October 29, 2008
THE DISMANTLING OF MODEL METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DESEGREGATION PLAN: CHOICE, POLITICS, LAW, DEMOGRAPHICS AND LEADERSHIP
SUAPP Seminar Series
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Jeffrey A. Raffel & Joseph A. Pika
THE DISMANTLING OF MODEL METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DESEGREGATION PLAN: CHOICE, POLITICS, LAW, DEMOGRAPHICS AND LEADERSHIP
Gary Orfield – Desmantling Desegregation, the expert on school desegregation
Claimed that Wilmington are one of the nations three most integrated areas… named a successful attempt, a model
History of School Desegregation in the Wilmington Metropolitan (see the slide)
Delaware was one of the cases in the Brown V. Board case
• Evans V. Buchanan – the schools weren’t desegregated in 1956, case reopened in 1971
Educational Advancement Act (1968)
In 1974, US district courts decided that Wilmington schools were still segregated, meanwhile in in Detroit (Milliken v. Bradley) they decided busing was too much (?)
In 1975 the district court said that DE must design a metropolitan plan
“9-3” school desegregation Plan
1993: DE requests unitary status, as opposed to dual segregated districts
Neighborhood Schools Act (2000)
Pie approach to school desegregation implemented in 9/1978
Charter schools – consumer model of education
Common school vers. The corporate state (consumer choice)
Options or Refuges
NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS ACT 2000 (Wayne Smith, R)
Every student must attend the grade appropriate school closest to the student’s residence without regard to any consideration other than geographic distance and the natural boundaries of neighborhoods.
Based on the premise that you have achieved a high level of desegregation
Mandated school configurations (K-5/6, 6/7-8. 9-12)
Loopholes: if a district demonstrated hardship it would allow for an alternative of
Politics of Plan – Wayne Smith, Gov. Tom Carper (DE)
Wilmington Neighborhood Schools Committee – the city was deadlocked, rejected the option of becoming a separate district
Brandywine – community, civic engagement, high poverty schools a hardship on the students
Red Clay –
Colonial –
Christina –
Conclusions
Difficulty of maintaining desegregated schools in current environment
Unique situation
Leadership made a difference but national forces are strong
QUESTIONS
Who came up with the “9-3” plan? Why was it the chosen alternative?
What was the argument against unitary status?
Who advocated charter schools? (albert__________)
What is Busing v. Desegregation?
I wrote the following paper (VERY ROUGH DRAFT) after attending the lecture:
REACTION PAPER
SUAPP Seminar Series
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Jeffrey A. Raffel & Joseph A. Pika
THE DISMANTLING OF MODEL METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DESEGREGATION PLAN: CHOICE, POLITICS, LAW, DEMOGRAPHICS AND LEADERSHIP
Dr. Pika and Dr. Raffel presented students, staff, and faculty with information concerning their current research on school desegregation. The research focuses on Delaware, which was apparently considered a model plan and implementation of school desegregation. The research presumes Greg Orfield the expert on school desegregation. Orfield wrote with Susan Eaton a book entitled, “Dismantling Desegregation: The Quiet Reversal of Brown v. Board of Education” (1996). The book is a refutation of school desegregation despite the court rulings in Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. Dowell , Freeman v. Pitts and Missouri v. Jenkins. The Orfield’s claim is that the data available on desegregated schools evens out the playing field for black and white students.
There are issues with the ideal and reality of desegregation in the public school system. Brown v. Board was not the first legal challenge to school segregation. Roberts v. City of Boston stated, “Resolved, that in the opinion of this board, the continuance of the separate schools for colored children, and the regular attendance of all such children upon the schools, is not only legal and just, but is best adapted to promote the education of that class of population .” That statement by itself creates an argument of how class and race were construed to reflect the same ideology using different descriptive statistics, race and socio-economic status.
