Dr. Wilmer Leon: Professor Randall Kennedy and the Dangerous Politics of Sentiment

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Dr. Boyce on Hip Hop: Making it Better

The age of the Hoochie Mama is over

by Dr. Boyce Watkins | TheLoop21 in Culture & Society

It's time for hip hop, and its audience, to grow up.

read more

UNC Scholar Outraged Over Exclusion of Black Professors

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Dr. M. Cookie Newsom

is the Director for Diversity Education and Assessment at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a trouble maker and an angry black woman, which is likely going to cause her serious problems with her colleagues (we talked yesterday about how being angry can get a black person into serious trouble). Dr. Newsom, however, has good reason to be angry. In a recent interview with Diverse issues in Higher Education, Dr. Newsom stated in plain language that most major universities are not serious about diversifying their faculty and that this hurts all students, especially students of color.
"The dismal truth is academe doesn’t really want a racially-diverse faculty," Newsom said during a faculty diversity presentation at the American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) annual national conference in Washington, D.C. "It’s totally a myth."

Dr. Newson based her conclusions on statistics and data she collected which shows that most major universities are good at documenting plans to increase faculty diversity, but most of it’s nothing but lip service.

Click to read more.

News: Clark Atlanta University Draws the Ire of Investigators

The  firing of nearly one-quarter of the full-time faculty members at Clark Atlanta University a year go led to an investigation by the American Association of University Professors.

The investigatory committee has just released its report about the sudden termination of 55 faculty member, concluding that the college’s actions were egregious.

Among the findings:

The administration selected the particular faculty members for dismissal without any discernible prior consultation with appropriate faculty bodies. The administration in its selections also paid no heed to the rights of tenured over nontenured faculty with respect to retention.

1. By not affording the dismissed faculty members opportunity for a hearing before a body of faculty peers, the Clark Atlanta University administration denied them academic due process to which they were entitled under stated university regulations as well as Association-supported standards.

 

Click to read.

Dr Boyce Watkins on African American Scholars

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Professor Larry Moore at The University of Memphis is on a mission. The African American professor has decided to take on his campus for not being diverse enough. Dr. Moore has done what black professors and students across America are doing, which is holding their campuses accountable for their lack of desire to recruit, promote, and reward faculty of color. This issue affects everyone, since most black college students never have the chance to be taught by an African American without taking courses in the African American Studies Department.

In an open letter written to state legislators, Dr. Moore has made his issue clear to the American public and put his university "on blast" for problematic recruitment and retention procedures. As a fellow business school professor myself, I say to Dr. Moore, "Way to go brother."

Click to read more.

Boyce Watkins: College Athletes Should Be Paid

 

 

The NCAA, which is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 'educational' organization, has come under fire recently for capitalizing on the commercialization of college sports. Many athletes have accused the organization of unfairly using them for financial gain.

Since 1995, the NCAA has spent more than $84 million on legal fees, including some settlements. Former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon filed a lawsuit on July 21 against the NCAA and its member schools, accusing them of illegally profiting from using the likeness of former players for commercial pursuits like video games, DVDs, and jersey sales.

Dr. Boyce Watkins, a finance professor at Syracuse University, has become a vocal critic of the NCAA, for what he calls its exploitation of the black community.

click here to read more

A Beer for Your Thoughts

You can make fun of me for being a goody two shoes, but I've never finished a beer in my entire life. I am, however, willing to drink a beer with President Obama if that will open the door to an honest conversation on race relations in America.

President Obama's announcement that he will get together today with Dr. Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley for a beer sounds, honestly, like a bit of political posturing from a man who is trying to reverse the stain of tremendous embarrassment. But like a political pro, the president is getting chummy with police departments across the nation, and this will help him recover from his own "George Bush moment," in which he attacked the Cambridge Police Department while admittedly not knowing all the facts.

Perhaps the first beer in the White House will turn into a second and a third. People let it all hang out when they get drunk, so maybe open bottles of beer will encourage the three parties involved to have an honest dialogue on race. In fact, why don't the rest of us drink a beer too? The American racial conversation should not only include three people behind closed doors, it should include all of us.

