Ever since I jumped aboard the Obama bandwagon in February, I've been itching to write about this concept of "post-racial." Reverend Jeremiah Wright's weekend has given me the context I've needed. I've spent the last 2 days vomiting up every thought about race and the Presidential race that has popped into my head on twitter. 140 character bursts, obvs, were not enough...
First, some common trains of thought the last two days...
misterjt "Wright's 'I'm Grown and I Say What the Hell I Want To Say' victory lap". I heart the black snob - http://twurl.nl/lorfq0
misterjt @arsepoetica For extra credit - Crab, meet barrel - http://twurl.nl/6lnbkv
misterjt I'm also supremely bothered by the idea that people would equate Wright's media tour as a HRC dirty trick. He is not Willie Horton.
I'm going to dig into this more but, here's the whole thing about this entire situation in two wonderful bites by some very smart folks I like. On the one hand, it is so cool to see Rev. Wright on a National stage. For Black communities, he's familiar. He's fiery and passionate about the state of the African-American community. He's intelligent and witty. Like most pastors, he's a showman. He's direct and contradictory and complicated and fascinating.
He's no Willie Horton. He's no dirty trick. He's an American voice. Regardless of whether or not I agree with his statements, to suggest that he's anything other than a incredibly smart guy who does not want 24 hour news channels and a presidential candidate to define him belittles him and you.
That said, he's also a person most Black folks would be strained to explain to mixed company. As The Black Snob notes, "He was practically basking in the glow of making the white folk uncomfortable."
After that moment of glee in recognizing this, there's the immediate recognition, "Oh shit. Who effed up and let this Negro speak?"
Why would this be the immediate next thought? Well...
misterjt @arsepoetica I don't think Obama was calculating in choosing a pastor. I do think, however, that mainstream America is not quite ready...
misterjt to really see what goes on behind closed racial doors. Rev. Wright makes Barack more George Jefferson than Heathcliff Huxtable.
misterjt @RPM I'm right, though, ain't i? Everybody loves George Jefferson but middle america would be scared to death of him as a president.
I really mean this. For Barack Obama to win, he's gotta be Cliff Huxtable. Maybe Sydney Poitier. That's it. If he's Cliff, he's your kids pediatrician, he taught you about jazz, he invites you over for the bbq. Good ol' Cliff would never make you feel uncomfortable. But if he's George Jefferson -- if you think he occasionally says "honkey" when you're not around, if he wants to talk about slavery or reparations, if he wants to remind you of all he's overcome, if he reminds you that he, a black man, is doing better than you are, or that he doesn't think the same things about controversial issues that you do -- well, you ain't voting for that guy.
No matter how great his smile is or how hopeful his message is.
Rev. Wright makes Barack Obama very black. Uncomfortably black...
misterjt Times on Wright - wriggled. cocky. defiant. declamatory. inflammatory. mischevious. monomania. wacky. highfalutin. http://twurl.nl/2366yr
...you can tell just by how he's described. This NY Times article uses as much language as possible to turn Rev. Wright into both a Bogey Man and a Clown. Not only is he scary, he's crazy. Wait, Barack, you're black, too. Are you scary and crazy?
misterjt I don't quite know what to make of people who think "Wright is out to destroy Obama." How, exactly? By being a charismatic speaker?
Which brings me to right now. I'm thumbs down on Barack Obama today. He had the opportunity to further his speech from a month ago and continue to push the race conversation forward. This is his litmus test and, for my money, he failed. If he's going to use words like "change" and "hope" then he better have the where with all to back it up.misterjt By being not post-racial? It bugs me that rather than have the nuanced race talk, people are more comfortable with just disavowing a voice.
Instead, he did what every politician does in these situations. He caved. He disavowed. He denounced.
misterjt @blogdiva why? If Obama is presidential material, it is his responsibility to be able to do grand things in the face of adversity.
misterjt @blogdiva it is not Wright's responsibility, or any of us as voters, to protect Obama. He has to prove himself.
misterjt After the last few months of shiny, happy moments, this is his real test, my gung-ho support, if not my vote, lies in how he handles it.
misterjt @RPM I think so. I don't think Obama has had to prove himself at all. Now he has to prove himself to me.
Here's how he could of proved it - expanded the conversation. Talked about the difference between religious speech and political rhetoric. Talked about the many spectacular themes in Wright's talks. Talked to Wright directly. Discussed why beliefs like "The US Government had something to do with AIDS" maintain legitimacy in the Black community. I'll even give you this one for free, Obama. At my barber shop this weekend, it was said, "If a nigga can get shot 50 times, be unarmed, and the niggas who did it not get thrown under the jail, you don't think the government cain't do some shit to the black man? They already done did it, man."
