Violence against Black Women (cont)

bell hooks wrote of perceptions of black women in America

the predominant image is that of the fallen woman, the whore, the slut, the prostitute.*

And that image is no longer a person but a thing.

A "devalued Jezebel," according to Patricia Hill Collins. The thing that justifies exploitation of black women, especially sexual exploitation. We, as things, are weak, permissive, immoral, somehow asking for "it"... or deserving of "it."

Which is why Crystal Gail Mangum was rarely a woman, a mother, a student.

She was a STRIPPER.

An object for titillation, for judgment, for hatred

A commodity that had been paid for,

A transaction in which she was presumed to not only have sold her body.

but her credibility.

And it's why the woman survivor in Dunbar Village could be dismissed as a hooker.

If she's a "hooker" then we don't have to

pay attention

be outraged.

And it's why Megan Williams's old warrants are suddenly urgent.

So urgent that she must be arrested and have

the judge put her in A HOLDING CELL AFTER AN ORDEAL WHERE SHE HAD JUST BEEN IN ONE FOR A WEEK

Because then the way she is portrayed changes from object (it's always object isn't it, even when the attention is sympathetic) of compassion to object of suspicion, of distrust.

And the questions shift away from grossly violent, repeat offenders to how might this criminal have brought this on herself?

(I mean, weren't people sort of asking it already reflecting on her previous relationship with one of her attackers?).

Why the push to cast doubt, to discredit, to malign? Because, according to hooks, Jezebel--that image, that thing, that less-than-(white)-woman--is an animal.

And "an animal cannot be raped."

Deborah Gray White recounts an argument set forth by a white man in the 19th century that focused on pseudo-scientific facts about the size and depth of white and black genitalia, the fragile flower-ness of white women, and the inherent, always-sexually-ready nature of blacks. His conclusion was that the rape of white women by black men is devastating.

But black women could not be raped.

And his argument was accepted, believed, heralded. It was, after all, just a codification of what had long been accepted, believed, heralded. Ingrained in a country in which violence against women of color by individuals is a reflection of the violence perpetuated against us by the state everyday. In health centers, social services offices, schools, jails.

And against such malignant thought and treatment, according to Gray White, black women defended themselves. Then. Now. Always.

But sometimes, Jezebel seems stronger than all our defenses. You see, the power of Jezebel, is that even when we are not physically attacked, (and Lord, when is that?), we are battered with the image as it it taught, reinforced, strengthened.

So that when we do rise up against our commodification, exploitation, objectification, then Jezebel is wielded to discredit us, to silence us, to label us, to imprison us.

But the image cannot be stronger than reality, can it?

A reality of our struggling, fighting, defending, surviving. Even when we are tired.

Because always being in opposition is tiring.

But we have to keep on. And to the question of how we keep on, one very wise woman says,

Now is the time to rise up in a way that creates new worlds. we need to be spreading the word on how to organize, how to base build in the community, how circumvent the police when you're getting your ass kicked, etc. We need a whole new fucking world---this one is fucking poison to us. nothing but poison.

Violence Against Black Women

I've been waiting to post about the Dunbar Village case in which a woman and her son were sexually assaulted and beaten and the more recent case in West Virginia, where a young black woman was assaulted and tortured for days. Rather than just express fear, outrage, helplessness, and hurt--all emotions that just swamp me when I think about these cases--I wanted to write some kind of analysis. That can come later. This just came in my e-mail:

Victim in torture case arraigned on old charges
Gary HarkiStaff writer

Megan Williams, the Charleston woman who has been the center of international media attention after her torturous ordeal in a Logan County home earlier this month, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Kanawha County on outstanding warrants.

Williams is being arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on at least seven charges, mostly for allegedly obtaining under false pretenses and writing bad checks, according to court records. She also has an outstanding warrant from Summers County for failing to appear at a court hearing.

Before the arraignment, Williams was placed in a holding cell. She screamed and cried for her mother.

Sometimes, I just don't know.

H/T Deidra

There Is More than America

Today, one of my students, a young woman from Cameroon, interviewed me for a project on Nelson Mandela that she is doing for another class.

We had the most interesting conversation. After she interviewed me, she told me how she almost changed her topic from Mandela because when her teacher did an oral survey of the class, many of the students had chosen Michael Jordan and other athletes and celebrities. She could not understand, because the project is supposed to explore the person's impact on individuals and the world at large. "I know they are stars," she said, "But I was thinking, 'what?"."

Her teacher persuaded her to stay with Mandela. She also told me that she is still adjusting to living here and the perceptions that people have about her. One guy that she dated briefly apparently asked her if she knew people that rode lions. She asked me was it okay to call that a stupid question. I assured her that it was. He also asked her about her king. She told him they didn't have a king (too much Coming to America, I'm sure), but a president. Different African countries have different governments she told him, which floored him.

I told her that our kids are very USA-oriented. They just don't know the rest of the world. That's why we bitch about the idea of learning other languages or about other cultures. She laughed at that--"You all speak English," she said. "But French is my first language and I speak English and in high school, I studied German."

Then she told me how her roommate had been hesitantly asking her questions after looking through some of her pictures, "Y'all have beaches?" (Because all she's seen is pictures of African deserts); "You have a TV in your room? And a CD player?" These questions shocked my student. She said, over and over, she has to tell people, "Yes, we have what you have."

That response apparently bugged her ex-date buddy. He asked her one day, "If you have everything, why'd you come here then?" "To learn more," she said.

I told her all our kids hear about Africa is famine, war, and AIDS.

"But that is not all of Africa," she told me (I thought that was a simple but profound statement). She said that she thought that maybe Americans just didn't know about Africa. So she asked the guy what he knew about Europe.

Nothing. He claimed he only knew the States. And so she asked him, did he know all the state capitols. No to that, as well.

"So it is not only Africa," she said.

"I'm afraid not."

At which point she suggested a plan of action. She believes that all American students should write their "minister of education" and demand to be taught more about the world.

"America is big," she said. "And many people want to come here. But there is more than America."

Outcomes

A few days ago, I blogged briefly about the story of Precious Story, a young white woman allegedly killed by her black boyfriend and his brother. My post focused on local black residents' prediction of how whites would react and what her murder would mean for race relations.

Last night, we got a partial answer. My niece called me around 11:15 and began the conversation with, "Another white girl is missing." "Do you have to say it like that?" I asked her. "Yeah," she said, "Because they over here kicking folk's doors down and stuff."

From what I've been able to piece together, a 16-year-old girl had been expected home by her parents after work yesterday. When she didn't show up, they went looking for her. Her father and male relatives went to the home of her black ex-boyfriend and kicked the door in.

Now, I've heard that they were armed, but I cannot verify that.

Shortly after I got off the phone with my very irate niece, my best friend, Vivian, called.

"So, that's how it's going to be? Every time a white girl is late, they coming to the black part of town kicking in doors?" She was angry, too.

"Hell, no," I said. "That better not be how it's going to be."

We talked for a minute it and she ended the call with, "When her ass shows up at school tomorrow, I'll call you."

So, she called me a few minutes ago. Turns out, the girl wasn't at school, but neither had she been abducted, nor had she run off with the ubiquitous evil black boy.

She'd fallen in her backyard, into a shallow old well, and couldn't get out.

Her father had been at the school in this morning turning in her books and taking her out of the predominantly black high school. His only explanation--he and his wife are old-fashioned.

Mm-hmm.

"Wait," I asked. "How is he at the school? Why he ain't in jail?"

