I know I’m late on this.. but this bit is funny as hell.. Here’s a run down on all the Bad Boy artists and how Diddy has impacted their careers.. Its funny, sobering and alot of it makes sense to me..
Puffy is Poison
Killer Mike Speaks on Black Economic Empowerment & being for the Underdog
March 23, 2010 By
Killer Mike aka Mike Biggums is always outspoken and on point. He rolled through this event I was spinning at during SxSW and talked to us about economic empowerment and why we must keep our dollars circulating in the hood. He also talked about the importance of looking out for those who are less fortunate.. Muike noted that he is always for the underdog and always carries the spirit of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad within him. Mike is a real stand up cat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBIGesGMl9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKh5p8_XFFc
Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
Kevin Powell: An Open Letter to Black America
March 23, 2010 By
OPEN LETTER TO BLACK AMERICA
By Kevin Powell
DEAR BLACK AMERICA:
This 42nd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an opportune moment to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go. It calls us to reconsider the words Dr. King gave us at the end of his life, when he said that we need “a radical revolution of values.” Certainly, we have much to be proud of. There is the first Black president. There are more Black elected officials, more Blacks in corporate America, the media, and in very real power positions, like Oprah Winfrey, Richard Parsons, Donna Brazile, and Jay-Z.
But, if we are to be brutally honest with ourselves, we’ve also got to acknowledge that things have not been right for some time. The civil rights era concept that our leaders would deliver us into the promised land has devolved into the idea that all we need to do is show up and follow. We have lost the sense of individual responsibility toward collective change.
Think back to the days immediately after slavery, when it was clear that Blacks wanted two things: education and land. In spite of vicious White terrorism, we plodded forward. There was hope, and a vocabulary of purpose. These values emboldened us during the Civil Rights Movement. And they were re-born during the 2008 presidential campaign. Yet, unlike before, many of us have failed to embrace the miraculous kind of self and community transformation that led us to walk, literally, into the teeth of barking dogs, water hoses, and police brutality, mainly because we refused to let anyone turn us around.
Why, politically, did we come out in record numbers for Barack Obama, then instantly return to apathy? Why do we remain suspended in a state of arrested development, believing that a dynamic leader will be our salvation? A civil rights veteran said it best to me many years ago: “We were just happy to get in the door. We never really had a plan beyond that.” So we have to be honest and admit that Black leadership in America, except a few shining examples such as The Brotherhood/Sister Sol in New York City or John Hope Bryant’s Operation Hope, has been too often stuck in yesterday. It has been unable to produce an agenda for Black America that will transform our communities in a holistic way. So we’ve spent 40 years like the Israelites, wandering the wilderness, harboring the misguided expectations that people like Barack, or Oprah, or anyone Black and famous will free us. It simply isn’t going to happen.
And while we’ve been waiting, praying, and producing the same predictable conferences, summits, studies, and reports again and again, Black America is on the brink of catastrophe. We need to remind ourselves that Hurricane Katrina and Haiti’s earthquake only magnify the slow forms of devastation happening each day. They include HIV and AIDS, poverty, Black self-hatred and Black-on-Black violence, the huge class divide, mediocre school systems, and the steady march of our youth into jails and cemeteries. We should stop saying this is a post-racial America because of President Obama. It is not. Despite Barack and Michelle we continue to be bombarded with destructive images of Black people in the mass media. As I travel the country speaking at universities and working for social justice, I note that our prisons are packed with black and brown bodies, and every American ghetto looks exactly the same: a lack of resources, services, and jobs, failing public schools, and limited access to the American dream.
That said, let us no longer wait on a savior to come. Do we want to continue wandering or do we want to create our future here and now? We have the power to transform our communities by enacting those “radical revolution of values.” So I propose six things we must do immediately: Create a Spiritual Foundation; Move Toward Mental Wellness; Take Care of Our Physical Health; Become Politically Active; Understand the Power of Our Culture; and Start a Plan for Economic Empowerment.
