Above First lady Bush stands on stage in front of myself, other faculty members and students, as well as invited guests from other countries. This was my second time to hear her speak. I first heard her give a lecture while an undergraduate student at Harding University; however, the difference of course is in money. Seeing that she has a grand child attending here, I am sure we did not spend $50 – 60,000 for a speaking fee. Th

This past summer, our head of school and other important people not named Carson, flew up to Maine to secure naming rights for our new conference center; it will be named the George H.W. and Barbara Bush Center for Scholars and Leaders. I am not sure about how the resources and endowment elements of this work.

                        Above: Ashley Consolvo, Emma Barr, Amie Leitko,Carson, Liz Constantinou, Meg Goode, and Taylor Porchey

In response to having Barbara Bush on campus, students were in uniform. This is not the norm on Friday. A number of my favorite students asked me to wear a sweater vest with them. The idea of course was to pose for this great picture. This is one of only a few times in life I have felt like a rock star.

devotion of the masses of Negroes….My wash lady tells me every week about how she hears the angel’s wings when he speaks, and God speaks directly through him and …he speaks directly to God.

When 250,000 people, about one-third white and the rest black, marched on Washington in August 1963 to be counted for civil rights legislation, King addressed them:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustices and oppression, will be transformed into oasis of freedom and justice.

King and others realized that racial harmony and justice would only transform when both races engaged in some kind of discourse. The mistake many make regarding Dr. King is that they have not given his intellectual prowess enough attention. King, who borrowed from the tenets of Romanticism and the writings of Henry David Thoreau, was a pragmatists. However, he immersed himself in a praxis of intellectual realism. I have read where some academics have written about the Marxists views of MLK. That cannot be the case due to his Romantic tenets. King did once write about how poor blacks and poor whites would one day unify to abolish their common condition and class oppression; however, since MLK was using the steel city of Birmingham as a model, he quickly realized that a labor of unity would not occur through labor unions, but it was possible by way of religion and social condition.

Ten years earlier, Ralph Ellison’s classic novel, Invisible Man, highlights the challenges many blacks felt in white America:

I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination — indeed, everything and anything except me.

Ellison is addressing this distorted perception — the failure to see the humanity and individuality of black people — has its roots in the historic veil of slavery and Jim Crowism that separates the black world from the white world. MLK worked to bring both worlds together by removing this veil that promoted blindness. As my favorite intellectual W.E.B. DuBois notes:

The worlds within and without the Veil of Color are changing, and changing rapidly, but not at the same rate, not in the same way; and this must produce a peculiar wrenching of the soul, a peculiar sense of doubt and bewilderment. Such a double life, with double thoughts, double duties, and double social classes, must give rise to double words and double ideals , and tempt the mind to pretence or to revolt, to hypocrisy or to radicalism.

DuBois contends that we (black folks) must be a part of the white world just as the white world must be a part of the black world. Thank you Dr. King for using your intellect and faith in humanity to know and understand that we would figure it out. I will attend a concert tonight honoring King. I hope to reflect some as guest speakers address his goals and many of his accomplishments.

CB: What’s the deal with people who want to run just because they like running? September through December I hated it the whole time. The second I signed up for a race, though, boom. Big turnaround in my attitude and big jump in my weekly miles. Were you that same way before you started really working on your Boston goals? I wish I could just be casual about it and maintain enough miles to do a marathon occasionally if I feel like it, but I just don’t enjoy it if I don’t have a specific end in mind.

EC: I started running back in graduate school. Then it was more to stay in shape and watch my weight; however, after slowly running for a period of time, I could not help but notice the rise of my competitive juices. I still enjoyed running, but I felt that if I was going to run, I wanted to see how good I could get. My initial purpose for running slowly started to change.  I increased my miles and attempted to focus on training and not running. But, that would not come to fruition until 3 years ago. Even while teaching you (CB) at CAC, I was always a step away from injuring myself; I was pretty reckless then. And, sure enough, I did just that. Developed an injury that would not go away.

Today I have discovered that I do not like running for the sake of running. Much like you, I am motivated by a goal. As soon as I sign up for a race, I am focused and ready to train – not run. I like to plot out my races well in advanced. The months of September through December are prime months for me. I try to get a fall marathon and at least 1 half-marathon in during this period. Knowing this forces me to discipline myself and think more about training and less about running. This sounds bad, but there are a number of day in which I just do not like running. I have come to see running as a job at times; it is what I must do not if I want to do it. I have found that this is the primary difference between running and training. It is too easy to quit and not run. That is less of an option when training since each workout build over a period of time. Back in 2008 I aimed to be really good. I am still working toward the point of being really really good. I do believe I will be there.  Getting into Boston is a logical goal for being a competitive runner; I like the changes recently made for qualifying for the Boston Marathon. It means that I cannot get comfortable. Of course I am not too concerned about that. My goals are pretty steep. That is why I train. I must do more than just run.

CB: Second of all, what do your students think about your running? I feel like I’ve connected with kids who might not have liked me as much otherwise, especially at Lamar, where I posted my workouts in the classroom and gave them regular reports. I’ve even had a couple of former students from Lamar who facebooked me about marathons they were training for. One of them was a girl who was overweight in high school, so that was really cool. I would like to see stats on the obesity rate among high school teachers because I would be surprised if it’s not even higher than the national average. I’ve read maybe a few articles about student obesity affecting academics, but I want to know how teacher’s level of physical fitness affects the classroom.

