theblackbottom

Decades ago I read a book by the French philosopher and anarchist Jacques Ellul titled the Technological Society (in French La Technique: L’enjeu du siècle). It was revealing book for me. Ellul observed how production techniques in the Western world took on its own self-reinforcing rationality.

Stated another way, the techniques we use to create machinery become the standard by which we make all crucial moral judgments. So for instance in businesses driven by technology “best practices,” whatever they are, are so standardized that they trump other kinds of moral judgments. Ellul worried that in the technological society we would diminish the humanist thinking and technique would trump everything else. He worried that the Western world would lose wisdom, and its humanity. He felt that wisdom was found in a wide range of sources in classical literature. Or in my words from W.E.B. DuBois to Simone de Beauvoir.

To Ellul “best practices” techniques were no substitute for moral and political decision-making derived from the study of culture, history, and literature.  Many people have forgotten about Ellul today, but he was prescient.

Not long ago, I heard a city of manager call the people of his city “customers!” He was so inundated with consumerist marketing language about the delivery of services that he forgot he served at the will of a democratic elected body.  The language of managerial techniques so dominated his thought “customers” replaced democratic citizens! Citizen means something quite different than consumer! Rights, engagement, and voting! Citizenship is not a set of material goods to be delivered. Now, I am not attempting to make too much of this gaffe, the faux pas simply illustrates how technique trumps moral and political thinking.

By no means is this kind of thinking limited to a local municipality. There are plenty of politicians running for office who view governing as a corporate managerial technique.

In Michigan, the citizens have elected a former corporate investor as its governor. His philosophy as it turns out is based less on democratic citizenship and more about managerial technique. Most businesses, though there are some exceptions, are not very democratic spaces. This is especially true of big businesses—they are hierarchical and top down.  People are hired and fired, but they are rarely asked their opinions or ask to participate in the restructuring of the company. Democracy, at least in theory, is designed to give majorities and minorities participation in the critical choices that their communities must collectively make.

Let’s get it straight! I am certainly not arguing here that timely delivery of goods and services are not important, they are! Nor am I arguing that management systems are unimportant. All institutions can stand to be more transparent and deliver services better.

What I am arguing is that managerial technique in and of itself does not instruct, inform or give us wisdom to govern. Management technique cannot quell resentment or negotiate a peace treaty between longtime enemies. Management technique offer little insight into long-term grievances or national aspirations! And data collection no matter where it is drawn from is always limited by one’s preconceived notions, position and station in life. So, learning good management technique at a Business School or a school of Public Administration isn’t sufficient to ethical choices about political differences.

We should never confuse having technical skill with moral understanding or political wisdom. There are plenty of people who know how to manipulate facts and figures, but who do not have sound judgment.  We too often confuse the two things and they are not the same.

Running an investment company is not the same thing as being a governor who must advocate and negotiate with various citizen groups. Good governance means to broker with all communities regarding the meaning of the common good. Governing is a constant give and take among communities. When it isn’t, its cronyism!

In American politics we have had our share of managerial leaders! Republican Herbert Hoover, for example! Hoover as president knew a great deal about management technique, but he got the politics wrong. He had a tin ear to economically devastated citizens in 1932.

The Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a man who had spent his career in government, wound up beating him and governed effectively. To Hoover’s credit he would return to Iowa and then take over the International Red Cross and become quite the humanitarian.

Democrat Jimmy Carter, like Hoover, would share a similar fate and trajectory. Carter was full of managerial techniques and he too got the politics wrong!

Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan followed Jimmy Carter’s presidency. A president who knew all about the symbolism of politics, but who nearly sent the country careening over a precipice of indebtedness, militarism, and racial strife. And our last president with an MBA was George W. Bush; well, need I say more?

By: The Huff Post Detroit

It’s been 175 years since 1837, when Michigan and Ohio signed a truce after a brief skirmish over the hotly contested property of the Toledo Strip.

Ohio might have gotten the fair city of Toledo, but in exchange Michigan got the riches of the Upper Peninsula — a much better deal, we think.

With the matter of territory cleared up, President Andrew Jackson signed Michigan into statehood on Jan. 26, 1837, making the mitten the 26th state in the union.

