Saturday, May 22, 2010
DEBRADICKERSON.COM: Debra Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
What does Malcolm X have to do with Canada?
The third Sunday in May is Malcolm X Day. In the 1960s, Malcolm X was one of the most candid and admired leaders of the black nationalist movement, whose philosophy was racial separation and self-determination that rejected Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent, integrationist approach to civil rights. Malcolm X was sharply critical of civil rights leaders who advocated black integration into white society as a substitute for building strong black institutions and defending themselves against racist violence. He was an internationally known political leader, whose philosophy can be summed up in his own words: “It is not integration that Negros in America want, it is human dignity.”
Malcolm X Day is celebrated in most major American cities, but what does it have to do with Canada? What impact, if any, did the philosophies of Malcolm X have on black Canadian consciousness and politics?
To answer this question, we must first understand not only the original militant philosophy expounded by Malcolm X and its influence in Canada at the time, but also the ongoing impact of Malcolm X’s transformative philosophy, which moved beyond civil rights to human rights developed shortly after his resignation from the Nation of Islam and just prior to his assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York on Feb. 21, 1965. That year, just before his death, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity as a non-religious medium to draw attention to the common cause of human dignity and human rights for all people of African descent in the world. On only one occasion did he visit Canada, where he did an interview with the CBC and visited the home of the well-known Canadian author Austin Clarke. However, his influence on black Canadians was significant.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
To Rain of Havock: Update on the Ayiana Case
Thank you, Raina,
Detroit police have done a dirty deed by covering their own members in the shooting of the innocent girl. I hope the officers involved are fired and in jail and that Ayianna's family sue the department. It's a disgrace to the family and the community they swore to protect. Even 7-year old children of color aren't exempt from police brutality. May Ayianna rests in peace.
Arizona: For Whites Only?
by R. L’Heureux Lewis
Recently, I penned a piece discussing the need for Black folks to join in with the fight against Arizona’s racist immigration bill SB 1070. My goal was to challenge Black folks, to think beyond the immediate immigration bill to the larger injustices that are taking root in Arizona. In the past few weeks, Arizona has continued to make their intentions clear. Whether you agree with SB 1070 or not, the state of Arizona has begun a march towards making the state free, open and inhabitable to Whites and closed to people of color, particularly Latinos.
Arizona is now pushing a package of policies that serve to malign, discriminate against, and reduce the freedoms of non-Whites, citizens and non-citizens alike. The signing of SB 1070 into law has increased the legal discretion and support for thinly veiled racial profiling. This week, the governor signed into law a bill that eliminated Ethnic Studies at the primary and secondary grade levels. Arizona’s Department of Education has been lobbying for the removal of teachers with strong accents or whose grammatical structure is found to be unacceptable. It would be naïve to suggest that these policies are simply about the safety, quality, and fairness as they’ve been pitched; instead they represent a concerted attempt to cleanse Arizona of ethnic influence.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Lena Horne RIP
Lena Horne passed away Monday at age 92. Here's the tribute video from YouTube. May she rests in peace.
Aboriginal News Group: FBI loses trial against former American Indian Movement member Richard Marshall
Vancouver resident John Graham's trial set for July 6
By Oshipeya
Coast Salish Territory, Vancouver, Canada
May 12, 2010
An all-White jury in Rapid City, South Dakota, took less than two hours on April 22 to return a not-guilty verdict in the trial of former American Indian Movement (AIM) member Richard Marshall (of the Lakota Nation) in connection to the murder of fellow AIM member Anna Mae Pictou Aquash.
Aquash was a Mi’kmaq from Nova Scotia and a skilled organizer and warrior with AIM who was targeted and threatened with death by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). When her body was found on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in February of 1976, the FBI tried to cover-up her identity and true cause of death by having her buried as an unknown “Jane Doe” who had supposedly died of exposure, despite an obvious bullet hole wound to her head. A second autopsy requested by family members revealed the murder. At the time, an FBI-supported death squad made up mostly of reservation police officers had killed some 60 members of AIM and traditional Lakota people on Pine Ridge. Other death squad murders had also been passed-off as death by exposure by the FBI’s pathologist and were not investigated.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Open Mic Friday: Question: If Black Women Are So Ugly… « The Obsidian Files
This is the question I always present to those White guys in the Manosphere who swear up and down that Black Women in toto are just sooo hideous, etc. Now, I’m not knocking any Man’s personal preferences. Whatever suits ya, knock yourself out. But it seems like in the odd nexus of the Game and HBDspheres, most White guys seem to go out of their way to hate on and diss Sistas. Which to me seems downright irrational, given the fact that millions of lightskinned Black folks do indeed exist."
Monday, May 03, 2010
A Father's Love
http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/LTHSpecialReport.html