If you're going to be the President of the United States of America, you better be for real. Don't go running from the race conversation, Barack. Jump right in. Just because Bush has set the bar so low doesn't mean you still shouldn't go for the highest standard possible. This goes beyond American Political Strategy and tactics and all of that. I'm saying as a voter, I want to respect you. I want to believe you're that dude.
Show me something.
misterjt we're only post-racial when we believe all of our assumptions are the same. The moment that world view is shaken, it all comes tumbling down
misterjt @drublood I honestly don't think that's it. It's not about racism. It's about our--all of us--prickly problem with race. The 2 are different
misterjt @drublood well, it's obviously in the grand scheme about racism but "race in america" on an individual level is about comfort.
misterjt @drublood it is amazing that for the first time, a majority of americans perhaps, can envision a black president. But now is the hard part.
misterjt what does that mean for our national psyche, our national conversation about race and culture? Legitimization of voices like Wright's is 1
If you've read me online for any period of time, you know I just want to have honest conversations about race (and gender and class and sexuality). I don't want things to be simple. I don't want to be a part of any concept of post-racialism if that means we're ignoring the realities of our lives. If that means we don't get to acknowledge, discuss and celebrate our differences. If that doesn't mean we can look back on history honestly or look toward the future realistically.
I want to talk about my prejudices. I want to talk about yours. I want to value your voice as much as you value mine. I don't want to have to make a choice between a Rev. Wright or a Barack Obama. They are both me whether you like it or not.
If only Mr. Obama hadn't spent the day attempting to forget that.
Despite journalists suggesting that you are somehow beyond Blackness, as we can now see, it don't wash off.
Current music: Wire – "The king stay the king."
]]>It's been a few days and here's what you've missed...
@michellej oooh, muxtape. I'm going to play with that tonight.
GOOD Magazine made a muxtape: http://goodblog.muxtape.com/
and, my muxtape. All 2008 releases, none of which I've talked about anywhere yet - http://misterjt.muxtape.com/
Alright, the muxtape is updated. It's a Gray Sky Saturday Kinda Mixology - http://misterjt.muxtape.com/ - And now, we escape the APT.
finally digging into iLike. The instant playlist thing is the only thing that's a killer app so far. Everything else I get from last.fm.
spent the afternoon with Dick Sherman. Feeling inspired and Mickey Mouse Proud: http://www.theboysdoc.com/
Wednesday was one of the best work days I've had in a while. I spent the afternoon in the Old Animation Building listening to half of the duo that came up with It's A Small World and all of Mary Poppins and nearly a thousand other Disney songs. He told us Walt stories and about what it was like to work at Disney in the 60s and also shared insights into teamwork and relationships and creativity and having a positive view of the world. As he said, "The other way is too easy."
Of course, I ate it up.
@tiffanybbrown I'm naturally an introvert, too, and people are shocked to hear that.
my bumper sticker of the day: introverts do it one on one.
@gillianr I'm INTP
Ever since my first taking of the Myers-Briggs test in high school, I've been INTP. The only one that even has a chance of switching is the N to an S. I've always liked this test as I think it explains me really well. I don't like generalizing (actually, I do, but in context and with the expectation that you understand what "generalization" means. Sigh, see, I'm already overexplaining), but INTPs are most concerned with the "why" of things. How is fascinating, of course, but How ceases to be useful after it has informed the Why. What, When, and Where? Bah. Those things can change but they rarely effect the universal Why.and, if you ever want to shrink me, this is kind of perfect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
I like to know stuff. I'm generally convinced I know more than you do. I don't hold that against you. Also, I'm too busy trying to know more to call you on the phone or put away these dishes.
That's me in a nutshell.
a funny thing happened on the way to book reading in the great outdoors, planet bboy and hurry curry in old pasadena. Double bonus.
I nearly broke into an uprock while walking out of the theatre. True story.
Also, some other independent films to remember to go see:
Young@Heart
Jellyfish
Red Belt
Video chat is the business. Now to get a bunch of stuff electronically powered done in the next 53 minutes so I can read/nap at earth hour.
time to light some candles and power down some ish.
whilst walking my 'hood during earth hour, was reminded that my orthodox neighbors are earth hour compliant every shabbat for a full day.
my earth hour compliance? I powered down/unplugged everything except for tivo. I read for 8 minutes and walked for 52. Did use iPod on walk.
post earth hour? microwave, printer, heaters and fans will stay unplugged until needed.