""The police said there's nothing they can do."

I knew she must be joking. She swore she was not. The local police hadn't done anything (though they did show up last night). So now, the boy's mother is going to the parish police.

To which both of us said, hmmph.

I'm guessing this won't be in any of the local papers, so I wanted to document it here.

Writing about the Jena Six

In the last couple of months, I was heartened to see all the people who blogged about the Jena Six, the journalists who began to cover it, the films and documentaries made. But I noticed some things in the coverage with which I took issue (yes, aside from the fact that national news outlets were a loooong time coming).

First, was this South-as-other-syndrome (closely related to the racism-is-a-thing-of-the-past-in-the-rest-of-the-nation syndrome). I read over and over, articles and posts that implied racism was a southern phenomenon that had died out in the rest of the U.S. some four of five decades ago. Lots of links between racism and the deep South, lots of "Wow, it must be like the 1950s down there!", lots of impassioned denunciations from southern expatriates and "I may have never lived there, but I just know how it is" other-region-ers.

And I thought, "Whoa." Now, part of my academic work is based on the idea that, in matters of race and color, the South does have an exceptionally poor record and a dogged determination, exhibited throughout U.S. history, to maintain the status quo--a racial hierarchy with African Americans, and especially poor African Americans, at the bottom.

But the South is not some anomaly, some other place from which the rest of the U.S. can separate itself. To think of racism and legal injustice as southern problems is analagous to the 19th century idea that slavery was a southern institution. It is also to dismiss and reduce the racism that permeates the whole of this country, its institutions, its cultures, its very foundations.

Rather than thinking of the South as an abnormality, we might better think of it as a bellwether. For example, the labor historian in me would point out while the South may have been particularly anti-union and anti-worker, the rest of the country seems to have followed suit. And, while thousands of African Americans migrated north- and westward in the first half of the 20th century, something is now pushing us out and pulling us back to the South (in other words, do racism and lack of opportunity play a role in the North's loss of status as a "promised land?").

I am also particularly troubled by this desire to cast racism, references to lynching, and different treatment within the legal system as some held over anachronism. No, it's not just like the 1950s. It's just like the 21st century because it is the 21st century, and the shit happens all the time. I remember the outrage I heard from one DJ in Texas when she found out that a school in Georgia just held an integrated prom this year. It was ridiculous, she thought, and someone should have done something and this couldn't happen anywhere else! I thought, hell, it was just like that at my old high school until a few years ago. And to pretend that children in other areas don't live in a segregated world just because they don't go to segregated proms is just fake to me.

And speaking of segregation-by-tradition, this idea that the town of Jena "split" over the last year (or divided or separated or any of those other titles I read) over the circumstances surrounding the Jena Six is simplistic, as well. So many towns down here do not split along racial lines over some significant event. Instead, it is a split that is long cultivated, that is instilled in us early and reinforced and maintained throughout our lives. In other words, Jena residents did not "divide" over these cases; these cases deepened and sharpened an already existing rift.

Mychal Bell's Conviction Overturned

Kevin and my best friend Kim (who sent me an e-mail yesterday afternoon that I just now got back online to check) just made my day:

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 14 (AP) — A state appeals court reversed on Friday the only remaining conviction against one of six black teenagers accused in the beating of a white schoolmate in a racially tense Louisiana town.

The teenager, Mychal Bell, 17, should not have been tried as an adult, the Third Circuit Court of Appeal said in overturning his conviction for aggravated battery. He had faced up to 15 years in prison.

But, as Kevin notes,

It ain’t over yet. The DA, Reed Walters, has made it clear that he plans on appealing to the Louisiana Supreme Court; and there are still 5 other boys in peril, 4 of which will be tried as adults.

I'm not sure if the rally in Jena will still occur September 20. But, Lord this is a blessing. I know lots of hard work and effort went into it, combined with lots of prayer, faith, and belief.

Transitions...

I always post so much here, and then forget to update. My niece just called. And just as I was getting ready to fuss about her being up after midnight on a school night, she interrupted me.

Her aunt died.

Her name was Tina.

She would've been 27 next month.

Some things, I just don't get.

Mind Swirl--the Personal Things

So much on my mind these days. It all goes in circles, seems to link, then falls apart into fragments again.

I have one class that I don't feel I'm reaching. Granted it's primarily first year students at 8 o'clock in the morning, but still! I hate that feeling of looking out and seeing empty or bored or confused eyes. I've talked to my department chair and repeatedly to the class. It's just strange, because I teach the same class at 1 PM and the students are much more engaged, lively, up for debate, and willing to ask questions.

My 17-year-old niece is pregnant and, out of fear of everyone's opinions, hid it for five-and-a-half months. Her daughter is due December 1. She just began receiving medical care mid-August. My feelings are a mix of worry and anticipation.

My 18-year-old niece is diabetic and not taking her insulin properly. She's having high glucose levels--I don't know all the correct terminology, but hers has been up in the hundreds. They're checking it everyday at school now. She doesn't get it. There are so many other things she's worried about--am I going to take her shopping for dresses to wear for homecoming since she's on the court? Who's going to do her hair? Will I help her fill out her ACT form (of course, helping turned in to my filling the tedious thing out by myself)? How can she ask my parents for the money for the deposit on her senior supplies? On and on and on.

My questions are much different. How long before there is irreparable damage to her organs? What is the "sugar coma" that I always hear people speak of? How do I get through to an 18-year-old?

And then there is so much sickness and death right now in this small area. My nieces' aunt is in a coma in a hospital in New Orleans. Her kidneys failed in her early 20s. She received a transplant a few weeks ago (hence the New Orleans hospital). Her body is apparently rejecting it. We don't know if she will live or die. She's 26-years-old.

Then, there is Petey. Whom I taught in fifth grade. Who was murdered some days ago. And the stories are swirling around--that her boyfriend and his brother killed her because she told someone they broke into a house; that white people in the area will be seeking vengeance (Petey was white, her boyfriend, the primary suspect, is black); that white parents are treating her as a model, warning their daughters why they should not be involved with black men. I can't tell you how many people have asked me, in hushed voices, "Does it seem like the white people are acting funny now?" I have been warned not to go out at night by myself. I don't believe all of the retribution rumors. But part of me remembers that I have not been in the area for six years and that I can't not underestimate anything.

A friend's mother died of cancer. At her wake, my friend said her chest felt as if it was caving in and it was so hard just to lift her head.

Just so much right now.

The Big Head

Did I tell y'all? The other day, I got my bound copy of my dissertation from proquest. I sat and held it and smiled. And smiled and held it. And held it and smiled. So forth and so on, with short breaks to let members of my family look at it and declare that it was wonderful while I preened.

And you know, for a moment, as I skimmed it, I thought, maybe it wasn't the worst dissertation in the history of PhD-dom.

That feeling lasted all of a minute.

And then I sighed and put the thing away from me.

Historical Argument

So yesterday, in my US history class we discussed the "terrible transformation," using the example of Virginia. We began with the arrival of Africans in 1619, talked about the status (and supply) of white indentured servants and Native Americans, discussed Europeans' familiarity with slavery (and a bit about capitalism), Africans' familiarity with intensive agriculture, Anthony Johnson (Antonio, a Negro), Bacon's rebellion, and the changes in Virginia's laws regarding slavery, culminating with the 1705 proclamation that black and Native American slaves were real estate.*

Though I've read some interesting critiques of Anthony S. Parent's Foul Means: The Formation of a Slave Society in Virginia, 1660-1740, I tend to agree that slavery wasn't something Virginian planters just stumbled upon or were forced into by circumstances. Now, while it may not have been as planned or methodical as Parent suggests, let us never underestimate Americans' desire for earning the almighty dollar via exploitation (one depressing fact that helped render me silent on Labor Day, sigh).