EC: Well, my running is the topic of a number of conversations. Some students are amazed at the time and miles I devote to doing it. I have found my colleagues to be the most curious at times. Many still struggle to comprehend what I do and why I do it. Students, on the other hand, find my running to be pretty exciting. They ask a lot of basic questions about running due to their lack of knowledge; I am sure you get some of that. I do not post my workouts; however, they do have access to my training blog. A few of them swing by to see what I am doing. During the Boston Marathon last April, a number of students followed me via the Internet. The BAA posted times at various points. The challenge faced on my campus is that students have no sense of a diet. Many eat poorly; we do not offer a P.E. class. Credit is earned by joining a gym or by participating on a team for a semester.

Though not runners, I do have a number of colleagues who participate in Cross-fit. They are pretty committed to this task. I am helping a few teachers on my campus train and get ready for up coming races. One of my colleagues could not run 3 miles just a few years ago; she now has a half-marathon time of 2:04. That is very impressive. I have also encouraged them to seek out coaching – as I have done; I am blessed in that I do not have to figure out what to do or how to train. That is taken done for me. My task is to execute my training.

CB: Do you think you are better teacher because you run?

EC: It has helped. In the past all I did was work. I focused on my research, my teaching, and the number of things I had on the stove at once. Now, I feel much more recharged and ready for a new day. Running has added much needed variety to my days. It has slowed that sense of burnout I felt creeping in a few years ago. Then, I started questioning if I should just go get a PH.D and focus on writing or if I needed to change locations. Now, I am happy to be teaching. I enjoy it. Running gives me more time to reflect on what went well and not so well in class; it allows me to edit a paper in my head that I would like to deliver or publish. It also helps me think about a different approach to teaching a particular subject. I think about running a lot. In truth, I like training more than I like racing. I try to limit the number of races I do in a year. I want to spend more time focusing on training for a particular race.

The documentary “Cut, Poison, Burn” presented by Donna Navarro and her family, along with countless other contributors, provided me with a plethora of information and emotion that December 3 night. Cancer is a very personal issue for me, I watched my Aunt Kimmy suffer through Glioblastoma Brain Cancer for 5 years, my Grandfather with Prostate Cancer, my cousin Meredith (Kimmy’s daughter) battle Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and now, as of December 1, Terry (Kimmy’s husband) has been diagnosed with Colon Cancer and his surgery is December 8.

Cancer has hit my family hard, fast, and furious. This wretched disease has brought grief, misery, and discord to my family and what I want the most is justice. The only way I could plausibly get that is through prevention and proper treatment of cancer. I cannot change the past. I have determined for quite some time now that there will never be an ultimate cure for cancer – pharmaceutical companies and the government will not allow it. “Cut, Poison, Burn” has only heightened my fear and broadened my knowledge on the inner (corrupt) political workings of the FDA in regards to cancer care. As to the accusations towards chemotherapy the movie displays, I have mixed emotions. I have seen first hand the horrors of chemotherapy and what the deadly poison does to your body; yet I also witnessed the extension and saving of lives. Is something that does save lives to be persecuted as the movie portrays? I think the director could have done a better job of explaining that this was not a war against chemo and radiation, rather a desperate plea for an alternative method to be approved and recognized as valid by the FDA.

A hard movie to watch especially when it shows the deterioration of Thomas Navarro’s mind, almost to the point of being considered a vegetable. Memories of Kimmy flooded back to me of sitting on her bed watching Meredith feed her an ice cream sandwich the week before she went to Hospice, barely able to lift her arms and able to make only the softest utterances of what used to be the loving words of reassurance, courage, and sheer wit. “Cut, Poison, Burn” will give the public an idea of what living with cancer is like, and the horrors of chemo, radiation, and any other form of treatment. The documentary seems particularly one sided, granted the FDA was given opportunities to present their side, but the support the video gives Dr. Burzynski is overwhelming, it would have been nice if other methods of treatment were explained as well. Regardless, a touching story with unnerving insight.

1. Are southerners racists?

2. Is the South racist?

Historically, the South has resisted the notion of progressive change; traditionally speaking, the South has not embraced legislation that empowers the poor, gays/lesbians, and blacks. It would not be wholly inaccurate to conclude that southerners’ sense of disdain towards Barrack Obama in 2008 was predicated on race and their racist attitudes.

I was first introduced to V.O. Key during my sophomore year of college. Dr. Mark Elrod discussed Key’s Southern Politics and his Theory of Critical Elections. Key contends that at historical points, a balance of power occurred. Hence, social and economic forces were at work and responsible for such political realignment. Case in point: After the historical period in U.S. history known as Reconstruction, Republicans dominated the national landscape except for in the deep South[1]; in the South, the formation of anti-Lincoln/anti-Republicans dominated the scene. Southerners hate for the party and the president who emancipated the American Negro was fervent. Born was the solid South. This period was defined by one in which Southerners used racists tactics to uphold Jim Crow laws by electing only Democrats from 1877 to 1964. The Ku Klux Klan was instrumental in maintaining a state of racist order as a process of subjugation towards black Southerners.

