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Black Boys and Burning Midnight Oil
A ChickenBones Forum
including
Ethelbert,
Dorothy,
Jerry,
Amiri,
Mike, and
Kam
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I find it amazing how folks
are upset with Obama already because of some
of the decisions he has made. It's juvenile
to think you're going to agree with
everything a person does. . . .Without
compassion, understanding and especially
forgiveness—the darkness will never end.—Ethelbert |
In the forest, I am decidedly
a night person, especially when the stars are out and
the clouds have migrated to the sea. Constellations
shift toward the western mountains; a crescent moon
rises above the pines after 2 am. All is silent except
the faint sounds of insects in the darkness, and the
rush of breezes in the pine tops. All in the house are
abed. I like this aloneness, especially when there are
three teenagers in the house their heads filled with the
noise of the streets and ipods. They and their mother
just moved northeast to Jerusalem from the fast-paced
world of Austin, Texas. They are black with misery in
the silences of my joy.
Their misery is not dissimilar
from most teenagers here in Sussex. All have some sense
of the busy-ness and the
hoodlum opportunities available in the urban jungles for
mischief they call fun. They like the crowded,
noisy well-lit streets. The neon signs, the bars, the
clubs, the restaurants that are opened at least until 2
am. Except for the gas stations that serve I-95 and its
traffic going north and south, the little excitement
that exists shuts down at midnight when spirited drinks
(including beer and wine) are not for sale. So the
Austin folk are miserable here in the countryside, where
I can more easily do the work of ChickenBones: A
Journal in the wee quiet hours of the morning.
There will be no satisfying all children all the time.
This too applies to adults who have their narrow issues
as well. For their children, most black
parents cannot afford other than a public school
education. Many of these parents too have had unsavory
experiences with public schools as students and parents.
And their children know it because seldom do their
parents (because of their jobs or other callings) show up
at PTA meetings. One cannot always reason with children,
especially those who feel that they are as old and
experienced as their parents, though without the same
financial resources even if they have part-time jobs at
MacDonalds. Of course, ways must be found to
compel children to do that which they are unwilling to
do. The same is true of parents.
My star-gazing disrupts my
sometime day job substituting at the county high school.
I must be up and getting ready by 6 am to be there by 8
am. I went in today so I had to stop at Starbucks for a
large cup of strong coffee in order to stay awake.
Luckily for me, it was only a half day. After about a
year, it seems I am making advances among the students
and the faculty. I have had my conflicts sufficiently
with students that they know my limits and I have become
sufficiently callous enough to know that I have my
limits in instructing them on appropriate behavior in
the classroom: they have their sexual gossip and
innuendos; the N-Word this and the N-Word that; their
inappropriate dress for teenagers, like sagging pants
and hoods (boys), and spike heels and rump-tight jeans
(girls). The two most popular words or phrases now in
the schools are: "She has a donk" and "Spank that
monkey."
These children and their
parents are not adorably middle-class. Sussex, about
10,000 souls, is the
poorest rural county in Virginia. Three state prisons are
within forty miles of one another for residency and jobs
as guards. A few county jobs are
available as well. But the children want what all
kids want:: cell phones, ipods, play stations, and
expensive cars. And
too many of the boys have costly sneakers, and the
sagging pants in which the crotch comes down to the
knees. The school demands no dress code more
appropriate for an academic culture.
The boys want benjamins for their
girlfriends like the crack gangsters they see on
You-Tube: the more daring wear hoods and caps in the
school out of respect for their heroes. There is an air
of leniency at home and in the schools, while
academically too many of the students are falling into
the cracks of gangster rap culture. All of these "G-Lo"
activities occur in a brand new modern edifice with
internet connections in almost every classroom, which
much too often are used to access the lowest profane
forms of American culture.
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I
finished reading
Why Monkeys Live in Trees by Raouf Mama.
(Why? Greed! and wanting to be like God.)
