...A segment from a conversation between Amy Goodman and the preeminent science fiction writer Octavia Butler (who happens to be of African American descent) from Democracy Now (11/11/05). Here they are reflecting on the relevance of one of her earlier novel for these times:
AMY GOODMAN: Octavia Butler, could you read a little from Parable of the Talents.
OCTAVIA BUTLER: I'm going to read a verse or two. And keep in mind these were written early in the 1990s. But I think they apply forever, actually. This first one, I have a character in the books who is, well, someone who is taking the country fascist and who manages to get elected President and, who oddly enough, comes from Texas. And here is one of the things that my character is inspired to write about, this sort of situation.
She says:
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be lied to. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery."
And there's one other that I thought I should read, because I see it happening so much. I got the idea for it when I heard someone answer a political question with a political slogan. And he didn't seem to realize that he was quoting somebody. He seemed to have thought that he had a creative thought there.
And I wrote this verse:
"Beware, all too often we say what we hear others say. We think what we are told that we think. We see what we are permitted to see. Worse, we see what we are told that we see. Repetition and pride are the keys to this. To hear and to see even an obvious lie again and again and again, maybe to say it almost by reflex, and then to defend it because we have said it, and at last to embrace it because we've defended it."
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Youth Connecting Despair Across the Globe
This is an excerpt from a discussion that took place on Democracy Now this morning with Amy Goodman interviewing several writers, academics and activist on France's current unrest.
The following is a quote/perspectives shared by Julia Wright, activist in France and daughter of famed American writers Richard Wright. Here Wright is reflecting on the words of a young man weeks before the fires began:
Wright states:..."And I still feel eerie, because as I work with youth, 20 years -- 20 days before that happened, I asked one of the youths who's very gifted to write a statement on how he felt.
Could I read the first five lines of that statement?
AMY GOODMAN: Yes. Go ahead.
JULIA WRIGHT: "I am 20 years old, and I don't want to survive here. From death row to the prison of Abu Ghraib, from Baghdad to New Orleans, from Chicago's Southside to the French hoods, here, over there where you are, chaos. We're no political spinners. We're just voices, live from the street where we live, where we become wise, where we are duty-bound to take control out of respect for those who are prevented from setting foot in it. That very street I visualize without peace stones."
This is a 20-year-old. He wrote this on the first of October. The two kids burned to death on the 28th of October. And the suburbs have been burning since.
The following is a quote/perspectives shared by Julia Wright, activist in France and daughter of famed American writers Richard Wright. Here Wright is reflecting on the words of a young man weeks before the fires began:
Wright states:..."And I still feel eerie, because as I work with youth, 20 years -- 20 days before that happened, I asked one of the youths who's very gifted to write a statement on how he felt.
Could I read the first five lines of that statement?
AMY GOODMAN: Yes. Go ahead.
JULIA WRIGHT: "I am 20 years old, and I don't want to survive here. From death row to the prison of Abu Ghraib, from Baghdad to New Orleans, from Chicago's Southside to the French hoods, here, over there where you are, chaos. We're no political spinners. We're just voices, live from the street where we live, where we become wise, where we are duty-bound to take control out of respect for those who are prevented from setting foot in it. That very street I visualize without peace stones."
This is a 20-year-old. He wrote this on the first of October. The two kids burned to death on the 28th of October. And the suburbs have been burning since.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Mourning France's Hip Hop Generation: Further Reflections
Evening everyone:
Greetings from Nicole Anderson in Los Angeles. I sent an early version this to some friends and family last weekend...and just thought I would also send this along to my extended HH family...
Writing to bear witness and survive these times,---Nicole
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I must start at my own beginning. I am African American sistah born and raised on Chicago's South Side. However, as my dissertation research in Islamic West Africa dictated, I spent most of the late 1990s shuttling between Senegal, Guinea and France. And most recently, I was in
Paris for several months at the end of 2003/early 2004 finishing some of my research some of which looks at the African immigration to France during the 1960s and 1970s.
During my 2004 stint in Paris, I often spoke withAfrican and Arab French about racism,discrimination, and the vulnerability/invisibility ofthe people of color in France.
My boyfriend---a fellow African American brutha who came over to visit during my research stay---would laugh when he would come and meet me at different spots---cafe, cyberspot, archive. Inevitably, he would find me in the center of a debate with folks arguing about race relations in France. There she goes again, he'd sigh! He couldn't follow the French at all point, but he could tell from the crowd and my body language what we were addressing.
Seriously, though, in the same heated, impassioned conversations, they would ask meabout race relations in the US, about the US post9/11 and talk about how much further along BlackAmericans were then they were. Many lamented theimpossibility of life in France for non-whites.
For me, learning about the experiences of folk ofcolor in France was vitally important---because aslong as I was on the street, in the subway, tryingto get into archives, grocery shopping, taking Africandance with West Africans or meals withAfrican, Arab and Caribbean colleagues, my experience was deeply connected to the lives of folk of color inParis.
And yet, I occupied this complicated place---as a BlackAmerican. I occupied this priveledged post as an Americanresearcher moving with fluidity fromFrench research centers to my lil' apartment inthe heart of Paris...and yet I deeply invested inknowing about the lives of those folks---varying shades of brown and black--- who I only saw depicted on TV during the crime reports on the evening news.
Even though African Americans in Paris get to occupy a different kind of space---asBlack elites from another global West (wealthier,educated, artists, intellectuals, captains ofindustry),I was still concerned with theexperiences of folks on the margins in France. Living a life in America fighting from themargins connects me ---for better and for worse---with strugglewhereever you see it.
And the real for me in Paris was this: once you
get beyond tourist Paris, working and living in the neighborhoods as a young black female meant that I was perceived just one more Black immigrant in a nation hostile to folk like you on French soil.
I was as American as the documents I could produce to prove it. Thus,my passport was the only thing that could help me if something jumped off...and what a tenous space that was to occupy!So depending on the tensions in the country at aparticular moment---and whether or not Black andBrowns are being stopped on the streets for theiridentity papers/rounded up/arrested/etc.,.-- I had to be prepared to prove my American-ness at any moment.So while I was there to get the research done, I was also constanlylistening to the news, talking with contacts and reading the paper for anyhints of trouble/unrest.
The other reality is that we people of color inAmerica know this story. France had no problemextracting the resources of French North/WestAfrica/the Caribbean( raw materials, labor, land andmillions of Africans to fight in both of France'sworld wars) during the late 19th and 20th centuries.
However, when those same folks---many who showed up from predominantly Muslim North and West Africa---showed up on France's doorstep looking foropportunities for a better life in their formercolonial motherland, France became increasinglyhostile to them. Few could accesseducation, decent housing, religious freedom and hopefor a life in France free of religious or racialdiscrimination.
More to the point, French hip hop came out of these very same communities now expressing their outrage at systemic neglect.
So, now as the sun sets on 2005, I sit this week watching Paris burn.
And I feel that heavy ache inside. I fear another generation of Blackand Brown youth who will be separated from their families, incarcerated, detained, killed, lost, demonized, scapegoated, and folded into the global war on terror. I hurt for the parents up tonight wondering where their sons are...for elders whose children and grandchildren will pay a heavy price for this.
...And all because they got tired of waiting, ranout of hope and decided to unleash the fires burningwithin them.
This is indeed a reminder of what happens when hopelessness catches fire across a nation.
It is also a sobering reminder to us of the French wing of the Hip Hop generation---who have moved beyond booty-and-bling-a-thons (for the last 12 nights in any case)---to get in the streets and fight for some basic human rights.
Don't get me wrong: I do not celebrate this at all, but recognize the pain that has fuelled these fiery nights.
Thank you in advance for you patience. I just needed to offer this up on this evening.
Mourning the continued war against the poor of color in the West and asking you to send prayers-energy-good will to all who suffer tonight in your families and hometowns and hometowns across the globe tonight.
Take good care, yall!
---Nicole Anderson
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicole AndersonIrivne Fellow/Professor of History Occidental College 1600 Campus Road, MC-13 Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314 Office: 323-259-2775 Alternate Email: nanderson@oxy.edu http://diaryofayoungblackprofessor.blogspot.com
Greetings from Nicole Anderson in Los Angeles. I sent an early version this to some friends and family last weekend...and just thought I would also send this along to my extended HH family...
Writing to bear witness and survive these times,---Nicole
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I must start at my own beginning. I am African American sistah born and raised on Chicago's South Side. However, as my dissertation research in Islamic West Africa dictated, I spent most of the late 1990s shuttling between Senegal, Guinea and France. And most recently, I was in
Paris for several months at the end of 2003/early 2004 finishing some of my research some of which looks at the African immigration to France during the 1960s and 1970s.
During my 2004 stint in Paris, I often spoke withAfrican and Arab French about racism,discrimination, and the vulnerability/invisibility ofthe people of color in France.
My boyfriend---a fellow African American brutha who came over to visit during my research stay---would laugh when he would come and meet me at different spots---cafe, cyberspot, archive. Inevitably, he would find me in the center of a debate with folks arguing about race relations in France. There she goes again, he'd sigh! He couldn't follow the French at all point, but he could tell from the crowd and my body language what we were addressing.
