Uptown Notes

“I have been dismayed at the degree to which abysmal ignorance seems to prevail among state, city and even Federal [...]

The term revolutionary is often batted about and is bestowed upon most anyone who finds their ideas falling to the left of the political mainstream. For that reason we have more coffee shop revolutionaries than I can shake a vegan biscotti at! Now I don’t mean that as pot-shot against coffee shop poets (okay, well maybe I did a mean it a little) but really its about the question, “What does it take to be revolutionary?” I was left deeply reflecting on that after watching Che.

If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people [...]

When it comes to discussing collective work and responsibility, I usually end up on the other side of most conversations which seem to start with, “The reason Black folks can’t get ahead is…” or “We’re just like crabs in a barrel…” While these conversations have their place, I think we have been conditioned to overlook the collective work that we take part in daily. While there are many issues that face our community, many of use continue to struggle and fight but don’t receive the acknowledgment that is deserved.

Yesterday and today, some of the most violent attacks on the Palestinian people in decades were launched by the Israeli military. As I write this, the death toll is approximately 280, and the number of innocent lives that will continue to be lost are unknown. I value human life and really have dreamed about a peaceful middle east, but now, more than ever, I’m concerned that my wishes have been nothing more than a dream. The question of Zionism remains one of the most politically contentious among global citizens today. Beneath you will find two videos from the greatKwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael), who left the earth in 1998, speaking on the distinction between Judaism and Zionism and his position on imperialism. Please listen. We can no longer afford to not value human life.

Over a year ago, controversy over the Kahlil Gibran International Academy unfolded, if you don’t know who Kahlil Gibran was stop reading and click here – yeah, he’s that important, in Brooklyn. The visible battle over the mission of the school, its practices, and its leadership put the academy in the national spotlight for discussions of ethnicity, language, religion and identity. But soon, this spotlight faded and many have forgotten that the school still is in operation. Colorlines runs a great web article by Seth Wessler entitled, “Silenced in the classroom” on what is happening with the school now.

In an age when grassroots Black leadership has become distilled, sanitized, and all too often co-opted, we are often left [...]

So in bizarro world news yesterday, my phone and twitter started blowing up about the commuting of sentence that John [...]

People were shocked by the passage of Prop 8 and the votes of African-Americans… should we be? “In many ways, folks have been shocked that voting for Left or progressive politics doesn’t necessarily mean that you support social justice or equality for all. I can’t help but think that we have assumed for far too long that coming from a certain background, speaking a certain tongue, wearing certain buttons inherently connects our struggles for justice. In reality, a social justice orientation is taught one, a lived one, a challenging one. If we are not forever questioning our oppressions and our own privileges I’ve come to believe we are playing party or ideological politics, not engaging in politics of change and justice. Our inability to see our connectedness and divergences in our struggles have ended up making justice for “just us.”

This weekend, October 17th-19th City College hosts the first CUNY Social Forum. Come out and have your voice heard and develop plans to make CUNY the university system that it was meant to be.