That's all folks

Wow! This has been an absolutely amazing class, but it is somewhat bittersweet because we should not need a class to debunk stereotypes, but I learned so much vital information from my listening post and classmates that I could never find in a textbook.

I have always enjoyed a good conversation and this class not only fulfill my need to converse but it expanded the topics of conversation. I can comfortably speak to Katie our local atheists about religion, or crack on the token gringos in the class, but more importantly I'm able to take a joke. I laugh at the watermelon-fried chicken jokes because to be angry would be to give them some sort of validity and power over me. I look at them for what they are, a grain of truth stretched to apply to an entire group of people, but by no means can it come close to encompassing the entire group.

And knowing how African-American stereotypes fall short of accurately categorizing blacks, lets me further know that stereotypes have no place in a rational and functional member of our society. So as I continue my journalism career I will learn about a community from the perspective of its members and not from the outside looking in as a casual observer. More than anything this class has helped me embrace our difference, to accept people for who they are, a mixture of perfectly imperfect people.

Full of Liberty, but no Hope!

"Perception is reality," my mother said as we spoke about an article published in the Miami Herald entitled "Liberty City street's story is one of struggle violence. Click here for article.

I first read Robert Samuels' perception of Liberty City in an email sent to me by my journalism professor and I immediately felt disturbed that not even a black man could go into a predominately African-American community and find 

something good to say. I understand a journalist's job is to report the news or story and not to make either one, but despair and negativity are abundantly obvious in any poor community and to write about it benefits none and fails to inform or surprise anyone. I found the overall tone of the article very negative and devoid of any hope for the subjects of the story and lacking any humanity on the part of the author. 

"a business thoroughfare where few businesses exist. Here there are no trees and the street's asphalt melts into the concrete of the sidewalk, worn-down like the residents who walk upon them. The road offers a glimpse of the Liberty City that revitalization has not fully touched. It stretches for nine blocks, from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Northwest 71st Street. Young girls meander there on weekday afternoons with babies hanging on their waists; young men hang out in their cars. A mural of Malcolm and Martin faces a mural of brooding, busty women in bikinis, and there's a spray-painted message saying the avenue is best for sexual activity. To find out the local gossip, you stop at Miracles conch fritter place or at Brewton's grocery store, where a single egg goes for 35 cents."

And under the subsection entitled "The positives" Samuels wrote about the good side of liberty city which I found rather unusual because there was no mention of people, but instead it lists construction projects and business openings.

There has been good news. Elaine Black, who heads the local revitalization trust, noted that 100 apartment units and 40 single-family homes have been built or revamped in the area. At any given time, as many as 25 Miami officers patrol the area -- including a heavier police presence at the corner of Northwest 71st Street and 15th Avenue. They clocked nine  homicides last year, a decrease from 14 in 2007.In the past year, a tax preparation service and two restaurants have taken a chance on Northwest 15th Avenue. Miami City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones said plans are under way to improve street lighting and add landscaping to make that roadway nicer...

I am by no means an expert on life, but during my brief stint on this planet I have yet to 

encounter any person or object devoid of some redeeming quality. Convicted killers have a moral code that 

makes rapists and child molesters ethically corrupt and worthy of death. Manure, waste excreted from our bodies and the bodies of animals is used to grow bigger and better crops faster. But in a city full of people, the only positives are construction projects done by people who do not even live in Liberty City. 

The city has birthed more rappers and professional athletes than any other in its area, there are hardworking tax-paying citizens trying to effect change, violence and despair do live between 54th and 79th street but so do hope and success and to show only one side of a community is to perpetuate the stereotype of the city and its people. 

Life is tough on the streets of liberty city, but you don't need to live there to know that, despite the many obstacles, many people have endured the hardships and emerged triumphant. Write about the tough times but show that success is possible. We as reporters must not forsake our subjects but write for the sake of them and our readers. We after all are still human, although blessed with a calling for journalism, but little else separates us from those whom we write about, this week's reporter could easily be next week's report. 

