An article about my friend, poet, and playwright Ron Allen. The poem that I wrote for him and read at the African World Festival at his tribute is in the article- click the link
Metro Times - Arts: Remembering Ron Allen
On September 26, 2010 Sunday, from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. at the Cass Cafe on Cass Avenue at Forest in Detroit, another poetry, music, and theatrical tribute will be had. Light snacks will be served, you may bring a potluck dish, and the bar will be open.
Here is the poem that was published. Some of the lines were edited out:
=============
From Inside the 6
For poet Ron Allen, 1947-2010
by Aurora Harris
I - August 8, 2010 8:24 a.m.
Outside looked summer hazy gray
Reading poem from 1999 poetry workshop
I said she is the snowstorm then
Eight twenty three three tones
I hear three electronic Buddhist tones
Three quick high pitched Buddhist tones
Eeeee eeeee eeeeee
A technological bell warning through ether
Through window into my left ear
Communication of the OneOne tone
I know what time it is
We know what time it is
We were talking about violence peace
The Up From City’s Devastation Here
Coq a vin in moderation man
With his toe-less dancing feet
Craving Temple Bar two-step heat
That you talking tones to me?
Everything you said you don’t want
Virgo to Virgo I’m handlin’ it
Just found list of Buddhist Temples
Just called Peter phone is ringing
Just called Peter it’s only 6
Even the text message is Buddhist
call buddhist temple for ron please
Buddhism - Wilshire Center & Los Angeles Area
I found list of numbers Ron
I’m throat singer saying it Ron
So you can be Laughing Buddah
Remember I told you about books
Books of dead titles not so?
Egyptians, Tibetans, titles have different meanings
Western words changes meanings and understanding
I will break the six now
It was all about ether
It is all about nonviolence
It was all about peace
It is all about peace
II - August 21-22, 2010 9:43 a.m.
Speak to me
Speak through rising chronic tears
Speak through velvet nights awakening sound
Gray, rainy morning haze
Polish my ears with shattering tropes
Speak into a semblance of light
Broken patterns of woven night sky
Speak to me
Speak through uninterrupted street words
Speak inherited heartbeats
Speak into the secret sauce of jazzy dreams
Spit shine planets with stone washed fingers leaking poems
Speak a stack of verbs walking surreal sky
Speak dialogues of twisted friction in frameworks of truth
Speak to me straight like a wall of ocean’s waves
Speak through genies in cactus needles
Rub a peyote trip out of penny in your pocket
Speak into rhythmic grinding of ego into bone dust
Speak a deluded soul into blue streaks of meditation
Taste molecules of your existences
Speak to me, brother
Float past graffiti rainbows talking backwards
Float past the Bhardo of Dharmata into pure Buddhahood
Float on the luminous path of the Wisdom of Discernment
Speak to me, Speak to me
Black birds gather on telephone wires for 11:00 a.m. morning music
Black birds’ bodies dotting the sky/ are simple notes / of this morning’s beauty
You appearing as 4/4 time/ treble clef 8th notes / F B D E with/ rests in between
You speaking vibrational bird song on electric currents of chatter
You speaking through memories of erratic streams
You who milked the nipple of being
You who blows through a thighbone trumpet
You who appears as a swarm of fireflies
Speak to me, brother Speak to me
Note: The Egyptian Book of the Dead is known as the "Spells of Coming (or Going) Forth By Day"
The Tibetan Book of the Dead is known as the "Bardo Thodol" ... a guide for the dead and dying.
