I AM SEAN BELL, black boys speak from Stacey Muhammad on Vimeo.
"I'm already scared in New York, because of all this crime on the
street, but now theirs cops are killing us, that means are hero's
are the murderers, like the bad guys now."
street, but now theirs cops are killing us, that means are hero's
are the murderers, like the bad guys now."
It all started with the watching people debate whether
Rihanna deserved to be hit.
As a Black feminist who writes about violence and rage,
I was particular intersted in how this conversation has played out
in pop culture in general and in the Black community specifically.
When you are a thinker, with a sense of obligation, it can
be hard. It has been hard for me. Hard but not impossible.
I see myself as being beholden to the young men in the video above.
I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do, but I knew it was something.
So I re-sent Ann another design for 100 Visionaries. She was open
and we worked out a project schedule.
Then I saw someone twit, "Don't let the need to be perfect
stop you from doing something."
I am always interested in what stops me and us from acting.
Perfection and fear are the two main sources.
Then things started to happen.
The first thing is that I read that the bloggers and the
unions were getting together to start a political action
committee that would elect local politicians
and hold President Obama accountable. I thought, awesome,
that is what I want for 100 Visionaries.
WASHINGTON — A group of liberal bloggers said it was teaming upI began to think that if I got our 100 Visionary infrastructure running
with organized labor and MoveOn.org to form a political action
committee that would seek to push the Democratic Party
further to the left.
then we could poly with them and try to make some REAL change.
The second thing was the firing of Liz Smith from The Post.
I figured if she got the ax, then there was truly a new day in
publishing. The day after I learned that I decided to publish an
online anthology of essays on hip hop, masculinity/femininity.
My rationale was, why go through a gate keeper, when
I know enough people who would be willing to contribute?
I also thought it would be the first of its kind.
The third was that in sketching the 100 Visionary site,
I decided to make an issues campaign spread sheet.
It is hard to think both big and small picture simultaneously.
I need your help with doing so.
Issue
I invite any of you who are interested, and want to make a
contribution to e-mail me any suggestions.
If you are on gmail, e-mail me, and I can
add you to the google documents list. This will allow you to
update the spreadsheet on your own time.
I am excited about the idea of those of us who care
and want to take an action on a a systemic and local level.
This is the change we can believe in. It feels good to be
a part of the solution.
Focused Anger in '09 Love.
What do you think it will take to get folks to move from
talk to action?
What are you excited about this year?
Did you work on the Obama campaign?
4 comments:
I have my students reading "A Lesson Before Dying." The same Chris/Rihanna debate evolved before my eyes. She started it, so she "deserved" it. One female student said that's okay, because she'd get revenge. When I pointed out the statistics of women that aren't able to exact revenge because they are no longer living, things got quiet. Action is difficult because many people don't understand the power of their words. Those that don't act, think words are merely enough. It's not enough to cause someone to think. You must act out, physically interpret your thoughts and actions. The accountability is not as prominent when you speak, only when you act, i.e. "telling" as opposed to "showing". Words are so important, the power of what we speak into existence is great - yet it doesn't mean as much as someone that talks and walks. For whatever reason, people are afraid to do both. i think it's because at some level many people are afraid to be relied upon.
Mr. Proctor,
You just gave me chills.
Thank you for sharing.
When I pointed out the statistics of women that aren't able to exact revenge because they are no longer living, things got quiet.
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Thank you. I have been saying this.
BUT. They don't hear me. can I have your permission to take your comment and use it to
it in blog post?
I also had the experience of tutoring
an year old on Monday, who was reading on a.
It was like she radiated power.
She questioned me, I questioned her,
she challenged me, and I challenged her.
Children like that, and I think all our children have the capacity to be that way,
RADIATE the future.
Words are so important, the power of what we speak into existence is great - yet it doesn't mean as much as someone that talks and walks. For whatever reason, people are afraid to do both. i think it's because at some level many people are afraid to be relied upon.
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I am afraid of doing something. But I think I am more afraid of doing nothing.
Thank you for this.
oh course!!!
I posted a link to this.
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