Last week I posted an interview with PBS’ Tavis Smiley about his America’s Next Chapter forum airing live on CSPAN right now. I am one of a handful of “official” America’s Next Chapter bloggers who are helping to moderate the online discussion of the event on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. The panel features Cornel West, Arianna Huffington, Maria Bartiromo, David Frum, Dana Milbank, David Brody, Maria Teresa Kumar, John Chen and other prominent thinkers. My fellow bloggers include: @bmorefab @BeverlyMacy @GWIntersection @garlin @legalspeaks @tgmason. Follow these bloggers and join the the conversation now at http://www.americasnextchapter.com/watchlive.html.
crossposted on The Huffington Post
Haiti’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake brought more misery than one nation should ever have to bear. The one year anniversary will no doubt bring sobering reports that paint a bleak picture of Haiti’s future. But for many young Haitian Americans, the hope for a better, stronger Haiti remains. For some, the tremblement de terre that shattered so many lives was a defining moment and a catalyst for launching new projects to benefit the people of Haiti.
Transformed by their personal experiences with the tragedy, Dominique Toussaint and Rachel Pierre—founders of Mobilize for Haiti and The Andora Project, Inc., respectively— are part of a new generation of Haitian Americans who are leveraging their passion, professional experience and networking skills to create sustainable public safety and child welfare systems in Haiti. Read the rest of this entry »
My HuffPost blog post details my one-on-one interview with PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley. The 20-year broadcast veteran is hosting a nationally televised forum on January 13 at the George Washington University. Here’s an excerpt. Follow the link below for the full article and to leave comments on The Huffington Post.
Tavis Smiley’s ‘America’s Next Chapter’ Promises Diverse Voices, Opinions
The lack of diversity in the media has long been a source of frustration for media watchers. Turn on network or cable television and its clear that the value of racial, ethnic and gender diversity continues to be ignored by decision makers at mainstream television broadcast outlets. The result of the lack of inclusion of new and varied voices in the national media is a largely white, male, elitist perspective devoid of the richness and complexity of American experiences.
“We live in the most multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic America ever, but there is no appreciation for diversity in our conversations and in the media,” said PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley during our one-on-one telephone interview today. “There is value in bringing our whole selves to the table, including our race and our gender.”
Smiley is promoting his ‘America’s Next Chapter’ forum–a nationally televised discussion scheduled January 13 in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University. The event, which will broadcast live on CSPAN and air the following week on PBS, features Cornel West, Princeton University professor and author; Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post; John S. Chen, chairman of Committee of 100; Maria Bartiromo, anchor of CNBC’s Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo; David Frum, speechwriter for former President George W. Bush and founder of FrumForum; Dana Milbank, lead political columnist for The Washington Post; David Brody, CBN News chief political correspondent and Maria Teresa Kumar, executive director/co-founder, Voto Latino.
Full post here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-lubin/tavis-smileys-americas-ne_b_805521.html
In an increasingly unpredictable midterm election cycle, young voter turnout could make a difference in highly contested races around the country. With President Obama on the campaign trail and new efforts to reach targeted demographic groups including millennials, there is still time to turn out the vote among key Democratic constituencies. But it will not be easy. Young voters are still not inclined to head to the polls. Read the rest of this entry »
Credit: BigThink.com
My blog posts can now be found on The Huffington Post. I’ll only post excerpts and links to the full articles on this site. Here’s an excerpt of my most recent post:
In the wake of the election of President Obama, the mainstream media posited the false notion that America was now in a ‘post-racial’ era in which the civil rights battles of the past were no longer relevant.
In this fantasy, having an African American in the Oval Office would be seen as proof that race was quickly losing its historical stranglehold on the American consciousness. We would all be seen as equal and the institutional barriers that once hindered blacks and other minorities would fall to the wayside as we walked hand in hand into a ‘post-racial’ future.
While it’s clear that media reports of a ‘post-racial’ America have been greatly exaggerated, the right-wing has organized around this fallacy and launched a media campaign designed to target and destroy civil rights and social justice organizations.
Full post available here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-lubin/the-rights-post-racial-wa_b_665095.html
This article is cross posted on New America Foundation Media Policy blog and Open-Salon
In the coming days the FCC’s national broadband plan will no doubt be intensely scrutinized by the multitude of players vying to influence the government’s new media and telecommunications agenda. As the expected debate over government involvement and private interests ensues, the focus must remain on the needs of Americans who are disadvantaged by a lack of broadband services.