The argument of Brown v. Board surrounded Linda Brown and her family. Her father, Oliver Brown did not want her to walk one mile through a switchyard to get to her black elementary school. (There were actually over 200 plaintiffs.) Mr. Brown had attempted to enroll her in the white school, but she was not permitted because Topeka, Kansas was legally separated under the premise deliver on the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. This was one example of many, there were over 200 plaintiffs in this case, and it included cases from Delaware, Washington, DC, Virginia, and South Carolina. The argument was that the separate schools were not ‘equal’ and would not be equal. In the opinion written by Chief Justice Warren, the ultimate question is presented, Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities?” Chief Justice Warrren stated that the court believes it does. It was not concluded that the general practice of “separate but equal” should be overturned, but that in the realm of public education, it had no place.
Sounds good, however, these new cases claiming that desegregation did not work, has allowed the segregation of public schools to reoccur. The real reason is that the federal courts wanted to return the realm of public school education back to the states in hope that by the year 2000 the federal court would stop attempting to enforce desegregation.
The research presented by Dr. Pika and Dr. Raffel assumes that desegregation was a goal of public education and should continue to be at the forefront of political education concerns. The study attempts to understand what happened in the state of Delaware since Orfield’s claim that Wilmington and Delaware were some of the best examples of integration in metropolitan areas. The presentation continued with a history of school segregation including a timeline of Supreme Court cases, proposed plans, and implementation dates. The research looks at changes in political and economic environments in the state, including the election of governors as a determinant of successful desegregation practices in the state of Delaware.
My personal opinions on this topic cannot be summarized in a two page reaction paper, but I will attempt to better understand the situation at hand. Education is a curious topic when considering its impact on society. Education is the one sector of society of which every individual has a stake in its success or failure. One, could argue that health has the same type of impact on society, but as we already know people have been living and dying with all types of undiagnosed diseases and illnesses and have continued to be successfully engaging members of society. Everyone in the history of human civilization has been some form of education system. Whether it is post-doctoral research at a prestigious university or home training by a family member, every human being interacts with a system of education. Apparently, in the rise of the global economy, it has been the goal of countries to raise their overall academic average to stake the claim of intellectual superiority over one another. In order for this surge of academic excellence to occur, the society as a whole has to agree on educational attainment and educational opportunity.
It seems, that the underlying problem of segregated education was not necessarily the fact that anyone was missing out on receiving a “quality” education. If a survey was taken of blacks who attended segregated schools all over the country during the 1920s to 1950s (till the 70s in some cases), I am sure that one would be exposed to the fact that many of these student not only learned more than enough despite their educational circumstances but succeeded in terms of American economic or social “success.” These individuals became teachers, lawyers, doctors and other types of professionals. Since that is true, the problem of education was not the need to sit next to a “nigger” to know everything about the world or even sit next to “whitey” to see how the “real” world works. (my apologies for the “quotations” but the whole American society is based upon “ideals” instead of actualities….)
Misogyny & Homophobia in HipHop
A New Look at Misogyny and Homophobia in Hip-hop
Dr. Antonia Randolph (BA from Spelman, PhD from Northwestern (sociology))
Women’s Research Series
October 8, 2008
Dr. Antonia Randolph (BA from Spelman, PhD from Northwestern (sociology))
Check out her publications! Her dissertation was on education. “How Race and Ethnicity Affect Teacher Perceptions…”
Received a grant to study this particular study
Doing a content analysis of lyrics and videos
Conducting a focus group with music producers and sellers in Baltimore
Hypothesis: rap, by and for men a source of misogyny
Intro: Lollipop BET Long Version (YouTube)
What are the lyrics to the song?
How did Lil Wayne become one of the top sellers in the music industry?
The research looks at popular music, mainstream rap, as defined by platinum sales.
Why do men and women like misogynist music even though it is considered taboo?
THERE IS MISOGYNY IN HIP HOP >>>>> The question is how/why?