S.W.G. Serving While Gay

Yesterday Tony and I spoke on the phone and as usual it led to another argument. Whenever we speak the the class assignment ends and a fervent debate about race, sports, or sexual orientation takes place. On this day the topic of choice was gay men in the military. 

Tony told me the Philippines and Argentina just ended a ban on gay men in the army and the United States would soon follow suit, not only did they decriminalize homosexuality in the military but the governments were actively rec

ruiting in the gay and lesbian communities. Needless to say our views on the matter were different. He believed that any step towards equality would be well worth the consequences and considers the first openly gay soldiers as pioneers of the gay community, comparable to the African-American heroes M.L.K., Malcolm X and all others who blazed a trail towards an equality unattainable by blacks, but gaining the recognition and tolerance of the majority is still a victory.

He made a compelling argument but I was not swayed and made a good case for my point of view. I am very inclined to share with you my opinion but I want Tony to be the focus of this entry and not more of the same rant and raves you have become accustomed to reading on my site.

If it is unclear to you by now Tony is gay, but don't ask him when he became gay, because he will  tell you "I became gay the same time you became straight." 

I joked around with my classmates and said he's converted me to the other side, but it's not a complete falsity, I have a new found respect and appreciation for not only him but for all those that endure the same struggles. I don't mean new found respect as though i never respected gay men, I just never gave them enough thought to have a particular feeling or opinion towards them personally or their issues.

Gay men were but a footnote in my book of life, something there, but easily overlooked. But now 

I know a gay guy that mirrors the strength that i see in myself and my friends. He already has 

two strikes just like use, but he also has to deal with all the stigmas associated with being gay. You would never know he was gay, but once you meet him you would never forget his hot temper, quick wit and flair for intelligent conversation. 

I know I have said it already but it bares repeating, you would never know Tony is gay by looking at him and now that i look back at the day we met I think he was not talking to me but reaching out to his former self. 

Although he is not in the military he sets a good example and fights the good fight here at home for indifferent people like myself to take notice, tolerate or even accept him and those like him not as gay men but just men.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

In a recent class I learned one of my classmates is bi-racial, having a white father and black mother. I have had classes with this young lady, but I have always operated under the assumption she was fair skin African-American. This semester we both share the same torturous Tuesday-Thursday schedule and we have grown closer as a means of survival. I'm not sure what difference it would have made if I knew she were bi-racial, but now this new knowledge has opened up a lot of new

 material for me to joke about with her.
During class she told us of an incident that happened to her in kindergarten. In honor of Fathers 

Day her teacher assigned the class to create a card representative of their fathers. According to her there were two piles of construction paper, "a chocolate pile"and a "vanilla pile," students were instructed to "take a sheet that looks like your father."
Of course she went to the front of the class and took a vanilla sheet and all things representative of her white father and this little black girl was prepared to make a blond-hair, blue-eye, vanilla-face representation of her father.Instead of leaving her alone, the teacher tried to force the little girl to take the supplies that she assumed an African American girl should have. This supposed professional went so far as to call this child a liar, belittling her until she eventually cried.
I mention this story because in our multi-ethnic class I have learned it is not always the other man that hates on you, sometimes it's the brother man. Journalist are people and carry the same baggage as anyone else, life experience can not only color our perception of other tribes but also the way we view our own.

Obama=Monkey...?

Although undeservedly, I have come to be known as opinionated and outspoken person which caused a few of my classmates ask [not ax] for my thoughts on this controversial comic published in a New York newspaper. I heard a lot of clamour on the news about a controversial comic that not only insulted the president and African Americans but also offended all sensible and God-fearing Americans.

Up until the point I was asked about my views on the image I had not seen the actual comic. I searched for a few minutes on Google of course and found nothing but a bunch of angry people, white, black, yellow and other who felt outraged that in the new age of King Obama that such hatred could grace the pages of a prominent newspaper. But finally, when my search was done and I looked at the comic I too fell in line with all the other upset people who flooded the net with their rage for fear of choking on their anger.

