media all the time. The politics of race and representation pertaining to the Newtown incident must be addressed.
We have yet another White male assailant who's gone on a murderous rampage; this time with babies. Observing that the attack took place at a school that looks racially homogenous, and a majority of the victims were White, I fear that had the racial variables had been different, there would not be a national charge to address the growing epidemic of gun violence in this country.
According to Guncrisis.org 55 people were killed in Philadelphia over a two week span, post the Aurora, Colorado shooting. In Chicago, there were 48 homicides in July. Where was the national media challenging this culture of violence when it was hemorrhaging in the urban metropolitan communities? When Black and Brown babies are violently killed, the quick media frame is one that problematizes the victim while at the same time castigating the assailant. There are no arm chair psychologists, medicalizing the deviant behavior. Instead there is the familiar verbiage, "gang banger, drive-by shooting, suspect-a Black male." In my media and diversity class, students where stunned by their observations when asked to compare and contrast the news coverage of two local homicides; Eve Carson and Denita Smith. Both victims were college students and both victims were dispatched by gun violence. However, when they probed the cases critically, Smith, who was Black, did not make national news, nor did the four local affiliates block programing to cover her funeral. Are we experiencing Jim Crow news coverage at our local and national levels when Black and Brown people are the victims of crime? No parent should ever have to endure what happened at Sandy Hook, but equally important, no parent should ever have to suffer the indignities of justifying the victim status of their dead child as do the parents of Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin.

W. Russell Robinson

We Live By The Gun, We'll Die By The Gun

How many more people have to die in the US before we declare a stand against gun violence? It's scary because regrettably the gun nor the bullets do not know the difference between race, class, nor gender. Yesterday as I was living my aloof life, gun violence struck again, this time, at an elementary school. For me, this is now where the issue becomes personnel. As a father of a 6 year old boy in kindergarten, I blindly assume that when I take him to school, that's a safe haven. He shouldn't have to go to school with it looking like a military camp. As this news story unfolded, a school called Sandy Creek Elemantary in Newtown, CT went from innocence to carriage where 20 kids and six adults were brutally murdered, dispatched by the all too familiar narrative of "The Lone Gunman." Picking my son up from school yesterday was an experience because I realized that though my life isn't perfect, in light the yesterday's catastrophe, I was blessed. Where I get to buy Christmas presents for him, there are 20 families who have to buy coffins for their children and six others who have to do the same. Last night, I was drunk with anger and took to twitter. I was seething mad because this could have been my child. One of the things I did, which I still find myself shocked about, is that for a while, I took race off the table. Race for a few moments in my life became a side note and I even counseled a follower, respectfully mind you, that race at this moment was discretionary. As I sobered up emotionally, I am still bitterly angry yet the anger for me at least is becoming more focused and I'm starting to ask some pretty damn grown up questions.
1) What is the emergency safety protocol at my child's school.
When Red and I talked about this last night, I was happy to know he knew the basic package. He listens to the teacher, he go where she says go and does not leave until I or someone on our family tree list picks him up. In fact, I know at his school they have campus resource officers (city police).
2) Do I need to get a gun?
For me, the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. I have a child in my home who has prying eyes and fingers. If he will look for my iPad, he will look for my gun. The best way to keep him and me physically and morally safe is not to even bring a gun in the home. The thing I have to consider as a parent is do I ask the parents of his friends, do they have a gun? Personally, I don't think I want my son to have sleepovers when a gun is in the house. I'm a realist and I know that I'm not bullet proof; that said my contribution to gun control is to stay the hell away from them, and live a peaceable life where I don't have to entertain the thought. I'll own it, I'm non-confrontational, and to the untrained observer, one could call me a coward. I simply will not catch a bullet for anyone, with the exception of my immediate family. If I have to face that scenario, chances are either I or they have done something incredibly wrong or we are in worst case scenario and its just our time. But the best defense against gun violence is a good offense and for me, that's being a person of piece.
3) What is my role in the solution of the epidemic of gun violence?
Know your role and shut your mouth. Though I don't like the WWE, I think those words adequately express my position here. I'm a mass comm professor who loves cultural studies. What an opportunity to put that to the test. Unequivocally, America is a country and culture of violence. Malcolm X put it bluntly, America was founded on violence. The cultural discourse of violence must stop. We speak a language of violence with an ideology of machismo. Our blood is infected with violence and we are in need of a transfusion. How and where do we begin to teach a political and cultural ideology of peaceable transgression?
Part of the solution is to disarm our language. Not everything is about confrontation and defense. Another part is to emasculate violence. In America, our cultural icons were violent people. We have to bury the images and call them what they are, anachronisms. Last, we must de-incentivize irresponsible gun ownership. To me this means if you own a gun, you must be required to carry multimillion dollar liability insurance. Ammunition should be expensive, $1000.00 per bullet (I stole that from Chris Rock). I think if you own a gun, you should pay federal tax per weapon every year. If you illegally have a gun, there should be automatic state and federal time. If you commit a crime with a gun it too should be automatic state and federal time with maximum sentences. If you kill a child in this country with a gun, and it is deemed unlawful it should be an automatic capital crime where the death penalty is on the table. I would add that we should take guns off the street, even in the hands of our police. The only folks who should carry guns are the military and those in clandestine service for the government. State police and local police shouldn't carry guns. It's weird but in China, there was an attack where I think 22 people were slashed, but NOBODY died. At the risk of editorializing, it's ironic that in our country it takes 12 years to get a high school diploma, yet you can get a gun in 12 minutes.
These are only MY thoughts. I do hope that you are equally considering this and solutions...

