Black History Month Sharing: Week 3

Just one week left now. I really wanted this to be better organized, but all I can be is sincere.

February 15th
Denzel Washington (1954 -     )

When I did the director spotlight on him, it was more that I had finally watched Fences, and then it was only two other films, so why not? That led to some interviews as I tried to find out how he decided when to direct, because he doesn't do it very often. It appears to be helping underdog films get made and doing favors. Listening to him, so warm and thoughtful and mentoring, well, it made me mad at Katie Couric, especially learning that she had held back racist comments from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but the Black man is scary.

And really, none of it is surprising, but my admiration and affection for Mr. Washington has only grown.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/03/director-spotlight-denzel-washington.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/09/celebrity-smackdown-couric-versus.html

Paired with "Whatta Man" by En Vogue with Salt N Pepa.

February 16th
"Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde (1978)

Lorde's writing has meant so much to me, but I am focusing on this one, because of a context in which it hit. It came at about the same time as a question about sexiness in women being equated with stupidity, and with reading something else about true sexuality being healing in its connection with and acceptance of the body. So then to read about how the erotic is connecting the physical with the emotional and spiritual, rather than the fear that tries to cast off the physical, or something else that tries to have the physical divorced from any emotional, well, I think there are some important ideas in there, that still seem beyond far too many people.

Paired with "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt N Pepa.

February 17th
bell hooks (1952 - 2021)

I suppose hooks has been slightly outranked by Lorde, but I started reading hooks first, and she was the one who introduced me to "Dominator Culture" which was huge for me (and why I keep bringing it up all the time, years later). She also introduced me to Paolo Freire.

February 18th
Selma (2014)

This is an incredibly well done movie on an incredibly important subject. I would have given Oscars for wardrobe, directing, and the song. It only won for song. If there could only be one win, then maybe that one makes sense, because it does a good job of bridging then and now, and the fight for civil rights and voting rights is not over. There will need to be something amazingly transformational to get us to where that is no longer a problem, but hooks and Lorde would have some ideas.

Paired with "Glory" by Common and John Legend.

February 19th
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (2013)

John Lewis and Andrew Aydin came to Powell's books when the first book came out. I remember him saying that he would cosplay as himself at Comic-con -- a new experience for him, which mainly meant adding a backpack to his usual look -- and also him asking me if I was getting into good trouble. 

That was not a special thing for me; good trouble was a theme for him. Getting everyone included, though, was special for him, and what is needed. Then there is also the playfulness. His death is a loss, but his rest is well-earned.

Paired with "Walk This Way" by Run DMC.

February 20th
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi (2019)

This was done with wonderful clarity and compassion. It is direct but caring, and I have to really appreciate that. Kendi takes the stance of being that friend who is going to be honest with you, but still a friend, and he does it really well.

Paired with "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight

February 21st
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (2018)

Also in the realm of anti-racist books, this is not as humorous, but it touched me a lot and it introduced me to Audre Lorde, which was of incalculable value. Of special note is the chapter "Whiteness At Work", where good, well-meaning people are still caught up in the structural racism, as a constant part of her work day. It shouldn't be this way, and the onus is on the white people.

Paired with "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer

Black History Month Sharing: Week 2

Another week down. I had some technical issues that caused me to skip songs for two of the days, but the sound card is functional, new speakers have been added, and I probably just need to replace the motherboard fan and maybe get a webcam now.

Enough about me.

February 8th
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney (1971)

This gets back to my love of Lerone Bennett's work too. I often read very dry, academic works because the information is important. When someone tells you something important and in a way that various levels of readers with different amounts of background information can process, that is an amazing accomplishment, sometimes quite rare. This book was a revelation, and I have found others who have felt the same way. It may be somewhat outdated now, but it will always be important.

Paired with "I Might Have Been Queen" by Tina Turner.

February 9th
Mirror to America by John Hope Franklin (2005)

In some ways the quintessential professor of African American history, reading Franklin's history, and its issues with race. It is told with grace and love, and sometimes tragedy. It is lengthy, but also a delight.

Paired with "Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" by Otis Redding.

February 10th
"Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes (1936)

Powerful, and I can imagine people nodding along, with a completely different idea of what America being America would mean, but for me it means equality for all, white supremacy eradicated, because as long as we cling to some bigotry it leaves room for more to grow. None of us are free until all of us are free.

No song today. This has its own rhythm, and my sound is out.

February 11th
Underground (2016)

This was a good show overall, and the "Minty" episode was amazing, but the strongest lasting impression comes from a moment at the end of the first season. Rosalee's brother was supposed to run with the rest of the group, and did not. As she is finally at a place of safety, she learns of her brother's death. She tells Noah that none of us are free unless all of us are free. She goes on to work with Harriet Tubman, and to try and rescue her other brother and their mother.