Since then, Michiganders from Motown crooners to union strikers have worked to make their home great. From Copper Country to Little Bavaria, from Poletown to Black Bottom, diverse communities come together to form the only true Mitten State.

There are far too many great Michigan stories to tell, so if you’re itching to dive into history, we’ll point you to the treasure troves of the Michigan eLibrary collection and the fascinating history blog Night Train to Detroit.

But first check out photos below of some of the important events, people and places in the state’s 175 year history. If you really want to celebrate Michigan’s 175th birthday, add your own photographs. And always remember: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”

Source: IndeWire Film Independent has announced that Stephanie Allain will succeed Rebecca Yeldham as the Festival Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival. She will start immediately, and join a team that includes Festival Managing Director Gloria Campbell and Festival Artistic Director David Ansen, as well as Associate Director of Programming Doug Jones, Senior Programmer Maggie Mackay and Programming Coordinator Jenn Wilson.

Source: Wikipedia

Stephanie Allain was born to Dr. Charles Allain, a biochemist, and Gwen Allain Miller, an educator. Although born in New Orleans, her family moved near Los Angeles, California in 1965. Allain attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing.

She began her film career in 1985 at Creative Artists Agency, first as a script reader, then as a staff reader. As a story analyst, she worked for 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and finally in 1989, at Columbia Pictures. There, Allain was one of twelve readers at the studio, and one of only two African American readers. She rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Production and was influential in encouraging and developing an African American filmmaking community in Hollywood in the 1990s.

During her tenure at Columbia, Allain launched the careers of several young filmmakers including John Singleton, Robert Rodriguez and Darnell Martin. She personally pitched to Columbia’s executives Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood. The controversial film would become a critical and commercial hit garnering Singleton two Academy Award nominations. Some of the films under her supervision included Poetic Justice, I Like It Like That, and The Craft.

In 1996, Allain left Columbia Pictures to become President of Jim Henson Pictures. During her 4 years there, she produced Caroline Thompson’s Buddy, as well as Henson brand movies, Muppets From Space and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. After her stint at Henson, Allain joined 3Arts Entertainment where she developed projects for clients and produced Reggie Rock Bythewood’s Biker Boyz.

In 2003, Allain sold her house and founded Homegrown Films. Teaming with John Singleton, Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow was produced. Hustle & Flow was sold to MTV/Paramount for a whopping 9 million dollars and went on to win the Audience Award at Sundance in 2005, an Academy Award for Best Original Song and earned a Best Actor nomination for Terrence Howard.

In 2006, Allain and Homegrown Films produced another first time director, music video director, Sanaa Hamri’s Something New, starring Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker.

In 2007, she worked again with producer John Singleton, partnering with Craig Brewer and his Southern Cross the Dog production company based at Paramount Pictures. Paramount Vantage released their latest film, Black Snake Moan, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake on February 23, 2007

For More on Stephanie Allain Check Out this 2008 interview from NOLA.com

Source: IPS News, Protus Onyango

The new constitution in effect since August 2010 contains a provision that should radically change political representation for women in this East African country.

Women’s rights activists in Kenya are confident that as a result of constitutional Article 81 (b), which states that “not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender,” their problems of under-representation in key government bodies will become a thing of the past.

Kenya is a patriarchal society where women only gained equal rights to inherit land when the new constitution entered into force. And women who speak out are often seen as social misfits.

For example, when the late Prof Wangari Maathai opposed the construction of a 60-story building in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park, senior male political leaders of the government of then president Daniel arap Moi called her a madwoman.

But a radical change is in store, because now women must form one-third of any elective public body.

And the principle of two-thirds gender equilibrium has already been implemented in some key appointments made since the new constitution was promulgated. In all the commissions and other constitutional offices that have been formed, the rule has been followed.

For the first time in Kenya’s 48 years of independence, one-third of the members of the Supreme Court, the commission on revenue allocation, the commission for the implementation of the constitution and the salaries and remuneration commission are now women.

But the real windfall will come with the August general elections. READ MORE

Source: Cave Canem

Burial Grounds

Stone

In a valley a woman unearths a 40,000 year old bead.
She palpates the pitted surface with her fingers,
squinting through its tiny hole.