By 1980, a major shift transpired in which Ronald Reagan swept the South and the rest of the nation in a promise of restoring conservatism. Much of this promise was born on Reagan’s promise to reduce the size of the government, and to restore social order brought about during the decades of the 1960s and the 1970s. Again, much of the progress during the 60s and the 70s were aimed at aiding gays/lesbians and racial minorities. Many Southerners today are simply a product of political realignment. Thus, they once embraced Jim Crow policies until federal legislation and the Supreme Court deemed it illegal. Conservatives reacted to the forced political actions of the federal government by seeking conservative candidates who would embrace the ideology of states’ rights. In 1980, Reagan clearly endorsed this position, which was clear by his objection to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; it was his position that the federal government could not legislate discrimination among civilians.

Though not a new ideological position of Southerners, it was one that many minorities deemed as threatening to their welfare. With the election of Obama in 2008, many Southern whites screamed as though the world had come to an end. Many of Obama’s policies were seen as overly progressive towards liberal ideology; but in truth, Obama has helped (better yet saved) white elites. Though I supported his stimulus policy, many throughout the country did not. Liberals saw it as a testament of serving the needs of the wealthy.  And, with his health care policy still under attack, it is safe to say that Obama has done little to “fully” threaten the traditional base of the new Solid South; a Republican dominated South. One might contend then that race is a major reason in the South’s dislike of Obama. What makes matters worse is that Obama is not just a black man in the White House; he is the product of interracial sex…. A black man and a white woman; he represents the greatest threat to southern ideology.

So, I am not saying the South is a racist institution; I am saying that one must wonder why so many Southerners dislike a president who in theory has very little power.

Above: Map of American Hate Groups

I am very careful in my classes to illustrate that the KKK took on their  role as racist in the name of Christianity; however, the reality regardless of their justifications was one that does not speak towards Christianity. The United States consist of a number of hate groups. Many of them claim to be doing the will of God. In truth, we as Americans know this is not the case. Moreover, Americans recognize that said groups only undermine the mission and faith of many loyal followers of Jesus Christ. Before 9/11, the worst act of terrorism to take hold on American soil was that of the Oklahoma City bombing. I say this noting that home-grown terrorism by Americans is an issue.

1. We live in a color-blind society.

2. One should seek to transcend race.

3. America is in a post-racial state.

4. Class is now greater than race.

These are lies told to illuminate the notion of a progressive state. We do not live in a raceless society. If anything, the question of race and its realities do exist. I remember the O.J. trial and how whites were “shocked” that blacks had such a different take on the police and criminal justice. At the time, there were discussions about how black men were singled out for police harassment and arrest; however, I do not remember a discussion about why so many black men were imprisoned. In 1995, the impact of the drug wars was not fully appreciated until 15 years later. By then, the jail population had escalated. The other thing about the O.J. trial that made it complicated was O.J’s role as a rich celebrity. In that regard, he took on the power and privilege of a white man. Furthermore, there was a sense that his marriage to a white woman and his lifestyle helped him escape his black upbringing. Thus, betraying black folks. But when he stood trial, blacks hurried to support him against the white power structure. Why? Because other blacks were also victims to the notion of white power shared in police stations. Historically, the Po Po are aligned with the KKK and racism.

Moreover, due to the escalation of violence in some  black urban communities, police officers found themselves at odds with minorities living within those communities; however, the black middle class which has many of your doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc are not willing to dismiss nor allow justification for police brutality due to urban violence. The black middle class contends that those looking to be uniformed police officers do so as a sense of authority. I have read various accounts in which academics have documented greater abuse by police officers toward the black middle class, than those living in gang plagued areas. It is sad to think that I am in my mid 30s and would rather trust a gang banger, pimp, and drug pusher than a cop. I suspect many blacks would agree. Though I have never been in any trouble, I have dealt with my share of over zealous cops.

As noted by the author of this work:

“Jarvious Cotton’s great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole.”

As the United States celebrates the nation’s “triumph over race” with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status–much like their grandparents before them. In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community–and all of us–to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.

• Retrace W.E.B. DuBois travels throughout Germany in an attempt to write about his interracial experiences with the German people at a time in American history when visits such as this were difficult.
• Write about the historical experiences of minorities at elite and non elite independent schools. Further, I would like to compare the rise of more established elite private schools to those that emerged in the South after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case in which the South saw a number of non sectarian schools emerge such as the St. Johns School of Houston. The same is true of Montgomery Academy in Alabama. A number of Christian schools also emerged at this time as a result of the integration of public schools. While writing a paper a few years ago on the experiences of teachers of color at independent schools. I formulated a relationship with an African-American educational leader at a local independent school here in Houston. He shared some information with me regarding his school’s early history, which allowed us to formulate a relationship. It was our discussion and an earlier paper I presented on teachers of color at independent schools that got me thinking about doing more historical research and writing on the history of independent schools from the point of view of minorities. In my earlier research, I discovered that many top minority faculty members believe they added a different and unique intellectual experience to their communities. However, they also shared with me the many challenges, too.

I think there are three important questions to ask:

1. Does the school have a faculty committee that governs the life and concerns of the faculty? If so, is it legitimate or a creation to appease the faculty?

2. What is the average tenure of the faculty? If there is a great deal of turnover, this might signal discontent or concerns within the faculty.

3. What are the teaching expectations for newly hired teachers? The heavier the load, the more difficult life will be. Plus, what are the expectations surrounding extracurricular events?