Anyway, after a nice discussion (in my afternoon class--my morning class has me ready to pluck out the hairs of my head individually**), one student asked me was all this occuring around the same time as the Willie Lynch letter. I looked at her crazily and for a moment only said, "Wha-"

And then there was a chorus of, "You know, the Willie Lynch letter that explained how to keep blacks down."

"Oh!" says me, "That letter has been discredited," and I waved my hand dismissively and moved to talk about something else...

Only to be met with outrage and condescension. "It's not fake!" "It is authentic." "It's in a collection with other letters." "I can't believe you think it's not real!"

And because I had not the means to disprove the damn letter in class, I simply gave them the steely eye, reiterated that historians knew the letter was not valid, and moved on.

But my God, were they disgusted with me!

So, do I go in Tuesday morning armed with the words of historian William Jelani Cobb and attorney Steve Sheppard (who's at the U of Arkansas now--I have a soft spot for that school!) or do I let it drop? Seriously, I want the opinions of some classroom experts. Would this be allowing myself to be drawn into a silly argument or is it something I need to do?
_______________________
*Yes, I outlined that detail by detail, so someone who's more versed in colonial history than I can say, "elle, I can't believe you left out this significant fact!"

**Though I did have three students in there who engaged with me yesterday on the topic of the origins of slavery in the "New World" one of whom argued that he didn't see a transformation in the status of Africans, that he believed, whether or not it was coded into law, Africans in the pre-U.S. were always treated/regarded a certain way and had little hope for anything better.

Part of Mychal Bell's conviction dropped; charges reduced

By Howard Witt at the Chicago Tribune:

HOUSTON — Ruling in a racially charged case that has drawn scrutiny from national civil rights leaders, a judge in the small central Louisiana town of Jena on Tuesday partially vacated the conviction of a black teenager accused in the beating of a white student while the district attorney reduced attempted murder charges against two other black co-defendants.

Judge J.P. Mauffray threw out a conspiracy conviction against Mychal Bell, granting a defense motion that Bell's June trial was improperly held in adult court and should instead have been conducted as a juvenile proceeding.

But Mauffray let stand Bell's conviction on aggravated second-degree battery, for which the 17-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 20. On that date, thousands of demonstrators from across the nation are planning to descend on the town of 3,000 to protest the prosecution of Bell and five other black youths who have come to be called the "Jena 6."

...

[O]n Tuesday, Walters similarly reduced the charges against defendants Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw, whose trials are set for January.

Bell's new defense attorneys said they plan further appeals before the Sept. 20 sentencing hearing in a bid to get his remaining conviction vacated.

H/T AfroSpear blog.

Black Students and Self-Expression (My Belated Blogging for Justice Post)

First, Yobachi has a roundup of bloggers who participated in the Day of Blogging for Justice.

There is so much that bothers me about the Jena Six case, but for this post, I'm going to focus on one aspect: How threatened school officials in Jena seem to be when black children stand up for themselves and against what they perceive as injustice or maltreatment. Remember, when black students protested against the nooses hanging from the "white tree" (and the hanging of the nooses being dismissed as a prank), DA Reed Walters sought to end their protest by threatening, "I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."

Now, the fact that the school felt the need to call in the district attorney says a lot--how else can his presence be explained except as a threat? I've never encountered a DA being called in because of what is perceived as a behavior problem. The message is clear: you act in ways we don't like, we involve the (in)justice system. Black children are not given the benefit of the doubt ("Oh, it's just a prank") automatically extended to white children.

Jena school officials' responses are, of course, indicative of much wider problems that manifest themselves in schools. There is an almost obsession in this country with making black children "appropriately" deferential, polite, soft-spoken, willing to take the shit that will be dished upon them in the roles that too many of them will occupy--in low wage labor, in the prison industrial complex, in unremitting poverty. Schools have become perfect places to shape non-political, status quo observant, non-individuals. As Kameelah notes,

I have been convinced that many large public schools function like factory systems. You pop in one student and with the appropriate manipulations, the necessary conveyor belt rides and some pedagogical alchemy and you get the school product: a depoliticized consumer who is more prepared to select the next game system to buy then to think critically about the social context that shapes his financially struggling neighborhood.

As an example, Kameelah writes about a new Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) report that found that

teachers tend to view the behavior of black girls as not “ladylike” and therefore focus disciplinary action on encouraging behaviors like passivity, deference, and bodily control at the expense of curiosity, outspokenness, and assertiveness.

And, as Ann Arnett Ferguson suggests in Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity, schools' discipline systems, in which black boys spend a disproportionate and inordinate amount of time, are often a way that racial order is perpetuated. Ferguson argues that public shcool officials frown upon and punish black boys' self-expression and try to humiliate them into "acceptable" behavior. When that doesn't work, the boys are marginalized and labeled as troublemakers.

For black children, schools become little more than a medium for social control and for instilling and rewarding behaviors deemed fitting based on race, gender, and socio-economic class.

So, imagine my non-surprise, when I watched the Monroe KNOE news the other night and saw a segment discussing the banning, by Jena school officials, of the "Free the Jena Six" t-shirts. The reported noted that the superintendent claimed to have had no problem with the message of the shirts, but felt they were disruptive.

Who, I wonder, did they make uncomfortable?

And why have the students who wore them been put in a defensive position, having to assert that they just wanted to make a statement, not cause trouble?

The Free the Jena Six shirts are banned, according to the superintendent, because they threatened the order of the campus. His claim is a bit narrow; apparently, the self-expression and protest politics of black children threaten to upset the much broader (racial) order of society.

Carnival Time

A long time since I updated y'all, I know, but here goes:

Black Amazon has the Carnival of Radical Action, a wonderful back to school edition.

And then there's the History Carnival.

The 3oth edition of the Carnival Against Sexual Violence, at abyss2hope.

Michael Vick

I haven't been keeping up "officially" with the Michael Vick case beyond updates I see on the news/internet or flipping by ESPN. I do not know all the details. My opinion is torn; I've talked to some guys around here and they are angry about the case for a number of reasons:
1) They believe what's happening to Vick is sparked, in no small part, by racism.
2) They see the situation as proof that "white people care more about their damn dogs than they do other people." Relatedly, I also hear, "They don't care about us when our asses are getting banged up playing football and boxing in front of them."
3) They can't believe Vick is on the verge of going to jail for something they see as a non-serious offense.
4) They believe the men who led the police to Vick are snitches who should've protected the one who "made it out."

On the other hand, as a rural southerner, I have seen the effects of dogfighting--the dogs who are scarred, with ribs showing, who are simultaneously deathly afraid and menacing. I hate it, hate it, hate it. We were raised to love dogs, to take in strays, to treat them with respect. After seeing one man's dogs in my hometown, I was so sickened, I contemplated calling the police. In the end, I didn't--not because I was particularly worried about being labeled a snitch, but because I was afraid he'd go to jail, lose his job, and that would plummet his wife and son into a bad situation.

When he and some other people I know were finally caught, they were at a dogfight at which they were tossing animals that were killed or badly injured into a pit and moving on to the next fight. Vivian (formerly know as best friend Louisiana), was particularly sickened by the fact that the dog owners were having a barbecue at the same time. I remember her saying something to the effect of, "Girl, they were grilling meat while dogs were being thrown around and dying right next to them." The guys that I knew received a slap on the wrist.