But why was I so angry?

I saw two white cops execute a monkey, excuse me chimpanzee, with a caption that read: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Two cop bullets, a dead monkey, 12 little words and one iconic president later, created a controversy the likes we have not seen since Thomas Nast's pictorials of Boss Tweed that help put an end to corruption in New York City. 

As I looked at the comic I echoed the same exact sentiments and opinions as the television reporters and online bloggers. When I realized that my views fell in line with the masses I stopped to think, were my views an honest reaction based solely on the content of the picture or were they a honest reaction based on the opinions and added information I was fed by the television and Internet.

So I then I asked myself a few more questions:

1. Did the president write the stimulus bill?
2. When I see the president do I think of a monkey?
3. When I see a monkey do I think of the president?
4. Is  the monkey a representative or symbol for black people?
5. If I never heard any other commentary would i still react the same?
6. Is there another plausible explanation for the characters used in the comic?

I answered these questions and arrived at my own conclusion, which may be different than yours, but then again our democracy relies on contrasting ideas and it is precisely our ability to agree to disagree that separates us from the monkeys.

Thought Process

Everyday I sit back and reflect on all the things I've learned or should have learned that particular day. I then follow up my thoughts with some profound question, usually with no definite answer, an exercise in futility to strengthen the muscle between my ears. And much like our illustrious professor, I too suffer from an attention disorder that could at any given moment withdraw me from the conscious world and entangle me with thought and conjecture within my own mind.
One said occasion happened as I flipped through the various news channels yesterday, I noticed each network was covering the exact same story at the exact same time. Normally this would not bother me or attract my attention, but as I listened to other students in Wolfe Center I quickly noticed that a majority were talking about that particular story.
And even more puzzling many students without hearing any other facts echoed the same exact sentiments of the broadcasting reporter. I find this particular troublesome because even when attending church, as the pastor would quote and interpret scripture I would take notes and later double check them for accuracy before I accepted them as truth.
This whole-hearted acceptance of many future journalists displayed the true power of our medium, the ability to condition viewers to believe whatever is reported during the news program of their choice.
Which led me to question whether the news tells viewers what to think or what to think about. Simply by choosing what to air, news outlets dictate all topics of conversation. And though it may be cliche, stories not chosen for broadcast or print are out of sight and therefore out of mind. But even more troubling than the power to control a viewers focus, news has the uncanny ability to persuade and dissuade viewers from taking a particular stance or action on an issue.
I wondered how the media's powers of influence can be applied to our multi-ethnic class and realized the ability of news to broadcast one consistent message to viewers undermines our ability to discriminate fact from opinion. Unknowingly, we categorically accept everything said on the news as truth. And in relation to race and ethnicity we begin to believe the constant repetition of ethnic stereotypes that over time become second nature to us. These subtle stereotypes become common and when something a story is contrary to our accepted perspective we immediately label it as rare.
Black people are illiterate, unintelligent, welfare-wanting, pants-sagging, crime-committing, chicken and watermelon eating burdens on society. So when an individual like President Obama is introduced, people perceive him as a rarity, a circus freak on display for upstanding citizens to gaze at an remark, "wow he's so articulate," as if he was the first, last and only black man blessed with the ability to speak coherently.
And even more troubling, these views are not forced upon us, we crave them, we gravitate to the information that is consistent and reinforces our beliefs. And as we consume the rhetoric and stereotypes spoon fed to us by commentators, editors, and reporters, we sit back and ask questions like "is America ready for a black president," or "what if he's Muslim and not see the problem with answers or the fact the question was asked.

Gay for a Day

Well, I finally made it inside of Score Bar and to be perfectly honest I was a little surprised by what I found. The bar was stylishly decorated and filled with people. But the thing that I found strange was the lack of women. When I thought of a gay bar I envisioned hot-drunk lesbians pouring beer on each other and casually licking it off as uninterested gay men danced with each other. But what I found in the bar was nothing like any of the cheap pornos I watched as a child.