Our spiritual foundation must be rooted in God or something greater than us, and a love for self and for all Black folks, unconditionally. It must grow out of our beliefs and our willingness to act selflessly. And it must begin with mental wellness because we cannot stand up for our convictions, our faith, or ourselves if our self-esteem is not in tact. Susan L. Taylor put it best when it comes to our mental health, Black America: healing is the new activism. Be it the increase in domestic violence, homicides and suicides, or the way so many of us say “I can’t” it is clear to me that since the civil rights period our individual and collective psyches have been damaged. But we can heal by seeking counseling and therapy, forming or joining positive support groups, and courageously ridding ourselves of toxic people, even if they are longtime friends, lovers, or kinfolk.
Physically, we can no longer accept that we are pre-destined for diabetes, high-blood pressure, and other ailments. Yes, like all Americans, we should have access to healthcare. But we should also change our diets and exercise regularly. Recently, my mother was hospitalized. After years of sitting on the sofa watching TV and indulging in terrible eating habits, that was her wake-up call. Change your diet and live. Don’t change and die a painful and preventable death, as many of our relatives have.
Taking charge of our health and wellness also means changing the way we discuss our realities in America. Let us stop bemoaning our “crises” and start strategizing to meet our “challenges.” Let us cease spreading reports that compare us unfavorably to our White sisters and brothers. Likewise, our culture, the way we talk, eat, sing, pray, dance, laugh, and cry must become more balanced so that it no longer reflects solely what is wrong with us, but also projects a vision of how great we can become, or are.
Financially, we’ve got to disconnect our self-esteem from our clothes and cars and instead focus on building true wealth. If my illiterate late grandparents could own land in South Carolina, by saving coins in their day, then we can, too. We can use our resources to empower ourselves, to help our ’hoods, and to support our people. This means doing more than donating to charity. It means a sincere and consistent giving back in terms of time, energy, and presence.
Black America, we’ve been surviving for 400 years in this nation. The question for the twenty-first century is this: Do we want to just survive, or do we want to win? The “radical” answers, if we search hard enough, are right there in our own hands.
Fear of a Brown Planet-Rush Limbaugh Resurrects the Brown Immigrant Boogie-man
March 23, 2010 By
Fear of a Brown Planet…
Now that healthcare is passed the next fault-line in the political landscape is Immigration.. Not immigration which has suddenly allowed thousands of people to some how come over from Russia and populate places like Brighton Beach, Brooklyn… Not immigration from places like former Yugoslavia. We’re talking about immigration from Mexico and other places throughout Latin America resulting in people all being placed under the umbrella of Mexican and along with that every conceivable negative stereotype.
There already is a lot of overt racism that shows up in the form of check points hundreds of miles away from any border. It shows up in the form of 287 G a federally funded program that basically deputizes local law enforcement and makes them become ICE agents. The end result is many who live within immigrant communities are not willing to take any chances and thus don’t call the police under any circumstances. This of course results in those communities being over run by unsavory elements who prey upon that fear of the police.
This gets compounded by laws set up in places like Arizona where someone transporting or helping someone who is undocumented can lead to jail time. This of course has resulted in an across the board fear and apprehension of dealing with anyone who is Brown. It shows up in the continuation of us building immigrant detention centers which house entire families and can temporary hold people if they are suspected of being here ‘illegally’ or even have parts of their paper work filed wrong.
Rodstarz
For example, it was just three weeks ago that Rodstarz and his brother G1 of the group Rebel Diaz were detained at customs in Houston as they returned home from Chile. There was something wrong with Rod’s paper work in terms of how the computer listed him. They had him down as a felon, which is wasn’t and isn’t and he wound up staying in customs for 10 hrs. The next step was gonna be a trip and extended stay at a nearby detention camp while INS hade up to two weeks to investigate. When everything was finally straightened out, Rod was told he needs to carry around papers stating his court appearances from 4 years ago were resolved. We have scores of stories like this where Brown citizens in this country are subjected to daily humiliations.
The latest tirade against Brown folks comes from Rush Limbaugh the man who said he would leave the country for a the Brown land of Costa Rica should Healthcare reform pass. he hasn’t left yet and instead has decided to dig his heels into Brown folks citing that we should all fear Amnesty being granted to people who have crossed the border.
My homegirl professor Tina Wright has been speaking on the push by righht wing zealots to push this country into racial conflict. She hip me to the Rush tirade.. Here’s whats she had to say.