Overlooked Questions about Misogyny in hiphop
Origins (when did this become popular?) a comparison over time
Spread (which artist and genres participate)… there is a whole range of rap, what is normative is not what is portrayed in the media, an underlying question is not only what is normative for blacks, but IF there is a normative in rap…. Misogyny as a means of displaying their ultimate masculinity
Persistence (it happens despite social stigma)
Hip hop presents itself as misogyny is an inherent way that black men treat women. Today that is true, but originally not the case look at Run DMC…etc…
Why would women like to listen to Lil Wayne? (Aside from the “false consciousness” that people like things that they know are bad for them)
Production of Culture Perspective (look this up)
Look at the Social Organization of rap music
Look at rap from a systematic and structured view including its genres, eras, labels, and commercial success.
Genres: gangsta/street rap, “backpack” rap (identified by Kanye West and lyrical skills?), “conscious” rap
Label: NWA as an example>>> they began on an independent label, they moved to Ruthless Records (Easy E’s label), started marginal and became mainstream
Label relates to commercial success… how does a song get recorded made and distributed (this is the goal of the focus groups and look at industry literature like magazine
Misogyny: the fear, hatred and suspicion of women and femininity
Research Question: Why did misogyny become so prominent in commercially successful hip hop?
Hypothesis: Rap sells “authentic” black masculinity and misogyny has become a prime symbol of authentic masculinity.
-saying that misogyny has been the authentic black symbol
-authenticity is a claim…. Not a truth but a social construction, there is no standard that dictates REALNESS… claim it
Rap began as something that was to keep the party going. Look at old LL Cool J, Run DMC, Kid N Play … all different types of masculinity
Images of “REAL” (slide shows Run DMC and 50 Cent)
What are the differences?
50 Cent more sexualized
50 Cent depicted as violent
Run DMC looks as if they might smile
Searching for “real” black masculinity
Misogynist masculinity gains popularity as the most authentic black masculinity: out machos other versions
Rise of male-dominated rap crews and primacy given to male-bonding encourages misogyny and homophobia
Origins
Since 1988: decrease in popular female rappers (solo and group), increase in male-dominated rap crew as mode of production, debates over “real” masculinity dominates lyrics search for the real v. fake
The claim is that 1988 was the year that the male crews began to explode.
Popular authentic masculinity narrows… (a look at Run DMC, Dumb Girls)
To mean misogynist masculinity. (Championship Bottles, Lil Wayne & Birdman)
Misogyny spans Genres:
MC Hammer from “U Can’t Touch This” (1990) to “Pumps in a Bump” (1994)
“being feminine not appreciated in this sphere”
Persistence
Black women’s ambivalence towards misogyny
One of the only forums that treat black women as desirable
“real” nigga seen as sexier than more conscious rappers
solidarity with men over who’s a “hoe”
“Bust it Baby” by Plies
Community Progress along the Kenyan/Tanzanian Border
The following is an reprint of the invitation to a lecture discussion:
University of Delaware
School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy
Seminar Series, Fall 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
185 Graham Hall
FRANCIS X. TANNIAN
and
FRATERN J. TARIMO
THE CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY PROGRESS
ALONG THE KENYAN/TANZANIAN BORDER
Summary:
WATER limits life and progress for thousands of people in any parts of
rural Kenya. Government has failed (neglect, corruption) to invest in
water systems that would function through dry and drought seasons.
Joyce Tannian, with support from many in Delaware, lives since the end
of 2005 in an area south of Nairobi called the Kajiado District. Two
wells with large amounts of water, serving over 4,000 people and 20,000
animals, have been developed.
Our talk will address the many cultural, political, economic and health
challenges to be faced when attempting to improve health, incomes and
education in a specific region of Kenya.
Francis Tannian, PhD & Fratern Tarimo
October 29, 2008
• (map of Africa) Kajiado district – Kenya has 70 political districts.