Seriously, though, in the same heated, impassioned conversations, they would ask meabout race relations in the US, about the US post9/11 and talk about how much further along BlackAmericans were then they were. Many lamented theimpossibility of life in France for non-whites.
For me, learning about the experiences of folk ofcolor in France was vitally important---because aslong as I was on the street, in the subway, tryingto get into archives, grocery shopping, taking Africandance with West Africans or meals withAfrican, Arab and Caribbean colleagues, my experience was deeply connected to the lives of folk of color inParis.
And yet, I occupied this complicated place---as a BlackAmerican. I occupied this priveledged post as an Americanresearcher moving with fluidity fromFrench research centers to my lil' apartment inthe heart of Paris...and yet I deeply invested inknowing about the lives of those folks---varying shades of brown and black--- who I only saw depicted on TV during the crime reports on the evening news.
Even though African Americans in Paris get to occupy a different kind of space---asBlack elites from another global West (wealthier,educated, artists, intellectuals, captains ofindustry),I was still concerned with theexperiences of folks on the margins in France. Living a life in America fighting from themargins connects me ---for better and for worse---with strugglewhereever you see it.
And the real for me in Paris was this: once you
get beyond tourist Paris, working and living in the neighborhoods as a young black female meant that I was perceived just one more Black immigrant in a nation hostile to folk like you on French soil.
I was as American as the documents I could produce to prove it. Thus,my passport was the only thing that could help me if something jumped off...and what a tenous space that was to occupy!So depending on the tensions in the country at aparticular moment---and whether or not Black andBrowns are being stopped on the streets for theiridentity papers/rounded up/arrested/etc.,.-- I had to be prepared to prove my American-ness at any moment.So while I was there to get the research done, I was also constanlylistening to the news, talking with contacts and reading the paper for anyhints of trouble/unrest.
The other reality is that we people of color inAmerica know this story. France had no problemextracting the resources of French North/WestAfrica/the Caribbean( raw materials, labor, land andmillions of Africans to fight in both of France'sworld wars) during the late 19th and 20th centuries.
However, when those same folks---many who showed up from predominantly Muslim North and West Africa---showed up on France's doorstep looking foropportunities for a better life in their formercolonial motherland, France became increasinglyhostile to them. Few could accesseducation, decent housing, religious freedom and hopefor a life in France free of religious or racialdiscrimination.
More to the point, French hip hop came out of these very same communities now expressing their outrage at systemic neglect.
So, now as the sun sets on 2005, I sit this week watching Paris burn.
And I feel that heavy ache inside. I fear another generation of Blackand Brown youth who will be separated from their families, incarcerated, detained, killed, lost, demonized, scapegoated, and folded into the global war on terror. I hurt for the parents up tonight wondering where their sons are...for elders whose children and grandchildren will pay a heavy price for this.
...And all because they got tired of waiting, ranout of hope and decided to unleash the fires burningwithin them.
This is indeed a reminder of what happens when hopelessness catches fire across a nation.
It is also a sobering reminder to us of the French wing of the Hip Hop generation---who have moved beyond booty-and-bling-a-thons (for the last 12 nights in any case)---to get in the streets and fight for some basic human rights.
Don't get me wrong: I do not celebrate this at all, but recognize the pain that has fuelled these fiery nights.
Thank you in advance for you patience. I just needed to offer this up on this evening.
Mourning the continued war against the poor of color in the West and asking you to send prayers-energy-good will to all who suffer tonight in your families and hometowns and hometowns across the globe tonight.
Take good care, yall!
---Nicole Anderson
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicole AndersonIrivne Fellow/Professor of History Occidental College 1600 Campus Road, MC-13 Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314 Office: 323-259-2775 Alternate Email: nanderson@oxy.edu http://diaryofayoungblackprofessor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Katrina, Media and Race Noise
Race and Katrina Disaster: The Chatter Undergirding The Tragedy
September 16, 2005
One of the things keeps going through my mind is the spirit behind the conversations taking place in post-Katrina America and its media. This is how it sounds to my weary ears:
Black Folks (generally): It’s about race and class. Look at the people who were left behind. They had long been left behind before the levees gave way.
President Bush: No it’s not. Now, me, aw-shucks-guffaw-I was no where to be found, but relief workers have had no color.
Media: Is it really about race...hmmm, that would make good copy...a new fresh angle on an issue we couldn’t see on our own until four days later? Are you sure, Black folks? Wait, let’s call a bunch of white folks and ask them if this is about race....We’ll they say it wasn’t about race...So see, Black folk, we told you it wasn’t about race after all...whew...that was a close one!.
White Folks (generally): No, its not. It was about the power of the storm. How can they say that? Besides, if you all hadn’t been acting so scary and looting and such maybe we would have given a damn and saved you.
Black Folk: (fall silent)
Why do we bother speaking at all. No one ever listens anyway. Unfortunately, the fact that we are never heard is nothing more than insurance that things will never change for Black folks in America.
Go ‘head, go head Kanye, go ‘head, uh, go ‘head Kanye!
—Nicole
September 16, 2005
One of the things keeps going through my mind is the spirit behind the conversations taking place in post-Katrina America and its media. This is how it sounds to my weary ears:
Black Folks (generally): It’s about race and class. Look at the people who were left behind. They had long been left behind before the levees gave way.
President Bush: No it’s not. Now, me, aw-shucks-guffaw-I was no where to be found, but relief workers have had no color.
Media: Is it really about race...hmmm, that would make good copy...a new fresh angle on an issue we couldn’t see on our own until four days later? Are you sure, Black folks? Wait, let’s call a bunch of white folks and ask them if this is about race....We’ll they say it wasn’t about race...So see, Black folk, we told you it wasn’t about race after all...whew...that was a close one!.
White Folks (generally): No, its not. It was about the power of the storm. How can they say that? Besides, if you all hadn’t been acting so scary and looting and such maybe we would have given a damn and saved you.
Black Folk: (fall silent)
Why do we bother speaking at all. No one ever listens anyway. Unfortunately, the fact that we are never heard is nothing more than insurance that things will never change for Black folks in America.
Go ‘head, go head Kanye, go ‘head, uh, go ‘head Kanye!
—Nicole
I Just Got A Few Questions...
September 15, 2005
Hey everyone. I know. Its just been too long. But you know how it is: teaching, meetings, trying to locate loved ones in Mississippi, my own academic and personal writing, working on the Raising Our Voices writing project and trying to squeeze in a fitness workouts in the midst of all the madness. So, its been a little bit crazy, but just having a day to stay in and get caught up with myself has been a blessing indeed.
Ok, now back to the most pressing issues of the year: Ms. Katrina. All I want to say is that I AM NOT FOOLED, MR. BUSH, MR. NAGAN, MRS. BLANCO and all of your cohorts. Someone has got to say it. You all can talk about draining the city and stalking looters on "Mogadishu Mile" (let’s keep on Africanizing this tragedy as often as we can)...and opening restaurants in the French quarter and allowing folks to come back to the city....BUT AIN’T NOBODY FORGOTTEN.
Hello, hello, ok, let me not say we, but I will speak for myself in through here. FORGETTING IS TAKING PLACE...HELLO...FORGETTING IS ABSOLUTELY TAKING PLACE. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED AND THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS DO INDEED REMAIN:
---Has every refugee received the $2000 from FEMA or Red Cross? And if these monies are being placed in bank accounts, what impact does this have on individuals without the benefit of bank accounts in their new communities or in the communities impacted by the Hurricane?
—Where have people gone exactly? For how long? Under what circumstances?
—Are families who have sheltered survivors receiving aid for their support of new additions to their households?
—If individuals were shipped, flown or sent away, how do these individuals return to the area to assess damage, recover personal affects and figure out how to return to the cities. If we learn nothing else, we must be clear that the priveledge of those who were able to flee also allows them to return as assess their damages and begin the process of rebuilding.
—Its fabulous that the French Quarter is up an runnng, but what is the state of areas still devastated by water, mud and chemical sludge? How did the mayor decide on the numbers of people that will be allowed to return and who will not be?
—Is there any record of employment status for those who’ve been displaced?
—Is anyone concerned about increased gun purchases in communities where survivors are congregating being bought by local residents to "defend themselves against new arrivals"?
—Is there any concern about the environmental concerns for water, food, chemical and toxin exposure for those in a hurry to return to the sit and get back to business etc.,.
What no one seems to be concerned about is the fact that thousands of poor folks—in particular poor black folks have been scattered to the winds across this nation who had no resources to leave so how the hell would they ever be able to return?
I’m sitting here listening to Anderson Cooper conmplaining about what individuals didn’t do shortly after the disaster. But my concern is what is happening with or for those who have been displaced—how are they supporting themselves, are they locating jobs, housing, healthcare, basic necessities in new communities? Cooper just reported that the focus is on rebuilding the city and access of business and industry to the city which just does not bode well for what kind of access the most needy or vulnerable will have access to in this New New Orleans.
I just can’t help but feel that now that things are calmer, that the President, military and local government seem to act as if the slate has been wiped clean of pesky citizens and they can now be about the business of rebuilding the city per their specification...and by the way, I just wish someone would tell Mayor Nagan that his days are numbered. You cain’t cuss out them good ole boys and embarrass them nationally and think you are going to survive very long...especially with so few Black folk in the community to have your back.