Aurora Harris is a Detroit poet and educator who blogs at auroraharris.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
From the files in my head: My food research for today, August 31.. for teachers and folks i care about
This started on facebook, when someone posted an article on Chinese babies growing breasts from the milk they drank. This is the response that I posted in my "notes" page:
From the files in my head: My food research for today, August 31.. for teachers and folks i care about
by Aurora Harris on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 11:17pm
my reseach info for today includes:
POV: Point of View PBS Docs
1. Notes on Milk... a documentary about the US milk industry
http://www.pbs.org/pov/notesonmilk/photo_gallery_watch.php
2. Swill Milk: stuff whiskey distilleries fed cows during whiskey-milk wars
http://brooklynology.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/post/2010/01/20/Brooklyn-Distilleries.aspx
3. Chernobyl nuclear explosion ( cuz the radiated milk was sent to the Philippines)
http://www.pbs.org/pov/englishsurgeon/background.php
and ..."The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, and the efforts of the Soviet government to conceal the accident and its fallout led to the contamination of about 8 percent of Ukraine's land mass, contributing to significantly higher cancer rates, particularly thyroid, in the region. According to the World Health Organization, there is no evidence that the Chernobyl incident contributed to a higher incidence of brain tumors. . The tumors Marsh sees in Kyiv are the same as those he sees in London, except they are often larger due to a lack of early diagnosis. The disaster did add to Ukraine's environmental woes, as did the country's role as an industrial center in the Soviet era, when lax regulation allowed extensive pollution to build up."
4. From years ago, when I was following WTO presentations and scientifically grown seeds that were pushed on Asian rice farmers (Transnational Institute, 1999)
http://www.tni.org/article/asia-asian-farmers-and-wto also:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/borders/2004/earth/earth_int_game.html
"Seed saving is an age-old tradition amongst farmers. Seeds are collected every harvest and saved for planting the following year. Some farmers also crossbreed different varieties to produce hybrid crops that flourish in the conditions that exist on that particular farm.
The "Seed Stewards" game illustrates the experience of 73-year-old Saskatchewan farmer, Percy Schmeiser, who contends that genetically-modified seeds contaminated his fields. In 1998, Monsanto investigators found evidence that Schmeiser was illegally growing patented seeds in his fields. Schmeiser, a conventional canola farmer and seed saver, claimed that the patented "Round-Up Ready" seeds blew into his fields from the nearby road and a neighboring farm. He refused to pay the licensing fee. The company sued Schmeiser shortly thereafter to protect its patent."
4. Genetically altered seeds in Africa:
http://www.africanagricultureblog.com/2010/01/seed-giant-dominates-genetically.html
peace
Aurora
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Charter schools: Finding out the facts: At a glance - Center for Public Education
July 13, 2010 8:30 a.m.
From The Center For Public Education web site
Charter schools: Finding out the facts: At a glance - Center for Public Education
From the article above:
...Charter schools across the nation
While charter school students enrolled just 3 percent of all public school students in 2008, the number of students (and schools) has risen dramatically in the past decade. In 1999, there were 1,542 charter schools with 349,642 students. By 2008, there were 4,618 charter schools with 1,407,817 students (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools 2009b).
As the enrollment numbers have grown, some in the education community have become concerned. The RAND Corporation’s study (Zimmer et al 2009) attempted to evaluate whether charter schools are “skimming” the best students from local traditional public schools or re-segregating urban schools. RAND analyzed the academic achievement and demographic characteristics of students transferring into charter schools and found:
Charter schools generally are not drawing the best students away from local traditional public schools. For example, previous test scores for students transferring into charter schools were near or below the averages for every location in the study. Only among white students did researchers find slightly higher test scores among those moving to charter schools.
The racial composition of charter schools was similar to that of the traditional public schools the students previously attended.
A recent report by the Civil Rights Project (CRP) compared the percent of black students in racially isolated charter schools (charters schools enrolling 90 to 100 percent of black students) to the percent of black students attending racially isolated schools nationwide, with the conclusion that black charter school students were twice as likely to attend racially isolated schools. However, the majority of charter schools are in large urban districts, which are more racially isolated than other districts. So it cannot be determined from the CRP report whether charter schools lead to more racially isolated schools; the RAND study remains the best research available.