• Background- Kajiado district inhabited by the Maasai Tribe
• Mount Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania. Maasai people identify with this mount even though they are in Kenya. The Maasai do not need passports for Tanzania. They are pastoral and women are domestic. The fetching of the water is the job of the women (the terrain is hilly and sandy). Education is not given priority in this community. They carry 50-60 lbs of water on their backs for about 3 to 4 hours a day. There is not any water where they live. Some literature declares this tribe the lost tribe of Israel.
• >>> look at Maasai Tribe creation stories (see below)
• In the beginning, when the Creator fashioned the first fathers of the people, he sent three sons to the wild. To the first father of the Maasai, he gave a stick. To the first father of the Kikuyu, he gave a hoe. To the first father of the Kamba, he gave a bow and arrow. Each son survived in the wild. The first father of the Maasai used his stick to herd animals. The first father of the Kikuyu used his hoe to cultivate the ground. The first father of the Kamba used his bow and arrow to hunt. (http://users.erols.com/bcccsbs/africa/maasai.htm)
• The region has a rainy district and the lifestyle is used to travelling long distances to find water. The cow is sacred and there is a personal bond with the cows and the people. Kenya is about the size of Texas.
• Kajiado is twice the size of Delaware.
• Success and evolution at the Imisigyio well, a discussion between Joyce and the chief of the people.
• Joyce Tannian (wife of Dr. Tannian) got the money together to get the various technological surveys to determine the well water about 720feet under the ground. The people are ecstatic about the possibilities in the area.
• Ambesilli (sp?) National Park – a large reservation of physical beauty of the land. Safari traffic are big business. The Maasai do not hunt animals (?).
• Maasai withdrew from the political organization of Kenya. They are marginalized now and were promised certain provisions such as water resources and monetary receipts from tourism but have yet to see the provisions materialize.
• The Challenge: The amount of fresh water per capita is declining (over a 30 year period from 1995 to 2025) throughout the “water-short” countries such as Israel, Tanzania, Kenya, Poland and the UK.
• This community has never had a “mechanical infrastructure” (defined by whom?....maybe never had THIS TYPE of mechanical infrastructure) So there are short run challenges concerning operation, maintenance, fuels, money and accounting/ability. How to get from existence to sustainability?
• Extended Challenges: Who is responsible? Who is responsibility to sustain? There are language barriers. The Maasai speak Maasai, in Kenya the national language is Swahili and the these “types” speak English.
• Getting the water is woman’s job but at the community meetings with Joyce are all men.
• Extensive costs/benefits/frictions must be considered. Water decisions have multi-disciplinary aspects.
• QUESTIONS
o Do current community development strategies from mainstream international organizations work effectively?
• Budget (informal economies)
• Timeframe
• Evaluation process
• Oversight/Accountability
o How can community development projects in more traditional communities be improved?
o Is participatory action research been done on the communities at hand?
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
910 Baylor Drive Newark, DE 19711
302-731-5850
www.kenyawaterislife.com
October 28, 2008
Monkey balls taste better at night.
Often, I wish I could create an anonymous website where I could post questions to the world, but still see the reactions of my peers.....
Hard to explain...
The questions I want to ask are completely inappropriate and unbelievably inexcusable under any circumstances,
but dag, I really want to ask them.
There ain't nothing new under the sun
This morning, I read an article on ABC News.com about a "thwarted" assassination attempt of Barack Obama. It is one week before this "historic" (depending on your definition) election. The pundits across the networks have basically handed the election to the Obama camp. They believe that the exit polls do not lie and Obama's lead in these statistics is enough to assume that he will be come president of the United States of America. So today, October 28, is the day the media finally decides to shed the light on the fact that people are plotting killing sprees and assassinations of this "transformational" leader. Like I said before, it ain't nothing new under the sun. This should not come to a surprise to anyone who has remotely studied American political history. Transformational leaders always have threats for thier lives. Especially, transformational black leaders. We want to firmly believe that times are different and that this shallow outward racism no longer exists, but that is simply not the case. People hate. People hate. People hate. There is a video of confession back from August here.