 

Click here to read more

The Ways Companies Profit off Prisoners

 

Dr. Byron Price is a black scholar with a mission. His book, "Merchandizing Prisoners" opens the door for a discussion on how the African American community is being financially pillaged by the prison industry. You may not know this, but private corporations earn money from inmate incarceration and have a direct financial incentive to house more inmates. This is a problem, since unfocused profit maximization does not make room for the dual-significance of social progress. Dr. Price is one of the leading scholars in America and he has taken it upon himself to help solve this problem.

1) What is your name and what do you do for a living?
Byron E. Price, Associate Professor, Political Science Department and Interim Director, Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research
2) Tell us about your book? What does it teach us?
According to National Union of Public and General Employees, "This book examines the steady growth of private, for-profit prison firms and the correctional-commercial complex that has developed tangentially with the private prison industry. It also details the strange bedfellows that have been brought together to expand this industry.

I underscore how these for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. The book debunks many of the claims as to why states seek prison privatization and demonstrates that incarceration is the new form of slavery....This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices."

Click here to read more

Your Black World: Dr Boyce and Madeline Discuss Domestic Violence and Octomom

Could The Economic Downturn Possibly Be An Advantage to America?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins
http://www.boycewatkins.com/

I hate being the doctor who has to tell the patient he has cancer, but the truth usually sets you free (or so my mother told me): We are in the midst of an economic bloodbath. It’s tough to argue that an economy which shrinks by an annualized rate of 5% is still healthy. It’s hard to tell someone that 7.2% unemployment, with the most job losses since 1945, is a good thing. A 4,000 point drop in the Dow is nothing to sneeze at, even if you have plenty of tissue. Times are tough, we know that.

But if we focus hard enough, we might be able to find a few bright sides to all this. With hopes that no one chooses to kill the messenger, I am going to give it a shot.

1) It could always be much worse.
The United States has, according to some, the strongest economy in the world. Our economy could shrink like Rush Limbaugh’s body on drugs and still be disgustingly rich compared to the rest of the world. Don’t believe me? Consider the “fast-growing” Chinese economy, the one that everyone thinks is going to outpace the United States in the next few years. Our annual tax revenues are nearly 4 times greater than China’s ($2.5 Trillion vs. $670 Billion) and they have over 4 times more people than we do (300 million vs. 1.3 Billion). In other words, our per capita tax receipts are over 16 times greater than China’s. So, we’re far better off than most of the world, even when we’re broke.

2) If there were ever an argument for getting out of Iraq, this might be it.
It’s hard to declare war on random countries if you don’t have the money to do it. War is big business and attacking other countries is a huge financial investment. If you don’t think war is about money, then you may want to take a couple of Political Science and History classes. Perhaps these troubles at home will keep us from creating trouble abroad, since Americans have lost patience with irresponsible, arrogant war-mongering. The Obama stimulus plan is asking for over $800 Billion dollars to boost our economy. We’ve already spent nearly $600 Billion in Iraq. Rather than declaring War on Terror, President Obama has declared War on the Recession, which seems to be a far better investment.

3) If you want to buy cheap stocks or real estate, this is the time to do it.
When the market rises, everyone wants to buy stocks. People forget that you shouldn’t buy stocks when prices are high, you buy when the prices are low. Companies with plenty of cash are grabbing investment and real estate bargains that were hardly available a year ago. You should be doing the same if you can afford to do it. Investors who purchases stocks after major market declines tend to do much better than those who buy during booms. You hear me Warren Buffet?

4) Struggle makes us FOCUSED.
Although I tend to be a hardcore capitalist, a part of me misses the activism of the 1960s, when people cared about more than making a dollar. OK, I wasn’t around in the 1960s, but I’ve watched enough old movies. Going through tough times not only teaches one to pursue a higher purpose in life, it also leads individuals to more carefully scrutinize the state of affairs in our government. In fact, I dare to argue that the financial crisis was just what Barack Obama needed to secure his election over John McCain. Economic prosperity allows us the luxury of choosing our politicians based on silly issues, like gay marriage (as we did in 2004). When we are worried about putting food on the table, we look beyond the silliness and choose the most qualified and most intelligent person for the job (after ensuring that he knows Africa really is a continent). Finally, tough economic times make you more responsible in your own money management, as the threat of financial insecurity keeps us all on high alert.

