Uptown Notes

Yesterday, protests at Ground Zero continued to gain international attention. What’s at issue is a figment of the American public’s imagination: the ground zero mosque. Herds of “well-intentioned” Americans flooded lower manhattan to chant down the construction of what they are calling a ground zero mosque, but what really is an Islamic community center. This case is a powerful lesson in framing, which I was first introduced to by the George Lakoff but you and I experience constantly. If we want to make sure The Community Center at Park 51 is built, we’ve got to re-frame the conversation, or else the Islamophobes have won!

Recently, I penned a piece discussing the need for Black folks to join in with the fight against Arizona’s racist immigration [...]

Yesterday the NYTimes ran an interesting Op-Ed piece on Charter Schools by Charles Murray entitled, “Why Charter Schools Fail the Test.” I read through it quickly and thought it to be arguing two main things: standardized tests were weak measures and that school choice was a democratic right. Sounds agreeable, right? But why was this written by Charles Murray author of the thinly veiled racist polemic The Bell Curve?

Unless you have been in hiding, you have noticed the Census 2010 is in full swing now. From rapping commercials [...]

A look at what happens when race and gender are uncorked in a chicago eatery

Guest on Addicted to Race podcast 112 on Gates, Obama, and deeper racial dialogue.

Why I didn’t jump up and talk about swimming pools or Skip Gates … and maybe why you may not as well.

What Michael Jackson taught me about Social Justice

A brief round-up of the best pieces on Sotomayor’s nomination by Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.

This post will not be a lofty tribute to Brother Malcolm, if you would like to see one like that, check it out here. This will be a call to action, because that is one of the things El Hajj Malik El Shabazz was about. Today is a National Day of Action to Stop the Execution of Troy Davis and today I saw a heinous video of a young teenager brutalized by the Police of Toledo. I do not doubt that Malcolm would have been disturbed to action by both. Let’s honor him by doing the work!