A Seattle PI blog reported that 'assassinate obama' was one of the top 100 google search phrases. An artist even took the liberty of creating the following art exhibit entitle the assassination of Barack Obama: http://www.theassassinationofbarackobama.com/.
Even outside of the United States people envision it happening:
There isn't a damn thing new under the sun....STOCKHOLM (AFP) - If Barack Obama becomes the next US president he will surely be assassinated, British Nobel literature laureate Doris Lessing predicted in a newspaper interview published here Saturday.
Obama, who is vying to become the first black president in US history, "would certainly not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would murder him," Lessing, 88, told the Dagens Nyheter daily. (Huffington Post)
The reality, the harsh reality, a compromise of ideology it seems to me is that Barack and Michelle must discuss on the regular basis how real his assassination could be. An ultimate sacrifice, for a worthy cause? I do not believe so, but that has to be rationalized on their terms... and as far as it is displayed it has to be in order for them to continue so valiantly towards to White House....
October 26, 2008
NYANSAPO
NYANSAPO
"wisdom knot"
symbol of wisdom, ingenuity, intelligence and patience
An especially revered symbol of the Akan, this symbol conveys the idea that "a wise person has the capacity to choose the best meeans to attain a goal. Being wise implies broad knowledge, learning and experience, and the ability to apply such faculties to practical ends." *
*www.welltempered.net - Adinkra Symbols
It seems like I can never make plans for my life. Everytime I plan an event, a weekend, or anything, things never turn out quite right. Hardly ever is it a turn for the worst, but you can believe that it is normally a turn for the interesting. This weekend has been unusually informative for me. It seems that the recurring theme was "wisdom." As a student of Africana, there are sets of ancestors that I trust in knowledge and in practice. It is hurtful in many ways when you find a way in which you feel your ancestor has failed. One of my sisters and I have been enveloped in an ongoing dialogue questioning our position as women in (and of) the discipline.
The question is: How come our male intellectual counterparts continue to seek and find emotional, sexual, and ultimate (defined by marriage) kindred friendships with females that are not African?
For Example:
Frantz Fanon, author of Wrethed of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks, who took a critical look at race, class, social constructs and other facets of exploitation and colonization. His books were not mere theoretical surface level hobknob but writings that are still influential on conscious and revolutionary political thought.
For example here is Franz Fanon:
Here is about his wife: By the time he published his first book, "Peau Noire, Masques Blancs," he had abandoned the philosophy of Negritude for what he described as a so-called "non-racist humanism" as if loving yourself and your culture is racist. In the same year as the publication of his first book, he married a white, French woman, Marie-Josephe ("Josie") Duble in October 1952, suggesting continuing, unresolved ambivalence and conflict regarding his own blackness. Fanon's relationship with a difficult and rejecting mother is also implicated here. (raceandhistory.com - Frantz Fanon)
This little tid bit of information blew the hell out of my sister and of course others I am sure....
Does anyone have a theory explaining this phenomenon?
if this is the case, the further I find myself in the discipline the further away I can imagine myself creating a life with a partner that is my counterpart in intellectualism?
that is hurtful, and frankly I refuse to accept any notion that that is the inevitable truth for me and all of my sisters
that doesn't make sense
the whole premise of my participation in the discipline is the discovery that i am not a mammie, i am not asexual or "over"sexualized, and i am deserving of companionship, deserving of a male counterpart....
deserving of love.
Where are they? Where are these brothers that are rooted in the discipline and wanted women likewise? Speak up. Speak out. We are here to listen!
How does this relate to wisdom.....
think AA: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference...
Also, it is quite apparent that I am at that age where is wisdom is not only sought but delievered at this age. It is our turn to deliver wisdom to our young proteges, our mentors and mentees.