When Natural Born Twitters meet Dog Day Afternoon

When Natural Born Twitters meet Dog Day Afternoon:
I'm deeply concerned here.  The individual here was clearly disturbed but also tech and media savvy enough to garner twitter-wide sympathy.  As a self appointed "media examiner" it looks as though this person may have been attempting one of two things; suicide by police or trying his case in the media.  At the end of the day, he got what he wanted, which was an audience.  What disturbs me as how in his state of decomposition, he's become a sensational news story (part by his own doing) as opposed to a person in need of real psychological interventions.  The question I have though is how and why were his social media feeds allowed to continue?  

Man tweets, broadcasts police standoff from basement in Baltimore

JR Ewing, A Black Panther?

For those of you who read my blog, which might mean two of you, you may know by now that I consider myself a Neo-white abolitionist. I abhor white privilege and the Americanization of said privilege in our political and social structures. So, to be rather plain, I have nothing but love and solidarity for white PEOPLE. For me these are the individuals who are cognizant of their privilege, while at the same time use their privilege to challenge the powers of domination not just in matters of race, but also gender, sexual orientation and economics and so forth. At an attempt of being comical while still proving my point, in the tone of former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, it's the other 47% of white FOLKS I can't really be concerned with. Well, let me rephrase that, I have to keep an eye on them, because they unfortunately control routes to access in this country. Sure, we have an African American president, but that said, Obama is one out of 44 white presidents who have had white raced ideologies. Yet I digress.
Those who know me know I love Dallas, particularly because of the character JR Ewing. Larry Hagman portrayed the character so well, that to the layperson they would never have guessed he was an uber-liberal. In researching his political stance, I never would have guessed he was also "down by law" with the Black Panther party. Check out the link.
Larry Hagman’s Radicalism
His political ties were with the Peace and Freedom party and their first presidential nominee was Eldridge Cleaver, a Black Panther party spokesman.
In fact, Hagman and his I Dream of Jeannie co star Barbra Eden threw Black Panther Party fundraisers at her house. When I read this I was thrown. When you hear that America's favorite public enemy (JR Ewing) was actually a suffurageist (Black, feminist, environmentalist) it's a pleasant surprise to know that despite his meteoric rise to fame, he parlayed his star power to political activism. Not only was Larry Hagman an excellent actor, but he also was a man of high moral fiber and character... A rarity in today's culture of celebrity.

Brothers and Sisters! We Can Do Better! Damn...

The older I get, the more convinced I become that the quality of customer service is a big fat joke. Unfortunately, there is a plethora of emotionally illiterate, uncivil, discourteous, assholes operating telephones. Sadly, these folks I'm sure, represent the economic dregs of society (for me that's a harsh statement). They work long hours and are grossly underpaid and unfortunately in many cases get power from humiliating other people. My recent experience came in renegotiating an obligation to the electric company. One person in particular had me so frustrated to the point where my voice was hoarse, I had a headache, and I felt I was going to faint. Unfortunately, in all my cases dealing with the call center, I had to attempt to negotiate with fellow African Americans who in my honest opinion lacked social skills. One person even laughed at my situation over the phone.
Only after I found the corporate directory and met with an older white man (who was shocked that I was able to contact him) did the situation resolve itself. Are as African Americans so petty that when we arrive in positions of (limited power) that we have to play the role of the illiterate foot solider. I am rife with illness that not only race but also class are tools for bullying and gaining some sense of power over another person.
Sick, just plain sick.