I recently watched Good Will Hunting at the request of my teacher, Mr. Carson; in that movie there is one particular line that he said to watch for: “Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, that book will f*ckin’ knock you on your a**.” I didn’t understand it at the time, but as I read the book for Mr. Carson’s course the last few months, it has.  I have grown up in a very conservative, Republican home, family, and community all my life.  Howard Zinn is, to say the least, a liberal.  I found that out not only through reading A People’s History, but also through recently reading Zinn’s response to the question “What’s the Future of the American Dream?”

In his response to what the future of the American dream is, Zinn asserts that if America did not spend so much on its military, and instead invested its money in to its people, it would be respected rather than feared around the world.  Zinn first criticizes America’s military power, stating that this power is used to extend its power across the globe; furthermore, Zinn calls for use of American money not for defense but for its people in terms of provision for fundamental necessities for every American. Zinn’s purpose is to challenge a widely held view (that military power is paramount) and introduce his view (that every American should be provided necessities such as food, health care, decent housing, and jobs. Given the fact that Zinn himself is a leftist and therefore holds leftist views, he aims to address those with much more conservative views and challenge their beliefs.

My conservative views and beliefs were, without a doubt, challenged. Though I have wrestled with why our military is so large, one of the largest areas of spending for our government, the idea of free healthcare, free food, housing, and jobs… for everyone? It could just be my upbringing, but the idea of free healthcare, food, housing, and jobs for everyone, even if some are taxed more than others? Simply preposterous, at least to the seventeen year old, upper class white male from Houston.

I am not close-minded to view points other than my own, but I am logical. I wonder why someone should receive something if they do not get taxed (read: pay) for it, why the “handout mentality,” in which the government will help pay for or provide whatever your heart desires abounds in our society. To me, Zinn’s response to the future of the American dream seems like a utopia that forever dwells just out of reach, a unicorn: the one thing that, no matter how hard is sought after, cannot be attained. I honestly do not think that the disparity of wealth in the “United” States provides for a society in which everyone will help their neighbor.

“Controversy is only dreaded by advocates of error.” Benjamin Rush

It seems to me that my take on Medical Freedom has become more and more of a controversy in my life.  Why do people not get that all I want is for the American people to have freedom of choice, the freedom to choose the modality of treatment for their disease/illness.

Cong. Dan Burton (IN-R,) is introducing a Bill for medical access called, HR2736 “Access to Medical Treatment Act”.  You can go to www.govtrack.us to track where the Bill is at in real-time and/or see who your representatives and senators are in order to contact them to support medical freedom.

“Cut Poison Burn”, a documentary on the corruption of the medical establishment and how it is one big monopoly.  The film raises issues that have been long ignored, there needs to be serious dialogue in finding a solution and not bury our heads in the sand.

You can go to www.cutpoisonburn.com to view the trailer and go to facebook to press  ”Like”.

The documentary is being shown at Houston Christian High School on Nov.30^th and Dec. 3^rd at 7:30pm in the Chapel.  You can purchase tickets on line at www.cutpoisonburn.com.  The tickets are $12.00 each and part of the proceeds go to cancer charities, you can see the list on the website.  Please come see the most important film of your life.

1.       Why did you decide to apply to be a scholar at Houston Christian?

When I initially began researching schools, I might not have attended HCHS if it was not for the Distinguished Scholars Program.  How I found out about the program is beyond my memory, but I do recall being intrigued by the versatility of the program.  Dr. Perry interested me in the program when I became aware of some of the older scholars’ research; I discovered this could be somewhat of a playground for my fondness of history.  I really joined due to the intellectual nature of the program.

2. Do you recall your first encounter with Carson? How about Perry? If so, what were your thoughts?

I first met Carson at a meeting during the summer preceding my freshman year.  I don’t recall the details, but I had a vague sense of respect for the strange teacher who was in many ways to become my intellectual mentor, someone I could reflect intellectual queries off of and divulge historical details that may be critical to the current curriculum (i.e. recent discovery in my DSP research of Ottoman involvement in the Protestant Reformation).  I do not remember the first time I met Dr. Perry, but I enjoyed her open, yet disciplined nature.  I felt I could relate to her (1) due to her humanities background and (2) her mild sense of introversion (I have overcome my own introversion as of late, especially in the summer preceding my senior year).

3. Tell us about your research on the Ottoman Empire?

My research on the Ottoman Empire was really sparked when I first read Lord Kinross’s The Ottoman Centuries during the summer preceding my senior year.  My grandmother, a former military base high school chemistry teacher and fervent reader of journals and non-fictions bought me the book during her stay before the summer preceding my senior year.  I owe her great gratitude for directing my research.  This research I am currently embroiled in involves Islam’s direct relationship to the Ottoman social strata as well as relations with the Byzantine, Russian, German, and Venetian Empires.  In summary of my Research Methodology and Findings, I have discovered 77+ different instances of major events in Ottoman society directly correlating to Islam as well as 14 cases with the Byzantine Empire, 2 with the Russian Empire, and absolutely none among the Venetian and German Empires (note: that does not mean there was an absence of religious tension, only that these social and political events in question were directly affected by the religion of Islam within the context of my research).  In my research I have discovered much about the Islam, its place in Islamic states, the evolution of Islam within the Ottoman state, its coexistence with other religions, and the importance of Islam amidst the European world (of which we attribute very little in our European courses).  Anything else I could say would lead me into a lengthy discussion and explanation.