But, you know, that's way too heavy to think about, man. It's easier to just be a feel-good green shopper.
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@toddkelley you are so wrong for that avatar. I have seen the black devil doll trailer. in HD!
@toddkelley heh heh heh. Undercover Black Man posted a link to it a couple months back. SOOOOO wrong. Funny. But SOOOO wrong.
http://quotably.com/ is hot
have I said recently how much I adore skitch?
trying out this friendfeed joint. I'm not sure how it's different from plaxo pulse but I'll give it a shot.
It was a "fun with the internetz" day. Quotably really is great for following a twitter conversation. Especially if you don't follow all the people who are talking with the person driving the convo. I used it several times today. Tweetburner launched today too but I haven't really checked it out yet.
Skitch is kind of a killer App (mac only). I'm here.
As Mau pointed out to me, the big thing about friendfeed may be that it makes facebook updating a passive activity. (Yeah, I'm back on facebook after a 2 month hiatus. Sigh.)
I also really like drop.io.
np: way down in the hole by tom waits
i did this for @michellej but since I like drop.io so much, I figured I'd share. I'm not going back to pownce. http://drop.io/waydownhole/
Pretty cool, right?
Am I really buying the day26 album?
My name is a Jason and I'm a Making The Band addict.
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3 months after being lost, the iPod Touch has found it's way home. w00t!
I lost my newly purchased iPod Touch on a trip to San Francisco at New Year's. I'd been in the city just a couple hours. I'd taken a cab to the San Francisco Food Bank for a volunteer activity and the Touch stayed in the cab. I didn't worry much about it. I try to not have an overwhelming connection to things, property, what have you. I'm possessive of experiences, thoughts, and emotions. The stuff -- the physical stuff -- well, it's never really ours at all is it? It all goes back into the ground eventually just as we do. Besides that, I had a wonderful time that day and didn't want my carelessness to ruin the feeling I had. Not to get all philosophical on a Sunday, but whoomp, there it is.
Cut to 6 weeks later, I get an email from a guy asking me if I lost my iPod. I excitedly replied and we had a conversation. He grilled me on what I named the Touch (Luke Cage). I noted that my iPod Classic is currently named Nightwing and that my new iMac was named The Immortal Iron Fist (blogger's note: I'm kind of a freaky mac nerd these days. I didn't realize how bad it had become). He asked where I'd lost it. I told him the story. He complimented my music tastes. I thanked him for recognizing. He kind of dejectedly said he guessed he'd send it back to me.
It took a few more weeks but he did. I hadn't been to my P.O. Box in awhile but, yesterday there it was. I'm so excited to have it back. With the 20 buck upgrade, it's become an even cooler device. I'm sending the good samaritan a nice Amazon gift certificate this morning.
Gadgets and good folks rule.
@ poketo. Chillin in a cabaná with a bed swing
Scooter Kitty's friends and my acquaintances, Ted and Angie, run POKETO and they recently purchased a loft in Little Tokyo. They had their first art show there last night and it was hella fun. I rode in an elevator with Paul Frank and his wife. I bought prints by Tom and Rama. I ran into a former co-worker. We unexpectedly created a hot tub party on the building's posh rooftop pool area. It was a glorious evening and it didn't stop there. After several hours with our tootsies in the warm bubbly soup, we made our way over to 1st street and Far Bar.
Far bar. Drinking. In need of late night vittles
The only way the evening could've been more perfect is if there was a spontaneous dance party in front of MOCA.
But, I'll take what I got.
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I told Anil I was stealing this idea and now, for you, a new blog feature - Beyond the 140!
home! my short good friday wasn't that short. Now waiting for my sister to come over so we can go see There Will Be Blood at the arclight.
The sisterly time included a lively conversation about what her dream 21st birthday would look like (a trip to Paris with friends from both LA and New York) and what my ideal wedding would look like (taking 20 people - 10 for the bride, 10 for the groom - to the Greek Islands featuring a small outdoor ceremony, a ship, me being named the new king of Santorini and a lot of happy). That said, pretty much any dream party of mine these days involves taking X number of people to Y location (where Y varies from Greece, South Africa, Japan or Hawaii).
This was my favorite article in last month's GOOD. I want the most expensive pizza, like now: http://xrl.us/bh29f
hot dog talk: twitter as food pr0n: flickr - put that on your SAT Verbal Exam.
a hot dog is most perfect with just mustard. You may add cheese, chili, saurkraut and maybe relish (not all at once). at a BBQ, bbq sce, ok
ketchup is *never* okay on a hot dog made for the kid.