So yeah, dogfighting is one of those things for which I have little toleration. While it may be part of some rural (not necessarily black as I've heard some people say) cultures, I don't think it's defensible. No one should get away with such cruel, horrific behavior. The adjectives I hear bandied about--abhorrent, reprehensible, disgusting are all, in my opinion, valid.

But the last I heard, Vick might face state charges as well as federal. I don't know about that.

And I am more than a little disturbed that people can at once dismiss racism while watching white women (as I've seen on news coverage) hold up signs that say "Neuter Michael Vick." (You should read Kym Platt here on this.) Apparently, there are whole t-shirt/bumper sticker/mug enterprises devoted to this slogan--a fact that I find abhorrent, reprehensible, and disgusting as well.

The Sorta-Resolved Dilemma

I know I haven't posted in a while. I was getting ready to end my summer break, pack up the kids and head back to Texas...

Then out of the blue, I got an offer for a one-year position in Louisiana. I felt like Jacob must have when he wrestled with the angel. Do I take the kids out of a school I love? What about my sister, who went back largely because of me? And my ex-professor for whom I was supposed to adjunct this school year, how do I give him such late notice? Oh, and the fact that we just moved to the new apartment in February? Did I have time or the desire to pack up all my old stuff? Am I ready for one year of rural life?

But... the salary at the new place would be more than double my adjunct pay. I also get one class for which I get to pick the topic and design the class. The kids would be closer to family. And this year was to be a transition anyway while I looked for permanent employment, so why was I so determined to stay where my pay would be lower, the cost of living was higher, etc.

So, I took the new job (I literally had, like, two days to accept). My sister, who's a certified teacher, found a job back here in a day or so, of course. My stomach was knotted for a while, but I was in the process of making peace with the idea. As I told some friends, moving is a big deal for me. In my whole life, my parents have moved once, and I was 31 when that happened. Basically, I had the same house, same school, same neighbors, forever. So the idea of putting the kids in a new school is what bothers me the most--that and my lazy ass doesn't want to pack up the apartment. :-)

Then, yesterday, a community college back in Texas called to talk to me about a one-year position beginning in September. Why didn't they call a week earlier??? What if I'm f*cking up royally? Lord, somebody reassure me!

But for now, I am once again a Louisianan--though, readers of this blog know that, in my heart, I always have been. Still, at least one person is upset.

Black and Missing but not Forgotten

From Deidra:

This blog is dedicated to all the missing black women in America. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." If the media doesn't step up - who will? Let these ladies know that we did not forget about them.

You should really, really check out this blog.

Weather Lament

It's just too damned hot. I mean the kind of heat that pisses me off, that makes my body (and my hair :-) feel limp and damp and ready to renounce my (southern) residency. Almost everyone I know has air conditioners that can't cool the houses below the upper 70s--my dad had someone come out and look at ours. The poor AC is fine, just not fit for battle with successive 100 degree+ days.

And then there are the kids, who worry you from the morning onward, asking to go outside. No matter how many times you say, "You will fry," they simply wait three minutes and ask again. We can't keep any kind of drinks because they're going through them so quickly.

My friend Kendra and I are often told we are headed for hell because of the things we say/observations we make. The other night (as in after 6:30), as she was alternately wiping sweat and fanning with a bedraggled paper towel, she told me, "elle, we gotta get our shit together and get right. We're not going to be able to stand this forever."

Check Out...

...the Jena 6 Defense Committee's site.

Watch My Shoes!

Do What Ya Do
But Watch My Shoes
Dance Wit Ya Boo
But Watch My Shoes
You Could Get Loose
But Watch My Shoes
Cause You'll Get Blues
You Don't Watch My Shoes
-Trill Fam

These children--and adults--around here are getting on my nerves singing this song. I suppose the chorus does sort of stick in your head, though.

Anyway, as school begins, it's time to start thinking about school shoes and such. My son is horrible on shoes, no matter the brand. I keep hoping he'll morph into one of those guys who identify with the lyrics above--the kind who wipe their shoes down every six steps or so, curse if you even think of accidentally brushing against them, and only wear each pair twice before putting them back in their box, storing them with mothballs, and relegating them to an airless facility or such.

I'm reminded of a pseudo-argument I had with the kid's father, R, this past spring.

R: I'ma get him some more shoes.

elle: Good, because he destroys them.

R: I'ma get him some white ones.

elle: Hell to the n-o!! Why do I have to keep telling you, dark colored ones?

R: I'm tired of that. Every guy needs a pair of white shoes (R is one of the type of guys profiled in the paragraph I wrote above).

elle: R, don't do that! I'm telling you, they. will. not. last.

R: He's old enough. I'm telling you.

At this point, said discussion devolves into his quite usual, "elle, you are so bossy; how you gon' tell me how to spend my money and what to buy for my kid?" mantra to which I half-heartedly listen then say, "Okay, whatever."

White shoes, six days afterthe first time my son wore them.

I am not kidding. He moonwalked on them during Friday night live (hence the separated tips) He played football in them at school. He apparently splashed in every puddle he saw.

I sent this camera phone picture to his father, I wasn't smug, though... not overly so. I get tired of him dogging his damned shoes, too.

Blogstipation

Usually, when I can't blog, it's because I'm all morose or swamped with less than pleasant work.

Well, I'm blocked, but I think it's largely because I'm "good" busy.

I'm alive, though.

Girls Night Out

Or in, actually. I traded my son and nephew off for a night with my two goddaughters, Belle (5) and Lani (1).

We spent the evening at a softball game at which Belle and I tried to fit into one spectator chair along with her purse, numerous sport drinks, bottled water, a couple of snowcones, nachos, bug spray, my cell phone and keys. Lani got passed from lap to lap and each person that held her felt obligated to give her a taste of one thing or another.

Afterwards, we went to Trinity's house for a little while. Belle proceeded to beat my ass at deuces wild (she's been playing since she was four... at least). She scolded me about my lack of finesse at the game ("You shoulda held that deuce!" "It's your turn to deal!" "You forgot to turn one over!"). I am still amazed by the fact that she can really play. Really.

I also gave Lani a wash up because she was so sticky and gritty. Only, bathing babies and changing diapers has always been a challenge for me. Especially bathing them while trying to hold them in my lap--because of my breasts, I have little lap to speak of, and I know babies must always feel they are on the verge of cliff, about to plunge to the floor below. To make things more interesting, she'd messed up her diaper for real and I had no baby wipes. So, I sent to the bathroom for tissue and dug one of those "feminine" fresh wipes out of my purse.

Well, the fresh wipe didn't go far and the tissue just stuck. Plus, she finally did plunge off my lap and took off towards the back of the house where the other kids were. Her sister had to catch her for me and hold her with her bottom in the air while I cleaned it. I finally got her bathed.

But then came the new diaper. I got it on well enough to not fall all the way off. Rather, it sagged quite unattractively with the implied threat of a butt-crack flash at any moment.

Of course, the moment she was clean, she threw up all the mess people had been giving her. Luckily, it was all over Trinity :-p.

They slept through the night (I was worried about Lani). But this morning brought new challenges.

Desecrated ponytails. And I cannot comb little girls' hair. There are numerous missing barettes, a couple of broken ponytail holders, no comb fit for their hair and one disgruntled godmother.

