is there racism in latin america?

Blackprof.com: Is There Racism in Latin America and What Does That Mean for Race Relations in the United States? by Tanya Hernandez

from vicente guerrero to vicente fox

Indymedia: Mexico welcomed fugitive slaves and African American job-seekers by Ron Wilkins is an amazing piece on how Mexico of the past had a relatively positive relationship with people of African descent from the North.

on being black at a latino march

I like the article overall. My one huge complaint would be the unstated assumption that being "Black" implies being non-immigrant and Anglo. I once met a woman from Ghana who used the labels "plane Blacks" and "boat Blacks" (based on how folks came to be in the United States). In general I don't like those sorts of divisions but I have noticed that a lot of times "boat Blacks" (in my head, I sometimes use the term Afro-Gringos) tend to assume that there are only a small number of ways to "be Black" (i.e. those based on the experience of slavery in the United States, especially the American South, Reconstruction, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights movement and modern hip-hop culture.) And there is often a tendancy to marginalize and ignore the Black experience in other parts of the Americas, Africa, and the rest of the diaspora.

Van Jones' piece below is well-intentioned and worth reading. But his difficulties with the Spanish slogans and "Latin" (probably African) rhythms have more to do with his Anglo-ness than his Blackness

On Being Black at a Latino March by Van Jones

praise the prophet poetry competition

CLICK HERE

late first impressions of may 1st

So I went to a local immigrant rights march on Monday. It gave me a lot to think about.

Firstly, I think these sorts of events are amazing. It is powerful and galvanizing to think of thousands of people coming out just to affirm that they have rights and demand that they be treated fairly. I was especially impressed with how diverse the speakers were. "Of course" Mexican and Mexican-American speakers were well represented but other voices definitely made contributions.Young. Old. Male. Female. Latino. Muslim. African-American. Legal. "Illegal". And white allies from the labor movement.

Secondly, what gave me a bit more to think about was how ideologically diverse the people involved seemed to be. Immigration, affirmative-action, anti-war, pro-local economy, labor. Everyone had their issue. It made me wonder if the group of people gathered there would be able to continue to coordinate their efforts and agree what a next step would look like. To be hoest, the strategic/critical side of my brain was a little skeptical of what political changes would really come out of that particular gathering. But the friend whom I was with pointed out that its not really about that. It has more to do with letting people know that they are not alone, letting them feel empowered, letting them have a voice. The rest comes later.

A day without an immigrant
Immigrant Solidarity Network
No HR 4437 Network
A.N.S.W.E.R. and the Great American Boycott

immigration across the blogosphere

Here is Elenamary's massive clearinghouse of blog links on the immigration-related events of May 1st (thanks for the shout-out)

senzala or quilombo

Just the other day I got into a conversation about anarchism with a Chicana friend of mine so the subject has been on my mind. In Senzala or Quilombo: Reflections on APOC and the fate of Black Anarchism, Pedro Ribeiro metaphorically connects APOC, the Anarchist People of Color organization with the Brazilian qilombos, the free communities of runaway slaves.

natural islam

From the Anarchist People of Color site: In the article Natural Islam, Salim (a libertarian socialist Shia Muslim Sufi author) discusses the relation between activism and authority (both religious and political).

islamic anarchism?

A very brief piece on Gustave-Henri Jossot (1866-1951), a French cartoonist who moved in Anarchist circles and eventually converted to Islam.

blacks and immigration reform

Blacks and Immigration Reform: Conflicted, But Why? by Anthony Asadullah Samad

In a strange twist of events leading up to the “Day Without Mexicans” protest, there was suddenly this overwhelming focus on where African Americans stood on the issue. While this focus certainly was heightened by a half-cocked Ted Hayes rollin’ into Leimert Park with Minutemen in tow, talkin’ about Black people will help immigrants build an economy in Mexico. Hayes is clearly the latest iteration of Sambo politics that advances the position of the conservative right without any concern of how crazy he really makes black people look. Of course, the media is there front and center, while a few so-called “black spokespersons” front off the whole race escalating Black/Latino tensions on a whole ‘nother front simply because some folk want to scapegoat immigrants and play up the politics of fear that permeate two already exploited communities. These Negroes are trying to do to immigrants what America did to Blacks at the end of the 19th Century when poor whites decried that Blacks were taking their jobs because of industrialization. That’s what makes this dangerous.

