13 years since the Million Man March?

Someone check my math? I clearly remember the first October 16 in 1995 that was declared our "Day of Atonement." I begrudgingly went to work as a work/study student in the African and African American Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U.), where I was first year undergraduate student.

I was super radical, adolescent and irrationally upset that the Program wasn't closed to observe the day. I believe I wore all black and a beret, like this:



My "sour grapes" might have been irrational, but my emotion concerning the politics of the time was not unfounded. There was a lot going on concerning African-descent peoples world-wide in 1995. One of the organizations with which I was active, the Association of Black Students (ABS), had been working on incarceration issues, educational inequity in St. Louis Public schools, and about month after celebrating Nigerian Independence Day (October 1), we witnessed the brutal hanging death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and others who were part of the Ogoni struggle.


SEE: http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/deathksw.htm

With only two tenured black faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and increasing gentrification occurring in the city of St. Louis, black students on Wash. U.'s campus took the Million Man March as a serious opportunity to reflect on our protracted struggle against persistent dehumanization.

*


My class-- the wonderful ABS class of 1999 ((unghhhh**))-- organized students to not purchase anything, not even food, on that day. We cooked. We stayed home from class and gathered to talk about political activity ranging from shutting down local Shell stations to reviving black academic support organizations. At sunset we congregated at an outdoor common area. We had candles (did I buy these out of my pocket??? someone advise). We held a vigil and verbally, spiritually committed ourselves to hope, change and love. We were human. We took a moment to respect that, to respect our struggle, and to connect our humanity with the world.

I have always taken time to reflect in that manner on this day as well as October 26 for the Million Women's March. I didn't know how special that group of fabulous black students turned black professionals was until I left for another geographic region. I send them blessings on this day. I also want to send love to Club Knowledge who kept that spirit alive for me when I moved to Oakland ten years later.

Peace. Harambee.


*((Imani Williams from Oakland's Club Knowledge and Tony Stephenson from Wash. U.'s ABS are pictured above. This was taken by the def prof in St. Louis, 2006. Tony is wearing a throwback ABS T-shirt. Go Tony!!))
**(("unghhh" was part of a senior year unity call for the class of 1999. Master P had a song with a chorus that sang, "Unghhhh, Nah nah nah nah," and we would say, "Unghhh, Na-Ninety-N(ah)ine."))

19 days left 'til Nov. 4

While watching the debate tonight, I sadly felt as if I were watching the SNL version. McCain was cartoonish and nonsensical and oddly on par with Tina Fey's representation of the Sarah Palin character. I was irritated that the post-debate analysis ignored Obama's attempts to center discussion on urgent issues of health care, economic crisis and quality education, as well as his proposal to eschew meaningless discussion about mudslinging and scare tactics employed by campaigns. I was proud of how Obama handled the debate. Schieffer's overt verbal interruptions of Obama compared to his compliance through lack of time enforcement with McCain revealed his inadequacy as moderator. McCain's use of hyperbole and emotional outburst during debate were disturbing, and as I said earlier, on par with an SNL skit.

Nonetheless, I am not down about our collective futures. With all of the news of the McCain campaign's attempt to rally racist domestic terrorist groups at political rallies, I became a bit concerned about the gravity of such a tactic. Dancing on fear and false claims of scarcity have influenced masses of insecure people to make choices that are clearly not in their favor in past campaigns. I have lived in an area that was home to the headquarters of 17 different white supremacist terrorist organizations, and I am quite familiar with the organizing strategies of these groups. McCain lovingly referred to these as his "fringe" group supporters tonight. I am relieved to hear from many past acquaintances who continue to live in this area that the Obama support is alive and vibrant even there. Many have told me of plans to organize "van loads" of people on election day and others have been working to support early absentee voting.

With this recent news, I have my heart set on hope.

Now we have to focus some of our energy on making sure people are educated about the many other propositions possible to vote on after they cast their votes for a better prospect in the presidency. But that's another blog...

