Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 964

Collaborative Genius: Blitz the Ambassador & Terence Nance | vision + sound

embassy5050 
Directed by Terence Nance, the film addresses the detachment we all battle, when faced with the the world's overwhelming issues. "It's hard to think about all the problems in the world without getting a little overwhelmed. So, a lot of times we just ignore things. I think Africa has suffered a lot because people choose to remain ignorant, rather than address the issues that are right in front of our faces," Blitz said.

In Conversation Michaela Angela Davis and Melissa Harris-Perry

Brooklyn Museum 
Michaela Angela Davis, writer, image activist, and creator of MAD Free, a multi-platform community conversation project, speaks with Melissa Harris-Perry, professor, MSNBC political commentator, and author of the new book Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. The two will discuss the persistent and detrimental stereotypes that afflict black women in the political arena and contribute to policies allowing their unfair treatment. This event took place at the Brooklyn Museum Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Vijay Prashad Asseses The Occupy Movement and the Presidential Election

NewsClickin 
In conversation with Newsclick, Vijay Prashad analyzes the American Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party movement.

The Jackson 5: Come And Get It: The Rare Pearls [New Compilation]

Hip-O Select
The Jackson 5: Come And Get It: The Rare Pearls     The Jackson 5 burst on the music scene like a ray of sunshine in late 1969, reeling off four consecutive No. 1 hits and inspiring worldwide Jacksonmania. They also recorded constantly, and a treasure trove of newly discovered, previously unreleased recordings by Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito are being released for the first time on Come And Get It: The Rare Pearls (Motown/Hip-oSelect/UMe), available September 18, 2012. Produced by Deke Richards, leader of “The Corporation™,” the Jackson 5’s original hit songwriting-production team, the extraordinary 32-track, 2-CD set — enough songs to fill three Jackson 5 albums — is housed in a special box with deluxe packaging that includes not only the two discs but a vinyl 7-inch single, rare photos, essays and detailed information.            Come And Get It: The Rare Pearls is rich with gems, among them “If The Shoe Don’t Fit,” a Corporation classic that coulda-woulda-shoulda been a smash hit. “Our Love,” led by Jermaine, is destined to become a new wedding favorite. “If You Want Heaven” updates the classic Motown sound, while “Iddinit,” “If I Can’t Nobody Can” and “Would Ya Would Ya Baby” hint at a new funk direction for the brothers. “Love Trip,” a ballad, points in the direction a solo Michael would take in the next phase of his career.
There are also striking covers, done J5-style, including “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” a No. 1 hit for Three Dog Night; Jackie DeShannon’s “Movin’;” the pop/soul perennial “Up On The Roof;” a Stax nugget, “I Got A Sure Thing;” Traffic’s “Feelin’ Alright,” in a studio version that became a staple of the J5 live show; and new versions of Motown chestnuts “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Keep An Eye,” “I’m Your Sunny One (He’s My Sunny Boy)” (all originally by the Supremes); “Since I Lost My Baby” (Temptations); “Lets Go Back To Day One” (Eddie Kendricks); and “Label Me Love” (Different Shades Of Brown).
Bonus tracks are: producer Deke Richards’ original unedited version of “That’s How Love Is,” a rarity which first appeared on 2009’s I Want You Back!: The Unreleased Masters; Richards’ original extended mix for “If I Have To Move A Mountain,” an LP track issued in 1972; and a super treat for J5 fans, the demo for “Mama’s Pearl,” previously hidden deep in Deke’s personal vault.
Come And Get It: The Rare Pearls is housed in a unique package: a 7-inch square box packed with the discs in their own sleeves; an oversized booklet featuring detailed annotations, rare photos, and essays by Deke Richards and author/professor Mark Anthony Neal; and an actual 45-rpm, 7-inch vinyl single in a slick picture sleeve – “If The Shoe Don’t Fit” b/w “Feelin’ Alright.”

Disc One
1. (We’re The) Music Makers
2. If The Shoe Don’t Fit
3. Come And Get It (Love’s On The Fire)
4. I Got A Sure Thing
5. After You Leave Girl
6. Mama Told Me Not To Come
7. Iddinit
8. Since I Lost My Baby
9. Keep An Eye
10. Movin’
11. Feelin’ Alright - Studio Version
12. You Better Watch Out
13. I’m Your Sunny One (He’s My Sunny Boy)
14. Someone’s Standing In My Love Light