Later on yall, later on!—Nicole
Hey everyone. I know. Its just been too long. But you know how it is: teaching, meetings, trying to locate loved ones in Mississippi, my own academic and personal writing, working on the Raising Our Voices writing project and trying to squeeze in a fitness workouts in the midst of all the madness. So, its been a little bit crazy, but just having a day to stay in and get caught up with myself has been a blessing indeed.
Ok, now back to the most pressing issues of the year: Ms. Katrina. All I want to say is that I AM NOT FOOLED, MR. BUSH, MR. NAGAN, MRS. BLANCO and all of your cohorts. Someone has got to say it. You all can talk about draining the city and stalking looters on "Mogadishu Mile" (let’s keep on Africanizing this tragedy as often as we can)...and opening restaurants in the French quarter and allowing folks to come back to the city....BUT AIN’T NOBODY FORGOTTEN.
Hello, hello, ok, let me not say we, but I will speak for myself in through here. FORGETTING IS TAKING PLACE...HELLO...FORGETTING IS ABSOLUTELY TAKING PLACE. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED AND THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS DO INDEED REMAIN:
---Has every refugee received the $2000 from FEMA or Red Cross? And if these monies are being placed in bank accounts, what impact does this have on individuals without the benefit of bank accounts in their new communities or in the communities impacted by the Hurricane?
—Where have people gone exactly? For how long? Under what circumstances?
—Are families who have sheltered survivors receiving aid for their support of new additions to their households?
—If individuals were shipped, flown or sent away, how do these individuals return to the area to assess damage, recover personal affects and figure out how to return to the cities. If we learn nothing else, we must be clear that the priveledge of those who were able to flee also allows them to return as assess their damages and begin the process of rebuilding.
—Its fabulous that the French Quarter is up an runnng, but what is the state of areas still devastated by water, mud and chemical sludge? How did the mayor decide on the numbers of people that will be allowed to return and who will not be?
—Is there any record of employment status for those who’ve been displaced?
—Is anyone concerned about increased gun purchases in communities where survivors are congregating being bought by local residents to "defend themselves against new arrivals"?
—Is there any concern about the environmental concerns for water, food, chemical and toxin exposure for those in a hurry to return to the sit and get back to business etc.,.
What no one seems to be concerned about is the fact that thousands of poor folks—in particular poor black folks have been scattered to the winds across this nation who had no resources to leave so how the hell would they ever be able to return?
I’m sitting here listening to Anderson Cooper conmplaining about what individuals didn’t do shortly after the disaster. But my concern is what is happening with or for those who have been displaced—how are they supporting themselves, are they locating jobs, housing, healthcare, basic necessities in new communities? Cooper just reported that the focus is on rebuilding the city and access of business and industry to the city which just does not bode well for what kind of access the most needy or vulnerable will have access to in this New New Orleans.
I just can’t help but feel that now that things are calmer, that the President, military and local government seem to act as if the slate has been wiped clean of pesky citizens and they can now be about the business of rebuilding the city per their specification...and by the way, I just wish someone would tell Mayor Nagan that his days are numbered. You cain’t cuss out them good ole boys and embarrass them nationally and think you are going to survive very long...especially with so few Black folk in the community to have your back.
Later on yall, later on!—Nicole
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Raising Our Voices: Thinking Through the Katrina Disaster
Raising Our Voices: Thinking Through the Katrina Disaster
As we all struggle to come to terms with the hurricaneKatrina disaster, I know that we are all doing what wecan to aid these displaced Americans and supportrescue efforts at this hour.Furthermore, I am interested in creating an edited volume (working title: Raising Our Voices: Thinking Through the Katrina Disaster) for those who are writing about this national tragedy.
As I have surveyed websites, newspapers, televised news coverageand even celebrity talk shows, I have been struckprofoundly by how few perspectives I have heard fromartists, writers, academics, clergy andactivists----particularly individuals of color--- inregard to the events and their aftermath. So, Idecided to put out a call.
If you are interested in sharing your work, please submit the following kinds of pieces for review:
—Essays
—Poetry
—Journal entries
—Letters
—Position papers
—Proposals for future action
—Accounts from displaced friends, family and relatives
-Lectures/sermons to communities of faith
—Other forms of writing and reflection
Possible topics include:
—Personal reflections that discussloss/trauma/distress associated with disaster and recovery efforts for those in the region or in moredistant locales as well as coping strategies
—Media analysis
—Race, gender, class and regional dimensions of thecrisis
—Perspectives on relief efforts, the nation’s responseand relocation efforts
—Long-term planning and policy concerns
—Historical perspectives on the events
—Intersections between your own field of expertise andpossible applications to recovery efforts
—Patriotism and the role of public debate in times of national crisis
—Other proposed topics welcome
On a more personal level, writing has been one of myonly comforts through this, so I would like tounderstand how other writers, thinkers and activistsare examining these issues. I am also convinced that those of us who are in the“idea business” must be chronicling how this event hasimpacted us personally. Furthermore, I believe that we must also use ourtraining, expertise, and collective vision to bearwitness, acknowledge our concerns, document our varied
perspectives and strategize to aid displaced citizenswith short-term and long-term needs.
Again, submissions from ALL are welcome, particularlythose from people of color.
Please send a hard copy or email attachment of your submission to the following address by November 30,2005. Be sure to include a brief bio about yourself as well and your contact information for possiblefollow-up correspondences.:
Nicole Anderson Irvine Fellow/Professor of History
Occidental College 1600 Campus Road
MC-13
Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314
Office: 323-259-2775
email: diaryofayoungblackprofessor@yahoo.com
As we all struggle to come to terms with the hurricaneKatrina disaster, I know that we are all doing what wecan to aid these displaced Americans and supportrescue efforts at this hour.Furthermore, I am interested in creating an edited volume (working title: Raising Our Voices: Thinking Through the Katrina Disaster) for those who are writing about this national tragedy.
As I have surveyed websites, newspapers, televised news coverageand even celebrity talk shows, I have been struckprofoundly by how few perspectives I have heard fromartists, writers, academics, clergy andactivists----particularly individuals of color--- inregard to the events and their aftermath. So, Idecided to put out a call.
If you are interested in sharing your work, please submit the following kinds of pieces for review:
—Essays
—Poetry
—Journal entries
—Letters
—Position papers
—Proposals for future action
—Accounts from displaced friends, family and relatives
-Lectures/sermons to communities of faith
—Other forms of writing and reflection
Possible topics include:
—Personal reflections that discussloss/trauma/distress associated with disaster and recovery efforts for those in the region or in moredistant locales as well as coping strategies
—Media analysis
—Race, gender, class and regional dimensions of thecrisis
—Perspectives on relief efforts, the nation’s responseand relocation efforts
—Long-term planning and policy concerns
—Historical perspectives on the events
—Intersections between your own field of expertise andpossible applications to recovery efforts
—Patriotism and the role of public debate in times of national crisis
—Other proposed topics welcome
On a more personal level, writing has been one of myonly comforts through this, so I would like tounderstand how other writers, thinkers and activistsare examining these issues. I am also convinced that those of us who are in the“idea business” must be chronicling how this event hasimpacted us personally. Furthermore, I believe that we must also use ourtraining, expertise, and collective vision to bearwitness, acknowledge our concerns, document our varied
perspectives and strategize to aid displaced citizenswith short-term and long-term needs.
Again, submissions from ALL are welcome, particularlythose from people of color.
Please send a hard copy or email attachment of your submission to the following address by November 30,2005. Be sure to include a brief bio about yourself as well and your contact information for possiblefollow-up correspondences.:
Nicole Anderson Irvine Fellow/Professor of History
Occidental College 1600 Campus Road
MC-13
Los Angeles, CA 90041-3314
Office: 323-259-2775
email: diaryofayoungblackprofessor@yahoo.com
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Bigger than Oprah!
Greetings all:
Just writing to ease off of an earlier posting a bit. I was fairly tough on African American celebrities. What I will now say is that I do believe that we ALL, we ALL, we ALL are in a PROFOUND state of shock, grief, concern, despair and quite rage...and I do beleive it affects those engaging this in strange ways.
For some, we are silent and praying, for others---like myself---I keep busy trying to think and work and keep pace with the developments AND SO MANY OTHERS ARE DOING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH to heal, aid, soothe and offer assistance to these Americans in crisis.
So what I want to say in advance of seeing Oprah's show today, I just want to say that I apologize is I expected too much from a woman who always does so much. Clearly, one of the blessings of this is that the crisis is resulting in EACH ONE OF US DOING SOMETHING and not relying on the wealthy or the powerful to take care of things.
Maybe Oprah just stood down, so the rest of us could stand up and act. And that we've done.
Talk to you soon!
---Nicole
Just writing to ease off of an earlier posting a bit. I was fairly tough on African American celebrities. What I will now say is that I do believe that we ALL, we ALL, we ALL are in a PROFOUND state of shock, grief, concern, despair and quite rage...and I do beleive it affects those engaging this in strange ways.
For some, we are silent and praying, for others---like myself---I keep busy trying to think and work and keep pace with the developments AND SO MANY OTHERS ARE DOING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH to heal, aid, soothe and offer assistance to these Americans in crisis.