And now, since I need to re-initiate the bath debacle and since Ms. Lani has decided there's never been a more interesting pasttime than banging my keyboard (and pulling down the clothes that I just ironed!!!), I must bid you all farewell.

And ask you to bid me good luck.

The Jena Six (continued)

H/T Professor BlackWoman and One Black Man

Mychal Bell's sentencing date has been changed from July 31 to September 20. He has a new attorney.

Some national entities have offered assistance and/or made public statements about the cases.

From the NAACP:

A team of concerned lawyers is volunteering their legal experience and research expertise to assist Bell in his appeal and stand ready to assist the other defendants. Professor Charles Ogletree, director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, is also collaborating with the NAACP in the effort to secure justice for the young men.

At the NAACP's 98th annual convention recently held in Detroit, an emergency resolution was passed in support of the Jena 6 and the LaSalle Parish Branch of the NAACP to fight against racial discrimination during the trial and in the community overall. "This case reflects a national trend involving disparate treatment of African Americans within the United States criminal justice system," the resolution reads.

From the Congressional Black Caucus:

The racial hotbed that burned for over nine months in Jena should have been contained by school and elected officials. Instead, the students were left to battle this rage without institutional support or resources.

Therefore, the CBC urges the Judge to consider all the factors surrounding these events during sentencing of Mychal Bell, the first of the six students to be tried. Additionally, we appeal to the Jena District Attorney, Reed Walters, to drop the charges against the remaining five students.

Additionally, either the NAACP or the Department of Justice (depends on the source; maybe it's a joint effort?) held a community education forum in Jena on Thursday night. The DoJ's goal is "peacemaking":

Organizers say they are hoping Thursday's forum is the beginning of community reconciliation for the community.

But some residents were "disappointed with the lack of racial diversity -- most of those in attendance were black."

In order for there to be peace there's got to be both sides," said J.L. George of Sicily Island.

From Mychal Bell's father:

"I thought we wanted to resolve this," he said of the tensions, problems and injustice in the community. "We can't do that without both sides."

I think there is more than a little denial in some of Jena's white residents--I've seen the "We don't have a race problem/Jena is no more racist that X-city" and also the blank-eyed stare of the local (white) librarian on the Democracy, Now! film who says she doesn't know what the nooses meant or why they were there. She relies on the prank theory.

As does U.S. Attorney Donald Washington who spoke at the forum:

Washington and [FBI Special Agent Lewis] Chapman talked about the definition of a hate crime... as it pertains to the nooses found hanging in a tree... at the high school.

"You're absolutely right," Chapman said, addressing the community member who asked if the hanging of the nooses was a hate crime.

"What you may not be aware of is that we... did an investigation."

That investigation's findings, he said, were given to Washington's office. Washington said there were all the elements of a hate crime but one -- threat or use of force.

"How would I prove that in this particular case?" Washington asked. "What's my evidence? ... Put yourself in my shoes, and tell me what you'd do differently."

How he can stand flat-footed and say a noose can't be perceived as a threat towards black people in the U.S. South is beyond me. And I'll bet this was a prank as well:

Two men have been arrested after they ran over a church sign at a black church in [Jena]… just hours after the NAACP held a meeting at the Antioch Baptist Church to discuss the fate of the teenagers.

Washington also addressed the complaints of selective and malicious prosecution (against LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters).

Washington said selective prosecution is very hard to prove, and in order to do so he would have to have to "dig in his head" to determine if Walters was treating black and white people differently.

No, I don't know what's keeping him from digging.

Why Mastering Homemade Desserts Is Going to Be Slightly More Dificult than I Anticipated

The setting: elle, prone on a bed, giddy yet strangely nostalgic as today was the last day of summer school. Suddenly, my sister throws open the door.

Sis: Girl, are you alive?

Me: Barely.

Sis: Well, I cooked. elle, you should've seen the big bag of rice Daddy brought me. And I guess I must've been thinking like him, cuz I cooked way too much rice.

Me: indistinguishable-but-sympathetic grunt.

Sis: Anyway, I'ma put you some on a plate for you and throw the rest out.

Me: (For the first time, a spark of interest makes me rise partially from my repose). Nuh-uh. I'ma call Mama and get her to tell me how to make rice pudding.

Sis: Okay.

So, I call ma mère, who's away at a convention. We exchange pleasantries, and then I jump in.

Me: Ma, how do I make rice pudding?

Mama: Oh, y'all ate rice?

Me: Mm-hmm.

Mama: With what?

Me: Sis cooked rice and fried some chicken. Now, ma-

Mama: Well, boil your rice.

Me: Ma!

Mama: Okay. Put you some eggs in there.

Me: How many?

Mama: Three. (This will be the last clear direction). And some sugar.

Me: How much sugar?

Mama: You know I can't tell you that, baby.

Me: Like half a cup or a cup or what, Ma?

Mama: Half a cup.

Me: (sounding doubtful) For rice, Mama? Half a cup enough for rice?

Mama: (in that sarcastic/reprimanding blend) Well, put what you think since you know.

Me: Okay. What else?

Mama: Uh, some milk. Add some milk.

Me: How much, Mama?

Mama: elle! Enough. Get it wet.

Me: Okay.

Mama: But not soupy. You know wet, but not soupy.

Me: Yes, ma'am. That's all?

Mama: Yeah--no, no. Vanilla flavoring.

Me: Like a capful?

Mama: Whatever looks right.

Me: (put upon sigh) Anything else? What about butter?

Mama: Your sister put butter in the rice, didn't she?

Me: Probably, but I like lots of butter.

Mama: Well put it in. But not too much, elle. Just-

Me: Enough.

Mama: Mm-hmm. And you could put some cinnamon if you like it. I don't like it.

Debate about temperature at which to cook ensues. Mama issues a last minute"Just bake it long enough!" Parting pleasantries exchanged.

Rice pudding going into the oven:

An aside: Chocolate cake from Sunday dinner. It tasted better than my limited decorating skills would indicate.

Doldrums

A dip in the emotions. One that I hope is temporary.

I don't think I'm all that sad... just not happy right now.

I'm feeling decidedly sorry for myself, I think. A little wallowing because I'm tired, more than a bit lonely, missing my own space, and wondering what happens now. In the last couple of days, I've had tears like, right behind my eyes and a tingly nose.

Then, as usual, I feel badly, because I have a good life in most ways. And my mom can look at me and tell--she says, "What is meant for you will come. Stop rushing!"

Usually, I am content with that. But sometimes, my mind is in a million places and I want to know. What will happen as my child approaches teenagehood--what if I "lose" him? What will happen with my career, the one that I'm just starting when most of my friends and family are settling in? What will happen with my personal life as I am acutely aware of my status as the only "single" among my friends? I battle that one all the time--part of me usually content with the other relationships in my life, part of me admitting that, no matter how weak or contradictory or unfulfilled or whatever it makes me seem, I do miss having a "real" significant other.

What am I willing to accept may never be part of my life--will I be happy spending the rest of my life unattached? just getting by? being bossy and trying to fix everything for everyone else while some tiny portion of me sometimes wants someone to smooth my way (and isn't that last thought petty and self-important)? Will I regret my decision to have no more children? to become a professional historian rather than some other thing for which I may have had an affinity?

Every once in a while those things and more settle on me, on my mind, and I can't shake them. And I know me--by this weekend, I'll probably be fine. But for now...

Ugh.