Tina Bell Wright Here is part of the transcript from Limbaugh’s latest hate speech today (see my previous post re: call for Obama assasination)…and hearing it in audio is even more inciteful…he and Beck are purposely fueling white fear…”From Bacon to Obama” will be the title of my
next essay…i have been saying for the longest time that folks are not
really digging deep enough into the real war that is erupting…the fire THIS time. Yes, fascists corporatists run our country, but be clear on
this…PE said it best: it takes a nation of millions to hold us back (not …just
the 1% elite) and that war started before this country ever had its
first president with Bacon’s rebellion, but it just might end with the
Obama presidency….white supremacy fighting to keep power by any means necessary
for fear of the “browning of America” is the latest blacklash …a direct result of Obama’s election. We either learn lessons of history….or we continue to repeat them.
I agree with Tina assesment, however, where I see fault lines brewing is along the the issue of class with Black and Brown conflict along those lines being an explosive ingredient… Meaning I hear some absolute ignorant stuff being spewed and than translated into action by some well to do folks both Black and Brown about ‘Immigrants’.. I see such things increasing and people like Rush granting platforms to those who say and do things that further a divide. What’s most interesting in Rush Limbaugh’s tirade is his use of the words ‘divide and conquer’ to describe what President Obama wants to do around the issue of immigration. He’s accussing this issue of being one that seperates ‘good brown people from the rest of America..
Something to ponder
-Davey D-
Rush Limbaugh: Obama’s Next Big Push-Amnesty
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_032210/content/01125108.guest.html
RUSH: Now, what’s next, ladies and gentlemen? I told you it’s going to hit you between the eyes. While you weren’t looking, and it didn’t get a whole lot of coverage yesterday: “Tens of thousands of immigrants and activists rallied in Washington, calling for legislation this year to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and seeking to pressure President Obama to keep working on the contentious issue once the health care debate is behind him. … The rally brought the return to major street action by immigration activists, who turned out hundreds of thousands of protesters in marches and rallies in 2006.” Their message to Obama: We gave you time on health care, now we want amnesty. But they don’t have to lobby President Obama for this, and they don’t have to protest for it.
They don’t have to even ask for it. The next big push, almost immediately — and they will use whatever unconstitutional measure they have to to get it done — will be amnesty. And I want to predict to you how Obama is going to sell this. Mr. Snerdley, would you suspend your call screening for just a moment because I need you to hear this. Whoever you’re speaking to, put ’em on hold. I want you to hear this, ’cause you’re going to get phone calls about it. The next big push — we’re not even going to breathe a sigh of relief before it happens, these people are relentless — the next big push will be amnesty for as many millions of illegal immigrants who are here. Obama is going to need their votes in 2012. The Democrats are going to need their votes at every election from this day forward, if down the road we have elections, and I’m not joking. The Constitution has just been ripped to shreds. So why is anything in it safe?
I want you to hear how Obama’s going to sell this. I want you to hear how Obama’s going to run around the country at these rallies, here’s what he’s going to say: (imitating Obama) “There are some people who don’t like your skin color, who don’t think you should be American.” He has come to divide. He has come to conquer. Is there anybody who now doubts what I meant when I said, “I hope he fails”? He has failed. He has succeeded. The happiness that these people are feeling should sicken every one of us because the happiness they’re feeling is the happiness derived from the destruction of America as founded. There are people in responsible positions of power in our government today who have deep resentment for this country, who have been raised, who have been educated to believe that this country is immoral and unjust, that we have stolen the resources of the rest of the world and used them for our own greed, that our prosperity has resulted from the real people who make things work being stolen from them. We have imperialistically sent our military around the world and murdered innocent people.
They don’t view this country as having liberated millions of people to freedom. They look at this country as one big criminal act, one big civil rights, human rights violation. Don’t doubt me. That is how Obama has been raised to look at this country, and he believes it, and he’s put a lot of people in unaccountable positions in his administration who have the same belief, and you know who some of them are. Van Jones, admitted communists. These are no longer baseless allegations or charges designed to get people’s attention. This is the truth that we face. The Democrat Party has been co-opted and is now led by a far leftist faction who admire and envy people like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Have you ever wondered why so many Democrats and so many stupid, idiotic celebrities have an affinity and love for Castro, despite what’s happened to his country, despite what he’s done to it? They envy his power. They think they now have that power.