So what I want to say in advance of seeing Oprah's show today, I just want to say that I apologize is I expected too much from a woman who always does so much. Clearly, one of the blessings of this is that the crisis is resulting in EACH ONE OF US DOING SOMETHING and not relying on the wealthy or the powerful to take care of things.
Maybe Oprah just stood down, so the rest of us could stand up and act. And that we've done.
Talk to you soon!
---Nicole
Monday, September 05, 2005
CNN Reporter and Law Enforcement Analyst Admit to Police Looting
This morning in a conversation between CNN Reporter Kyra Phillips and Howard Robinson (9/5/05 at 10:25 am) discussed that fact that police themselves did indeed loot during the Katrina crisis in order to survive. "These officers who did not want to abandon their posts and evacuate the city HAD TO LOOT TO SURVIVE AND REMAIN IN THE CITY."
I just try to document these things that seep out that we may not hear again as the story changes and the govt spin goes into overdrive. Let us watch and see if the prosecutions promised against looters is also applied to law enforcement as well.
Eyes and ears open!
---Nicole
I just try to document these things that seep out that we may not hear again as the story changes and the govt spin goes into overdrive. Let us watch and see if the prosecutions promised against looters is also applied to law enforcement as well.
Eyes and ears open!
---Nicole
Where did everyone go...searching for Black celebrities in the post-Katrina frenzy
Where did everyone go...searching for Black celebrities in the post-Katrina frenzy 9/4/05 11:46
Evening everyone. Again, always writing in the interest of clearing my head and still struggling to make sense of this thing...this Gulf Coast tragi-drama unfolding in the middle of America and in the middle of our lives. I’m telling you, I’m sitting here in my home with newspapers sprawled on couches that I can only read in bits and pieces as the reach of the events bleeds across the country with the displaced arriving in cities and states nation wide.
On this night, I am waiting to hear from Wynton Marsalis (one of my favorite New Orleanians...ok, I admit one of my favorite people/thinkers in the world) on CNN as Dr. Phil provides the opening act offering support and comfort to families in the Astrodome. See, this is a part of the dizzying, numbing, burning nightmare. Dr. Phil has indeed been on of the few voice of compassionate reason. His posture from the space is indeed that of a professional standing with the people---as opposed to reporters gobbling up their experiences for the latest footage frenzy.
But I have to ask: Where is Oprah? Why, through all of this, have we not seen Ms. Winfrey anywhere on the scene.
Clearly, the media frenzy and the expectations for her would be overwhelming so early in this situation. But we needed the Black wealthy in the place, commenting, raising questions, rallying to the defense of those stranded, using their outrage to make things happen. Yet, not a call in to a network, not a statement issued to the press...just cold, bitter, frightening silence from the Oprah Winfrey camp. It is an absense that I cannot explain. There is something profoundly eerie and rank about it. It stinks of something I can’t yet articulate.
And clearly as an outsider, I don’t get it. Maybe a call went out to Black Hollywood that said "Don’t say a word, keep your mouths shut, don’t get involved in this???" So Oprah emails Denzel and Denzel text-messages Halle and Halle IM’s Latifah and Latifah pages Jada and the word went forth that on this... "...even though this is one of the most significant tragedies to impact African Americans this century, you all keep your got-damn mouths closed and don’t utter a mumblin’ word about any of this."
So much has been illuminated in this situation. Most revealing of all has been the powerlessness of Black voices---both individuals and media organizations--- in this hour. And that is clearer and clearer with every hour of news coverage. And even though CNN trotted out damn-near all of its Black journalists to add some color to the proceedings this weekend, clearly dealing with "race" makes Larry King shit his shorts and wrap up any segment where guests express real feelings on the issue.
I just don't know. Maybe our Black glitterati are so clearly filled with rage and disdain and shock and despair that they have no language for this moment. Maybe someone will have some words prepared for them by the next telethon?
But didn’t you feel good down inside when Kanye went off the paper and freestyled for a moment?!
Even Wynton tried to bring his disappointment and fury to the table, but all Larry King needed him to do is look pretty and play his horn.
Perhaps the celebrities have right. What is the point of weighing in when a hefty check will suffice?
Clearly I need to sleep this confusion off...things just can't be THIS bad???
—Nicole
Evening everyone. Again, always writing in the interest of clearing my head and still struggling to make sense of this thing...this Gulf Coast tragi-drama unfolding in the middle of America and in the middle of our lives. I’m telling you, I’m sitting here in my home with newspapers sprawled on couches that I can only read in bits and pieces as the reach of the events bleeds across the country with the displaced arriving in cities and states nation wide.
On this night, I am waiting to hear from Wynton Marsalis (one of my favorite New Orleanians...ok, I admit one of my favorite people/thinkers in the world) on CNN as Dr. Phil provides the opening act offering support and comfort to families in the Astrodome. See, this is a part of the dizzying, numbing, burning nightmare. Dr. Phil has indeed been on of the few voice of compassionate reason. His posture from the space is indeed that of a professional standing with the people---as opposed to reporters gobbling up their experiences for the latest footage frenzy.
But I have to ask: Where is Oprah? Why, through all of this, have we not seen Ms. Winfrey anywhere on the scene.
Clearly, the media frenzy and the expectations for her would be overwhelming so early in this situation. But we needed the Black wealthy in the place, commenting, raising questions, rallying to the defense of those stranded, using their outrage to make things happen. Yet, not a call in to a network, not a statement issued to the press...just cold, bitter, frightening silence from the Oprah Winfrey camp. It is an absense that I cannot explain. There is something profoundly eerie and rank about it. It stinks of something I can’t yet articulate.
And clearly as an outsider, I don’t get it. Maybe a call went out to Black Hollywood that said "Don’t say a word, keep your mouths shut, don’t get involved in this???" So Oprah emails Denzel and Denzel text-messages Halle and Halle IM’s Latifah and Latifah pages Jada and the word went forth that on this... "...even though this is one of the most significant tragedies to impact African Americans this century, you all keep your got-damn mouths closed and don’t utter a mumblin’ word about any of this."
So much has been illuminated in this situation. Most revealing of all has been the powerlessness of Black voices---both individuals and media organizations--- in this hour. And that is clearer and clearer with every hour of news coverage. And even though CNN trotted out damn-near all of its Black journalists to add some color to the proceedings this weekend, clearly dealing with "race" makes Larry King shit his shorts and wrap up any segment where guests express real feelings on the issue.
I just don't know. Maybe our Black glitterati are so clearly filled with rage and disdain and shock and despair that they have no language for this moment. Maybe someone will have some words prepared for them by the next telethon?
But didn’t you feel good down inside when Kanye went off the paper and freestyled for a moment?!
Even Wynton tried to bring his disappointment and fury to the table, but all Larry King needed him to do is look pretty and play his horn.
Perhaps the celebrities have right. What is the point of weighing in when a hefty check will suffice?
Clearly I need to sleep this confusion off...things just can't be THIS bad???
—Nicole
Superdome Blues, Los Angeles Style
Superdome Blues, Los Angeles Style 9/2/05
Something is different now
Something is indeed different mired in frustration and complexity now
It hard to shake
Hard to put to rest
I am so blessed to have so much
But I can’t rationalize it...I have to think about it, deal with it, it is my life these days
Thinking each day about the babies, mothers, elders left to die
Fend for themselves
Wait on help and suffer
It’s Darwinian I swear it
It’s as if those who couldn’t leave deserved their fate
It’s as if being poor and old and young and black and female and female means you deserve such trauma
And I just can’t shake it
I feel like I’m in a long distance stooper
Where I have sun and peace and food and security, but this can’t really be real
I can’t really deserve to sleep easy when so many tonight can’t sleep at all
I swear to you.
My house is a bit unkept
And my mind a jostle
And my spirit just feels trapped in all of this.
Am I to go or stay or write or cry or fly somewhere to tend to the sick or dying.
I just feel changed
and weary
and undeserving
and lonely
and confused
and like my worst fears about America have been realized and confirmed
Those stranded in New Orleans have lives that aren’t worth saving for our government.
And I know that my life looks just the same to them.
Something is different now
Something is indeed different mired in frustration and complexity now
It hard to shake
Hard to put to rest
I am so blessed to have so much
But I can’t rationalize it...I have to think about it, deal with it, it is my life these days
Thinking each day about the babies, mothers, elders left to die
Fend for themselves
Wait on help and suffer
It’s Darwinian I swear it
It’s as if those who couldn’t leave deserved their fate
It’s as if being poor and old and young and black and female and female means you deserve such trauma
And I just can’t shake it
I feel like I’m in a long distance stooper
Where I have sun and peace and food and security, but this can’t really be real
I can’t really deserve to sleep easy when so many tonight can’t sleep at all
I swear to you.
My house is a bit unkept
And my mind a jostle
And my spirit just feels trapped in all of this.
Am I to go or stay or write or cry or fly somewhere to tend to the sick or dying.
I just feel changed
and weary
and undeserving
and lonely
and confused
and like my worst fears about America have been realized and confirmed
Those stranded in New Orleans have lives that aren’t worth saving for our government.
And I know that my life looks just the same to them.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Thank you for visiting/commenting!