Last week, I had the opportnity to listen to a reading by the lovely Sonia Sanchez, and she said the following: "Let me wear the day well so when it reaches you, you will enjoy it." (a haiku) I live my life in hopes that their futures will be better than mine. An amazing poem, indeed. We have crossed the threshold into that area seeking wisdom and delivering it at the same time.
I wish this entry was better organized, but its late and a lot is on my mind.
Visit the National Visionary Leadership Project.
October 25, 2008
The Coco Yam
Watch Kenyan Coco Yam Delicacy in Faith Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
well a "SUPREME MASTER TV is a free-to-air satellite channel broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a variety of engaging programs in English with over 30 subtitles and 60 languages. Being the ideal television channel that brings to your life Nobility and Spirituality. Broadcasting on 14 satellite platforms across the globe."
Things Fall Apart
October 22, 2008
Con Funk Shun.... ask about it
I am not satisfied with my music library. In 2004, when I first began undergrad I amassed a seriously sustainable library of musical pleasure. Today, I feel that the music I have is not representative of my emotions, insights, needs, and wants....
That is what I seek my music to do....to find the words my soul can not dictate....
ugh.
October 21, 2008
October 18, 2008
October 17, 2008
October 17th and Counting
This vegetarian (really pescatarian) journey hasn't been that difficult. However, I am craving chicken wings like no other. I mean wings are just the spice of life, and everyday without them makes me want them more and more. .... mmmmmmm.....wings....
November 1, I want wings!!!
October 7, 2008
Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
I don't feel like writing.
I do have a swollen abdomen full of emotion.
This poem came to mind:
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway . . .
He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o' those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man's soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan--
"Ain't got nobody in all this world,
Ain't got nobody but ma self.
I's gwine to quit ma frownin'
And put ma troubles on the shelf."
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more--
"I got the Weary Blues
And I can't be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can't be satisfied--
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had died."
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.
....the weary blues
btw.... Obama has composed himself as a president. Good for him.
October 6, 2008
....the best text message ever
He knows this post is about him.
He said, "... U own me lo key. I stop doin I'm doin to look at your facebook pics.......daily."
Every once in a while, a person actually expressed the emotion that they share via text/im....rarely when I lol am I actually laughing out loud or laughing my ass off or rolling on the floor. However, I can tell y'all honestly.... a HUGE smile came to my face when I read that on my screen. If he was telling the truth, he will prolly see this. If he doesn't, I can't be mad at a good line, especially if it works on me.
Mr. You know Who You Are,
I miss you. I hope that through all the time we have known/will know each other we we will have the chance to grow closer. You are what's up though and I hope you know that. I'm proud of you and everything that you are doing!
MoMo
October 5, 2008
i just couldn't help myself.
Queen Latifah is the only person who could play Gwen Ifill. I wonder if she wondered that as she was preparing for the debate...."Who are they going to get to play me??" Oh SNL.... I'm glad that thoughest hath returned to hilarity.
a salad does more than just appetease-you!
I am not sure if the average intellectual can interpret this picture. Please understand, the creator intended that the picture represent humanity across the globe. A representation of mixed heritage and culture yet independence and self-reliance. A truly beautiful creation indeed.
October 3, 2008
and on the third day
This vegetarian blogging exercise is not very exciting. I am not having a challenge. Perhaps I should step on a scale and see if it really is affecting me at all. Yesterday, I participated in the Vision 2015 quarterly conference and the time spent sitting and listening to the hopes and dreams inspired and enlightened me to bring my ideas into fruition. I am going to try to make sure that I develop this idea completely before I share it with others. I am looking forward to critique and support and the beauty of it is that money isn't 100% necessary to ensure operation. In-kind donations is where we are assuming it lands! So as I attempt to work on my policy paper and formulate my business plan, I will keep the world posted.
and yes.... I am looking to find Joe Sixpack, ya darn tootin.