Disc Two 1. If You Want Heaven
2. You Can’t Hurry Love
3. Keep Off The Grass
4. Going My Way
5. Makin’ Life A Little Easier For You
6. Up On The Roof
7. If I Can’t Nobody Can
8. Our Love
9. I Can’t Get Enough Of You
10. Cupid
11. Let’s Go Back To Day One
12. Would Ya Would Ya Baby
13. Love Trip
14. Label Me Love
15. Jumbo Sam
16. That’s How Love Is - Original Complete Version
17. If I Have To Move A Mountain - Original Complete Version
18. Mama’s Pearl - Demo (“Guess Who’s Making Whoopee”)

Lupe Fiasco - "Bitch Bad" (Official Video)

 

Teen Wolf and the Invisibility of Whiteness

Teen Wolf and the Invisibility of WhitenessLet me clear about some things. White people have a race. White people have various ethnicities. By golly, white people have a gender and sexuality, even when they're white, male, and heterosexual! I know this disturbs the dominant worldview that suggests they don't (and that when those "issues" come up, they're irrelevant to white people), but I'm not the first to acknowledge that, and know I won't be the last. 
In response to recent critiques of the racial makeup of the cast on MTV’s Teen Wolf, Jeff Davis, creator and writer on the show, said, "I have also always said I will not make Teen Wolf an 'issues' show." That's funny, Mr. Davis, because I thought securing and maintaining the safety of your loved ones was an issue. I thought balancing the relationships you have and the secrets you keep with people you love was an issue. I thought that finding your place in the world or even within your own social space was an issue. Oh, wait...you meant those pesky li'l issues about race, gender, and sexuality?  Heaven forbid we ever acknowledge in popular discourse that they tend to converge from time to time. Oh, you meant you just don't wanna mess with thoseissues. 
Along those lines, Davis continued, "If I skirt the issues of race and sexual politics, the reason is most likely that I don't feel like I'm going to be very good at tackling those issues within a show about teenage werewolves. I don't really know how to write those stories." Newsflash, Mr. Davis, the story lines on Teen Wolf are not race, gender, and sexuality free. No story ever is, even when it's about white, straight, men. You ARE writing those stories. You have white male characters on your show that are very much sexual. In fact, the writing by you, Monica Macer, Jeff Vlaming, Daniel Sinclair, Nick Antosca, Ned Vizzini, and whoever else writes and/or contributes in some way to the show is very much influenced by the existing race, gender, and sexual politics we live with in today's U.S. The good thing for you is that you don't ever have to talk about it explicitly. You don't ever have to name it. You don't ever have to worry about it being named (until now). You can call your show "just a show about people" and have "people" stand-in for white and not expect anyone to bat an eyelash.
Now, if you really thought you couldn't do justice to a black character because you aren't a black writer (and didn't want to bother scouring the country trying to find one), why even throw Boyd into the show? Who are you trying to appease? Why not actually lobby for MTV to hire some writers who are "better" than you (your words, not mine) that could? Listen, I know Shonda Rhimes is quite busy. So are the Akils. So, was Kia Corthron unavailable? Saladin Patterson? Kathleen Anderson? Yes, I know these are heavy-hitters, but I think you could do better...if you wanted to. If you didn't want to, just say you didn't want to. The truth, my friend, shall set you free as they say.
You also said, "I'm here first and foremost to entertain." Well, along those lines, I just have another question, but bear with me as I get to it. Black folks comprise just 12% of households in the U.S. However, the last time Nielsen did a study (in 2004), they found that black households watch more TV than any other household, even during prime time and ad-supported cable, when and where your show actually airs. Black households even watch general drama more than any other household, and while your show may not easily be classified as a general drama, it's that more than it's sitcom, documentary, or any other genre that Nielsen studies.
Now, as faulty as these studies may be, I'd think a guy like you would want to pay attention to them for obvious reasons. So, my question is this: If you don't think you're equipped to write about black people, why do you think you're equipped to entertain them? Oh, right. Because when TV people claim that we're writing universal stories that appeal to everyone, what you really mean is that you're gonna throw a bunch of white people behind and in front of the camera and the rest of us non-white people just have to deal with it. Because I mean, hey, your issues are our issues, but as you said, our issues aren't yours. The problem for you now is that we don't EVEN have to just sit back and shut up about it. 
Seriously, though, why not just call a spade a spade? If you want to write a show that is created by and features mostly white people, do it! I mean, what am I writing? You did do it! And even as we critique you, you'll keep doing it! You and Lena Dunham (creator and star of HBO's Girls) can huddle up in a corner and complain about the fact that people are being critical of you and your programs when all you wanted to do was make an entertaining television show that everyone can enjoy. That's, in some ways, cool and all, but wait a minute. All I'm asking is that you, Dunham, other writers, the various networks that give your programs a home, and viewing audiences (both active and passive) stop crying foul and telling yourselves that you're being unfairly criticized. Hey, you write for TV. We watch TV. We study TV. We critique TV. What's the old adage? If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
Finally, you wrote, "When we send out breakdowns for cast it always says, 'All ethnicities.'" Now, Mr. Davis, why would you even play that game if you KNOW you're going to eliminate any (or most) characters of color, because you're too lazy to do your research and use your imagination to fully develop them? The next time you send out breakdowns for cast, make sure it reads, "Only white male characters, because I'm not smart enough to write any other kind." That would be the actual truth of the matter. Your words, not mine.
***
Heidi R. Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Feminist & Gender Studies at Colorado College.  Her teaching and research focuses on feminism, gender and sexuality, women’s writing, African American literature and culture, Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, and Critical Media Studies. 