The world before her — blue, green — gold.
Beneath her feet, the compact gritty matter
upon which an ancient people gathered.

Long ago, in the legendless universe before this bead,
danger was more magnificent than art.

She pauses, looks toward the horizon, then squats
to search for the tool that formed the opening.

Ash

Sometimes she finds a leg bone;
sometimes part of a pelvis;
sometimes an entire torso,
every rib preserved.

The draw to ruin is strong in her.
She loves parts — stories.

She unearths a skull, holds it high.
Within her, breath expands,
and the cavities of the eyes fill.

Glass

Multitudes stream across borders.

Through an open window, ripples of anger
are like the skin of an onion, easily ignored,
hardly worth the trouble of crushing.

She whispers in my ear — earth is the only anchor

Halfway around the globe, a storm, masturbating
to its own incantation, pulls into it — wood, stone, steel —
skin, bone, hair.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®.

Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse were among the stars who died in 2011, but what about the first African-American milk delivery man in Gary, Ind., or the first black meter reader for Baltimore Gas and Electric? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson says these stories show how far the U.S. has come. She recently wrote about this in The New York Times Magazine, and speaks with host Michel Martin.

For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I’m Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up: What better way to start the new year than with some poetry? We’ll speak with scholar, poet and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove. She’s just edited and published a new anthology of 20th century American poetry. She’s going to tell us more about it in just a few minutes.

But first, in addition to planning new projects and closing out old business, this is the time of year when we often pause to remember the people we’ve lost over the course of the last year, and as in every year, we lost many well known people: tech visionary Steve Jobs, singer Amy Winehouse, Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor. But there were many others who died in 2011 that lived lives of more quiet accomplishment. They include the first African-American milk delivery man in Gary, Indiana, the first black postal clerk in Winter Park, Florida and the first black meter reader from Baltimore Gas and Electric.

Now, these achievements may seem small, but Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson argues that, added together, they, quote, “bear witness to how far this country has come and how it got to where it is.” Wilkerson honored these firsts in the New York Times magazine’s recent obituary issue, “The Lives They Lived.” She’s with us now to talk more about her essay and why these lives mattered.

Wilkerson is also the author of “The Warmth of Other Suns” and a professor of journalism at Boston University, and she’s with us from member station WABE in Atlanta.

Welcome. Happy New Year.

ISABEL WILKERSON: Oh, Happy New Year to you.

MARTIN: Now, you know, we’ve all heard of the designation, the first African-American, dot, dot, dot, whether it’s in an obituary or a job announcement. It has to be on a – it’s in your bio, too. I know that, usually, when we, you know, bring you onto the program, we talk about the fact that you’re the first African-American, you know, woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, and you were the first African-American to win for individual achievement. So, clearly, this means something to us.

WILKERSON: It does. The beauty of these people is that they made small steps that, added together, created new opportunities for all of us that we kind of take for granted. And it was, in some ways, the ordinary-ness of their positions that bring such power, I think, to what they did.

These were very small steps made by people you’ve never heard of, who, added together, helped change the century that they were a part of. All of these people did this during this period of time when they were really pretty much alone in the things that they did, and we take it for granted because all of the things that they did are now just a part of the landscape.

There are black tellers and black probation officers and black bus drivers everywhere. But in all of these places, there had to be someone who was the first.

MARTIN: One of the things that you mention in the essay is that the mentions came from family members writing their loved ones’ obituaries. And I have to imagine that, in some cases, perhaps the parting one may have written some notes himself or herself that they wanted included in this kind of final mention. I’m just wondering what you think that means.

WILKERSON: In some cases, these were written by the spouses of people who had been with them at the moment that they made this small step into this new place that people like them had never been in before.

In other cases, there were children who saw some small mention or a plaque and had not realized it until the time came to write the obituary, and that’s how it got into the final story about them. So the awareness of this first in all of these cases came to the people in different ways.

MARTIN: If you’re just joining us, you’re listening to TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. We’re talking about African-Americans who were first in their careers who passed away in 2011. My guest is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson, herself a first. She wrote the essay, “A First Time for Everything,” for the New York Times magazine, their annual live issue, their obituaries issue. She’s also the author of “The Warmth of Other Suns.” It’s a story of the Great Migration.

