Kendrick is Christian.  Coates is an atheist.

Kendrick who’s song “Alright” from the album was released as a single recently seems to have captured the sentiments of hope with a simple refrain “we gon’ be alright” when he performed at the 2015 BET Awards on top of abandoned and graffitied police cars.  Coates’ much anticipated book was written in epistolary format, borrowing from James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, is a book intentional void of hope; Coates is intentional in anchoring his lens of commentary and critique in the struggle and how he understands the black male body.

Every thirty or so pages Coates made sure to let the reader know that he was not Christian, atheist in fact.  For him not having that as a tradition in which he was raised in, he opted for the body over that of the soul.  The discussion of the black male body is a running theme in much of Coates corpus of work, and is the string that ties his letters to his son together.  For me, as someone with a theological and spiritual background, engaging a discussion about the black body, and in this case, the black male body, is a discussion we don’t have often.  Or at least as often as we should.

Because of that, if I had my way, I would want to be a fly on the wall and put Ta-Nehesi and Kendrick in a room together and hear what they would have to say to one another.

Ta-Nehesi Coates

I’m uniquely interested in how these two would reconcile the yearnings of hope and the insistence of the struggle.  Coates hangs his hat that struggle is the only thing he can offer his son.  Going so far as to name his child Samori, which means “struggle.”  Decidedly, Coates ran as far as humanly possible away from hope as something to offer both his son and obviously to the reader as well.  It is a text entered into the vade mecum of blackness that stands out because it does not rush toward some hope of a future that’s different.  Melvin Rogers, associate professor of African American Studies & Political Science at UCLA wrote in Dissent Magazine that

After all, the meaning of action is tied fundamentally to what we imagine is possible for us. But when one views white supremacy as impregnable, there is little room for one’s imagination to soar and one’s sense of agency is inescapably constrained.

Coates is no James Baldwin.  Either in terms of his writing style or content.  As Rogers pointed out, Baldwin was a son of hope, Coates is not.  Instead, Coates does write in a Baldwin-esque mind frame by delivering some inconvenient truths to an America that may or may not be willing and ready to receive it.  Cornel West, in a rather scathing response simply said Coates was a “mere darling of White and Black Neo-liberals” which begs the question is Coates work landing just in the ears of white liberal sensibilities or does the impact go farther.

Coates’ dogged insistence on the body strikes a strong chord with a black generation shaped and formed in the gap of modernity and postmodern sensibilities wrestling with their place in a global society and also what it means to be a citizen of the American empire.  For many of them, or rather us, part of the struggle has been at what point does spirituality, namely Christianity run out?  At what point does it no longer exist to have wells deep enough to carry the pain and the despair.  When I read West’s Facebook post against Coates, that’s namely what I saw: two diametrically opposed ideologues over the issue of whether to hope or not.

Kendrick’s life story growing up in the streets of Los Angeles and Coates’ life growing up in inner-city Baltimore are both life stories I don’t overly identify with personally, but growing up on the South Side of Chicago, they are both known testaments that are well within the sight of my vision.  How could two people with similar life experiences be at such opposite ends of a spectrum when it comes to the future of black lives in America?  My gut feeling is to side with Kendrick; to entrench myself with the thought that we gon’ be alright.  However choosing to talk about the plunder of the black body, a running theme beyond just his latest book but even in his famous essay “The Case for Reparations” resonated with me in a way that I had not been able to put into words prior.  Being able to read a text that gives vocabulary, that gives utterance to unnamed emotions is liberating, spiritual in fact.  The way that Christians understand that the Holy Spirit “makes prayer out of wordless sighs and aching groans” is similar in the way that reading the words of a text or listening to music can move the inner-being.  Something about the realness of Coates refusal to move past the pain reverberates with my soul.

The irony of that.

If Kendrick and Ta-Nehesi were in a room together, I would hope they would discuss what it means to be black for them.  Is it first understood on the personal level or is always understood in the collective.  I wonder what type of music do they listen to in their off time.  Do they feel that they occupy a particular platform given their ascendancy to being public figures?  What does black masculinity mean to them and how do they choose to see other black men through that–do gay, bisexual and trans-men fit into that paradigm?  What about black women?  How do they understand them speaking on behalf of other people, or do they reject that notion altogether.  It would be interesting to know what type of relationship they have with their parents or had with grandparents.  How influential were male figures in their life versus that of black women?  Do you hate white people?  What is the role of white people in a Black-centric worldview?  If Kendrick asked Ta-Nehesi why he’s choosing to leave America and move to France, I would certainly wonder how he’d respond to that.

It’s not a foreign concept knowing that many black artists expatriated at some point to Europe in the 20th century such as Josephine Baker, Richard Wright, Nina Simone and even James Baldwin.  Author Thomas Chatterton Williams came under assault after an op-ed piece for the New York Times earlier this year when he suggested that black Americans could find a type of refuge in Europe advocating for a “next great migration” conjuring the Great Migration when blacks left the South in search of warmth from other suns in the northern cities like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York.  Coates seems to be following in that tradition.  While personally, I don’t see Europe as a place of expatriation for me, I get it.  I would hope Kendrick would ask that question to Ta-Nehesi: why won’t you stay?  Perhaps Ta-Nehesi would flip and say “why won’t you leave?”