4. Why did you select this topic over the countless topics to select from?

The process all really stems from one source:  my curiosity for other cultures.  When I first began the program I researched the societies of the Olmecs, Bantu, and Phoenicians and compared them.  During my sophomore year I divulged into Roman history and studied its relationship with its vassal regions of Greece, Israel, and Egypt and compared them side-by-side.  In my junior year I began to study the Mediterranean as a whole, observing the three most powerful civilizations present there from 2200 B.C. to 1923 A.D. (Greece, Rome, and the Ottoman Empire).  It would be the lengthiest and most detailed paper I have ever written, reaching a daunting number of pages at approximately 112.  It was a lack of database information on the Ottoman Empire that convinced my grandmother to buy me Lord Kinross’s book, and I have been hooked on Ottoman history ever since.  It was when I discovered the importance of the Mediterranean that I began to get more involved in its history, and eventually I reached the point where I discovered that as Americans we tend to remember Greece and Rome, but hardly anyone would recall an Ottoman, save for the furniture.  As a critic of ignorance (I admit, that is a rather self-centered intellectual ego thing to say), I decided that the Ottomans deserved a better slate in history.  Without them history in Europe would be radically different, the Renaissance may never have occurred if it were not for the migration of fleeing Greeks in the years preceding the conquest of Constantinople.  People fail to remember that.

5. What have you learned most in conducting your research and why does it excite you?

As far as learning is concerned, the integration of Western culture under Mahmud II and the changes in that previously Muslim society that followed as well as the great extent of toleration permitted by the Ottoman nation taught me many things about the distant empire.  It excites me simply because I have such a fondness for history, and learning about a culture I never even heard of until the early weeks of Junior year and becoming a local expert in it spurs me on.  Ignorance is often the downfall of people, and often time nations go out the window too.

6. You have studied European history for the better part of a year at HCHS. What problems have you found in the teaching or emphasis of the Ottomans in a European history survey course? What suggestions if any might you offer to those of us who teach European history on injecting your work into our courses?

Learning the whole history of the Ottoman Empire would obviously be impractical, but involving events such as the conquest of Constantinople, the Ottoman incursion into the Balkans, the siege of Vienna, the Western influence, and mentioning the Young Turks and Ataturk would all be key events to discuss.  I would also suggest implementing a discussion over the Ottoman involvement in the religious schisms of Christianity and the Russian opposition to the Ottoman control of the Orthodox Church.

7. What are you doing now? (tell us about your college, major, and the skills you hope to use once there. why this school?)

I am currently attending Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, with a major in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.  I chose this school because of its diverse, international background alongside one of its most prestigious students, Kofi Annan.  It is a far reach goal of mine to follow his steps into the United Nations.

I am a bit late on this post. With Martin Luther King Jr.’s statute now placed prominently among many of the US most prominent architects, a new debate must and will transpire. Have we as Americans moved closer to a post-race society? I suspect not. Americans elected a bi-racial president for the first time, but even the election of Obama carries with it hints and embedded notions of America’s problems with race. Black leaders have been caught up in the squabble regarding race and politics. This intra-racial conflict clearly showcases not only the divisiveness of racial politics in America, but the sound lack of resolve among a dichotamized group: Young black Americans who were not a part of the civil rights movement, and that of an older generation of black civil rights members. The New York Times published an article entitled, Is Obama the End of Black Politics? This piece captured a bit of the tension regarding the old guard and the new guard, as noted here:

…tension between Obama and some older black leaders burst onto cable television last month, after an open microphone on Fox News picked up the Rev. Jesse Jackson crudely making the point that he wouldn’t mind personally castrating his party’s nominee. The reverend was angry because Obama, in a Father’s Day speech on Chicago’s South Side, chastised black fathers for shirking their responsibilities. To Jackson, this must have sounded a lot like a presidential candidate polishing his bona fides with white Americans at the expense of black ones — something he himself steadfastly refused to do even during his second presidential run in 1988, when he captured more votes than anyone thought possible.

The irony of that New York Times title is that it represents a transformation regarding post-racial politics. Here we have a president that vacated the topic of race during his campaign and thus far while in office. Furthermore, Obama continues to ignore the question of race. Though he is the president of the United States and hence he should be the single voice for all Americans, his racial identity will not allow that to occur. Black folks have been waiting for the black messiah….The chosen one. And, unfortunately for Obama, he is that messiah. Yet, because his first obligation is to the country, a number of blacks have grown frustrated with Obama. No other American president has had to deal with complex matters regarding a single racial group like Obama; it is safe to say that he has had to carry the greatest burden of any president after FDR (he did drop two bombs on Japan. One could make the argument for W regarding 9/11). Thus, the question continues almost four years later: Is Obama the End of Black Politics? In truth, he is just the start.

There are black Americans frustrated with Obama; however, their frustration is greatly different from that of white America. Blacks have made the mistake of claiming Obama to themselves. Many assumed that he would arrive and eradicate the injustices placed on them with his New Deal thinking.  In return, blacks now realize that Obama cannot be that saviour. The president of the US is a weak man. His powers are limited. Obama is the voice of all people, not just blacks. During the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Jews had been highly anticipating this great saviour who would unleash His wrath. Yet, much like Obama, Christ was not what the Jews anticipated. Both are viewed as weak and passive by the very people that had been calling for them. In the case of Obama, he will not face being crucified by his own people — like that of Christ. Obama knows that he is the chosen one for a race of people that cannot depend on the conservative anti-New Deal thinking that exists within a Republican Party that ushers to a certain class and race. The irony of course, is that Democrats also cater to a race and class of people.

Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!
Karl Marx

Conservatives hate it because it is a large leftist movement. Many New Dealers are still trying to figure it out; in the end, I suspect it will die out like so many movements (Read: Right Wing version is the Tea Party). However, a small part of me would like to see this “rally” promulgate categorical change. We are and have long been a greedy nation. American history has long been predicated on the notion of class conflict. The wealthy continue to exploit the have-nots. And, the have-nots have given in to much of the dreams and crimes of capitalism. The haves cheat, lie, manipulate, and con their way into power. The masses sit and watch in a passive manner.  As I have noted before, we live in a nation that was founded under the dreams and goals of capitalism. Exploitation was established the day Europeans arrived. And, in the end, we are all guilty of this. We buy big houses because our friends have a big house; we buy expensive gas consuming cars because it makes us seem to be elite; we keep a beach house or a country house because that is what the middle class is supposed to do. Though I am not guilty of any of these things, I am guilty of many others. The American dream of capitalism is the downfall of man kind. I like the way Richard Hofstadter defines the American origin.

In his historical intellectual work, Hofstadter brings a more revisionist and realist account of America’s historical figures. Hofstadter, much like historian Howard Zinn, taught and wrote history from the perspective of non elites: blacks, women, immigrants, workers, and the poor, who all had a voice in shaping the hitherto. Moreover, Hofstadter looked to end the romantic notions often used to describe the traditional white male hero of American culture (or WASP). Here is an example from his chapter on the founding fathers:

Democratic ideas are most likely to take root among discontented and oppressed classes, rising middle classes, or perhaps some sections of an old, alienated, and partially disinherited aristocracy, but they do not appeal to a privileged class that is still amplifying its privileges. With a half-dozen exceptions at most, the men who had considerable position and wealth, and as a group they had advanced well beyond their fathers.

One of the things Hofstadter writes about in his many works is that of economic elitism. He described the framers as men who created an oligarchy via the Constitution only as an instrument to protect their wealth and status; he questions the democratic nature of the founders and the Constitution. Moreover, he discusses history as an entity protected by the very men who used it to enhance their status.

North Americans celebrate today, Columbus day, as a mere method of generating a great “sense” of nationalism and to promote Occidentalism via grand herofication of imperialism; I do not celebrate this day due to the historical injustices taught in schools. Thus, I will spend today in my study working as a sign of protest. How can we as historians allow such grand lies to be accepted by a population that wants to be ignorant of historical truths? Only in the United States do they call the truth about Columbus “revisionist history.” Keep in mind that states such as Arizona refused to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a state holiday. Noted North Carolina’s Republican [racist] Jesse Helms once stated that “his state should not accept this federal holiday because King had not done anything important.” He also pointed out that he was a Marxist who opposed the Vietnam War. Why is it that every progressive educated black person must be a Marxist? President Reagan also opposed this holiday, too. But, Americans continue to lie about the purity of Columbus. Sounds more like jingoism than nationalism. Tyler Look, a current student of mine, sent me this article on how some schools are addressing the dark side of Columbus.

Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States devotes an entire chapter to this topic. Below is an excerpt stating:

… because of Columbus’s exaggerated report and promises, his second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives. But as word spread of the Europeans’ intent they found more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor.
Now, from his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after expedition into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had to fill up the ships returning to Spain with some kind of dividend. In the year 1495, they went on a great slave raid, rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best specimens to load onto ships. Of those five hundred, two hundred died en route. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town, who reported that, although the slaves were “naked as the day they were born,” they showed “no more embarrassment than animals.” Columbus later wrote: “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.”

“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I one of those Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids-and I might even be said to possess a mind. I m invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything and anything except me.”

This clip from the movie Finding Forrester best represents the assumption many make about those of the “darkest” color. Thus, I make it my mission to recruit and protect faculty members of color as well as students of color. Those who are not like us cannot understand why we remain frustrated or even angry. But then again, the majority is comfortable by assuming it is just us. There are so few of us. And, for those of us that elect to enter the independent world of private school teaching, very few stay. As W.E.B Du Bois notes, many of us belong to the talented tenth. A collective of the best and the brightest. It is us that must transform society. And, we must do it our way.

This clip from the movie Finding Forrester illustrates the natural assumption the white world makes about those of color. And, many do not realize they are doing it.This again became very evident as I sat behind a white family this past Friday at a football game. I listened to them claim handouts and special treatments toward minorities for 15 minutes. Once they were done, I motioned so they would see me right behind them. Yes, I was invisible to them. I looked at them and simply stated, I feel sorry for you; I gave them my name and told them to give me a call; I assured them I would not talk over their heads, but I would engage in a conversation with them. Thus, I stated they had a very narrow view of the world.  The clip below is also a great piece for Mrs. Chili’s grammar Wednesday. Hence, further and farther.

Hip-hop and Jesus Christ are not synonymous; however, the two are drawn together through a “sense” of spiritual reconciliation.  Christians contend that the Bible offers hope and understanding to those that are lost. The hip-hop artist also contends that his lyrics offer a “sense” of hope and salvation, much like that of Jesus Christ. Religious historians have given very little attention to the impact religion has had on hip-hop and rap culture. Though, there is a natural juxtaposition here.

