Blogs

Justspeak: The origins of a police culture of bias in Ferguson

The conclusion reached at the end of the recent federal probe on the Ferguson Police department should come as no surprise: a culture of bias exists in the Ferguson Police department. According to the Wall Street Journal, "...the Justice Department probe concluded...Police in Ferguson routinely violated the civil rights of the city's Black residents."
Original Post:THURSDAY, 05 MARCH 2015 15:02, INSIGHT NEWS 
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Justspeak: Who will protect the children?: The invisibility of the American Indian/Native American struggle

Every parent of color hopes that their children will grow up without
exposure to the brutality of racism and other forms of social injustice. That is the promise we hold when we give birth to them and first grasp their tiny hands and look into their eyes as parents. Few parents of color, however, are so lucky and can chronicle example upon example of micro-aggressions to which our children are subjected. My own children experienced such moments in their formative years at school: “what if I call you the ‘N’ word,” taunts of “Medusa” for having cornrow hair or wearing braids, and many more affronts throughout their youthful years, some of which they never disclosed. What we as parents of color pray is that our children never have to face a full frontal attack of racial slurs and the potential for violence. Although my children are now adults, and may face the same challenges as I when they have children, I’m still a parent, and it wrenches my heart to know that children from an American Indian school in South Dakota were the most recent recipients of the latest social injustice assaults that seems to be spreading like wildfire across this country.
Original Post: Insightnews, Friday, 06 February 2015 11:32
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Posted by Irma McClaurin.

Justspeak: A Black mother weeps for America--STOP KILLING OUR BLACK SONS! Black Press Award Winning Column for 2015

Ervin D. Fowlkes Sr. in Birmingham, Alabama, USA,
on 3 May 1963, being attacked by police dogs during a civil rights protest.



No Domestic Tranquility for our Black sons
They are not insurgents. They are not enemy combatants. They are not hostile enemy forces. They are not terrorists. They are our Black sons. And I beg you America to stop killing them in their own backyards, in the streets outside of nightclubs, on the phone talking to their girlfriend, and a few blocks from convenience stores from which they may or may not have stolen cigars. They do not deserve to die for such trivial incidents. Stop it.
Stop killing our Black sons.

They are the babies whom we carried in our wombs for nine months and birthed them into a world we thought was filled with hopes and dreams, and promises of a better future, and a better life.
Stop killing our Black sons. 
Original Post: Insightnews; Tuesday, 26 August 2014 15:19
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Posted In : Policy Analysis 

Artspeak

I am blessed with my mother's skin.

People often stop me to compliment me on how soft and smooth my skin looks.
When asked how I keep it that way, I can only smile and say "good genes."

Having recently celebrated a birthday, I am increasingly aware of the aging process.
It takes its toll, ultimately, on all of us. I have a younger brother, who died too early
 – in his 50s, of complications from obesity. Another friend died in her early 60s of
breast cancer and another in his 60s of complications from diabetes and hypertension.

Others have lived a relatively long life and died in their 80s like my mom. Hers was a
quiet death with peace and grace. Her body simply started to shut down, and we had
decided beforehand to take no "measures"– no tubes, no resuscitation, no needles in
her thin arms. It was the most difficult decision to makeahead of time, but I'm glad my
siblings and I agreed upon this course of action. Mom left us gracefully, and with
dignity. The death of friends and family are all signposts and gentle reminders of our
own impending mortality. Human beings are a species with a biological time clock built in.
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Orig. Post: Wednesday, 23 April 2014 13:16

Posted In : Black Beauty & Health 

Artspeak: Black Feminist Anthropology—Building an intellectual legacy one book at a time

Dr. Irma McClaurin, Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, Dr. Bianca Williams, Corliss D. Heath (ABD), and Dr. Rachel Watkins. (Courtesy of Dr. Irma McClaurin)

Crafting a legacy is a very delicate adventure and can be quite deliberate or unintentional. In her book, A Journey that Matters: Your Personal Living Legacy, Erline Belton reminds us of the importance of establishing a “living legacy.” According to her, “…our living legacy encompasses all of who we are; our personality, our passion, our pain, our joy, our sadness, our progress, our mistakes, our love, our hate our hopes, our dreams and much more” (http://www.lyceumgroupbooks.com/page1.php). The dictionary defines legacy as an inheritance, the passing down of a gift, the bequeathing of something passed through generations. African Americans are a people who have struggled to establish legacies, to pass forward cultural gifts constrained by a past history of enslavement.

We often think of legacy as something that follows us after death. Each of us, I think, hopes that when we pass from this realm of existence into a new one that we leave something behind. But legacy building should begin while we’re still alive. Such was the vision embedded in the making of the edited volume, Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis and Poetics—to create a living intellectual legacy. Read More
Original Post: Friday, 06 December 2013 10:31, Insight News.

Posted In : Why Anthropology 

Chinua Achebe: The passing of a gentle literary giant and a friend

  Chinua Achebe, NYT

On March 22, 2013, Chinua Achebe, one of the world's foremost African writers, joined his ancestors. He died at the age of 82. My mourning the loss of this literary giant is not just the right thing to do, it's personal!

I had the distinct pleasure of being taught and mentored by this writer of novels, short stories, critical essays and poetry. Chinua used numerous forms to carry his message of the impact of colonialism on Africa: the novel, short stories, creative non-fiction, poetry and teaching.
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Original Post: 11 April 2013, Insight News

Posted In : A Moment in Time