Yet charter schools remain primarily an urban strategy. The National Charter School Research Project reports that 89 percent of U.S. school districts “have no charter schools within their boundaries, perhaps in large measure because so many school districts are so very small." (Lake, 2010)
Conclusion
It is clear that charters are poised for another growth spurt. Through its Race to the Top competition, the U.S. Department of Education is providing a powerful incentive for states to boost their support for charters.
Consequently, it’s imperative that more research and education be done. Charters are largely misunderstood – only 41 percent of voters even know that charter schools are in fact public schools. The incomplete research base behind charters means that many states may be heading into a reform strategy without a clear understanding of how charter schools work best, or how they interact with and affect traditional public schools. Charter schools need more research, oversight, and true evaluation to fulfill their purpose of being laboratories that traditional public schools can learn from.
Questions for researchers
What are the ingredients that contribute to charter school success? Do smaller class size, longer days, parent involvement, or freedom from collective bargaining and other regulations play a part? What about the local school district role? What variables count most?
What effects do different governance models have on positive charter school outcomes?
What interaction exists between traditional and charter public schools? Is there any evidence of shared ideas and information? Innovation? Does the charter’s authorizer affect the results?
How do charter schools affect traditional public school funding?
What are charter schools’ effects on local school districts in terms of funding, governance, logistics and accountability, as well as performance?
Questions for school boards
The emphasis on charter schools by the current administration means that this particular strategy is not going away. However, considering the lack of a research base, school boards need to be careful in implementing or considering this strategy. Some questions to consider are:
Which agencies does our state empower to authorize charter schools? How does the local school board fit into the authorizing process?
What is our opinion of, and relationship with, EMOs?
What is the state process for evaluating whether local charter schools are in fact improving achievement? What is the local role?
Is there a process for closing underperforming charter schools prior to their renewal date? How long is the timespan before renewing a school’s charter? What is the local school district role?
Does our state have caps or an appeals process for the creation or removal of charter schools?
What is the interaction between charter and traditional public schools? Does it matter if the local school board was the authorizer, or if there was another authorizer?
What lessons could we apply from local or national charter schools about school size, instruction, etc. to our traditional public schools?
From The Center For Public Education web site
Charter schools: Finding out the facts: At a glance - Center for Public Education
From the article above:
...Charter schools across the nation
While charter school students enrolled just 3 percent of all public school students in 2008, the number of students (and schools) has risen dramatically in the past decade. In 1999, there were 1,542 charter schools with 349,642 students. By 2008, there were 4,618 charter schools with 1,407,817 students (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools 2009b).
As the enrollment numbers have grown, some in the education community have become concerned. The RAND Corporation’s study (Zimmer et al 2009) attempted to evaluate whether charter schools are “skimming” the best students from local traditional public schools or re-segregating urban schools. RAND analyzed the academic achievement and demographic characteristics of students transferring into charter schools and found:
Charter schools generally are not drawing the best students away from local traditional public schools. For example, previous test scores for students transferring into charter schools were near or below the averages for every location in the study. Only among white students did researchers find slightly higher test scores among those moving to charter schools.
The racial composition of charter schools was similar to that of the traditional public schools the students previously attended.
A recent report by the Civil Rights Project (CRP) compared the percent of black students in racially isolated charter schools (charters schools enrolling 90 to 100 percent of black students) to the percent of black students attending racially isolated schools nationwide, with the conclusion that black charter school students were twice as likely to attend racially isolated schools. However, the majority of charter schools are in large urban districts, which are more racially isolated than other districts. So it cannot be determined from the CRP report whether charter schools lead to more racially isolated schools; the RAND study remains the best research available.
Yet charter schools remain primarily an urban strategy. The National Charter School Research Project reports that 89 percent of U.S. school districts “have no charter schools within their boundaries, perhaps in large measure because so many school districts are so very small." (Lake, 2010)
Conclusion
It is clear that charters are poised for another growth spurt. Through its Race to the Top competition, the U.S. Department of Education is providing a powerful incentive for states to boost their support for charters.