Those are my points, so again, please don’t kill the messenger. I certainly do not celebrate a weak economy, but I am a firm believer that focusing too much on the door that shuts keeps us from appreciating the ones that just opened. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and….well, you get the point. It’s the toughness of tough times that make the good times good. Keep hanging in there, it’ll be ok.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in ways that Feel Good.” For more information, please visit http://www.boycewatkins.com/.

Black Men, Black Fathers, Black Politics

an open letter to Dr. Boyce Watkins   from a member of the YBW Family

A little personal background...This political process supports an hypothesis that I have submitted to students in classes for nearly 20 years while doing adjunct faculty work. Among other social science coursework, I teach social welfare policy and urban politics. Naturally, the current political culture, with respect to recent history, results in spirited discussion and interesting papers. I also speak as a brother; a baby boomer and; a resident of an almost exclusively black and not too prosperous suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

The above mentioned hypothesis...It has been apparent to me for some time that African-Americans, for good reasons (and some not so good) do not understand the fundamental differences between electoral politics and protest politics. But, this election due to its duration and complexity, is becoming a graduate course for the community. Friends and colleagues are redefining themselves with respect to the manner in which they and other black folk should demonstrate civic participation. We are volunteering thoughts and feelings to each other unlike anything I have seen since the "rap sessions" of the early seventies.

Rather than applying the "conventional wisdom" that so frequently results in myths and derogatory conclusions, I believe we need dialogue and research that addresses the relationships between black civic/political participation and the existence (absence) of the types of institutions that engineer and support political participation. All the while remembering that African Americans are a minority people and the blueprint for these institutions generally reflects the dominant culture.

Today's political process, at least as we view the percentages of black voters who support Obama, indicates the utility of electoral politics as a factor in creating cultural bonds that offset social and economic divisions. (sounds like another hypothesis in the making)

I hope that of African American academics like yourself and Michael Dyson can assist us as we negotiate the political, cultural and social learning curves related to blacks taking on leadership responsibilities in electoral politics. This is not to place an unbearable onus on you. That would be unfair. The often amorphous, but real, "black community" must become engaged in every respect, by all forms of media to overcome the habit of ignoring its scholars. Your website is so important in that regard.

Barack Obama is living the "Jackie Robinson Syndrome" as he negotiates the dominant cultures' institutions in the absence of black institutions designed to support and strengthen him. Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton forewarned us 40 plus years ago in the classic book Black Power about the need to develop political institutions that are reflective of the culture. Again, I believe there is a a basic assumption to be considered...politics, whether they be electoral, protest or those politics associated with specified public policy, can and will define culture.

Additionally, Black Power's thesis was, in some regards, old wine in new wineskins if the messages of DuBois, Garvey and some others are carefully examined.

So now that we have all been caught unprepared by the politics of today, the leadership of academicians who still have a semblance of a resonating voice, is "so welcomed". We must support you and dialogue with you just as we make every effort to do the same for and with Barack Obama. I hope Obama's organization functions so that he can be reasonably receptive. I worry because I do not see the strong black institutions required to support this idea.

Personally, I cringed twice-over at Obama's politicizing of black fatherhood just as you expressed on your website. I heartily agree with your sentiments about that. I also believe that Obama, as a politician needs the fuel for more cogent commentary and that must come from all of us...ie black educators, researchers, teachers, social workers etc.

In addition, that unfortunate commentary was an example of the need for social science to provide us all with knowledge that countervails the current diatribe that currently prevails about black folks.

Again, I highlight the merits of your website as well as Michael Dyson's book that answered Bill Cosby . I just wish I could receive your beautifully thought out sentiments directly. I will sign on again.