Edward Blum’s W.E. B. Du Bois presents Jesus Christ as a savior: a God who walked with communist, sinners, blacks, and others. The great debate, or post-modern questions is this: Who is Jesus Christ? Believers will tell you that He is the Son of God. He is a part of a complex matrix called the Trinity. Others will tell you that He is a great prophet who told moral tales in times of strife and chaos. Then there are those that find him to be too mythical to have ever existed in the current form that society knows him as.  Historians look at Christ through multiple frames. Scholars of American Religion, such as Blum and Phillip Sinitiere, take a dynamic approach by juxtaposing Him as a savior of a race. But note, not that of the Jews – but of black folks. Blum discusses the Gospel according to Mary Brown and her child Joshua, who represents one of Du Bois’s black biblical characters, who found comfort among those who were societal outcasts. He, who was [the black] Jesus Christ, marched with the poor, with sinners, and communists; however, this Christ was not embraced by whites. Better yet, this Christ was lynched by the white South because they could not accept a Christ that accepted all people, especially the American Negro. Because of this, Joshua was killed by the very people who awaited him – the Christian South. Furthermore, much of the historical literature paints a deeply racist American South in which Christians often attend Church in the morning, only to lynch blacks in the evening. Hence, the topic of race, ideology, faith, and cultural norms has created a burgeoning sense of scholarship over the part decade. This is even true of myself; I am currently engaged in a book project with Sinitiere, as we analyze the dynamics of race and religiosity, as noted by our brief description:

…W.E.B. Du Bois and Religion: A Brief History with Documents (Forward Edward Blum, professor of History at San Diego State University) and co-edited by Edward Carson of Houston Christian High School and Phillip Luke Sinitiere,  visiting professor of History at Sam Houston State University, is a collection of primary sources that reflect Du Bois’s thoughts on faith,  culture, spirituality, and the political implications of religion.  Documents include those that address religion from a sociological perspective, religious artwork, and spiritual fiction, among others.  This collection also includes a timeline of Du Bois’s life, bibliography, and study questions.

Further, as noted above, this spiritual and racial personification can be seen through the lens of historical actors like Harriet Tubman, also known as black Moses, due to her efforts in rescuing enslaved blacks from the depths of the plantation system. Nat Turner, the enslaved leader of the 1831 slave rebellion, stated that God told him in a dream to free the colored people from their bondage, as well as killing their masters. Thus, his historical attack was one of the most noted. After such a rebellion, many slaveholders forbade Negro worship in isolation.  Hence, allowing for integrated worship with whites.[1]Slaves heard the Old Testament tales of oppression by the unrighteous.  Due to such oral examples, many looked to a hero – that being Jesus Christ.

The historiography of slavery is one that continues to be redefined. Though the topic of Negro religion has long been one of interest by historians, the mere impact of slave religion on modern culture is new.  I hope to finish drafting a paper for UrbanFaith which examines the anthropological and historical impact Jesus Christ has had on both hip-hop and rap music; if one were to look at many artist and listen to their lyrics, there is often a sense of racial oppression due to modern-day conditions that date back to the historical roots of Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman.

Above: The late controversial rapper, Tupac Shakur, was a devote Christian. He addressed his pains and life as a gangster in his music. Thus, the rapper sought faith through his lyrics as a form of prayer. Note the lines from his rap song, God:

When I was alone, and had nothing
I asked for a friend to help me bear the pain
No one came, except God
When I needed a breath to rise, from my sleep
No one could help me.. except God
When all I saw was sadness, and I needed answers
No one heard me, except God
So when I’m asked.. who I give my
unconditional love to?
I look for no other name, except God

In a draft of my paper analyzing the significance of teaching the 1980s in United States history survey courses, I noted that urban blacks felt oppressed by a conservative government looking to enrich the wealthy, while impoverishing the poor at an alarming rate; I do not agree with this; however, my opinion is not relevant to a generation of hip-hop artist and rappers singing about the racial brutality imposed by the police. Rap music quickly conflated the role of gangs and religion; Jesus Christ was found as the head of the gang known as the Bloods; [H]e would rescue the youth from their enslavement of American racism. To many black urban youths, this figure was that of Tupac. Though dead to many, he still lives and walks the earth by way of his biblical lyrics. Blacks praise Tupac for his lyrical style often found in the confines of the church assembly. The emotion of a man that offered hope to many was witnessed. And, though for only a short time, Tupac told of his death and eventual resurrection. Rap artist and hymn leaders within the black church have drawn from the historical suffering of black folks. Whereas the white church ask Christ to make them as white as snow, the black church ask Him to save them from their suffering. Both the artist and the church hymnal leader looked to the works of  Du Bois, who in a private prayer to God, wrote this:

The South is crucifying Christ again
Christ’s awful wrong is that he’s dark of hue
The sin for which no blamelessness atones;
But lest the sameness of the cross should tire,
They kill him now with famished tongues of fire,
And while he burns, good men, and women, too,
Shout, battling for his black and brittle bones.

“The Black Christ” (1929)

O Form immaculately born,
Betrayed a thousand times each morn,
As many times each night denied,
Surrendered, tortured, crucified!
That love which has no boundary;
Our eyes have looked on Calvary (135-136).

[Source: James H. Smylie, “Countee Cullen’s ‘The Black Christ,’” Theology Today38/2 (July 1981): 160-73] h/t: Phil Sinitiere

Like that of Jesus Christ, Tupac created loyal disciples of his words. After predicting his death and eventual resurrection, Tupac’s cult lives well into the 21st century.