So the next thing that’s going to happen is a major push for immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform. It will be called amnesty. Now, I am told that Lindsey Grahamnesty has now said he’s rethinking supporting this after he’s seen the tactics used to get health care. Fine and dandy. But none of this should have been a mystery to anybody. None of the evidence should have been missed. Who our opponents are has been widely available if somebody just wanted to believe it. Gone are the days of traditional Republicans and Democrats sharing power. There’s no sharing power. Barack Obama has come to divide, and he has come to conquer. “There are people who don’t like your skin color,” he will tell pro-immigration rallies. “There are people who don’t like your skin color, don’t think you should be American.” He will divide this country even further.
The Republicans will face the same dilemma there that we faced in health care. No matter what we do, and no matter what the public polls are, we can’t stop it. Not until November. We can’t stop it. We deal with a president who doesn’t care how many votes he loses in November. We deal with a president who actually may be looking forward to a Republican majority in the House, ’cause it’s very difficult to run against your own party and blame them for the things aren’t getting done, but if you have a Republican majority in the House, you’ve got a built-in enemy, you’ve got a built-in demon, a built-in diabolical enemy that you can campaign and run against. This should not stop us from our desire to win. I’m just telling you, don’t think that Obama will dial it back here because of November elections. He’ll ratchet it up. He’s gonna try to get cap and trade, don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised if they don’t go home in August. Don’t be surprised at anything.
I’ll tell you what else is going to happen down the road. Mark Steyn touched on this in a little piece at National Review Online yesterday. The US military has always been used to defend and protect the people of this country and our like-minded allies who were devoted to the concept of human liberty and freedom. Those days will soon end. Barack Obama does not look at that as a proper role for this country. He’s not interested in defending your freedom. He’s interested in taking it. There is no way he will stand with other nations who are oriented as we used to be. The only way that Obama will ever be able to come even one-tenth of the way close to paying for any of this spending that he has personally written the check for, is to practically get rid of the US military. Defense cuts. Well, take a look. All of the somewhat models, I think we’re far down the road, far worse than these European socialist countries which the left seems to think is ideal for us to be, those people are going to look like rock-ribbed conservatives compared to us when Obama gets through.
Here you have a guy who doesn’t like the US military, who thinks it’s been used for imperialistic purposes. He can’t wait to slash that, use that money for domestic spending. You’ve heard the Democrat Party say this your whole life, cut defense, build up social programs, stop the Iraq war, we’re going to pay for health care with that. By the way, the Iraq war is still going on, so is Afghanistan, but the days of the United States projecting its power in defense of people who are in bondage will likely come to an end. I’m well aware that we have Iran looming and there’s nothing stopping Iran, and the Russians are aligning with them. Our problems go way beyond our borders. The problems beyond our borders, however, are of very little interest to Barack Obama compared to his desires within our borders. He will continue his crusade to forever alter this country. He has come to divide. He has come to conquer. And some of the Republicans on our side still don’t get it, still refuse to see this man, his presidency, his administration for what it is, and some of our own conservative so-called commentariat don’t get it. Rome is burning, and instead of putting out the fire we have too many people looking for a bag of marshmallows.
This is the First Step-Our Goal: Healthcare should be Right and Not for Profit-Ever
March 22, 2010 By
Healthcare should be a basic right guaranteed to all human beings no matter, their race, color or creed. It should not be for profit ever… I want people to ponder on that thought for a minute as they either celebrate or bemoan last night’s historic ‘Yes’ vote on healthcare reform. I want people, especially those who insisted that this needed to happen to ponder over this concept… This was a first step…. Lemme repeat that again, because maybe it hasn’t sunk in.. This was a first step..
It’s pretty well-known that I wasn’t in favor of this current healthcare package. No I’m not one of these folks running around with signs calling President Obama a ‘socialist’. Nor was I running around spouting some crazy talking points from Fox News about ‘death panels’ or anything like that… I opposed the healthcare reform package because it didn’t go far enough and it seemed to grant too many provisions to the insurance companies. My goal, as stated Healthcare for everyone-no matter what and for free. What was on the table was a terrible, terrible compromise.
It was a compromise that essentially stripped away all price controls. It was a compromise that took away single-payer (universal healthcare) which Obama said he was down for in ’08 but never mentioned once in office. It compromised public option, which again Obama and our Democratic controlled Senate and Congress surrendered thanks to a few bonehead lawmakers who in my opinion got brought off by the health insurance industry.
