What Justice for Trayvon Martin looks like..

It can only happen when we as a society lift the indictment of skin color, of all the institutionalized systems that have created and reinforced a pigmentrocracy*.

"When you judge a man because of the color of his skin, then you're committing a crime, because that's the worst kind of judgment...the Black man can't hide. When they start indicting us because of our color that means we're indicted BEFORE we're BORN, which is the worst kind of crime that can be committed." 

-Malcolm X's speech at the Ford Auditorium on February 14, 1965, otherwise known as the "After the Bombing"speech

Justice for Trayvon is beyond the arrest of George Zimmerman and a formal investigation into the Sanford police department. It is the societal consensus we will and HAVE to form to guarantee that no human, like the one below, will EVER be indicted for his or her skin color. Will you commit to ending indictment by skin color?

*There is a caste system in the US, it's called a racial caste system

Interview with "There is No Spoon" blog on Malcolm X with Dumi Lewis, Zaheer Ali, Fouad Perez, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, and Fatima Ashraf

I was invited by the good people at "There Is No Spoon: Cliff Notes for the World Now" blog to join in on this historic conversation about something that has turned out to be my quarter life's work (podcast is located at the end of this post, or click on the podcast hyperlink to be re-directed to the post on TINS blog):

Podcast Episode 5: Malcolm X and Hero Worship

On this episode of There is No Spoon we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X. X has become an icon of human rights activism, Pan-Africanism and Islam. Panelists Dumi L'Heureux Lewis (City College of New York), Fatima Ashraf (Community Activist), Fouad Pervez (Georgetown University), Ibrahim Abdul-Matin (Author of Green Deen),Mayatha Alhassen (University of Southern California) and Zaheer Ali(Columbia University) discuss the recent publication of Manning Marable's "Malcolm X: A Life of Re-Invention" and its influence on X's legacy.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Download this episode (right click and save)

The UCLA Rant seen 'round the world

In spite of the fact that UCLA poli-sci student Alexandra Wallace made the decision to remove an ill-conceived youtube "rant" titled "Asians in the Library" and issue an apology, a re-posted copy has already reached close to a million views on youtube and inspired many responses and spoofs. Demonstrating white privilege at its finest, Wallace simplifies Asian students into one monolithic category who's right to be admitted to UCLA and to be considered "American" she resolutely calls into question without the blink of an eyelash. I cannot wait to show my students this tape so we can un-package her rhetorical convictions. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think:


Here is a response from a non-UCLA student:

MY USC EDUCATION FOR FREE (new series): Race the Power of an Illusion

I first watched this series as an undergrad at UCLA in my African American Politics class. Some years later, the central arguments in the film about the legal and political significance behind the construction of race and whiteness in the US, remain as a part of my lexicon.

If you are even remotely interested in the construction of RACE in the US and have a modicum of knowledge about US legal and political history on citizenship, naturalization, and public policy like the post-WWII GI Bill, you need to watch this film (available online for viewing). My students are watching it as we speak:

http://video.nku.edu/index.php/videos?task=viewvideo&video_id=1180

and please take a look at the producer's recommended resources, and maybe even take the test:
http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm

"Only the British could get away with something like this "

Black licorice throat lozenges



Hat tip: Tim C