Above: Peter Gomes

Peter Gomes, a man I deeply admire for his scholarship, faith, and willingness to address his personal life[2], noted in his work, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, stated that American society all but looked to our great leaders and their devotion to Christ. He mentioned the born-again Christian in Jimmy Carter who took time to teach Sunday school classes while being the leader of the free world. Ronald Reagan, a man who sought to build the strength of America off of the values of Christianity.[3] Gomes praised George W. Bush for his professed faith in Christ, as well as his fervor for showcasing it, too. But, there is a disconnect when it comes to the faith of public official and that of black music artist. In the mind of the young black teen, public officials represent a societal paradox. Sure, they are great men, but often time they represent the constructs and authority in which urban youths are looking to teardown. This creates a vacuum. Young black Christians find their identity not in a government, but in the hip-hop/rap artist. The artist has taken on the role of apostle Paul, who made a number of missionary journeys in hopes of bringing the gospel of Christ to those that do not know him.

[1] Jason Young’s book, Ritual of Resistance, also discusses the first use of balcony gatherings during worship. Since whites felt a sense of obligation to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, keeping Negros from worshiping was thought to be sinful.

[2] Gomes is the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and chaplain at Harvard University; he received a great deal of attention when he public announced that he was a homosexual in the mid 1990s. He contends to be a devote conservative Republican.

[3] Gomes did note that Reagan was part of the late 1970s cultural wars that witnessed the rise of the religious right. Moreover, this population played a major part in his election.

I recently received my quarterly news letter from DSA in the mail; I am still working on it. I did get my bi-weekly e-letter regarding their upcoming national meeting. Of course, DSA is a 3rd party. This means they will never elect a member to the White House. However, as we have seen with other 3rd party candidates, there is hope in the House, Senate, and as Governor. DSA has a great mission in that they see eradicate poverty, sexism, racism, and classism. I like all of those isms.

Here is what I received the other day; I have been meaning to share this with all of my hard-core Republican friends. All 3 of them.

We Want YOU to Attend the National Convention – Register Now!

Join us at the 15th biennial convention of Democratic Socialists of America, November 11-13 in the Washington D.C. suburb of Vienna, Va. Register now.

We are the alternative to the tea party conservatives, the Republicans whose only program is to say no, the Democrats who have forgotten what progressive politics really are and the progressives who think that they can stand apart from the left.

It’s time to use plain language. Despite the GOP’s talking points to the contrary, Warren Buffett was right when he said “there’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

Now is the time to focus on some critical questions:

1) How do we respond to the Right’s relentless and extreme assaults on working people and their institutions?

2) How do we build a response that rebuilds our economy, provides equitable access to education for young people, and provides jobs and security for workers, the retired and the near-retired in the aftermath of the Great Recession?

3) How do we set a political agenda that strengthens progressive forces and inspires rather than disillusions activists and voters?
Over the last two years, we have continued renewing and revitalizing our organization to meet the challenge of making the socialist tradition relevant to 21st century America. Membership has grown, new DSA locals and YDS chapters have organized and I have become the new National Director.

We must keep building DSA.  Never has the United States been in greater need of the contributions of democratic socialists to rebuild the American Dream.

In the words of Michael Moore, “America is not broke!”

Attend the convention to:

·         Get to know fellow DSA and YDSers from around the country, share activism best-practices, and build democratic socialist community

·         Discuss and debate our political strategy and elect our national leadership for the next two years

·         Develop organizing skills like recruiting new members and getting our message into the media

·         Participate in workshops and other convention sessions about: defending public services, a socialist-feminist response to the recession, dealing with the jobs crisis, progressive taxation, cutting the bloated military budget and much more!

Convention Registration

Register online and make hotel reservations now.

·         Convention delegates are elected by DSA local organizations. Members not in locals may run as at-large delegates to the convention. YDS (youth section) members attend as delegates with their local or as at-large delegates. There is also an option to attend as an Observer.

·         Or call the national office to register and get more information: (212) 727-8610.

·         The advanced convention fee of $195 covers all materials as well as coffee breaks and a Saturday banquet dinner. The week-of convention fee is $220, but we need to plan ahead so please register as soon as possible. Limited financial aid will be available for members in need. Child care can be provided. Roommates can be arranged to decrease hotel costs.

·         As soon as you register, delegates will be added to a special email listserve for pre-convention discussion and a list to receive further convention information.

·         The convention will be held at the Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182, in a suburb of Washington, DC.

·         Hotel Reservations: To reserve a room and receive the special convention rate of $109 (for a single or a double room) per night plus tax, call (703) 448-1234 and reference the DSA convention, or register online here. The rooms and the special discount will be held only until the beginning of October, so make your reservations now. Your credit card will not be charged until you arrive at the hotel.

Our convention is the opportunity to improve your organizing skills, share ideas with other DSA activists, and decide the direction of our organization for the next two years.

A corporate dominated political system will move in a progressive direction only if powerful democratic social movements force it to do so. Your participation is important.

If not now, when?  Register today.

In solidarity,

 

Maria Svart

National Director

PS: From time to time, I will let you know about events organized by other organizations or articles written by DSA notables which provide helpful analyses for DSA activists to consider.  One such event is this Thursday, September 22nd at 1pm EST/10am PST: “Race and the Federal Budget Debate,” a free webinar presented by the Applied Research Center.  Click here to learn more and register.