Sunday Dinner

I'm cooking Sunday dinner today. I decided to tackle my arch nemesis, collard greens. I have a hard time seasoning them the way I want them to be. To me, turnips, mustards, and cabbage (the other kinds of greens we eat regularly) have their own flavor, so that helps out. But collards--if you don't get those just right, it's like eating a mouthful of hot water.

To be honest, I had it a bit easy today. Trinity cut up the greens for me and my mom washed them--those are the two worst things about cooking collard greens. Plus, Trin gave me some of her preferred cured meat for cooking them with--that should help with seasoning them. And I'm using my grandmother's old pots for luck.

Okay so here are four bunches (it's just me and my parents today, but I always cook a little extra for unexpected company) dumped in a boiling pot of what will become the "pot liquor"--water, salt, cooking oil, and the cured meat.

We're having neckbones with them--here they are being washed.

The required vegetables, mostly for the neckbones, though I will put some jalapeno in the greens. My mom said I could put a little onion as well, but I'm sticking with what I know.

Coarsely chopped cuz I did it by hand. I refuse to sit there and prettily dice like my mom will, but that's probably why I don't cook as well as my mom either :-). Plus the seasoning salt and vinegar for the neckbones (you can add garlic and pepper as well).

What the greens have "cooked down" (reduced, I guess?) to so far.

Okay, neckbones ready to boil. I layered them and sprinkled stuff throughout.

I'm cheating on dessert--I was supposed to make a homemade chocolate pie, but I forgot to buy cocoa, then forgot to get some from Trin's house. Ah, well.

Stirred up.

Results later! I'm about to be shamefully late for 11:15 service.

Silence

So I thought, once I switch to teaching U.S. history, which I'm a trillion times more familiar with, I'll free up some time and right write some substantive posts. :-)

Still, even though I'm not writing my notes or deciding which primary sources to work with in class from scratch, I feel sooooo busy. They're a pretty good (if annoyingly quiet during class discussions sometimes) class.

There's another issue--a problem that I had while trying to write my dissertation as well. I don't know how to cut back and not try to become an expert on every single thing. I read a lot for that world history class, got all off into stuff about which I'll never write or need to know minutiae about. Same thing with this first half of the survey--I've been reading up on the smallest details, adding articles and books to my TBR list (Which is depressingly long. Really.), and generally being very micro-minded.

And then one of my committee members had the unmitigated gall to send me an e-mail asking how my summer was going with the implied question being, "Have you done any work/research on your Magnum Opus (is it Opus Magnum?)?" I wanted to write back and say, "Child, please!"

Here is the deal. I have plumbed the depths of local Louisiana libraries and found some good stuff... that sits on my dresser at my parents'. I've gotten the names and numbers of some more interviewees... and saved them in my phone. And I finally found out the name of the guy who wrote his stuff on the industry in my area, but from the point of view/experiences of contract growers... and that's all I've found out (his thesis is in my TBR pile, as well).

Thing is, after re-reading the damned thing, I am convinced it's hopeless. I hope no one ever reads it, much less references it!

Other historians have been asking me, "have you found/looked at any publishers?" Should I be? I haven't even applied for a job (I do have one for the fall, don't worry)! Seriously, do people look into publishing this early, with a minimum of 50 years of revision, rewriting, and research needed on the thing? I thought that would come later. The last thing elle, p(rocrastinating) h(appily) d(ammit) needs is talk of deadlines and such. My mind will finish the shut down process it began during the spring semester.

So that's my life. How's yours?

Damn! Even the Default Robots Are Male.

I went to see Transformers.

I came home and started reading up on it (yes, on a Saturday night).

Script writer Robert Orci on why Arcee, a "female" Autobot did not appear in the film:

I would have liked to see Arcee, but the idea of a female Transformer needs its own explanation, and there just wasn't going to be enough time. It would have been like, "Oh, that's convenient. They're trying to appease women with a pink Transformer."

Okay, is he saying:

1) All transformers are supposed to be the same (and, of course, male) so Arcee didn't fit?
2) Since women's primary purpose is sex object-ness and the (default male) transformers don't seem to have sexual urges, so Arcee didn't fit?
3) Since this was a movie about male figures engaging in the age-old battle to decide the fate of the world, Arcee didn't fit? (You know, let teh menfolk hash out the important stuff, then bring in the women?)

All theories aside, I really don't understand what he meant.

Don't Call Us Out of Name

A reference to this book by Lisa Dodson. Yes, I think you should read it. (I've lost my copy now that I'm thinking about it).

But also a reference to TMZ.com's calling Beyonce a "roboho."

And when they are confronted about it?

As to accusations that our comment was racially motivated, TMZ has humorously called into question many celebs for wearing racy outfits -- regardless of their race. In the past, TMZ referred to Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, as "poshtitute," Hulk Hogan's daughter a "working girl" and called Lindsay Lohan's trashy ensemble a "HO-rror." A tight mini-dress is a tight mini-dress! Even Kid Rock got a humorous "ho" reference in a December 2006 story, and last we checked, he was neither Black nor a woman.

Got that? Since their racism is equally matched by their misogyny, what the hell are people complaining about? Oh, and since they "humorously" called a white man a ho, all the sting and insult is removed from their use of the word. But isn't saying, "We used the term for Kid Rock and didn't mean anything by it" sort of like admitting you know full well that use of the term just may imply something?

And why that word? If they were really aiming to use some innocuous term to critique her outfit, then why not use some innocuous term to critique her outfit?

Oh, and they fall back on some tried and true tropes:

1. Can't you people take a joke?

While others may have used the term with maliciousness -- we clearly did not. It was a humor piece... it is clear that the only thing more subjective than what is fashionable, is what one finds funny.

2. But, but... it wasn't our intent to offend!

Isn't the context in which a word is used almost as important, if not more so, than the actual word?

3. We will not be constrained by political correctness.

With everything serious going on in our world, if you can't make fun of something as superficial as awards show clothing, then what can you make fun of?

And the biggest piece of bullshit?

... please note that we called Beyonce's performance outfit "roboho" not Ms. Knowles herself.

Can y'all see my eyes rolling backward?

Music

Okay, some preliminaries:

1. I rarely listen to the radio, especially here, where you get more static than anything.

2. I don't even own a stereo/CD player--I play music on the computer or CD player in my car.

3. I don't really watch videos.

4. I balk at spending $16 or $17 for a CD when I only know or like one song.

So, the fact that all the music I know tends to be "popular"--heard on mix CDs or gleaned from my staticky radio--should be no surprise.

Here's the question--how do you get turned on to music that's not mainstream/doesn't get much radio play? (For example, I first heard Teedra Moses on one of my soror's myspace page). I'm really burned out on hearing the same thing and the same people over and over.

Plus, I feel soooooo unsophisticated.

The Jena Six

... on Democracy Now! Watch the film.

Happy Birthday

To my kiddo!

He turned nine on July 10th. His mama is late posting because she was embroiled in birthday party preparations.

Actual party pictures later.

The Jena Six--What We Can Do

Thanks, Clare, for more info:

Get Involved!—Write, email, or call one of these local organizations:

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798,
Jena, LA 71342
jena6defense@gmail.com

Friends of Justice
507 North Donley Avenue
Tulia, TX 79088
www.fojtulia.org

ACLU of Louisiana
PO Box 56157
New Orleans, LA 70156
www.laaclu.org
(417) 350-0536

I'll be adding to this post all day. It's been on my mind for a couple of days, but I kept telling myself, "Get everything together." Only, being the procrastinator I am, if I wait until I've compiled all the ideas and resources, I'll never get it done.