In a world increasingly dependent on fast and reliable access to the Internet, broadband creates and facilitates opportunities to enhance nearly every aspect of our daily lives. From education to jobs, life-saving health information to new business tools and ever expanding avenues for civic engagement and political participation, broadband is the enabling technology.
Whether its enabling small businesses to operate with low overhead, helping an unemployed worker train online for a new career or allowing families and friends to stay connected or locate missing relatives after natural disasters, the economic, social and humanitarian implications of broadband access are far and wide.
But the fact remains that too many of our fellow Americans have yet to realize the benefits of broadband. This is especially true for minorities, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income, tribal and rural communities. Sixty-five percent of Americans have a broadband connection at home but among African Americans its only 59 percent and Hispanics, 49 percent. The disparities are wider across age, income and education. For example, among households with an annual income of $20,000 or less, fewer than 40 percent have a broadband connection compared to 91 percent of households with an income of more than $75,000 a year.
As highlighted in a recent report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, populations that have historically endured social and economic hardships could reap the greatest benefits from broadband. Yet they are most often without access to this increasingly essential service.
Read the full article here: http://mediapolicy.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/broadband_access_a_civil_right_in_the_digital_age-29570
I am still unable to write anything about the tragedy in Haiti without sinking into a depressive state. A few days ago, while writing an email to a group of colleagues about how the quake has personally touched me, I was too wrought with emotion to finish the message. I am continuing my organizing and fund raising efforts, but thought it apt to share this story from CNN.com
As we contemplate what’s needed to make Haiti whole, securing the rights of women must be a part of any plan to rebuild the earthquake-battered nation. For now, it is fitting to remember three pioneering fanm ayisyen (Haitian women) who fought for the rights of women, often in an environment hostile to women and girls.
From CNN.com:
One returned to her Haitian roots, to give voice to women, honor their stories and shape their futures.
Another urged women to pack a courtroom in Haiti, where she succeeded in getting a guilty verdict against a man who battered his wife.
A third joined the others and helped change the law to make rape, long a political weapon in Haiti, a punishable crime.
Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan, founders of three of the country’s most important advocacy organizations working on behalf of women and girls, are confirmed dead — victims of last week’s 7.0 earthquake.
And their deaths have left members of the women’s movement, Haitian and otherwise, reeling.
“Words are missing for me. I lost a large chunk of my personal, political and social life,” Carolle Charles wrote in an e-mail to colleagues. The Haitian-born sociology professor at Baruch College in New York is chair of Dwa Fanm (meaning “Women’s Rights” in Creole), a Brooklyn-based advocacy group. These women “were my friends, my colleagues and my associates. I cannot envision going to Haiti without seeing them.”
Myriam Merlet was until recently the chief of staff of Haiti’s Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women, established in 1995, and still served as a top adviser. She died after being trapped beneath her collapsed Port-au-Prince home, Charles said. She was 53.
The article goes on to site some of what these women leaders were up against:
Before the disaster struck last week, a survey of Haitian women and girls showed an estimated 72 percent had been raped, according to study done by Kay Fanm. And at least 40 percent of the women surveyed were victims of domestic violence, Bien-Aimé said.
Find the complete article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/20/haitian.womens.movement.mourns/index.html?hpt=C2
As a Haitian American, I am absolutely devastated by the news out of Haiti. A massive earthquake has hit our beloved island. Many are asking how they can help.
Here’s a short list of credible organizations with established programs in Haiti:
- Save the Children
- Partners in Health
- Yele – Wyclef’s organization – text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to YELE HAITI
- Lambi Fund of Haiti -
If you live in the Washington, D.C. area please join the facebook page I have set up for residents who want to collaborate on earthquake fundraisers, food and clothing drives and volunteer efforts. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Action-for-Haiti-DC-Earthquake-Fundraiser/247952142612?v=wall
Since as far back as 1899, W.E.B. Du Bois documented racial health disparities and their link to poverty and discrimination. Today, we have made few advances in addressing what Martin Luther King, Jr, called the “most shocking and inhumane” of all forms of inequality.
As we sit at the cusp of sweeping legislative reform to fix our ailing health care system, Americans who believe in social justice and equality must stand up and support a public health insurance plan that would provide access to affordable, quality coverage for all Americans.