The fact that African Americans feel the need to take position needs to be called into question. There has been no Latino “litmus test” on HR 40 (Reparation bill) or even where Latinos stand on police abuse or jailhouse attacks on African Americans. We tend to cooperate where we can, but each community has its own issues. Yet, “are you with us” is now a prevailing inquiry among Blacks and Latinos. Certainly any group that knows the social change history of Blacks in America (including the history of the “Day of Absence” for which this protest was modeled) know that our involvement in social (and political change) is crucial. Yeah, this legislation is targeting Mexicans, but Haitians, Jamaicans, and Africans impacted by this bill. We should be allies in advocating for compassionate reform. Solidarity where possible. That’s how it’s always been.

There are deeper issues here. The concern that immigrants take jobs from black people drives the opposition. It’s a false premise that has nothing to do with immigration, and everything to do with competition. Immigrants don’t take work—they make work. They sell fruits, or flowers or other goods. Most of the jobs they fill are not jobs Blacks want. I know over three dozen upper middle class black families looking for black gardeners but can’t find one. It’s the same with housekeepers, babysitters, live-in nannies and day laborers. The competition between Black and Latinos (on all levels) stem from the networks each creates that support their desire to work and improve their communities. Only 25% of all jobs in America are advertised. The rest are “inside referrals.” Work is disappearing for African Americans because we want to be the only one on the job and put little in the job “pipeline.” Latinos refer who they know. Blacks used to do the same.

Blacks could provide enough jobs for everybody to work if they’d only support themselves. In 1965, it was Jewish businesses taking work from Blacks. In 1992, it was Koreans. Now, it’s immigrants. And opposing Blacks think they can help immigrants build their “own country.” Yeah, right? That’s pure rhetoric and the source of the confliction on this issue—an issue not really ours. Blacks can’t build their own economy here in America. We need not play the role of being victims.

Wanna know our issue? Black America’s focus should not be on who’s taking jobs, but who’s making jobs. When Blacks learn how to make work, they’ll have work. Immigration won’t even be an issue. It’s not for any other community who simply make work for their people to work.

Anthony Asadullah Samad is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of 50 Years After Brown: The State of Black Equality In America. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com

"when you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of..."

It has just been on my mind...
From the movie Traffic:

You know, when they forced Khruschev out, he sat down and wrote two letters to his successor. He said - "When you get yourself into a situation you can't get out of, open the first letter, and you'll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can't get out of, open the second letter". Soon enough, he gets into a tight situation, and he opens the first letter. It says - "Blame it all on me". So he blames it all on the old guy, and it worked like a charm. When he got himself into a second situation, he opened the second letter. It said - "Sit down, and write two letters..."

The full screenplay for Traffic

bunny vs. world

For fun: Bunny vs. World by Helmi Bastami is the name of an odd flash game where you are a rabbit ninja who must fight against the forces of Adolph Bunne, a fascist rabbit supremacist who has risen to power in the animal world. The game is more than a bit bloody but other than that, the story, the look of the game, and the music are very well done.

lift every voice and sing

In the same poem, I also mentioned how I preferred Lift Every Voice and Sing to any star-spangled martial war cry. I used to teach middle school and every day the students would sing both songs and was really struck by how beautiful and powerful James Weldon Johnson's words are:

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
'Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on 'til victory is won.



Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.



God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.

"jose can you see..."

As a creative response to some of the recent debates about immigration, several Latin musicians have gotten together to record a Spanish-language version of the Star-Spangled Banner. I'm not sure I can adequately convey how beautiful I think that idea is.

It raises a whole series of issues which I feel like I've been wrestling with for a while. Ever since after the 2004 Presidential election, when a lot of people I knew were joking around about moving to Canada (or alternatively, having the blue states secede) it struck me that there had to be a way to resolve the tension between genuine love of country and criticism of the government. My own family leaned towards the latter and so they left Cuba due to political reasons. But this time around, I felt a little angry at the people who were talking about going to Canada because of Bush. I even ended up writing a poem about the subject. How do you affirm the best parts of what it means to be American, while rejecting the harmful government policies, the racist history, the religious discrimination, etc. which are often deeply intertwined mainstream expressions of "patriotism". One line which sums up a lot of the poem went, "I love this country with the love of a mechanic: when something is broke, you fix it." Another idea had to do with being an American, but on your own terms. My parents didn't leave Cuba because they thought Spanish was an ugly language or because they preferred hamburgers and french fries to yucca and frijoles negros. They came here to be free. For me, that's what this song is about.

Lyrics to 'Nuestro Himno' ('Our Hymn')

Amanece, lo veis?, a la luz de la aurora?
lo que tanto aclamamos la noche caer?
sus estrellas sus franjas
flotaban ayer
en el fiero combate
en señal de victoria,
fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada.
Por la noche decían:
"Se va defendiendo!"
Oh decid! Despliega aún
Voz a su hermosura estrellada,
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?
Sus estrellas, sus franjas,
la libertad, somos iguales.
Somos hermanos, en nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada.
Mi gente sigue luchando.
Ya es tiempo de romper las cadenas.
Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"
Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?