Cindy Brady Bigots: Girls Gone Racist

For the love of white folks, what the hell makes one think Blackface, particularly in the 21st century is cleaver. In a story published by a local tv station, strangely Duke Lacrosse (women's) players felt it was socially and politically astute to pay homage to "The Little Rascals" at a Halloween party. No harm no foul right; well, what about when the character Buckwheat comes into play. An all white girls lacrosse team felt it was ok to dress a fellow player up in blackface. Here is the story: Duke apologizes for player's 'insensitive' Halloween costume http://soc.li/00pspSb You would think that after the Duke Lacrosse debacle from 2006, the only thing Duke Lacrosse would want to do is play some damn lacrosse and stay the hell out of bad press at all costs, especially in matters of race. The coach, who held the party at her house exercised extremely poor cultural literacy. But again, this was obviously intended to fly under the radar. Personally, I've noticed a trend of passive aggressive racial jabs, most notably by white girls who toss provocative racist Molotov cocktails and run for protection after the fact. Two high school girls in Florida had a racial tantrum they launched on YouTube. Fearing for their safety, they sought police protection and transferred to another school. At UCLA, another white girl gone racist, ranted again about Asians in a library in social media. After the university president made a public apology, the "damsel in distress" made her apology and transferred to another university. Most recently, another white girl gone racist acted a complete fool in cyberspace, pissed because President Obama was re-elected. She called Obama a Nigger and wished for his untimely premeditated demise. Really, Cindy Brady? You wished for a hit on the President and wonder why the Secret Service is knocking on your door, let alone lost your job serving ice cream. Message to crazy aloof white racist women: you may act dumb like Chrissy from Threes Company (sorry Suzanne Summers), but stop the madness, seriously.

Christmas Day/New Years Eve in November 2012

@Knight3k: I am a citizen of the United States of America. I belong here! This is my home! America has re-affirmed that!!!

I said that on twitter last night... My son, hell, even I for that can be President of the United States. I didn't think I would be overcome w- such emotion the second time around, but damn if I am not. The vote last night sent a hard message against white privilege. It sent a message about human rights! It sent a message that America is about inclusion and we will not leave Americans behind, be they in foreign countries or on American soil.
This is not just the land of the free and the brave, but also a land of the poor and the homeless.
We have the potential to;
we have the shot;
we have an obligation to live the idealistic experiment:
One Nation, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.

The Cosby Standard?

This is some academic free writing I'm working on... I hope I can mine it into a book chapter... Feedback welcome.

The Cosby Standard
I will always be grateful for Thursday night television from the 1984-85 season on NBC. That's when the late Brandon Tartikoff took a major gamble (when CBS and ABC declined) and launched "The Cosby Show." At the age of 14, I knew that I was destined to have a career in media somehow because I had already began to research the business of television. Thinking back on the other "Black" television programs during that time, my choices were rather limited: the few African Americans I was able to see were analogous to raisins in oatmeal. There was Nell Carter on Give Me A Break, The Jeffersons on CBS, and Benson on ABC. What was missing from the narrative of these programs was that of the stable functional Black family: enter a family named Huxtable.
Mom and dad as we know were middle age protypic "buppies" or as others would say black "Bourgeoisie." The show ran for nine years, spawning a spinoff series "A Different World," and most important shattered the monolithic politics of class and race on network television, particularly during the conservative Reagan era. Flash forward 30 years: The Cosby Show is in rerun rotation, I'm a researcher in mass communication and media studies, and my eyes have grown somewhat jaded, almost cynical.
When I was younger, the Cosby Show gave me hope. I wanted my family to be the next generation "Huxtables." However, my reality is drastically different. I'm a single full-time dad. On the program, both parents were affluent practitioners in there professions, a doctor and a lawyer. In my reality, I am a doctor, a Ph.D. who goes to sleep with a monster called debt (I can't discriminate, student loan and consumer debt is debt) and face the dragon of underemployement/unemployment. Last, I was married in the legal sense, still am, but I'm legally separated.
So the question I have then concerns itself with what I will call "The Cosby Standard." A television show which set idealistic family standards; does it invalidate, possibly problematize, the experiences of a larger African American audience? In this analysis, I would like to examine this post modern "Black Bourgeoisie" Cosby Standard within the context a 21st century political economy. Using the lens of critical media studies I would like to submit a comparison/contrast of the family structure in relationship the lived experience of those who watched the program nearly 30 years ago.