The club was filled with shirtless men of all shapes, shades and sizes, chasing each another while carrying bright colored drinks in pretty glasses. I stood awe struck, because I had never seen so many men together without women or sports being involved.

The majority of the men in the club were white or Hispanic, but African Americans, though the minority refused to be outdone. Two black males about 6'3" and about 300 pounds respectively, pranced about the club with the same enthusiasm as the white males half their size. I looked at these men that resembled me and felt uncomfortable, as though by them being gay validated the possibility of me being gay. Which could or would never happen, not that anything is wrong with being gay, but the lifestyle is just not for me.

I sat and waited for Tony to show up, after waiting an hour I left. I go on my first gay date and the guy stands me up, no call, no text, nothing. I guess gay and straight guys are a lot more alike than I thought.

Two Pea's in a Pod

After speaking with Tony I realized the two of us were not actually that different. My classmates thought I was ignorant for not thinking that gay men loved sports and other activities that bond my friends and me. And to be perfectly honest, it is not that I never expected gay guys to like sports, I never really gave it much thought. 

To my knowledge I have no gay friends and my world would be completely heterosexual except for occasional glimpses of “Will and Grace” and trips to South Beach. But amidst my testosterone-driven world I found a gay guy who enjoys a lot of my favorite things, basketball games, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, going to the shooting range, mixed martial arts, “21 Jump Street,” “Thunder Cats” and he finds all female celebrities I like attractive, but he’s gay. 

Tony is openly gay, but he does not have that stereotypical flamboyant flair mistakenly associated with gay men. I am not sure if his style stems from that fact he was not always gay. He has an ex-wife and a son living in New Jersey and only “came out” two years ago. 

“I always knew that I liked boys with a dept that I never felt towards a woman, not even my ex-wife,” Tony said. 

I sat back in my chair and reflected on his statement. 

“How did you know you were gay,” I asked. 

“The same way that you found out you were straight,” he replied. 

We argued back and forth whether a person “is gay” or “becomes gay.” Tony believes that to say someone “becomes gay” is to signify some sort of choice. I believe that everything in life is a choice. We never arrived at a conclusion and had to end the conversation, but not because a gay and straight man couldn’t see eye to eye, but because two strong-willed men in their twenties decided to agree to disagree.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Know No Evil?

I posed the question yesterday, can an individual who has never experienced racism or discrimination identify or understand what the victims of both must endure.

Discrimination and racism are so sneaky these days, sometimes neither the victim nor the doer has any inclination of wrongdoing. Both are prevalent in today’s society, but time and complacency have lulled many of us into thinking that neither may exist.

I would like to inform those who now relish in the Obama era, those who believe we have conquered the racism and bigotry of yesteryear and those who believe that color no longer matters: wake up.

Hatred has evolved, discrimination has become subtle, compact and elusive, time has bred a new slave master equipped with new weapons to demean and oppress the new age slaves. This new generation of slaves is no longer connected by race, but is now linked by economics and class, a true Marxian society.

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist," said Al Pacino in the Devil's Advocate.
Because of this illusion I think it is very possible for people to grow up and live life never knowing the bitter taste of racism because the new recipe is no longer as blatantly offensive as it once was.

Then again, I have lived my entire life as black male being followed in stores and serving as a constant reminder to good people to lock their doors, clutch their purses, double check their car alarms, to avoid those different than you and most importantly I provide a face for crime and all things wrong within a city.

But what about those who have never experienced what I have, can they see discrimination as I see it.

I'm Comming Out?

For all those not awake during class I am not gay. Professor Reisner much like the Supreme Being he claims to be, commanded that I attend a gay bar for my listening post project. After painstaking research which involved a Google search of gay clubs in Miami, I chose a club close enough not to waste gas but far enough not to encounter any family members.

The club I chose is called "Score Bar" and

 is located on Lincoln 

Road. Being very familiar with the club scene on South Beach I decided to jump into my project head first, con

trary to the advice given to us by the all powerful and all knowing Reisner: "research your location first!"