English translation:

By the light of the dawn, do you see arising,
what we proudly hailed at twilight's last fall?
Its stars, its stripes
yesterday streamed
above fierce combat
a gleaming emblem of victory
and the struggle toward liberty.
Throughout the night, they proclaimed:
"We will defend it!"
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?
Its stars, its stripes,
liberty, we are the same.
We are brothers in our anthem.
In fierce combat, a gleaming emblem of victory
and the struggle toward liberty.
My people fight on.
The time has come to break the chains.
Throughout the night they proclaimed, "We will defend it!"
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?

Scotsman.com: Bush pans Star-Spangled Banner
NPR: A Spanish Version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (listen)
"Jose can you see" reference

the world's sixteen crucified saviors

The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors by Kersey Graves is a book I've occasionally seen in Afrocentric bookstores but I recently found a free online version so I'm sharing the link. The book certainly has its flaws, but its basic message is to point out how the Christian version of the Jesus story has many uncanny similarities with myths and legends surrounding other religious figures. So it supports the idea that elements of the Christ story have been overlain with older pagan elements (including Egyptian, which will make Sondjata happy). Also, since Muslims would want to affirm the "historical Jesus" the book also suggests ways of seperating the wheat (the real Jesus) from the chaff (the myth which was created around him).

the mad dervish

I was doing a search recently and found Manuel aka the Mad Dervish who is another Latino Muslim blogger (on Myspace). Like most myspace blogs he tends to run on the personal side but I'll still give him a shout-out.

"i am become death, the destroyer of worlds"

The article Divine Mushroom Cloud: A Call to Worship by Karen Horst Cobb explores the religious significance of nuclear warfare. Of course, some of the 'religious' implications were clear from the begining. Upon seeing the first atomic explosion (named the Trinity test no less) Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb" is known to have thought back to the Bhagavad-Gita and the lines "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds"

It reminds me of the film Beneath the Planet of the Apes where those mutant humans lived underground and formed a cult which worshipped the Bomb. I think she has a point. Admittedly, we still have a ways to go. We still haven't developed mental telepathy and we don't need masks to cover our radiation-scarred faces. But I think Cobb is right. In some circles, the bomb has become an idol of sorts, like the Ark of the Covenant which the children of Israel carried into battle.

And y'all know what the Bible (or the Quran for that matter) says about idolatry.

Grenada's past:
monkey business

when keeping it real goes wrong

Good Times.
Any time you meet a payment. - Good Times.
Any time you need a friend. - Good Times.
Any time you’re out from under.
Not getting hassled, not getting hustled.
Keepin’ your head above water,
Making a wave when you can.

Temporary lay offs. - Good Times.
Easy credit rip offs. - Good Times.
Scratchin’ and surviving. - Good Times.
Hangin in a chow line - Good Times.
Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em - Good Times.

Chicago Tribune: Good times -- and bad

Reading this made me sad on multiple levels. Thirty-five years ago, Eric Monte, an African-American tv writer helped create some of the most popular and innovative movies and tv shows of the 1970s. He wrote "Cooley High" (which was the inspiration for What's Happening!) He was a co-creator of "Good Times" and he wrote for All In the Family as well. And for all his labor, he built a successful career, won an NAACP Image award, Benz and a nice house in Santa Monica.

Currently, the 62 year-old Chicago-native lives in a Salvation Army shelter. Part of his trip from A to B involved health problems (which weren't his fault) and drug addiction (which arguably was). But the sad part is that it seems like a large part of his difficulties were also a result of his efforts to fight for his integrity as a writer.

she watch channel zero

I just found out from Alexandalus that April 24-30 2006 is TV Turn-Off Week. He has several interesting links with more info.

3500 years ago...

3500 years ago, people in Egypt worshipped different Gods than we do, although some have similar stories (Osiris and Horus). When we look back upon that time, we see them in a sense as ridiculous and primitive. How could someone pray to the image of a man with a dog's head, or a man with a bird's head, and accept that as God? Or, even think that it would grant his prayers and wishes? But 3,500 years from now, if humanity still exists, then people will look back on this time, they will look at our God, and think how we worshipped a man nailed to a piece of wood. And most pitiful of all, how could we not even listen to the most basic teaching and foundation of all his work: treat others the way you wish to be treated. If we treated America the way it has treated our people, we would be called terrorists, rapists, thieves, murderers. History cannot be wiped away in the sand and forgotten.

-Immortal Technique