Two Drunk Ass Girls Meet Post Modern Ralph Ellison

This is one oh those rare times I will get on my soap box and vent. Last night I was reminded of how far I have come from; yet this morning how I, and we as a society still have yet a long way to go. Hanging out on one of the rare occasions I have, I and two other colleagues were drinking our beers when we heard the word "Nigga." I'm thinking to myself, I'm in an upscale part of the city where I could escape the foolishness associated with pop culture. I look across the patio toward the direction from which the word came, and sure enough, it was from two overly-served white girls. I probably would have let it go, were it not for the fact that in their state of drunkenness, they were unapologetic about it; almost like a taunt.
"I said it, it happens, what's up?" This was my social cue to exit, at the same time I couldn't help notice that our server, who also was their server, appeared to have had a conversation with them. I launched my subtle protest. I informed her that my guest and I felt a bit verbally abused by the drunks at the other table, particularly by their use of the N- word. My friend Earnest was like "Let's not make a big deal out of it. They're drunk. It's a part of their culture. They hear it on the radio. They said Nigga, not Nigger, they were not even speaking to us."
Needless to say, this was one of those "F- it, I'm 40something moments." I said what I needed to say which was simple.
"Just because you listen to HipHop music, and they say the N- word, does not give you a license to use that word freely in public. She's a news reporter, I'm a Ph.D, he's a business owner. Had we been different Black folk who were slow to reason and too quick to action, you could be in the concrete right now."
"Well sir."
"The only thing I would even consider hearing from you at this point is, I'm sorry, we're drunk, we fucked up. Other than that, there is nothing I wish to hear from you."
On my drive home I was pissed. How did this happen? I was reminded in the most subtle way of my invisibility, in the Ellisonian sense. Even worse, I can't hold their inebriated behinds but so accountable. I'm going up against market driven HipHop that says its okay to say N I double G A, and white America, here is the American Express Black card, yours to use, free of impunity. Really folks? Luckily, a good and respected opinion from Twitter reminded me that this issue, that of white folks using Nigga/Nigger, is infantile in the grand scheme of challenges which deserve more immediate response within the public sphere; specifically the disease of poverty, disparate educational systems, the overall dysfunctional social structures that enable these "Mary Shelly like" systems to run unchecked. These are the real problems which I should find grossly offensive, as opposed to two drunk-ass "girls gone wild" who, in the grand scheme of things, are as significant, as two grains of sand, on the beach called life.

Waiting for Batman: firing gunshots in a crowded theater

One word: insanity. Clear cut case of disassociation from reality. From the media perspective, because we are a culture of violence, acts like these are now more recurrent every one to two years. James Holmes was a stealth like time bomb. What scares me is how we frame this atrocity. My fear is this: were the assailant a person of Islamic faith, American news media would rush to brand this an act of terrorism. However, counter to the moral panic of Islamaphobia, Holmes was a white male, ergo mainstream media's wish to call it a senseless act of violence or massacre. Plain and simple, this was American terrorism executed by an American terrorist. Another point to consider is the push for stronger gun laws. Legal intervention or not, nothing will stop anyone from getting a firearm in this country. This has been demonstrated from ages 3 to 95. The gun, just as violence, regrettably, is a part of American culture, just as Coke, Chevrolet, racism, and apple pie. How do you disabuse a culture of it's violent discourse of which it was founded? There are multiple lessons to be learned: the seriousness of mental health, the glorification of violence, the quest for identity through violence in media, and of course taking our security for granted. I don't think any law would have stopped Holmes, in fact, I think Holmes believes he is above the law. He had/has external demolitions just like characters in the Batman movies. This guy is an intelligent sociopath as demonstrated by his ability to navigate the legal structures before and after his attack. Terrible horrific attack on the human body, human spirit, and the human psyche.