You know, you used a word earlier that I want to pick up on. You talked about the fact that many of these people were alone. Could you talk a little bit more about that?

WILKERSON: They were alone. And I think that’s the inspiration of all of this, really, is that these were quiet steps made by individuals alone, applying for some position in Saginaw, Michigan or in San Jose, California or in Tuscaloosa, Alabama by themselves. They did not have the force of some organization behind them. There had been, in many cases, no protests that led to their getting these positions.

They were taking a chance during a time of great change, anyway, and there was a sense that things needed to open up. This came during a time of great ferment and turmoil throughout the country overall in the years preceding the civil rights movement, and then thereafter.

And so these were the individual people who were stepping into that void, and I find inspirational that they were doing this without great fanfare. They had not been written about. They were not seeking to be written about, and yet they were making history on their own.

MARTIN: Were there any stories that just stick with you that you just cannot get out of your head?

WILKERSON: Well, one of the people actually who turned up in the obituary list was someone who was not even black. We don’t include him in the 300 or more. But it turned out that someone turned up because he had not been the first black bus driver in this county in Mississippi, but he had been someone who had helped train the first black bus driver in this county in Mississippi. And his family thought it noteworthy to acknowledge that he had had a hand in that, which is a reminder that these moments – these moments where someone had to break through – the moment of their hiring was – required many things to happen. It was a moment of anxiety, of uncertainty, of taking a risk and risk-taking by all kinds of people in order to make it happen. And it’s a reminder that it took a lot for these people to get these positions, however humble they may appear.

MARTIN: You know, we’re not just talking about people, first, from the civil rights era. One of the people that you mentioned in the essay, Ralph Tyson, became the first black federal judge for the middle district of Louisiana in 1998. What do you think when you look at that and you say, 1998, somebody’s still the first to do X, Y or Z?
READ MORE

Source: Washington Post

Rich or poor, educated or not, black women sometimes feel as though myths are stalking them like shadows, their lives reduced to a string of labels.

The angry black woman. The strong black woman. The unfeeling black woman. The manless black woman.

“Black women haven’t really defined themselves,” says author Sophia Nelson, who urges her fellow sisters to take control of their image. “We were always defined as workhorses, strong. We carry the burdens, we carry the family. We don’t need. We don’t want.”

In a new nationwide survey conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, a complex portrait emerges of black women who feel confident but vulnerable, who have high self-esteem and see physical beauty as important, who find career success more vital to them than marriage. The survey, which includes interviews with more than 800 black women, represents the most extensive exploration of the lives and views of African American women in decades.

Religion is essential to most black women’s lives; being in a romantic relationship is not, the poll shows. Nearly three-quarters of African American women say now is a good time to be a black woman in America, and yet a similar proportion worry about having enough money to pay their bills. Half of black women surveyed call racism a “big problem” in the country; nearly half worry about being discriminated against. Eighty-five percent say they are satisfied with their own lives, but one-fifth say they are often treated with less respect than other people.

The poll’s findings and dozens of follow-up discussions reflect the conversations black women are having among themselves at church halls after Bible study, at happy hours after work, in college lounges after listening to lectures by the likes of Nelson, 45, who five years ago quit her job at a big D.C. law firm to write a book, “Black Woman Redefined.”

She often tells young black women to forget what the outside world projects for them and be bold: “You can play this however you want to. You’re living in the age of Michelle Obama.” READ MORE

Once You Learn How To Read, You Will Be Forever Free~Frederick Douglass

REVIEW Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile and admired writers in America today. He is the author of more than 34 critically acclaimed books, including the major bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins. His work has been translated into 23 languages and includes literary fiction, science fiction, political monographs, and a young adult novel. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and The Nation, among other publications. He is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, a Grammy and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.

REVIEW Gilbert “Gil” Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011)[5] was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and ’80s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was “bluesologist”, which he defined as “a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues.” His music, most notably on Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul.

In addition to being widely considered an influence in today’s music, Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I’m New Here. A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, “The Last Holiday”, was also published, posthumously, in January, 2012.