Just a note to those who have visited this blog recently and left messages. I really appreciate your feedback and positive responses. I glad the site is useful and informative for you.
Keep visiting, help where you can and take good care during these harrowing times.
---Nicole Anderson
Keep visiting, help where you can and take good care during these harrowing times.
---Nicole Anderson
Apologies to those suffering in the South after Katrina
Copy of the Message of Hope I posted to the Essence Magazine site 9/2/05 10:27 p.m.
Beloved brothers and sisters,
I am reaching out to you this night. I have few words to communicate to you my feelings of love and concern and worry for your condition.
We in other states only have the media to count on and we have to trust that they are communicating the truth of your situation to us. I regret all that we lack---plane, boats, rescuers, the national will and commitment to your lives.
Most importantly, I wish we had not let you down. I wish we'd loved you more. I lament your suffering.
We are praying, praying, praying...but I am also racking my brain trying to come up with ways to help in the short and long term. Know that we tried and we are trying and each day we are striving to reach you...to save your lives. And we so apologize for all that we were not prepared to do.
We apologize to you and to God for your the pain you suffered before Katrina ever struck...and now your suffering has come to symbolize the suffering of a conflicted nation.
Seeking God's heart for answers,
-Professor Nicole Anderson, Los Angeles
Beloved brothers and sisters,
I am reaching out to you this night. I have few words to communicate to you my feelings of love and concern and worry for your condition.
We in other states only have the media to count on and we have to trust that they are communicating the truth of your situation to us. I regret all that we lack---plane, boats, rescuers, the national will and commitment to your lives.
Most importantly, I wish we had not let you down. I wish we'd loved you more. I lament your suffering.
We are praying, praying, praying...but I am also racking my brain trying to come up with ways to help in the short and long term. Know that we tried and we are trying and each day we are striving to reach you...to save your lives. And we so apologize for all that we were not prepared to do.
We apologize to you and to God for your the pain you suffered before Katrina ever struck...and now your suffering has come to symbolize the suffering of a conflicted nation.
Seeking God's heart for answers,
-Professor Nicole Anderson, Los Angeles
Friday, September 02, 2005
Special escort from the K-Zone!
Hey,
I just want you to know that Mrs. Phyllis Petrich---who were stranded at the Ritz Carleton with a group ofdoctors and other business people in NewOrleans---were rescued by a fleet of helicopters onyesterday.
She said, LESS THAN 2 hours after she put in her callto CNN, they were escorted by armed guard from theRitz and a fleetS of buses and armed guards to safteyon last evening.She said there were so many helicopters that came tothe hotel to rescue them that they were buzzing aroundlike swarms of flies.Mrs. Phyllis and her husband and a group of 40+ others were escorted with security to a Baton Rouge hotel and received warmly with food, provision and clothing. She and her husband are now home and safe in Baltimore grateful to CNN for aiding them with their rescue. She said their escorts even "commandeered" medicines and antibiotics from a local Walgreens to give them medications to take/treat themselves once they got to safety.
Let me repeat again, when the folk at the New OrleansRitz put out a call, THEY got a flock of helicopterswith security and escorts to rescue them IN THE SPACEOF TWO HOURS. She mentioned NOTHING about officers fearing for their safety to come and rescue THEM.
We thank Mrs Phyllis for reminding us of what itREALLY requires to get some assistance to get the hellout of dodge!!!
Remain vigilant!---Nicole
I just want you to know that Mrs. Phyllis Petrich---who were stranded at the Ritz Carleton with a group ofdoctors and other business people in NewOrleans---were rescued by a fleet of helicopters onyesterday.
She said, LESS THAN 2 hours after she put in her callto CNN, they were escorted by armed guard from theRitz and a fleetS of buses and armed guards to safteyon last evening.She said there were so many helicopters that came tothe hotel to rescue them that they were buzzing aroundlike swarms of flies.Mrs. Phyllis and her husband and a group of 40+ others were escorted with security to a Baton Rouge hotel and received warmly with food, provision and clothing. She and her husband are now home and safe in Baltimore grateful to CNN for aiding them with their rescue. She said their escorts even "commandeered" medicines and antibiotics from a local Walgreens to give them medications to take/treat themselves once they got to safety.
Let me repeat again, when the folk at the New OrleansRitz put out a call, THEY got a flock of helicopterswith security and escorts to rescue them IN THE SPACEOF TWO HOURS. She mentioned NOTHING about officers fearing for their safety to come and rescue THEM.
We thank Mrs Phyllis for reminding us of what itREALLY requires to get some assistance to get the hellout of dodge!!!
Remain vigilant!---Nicole
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Pulling Media's Coattails
Pulling Wolf Blitzer's Coattail:
I have been watching CNN's coverage today and I have to say that Wolf is doing a really a poor job of exacerbating the issue of violence and security in the city.
My concern is that Wolf is putting so much emphasis on what looting and lawlessness, but WHAT ABOUT THE VIOLENCE THAT IS BEING LEVELLED AGAINST THE PEOPLES IN NEW ORLEANS---WHO ARE IN OVERWHELMING NUMBERS POOR, FEMALE, YOUNG AND BLACK---WHO HAVE NO AID, HELP OR SUPPORT.
Yes, I understand that you need to report on the danger in the city, but why the hell can't you emphasize some of the factors behind the hopelessness that is leading to violence in a situation being so poorly managed by the US government.
I'm sorry but as a Black woman and professor watching this unfold, its hard for me to cry salty tears for the folks who have some provision---though limited---staying at the Ritz Carleton.
The bottom is---rich, poor, Black, white,---if the folk at the Superdome can't get help then folks at the Ritz are going to have to suffer a bit as well.
Stop reinjuring these Black folks by making this a story about Black folk "wilding out" in New Orleans.
Exasperated,
Nicole Anderson,Professor of History and Media
Occidental College
I have been watching CNN's coverage today and I have to say that Wolf is doing a really a poor job of exacerbating the issue of violence and security in the city.
My concern is that Wolf is putting so much emphasis on what looting and lawlessness, but WHAT ABOUT THE VIOLENCE THAT IS BEING LEVELLED AGAINST THE PEOPLES IN NEW ORLEANS---WHO ARE IN OVERWHELMING NUMBERS POOR, FEMALE, YOUNG AND BLACK---WHO HAVE NO AID, HELP OR SUPPORT.
Yes, I understand that you need to report on the danger in the city, but why the hell can't you emphasize some of the factors behind the hopelessness that is leading to violence in a situation being so poorly managed by the US government.
I'm sorry but as a Black woman and professor watching this unfold, its hard for me to cry salty tears for the folks who have some provision---though limited---staying at the Ritz Carleton.
The bottom is---rich, poor, Black, white,---if the folk at the Superdome can't get help then folks at the Ritz are going to have to suffer a bit as well.
Stop reinjuring these Black folks by making this a story about Black folk "wilding out" in New Orleans.
Exasperated,
Nicole Anderson,Professor of History and Media
Occidental College
Troops Arriving to Restore Law and Order...Or Fanning the Flames of Frustration???
Just got through listening to the governor of Louisiana report that over 12,000 National Guard troopers who have been sworn in and given arrest powers in the state of Lousiana.
My only question is...is anyone focused on bringing food in, medicine in, aid in and assistance in...NOT JUST ARRESTING FOLKS??? And yall, know, the longer it takes for military help to come---especially if they are primarily white boys jumping off trucks with guns---the more volatile their reception will be. People are angry, tired and feel they have been forgotten about. I just pray that you law-and-order good ole boys come in, guns in holster, ready for the pain and frustration they may receive. We have a really poor history with law enforcement on good days; how then will a confrontation go down in these harrowing times???
I just got a note from one of my favorite mentors and friends, Pastor Vance in Chicago, concerned about many things, but especially hotel-gouging and the use of the terms "refugee" in regard to those American citizens who have been devastated by this.
My concern echoes his own and continues to be the way in which the media, reporters and government officials seem to be treating these displaced folks as foreign refugees to be contained, not American citizens in need of priority assistance!!!
Both Presidents Bush and Clinton just got off the TV making tons of promises as the mayor cries out for aid and says people are planning to march for the Superdome in search of help!
Standing in the gap between platitudes and pain of the people!
Pray on' yall, pray on!
---Nicole!
My only question is...is anyone focused on bringing food in, medicine in, aid in and assistance in...NOT JUST ARRESTING FOLKS??? And yall, know, the longer it takes for military help to come---especially if they are primarily white boys jumping off trucks with guns---the more volatile their reception will be. People are angry, tired and feel they have been forgotten about. I just pray that you law-and-order good ole boys come in, guns in holster, ready for the pain and frustration they may receive. We have a really poor history with law enforcement on good days; how then will a confrontation go down in these harrowing times???
I just got a note from one of my favorite mentors and friends, Pastor Vance in Chicago, concerned about many things, but especially hotel-gouging and the use of the terms "refugee" in regard to those American citizens who have been devastated by this.
My concern echoes his own and continues to be the way in which the media, reporters and government officials seem to be treating these displaced folks as foreign refugees to be contained, not American citizens in need of priority assistance!!!
Both Presidents Bush and Clinton just got off the TV making tons of promises as the mayor cries out for aid and says people are planning to march for the Superdome in search of help!