An Eye for an I

I got hit with a question from a friend on FB regarding George Zimmerman and the Trayvon Martin Case. I had to step back for a moment and ask myself am I really for justice or have I been sucker punched by media to ride a horse of justice named vengeance, running dead last. I guess I now know where the philosophical part of the Ph.D. Comes from. I urge all invested in this case to step back and ask are you defusing this situation or putting out the fire with 93 octane. From an analytical standpoint it's an exercise in media framing.  This story, like the Duke Lacrosse story has so many twists and turns.  What puzzles me is how this news case, like others, operates as a vehicle for market driven media to capture audiences. It's carnival in a media sense were corporate elites are profiting from tragedy in the middle class as opposed to media operating as an agent to defuse an already chaotic situation.  In the watchdog sense, I think practitioners take that role too far to where media operates capriciously as its own judiciary. The civic responsible model of media suggests that news media do the best it can for the public good.  In my most educated opinion, market driven media, in this case has strayed away from that, and through a humanistic lens, we are potentially running the risk of two lives being lost to an already egregious tragic situation.  The best thing news media can do in this episode is step back, return to responsible reporting and allow for law enforcement to do, what in my most sincere voice, failed to do in the initial phase of this incident: conduct a complete transparent investigation.  Otherwise, news media may have to explain the extended coverage in the face of a Zimmerman suicide.    

Zimmerman possible racial slur (Explicit)

I'm speechless Zimmerman possible racial slur (Explicit)

Enter Trayvon Martin

I am so glad it's not my child, but I am sorry it happened to someone's son. Trayvon Martin, a high school junior from Florida was shot and killed for what, skittles, or was it for looking like a suspicious Black kid. The alleged shooter was 28 year old George Zimmerman, the captain of his neighborhood watch group. Zimmerman who is White; his rational for shooting Martin was self defense. That's pretty hard to believe when one listens to the 911 tapes and you hear someone yelling help repeatedly. I have a son, and I am my mother's son. I was taught when I was out, on the street, my job was 1) not to get arrested, 2) don't cause trouble, and 3) make sure I always come home. If I violated those rules on my own, I got punished simply because I broke the house rules. But if I violated those rules not of my own doing, my momma would go the complete fool, and that's with medication. I remember one time when this racist cop pulled me on the suspicion of drunk driving. I wasn't drunk and the cop let me go on my way. When I told mom about it, she was overcome with tears of joy. I didn't know why until a few years later. It was late at night. There were no witnesses, and the cop was armed. In hindsight, it was my initiation or graduation day. I could have been shot and killed, labeled whatever the cop put in his police report. One time, I actually did have a gun drawn on me by police, I was carrying a baloney sandwich. Instinct kicked in, I got on the ground, face down, and did as directed. I explained the situation, gave him a business card, and went on about my way. Unfortunately, when the back up arrived, I think he was upset that he didn't get a chance to save the day. In the case of Trayvon though, he wasn't even killed by a cop, but instead some wannabe cop reject because he was black, and looked "suspicious." I have a black president, yet as a black man, I still look suspicious. I'm so glad this did not happen to my son because I just would not be stable. I'd be looking to kill somebody and possibly their family. I would be insane because my child is my world. If that's compromised because of callous stupidity, I'd just have to write my books from jail. I'd be a model prisoner helping folks get their degrees. Seriously, I don't think I would have the strength to be as dignified as Trayvons parents.

Enter 2012: The Second Time Around?

The two-zero-ace-duice is among us and, wow, there is a mountain of work which must be done. This is the year of the "quantum leap" as well as that of the election, and quite frankly, I think I've lost that hope which was touted in for 2008. As I look forward to 2012, looking back at 2011, the past year would have to be the year of the dragon, namely halitosis due to the bad taste left in my mouth.  In North Carolina, I witnessed politicians roll the dice like a game of Monopoly, playing Risk with nearly 40,000 plus unemployed/underemployed toy soldiers all in the name of good citizenry.  Nationally, I've seen bickering over items which in my honest opinion are basic inalienable human rights, in particular the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Double digit inflation is the state of the nation and unless you are making at least fifty thousand, you are among the working poor.  Gas vs. groceries, insurance vs. rent; these are the decisions you get to make, with a college degree.  I still cannot forget the individuals who willingly commit crimes just to go to jail so that they would receive free room and board, plus health care.  But for me, the biggest item on the agenda for 2012 would have to be the skewed visions of justice in the US court system, particularly, the lynching of Troy Davis vs the exoneration of Casey Anthony. I was floored in both cases, as there was a serious matter of reasonable doubt, the white woman went free and the black man was put to death. My president was silent, while I was dumbfounded. President Obama has stunned me on many accounts. I am beginning to believe that, he too is a politician; and like any good politician, he too will say what he needs to, in efforts to get re-elected. Make no mistake, he has impressed me with his anti terrorism campaign. He's taken out two extremist in one year. But domestically and racially, there is a lot that still needs to be done.