1. Sign the petition:


(Thanks Tom and Sylvia).

2. Donate to the Friends of Justice (there's a link in the post).

3. Kevin started a Facebook group and cause for the Jena Six.

4. Grab this animator. (I'm trying to figure out how to put it on my sidebar. Is that possible? Am I totally technologically unsavvy?)

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

5. From blueintheface at DailyKos:

Please contact:
Senator Mary Landrieu
webpage contact link
(202) 224-5824

Senator David Vittner
webpage contact link
Phone:(202) 224-4623

Rep Bobby Jindal
webpage contact link
Phone: (202)-225-3015

Rep William Jefferson
Phone: (202) 225-6636

Rep Charlie Melancon
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-4031

Rep Jim McCrery
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-2777

Rep Rodney Alexander
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-8490

Rep Richard Baker
webpage contact link
Phone: 202-225-3901

Rep Charles Boustany
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-2031

Please call these representatives and leave a message. Tell them that Americans won't stand for racism and ask them to get involved. Let's bring political pressure to bear on District Attorney Reed Walters to stop using the Louisiana justice system to discriminate against African-Americans. For Mychal Bell and the rest of the Jena 6, we need to speak up. Our voices will make a difference!

blueintheface reiterates what Friends of Justice outline as needed responses:

Restoring justice to Jena will require the following:
· The Louisiana State Police must be assigned to the investigation of the alleged fight at the school.
· District Attorney Reed Walters must recuse himself from the investigation and prosecution of the black defendants in the alleged school fight of December 4, 2006 or the incident at the Gotta Go Convenience store on December 2, 2006.
· The legal cases cited above must be transferred to an alternative venue.
· A special prosecutor must be assigned to prosecute whatever charges (if any) are deemed appropriate on the basis of an independent state police investigation.
· The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice should launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine if the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.
· The inaction of the LaSalle Parish School Board on the noose incident represents a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Therefore, a written complaint should be filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.
· The LaSalle Parish school system must institute a rigorous program of diversity education beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school with a particular focus on the history of race relations in America and the virtues of pluralism, mutual respect and equal opportunity. In addition, a yearly, system-wide in-service diversity training program must be provided for teachers and administrators.

6. Circulate this:



and this: "Injustice In Jena As Nooses Hang From The 'White Tree',"

and here is a link to a CNN Video.

7. I have talked to LA public defender Jason Williamson, who works in New Orleans, but who's keeping an eye on this case. He's in touch with the parents of the boys and has promised to let me know of local efforts to raise funds and encourage support.

8. Check out whileseated.

More later.

The Quaker Agitator: Happy (Agitator) birthday...

The Quaker Agitator: Happy (Agitator) birthday...

to my favorite wonderful, brilliant, and just plain good Agitator!

Party Mania!

So last weekend we had three birthday parties. My goddaughter Alani and my little cousin Skylar both turned one on June 29 and we finally had Belle's party. Dora was the theme of the weekend.

Alani's cake.

Transitioning from crying to smiling. She knows what the camera means.

Alani enjoying her smash cake.

Skylar's cake.

My cousin Crystal, Skylar's mom, wondering why the hell she decided to have a party.

My favorite picture in a while--

Crystal hit the xylophone and Skylar loved it so much she fell backwards laughing.

Belle and the Dora cash register.

A grainy picture of Belle and Skylar (they're first cousins) at Belle's party

Images for the Jena Six Petition

Tom has combined some of the images for the Jena Six petition with links to the petition.

Please check it out.

H/T Sylvia.

Independence Day?

Because of Jena.

And the Newark women.

And Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District #1.

And the criminalization and mistreatment of immigrants.

And continual violence against all of us.

And our overwhelming silence...

...a still-relevant perspective on the Fourth of July:

I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me.

This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.

You may rejoice, I must mourn.

-Frederick Douglass

The Hypocrisy of American Slavery

(What to the Slave is the Fourth of July)

July 4, 1852

One hundred fifty-five years ago. Apparently, not long at all.

Carnival Time

Briefly...

History Carnival at Historianess's. (I can't figure out how to get the permalink!! The date is July 2, 2007).

Carnival Against Sexual Violence at abyss2hope.

(One Reason) Why Mychal Bell's Conviction Was No Surprise.

OK, I had to take a couple of days. You know what I felt like happened? Let me give you a couple of historical examples.

After Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831, when eyes turned to Virginia, when the lies about enslaved blacks' contentment and the relative benignity and beneficiality of slavery were so thoroughly challenged, the white South basically shut down any discussions on the peculiar institution.* Challenges and criticisms wouldn't be met with defenses, justifications, or skewed logic (not that they'd always been prior to 1831). Instead, they were met with aggression, anger, and threats toward suspected abolitionists (and even the more moderate anti-slavery folk) and further repression of blacks. Pro-slavery forces in Congress even managed to effect gag rules, shutting down the discussion in Congress for a decade.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."**

I've mentioned before that in the late 1950s/early 1960s, Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana stood in the Senate and painted a picture of the South, and Louisiana in particular, as a peaceful region, with few "racial" disturbances, and a status quo accepted by blacks and whites alike. If blacks were largely disfranchised,*** then it was the result of insufficient motivation on their parts and nothing systematic or institutional. But, Ellender warned, if the Justice Department kept interfering, if civil rights organizations kept pushing, then no one could hold white southerners responsible for what they might do about the attack on their states' rights and the favoritism shown towards blacks.

And in the aftermath of new civil rights acts and the establishment of the Civil Rights Commission (CRC), white Southerners, again, shut down. They restricted access to social services to the poorest blacks. In Louisiana, they ruthlessly purged blacks from the voter rolls. They expanded the use of literacy tests and "good character" requirements. They refused to cooperate with the CRC, refused to even acknowledge its legitimacy.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."

So when it came to Mychal Bell's trial, I just knew. When blacks in Jena rallied around their children, when international attention came to the situation, I knew. When I read the nasty comments from Louisianans on different blogs about how "Jena isn't that bad" and "There's racism everywhere" and "If six white boys had done this...", I knew. And Lord, when they
chose that all white jury, I knew, as a historian, as a black southerner, that the jury was not going to miss the chance to reinforce "the lesson."

Again.

At the expense of a child's life.
_____________________________________
*The rebellion was not the sole reason, of course, but I believe it played a large role in the way the South handled the issues surrounding slavery over the next three decades.
**Outsiders can be within the community, too, e.g. white southerners who challenged the status quo in the South.
***I mention this because I am hearing the same defenses of the all-white jury in Jena.

The Jena Six Petition Is Ready

Please sign and help circulate the petition

Jena Six petition link.

H/T Tom.

More Reasons the (in)Justice System Has Me Down

Sometimes, I really ask what the hell is going on? And I don't mean that in a sarcastic or cynical way, but in a "I'm really frightened and discouraged by" shit that's going on that's just not right. It's just not.

From Yolanda:

Four African American lesbian women from Newark, New Jersey were sentenced this past June 14th to excessively long prison terms in New York for the crime of defending themselves against homophobic harassment and violence. These young sistas were railroaded by both a dismissively misogynist judge and by the reactionary, sensationalist media. As Imani Henry writes in Workers World:

Deemed a so-called “hate crime” against a straight man, every possible racist, anti-woman, anti-LGBT and anti-youth tactic was used by the entire state apparatus and media. Everything from the fact that they lived outside of New York, in the working-class majority Black city of Newark, N.J., to their gender expressions and body structures were twisted and dehumanized in the public eye and to the jury.
According to court observers, [presiding judge Edward J.] McLaughlin stated throughout the trial that he had no sympathy for these women. The jury, although they were all women, were all white. All witnesses for the district attorney were white men, except for one Black male who had several felony charges.
Court observers report that the defense attorneys had to put enormous effort into simply convincing the jury that they were “average women” who had planned to just hang out together that night. Some jurists asked why they were in the Village if they were from New Jersey. The DA brought up whether they could afford to hang out there—raising the issue of who has the right to be there in the first place.