October 1, 2008
Vegetarianismlynessistic
Black people, will never cease to amaze me. I was going to post a definition of vegetarian to start off my discussion of my newly adopted 30 days of purpose, but because I am a firm believer that being in spaces such as UD (a space unlike HU, for those of you that understand my understanding) causes individuals to take critical thinking to such a level that you believe that everything that is said may or may not be true and because it is the year 2008, we look at google for everything, and see if things are really as the same.
The aforementioned does not only apply to academics, but because you learn as a student of africana that almost zero percent of your pre-self awareness knowledge is false, altered, or hidden. So that brings me to the fact that after thinking about vegetarians across the world, I decided (assuming) to look for some type of black and/or african centered vegetarian website.
Lo, and hosanna behold I found SoulVegFolk. A blog for " for Black folks who are vegans, vegetarians, fruitarians, raw foodists, etc. to share the joys, pains and crazy of their diet/lifestyle. From "newbies" to "veterans"..Get Connected!"
Ironically enough, I found out that it was WORLD VEGETARIAN DAY, how fitting that I begin this vegetarian journey on this hallowed vegetable holiday. Let ths celebrations begin!
For more information go to the SITE and have yourself a field day.
Today wasn't hard at all, lunch was catered for a SUAPP seminar I went to and there was vegetarian options. Also, dinner was courtesy of the UASA meeting and I could easily eat cheese pizza. I feel like I won't have a problem at all. Today was smooth sailing. I even ate my little vegetarian chicken sandwhich, it tasted light almost like air. I wonder amidst all these attacks against soul food and old fashioned homecooking, has anyone researched about these manufactured meats and what types of harm it is probably doing to your system. I am not promoting vegetarianism for health reasons or spiritual reasons, its merely a test of self-discipline.
Check out the article below:
Also this article was interesting:
Red, Black & Greens: The Politics of Soul Food in the 1960s
January 2004
Birth of a Cuisine
“Hoppin' John (black-eyed peas and rice); hushpuppies (crusty corn meal bread cooked in
fish grease and best with fried fish, especially fried salt fish, which ought to soak overnight
unless you're over 50 and can't take all that salt); hoecake (pan cake); buttermilk biscuits and
pancakes; fatback, i.e., streak'alean-streak'afat; dumplings; neck bones; knuckles, both good
for seasoning lima or string beans; okra; pork chops; grits, eggs and sausage; pancakes with
Alaga syrup; a chicken wing on a piece of greasy bread; a piece of barbecue hot enough to
make you whistle; and small sweet potato pies.”
The notion of soul food as an African American cuisine emerged in the 1960s.The lively description above, by cultural critic LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), appeared in his 1962 essay titled “Soul Food.” The essay was one of the first works to appear on the subject of soul food and countered a claim by another writer that blacks had no cuisine.
Prior to the 1960s, this distinctive fare had only been defined regionally, as “southern,” “plantation,” and “Creole” foods. During the sixties, however, these foods gained an explicitly cultural flavor and soul food became a popular signifier of blackness, like hairstyles, fashion and music. Indeed, a wide spectrum of folks, many of whom disagreed on political issues, could come together at the soul food table and grease.
Brown Bread vs. White Bread
Not everyone embraced soul food, however. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam and author of How to Eat to Live, spoke out against the prevailing eating practices of blacks. In the same year that LeRoi Jones wrote his ode to soul food, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, featured an article titled “Brown Bread vs. White Bread.” The article extolled the natural, wholesome and hearty virtues of brown bread while decrying the artificial, deficient and harmful qualities of white bread. The racial connotations of the article were surely not lost on its readers. The attack was clearly aimed at soul food, since it was understood that “a chicken wing on a piece of greasy bread” called for white bread. So while white bread signified blackness to Jones and many others, it had racist overtones for Muhammad.