Mama ends his book of Benin tales with a
poem titled, “The Wise Old Man,” in which
two impudent kids plot to make foolishness
out of wisdom. The poem’s coda seems
appropriate in our hour of dismissing an
unpopular president who has caused so much
pain and anguish, and in our anticipation of
inaugurating a new president who happens to
be of African descent and whom we have
placed so much of our hope and love: |
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Whether we make our
country great and a beacon unto the nations
or a laughing stock and a derision to the
whole world is in our hands, my friends. And
whether we leave this world a little better
than we found it, or leave in our wake
hatred, sorrow, and despair, that, too, lies
in our hands, my friends (p. 84). |
I also finished W.E.B. Du
Bois’
Prayers for Dark People (1980; edited by Herbert
Aptheker). One of my favorite prayers is the one on
Ambition:
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The difference between
man and beast is this, that Thou, O God,
hast planted in us aspiration, ambition,
outstretchings toward the dim and far
possible, the unresting desire to be more
than what we are and truer and better. Bless
to us this mighty passion, our Father, and
make it a true inspiration and not a selfish
temptation. May we realize how wonderful a
thing it is to be a healthy human being here
on the threshold of a great new century—to
taste the heritage of a mighty past, to pile
the endowment of a greater future and above
all to realize in our own souls all that God
meant us to be. Amen (p. 70). |
In his
"prayers," Du Bois speaks several times about the
honoring of our puritanical fathers and mothers. The
world to come belongs to the youth of today. All
that is old (the Du Bois prayers were probably
written around the turn of the 20th century) should
not be trashed. There is a lot amiss in many of our
homes and it is not just the lack of money in the
economy. Yet I'm afraid Du Boisean wisdom has become
rather old fashioned among the hip hop generation
(in our near geriatric years) to have faith in that
which is immaterial—that there are such things as
sacred forests that exist. Though there is a lack of
wealth in Sussex, there is much that should earn the
respect of our children. Without due belief and
respect, the forest will have its vengeance. (Read
“Louis Magbo” in
Why Monkeys Live in Trees.)
I am not the only one concerned about our children up at this hour. My friend
Ethelbert has sent me another riddle:
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Black
Boys
I
wonder how America would be
responding to
Barack
and Michelle if they were
raising two black boys instead
of girls. Would the media find
the boys adorable? Would they be
viewed as a "crisis" growing up
inside the White House? Would
the Secret Service be hired to
protect us from them? When Obama
worked as a community organizer
in Chicago I know he must have
met Bigger Thomas on a number of
occasions. Bigger is still with
us even as the poolrooms of
America are turned into cafes.
Bigger has no laptop and he is
trapped inside yesterday’s
blues.
How do we raise
black boys in a post-racial society? Trick
question? OK—let's try a few others. How do we raise
black boys in a racist society? Is there a
stimulus package for black fathers? Here is one of my
"Race Koans"
that might shed some insight into the
matter. |
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Our children reside in a
frightening cultural forest of revenging spirits without a
faithful understanding of what is a worthwhile exit:
neither the boys who gravitate toward a world of crack
and rapping gangsters, nor the girls who are sexually
attracted to these would-be men who cannot afford their
babies. But they want out. The urban centers however
hold out little promise for those without a solid
educational foundation. Distressingly, at the school, I
have seen a couple of bright intelligent young female
students in the 12th grade with fetuses growing inside
their bodies. As a father, would I have urged an
abortion? Probably.
There is a dangerous hunger in
our children fed by a far-reaching profit-seeking (at
any cost) consumer culture that creates wants that
beguile parents and teachers, and an unregulated
cultural war with political and further economic
implications among the black poor, whose children are
headed toward greater penal disasters if parents and
schools do not step up to the plate and establish
tighter parameters for appropriateness in speech, dress,
and sexual behavior. With so many poorly educated
parents educators must take the lead with inspiring
demands on parents and children, and themselves, toward
a greater appreciation for that which is far beyond the
present sloppiness and laziness of their children and
charges, namely, embracing the immaterial values of
scholarly work well done. I urge more principal-led
student assemblies, including inspiring guest speakers.
There is too little or no
burning of midnight oil in the homes of the black
poor. Books seldom leave the school campus, except maybe
urban literature with its extolling of the sexuality of
a poverty of values. Our young would-be scholars are too
anxious or too impatient to read for the pleasure of
words. Educators
must become more than administrators and scorers of
"standards," they too must
become organizers of
and activists of higher values in impoverished communities—Rudy
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Dear Rudy and
Ethelbert,
Your delightful exchange provokes a new
question: Why would we want to raise
anyone in a post-racial society?
Perhaps I am blinded by the amazing grace of
history and can not find the coordinates for
such a society.—Jerry
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We need to explore the relationship
between the Beloved Community and the post-racial one.