I went to the club on Saturday well dressed and pressed; I even took the time to match my belt with my shoes so that I would not stand out in the crowd. I got no more than 100 feet from the club when someone handed me a flyer that read: "Anything Goes Saturdays at Score." I quickly did an about face, un-tucked my shirt and ran from the idea of knowing what goes on Saturday night in a gay bar called "Scores."

After my rare case of chicken-shit-itiss, I sat at a nearby pizzeria called "Pizza Rustica," by the

 way great gourmet pizza, I recommend the bar-b-que chicken pizza. I know, I know, black people, bar-b-que and chicken, I have heard the stereotypes, but dammit they taste good.

I sat there eating my pizza and watched people pass by, I sat there interested in there stories, where they might be headed, what might they be planning, who was waiting for them, were they gay

 and were they heading to my listening post. That is when I realized two things; aside from a few exceptions I had no idea who was gay and I had absolutely no idea who I could or would meet inside the club. Unfortunately I still couldn’t bring myself to go inside, but as I was sitting at the table a guy I talked to in line while ordering my pizza spoke to me.

“How was the pizza,” he asked.

“Great you can’t go wrong with bar-b-que and chicken,” I said.

And from that simple interaction and having the score flyer on my table we spoke for a few minutes and he recommended I try “Score” on the karaoke night. By the end of the conversation dealing mostly with good food, sports, clubs and school I had a new understanding of what Reisner meant by 80 percent of success is just showing up. I did not make it inside but I have a new gay source and possible friend named Tony, although it eerily feels like a date but we going to meet at scores next Sunday night for karaoke.

My Race Implicit Associations Test Results

My I.A.T. showed that I have a slight preference towards European Americans, and especially being a young African American male my immediate reaction was to label the test as false and bias. After a few minutes of quiet reflection I began to see some correlations between the test results, my interactions and attitudes towards members of my race, particularly those who mirrored my image.

 

I hold every other male of my race to the same high standards that I strived towards. The same levels and expectations many men and women before our time achieved without any of the luxuries we've taken for granted. I make no apologies for expecting more from members of my race and beyond higher expectations I also judge them with the same criteria with which I judge myself. It is precisely this method of challenging one another that bred the extraordinary leaders that came before our generation. 

 

The fore-fathers of black pride, the movers, the shakers, the thinkers, individuals that changed

 the world: Martin, Malcolm, Rosa, Booker T., Fredrick and Drew.  Instead of spawning a new generation of leaders, many of my brothers and sister have fallen into the trap of complacency. Instead of striving to emulate kings and queens we imitate the actions of pimps, hoes, and gangsters. We glorify every negative stereotype associated with our race and then wonder why everyday we must battle for inch of success. 

 

Instead of commanding respect with intellect many choose to demand it with violence and aggression. This is not to says that these characteristics embody all African Americans, because no such blanket statement can be made about any race of people. These reflections simply describe the type of individuals who misrepresent African Americans as a whole. 

We all may know individuals who are content with mediocrity, as for myself I long for more. And to achieve my goals I have surrounded myself with like minded individuals who are driven, intelligent, and overall decent people. During my many semesters in schools I have encountered many African Americans with such redeeming qualities but we are far outnumbered, but it is up to us to lead the charge. We may not accomplish much individually but as a collective unit we change change our world one friend, one relative or one child at a time.

My Religion Implicit Association Test Results

The religion test concluded I have a moderate preference towards Judaism as opposed to other religions. These results are to be viewed with much more scrutiny, because during the exam all religions are lumped together while Judaism remained in category of its own. On the other hand, the race test placed European Americans on the left and African Americans on the right allowing for a more balanced approach. 

In the religion test, symbols representing different religions appeared on the screen, the items representing Judaism were obvious, while most of the other icons remained mysterious. 

 

Regardless of the results I have no particular preference towards Judaism. It was simply easier to recognize the symbols of the Jewish faith. But even if I did lean towards Judaism it would be understandable because Jews and African American share common fate that binds us far beyond the laws and limitations that govern our religions.