According to speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, this latest bill had 200 GOP amendments attached to it, yet none of those bozos even voted for it. So in other we didn’t need to water this down. If it fails the GOP can claim they never voted for it and if it pans out they can run around bragging they had something to do with it.. Talk about compromise after compromise.
So with all that being said, I fully accept that last night’s vote was a crucial first step. No matter how much I disliked what went down.. I’m down to work and fight to improve this-how about you?
My fear is two-fold. First, I fear that many of those who voted for this will abandon this fight and make excuses like ‘let’s give this some time’ or ‘lets not fight for this now and have it become a distraction during these upcoming midterm elections‘. Later we’ll hear similar excuses and calls for us not to make waves because we have to get people back in office in 2012. There will never be a right time for skittish politicians.
My other fear is that many of y’all who were quick to debate me will remain silent as mummies and not hold lawmakers accountable to this promise of improving the bill. After all the celebration dies down how many of you folks are promising to do whatever it takes to make sure this bill moves forward and that ‘crucial first step’ becomes a second and third step that takes us down a path where this ugly Healthcare bill becomes a ‘beautiful one’. I want to be proven wrong, but if the lack of participation in the last election cycle is any indication of our commitment for continuing the ‘hope’ and ‘change’ Barack Obama campaigned on I’m afraid it ain’t gonna happen.
I do know one thing… the Fox News, Tea Party crowd have not and will not stop organizing. They’re already promising to run and back candidates who will repeal this bill. I know here in Texas, I’m out here doing political education and organizing. For me ’08 never stopped. But where are the rest of y’all? I see the Tea Party folks, but I don’t see you.. I don’t hear our favorite urban radio station personalities keeping us up to speed on the latest bills and maneuvers in Congress.. I hear alot about Lil Wayne going to jail and Al Sharpton vs Tavis Smiley, but what about some chatter about the next steps all of us need to take to make sure health insurance rates don’t jump up 39% like they did in California before this bill even kicks in?
Who’s talking to us about the candidates we should be backing come November? Will it be more Bart Stupaks, Joe Libermans or Bill Nelsons who as Democrats and independents worked to derail this not because it didn’t go far enough, but because they had other agendas-many which were suspect? Will we be looking to back more Anthony Weiners, Bernie Sanders and others who insisted that Healthcare be about our well-being taking precedent over profit? Is that your goal? Or is it all about I got mine, hope you get yours?
I want people to not only keep in mind the promised relentless opposition of the Fox News crowd, but also the recent Supreme Court ruling that now allows corporations to have major influence in the future elections. Don’t think these HMOS are not gearing up to smash and smash hard.. Make no mistake with the economy all jacked up, these Health insurance companies along with the Wall Street banks who are gearing up to fight the reform measures against them have some tricks up the sleeves. Don’t be surprised if some y’all reading this suddenly find yourselves on some corporate payroll talking about how you need a few extra dollars to make ends meet so you wind up doing some sort of activity to carry out the agendas of these corporate institutions..
Don’t be surprised if some Civil Rights type organization is suddenly having their events or special programs for the youth or even a local concert or Non profit is being sponsored by some of these institutions. We’ve already seen this happen with the telecom companies fighting to get rid of Net Neutrality. They been pretty good at buying off.. oops I mean sponsoring organizations and groups for their silence and in some cases advocacy. Don’t think the health Insurance companies wont be gunning for us using similar aggressive stealth-like tactics.
Again are you ready to start taking those next steps? The goal should be that this new bill in its final form is much better than any insurance package you’ve ever had and for far less than you’re paying. Furthermore it should be something within reach for everyone. If that’s not the goal, be warned, it’s just a matter of time before some financial upset has you slipping through the cracks. Don’t wait till then to be fighting for whats right. This was a compromise, lets not forget it.. OUR promise is to improve this bill.. Lets hold each other accountable.
Something to ponder
-Davey D-
Did Obama Inc. Threaten Dennis Kucinich & Make Him Fold on Healthcare?