Consequently, it’s imperative that more research and education be done. Charters are largely misunderstood – only 41 percent of voters even know that charter schools are in fact public schools. The incomplete research base behind charters means that many states may be heading into a reform strategy without a clear understanding of how charter schools work best, or how they interact with and affect traditional public schools. Charter schools need more research, oversight, and true evaluation to fulfill their purpose of being laboratories that traditional public schools can learn from.
Questions for researchers
What are the ingredients that contribute to charter school success? Do smaller class size, longer days, parent involvement, or freedom from collective bargaining and other regulations play a part? What about the local school district role? What variables count most?
What effects do different governance models have on positive charter school outcomes?
What interaction exists between traditional and charter public schools? Is there any evidence of shared ideas and information? Innovation? Does the charter’s authorizer affect the results?
How do charter schools affect traditional public school funding?
What are charter schools’ effects on local school districts in terms of funding, governance, logistics and accountability, as well as performance?
Questions for school boards
The emphasis on charter schools by the current administration means that this particular strategy is not going away. However, considering the lack of a research base, school boards need to be careful in implementing or considering this strategy. Some questions to consider are:
Which agencies does our state empower to authorize charter schools? How does the local school board fit into the authorizing process?
What is our opinion of, and relationship with, EMOs?
What is the state process for evaluating whether local charter schools are in fact improving achievement? What is the local role?
Is there a process for closing underperforming charter schools prior to their renewal date? How long is the timespan before renewing a school’s charter? What is the local school district role?
Does our state have caps or an appeals process for the creation or removal of charter schools?
What is the interaction between charter and traditional public schools? Does it matter if the local school board was the authorizer, or if there was another authorizer?
What lessons could we apply from local or national charter schools about school size, instruction, etc. to our traditional public schools?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Jazz: July 11 -Why I Love and Write About Jazz Part. 3. Charmaine Clamor
Sunday July 11, 2010 10:00 a.m.
Last week, I wrote about why I started listening to jazz, collecting jazz, and documenting jazz in my poetry. I also posted jazz videos of some of the people I listen to. As a continuation of that blog, I am posting a video by Charmaine Clamor, a Filipina jazz singer who has done a tremendous job of promoting Filipino songs and jazz in the Philippines and the US. The video below is one of my favorites.
For students and teachers: On Standards of Beauty and Low self esteem of women of color-
In the bilingual video, Ms Clamor not only sings beautifully but she also makes a statement that is important to the self esteem of Filipina women and girls... a historical and cultural statement that challenges what is considered beautiful and ugly...the notion that having white skin or having white features is "better" than being born with brown skin or flat nose. She gives a brief history of the 500 year colonization of the Philippines by Spain.
My Funny Brown Pinay (sung to the tune of My Funny Valentine) Sung in English and Tagalog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCzIj4VhmGg
Last week, I wrote about why I started listening to jazz, collecting jazz, and documenting jazz in my poetry. I also posted jazz videos of some of the people I listen to. As a continuation of that blog, I am posting a video by Charmaine Clamor, a Filipina jazz singer who has done a tremendous job of promoting Filipino songs and jazz in the Philippines and the US. The video below is one of my favorites.
For students and teachers: On Standards of Beauty and Low self esteem of women of color-
In the bilingual video, Ms Clamor not only sings beautifully but she also makes a statement that is important to the self esteem of Filipina women and girls... a historical and cultural statement that challenges what is considered beautiful and ugly...the notion that having white skin or having white features is "better" than being born with brown skin or flat nose. She gives a brief history of the 500 year colonization of the Philippines by Spain.
My Funny Brown Pinay (sung to the tune of My Funny Valentine) Sung in English and Tagalog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCzIj4VhmGg
Friday, July 9, 2010
Teaching about Ella Baker for the Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies
As a board member and co-founder of the Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies, I will be teaching a workshop about Ella Baker at the University of Detroit-Mercy in July. This year's summer workshop theme is "Intellectual Leadership." We will be discussing the lives of African American leaders, film makers, the portrayal of African American families in film, and writing poetry and reflections.