Thinking about Drexicya and new digital music (part one)

Today I was speaking with a colleague about connections among the narratives of enslaved Africans in spirituals and folklore to other black popular musical performances over time that have utilized space metaphors to connect to concepts of freedom. My favorite example to share in my Black Onlne: Cyberspace, Culture and Community course is the resurfacing of "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" from spirituals to Parliament to Dr. Dre. As I perused the web to find fun clips ranging from Sun Ra to Juan Atkins on sites like Youtube, I came across this nice interview with James Stinson:




There is also a tribute mix posted on this blog:

http://my.opera.com/bigloada/blog/2007/09/02/james-stinson-tribute-mix

My students have probably heard me speak often about his work with Drexicya, because he brought these metaphors home. The map of diaspora and use of science fiction narrative to educate about the liberation work still to be done continues to move me. While the masses obsess over Kraftwerk, Daft Punk & now Digitalism, I still can't let go of the effect of art from acts like Drexicya, Cybotron, etc. Don't get me wrong-- I have Kitsune Tabloid on my ipod and I enjoy running to it, but the roots and the reality of these earlier works are not yet fully excavated in my opinion. There is still love & liberation to be uncovered in the analysis of these pieces, and there is also important critique to be executed.

((Btw, I can't wait for Mr. Daniel Zarazua to come lecture on Detroit techno in my course!!!))

def professor talks to Davey D about Chuck D

This is an excerpt from an impromptu interview with me by Davey D regarding what Chuck D has meant to me (and the people I work with in my communities). Chuck D is not only a pioneer artist and creative guru, but he is also a compassionate and inspirational political character whose ethical concerns and moral convictions continue to push me to work harder to secure social justice. Knowing him has had a profound impact on my pedagogy and research practice as well as my personal life. I am a bit exuberant here, but, trust me, it is well deserved. In my opinion, there is no other Hiphop artist who is as accomplished and ethical as Chuck D.



[[Editorial Note: SFSU’s Africana/ Black Studies Department was most likely not the FIRST academic site of study for peoples included in the African-Diaspora on planet earth (think Timbuktu & centers in ancient Egypt, for example). However, it is the FIRST modern academic department in a United States university. Prior to the student strike of 1968, there were not departments of Black Studies/ African American Studies/ Afro-American Studies/ Africana Studies as we know these departments to exit today. Such departments were founded by students with a unique curriculum that is simultaneously activist- and community service-oriented while being anchored in theory and research that serves to improve the lives of all human beings.]]

def professor joins Boze

The def professor joins Boze (co-founder of Club Knowledge & producer with Hairdoo) and hosts of the TalkBack show on PCTV (Peralta Community College Television) to talk about Club Knowledge's Malcolm X Critical Consciousness Conference, the def prof's Hiphop courses taught at Laney College, Hiphop scholarship and culture, the Hiphop Archive as an academic resource and gender equity issues in Hiphop. This show was taped in early April of 2005.

The def prof was a faculty advisor and member of Club Knowledge, which was a unique student organization with a community-based organizational component. In addition to hosting the annual conference, the organization met at people's homes in the Oakland community to discuss and plan action to solve community problems and community pains.

Club Knowledge was conceptualized by Miesha Hillard, who is now a practicing nurse in Oakland. Other very active founding members who came after Ms. Hillard include Curtis "Boze" Riley and Danae Martinez as well as many others. Ms. Martinez is the person who conceptualized the first Malcolm X conference, and she will soon complete her BA in Africana Studies at SFSU and plans to obtain PhD in the field. These students and many more put their hearts and souls into imperative community organizing that has left a lasting impact on the memories of Bay Area residents. There will be another post about Hiphop courses at Laney & the Club Knowledge work.

def professor talks with teens

In this episode of Rites of Passage, a unique digital media project conceptualized by Charity Tooze, the def professor discusses gender and sexuality issues in Hiphop with high school students.

The key point in this discussion is to break out of binaries and totalized identities. That is, for example, David Banner shouldn't get a pass on his sexist rhetoric because he is racially conscious or critical towards class inequalities in certain lyrics and practices. Race does not trump sexual or gendered identities when it comes to human equality. Furthermore, the idea that women promote or "ask for" sexist harassment and abuse when they explore and perform their basic human right to sexuality is outmoded. Sexism will not end in Hiphop if women "put more clothes on" and it is sexist to totalize the idea of sexism into "women without clothes" or to put unrealistic binaries on women's behavior, otherwise known as the "queen" vs. "ho" dichotomy.

The def professor was one week away form her due date when this was taped-- so that is a cameo from her son Xola in the video :)