March 18, 2010 By
Kucinich had been given an offer that he felt he could not refuse.The Obama administration has finished the job it started in January, 2009: crush the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to clear the way for corporate governance. Rep. Dennis Kucinich‘s was the last Left opposition to Obama’s toxic health care legislation. “Once Obama’s private insurers’ bailout bill is in place, it will be almost impossible to dismantle in the foreseeable future.
”A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
Click link below to hear Commentary
http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/29339/
“There is nothing for a true progressive to do in Obama’s Democratic Party.”
The last Left Democrat in the U.S. Congress has folded his hand, crushed by Wall Street’s servant in the White House, Barack Obama.
Until Wednesday morning, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich was the only opposition from the Left still holding out against Obama’s private insurance subsidy bill – a massive redistribution of wealth to Wall Street masquerading as health care reform. The bill was long ago stripped of any fig leaf of a “public option,” and now awaits passage in its pure form – the formal establishment of a private health care system in which the people are forced to finance the profits of some of the biggest players in the Wall Street casino, the insurance corporations. Far from a step forward towards a society in which health care is every person’s right, the Obama bill is a huge step backward in the opposite the direction from which the entire industrialized world has been traveling. Obama’s so-called reform is in fact, a defeat of the dream of universal health care.
Obama used every trick at his disposal to place that dream out of reach. He pulled a shameless bait and switch on health care, talking the language of universality while conniving to transfer trillions of public dollars to the private insurance industry. Once Obama’s private insurers’ bailout bill is in place, it will be almost impossible to dismantle in the foreseeable future.A trillion dollars buys lots of loyalty. And to make certain that nobody ever gets to cancel the corporate bailout, the Obama regime would prevent states from setting up their own universal health care programs.
“Kucinich was adamant that he had not changed his assessment of the president’s health care proposals.”
Obama knew that, if he were to have any chance to pass a private health insurance subsidy bill, he would first have to bludgeon the Left into submission. In the course of a little over a year, he has accomplished that mission.
To drive Kucinich back to the corporate Democratic reservation, the White House let loose the yapping dogs of the Daily Kos and MoveOn, who threatened to back an opposition candidate to Kucinich in his home district. President Obama personally browbeat Kucinich four times in the last several weeks, the last time on Monday night. According to the London Daily Telegraph, Obama threatened to refuse to campaign for any Democratic congressperson that doesn’t back his health bill – an invitation to the fat cats to fund challengers to Kucinich in November.
In a Wednesday morning press conference announcing his surrender to the White House, Kucinich was adamant that he had not changed his assessment of the president’s health care proposals. “I do not think it is a first step toward anything I have supported in the past,” he said. “This is not the bill I wanted to support.” But Kucinich had been given an offer that he felt he could not refuse.It was, said the congressman, “a defining moment.”
And it was a defining moment for those who believe there is anything politically worthwhile that can be accomplished within the structures of the Democratic Party, now firmly controlled by its corporate wing. There is nothing for a true progressive to do in Obama’s Democratic Party, but shut up, and roll over. For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.
Rebel Diaz Gear Up for SxSw-How to organize Your Block & Not be Fake
March 17, 2010 By
Rodstarz of the group Rebel Diaz came through Austin’s landmark book store Resistencia and talked to the community about the importance of community organizing and moving away from an oftentimes restrictive Non-profit-funding model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnkha92Fx0k
Rodstarz touched town in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest SXSW conference. He came by Resistencia Bookstore and talked to community folks about the origins of Rebel Diaz. He aslo talked about the Community Center they built in the Bronx.
Rod explained that the Bronx community center is the result of seeing the value in each community member and working with them to create something everyone feels connected to.. Rod cautioned us to not do the things many movement people do which is look down upon and shun the people they’re supposed to be helping uplift..He also talked about the tendency to have lots rhetoric and talking points but no ability to organize people on the block.
Lastly Rod talked about moving away from foundation models and develpoing something closer to the needs of the people and more sustainable.
Rodstarz and the rest of Rebel Diaz will be sitting on the SxSW Southern Shift Panel.. How to Grind, Hustle and Make it During the Recession.. This is going down Friday afternoon 3-5pm at the Carver Library in East Austin. The event is free to the public..