When should "lovers" of race -divorce race? Are we
Catholics in our thinking or Buddhists? Are we afraid of
the world changing or ourselves?—Ethelbert
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Here are the
tentative and much debatable answers.
1) Lovers of race should divorce race when they jointly
decide not to sleep in the dictionary.
2) We are neither Buddhists nor Catholics. We are
people.
3) The world is constantly in a process of change; it
has been doing so for several billion years, without and
with the "help" of people. People are less afraid of
changing, I think, than they are afraid of being duped
by Lord Krishna.—Peace,
Jerry
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A
Taste for Snot
By Dorothy Marie Rice
wiping snot with the back of his hand,
grabbing you can have whatever you want
slipping it in the pockets of sagging pants,
or skintight britches (on the bitches)
because they learn early how to do da butt,
etcetera:
these images,
for me,
are no mere abstractions
this is the reality
of my people:
1 son, 7 nephews, 1 daughter, 2 nieces, and
frighteningly, even a granddaughter,
and a grandson who chants:
i'm a gansta--and he's not yet 5 years old?
caught in the crosshairs
of a culture beyond my grasp to understand
so low, so deep
it invades my sleep
and my prayers ring hollow
to a god that i try to believe in
for the sake of my sanity
and succor
and the fear that i, too,
might have fallen into the depths
of a living inferno
had not my mother's constant
lamentations rang in my ears
because being triflin' is so easy
you just drop your drawers,
your pants, your aspirations,
and you wake up whenever you feel like it
because you stayed up until 5:00 a.m.
and you don't have anywhere to go
or you just don't feel like going
so you become a slave to cigarettes,
greasy food, shallow and hurtful intimacies,
and anger
often imprinted at conception, gestation,
or later because
that's the way we be
and we grin, text, and have sex with our
pseudo friends
yes, we wear the mask,
and the uniform
because there's safety
in numbers.
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But…
I’m still meddling—trying
to meld a minor
Trying to make significance
Into a major key player: anything but a g
Because gee-whiz the wind speeds past like a
tsunami.
It’s hard on the kidz,
But I’m still trying
Trying to ameliorate
A situation that I may have partly created
On my first date, reinforcing the hands of
fate,
First love from which I could not, would not
escape
And so the shape of my future was molded
Somewhat, sometime back, but hindsight is a
bitch
Isn’t it, y’all?
Nonetheless, nevertheless, therefore,
as I will fill my life with transitions
I’m still plotting trying to clone a human
being,
Even though the Petri dish ain’t been
cleaned,
And other little viruses might be mutating
Under the glass, in the pipette,
(But I haven’t been in a laboratory for
decades—
Tenth grade when I last plotted the path
of Mendel’s peas, no porridge) so
Why should I call it quits?
God’s not through with me yet . . .
©Dorothy Rice
2008 |
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What We Can Do
By
Amiri Baraka
1. Push
Unity of the People based on the precedent
of Unity in the election and the
Pronouncement of a Post Racial Coalition.
We must seek to make such a coalition, which
existed as a force for the election of Obama
into a permanent feature of US society.
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a. Unity against
White Supremacy, Racism and National Chauvinism and
National Oppression. Even to laws against Ku Klux Klan
(a murder gang) and all groups urging racism and
national oppression or white supremacy. Unite to make
these scourges ILLEGAL
b. Drive for
Reparations could proceed under this
c. Drive for a
Cabinet post of Afro American Affairs
d. Isolation of
Republican Party and emphasis on need for multi party ie
Parliamentary system & eventual transformation of US
Political Culture
2. Unity Against
the War & for diversion of those funds (10 billion a
month) to US infrastructural (e.g., Katrina & Gulf Coast)
& Community Development, e.g.,
a. Universal Health Care
b. Education for
Community Service
3. Unity against
Monopoly Capitalism. Those bailouts should be
SALES. Push for nationalization of the Banks.
NATIONALIZATION of the auto industry. Cutting the
overhead & creating more jobs and more training
4.We must come
out of the purely oppositional mode of thought against
US govt now that there is an Obama government and
find out and organize around what we can do to push this
government toward the support of Afro American and The
US Peoples interests.
E.G., We must urge
talks with Cuba: the dropping of the embargo, the closing
of Guantanamo. Talks with Iran and the progressive
states of Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua.