Black Men, the 'New' Jim Crow & the City of Baltimore--New Episode of 'Fault Lines'

Al Jazeera English  The election of the first black US president offered hope to millions of African Americans across the country. But have four years of an Obama presidency seen positive change for black communities in the US' inner cities? Fault Lines' Sebastian Walker spends time with those on the front lines of the failed drug war to understand some fundamental dynamics of race, poverty, incarceration and economic truths in the US in an election year.

Real Consequences: The War on Drugs, the New Jim Crow and the Story of Jonathan Hargett

Sean Proctor for The New York Times
Real Consequences: The War on Drugs, the New Jim Crow and the Story of Jonathan Hargettby David J. Leonard | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Most basketball fans have never heard of Jonathan Hargett.  A basketball legend with immense potential, Hargett never fulfilled this promise.  In a recent piece, The New York Times sought to explain this unfulfilled potential, chronicling his story as not just tragic but a cautionary tale.
Pete Thamel’s story is one that begins and ends with the basketball court.  It replicates the popular narrative of the African American baller whose immense talents and endless potential were derailed by pathological behavior, a lack of discipline, and a system that did little to curtail these bad behaviors.  In an effort to highlight this tragic story, Thamel imagines the tragedy through his greatness on the court, seemingly reducing Hargett’s story to one of talent left to rot in the fields.   
Noting how Amar’e Stoudamire, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony have noted his greatness, Thamel uses their assessment to not only authenticate the wasted potential but to make clear the American Dream that could have been; yet, his life is more nightmare and according to “‘What Happened to Him?’” that isn’t because of a lack of talent or opportunity:   <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 0 16778247 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -</style></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Times;">His signature move was his ability to freeze an opponent with a crossover dribble, then blow past him toward the basket, lobbing the ball off the backboard and catching it and dunking it with one hand. It became known simply as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqgr3c..." title="YouTube clip of the dunk. ">a Hargett</a>. </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Times;">“Especially when you’re talking about memories and things like that from high school basketball and A.A.U. basketball, he’s definitely one of the names that comes up,” Anthony said. “What happened to him?” </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Times;">The answer is jarring and sadly predictable. Hargett, who turns 30 this weekend, is an inmate at the medium-security Indian Creek Correctional Center here, serving the final months of a nearly five-year sentence for drug possession with intent to sell. </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Thamel’s answer is rife with simplicity and stereotypes.  We are told over and over again that Hargett ended up in prison rather than the NBA simply because of his own demons and the failures of those around him to save him.  Having lost his father, who died of pneumonia, Hargett grew up with his mom and 6 siblings.  </span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Times;">Hargett’s mother, Nancy, worked multiple jobs to help support her six children. With his mother often working and no father figure around, Hargett began to form bad habits. Lancaster said that after Hargett’s ninth-grade year, he began showing up late to practice, and Lancaster noticed an entourage beginning to form around him.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">In other words, the death of his father, the failures of his mother, and the influences of the street derailed Hargett’s greatness on the court.  Lacking the necessary discipline, focus, and ability to see beyond the present, Hargett spent more time smoking marijuana than honing his craft.  He eventually became addicted to marijuana, leading him on a path to prison rather than the NBA.  For Thamel, Hargett’s own personal failures and demons are only part of the answer as to “why” or “what happened” to Hargett, as the other part of the story rests with the culture of sports.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">A story about agents, handlers, and others who saw </span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;">Hargett as a dollar sign, as an amazing talent who could line their pockets in the long run, Thamel (and others) treat Hargett as an expose about the pitfalls and dangers of contemporary sports.  At its core, it really frames the narrative along these lines (in the words of Hargett himself): “The moral of this whole story is to help someone not to make the same mistakes.” In other words, the story that is offered here is one that imagines him as someone who made bad choices because of a lack of discipline and values (“culture of poverty”). Worse, his own failures are exacerbated by a system that never held him accountable.  His fate wasn’t simply the result of his own failings but that of a system based in the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable young men like Hargett, whose talent insulates from the necessary discipline.  These personal and institutional failings end with his incarceration.  </span></span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;">While high school sports and the </span></span><span style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://theresarunstedtler.com/childs-... complex</a></span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;">are real issues, the failure of this story to account for America’s new Jim Crow is a significant omission.  His life is a story of America’s selective and racially based war on drugs.  It is part of a larger history of the destructiveness of the prison industrial complex on communities of color.  Hargett’s father was incarcerated, dying in prison. He joined thousands of others of children whose fathers were swept away in the racial tsunami of American (in)justice.   </span></span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The consequences of America’s war on drugs (a war principally waged against black and brown America), of America’s “New Jim Crow” are evident on this day as black and Latino fathers will celebrate alone, away from their sons and daughters.   Writing in response to the widespread debate about the state of black fatherhood, Michelle Alexander highlights the links between the New Jim Crow and black fatherhood.   “Here's a hint for all those still scratching their heads about those missing black fathers: Look in prison,” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michell... Alexander</a>. She continues, </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Times;">The mass incarceration of people of color through the War on Drugs is a big part of the reason that a black child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents than a black child born during slavery. The absence of black fathers from families across America is not simply a function of laziness, immaturity, or too much time watching Sports Center. Hundreds of thousands of black men have disappeared into prisons and jails, locked away for drug crimes that are largely ignored when committed by whites.</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The systematic efforts to break families apart, destroy communities, and separate fathers and mothers from their children is a direct result of the incarceration of drug users.  According to Alexander, as of 2005, 4 in 5 drug arrests was for possession by individuals with no history of violence; in the 1990s alone, a period that saw a massive expansion of America’s war on drug users, 80 percent of those sent to prison were done so for marijuana possession.  Yet, again we see how this is not a war on drugs or even illicit drug use, but use within the black community even <a href="http://www.timwise.org/2000/11/gettin... whites are far more likely to use illegal drugs</a>.  In a number of states, between 80 and 90 percent of all drug convictions have been of African Americans. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;">The impact of America’s expansive prison graveyard did not end with Hargett’s childhood; Hargett was arrested on possession charges shortly after the end of his freshman year at West Virginia University.  Although he joined a robust group – college students caught with marijuana – he faced unusual consequences: 45 days in jail.  His release didn’t change his luck having already lost his collegiate eligibility – he was found to have received improper benefits as a result of his signing with an agent.  With limited options, Hargett turned professional in 2003, but found no interest from the NBA.  After a failed attempt to enroll in Virginia Union University where the NCAA refused to grant him eligibility, Hargett took his talents to the World Basketball Association’s, joining the Southern Crescent Lightning squad in Peachtree City, Georgia.  </span></span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;">Struggling to make ends meet, Hargett began to sell drugs as well, which ended after his arrest in 2008 for “possession of cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute.”  Having been let down by collegiate sports and by various sporting institutions, having been left behind by a dysfunctional educational system, having suffered because of poverty and countless other injustices, Hargett found himself on the inside looking out.  His decision to break the law, to sell and use drugs, had consequences; the war on drugs, missed placed priorities, new Jim Crow, the criminalization of drug addiction, and poverty also have consequences; Jonathan Hargett is one such casualty.   </span></span><span class="site"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The effort to pathologize drug use, to reimagine the war on drugs through a narrative of undisciplined black youth and an enabling sports culture is not surprising given fact that a study from the <i>Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education</i>found that 95 percent of respondents imagined an African American when asked about drug user.  The media narrative here (and elsewhere) is both indicative of the racial – Jim Crow – nature of the war on drugs and reflective of ways that dominant culture justifies and sanctions the racist war on drugs.  In imagining his story as a tragic tale of criminality and missed opportunities as opposed to a tragic reminder of the costs and consequences of the war on drugs, we see the colored lens that crime and punishment is depicted within contemporary media.   </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">According to Michelle Alexander, “racial bias in drug was <i>inevitable” </i>(104).   The inevitability results from false narratives, stereotypes, and misinformation disseminated within popular media.  From <i>Cops</i> to <i>ESPN: The Magazine</i>, from the world of politics to the world of sports, from <i>The New York </i>Times to <i>Sportscenter </i>America’s drug habit has been defined through and around blackness, rationalizing and sanctioning a war on blackness.  The consequences are clear with Jonathan Hargett.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">It is equally evident with the recent death of Garrett Reid (son of Philadelphia Eagles coach, Andy Reid).  Despite arrests from drug use, and multiple drug infractions (smuggling drugs into jail; testing positive while incarcerated), Reid spent less than 2 years in prison.  Whereas Reid was seen as a kid with a problem, a kid who needed help, Hargett was seen as a criminal without any path toward redemption.  Race matters. “In the midst of his legal troubles in his early 20s, Reid said he ‘got a thrill’ out of being a drug dealer in a lower-income neighborhood just a few miles from his parents' suburban Villanova mansion,” </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp12... an ESPN story.</a> “I liked being the rich kid in that area and having my own high-status life,” Reid confessed to a probation officer in 2007. “I could go anywhere in the 'hood. They all knew who I was. I enjoyed it. I liked being a drug dealer.”  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Maybe the <i>New York Times</i> should investigate similar situations, pushing back against the racialized narrative of drug use and drug distribution, a narrative that contributed to Hargett’s incarceration and Reid’s death.  Both are tragedies <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blog..." name="_GoBack"></a>.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times;">***</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Times;">David J. Leonard </span></b><span style="font-family: Times;">is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He is the author of the just released <a href="http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5321-after... Artest: Race and the War on Hoop</a> (SUNY Press) as well as several other works. Leonard is a regular contributor to NewBlackMan, layupline, Feminist Wire, and Urban Cusp. He is frequent contributor to Ebony, Slam, and Racialicious as well as a past contributor to Loop21, The Nation and The Starting Five. He blogs @No Tsuris.</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com...' alt='' /></div>