His recording work received much critical acclaim, especially one of his best-known compositions “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. His poetic style was influential upon every generation of hip hop since his popularity began.

I first became familiar with the work of Sonya Clark when she was a student at Cranbrook Academy. As a grantor for the Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs our goal was to provide funding to many of the states arts organizations. Cranbrook was a frequent grantee and always provided great slides or DVDs of their student’s artwork. In one of their proposals was the work of this young artist. Craft artists sometime get a bad rap when compared to fine artists as inferior or not quite refined as painters or sculptors. I was instantly amazed at her work and the scholarly approach that she used to created her art. This fall in Philly she lectured on how she is able to weave African and African American culture into her work and the materials that she selects for her projects. Being one of the country’s best fiber and textile artist, Sonya explained how and why you see combs, beads and hair in many of her current works. Combs being the first tool of the early weavers and how everyone understands the function of a comb giving her work a common language. Hair is also a staple in her work. “It contains our DNA which defines who we are as individuals but also links us together because we share the same element in our DNA: a common language”, she said. After hearing her speak with passion about her artwork, it is no surprise that Sonya Clark was this year’s recipient of USA national grant. Here is Sonya’s reaction.
George Bayard III

Source: Sonya Clark

First came the shock, Sonya Clark said, then an immense feeling of pride not just for herself but for her African-American ancestry.

Clark, chairwoman of the craft/material studies department at Virginia Commonwealth University, is a recipient of a $50,000 unrestricted grant from United States Artists, a national grant and advocacy organization that invests in and shines a spotlight on the value of American artists and their work. Each year, the USA Fellows program awards 50 unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists across the country. USA awards the grants to individuals in the fields of dance, literature, music, theater, visual arts, crafts, architecture and design. Aga Sablinska, a spokeswoman for USA, said there were 311 nominees this year, and that Clark was chosen for her “extraordinary talent and commitment to the field of crafts and traditional arts.”

Born and raised in Washington, Clark, 44, earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Amherst College and a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago. She earned a master’s of fine arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Prior to coming to VCU six years ago, Clark spent 10 years as a Baldwin-Bosom Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Getting the news of the award in the middle of a busy day was a little shocking, she said. “Everything just went mute,” Clark said. “I was really astounded by it.”

The unrestricted grant means Clark is free to do whatever she wants with the money. As she’s done with other financial awards, she wants to put some back into the local arts community as well as help the next generation of artists. In the past, she used funds to support graduate students who work as her studio assistants. “I’m hoping to do something like that again,” Clark said. “They’re the next generation. They help me, (and) we learn from one another.”

But Clark also wants to use the money to further projects that bring otherwise unlikely sources together for art’s sake, such as the local art and hairdressing communities. “I have a deep and profound respect for the craftsmanship of hair braiders,” she said. They “have this incredible technological skill that’s valued in the community.” But more than that, a salon is “still one of those places where race and culture are negotiated and perhaps preserved as well.”
Clark said she can’t help but think about her ancestors who were equally as skilled in fields such as masonry, blacksmithing and pottery, yet their lives as slaves held little value. “To know how I’m valued as a crafts artist now, compared to my ancestors,” she said, then paused. “I’m proud for all of us

The Sundance Film Festival is often a platform for movies that make the world wake up and watch.

This year, Detroit will be in the spotlight at the prestigious event in Park City, Utah. “Detropia,” which has its world premiere Saturday, portrays the Motor City as a canary in the coal mine of America’s economic future.

The feature-length documentary is one of many films playing at Sundance that reflect what’s playing out across the country, in terms of the growing focus on corporate greed, poverty and income disparity.

“Detropia” could be among the standouts of the 2012 festival.

“It was a slam dunk for me the second I saw it,” said David Courier, senior programmer for the festival. “It is definitely about Detroit, of course, but it is also using Detroit as a microcosm of America today. If there’s one trend that we saw in films across the board, it’s a reexamination and reinvention of the American dream in the wake of the economic collapse.”

The city’s struggles have had no lack of attention recently. There have been other documentaries, as well as national TV reports, photo books, art exhibits and references in pop songs. READ MORE

Check out the Directors Opinion Piece in the NYT