Commentary
-
Sonari is Mixed
This is an interview I conducted for Vocalo.org some time ago, in which a Black man (NPR’s Sonari Rhodes Glinton) concedes he is “mixed”: Half African and Half African-American. At first listen, the categorization sounds almost comical, but consider his viewpoint: one major factor in Ethnicity is culture… and no one can argue that Africans…
-
Coffee and Cigarettes
I’ve never smoked, but that song made me believe in the common luxury of both. Remember when, if visiting someone’s house, the cupboards may have been bare…but they’d still offer you some coffee (even instant).
-
School Closings as School Improvement
What you’re missing on Vocalo.org (Chicago’s user-generated audio website & radio station): Vocalo.org user DJFreeHuey uploaded a first person audio piece: “Concerned parents and teachers of Chicago Public Schools students are speaking out and protesting Chicago’s Renaissance 2010 Initiative and the city’s approach to closing and ‘turning around’ numerous neighborhood schools.” click here for “School…
-
Teddy (1971)
(runtime 00:16:16) Produced by the University of California at Los Angeles, Extension Media Center, and Directed by Richard Wells. This is a beautifully raw short film shot in 1971. The opening scene portrays kids, fresh out of high school, but already short on hope. The public domain film presents the first-person experiences of a black…
-
Book Review: More than just Race
(Norton Press, 2009) According to William Julius Wilson, author of More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (in stores March 2009), “the disproportionate number of low-skilled black males in this country is one of the legacies of historical segregation and discrimination”. This statement cuts cleanly the notion that class-ism is…
-
Broadcasting Out of Africa
What if global perceptions of America were based only on our most impoverished citizens (and those citizens had their livelihoods stolen from them)?
darkjive.com 