Standing in the gap between platitudes and pain of the people!
Pray on' yall, pray on!
---Nicole!
Pressing Media and Politicians To Do All They Can
Let's keep the pressure on Homeland Security to make sure that aid is not suspended, but is getting to those in need. These aren't the ones that have been published, but for the Black and poor, we have to be ever vigilant that aid can reach folk as our government continues to withhold aid instead choosing to focus on "law and order".
Homeland Security Information
202-456-1111---Comments Line
202-456-1414---Switchboard
email address: comments@whitehouse.gov
I've also written other black politicians to ask them to remain vigilant about these isues including Barak Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus (202-226-9776)
Let's keep pressing for those who have no way to communicate for themselves, defend themselves, even feed or help themselves today.
---Nicole!
Homeland Security Information
202-456-1111---Comments Line
202-456-1414---Switchboard
email address: comments@whitehouse.gov
I've also written other black politicians to ask them to remain vigilant about these isues including Barak Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus (202-226-9776)
Let's keep pressing for those who have no way to communicate for themselves, defend themselves, even feed or help themselves today.
---Nicole!
Lessons Learned from Katrina: The Pain of Procrastination
One of the Lessons: I Never Got To Visit 8/31/05 9:22 P.M.
Laying here tonight, television off, air conditioning churning, trying to give myself a break from some of the Gulf images, I just got this tight wincing feeling in my stomach. And I finally realized what it was about. I never got to visit New Orleans.
New Orleans is a place that I have been longing to visit for the last several years. Professional conferences have been held there. I’ve looked at jobs there. I’d even gotten on their tourism bureaus mailing list and had been fantasizing about visiting one sultry holiday with my sweetie. All I could ever imagine was the food, the jazz, the history of the place. And one of the things that I believe is happening to me as I get older is that my fascination is growing for the things of my parents, the places and haunts of their memories, their childhood, their coming of age in the South. So, this week, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, when my mother speaks of the Biloxi she knew or my aunt recalls just how many times she’d been in and out of New-awlins, it was hard to hold back the tears.
I am a daughter of that netherland, that middling space between North and South...between the city and the country...between mama’s house and nana’s house...the Chicago-New-Awlins-Jackson, Miss connection was just in the blood. We lived our lives in Chicago, but Mississippi was always present in their speech and stories and memories or plans for the next visit to see Unka’ John. The thing that I feel more plainly now than ever is how important, how central, how defining the South was for that wave of young educated blacks who came north in the late 1950s/early 1960s. In Chicago, Mississippi or Alabama or Louisiana and at time Arkansas and Texas were always in our ears, on our plates, just under the surface of city living.
So, in all the emotions that will continue to come up over these next days and weeks and months, I will mourn—there is indeed so much to mourn: the massive loss of life, the displacement, the uncertainty for all of us as this thing unfolds, the grim events yet to unfold...as the water recedes and reveals what Katrina really cost us as bodies and momentos and shards of lives collect in mounds on the sides of roads.
But most of all, I will mourn the things I took for granted. I spent my time visiting intriguing locales in Africa and Europe and the Middle East. In my procrastination, I boasted smuggly, even snidely, that "there weren’t many places of interest in the US." I somehow kept putting it off and saying, "oh, I’ll get there" or "I’ll go there next time". Never did I imagine that a storm would take New Orleans from us so quickly, so dramatically, so completely.
Is it possible to mourn a friend you’ve never met? If so, I do indeed mourn you for a while, New Orleans, you were the stuff of legends... mm—mm----mm.
Laying here tonight, television off, air conditioning churning, trying to give myself a break from some of the Gulf images, I just got this tight wincing feeling in my stomach. And I finally realized what it was about. I never got to visit New Orleans.
New Orleans is a place that I have been longing to visit for the last several years. Professional conferences have been held there. I’ve looked at jobs there. I’d even gotten on their tourism bureaus mailing list and had been fantasizing about visiting one sultry holiday with my sweetie. All I could ever imagine was the food, the jazz, the history of the place. And one of the things that I believe is happening to me as I get older is that my fascination is growing for the things of my parents, the places and haunts of their memories, their childhood, their coming of age in the South. So, this week, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, when my mother speaks of the Biloxi she knew or my aunt recalls just how many times she’d been in and out of New-awlins, it was hard to hold back the tears.
I am a daughter of that netherland, that middling space between North and South...between the city and the country...between mama’s house and nana’s house...the Chicago-New-Awlins-Jackson, Miss connection was just in the blood. We lived our lives in Chicago, but Mississippi was always present in their speech and stories and memories or plans for the next visit to see Unka’ John. The thing that I feel more plainly now than ever is how important, how central, how defining the South was for that wave of young educated blacks who came north in the late 1950s/early 1960s. In Chicago, Mississippi or Alabama or Louisiana and at time Arkansas and Texas were always in our ears, on our plates, just under the surface of city living.
So, in all the emotions that will continue to come up over these next days and weeks and months, I will mourn—there is indeed so much to mourn: the massive loss of life, the displacement, the uncertainty for all of us as this thing unfolds, the grim events yet to unfold...as the water recedes and reveals what Katrina really cost us as bodies and momentos and shards of lives collect in mounds on the sides of roads.
But most of all, I will mourn the things I took for granted. I spent my time visiting intriguing locales in Africa and Europe and the Middle East. In my procrastination, I boasted smuggly, even snidely, that "there weren’t many places of interest in the US." I somehow kept putting it off and saying, "oh, I’ll get there" or "I’ll go there next time". Never did I imagine that a storm would take New Orleans from us so quickly, so dramatically, so completely.
Is it possible to mourn a friend you’ve never met? If so, I do indeed mourn you for a while, New Orleans, you were the stuff of legends... mm—mm----mm.
US Military Bold In Iraq, But Scared in the Big Easy
After hearing that rescue efforts had been suspended because of concerns of the safety of the rescuers, I was compelled to offer these observations to CNN via email.
Dear CNN Journalists:
I have been following your coverage from the beginning of this tragedy. Now, this morning, you announce that rescue efforts have been suspended.
HOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW CAN THIS BE? As this story continues to devolve, I really hope that race and class are not impairing the government's ability to help these people.
Why is it that we have NO PROBLEM AT ALL ENTERING AND REMAINING IN A VERY DANGEROUS VOLATILE IRAQ, WHERE FOLK ARE INDEED ARMED AND DEFENDING THEMSELVES.
However, in this instance, the government, police and national guard are scared on the streets of New Orleans?????????
Why can't they at least leaflet the area to give folks some sense of what is happening and what the evacuation plans are? These are people who are lacking everything...but especially INFORMATION that may help allay fears and calm things. I understand that people are taking advantage of this situation via "looting" and such, but can food and water not reach folks gathered at central locations where there is some military presence.
Again, I am utterly, utterly disappointed by the response and the lack of creativity being exercised to provided food aid, med aid and assistance to sick, struggling, dying New Orleaneans who seem to be overwhelmingly black, young, poor, old and female---scared and angry---in many instances.
In the mean time, I will begin to contact other of my colleagues to begin discussing the implications of some of these issues on the lives of the poor and black who seem to be the ones suffering most profoundly in this situation.
Eyes open and thinking critically about this nightmare,
Nicole Anderson, Professor of History and Media9/1/05 9:41 AM
Dear CNN Journalists:
I have been following your coverage from the beginning of this tragedy. Now, this morning, you announce that rescue efforts have been suspended.
HOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW CAN THIS BE? As this story continues to devolve, I really hope that race and class are not impairing the government's ability to help these people.
Why is it that we have NO PROBLEM AT ALL ENTERING AND REMAINING IN A VERY DANGEROUS VOLATILE IRAQ, WHERE FOLK ARE INDEED ARMED AND DEFENDING THEMSELVES.
However, in this instance, the government, police and national guard are scared on the streets of New Orleans?????????
Why can't they at least leaflet the area to give folks some sense of what is happening and what the evacuation plans are? These are people who are lacking everything...but especially INFORMATION that may help allay fears and calm things. I understand that people are taking advantage of this situation via "looting" and such, but can food and water not reach folks gathered at central locations where there is some military presence.
Again, I am utterly, utterly disappointed by the response and the lack of creativity being exercised to provided food aid, med aid and assistance to sick, struggling, dying New Orleaneans who seem to be overwhelmingly black, young, poor, old and female---scared and angry---in many instances.
In the mean time, I will begin to contact other of my colleagues to begin discussing the implications of some of these issues on the lives of the poor and black who seem to be the ones suffering most profoundly in this situation.
Eyes open and thinking critically about this nightmare,
Nicole Anderson, Professor of History and Media9/1/05 9:41 AM
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Impact of Katrina on the Southern Poor
Prayer and action for hurricane victimsby Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine 8/31/05
During hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters, those who have the least to lose are often those who lose the most. Why?
First, the dwellings in which poor people live are not as sturdy, stable, or safe as others. "Shotgun" shacks, mobile homes, and poorly constructed apartment buildings don't do well in hurricane-force winds and tidal surges.
Second, the places where poor people live are also the most vulnerable. The rich often live at the tops of hills, the poor in the valleys and plains that are the first to flood. The living conditions in these neighborhoods are also usually the most dense and overcrowded.
