Uptown Notes

This is my reflection on Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
For more than a year, I’ve entertained way too many conversations [...]

This week, my dear friend Yusef Ramelize, took on the issue of homelessness. No, he didn’t decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen. No he didn’t decide to give out change to someone he saw as he was exiting the platform. No he didn’t email his friends and tell them they should join a “homelessness sucks” cause on facebook. He decided to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness by getting a first person experience. Yusef is going homeless for one week.

What would our communities look like if we concentrated on contributing positively to each other lives, rather than concentrating on accruing financial capital? Basically, the desire to make money often takes precedent over our ability to contribute to each others well being. “Support Black Business” this was my approach to the principle of Ujamaa for years, but I realized that supporting a business by someone who looks like me will likely get our people no closer to liberation. Need an example, just turn on BET.

Over the past week, the media and everyone who could jump on the bandwagon of wagging fingers, frowned brows, and [...]

If you aren’t accustomed to clicking links on the side of this page, I hope this will help. This is [...]

I am linking to a post by Jafari Sinclaire Allen about Morehouse, sexuality, and community. Jafari was before my time [...]

At about 1 in the morning I strolled along the main artery of Harlem, 125th street. As I walked from [...]

My job as a professor really gives me a great opportunity to talk to folks about the sociology that we [...]

Nas’ song has been burning through my head as of late. Could be the late nights, early morning, the travelling, [...]

As I returned to my state of Michigan a few weeks ago, I was greeted with the image of a [...]