Click on the blue or gray words to go to the links.
Resources for Students:
Ella Baker Bio: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/page.php?pageid=19&contentid=9
The Ella Baker Center http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E7CWAOrl9M
Mississippi Freedom School
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org/ED_FSC.html
Freedom School Curriculum:
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org/FSCfiles/A_03_Index.htm
University of North Carolina Press: Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
A Radical Democratic Vision By Barbara Ransby
http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=270
Click this for Books About Ella Baker (google page)
Click on the blue or gray words to go to the links.
Resources for Students:
Ella Baker Bio: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/page.php?pageid=19&contentid=9
The Ella Baker Center http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E7CWAOrl9M
Mississippi Freedom School
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org/ED_FSC.html
Freedom School Curriculum:
http://www.educationanddemocracy.org/FSCfiles/A_03_Index.htm
University of North Carolina Press: Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
A Radical Democratic Vision By Barbara Ransby
http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=270
Click this for Books About Ella Baker (google page)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Education: Baseball- Racism Towards Jackie Robinson, Soccer, and Other Things
Aurora Harris- 4:30 a.m. July 8, 2010
I was in a deep sleep until I heard loud cheers and found myself waking up to a documentary on baseball with the narrator talking about the deep racism African American ball player Jackie Robinson and other team members endured as members of the Negro League Baseball teams. As I listened to what happened to the ball players in 1947, I had a very clear memory of my father telling me how he went to a field on or near 6 mile and Dequinder, on the east side of Detroit, to watch Negro League ball games because Blacks were not allowed to play on minor or major league teams due to the segregation of Jim Crow. In the memory, I could see my father and I driving east on 6 mile and hearing his voice say, "See that corner? I used to come here to watch Negro League baseball, some of the greatest Black baseball players in the world. They played on this field because they couldn't play in Tiger Stadium."
As I listened to the story of how Robinson suffered from stomach pains and was pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown by repeated racist taunts and name calling by Whites every time he stepped out on the field, but managed to keep playing better and better until he was drafted into the Major League as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers... listened to how his team mate repeatedly drank alcohol to cope with racism until he began hearing voices and eventually had a stroke, and, listened to how a White ball player purposely gashed open Robinson's thigh with his spiked shoe, I thought about the soccer players of color during the 2006 World Cup who received racist taunts by White Europeans during soccer matches every time they stepped out on the field, and, how they became so upset, they wanted to stop playing.
The next memory that I had was about my father and how he came out our our restaurant on Fifth Street near Elizabeth and Plum, in the Plum Street district in the 1960's... how one evening, during a Saturday in the summer, he was stabbed repeatedly in his chest by a White man who tried to rob him. I remembered my mother getting the call from Receiving Hospital and going with her in a cab to find my father in the hallway wrapped in sheet, dripping with blood...how he told us later that the butcher knife broke off in his lung and that he drove to the hospital himself, slumped, and with gashes to his arms that severed tendons...
Jackie Robinson was one year older than my father...born in 1919, my father born in 1920...when Robinson was playing baseball in 1947, the man who would become my father was returning home from World War II... the soccer players in 2006 being spat at... all of it adds up to the existence of racism in various countries within a span of eighty seven years... Whether it is through sports or trying to be an independent business owner, the film and the memories are reminders of the reality of what Black Americans endured under Jim Crow and what some African men continue to endure in the 21st Century.
The following video is from an ESPN special on Soccer players of color and the level of racism they faced during the 2006 World Cup. The players are Carlos Kemeni, Marc Zoro, and Thierry Henry. I find it ironic that as I write this morning, the 2010 World Cup Soccer games have been taking place, and it was just announced that Spain beat Germany...Spain's racist fans are shown in the video.
As a result of the racism from soccer fans, Thierry Henry got with Nike to make a commercial that speaks out against racism. The commercial called "Stand Up Speak Up" has been shown in Europe. The commercial follows the sports video.