1161 Angelina Street
Austin, TX 78722
(512) 974-1010
Texas Text Book Drama-How the Community is Fighting Back
March 17, 2010 By
Here is the Breakdown FM podcast to this story.. enjoy
Texas Text Book Drama pt1-Intv w/ Rene Valdez
Texas Text Book Drama pt2-Intv w/ Erika Gonzalez
Texas Text Book Drama-How the Community is Fighting Back
by Davey D
By now everyone has heard about the big fight over Text Books and History curriculum here in Texas. To sum it up, there was a push to put a number of far right-wing fundamentalist conservatives on the Texas Educational Agency board where standards are set every ten years or so. Many people, in particular Democrats were asleep at the wheel and lo and behold, the far right organized, packed the board 10-5 and then proceeded to dismantle current standards by removing historical figures like Caesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall and many other heroes and sheroes of Black and Brown people and replace them with conservative folks like Jerry Falwell and Newt Gingrich
It’s just now many of us are reporting on this, but according to activists and educators on the ground here in Texas, this has been brewing for a very long time..
Yesterday we sat down with two well-known, longtime activists and educators here in Austin, Texas-Rene Valdez and Erika Gonzalez to find out what’s really going on. Resistencia Books is a fixture in the Austin Community particularly among Black and Brown folks for almost 30 years. It was founded by the late poet/activist Raul A Salinas who was apart of and understood the education struggles of the 1960s wanted to make sure there were safe spaces for people in the community to learn, soak up their history and live out the ethos of the day DIY-‘Do It Yourself’.
The late Raul Salinas who founded Resistencia Books and wanted a safe space for the community to learn outside of school
Rene Valdez now runs the bookstore as well as the education programs connected to Resistencia where they go inside the prisons to educate folks as well as hold weekly meetings and seminars for the community inside the store. He explained that he wasn’t too surprised about the recent decisions and in many ways they have long been prepared for such a crisis. He noted that even though they are located in Austin which has this persona of being progressive and liberal for many communities of color its far from that. He noted that Austin is part of Texas and here in the state there is still a well entrenched, institutionalized ‘old boy network’ which has long targeted resistence movements of any type. It doesn’t matter its the anti-war movement, immigration reform movements, solidarity movements, etc.. Valdez, noted today the target is President Obama, the war drums are beating and they have been focusing on controlling and undermining education. our youth are the targets.
Rene continued on by noting that what has taken place gives the community better reason to engulf themselves around alternative efforts and gain greater appreciation for organizations and places like Resistencia where education is being afforded. He also noted this present situation also gives us reason to ask the long hard question-‘Where has the movement been on the issues of education?’ What took place has not happened overnight. For years there have been moves to privatize public education and destroy it. This has not been happening here in the US but also in other countries. he cited the 2006 Teacher Rebellion in Oaxaca, Mexico where teachers and students were on the front lines being beaten over low wages and attempts to smash on the education system.
Here in the US we’ve seen student fee hikes in state colleges all across the country. We’ve seen teachers being fired and the quality of education going down, yet we’ve seen very little resistence to this in terms of taking things to the streets. During our interview we talked about the student strikes because of fee increases, but Rene pointed out that its important to link the fee increases to the attacks on public education in general. It’s all part of the same agenda by those in power. He concluded by noting that any attack on education both in grade schools to college will adversely working class and poor people as well as Black and Brown folks..
Here’s the Breakdown FM interview we did w/ Rene Valdez
http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/29048/
Erika Gonzalez
We later spoke to Erika Gonzalez who is the co-director of PODER (People Organized for Defense of Earth and her Resources).. She’s been a teacher for over 10 years here in Austin. She has taught in almost all of the 50+ elementary schools in the district. She also has her own curriculum designed to reach young Black and Brown kids which she employs after school in programs that she’s apart of or ones that she runs herself.
The first thing she spoke to us about getting some context to this struggle by understanding the long history in places like Texas in particular Austin which is seen as this liberal enclave. She noted that Austin was the only city in the entire country that refused to go along with Brown vs the Board of Education. The city fought for over two years spending millions of dollars to not integrate schools. Finally they did give in, but to this day there are stark differences in the predominantly white schools in West Austin and the predominantly Black and Brown schools in East Austin.
There’s a sordid history in Austin that dates back to the 1920s where they developed a master plan which would have East Austin be a toxic dumping ground and a place to house factories and other commercial facilities. To this day there are elementary schools that sit right next to factories that spill pollutants causing asthma and other health issues making learning very difficult. PODER and other organizations have been fighting for years to have such places removed or shut down only to find steep and oftentimes over the top racially tinged resistence in this ‘liberal city’ to those efforts.
