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.