Third, it is much harder for the poor to evacuate. They don't own cars, can't afford to rent them, and often can't even afford a tank of gas - especially at today's prices. They can't afford an airplane, train, or even bus ticket. And, as one low-income person told a New Orleans reporter, they have no place to go. People in poverty can't afford motel or hotel rooms, and often don't have friends or family in other places with space to spare. In New Orleans, there were many people who desperately wanted to leave but couldn't.
Fourth, low-income people are the least likely to have insurance on their homes and belongings, and the least likely to have health insurance. If jobs are lost because of natural disasters, theirs are the first to go. Poverty makes long-term recovery after a disaster more difficult - the communities that are the weakest to begin with usually recover the slowest. The lack of a living family income for most people in those communities leaves no reserve for emergencies.
New Orleans has a poverty rate of 28% - more than twice the national rate. Life is always hard for poor people - living on the edge is insecure and full of risk. Natural disasters make it worse. Yet even in normal times, poverty is hidden and not reported by the media. In times of disaster, there continues to be little coverage of the excessive impact on the poor. Devastated luxury homes and hotels, drifting yachts and battered casinos make far more compelling photographs.
The final irony of New Orleans is that the people who normally fill the Louisiana Superdome are those who can afford the high cost of tickets, parking, and concessions. Now its inhabitants are the poor, especially children, the elderly and the sick - those with nowhere else to go. Those with money are nowhere to be seen.
As the Gulf Coast now faces the long and difficult task of recovery, what can we do?
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared Wednesday a day of prayer: "As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in need, as we comfort those in pain and as we begin the long task of rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort." She urged residents in her state to ask "that God give us all the physical and spiritual strength to work through this crisis and rebuild."
+ Click here to send this message to friends and family and encourage them to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina with their prayers and donations
If you wish to make a contribution to help with disaster relief, contact one of the following agencies recommended by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) or the relief organization of your choice.
+ Click here for more information on how to help
During hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters, those who have the least to lose are often those who lose the most. Why?
First, the dwellings in which poor people live are not as sturdy, stable, or safe as others. "Shotgun" shacks, mobile homes, and poorly constructed apartment buildings don't do well in hurricane-force winds and tidal surges.
Second, the places where poor people live are also the most vulnerable. The rich often live at the tops of hills, the poor in the valleys and plains that are the first to flood. The living conditions in these neighborhoods are also usually the most dense and overcrowded.
Third, it is much harder for the poor to evacuate. They don't own cars, can't afford to rent them, and often can't even afford a tank of gas - especially at today's prices. They can't afford an airplane, train, or even bus ticket. And, as one low-income person told a New Orleans reporter, they have no place to go. People in poverty can't afford motel or hotel rooms, and often don't have friends or family in other places with space to spare. In New Orleans, there were many people who desperately wanted to leave but couldn't.
Fourth, low-income people are the least likely to have insurance on their homes and belongings, and the least likely to have health insurance. If jobs are lost because of natural disasters, theirs are the first to go. Poverty makes long-term recovery after a disaster more difficult - the communities that are the weakest to begin with usually recover the slowest. The lack of a living family income for most people in those communities leaves no reserve for emergencies.
New Orleans has a poverty rate of 28% - more than twice the national rate. Life is always hard for poor people - living on the edge is insecure and full of risk. Natural disasters make it worse. Yet even in normal times, poverty is hidden and not reported by the media. In times of disaster, there continues to be little coverage of the excessive impact on the poor. Devastated luxury homes and hotels, drifting yachts and battered casinos make far more compelling photographs.
The final irony of New Orleans is that the people who normally fill the Louisiana Superdome are those who can afford the high cost of tickets, parking, and concessions. Now its inhabitants are the poor, especially children, the elderly and the sick - those with nowhere else to go. Those with money are nowhere to be seen.
As the Gulf Coast now faces the long and difficult task of recovery, what can we do?
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared Wednesday a day of prayer: "As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in need, as we comfort those in pain and as we begin the long task of rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort." She urged residents in her state to ask "that God give us all the physical and spiritual strength to work through this crisis and rebuild."
+ Click here to send this message to friends and family and encourage them to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina with their prayers and donations
If you wish to make a contribution to help with disaster relief, contact one of the following agencies recommended by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) or the relief organization of your choice.
+ Click here for more information on how to help
Grappling with Katrina: Two Days Later
Diary of a Young Black Professor
8/31/05 12:39 P.M.(Los Angeles)
Taking a moment this afternoon to clear my head...as if that’s even possible this week. Three days ago, Hurricane Katrina barrelled into Mississippi, Lousiana, Alabama and Florida. And the results of the storm are indeed unimagineable. I am writing from Los Angeles, but my mind and heart are with those miles away—with family in Illinois who are trying to contact family and friends in Mississippi. And what has been most gripping for me:
Roofs of houses barely peeking out from standing water
Buildings, cars, debris, streetlights, bridges, highways broken and crumbeled like pop-cicle sticks and aluminum cans.
The eerie sight of Mississippi neighborhoods with no signs of life, no movement.
Yet contrast with New Orleans rooftops, streets, sewage-steeped waters, stores and Superdome filled and filled with Blackness...and I don’t mean Black dirt or sewage...yeah that’s there...but I mean filled to the brim with BLACK LIVES.
If i’m struck by another thing, I am struck by Black young and old sitting atop roofs, hammering out neighbors, holding on to emergency lifts and even running out of local stores with pampers, snicker bars and whatever else they could grab as they headed for higher ground.
I am struck, astonished, just dumbfounded by how Black the New Orleans crisis is/And how white the Mississippi tragedy is as the news recounts events occurring in each place...and ironically it’s the most I’ve seen Black folk on TV in years...
Every individual lifted, laying across overpasses, pushing relatives in large yellow dumpters is ALIVE...despite the odds, despite the insane smell, stench, lack of resources, and few possibilities for people to be fed, helped, treated for injuries, receive medicines... PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE.
I am writing because I don’t know what else to do, really. I’ve prayed and wondered and listened and watched and cried...cried so much yesterday that it took time for sleep to overcome the pain and pounding in my head from all those tears and worrying. And now I write because it is the only things that soothes me most days, but especially now.
Just writing to get my fears and concerns down for the sake of communicating to others what the moment looked like and felt like from a sister very very far away.
I write for those without power in their limbs or in their homes. I write for those without light, without food, without hope, without a way to communicate....and for those who are not quite clear as to how they will survive this.
WE SEE YOU BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND MOTHERS AND PAW-PAWS AND BABIES. WE SEE YOU ON ROOFTOPS. WE SEE YOU WADING IN SHOULDER HIGH WATER. WE SEE YOU TAKING WHAT YOU NEED TO SURVIVE THE UNSURVIVABLE.
KNOW THAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US IS THAT WE DO HAVE HOMES AND WARMTH AND FOOD AND SOME SENSE OF SECURITY TODAY, BUT WE FEEL SO HELPLESS. WE ACHE FOR YOU AND EVEN AS WE WRITE CHECKS TO GET AID TO YOU WE JUST WANT TO DO MORE.
I believe that many of us of all hues, shapes, wish we could do something more, ANYTHING more to help you all get through this. And as the extent of the damage mounts, I have not doubt that we will all be called to do our part over the months and years to come.
But don’t we fear as well, yall. Yeah, we are fearful. As the government and states and military plot and plan, fear does grip our hearts in those small weak pockets of fear and distrust and memory that are so much a part of the Black American experience.
We fear that as long as the New Orleans story has a black face, we fear that this is why help is slow to come. We fear that scenes of young Black looters will harden the hearts of those who may want to help, but end up saying "look at those niggas..." without remembering that you now have absolutely nothing.
We fear that your portion of the recovery assistance will be smaller than others who have fair skin and a history of priveledge in the South. We fear a government that knows how to wage wars AGAINST brown-skinned folk globally may not wage a war of survival FOR Black New Orleneans.
I write because white commentators are the ones who are narrating the story on the news, but they won’t say the things I need to hear.
Spiritually, I am also transformed. How do we make sense of such tragedy and loss and struggle in the United States? On some level, one of the things this hurricane has done is called us home. We, Americans, are now trying to come to terms with a devastating series of events still unfolding for which we all will pay a price. The Old South is a land steeped in blood and history. It is now steeped in unfathomable amounts of water and sewage and tears.
Mama always says that as a nation we won’t have peace HERE as long as we do not concern ourselves with peace and injustice in other parts of the world. I believe she is indeed on to something as I don’t discount her years of experience and her lifetime on looking at how America does its business.
What I’ll say is that it is a bit ironic...maddening...excruciating that in states where Blacks had to fight so long and hard to vote and be counted in this last elections (2000 & 2004), it will be interesting to see how Florida and Texas in particular deal with Katrina’s black refugees...Dear, Lord, have mercy on us!
I am a woman of faith who does indeed believe that God is reminding America once again that HE IS STILL GOD. It also seems to be a reminder that until we learn how to REALLY live together and work for equity and fairness and uplift for ALL, not just for the wealthy or priveledged, we will ALL suffer such storms as these together.