Sports (Soccer) and Racism. This video was posted a few years ago. European Racism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpO-nnFY9g
2. Thierry Henry's Commercial: Stand Up Speak Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbetvlu9Qg
So, here I am sitting on the edge of the bed watching images of Whites in the bleachers screaming at Jackie Robinson in a black and white film on baseball...suddenly I get an in color flash memory of the soccer players and how they looked on the field as people screamed at them, and then I have an idea to put to the two together, the baseball documentary and the soccer video, to talk about racial and ethnic identity, racism, and its effects.
I think that if teachers, parents, and students who are interested in Sports; American, African American, Ethnic, Racism, Whiteness, and Peace Studies should watch the documentary on baseball and compare what happened to Jackie Robinson and fellow African American ball players, to the European soccer team players, there is a possibility that someone will have a deeper understanding of the levels of racism that historically exists, in addition to discussing the following and other sources mentioned in this morning's blog:
1. The effects of the social construction of racial and ethnic identity.
2. Prevailing racism in an imagined post-racial or colorblind society in America and abroad.
3. Resiliency, strength, and coping skills to deal with persistent racism and racial violence.
4. The importance of documenting and listening to lived experiences from our families and communities
5. The importance of lived experiences in legal cases as discussed by Critical Race Theorists.
6. Where or how does a person find peace or peace of mind when faced with racism on a daily basis?
7. Examples of how race trumps gender and class.
8. How to improve race relations.
10. Since there was no equivalent to the US Civil Rights movement for people of color in Europe, how can we as Americans who either lived through and after that era, lend support to others that experience racism in other countries?
It is now 7:14 a.m. and a POV film about apartheid in South Africa is on ( once again this is another morning experience of watching important educational programs that are shown most people are asleep). For more info on the film "Promised Land" go to
http://www.pbs.org/pov/promisedland/background.php
Notes: (see PBS Baseball link below)
1. I was watching Baseball, Inning 6: The National Pastime (1940-1950) by Ken Burns
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/pastime/
2. For info about the Negro Baseball League: http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/history101.html
3. For further information to add to your discussion, see this blog's side bar for "Education: Aurora's Project: Part 4 Brazil." Click on the link to see more videos concerning the construction and effects of racial identity in Brazil, the story of Native American actors in Hollywood, and, videos on Whiteness and White privilege.
4. The website Football Unites Racism Divides explains the Stand Up Speak Up campaign and provides more information of racism in soccer (football). At he bottom of the page is a PDF document that has the story of Stand Up Speak Up from 2005-2009.
See http://www.furd.org/default.asp?intPageID=275
5. Latest news on racism in soccer as of July 1, 2010 from Foreign Policy. A 3 page article about France: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/01/le_scandal?page=0,0
End: 8:13 a.m. July 8, 2010
writing and memoir c. 2010 by Aurora Harris
All other sources and videos mentioned are under their own copyrights like YouTube, PBS, Ken Burns, POV, Thierry Henry, Nike, Football Unites, Racism divides, etc.
Also see me at Facebook.
I was in a deep sleep until I heard loud cheers and found myself waking up to a documentary on baseball with the narrator talking about the deep racism African American ball player Jackie Robinson and other team members endured as members of the Negro League Baseball teams. As I listened to what happened to the ball players in 1947, I had a very clear memory of my father telling me how he went to a field on or near 6 mile and Dequinder, on the east side of Detroit, to watch Negro League ball games because Blacks were not allowed to play on minor or major league teams due to the segregation of Jim Crow. In the memory, I could see my father and I driving east on 6 mile and hearing his voice say, "See that corner? I used to come here to watch Negro League baseball, some of the greatest Black baseball players in the world. They played on this field because they couldn't play in Tiger Stadium."