This is a 4-part post. Jump to sections:
For far too long we have witnessed the effect of a health care system that excludes individuals based on their ability to pay. The result? An immoral and unethical system that renders uninsured Americans separate, unequal and unworthy of health care.
By default, Black and other people of color bear the burden of unequal access to health care. Racial and ethnic minorities make-up one-third of the U.S. population but account for 50 percent of the nation’s 47 million uninsured. Often without a primary care doctor or regular source of health care, minorities experience excess disease, disabilities and deaths at alarming rates. As unemployment increases, these health gaps between whites and people of color, uninsured and insured, will only widen.
A recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services highlights some of the disparities:
- Seven out of 10 African Americans are obese or overweight.
- Blacks are more likely to develop and die of cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.
- Fifteen percent of African Americans have diabetes compared to only 8% of whites.
- African Americans are more likely to delay seeking care and are two times more likely than whites to use the emergency room for health care
Access to a primary care doctor and screenings to prevent or catch health conditions before they worsen is a critical part of reducing these disparities.
Keep reading: Pt. 2: Why We Need a Public Option
Last night I spent way too much time on the internet. What had my attention? The intolerance on Momlogic.com.
I came across a new series of articles by Kimberly Seals Allers, editor of mochamanual.com, offering a decidedly different point of view than what you’d normally find on Momlogic. Kimberly is a published author who writes from her perspective as a black mother. And while the editors have provided a platform for Kim to share insights, readers have not been so welcoming.
One of few black bloggers on the site, Kim has “caused a stir” by suggesting that black mothers are overlooked in mainstream discussions about motherhood.
In her first post, Memo to the World: Black Mothers Matter Too! Kim says:
There’s a dominant mommy culture in this country and its face is mostly white and affluent.
That bothers me because Black mothers have an important perspective, unique insights, and many of the same across-the-board issues as all moms, but we are often overlooked in all the great mommy debates. We aren’t seen as the thinkers in this mommy movement, not respected as an important perspective in shaping the future of say, maternity leave and childcare issues, nor is our journey in motherhood told in cutesy books or network sitcoms.
The response? Here’s a sampling of the comments:
“Why does everything have to be about race? Just because you are black, doesn’t mean you can complain about everything. Movies about the first black football team..then swim team..then track star…whats next?What is this obsession with black culture? Yes your ancestors were abused and enslaved, but its OVER!Let it go!And stop acting so self-righteous.” -Indignant Daughter
“Oh, and yall do have Michelle Obama in the White House setting the example of a nurturing mother. Being 1st lady beats any sitcom or book.” – Shelly
We’re all entitled to our opinions, but the problem is not the disagreements with Kimberly’s arguments, but the inability or lack of desire to even consider the viewpoints of others. As some of the comments suggest, we can no longer view our experiences as black women through the lens of race since we now have Michelle Obama in the White House. Forget about history and the stereotypes that still prevail against black women. On one hand, we’re asked to forget about our complex history and experiences that have shaped who we are while being criticized for carving out places online or in organizations where we feel more welcome.
Black women have taken the narrow spaces of opportunity available to us and expanded them. – Deborah Grayson
It’s not all bad at Momlogic, there are other black women on the site and they’re speaking out. But there not the only ones, “Nik” writes in a comment:
“I’m a white mother, and probably wouldn’t have considered Ms. Allers’ viewpoint. I’m thankful I have an open mind to read points of view I haven’t before heard and think about them logically. Without flying off the handle. I will say that I work with a black mother who is one of my inspirations.” – Nic
One thing that Nic’s response shows us is that it’s not enough make “black friends” online. But that our real life experiences, in the real world, interacting with each other makes a difference. Unfortunately, despite all the advantages, social media sites have become places where we seek out those who agree with our way of thinking while banishing others who offer differing perspectives.
Some of Kim’s other articles have also met with disapproval. In another post describing how black mothers have labored under difficult circumstances “to secure our family’s financial future,” one reader responded with: “MomLogic, take this article down. Nobody should have to read this.”
Kim is taking the criticism in good stride. Writing about all the controversy on her blog, she says:
“I realized that this is exactly why I have so much work to do. This is exactly why I get up every morning and continue to try to make Mocha Manual the best site that serves us and bring our parenting perspective to the world.”
What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments below.
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