You Shall Not Eat Carrion, Swine and Blood
Elijah Muhammad based his belief that “the white man's diet was killing blacks” on religious principles. He looked to the Koran to instruct blacks on what to eat. Following the Koran's tenet “thou shall not eat carrion, swine, and blood,” Muhammad elevated eating pork to an act against Allah. For those interested in becoming Muslims, the rejection of pork became an important rite of passage. Malcolm X, who became a Muslim in prison, recalled in his autobiography the precise moment that he gave up pork. Sitting at a table with other inmates as a plate of pork was passed around, he wrote, “I hesitated, with the platter in mid-air; then I passed it along to the inmate waiting next to me. He began serving himself; abruptly he stopped. I remember him turning, looking surprised at me. I said to him, ‘I don't eat pork'.”
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Comedian and activist Dick Gregory also weighed in on soul food. According to Gregory, “the quickest way to wipe out a group of people [was] to put them on a soul food diet.” Addressing nationalists directly, he said, “They will lay down a heavy rap on genocide in America with regard to black folks, then walk into a soul food restaurant and help the genocide along.”
Gregory's criticism of soul food was based on health as well as ethics. In his memoir, Callus on My Soul, Gregory wrote:
“I had been a participant in all of the ‘major' and most of the ‘minor' civil rights demonstrations of the
early sixties. Under the leadership of Dr. King, I became totally committed to nonviolence, and I was
convinced that nonviolence meant opposition to killing in any form. I felt the commandment ‘Thou Shalt
Not Kill' applied to human beings not only in their dealings with each other—war, lynching,
assassination, murder and the like—but in their practice of killing animals for food and sport. Animals
and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same
stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel and brutal taking of life.”
After becoming a vegetarian in 1965, Gregory used his public platform to promote his expanded notion of nonviolence.
Live Longer, Look Younger, Feel Younger
Dr. Alvenia Fulton, a renowned naturopath and long-time vegetarian, assisted Dick Gregory and many others who turned away from soul food. In her book, Vegetarianism: Fact or Myth? Eating to Live, Fulton urged blacks to base what they ate on what was best for their health. She believed a vegetarian diet was “best suited…to sustaining maximum health and assisting in regenerating and rejuvenating the body when illness occurred.”
Fulton opened the Pioneer Natural Health Food Store and Restaurant in Chicago in the late 1950s. The South Side's first health food establishment, Pioneer provided an alternative to soul food, where customers could purchase organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, vitamins and minerals. Fulton advocated self-empowerment through healthier eating, inviting all to “live longer, look younger and feel younger” through vegetarianism.
Beyond the Sixties
Alvenia Fulton later collaborated with Dick Gregory on Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' With Mother Nature in 1973. The book became a bible of sorts to young activists and inspired many to open health food stores, co-ops and natural foods restaurants in cities across the country. Many of these restaurants marketed vegetarian soul food to bridge the gastronomic divides within African American communities—divides that had their origins in the sixties and continue today.
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Sources
Warren Belasco, Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took on the Food Industry, 1966-1988. New York: Pantheon, 1989.
Dick Gregory, Callus on My Soul: A Memoir . Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2003.
Dick Gregory, Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' With Mother Nature, James R. McGraw, ed., with Alvenia M. Fulton. New York: Perennial Harper, 1973, 1974.
Elijah Muhammad, How to Eat to Live . Book No. 2. Chicago: Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 2, 1972.
LeRoi Jones [Amiri Baraka], “Soul Food,” Home : Social Essays . New York: Morrow, 1962, 1966: 101-104.
Doris Witt, Black Hunger: Food and the Politics of U.S. Identity . New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X . As told to Alex Haley. New York: Ba llantine, 1965, 1973.
Marya Annette McQuirter and Tracye L. McQuirter,“Red, Black & Greens: The Politics of Soul Food in the 1960s,” www.blackvegetarians.org/features/red,black&greens.htm. January 2004
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