Very Sincerely,

Justin White

Dark Days, Bright Nights

by Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, Harvard University

In 1955, representatives of over 29 countries representing over 1 billion people convened in Bandung, Indonesia to craft an alternative vision of global society. Seeking space between Cold War liberalism and Soviet style Communism, radical humanism infused the “Bandung World.” Indeed, it was a glorious moment in recent world history, one that witnessed revolutionary anti-colonial movements sweeping across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. For African-Americans combating domestic white supremacy, Bandung represented the last best hope for dreams of freedom. Liberation movements in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, Angola, and Mozambique emboldened black Americans engaged in their own life and death freedom struggles.

Unfortunately, the heady rush of post-colonial idealism in Africa gave way to the harsh reality of neo-colonialism. Perhaps the ultimate irony regarding these historic liberation movements is that for a new generation the Third Way—once irrevocably tied to the radical non-aligned movement—has come to be defined by the neo-liberalism and free-market ideology of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

Almost 50 years after Bandung, the World Conference Against Racism convened in Durban, South Africa to discuss old and new issues related to the continuing legacies of slavery, colonialism, and white supremacy. In truth, there were two separate conferences that, at times, contained overlap. The Non Governmental Organization (NGO) forum that took place from August 28–September 1 was comprised of grassroots activists, community organizers, students, labor representatives, and activist-scholars. The more well-publicized UN Forum that took place from August 31–September 7 featured a staged American walkout and enough expensive suits to keep an upscale men’s store in business through the next century. While not possessing the “official” credentials required to participate in the UN conference, I was fortunate enough to attend workshops, meetings, caucuses, and rap sessions as a delegate to the NGO Forum held at Durban’s Kingsmead Stadium and surrounding venues.

Held in the port city of Durban, South Africa’s third largest metropolis, the conference site provided ample evidence of both the hopes and impediments that course through the post-apartheid era. For first-time visitors to South Africa, which included this writer, arriving in Durban was accompanied by a combination of intense euphoria, gratitude and a humbling sense of the historic struggles that made this trip possible. With over 5,000 delegates in attendance the NGO forum was an energetic mixture of political activity that ranged from press conferences and workshops to plenary sessions. Like the masses of people gathered, the schedule was constantly in motion, slightly disorganized, sometimes disappointing, but always well-intentioned. The agendas were diverse as well. On tap was everything from groups against caste discrimination and land rights for South Africans to reparations for African descendants.
Although representing a wide array of local and geographically specific organizations, the delegates converged in connecting indigenous issues to slavery, colonialism, capitalism and white supremacy. More importantly, the delegates held workshops to inform and strategize on behalf of the dispossessed. The final “Program of Action” included the demand for reparations for Africans and African descendants that would take the form of restitution, monetary compensation, restoration, and satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition. Instructively, these demands underscore the way in which Western Civilization has been built upon the broken backs of black laboring populations and continues to utilize black subordination to thrive well into the 21st century.

Undoubtedly the NGO’s biggest success was in casting a strobe light on the issues of reparations for the entire world to see. In opening up this Pandora’s box anti-racist activists illustrated the myriad ways that white supremacy, racial capitalism, and imperialism continue to marginalize the lives of billions on this planet. By dragging these issues to the center of an international debate, NGOs sought to shame, embarrass, and harass state power into acknowledging continued political oppression and fashion practical solutions. Rather then viewing slavery, colonialism, and international human rights violations as historical artifacts to be studied and debated over, the NGO Forum focused on the contemporary impact of these debilitating practices. The United States’ shameful refusal to discuss reparations speaks truth to the power of this international forum.

The issue of land reform, restoration, and restitution was poignantly played out during the massive protest march held by the Durban Social Forum on August 31. Over 20,000 strong trekked five miles to protest against landlessness in South Africa, the hegemony of free-market ideology, and the consolidation of world white supremacy. Although South Africa’s ANC government had been generally supportive of both the NGO/UN gatherings, this march revealed the increasingly arid political climate of the post-apartheid era. Over the course of this march and throughout my week in Durban I had the opportunity to listen to grassroots South Africans and their generally caustic assessment of the ANC regime. Moreover, hundreds of indigenous Africans were unable to participate in the NGO forum because of the prohibitive (800 South African Rand, the equivalent of $100 US) registration fees. This situation presents a quandary for African-American activists who were pivotal in abolishing the murderous apartheid regime.