As I listened to the story of how Robinson suffered from stomach pains and was pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown by repeated racist taunts and name calling by Whites every time he stepped out on the field, but managed to keep playing better and better until he was drafted into the Major League as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers... listened to how his team mate repeatedly drank alcohol to cope with racism until he began hearing voices and eventually had a stroke, and, listened to how a White ball player purposely gashed open Robinson's thigh with his spiked shoe, I thought about the soccer players of color during the 2006 World Cup who received racist taunts by White Europeans during soccer matches every time they stepped out on the field, and, how they became so upset, they wanted to stop playing.
The next memory that I had was about my father and how he came out our our restaurant on Fifth Street near Elizabeth and Plum, in the Plum Street district in the 1960's... how one evening, during a Saturday in the summer, he was stabbed repeatedly in his chest by a White man who tried to rob him. I remembered my mother getting the call from Receiving Hospital and going with her in a cab to find my father in the hallway wrapped in sheet, dripping with blood...how he told us later that the butcher knife broke off in his lung and that he drove to the hospital himself, slumped, and with gashes to his arms that severed tendons...
Jackie Robinson was one year older than my father...born in 1919, my father born in 1920...when Robinson was playing baseball in 1947, the man who would become my father was returning home from World War II... the soccer players in 2006 being spat at... all of it adds up to the existence of racism in various countries within a span of eighty seven years... Whether it is through sports or trying to be an independent business owner, the film and the memories are reminders of the reality of what Black Americans endured under Jim Crow and what some African men continue to endure in the 21st Century.
The following video is from an ESPN special on Soccer players of color and the level of racism they faced during the 2006 World Cup. The players are Carlos Kemeni, Marc Zoro, and Thierry Henry. I find it ironic that as I write this morning, the 2010 World Cup Soccer games have been taking place, and it was just announced that Spain beat Germany...Spain's racist fans are shown in the video.
As a result of the racism from soccer fans, Thierry Henry got with Nike to make a commercial that speaks out against racism. The commercial called "Stand Up Speak Up" has been shown in Europe. The commercial follows the sports video.
Sports (Soccer) and Racism. This video was posted a few years ago. European Racism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpO-nnFY9g
2. Thierry Henry's Commercial: Stand Up Speak Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbetvlu9Qg
So, here I am sitting on the edge of the bed watching images of Whites in the bleachers screaming at Jackie Robinson in a black and white film on baseball...suddenly I get an in color flash memory of the soccer players and how they looked on the field as people screamed at them, and then I have an idea to put to the two together, the baseball documentary and the soccer video, to talk about racial and ethnic identity, racism, and its effects.
I think that if teachers, parents, and students who are interested in Sports; American, African American, Ethnic, Racism, Whiteness, and Peace Studies should watch the documentary on baseball and compare what happened to Jackie Robinson and fellow African American ball players, to the European soccer team players, there is a possibility that someone will have a deeper understanding of the levels of racism that historically exists, in addition to discussing the following and other sources mentioned in this morning's blog:
1. The effects of the social construction of racial and ethnic identity.
2. Prevailing racism in an imagined post-racial or colorblind society in America and abroad.
3. Resiliency, strength, and coping skills to deal with persistent racism and racial violence.
4. The importance of documenting and listening to lived experiences from our families and communities
5. The importance of lived experiences in legal cases as discussed by Critical Race Theorists.
6. Where or how does a person find peace or peace of mind when faced with racism on a daily basis?
7. Examples of how race trumps gender and class.
8. How to improve race relations.
10. Since there was no equivalent to the US Civil Rights movement for people of color in Europe, how can we as Americans who either lived through and after that era, lend support to others that experience racism in other countries?
It is now 7:14 a.m. and a POV film about apartheid in South Africa is on ( once again this is another morning experience of watching important educational programs that are shown most people are asleep). For more info on the film "Promised Land" go to
http://www.pbs.org/pov/promisedland/background.php
Notes: (see PBS Baseball link below)
1. I was watching Baseball, Inning 6: The National Pastime (1940-1950) by Ken Burns
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/pastime/
2. For info about the Negro Baseball League: http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/history101.html
3. For further information to add to your discussion, see this blog's side bar for "Education: Aurora's Project: Part 4 Brazil." Click on the link to see more videos concerning the construction and effects of racial identity in Brazil, the story of Native American actors in Hollywood, and, videos on Whiteness and White privilege.