When I go on about "dominator culture" (and I know that I do), it is not just because that need to be able to control others causes harm directly, but even our good intentions are impeded by it. If I want racial equality or gender equality, but I won't give up my homophobia or transphobia or ableism, I am strengthening the racists and the misogynists, regardless of my intent. 

I want all of us to be free. It's going to require emphasis on the "all".

Still no song.

February 12th
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2010)

I was recently reading a different book on how we got to racism without racists. That "colorblindness" means that you can have a law enforcement and and prison system that is racist in practice without having to officially declare it. Alexander does a great job of tracing the path and showing the details.

Paired with "Fuck tha Police" by N.W.A

February 13th
What's Going On by Marvin Gaye (1971)

This is a profound album, with an emotional response to the times. As I listen again I am impressed with the questioning of his place in the whole. It is cosmic, but remains grounded.

Paired with the title track.

February 14th
Just Mercy (movie 2019 and book by Bryan Stevenson 2014)

I have been touched by Stevenson's work going back to a Smithsonian article back in 2012, but you learn more from the movie and the book. A lasting lesson from the book is how the racism of the legal system may be somewhat arbitrary, but that acts as intimidation for everyone else. In addition, yes, you can free a falsely accused man from prison after many years, but you can't restore his family life or the toll on his health or the time lost. 

Paired with "Mercy Mercy Me" by Marvin Gaye

Black History Month Sharing: Week 1

Since the start of the pandemic, I have become very interested in curriculum design and effective learning. 

In addition, my time in the group reading Me and White Supremacy had me thinking about going over the books I have read and trying to sort out good groups of books for different topics.

I am not quite there yet, but it occurred to me that for Black History Month I could share different things that were close to my heart each day. I would also try and make the daily songs correlate, though I am not sure I will be able to keep that up.

It occurred to me after a few days that keeping track on the blog might be nice. Jotting down a small note daily that I already posted on Facebook and tweeted is significantly easier than writing a full post.

This is not a return to regular blogging, but I will do a week's worth on Wednesdays, until all 28 have been done. I don't know what will happen next; what's new?

February 1st
Before the Mayflower by Lerone Bennett Jr. (1964)

I found this book very moving. It covers important history, but does it with compassion and elegance that is hard to find. 

Paired with "Black Man" by Stevie Wonder, also a trip through history.

February 2nd
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1962)

Groundbreaking in depicting a Black child as the protagonist (and magical on its own), the book was a step forward in representation, and something that Keats tried to continue is his other books, where Peter and his friends have other adventures.

Paired with "Greatest Love Of All" by Whitney Houston (because "the children").

February 3rd
“Peanuts, Franklin, and Racial Representation in Cartoons”, Beyond the Scenes/ The Daily Show

I did not even know that The Daily Show had a feature where extended sessions on segments were done until a friend sent me this. Correspondent Roy Wood Jr. talks to writer Josh Johnson and cartoonist and friend of Charles Schulz Robb Armstrong.

I found it touching and interesting overall, but the most interesting part was that Franklin's creation came after concerted urging by a Los Angeles teacher, Harriet Glickman. Schulz initially did not think he should, worried that he was not the right person, but in addition to continuing to write to him, Glickman got friends to write to him.

Schulz did add Franklin, got push-back, and threatened to quit producing the strip. He needed encouragement, but once there he was determined.

So much of the pushing today is destructive shoving, but we can prod, kindly but firmly, and with reinforcements.

Paired with "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers.

February 4th
Invictus (2009)

I do love this movie, and I have seen other people react strongly to it, mostly in good ways. I also wanted to mention it in a last push to send people (at least ones in the Portland Metro Area) to Mandela: The Official Exhibition at OMSI through February 13th.

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2021/11/omsi-mandela-official-exhibition.html

Paired with "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrica" (the South African National Anthem, featured in the movie) as sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir.

February 5th
Hair Love (2019)

Matthew Cherry's short film also has a children's book. The book is from the daughter's point of view, while the movie is from the father's, as the father has to try and live up to the mother's skill with natural hair. There is a lot of heart in both, with more humor in the movie, but it might be a painful humor for someone with similar struggles.

Paired with "Don't Touch My Hair" by Solange and featuring Sampha. 

February 6th
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Ralph Abernathy (1989)

A warm, insightful account of the work of the Southern Leaders Conference from Martin Luther King Jr.'s close colleague and friend, this was written twenty years later, with the benefit of hindsight. I think there is a lot to learn, even now, from this account, fortunately written shortly before Abernathy's death.

Paired with "Lift Every Voice And Sing" by Alicia Keys.

February 7th
Queen Sugar (2016 - )

I love this show. There are wonderful characters, who are not perfect (except maybe Hollywood), but they are still completely relatable and even lovable. Good dealings with grief, racism, forgiveness, masculinity, and many other subjects that are helpful to see.

Because they handle so many difficult topics in such a sensitive manner, and because the theme song is sung by Meshell Ndegeocello, paired with her cover of "Sensitivity".