There is a reason why so many Blacks stayed and whites fled. There are reasons why some had the means to leave and other had to stay and weather the storm and ultimately gave their lives to it.
Jack Fine, and noted musician in New Orleans spoke on CNN yesterday about the waste, the loss, the impact on the cultural and artistic community of New Orleans sharing his reflections with Paula Zahn as he himself was stranded in a gated community in an exclusive part of New Orleans. And he makes the point that so many make in thinking about so many of our urban centers. His concern was for the culture and the arts and where artists would play their music.
And it just seems to me that as long as the focus is on preservation of infrastructure/buildings/things over the uplift of people, we remain clueless about what Katrina has tried to teach us. If nothing else, all of us now have a better sense of what it must feel like to live in Baghdad, Mosul Takrit, and Darfur each and every day.
Ok, yall, gotta go back to prepping for classes...wrapping up the first installment of what promises to the beginning of a very long story.
Keep praying, do/give what you can and take good care!
—Nicole!
8/31/05 12:39 P.M.(Los Angeles)
Taking a moment this afternoon to clear my head...as if that’s even possible this week. Three days ago, Hurricane Katrina barrelled into Mississippi, Lousiana, Alabama and Florida. And the results of the storm are indeed unimagineable. I am writing from Los Angeles, but my mind and heart are with those miles away—with family in Illinois who are trying to contact family and friends in Mississippi. And what has been most gripping for me:
Roofs of houses barely peeking out from standing water
Buildings, cars, debris, streetlights, bridges, highways broken and crumbeled like pop-cicle sticks and aluminum cans.
The eerie sight of Mississippi neighborhoods with no signs of life, no movement.
Yet contrast with New Orleans rooftops, streets, sewage-steeped waters, stores and Superdome filled and filled with Blackness...and I don’t mean Black dirt or sewage...yeah that’s there...but I mean filled to the brim with BLACK LIVES.
If i’m struck by another thing, I am struck by Black young and old sitting atop roofs, hammering out neighbors, holding on to emergency lifts and even running out of local stores with pampers, snicker bars and whatever else they could grab as they headed for higher ground.
I am struck, astonished, just dumbfounded by how Black the New Orleans crisis is/And how white the Mississippi tragedy is as the news recounts events occurring in each place...and ironically it’s the most I’ve seen Black folk on TV in years...
Every individual lifted, laying across overpasses, pushing relatives in large yellow dumpters is ALIVE...despite the odds, despite the insane smell, stench, lack of resources, and few possibilities for people to be fed, helped, treated for injuries, receive medicines... PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE.
I am writing because I don’t know what else to do, really. I’ve prayed and wondered and listened and watched and cried...cried so much yesterday that it took time for sleep to overcome the pain and pounding in my head from all those tears and worrying. And now I write because it is the only things that soothes me most days, but especially now.
Just writing to get my fears and concerns down for the sake of communicating to others what the moment looked like and felt like from a sister very very far away.
I write for those without power in their limbs or in their homes. I write for those without light, without food, without hope, without a way to communicate....and for those who are not quite clear as to how they will survive this.
WE SEE YOU BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND MOTHERS AND PAW-PAWS AND BABIES. WE SEE YOU ON ROOFTOPS. WE SEE YOU WADING IN SHOULDER HIGH WATER. WE SEE YOU TAKING WHAT YOU NEED TO SURVIVE THE UNSURVIVABLE.
KNOW THAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US IS THAT WE DO HAVE HOMES AND WARMTH AND FOOD AND SOME SENSE OF SECURITY TODAY, BUT WE FEEL SO HELPLESS. WE ACHE FOR YOU AND EVEN AS WE WRITE CHECKS TO GET AID TO YOU WE JUST WANT TO DO MORE.
I believe that many of us of all hues, shapes, wish we could do something more, ANYTHING more to help you all get through this. And as the extent of the damage mounts, I have not doubt that we will all be called to do our part over the months and years to come.
But don’t we fear as well, yall. Yeah, we are fearful. As the government and states and military plot and plan, fear does grip our hearts in those small weak pockets of fear and distrust and memory that are so much a part of the Black American experience.
We fear that as long as the New Orleans story has a black face, we fear that this is why help is slow to come. We fear that scenes of young Black looters will harden the hearts of those who may want to help, but end up saying "look at those niggas..." without remembering that you now have absolutely nothing.
We fear that your portion of the recovery assistance will be smaller than others who have fair skin and a history of priveledge in the South. We fear a government that knows how to wage wars AGAINST brown-skinned folk globally may not wage a war of survival FOR Black New Orleneans.
I write because white commentators are the ones who are narrating the story on the news, but they won’t say the things I need to hear.
Spiritually, I am also transformed. How do we make sense of such tragedy and loss and struggle in the United States? On some level, one of the things this hurricane has done is called us home. We, Americans, are now trying to come to terms with a devastating series of events still unfolding for which we all will pay a price. The Old South is a land steeped in blood and history. It is now steeped in unfathomable amounts of water and sewage and tears.
Mama always says that as a nation we won’t have peace HERE as long as we do not concern ourselves with peace and injustice in other parts of the world. I believe she is indeed on to something as I don’t discount her years of experience and her lifetime on looking at how America does its business.
What I’ll say is that it is a bit ironic...maddening...excruciating that in states where Blacks had to fight so long and hard to vote and be counted in this last elections (2000 & 2004), it will be interesting to see how Florida and Texas in particular deal with Katrina’s black refugees...Dear, Lord, have mercy on us!
I am a woman of faith who does indeed believe that God is reminding America once again that HE IS STILL GOD. It also seems to be a reminder that until we learn how to REALLY live together and work for equity and fairness and uplift for ALL, not just for the wealthy or priveledged, we will ALL suffer such storms as these together.
There is a reason why so many Blacks stayed and whites fled. There are reasons why some had the means to leave and other had to stay and weather the storm and ultimately gave their lives to it.
Jack Fine, and noted musician in New Orleans spoke on CNN yesterday about the waste, the loss, the impact on the cultural and artistic community of New Orleans sharing his reflections with Paula Zahn as he himself was stranded in a gated community in an exclusive part of New Orleans. And he makes the point that so many make in thinking about so many of our urban centers. His concern was for the culture and the arts and where artists would play their music.
And it just seems to me that as long as the focus is on preservation of infrastructure/buildings/things over the uplift of people, we remain clueless about what Katrina has tried to teach us. If nothing else, all of us now have a better sense of what it must feel like to live in Baghdad, Mosul Takrit, and Darfur each and every day.
Ok, yall, gotta go back to prepping for classes...wrapping up the first installment of what promises to the beginning of a very long story.
Keep praying, do/give what you can and take good care!
—Nicole!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Shout Outs From the Front Steps of the Academy
Morning all!
Greetings from Nicole Anderson. Hoping this message finds you well this sunny Wednesday morning.
Well, i've finally done it.
I just sat here this morning and went on and just did the thing: just went on created a space to reflect on what it means to be young, Black, female and to have been crazy enough, fool enough, gutsy enough and blessed enough to pursue a life in academia.
Now, let me just say at the outset. This may indeed be a wild ride...as this promises to be a wild year in the life of ya' girl...so just don't say that I didn't warn you.
Anyway, as we press forward together I be posting and reflecting on a wide range of topics and issues as you all realize that SO MANY THINGS affect me profoundly... so damn near any topic is open for discussion.
However, there are a few issues that are close my heart and will probably consume the bulk of my reflections:
---Black Life Wherever It's Being Lived (African Americans/Africa/Caribbean and Blacks in assorted diasporas across the globe)
---Black Women
---Hip Hop Matters
---Religion
---Film, TV and Media
---Black Thought/Thinking Black
---Conflict/Mediation
---Creative Living
---Visions and Visionaries
Or I may just post a question to discuss issues or get some help in thinking an issue through.
So, check back and i'll be posting a few things that I have written of late for you to reflect on soon!
Looking foward to hanging out wit'cha!
Peace and blessings in the mean time!
---Nicole
Greetings from Nicole Anderson. Hoping this message finds you well this sunny Wednesday morning.
Well, i've finally done it.
I just sat here this morning and went on and just did the thing: just went on created a space to reflect on what it means to be young, Black, female and to have been crazy enough, fool enough, gutsy enough and blessed enough to pursue a life in academia.
Now, let me just say at the outset. This may indeed be a wild ride...as this promises to be a wild year in the life of ya' girl...so just don't say that I didn't warn you.
Anyway, as we press forward together I be posting and reflecting on a wide range of topics and issues as you all realize that SO MANY THINGS affect me profoundly... so damn near any topic is open for discussion.
However, there are a few issues that are close my heart and will probably consume the bulk of my reflections:
---Black Life Wherever It's Being Lived (African Americans/Africa/Caribbean and Blacks in assorted diasporas across the globe)
---Black Women
---Hip Hop Matters
---Religion
---Film, TV and Media
---Black Thought/Thinking Black
---Conflict/Mediation
---Creative Living
---Visions and Visionaries
Or I may just post a question to discuss issues or get some help in thinking an issue through.
So, check back and i'll be posting a few things that I have written of late for you to reflect on soon!
Looking foward to hanging out wit'cha!
Peace and blessings in the mean time!
---Nicole
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