4. The website Football Unites Racism Divides explains the Stand Up Speak Up campaign and provides more information of racism in soccer (football). At he bottom of the page is a PDF document that has the story of Stand Up Speak Up from 2005-2009.
See http://www.furd.org/default.asp?intPageID=275
5. Latest news on racism in soccer as of July 1, 2010 from Foreign Policy. A 3 page article about France: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/01/le_scandal?page=0,0
End: 8:13 a.m. July 8, 2010
writing and memoir c. 2010 by Aurora Harris
All other sources and videos mentioned are under their own copyrights like YouTube, PBS, Ken Burns, POV, Thierry Henry, Nike, Football Unites, Racism divides, etc.
Also see me at Facebook.
Education: Civic Literacy- Speaking to Detroit City Council
July 7, 2010
This morning I attended a Detroit City Council Meeting with other concerned parents and citizens to ask the Council Members to not turn the Detroit Public School District over to the Mayor. I requested that they allow us our right to choose and vote for Detroit Board of Education representatives. While we face numerous issues concerning our city after being devastated by the economy, and, many of us are tired from just trying to survive from day to day, two of the things that the citizens have is a VOICE and our right to VOTE.
During today's Council session, there were several female students and the principle from the Catherine Ferguson High School for pregnant teens that received Spirit of Detroit recognition awards for their work with urban gardening and green house construction in Detroit, and, their reaching out to students in South Africa. A proud parent spoke about how her son, a graduate of Renaissance High School in Detroit, received more than one million dollars in scholarships to attend a university.
I mention these success stories because these students are the products of Detroit's Public School System. Contrary to the numerous negative media stories about the bad situation our schools are in, we do have dedicated parents, principals, students, and concerned citizens who virtually go unknown unless you get to see them for yourself at presentations during City Council meetings.
Concerning the take-over of the schools by the Mayor, why did we speak about the importance of Detroit's citizens having the right to vote for our school board? Some of the answers are:
Many Detroit citizens are not voiceless or illiterate.
Many of us are the products of the Detroit Public School System, community colleges, and local universities; have or had children in the schools, and are fighting against apartheid schooling and its effects.
Many of us own homes and pay property taxes that fund the district and
Many of us understand and know the importance of CIVIC LITERACY.
This morning I attended a Detroit City Council Meeting with other concerned parents and citizens to ask the Council Members to not turn the Detroit Public School District over to the Mayor. I requested that they allow us our right to choose and vote for Detroit Board of Education representatives. While we face numerous issues concerning our city after being devastated by the economy, and, many of us are tired from just trying to survive from day to day, two of the things that the citizens have is a VOICE and our right to VOTE.
During today's Council session, there were several female students and the principle from the Catherine Ferguson High School for pregnant teens that received Spirit of Detroit recognition awards for their work with urban gardening and green house construction in Detroit, and, their reaching out to students in South Africa. A proud parent spoke about how her son, a graduate of Renaissance High School in Detroit, received more than one million dollars in scholarships to attend a university.
I mention these success stories because these students are the products of Detroit's Public School System. Contrary to the numerous negative media stories about the bad situation our schools are in, we do have dedicated parents, principals, students, and concerned citizens who virtually go unknown unless you get to see them for yourself at presentations during City Council meetings.
Concerning the take-over of the schools by the Mayor, why did we speak about the importance of Detroit's citizens having the right to vote for our school board? Some of the answers are:
Many Detroit citizens are not voiceless or illiterate.
Many of us are the products of the Detroit Public School System, community colleges, and local universities; have or had children in the schools, and are fighting against apartheid schooling and its effects.
Many of us own homes and pay property taxes that fund the district and
Many of us understand and know the importance of CIVIC LITERACY.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