We must seek a
public works program for the rebuilding of the
infrastructure and rebuilding and redirecting of
National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities and
support for local arts programs tied to education and
employment.
We must at the same
time oppose specific aspects of that government which
openly oppose a Peoples Democratic agenda.
Support FIRST ONE
HUNDRED DAYS CONFERENCE in Philadelphia in April,
Coordinated by Muhammad Ahmad, Amiri Baraka, Ron
Walters, Mack Jones in collaboration with the Temple
University Black Studies Department to Evaluate Obama’s
first hundred days and provide some analysis of that
period and project what we think should be done in the
next period.—For more information email
Prof Max
Stanford c/o Temple Black Studies.
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Very enjoyable analyses and koan.
thank God for your insomnia.—Kam
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Dear Rudy:
As a sub myself, I have to get up earlier to
report earlier. I feel ya!
It has become politically 'expedient' to
work with the girls of society, to the
detriment of boys. Unfortunately, when we
'forget' that boys are supposed to be
providers, and keep them in the roles of
consumers, who are the girls gonna marry?
Good point, though. If Obama had two sons
instead of two daughters, how would America
react? America, Rudy, has
become 'feminized.' Pure and simple. |
We have put logic
on the back burner. We have done away with recess,
competition, etc. We have raised the girls and let the
boys roam, without instruction.
How do we reverse the trend?
Simple.
Bring back consequences.
Show the knuckleheads that actions have consequences,
and let them spend some time in a jail cell, as a
dropout, or as a statistic. Second solution? Work with the bright kids. Those making
Cs or better, no Ds no Fs.
For the last ten to fifteen years, America has been on
this 'kick' to help those who don't want to achieve, and
have been letting those who want to achieve 'twist' in
the wind. Of course, teachers rarely allow their
children to attend the same school where they are
teaching; those kids usually go to a private, parochial,
or suburban school.
But, you get my point. It has been 'cool' to be an
idiot. This same mentality exists in the criminal
justice system, the workshop, the school and even in the
church!
Let the fools twist and work with those who want to
achieve.
Stop and think about this. In the average class of 30
students, roughly 18 of them don't care about an
education, and another seven of them are bad or fair
students. Thus, you have about 5 who are achievers.
Focust on the five, and they will pull up the other
seven, who will 'cut off' the rest...or, at least, force
them to conform.
The system is broke, and is about to crash. This
happened to the criminal justice system back in 2003 as
juvenile programs across the country crashed because of
the poor economy. Same thing is about to happen to
education, thanks to this looooong recession. Basics
learned will equal meat on the table.
Last thing; the streets have always had a strong pull. A
real education; a real dream within a person will give
them the strength to resist.
Want to see a change in our young men and young women?
Ask them what they want to be when they grow up! FEW
people have the courage to ask them this question; fewer
have the courage to 'step up' and show them how easy it
is to job shadow and learn to get an education so they
can be more than consumers.
Bill Gates worked on computers. Ice T worked on his
vocals. Who is worth MORE? Nuff Said.
Bro Ramey
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The Warmth of Other Suns
The Epic Story of America's Great
Migration
By Isabel Wilkerson
Ida Mae Brandon Gladney, a
sharecropper's wife, left Mississippi
for Milwaukee in 1937, after her cousin
was falsely accused of stealing a white
man's turkeys and was almost beaten to
death. In 1945, George Swanson Starling,
a citrus picker, fled Florida for Harlem
after learning of the grove owners'
plans to give him a "necktie party" (a
lynching). Robert Joseph Pershing Foster
made his trek from Louisiana to
California in 1953, embittered by "the
absurdity that he was doing surgery for
the United States Army and couldn't
operate in his own home town." Anchored
to these three stories is Pulitzer
Prize–winning journalist Wilkerson's
magnificent, extensively researched
study of the "great migration," the
exodus of six million black Southerners
out of the terror of Jim Crow to an
"uncertain existence" in the North and
Midwest. Wilkerson deftly incorporates
sociological and historical studies into
the novelistic narratives of Gladney,
Starling, and Pershing settling in new
lands, building anew, and often finding
that they have not left racism behind.
The drama, poignancy, and romance of a
classic immigrant saga pervade this
book, hold the reader in its grasp, and
resonate long after the reading is done.
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
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1975
1980
1985
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____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 20 December 2008
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