Adding to all this is a so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement among the ‘old boy network‘ that Rene spoke about where only one Black and one Brown can run for city council. The city does not run on districts but is citywide which means that even with the assurance of one Black and one Brown being on the city council, the whites majority picks and ultimately controls those representatives. What’s even more disturbing is the fact there are many ‘progressive’ people who move to Austin form places like the Bay Area in California who are made aware of such things yet chose to turn a blind eye and ignore them.
With all this in mind, its important to note that for years the community has gone about the business of trying to find alternatives and educate their own. For example, PODER at least once a week and oftentimes more goes to different school sites and meets with parents especially immigrants to let them know their rights and other policies being enacted at schools. They also have young scholars program and as was pointed out Erika who runs and teaches everyday in after school programs. The latest venture is teaching after-school inside public housing projects.
She explained that the impact of dumbing down education has been clear for sometime now. She explained how she was teaching a group of kids age 4-15 the other day and ask them about Caesar Chavez only to find out they did not know who he was. This was not the case several years ago. She explained that there once was a time teachers would go the extra yard and make sure kids got those lessons that were downplayed or omitted from history books. Today all teachers in Texas are required to teach toward the state standard tests. Lessons within the school district revolve around how to take tests not learn history. Young teachers have been sent strong warnings that if they deviate too much they will be banned from their respective districts.
Erika noted that she herself has been banned from one school for teaching the students extra history not approved by the state. Another teacher was fired and banned from the school district for going the extra yard to organize parents about education curriculum. Many good teachers operate in fear and with these new requirements you can best bet that there are those who are pushing this agenda who are going to be watching like hawks to make sure kids learn about Newt Gingrich and not Dolores Huerta or Barbara Jordan. Controlling the thinking of the youth seems to be a game plan that is unfolding.
We concluded our interview by talking about political participation. There is a strain of activists who continuously insist on telling folks they should not vote with the end result being low voter turnout in many places where schooling is having the most damaging impact. Erika explained that resistance has to take place on all levels including the ballot box. The community must continue to take extra steps to ensure their kids are properly educated. At the same time, we must start running our own candidates for school boards and make sure the state standards are changed. After all even if you remove them from public schools they still have to adhere to a state styandard that deems Jerry Falwell more noteworthy then Thurgood Marshall.
Here’s the interview we did w/ educator Erika Gonzalez of PODER
Meet Ghanian Born Blitz the Ambassador… ‘Dying to Live’
March 16, 2010 By
Blitz the Ambassador is a talented emcee, singer and musician who is from Ghana and now lives in Brooklyn who’s been making a whole lot of noise as of late. He recently lot of touched down in the Bay Area at La Pena Cultural Center and wrecked shop, bringing with him a keen musicianship, influences from Fela Kuti and his deep love of Hi-Life and Hip Hop. Toward the end of his set he ripped a version of his song ‘Dying to Live‘ which on his album features former Fugee member John Forte. This version was incredibly moving.. in fact chilling especially when you consider him and the guitarist hooked up for the first time earlier that day.. Definitely Blitz is someone to watch for in 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyORG3WaSw
POCC Launches 2010 People’s Resistance Film Festival Haiti, Oscar Grant, Angela Davis
March 15, 2010 By
2010 People’s Resistance Film Festival screenings:
Kaos Network
Thursday, March 25th 7-9pm
4343 Leimert Blvd, Los Angeles CA
Pico Youth & Family Center
Friday, March 26th 7-9pm
715 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica CA
The featured films that will be screening are a short of “Haiti: Rising From the Ashes“, “Operation Small Axe“, and “Angela Y. Davis Radical Pedagogy“. The directors and producers will be in the house. Also special guest Jack Bryson, who’s two sons were with Oscar Grant when he was murdered by Johannes Mehserle on New Years morning of 2009, will be with us
Haiti: Rising From the Ashes Trailer
http://vimeo.com/982028
Angela Y. Davis Radical Pedagogy Trailer
http://vimeo.com/9165559
Operation Small Axe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfixe3-2RQo
For more info go to www.blockreportradio.com