It’s gonna take the struggle of people around the country to get these young women out of prison.

Please read the Workers' World article she linked. Please.

Kactus has been writing about April Griffin:

From MotherWarriorsVoice:

Twenty seven year old April Griffin has been in the Milwaukee County Jail since May 14th, 2007 because she refuses to give up custody of her nine month old son.
May 14th 2007- Ms. Griffin appeared in Milwaukee County Family Court because Mr. Sebuliba was trying to obtain full parental custody of their infant son. Griffin, representing herself, asked Judge Goulee how he could consider giving custody of a 9 month old breastfeeding baby to a man who:
Is on record for having beaten Griffin during her pregnancy
Is not a US Citizen‹Mr. Sebuliba wants to send the baby to Uganda for his mother to raise
Wanted the baby to be aborted
Openly had nothing to do with Ms. Griffin during her pregnancy?
Judge Goulee denied Griffin the right to question her own witnesses. And he refused to introduce her medical evidence.
Judge Goulee changed the baby’s last name against the mother’s wishes.
Judge Goulee ordered Griffin to bring in the infant. HE WANTS THE CHILD REMOVED FROM ALL FAMILY MEMBERS AND PLACED IN FOSTER CARE WHILE DAD IS EVALUATED! (The child has a grandmother and grandfather, 7 aunts and one uncle in Milwaukee.) Griffin refused to subject her child to such trauma.
Goulee told Griffin that she should have overlooked the battery and stayed with Sebuliba because he is a “good catch.” (He’s a nurse. She’s unemployed.) Goulee found Griffin in civil contempt of court. He ordered her to jail, because she was a “threat”.
May 15th 2007- Griffin appeared before Judge Goulee. He again told her to give up custody of her son. She refused. Goulee threatened, ” I can keep you here forever.”

Read the rest, and then see what you can do to help.

Kactus has posted more here, here, here, and here.

Y'all, what the hell?

Mychal Bell, First of the Jena 6 to Stand Trial, Convicted

***Update (5:51 PM-6/28)***

I really have nothing to say right now. This conviction is not surprising.

But it still hurts.

I got the news from the Alexandria Town Talk:

The jurors were told that in addition to the charges Bell faced, they also may consider the lesser and included charges of aggravated battery, second-degree battery, simple battery, or acquittal.

Yeah, right.

Vox sums up my opinion:

30 years for a high school fistfight in which no one was seriously injured, convicted by an all-white jury. I don’t know what to say about that.

Thanks to my cousin, Trinity, for updating here.

____________________________________

This is Trinity-Elle's cousin. She's away from the computer but wanted me to update you that Mychal Bell has been convicted of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

More Later.

An Aside on the Jena Six

***Please excuse my all-over-the-place-ness as I think this out, but you're used to it, right?***

In the comments of my very first post about the Jena Six, I had a commenter named Nick who was troubled by my views:

Blah, blah, blah!!! I am a resident of Jena and i have been a resident here all my life. It is really unfortunate that the news only publishes stories that make these young men, the "Jena 6", seem like victims. I happen to know 3 of them and i assure you they are anything but.

...

Does it really matter what color they are or this student they beat? Its so funny how all these big city hot shots come here and try to make all this a racial thing when really its not!

My immediate response was defensive:

as far as "does color matter?" hell yes. don't even try that BS with me--another rural louisianan. didn't color matter when a tree was still "reserved" for whites only now in 2007? when the nooses were hung? when those boys got a slap on the hand?

...

as far as trying to make this not be a "racial thing"--good attempt with the "i don't remember how this started." it'd be easy to say "with nooses hung from trees," but somehow, i suspect it goes beyond that, past the mistreatment of (largely African American) Jefferson Parish Prison detainees who were moved to Jena after Hurricane Katrina, past the brutalization of the young men in the old juvenile prison, past the overwhelming support of jena's white populace for a former ku klux klan leader for governor.Keep your head buried in the sand, Nick. Jena has a race problem. And it's not young black men.

Nick's response included:

elle, obviously your missing my point entirely! I LIVE HERE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY In JENA! Do you? I know all about what racisim is, trust me!

...

The majority of people in this town are not racist though. I work in a place where i talk to cops daily and most of them also beleive that attempted second degree murder is really extreme.

I wanted to continue the discussion, but I felt that I owed Nick an apology (which is why I asked Nick to e-mail me). Not because I changed my position, but because 1) I had professed to want views from people in and around Jena and felt that I dismissed Nick's when I jumped defensive and 2) my initial response to Nick was full of assumptions.

Still, I am troubled by Nick's assertion that some of these boys were "bad" and the resultant implication that being charged with attempted murder is somehow deserved because of alleged past actions (not Nick's position, but I've seen it). It reminds me of all the purported discussions during the civil rights era that emphasized putting only positive-reputation-having, well-dressed, "respectable" people on the frontlines in sit-ins and on segregated bus seats and during acts of civil disobedience. Of course, the technique was undoubtedly necessary.

But still, it begs the question (a question that I'm dealing with in another part of my online life as well), for whom do we seek justice and fair treatment? Whose criminalization and/or negative characterization do we resist? S/he of the spotless past and unimpugnable reputation? Those with the "right" color or money, who can have what they do dismissed as pranks or a misstep (rather than an inherent flaw) or "unintended to offend?"

Vox, as usual, beautifully summarizes why, no matter what unrelated allegations about the Jena Six arise, no matter how many people cry "reverse racism!" (because I, for example, obviously think it's okay for black people to beat up white people and that black people should "get away with" said beatings), the circumstances of this case, from the way provocative actions before the fight were dismissed to the unreasonable charges, point to racism and the difficulty these young men will have in getting a fair trial:

a. Only three of the six teens arrested participated in the fight.
b. Several white teenagers jumped and beat up a black teen the weekend before the fight and were charged only with battery.
c. A white teenager threatened a black teen with a shotgun and was not charged with a crime.
d. White teens threatened the lives of the black teens by hanging the nooses from that tree and were never punished.
e. The boy who was “beaten” in the afternoon was up and at his ring ceremony that same evening.

It’s not racism because they’re being prosecuted for beating another teen. It’s racism because the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, and because similar crimes by white teens in the four months preceding the “beating” were not punished at all.

In other words, that racism affects this case is not something that bloggers, or some newspapers, or the faceless "leaders of national organizations" made up to malign residents of Jena or to divert attention from "the 'real' victim."

I bobble as I try to walk the line between respecting Nick's position as a Jena resident and giving voice to my own lived experience(s) as a black, rural Louisianan. Still, my questions to Nick and people of this mindset remain:

Is the law being administered differently based on race? How does the historical mistreatment of African Americans in Jena's "justice system," affect this case? Is a fair trial for young men that citizens like you are working so hard to paint a criminalized picture of possible in Jena?

I deeply believe that race and place matter in this case, and I worry for the lives of these young men. No matter what allegations are hurled at them, they deserve to be treated fairly and justly.