The 'Politics' of Social Media

The 'Politics' of Social Media by Gerard Bush | HuffPost Media
The question of whether or not social media has become the most dominate communication vehicle in a generation, at this point, most would agree has already been answered with a resounding "yes!" The more appropriate question, as it relates to the context of social media and the political process in this country, perhaps should be: are we as American citizens missing out on a much broader opportunity to communicate directly with our elected officials before, during and after they have been elected into office? It would seem that, at least from both the Obama and Romney camp's perspective, that the dominant social media platforms are to be used exclusively as one-way broadcast channels to shout campaign messages, (i.e Mitt Romney advertising on the "The Rich Kids of Instagram" Tumblr page) with virtually no response to direct questions from the voter.

The perception, however fair or unfair that assessment may be, by a good many folks, is that our government officials, and more specifically our presidential candidates, are simply inaccessible to "Joe Public.' It is because of that perception that many of the American people harbor so much frustration and animosity with the current democratic process that our forefathers fought so valiantly to preserve. The fact is that lobbyists and a handful of the members of the one percent, either under the guise of a corporation or super-PAC, seem to be the only entities that seem to enjoy direct, or at least close proximity in access, to the most powerful decision maker in the country: the President of the United States. This is a troubling reality that could be so easily resolved if the American people would demand that their voices be heard and their questions answered, all by harnessing the power of social media. This indelible right can be viewed in much the same way as the hoards of visitors that come to Washington D.C. every year and feel a sense of ownership, as they should, to see, touch and feel where their tax dollars are being spent.
Shouldn't the candidates volunteer to open themselves up, at least within reasonable constructs, to the public they hope to one day serve, or in the incumbent's case continue serving? Shouldn't the voter insist upon engaging in this quality and intensity of dialogue even in the face of both campaign's temporary refusal? These are very important questions to ask in a climate of stubborn voter malaise, partisan vitriol and mistrust in a system that appears more and more duplicitous, as each election cycle passes.
Much could be done to restore the faith to the American people if they felt that they were actually in control of their own choices, and employing this open-discussion platform could be a really effective place to start. Some of the petty bickering about non-issues and distractions that have nothing to do with the very challenging obstacles that so many Americans find themselves facing today, could be averted my removing the middleman of special interests and conversing directly with both political candidates, utilizing social media as the conversation conduit.
Simply put, not solely depending upon the liaison of traditional media, and a gaggle of very powerful people, to translate the questions and concerns for the collective of the country, could prove just the medicine the doctor ordered for a country in pain and suffering from stubborn economic anemia and broken government -- a government, that in its current fractured form, is unbending in its commitment in having destructive conversations among themselves, while ignoring the opportunity to engage in a potentially very constructive conversation with the American people.
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Gerard Bush is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of the award-winning, conversational media agency, The brpr Group. Located in Miami’s Design District, The brpr Group concepts and implements national new media campaigns for global retailers and luxury brands including Moët & Chandon USA.
Follow Gerard Bush on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GerardBush

Historian John Bracey: "Obama--The Perfect President for White People"

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Historian John H. Bracey reflects on the left's projections on Barack Obama.