As black Americans have come to recognize through bitter experience, black faces in higher places does not necessarily translate into freedom. In many ways, the crisis of nation-state building in Africa bears striking similarities to black political power in the Post-Civil Rights era. The ANC’s assumption of political power sans economic hegemony is a sad story that has been played out from Detroit, Michigan to Durban, South Africa. However, the march and the conference that was its backdrop represented a response and act of resistance that was global in its make-up and outlook. This of course begs the question: Was Durban the sight of a new radical anti-racist international movement for social, political and economic justice?

Though time and history will be the judge of these recent events, I would answer the question with a resounding yes. The NGO Forum provided a center-point for representatives of hundreds of labor, cultural, and grassroots organizations focusing on issues that ranged from incarceration and the death penalty to reparations and Pan-Africanism. As important as these individual agendas are, the thrust of the Forum revolved around articulating an alternative human rights agenda. Of course, such efforts at united front politics have faltered before. However, the fact that the NGO delegates lacked formal political power represented the conference’s greatest strength and weakness. The strength lay in the fact that the absence of formal ties to state power allowed for a lucid and radical perspective on world affairs. Yet this clear-eyed perspective revealed the domination of formal power in the form of political parties, corporate power, the World Bank, the IMF and, ironically enough, the United Nations. Mass marches, political mobilization, and conferences contribute to the global movement for social justice through education, networking and inspiration but, in and of themselves, are not enough.
With the increasing power of corporate interests coinciding with the decreasing effects of pressure groups and mass demonstrations, a new perspective on the relationship between protest, political power, and social change is needed now more then ever. On this score, the international forces arrayed in Durban caught the attention of mainstream leaders of all ideological and political affiliations. Even the NGO Forum was deemed important enough to warrant the presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro, UN Commissioner Mary Robinson, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Like a global March On Washington, the NGO Forum forced the hands of various leaders who were looking for a way to capitalize on the event through association or demonization, and sometimes both.

In contrast to the United Nations’ corporate seminar on diversity, the NGO Forum went beyond sensitivity training and multiculturalism to enact a project that was both descriptive and transformative. The former process involved defining the atrocities that have taken place during modernity and their enduring legacy. This is no small task, and if the NGO Program of Action and Working Draft are any indication, was eloquently handled. This description was controversial only to those who continue to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of slavery, apartheid, colonialism, and white supremacy. The brave new world of the 21st century has ensured that not all of these individuals and nations can be easily distinguished by black/white and east/west binaries. An increasing number of black and Third World descendants are happy to be the beneficiaries of global human rights movements that allow them a measure of prestige, political standing, and wealth. This phenomenon was exemplified by the seemingly incongruous sight of a small number of African nations who, wanting to appease their western masters, disavowed the reparations movement.

The latter process is what the Post-Durban International Movement must now actively engage in. This process must begin with the dissemination of first-hand knowledge from those of us who actually attended the WCAR. Not surprisingly, the amount of disinformation and outright distortions circulated in the American media have been legion. Conference attendees have a counter-narrative that should be shared with friends, families, colleagues, and especially poor communities of color. Young people, who were a welcome presence at the conference and convened their own Youth Conference in Durban August 26–27, should be told how their counterparts across the world are engaged in heroic struggles against racism and white supremacy. If the torch is to be passed, information—both historical and experiential—will be crucial in this endeavor. The warm personal and political relationships that were created, and sometimes renewed, during the NGO Forum represent international and humanistic possibilities that are unlimited. If our efforts in Durban are to prove successful we must ensure that history’s dark days have proceeded for the benefit of the bright nights of a not too distant future where humanity, far from being the reward of the few, will be extended the world over.

Dr. Peniel E. Joseph is a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University.