Ta-Nehesi and Kendrick are two sides of the same coin, perhaps.  Well, maybe to place them as diametrically opposed to one another isn’t fair to the complexities that the human existence hold, let alone what it means to be black–both in body and in soul.  I wouldn’t expect this conversation to have some grand conclusion, that finally we’ve can consider the matter settled in anyway.  Soul-talk, I would contend, doesn’t like that, and neither does the vast majority of what Cornel West calls the black prophetic Christian tradition.  This trope is never more apparent than in the black preaching tradition that not only focuses heavily on hope, but also providing conclusionary theology: while God may be abstract, there will be a conclusive statement about what God is.  As much as that is is a theological declaration birthed out of one’s belief in the soul, their eschatological trajectory as well as basic religious and doctrinal beliefs, it also functions as a very secular sociology that one’s humanity requires a conclusion.

Assuming that Kendrick subscribes to some of the basic tenets of Christianity that places the conclusion in the hereafter, I would really like to hear he and Ta-Nehesi try and make sense of what I see as two different points of conclusion.  Is one right, the other wrong?  How is one’s lived existence altered because of the belief that this is it, versus the idea that there may be more to come.

So if the gods of blackness are kind, please let this conversation happen–and let me there to see it.

[Originally posted at Uppity Negro Network]

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I’m writing this letter in order to get some things off my chest. I know this will likely never reach you, but this is just my way of venting.

First off, I wanted to say that I admired your work. I watched Fat Albert, the Cosby Show, A Different World and your stand-up shows. But then, in 2004, you delivered what would be known as the “Pound Cake” speech at the NAACP Awards Ceremony. You were critical of poor black folks, especially single mothers, baby daddies and young black males with no father figures. You did not blame this histories, past and contemporary, discrimination, segregation, the racial achievement gap, or any institutional and systematic socioeconomic or political factors. No. You blamed this on poor black people themselves which is the usual conservative end-all, be-all for why poor black folks are in prison or dead. But some black folks agreed with you. They agreed with your concept of respectability politics that suggests that things would be better for us if we just did better.

I must admit that, at first, I saw where you were coming from. I even agreed with some of your points while disagreeing with others. Since then, I disagreed more and more with your stance concerning the struggling black underclass, but I still admired you nonetheless. I still thought you were a great human being despite your opinions on the black poor.

But then, we hear about your sexual escapades involving drugging women and raping them, and all my respect crumbled. A comedian, a black male himself by the name of Hannibal Burress, brought up how you “raped women”, and since then it was all down hill from there. Your reputation, your image as well as the respect and adulation you’ve gained over the years started to dwindle into nothing as more and more women bravely came out and told the world how you treated them. These women have been harmed by you. Their lives have been altered because of you. And whether you want to face it or not, you are responsible.

I must also admit that in the beginning, I didn’t believe these women. As more and more victims came out, I started to think it was some kind of “plot” against you, a powerful black man loved around the world. I thought these women were nothing more than opportunists scheming to get at your money and their 15 minutes of fame. I thought what so many of your fans thought. But somewhere along the way, I started to realize that these women were not wrong at all, that you really did something against them. I started to consider that the man who made me laugh when I was little was a monster who harmed so many women, women who looked up to you and wanted your guidance. My only regret was that I didn’t see it sooner.

It was painful on a few levels to learn that you, Bill Cosby, a man who has done so much good for others and brought laughter to so many people, was a serial rapist. And dozen of women can not be wrong. But you know what’s especially uncomfortable about this whole mess is? It’s the fact that you are a black man, and I don’t know if you realize it, but we don’t have the best image when it comes to sexual relations.

I know there are those who will object to what I’m about to say, and tell me how this is a gender issue and not a race issue. But here me out nonetheless as we live in a racist society. You see, black men have a reputation among racist white folks as being natural-born rapists, brutes with an inability to control our sexual urges, especially when it comes to white women. White women to racist white people are seen as precious, pure and cosmically beautiful. Mr. Cosby, some of your victims are white women. And because of that, you helped to solidify a stereotype black men have been working so hard to destroy.

And it’s not just you. Sadly, there are some other black men who didn’t get the memo, because they were never taught their history or how the world sees them. You helped made things harder for black men everywhere.

Even more upsetting is that some of your victims are black women. How can we, as black men, stand up for freedom, while we harm our women? Consider how this must be devastating for not only your victims, but also your wife Camille and your daughters.

When it comes to rape, black men are interconnected with that word and its definition since slavery. It’s part of the white supremacist doctrine forced upon us through brutality. It’s no different than being associated with crime or fatherlessness. Black men have so many negative stereotypes attached to them that it becomes hard, practically harmful or even fatal, to just live in this nation that paints us all with a broad brush. Unlike white males, we don’t have the privilege of being seen as individuals when a member of our group commits a horrible crime. One black male rapist becomes a representative of the black male existence. We are guilty until proven innocent, and sometimes even then, it’s too late. One way or another, we are painted as the most evil, and you helped prove that notion.

What’s even more disappointing is that you also look like a colossal hypocrite. You sought fit to lecture black people on doing better when you were, as Burress pointed out, raped so many women throughout your career. (What makes you better than the people you scold?) God only knows how many women you actually harmed by your antics. But thank goodness some came out and told their stories.

Mr. Cosby, you have traumatized to a lot of people who looked up to you, and denying it will only make things worse for yourself and others. If by a microscopic chance this letter does somehow reach you, here’s what I implore you to do:

1. Confess and apologize to the women you harmed and the fans and family you saddened.

2. Get some help for your sick illness.

3. Find ways to repair the damage you’ve done to so many people and help fight against rape.

The problem of rape does not begin and end with you. It’s a social problem we must all confront and fix before there are any more victims. I only hope there will be more men out there that will join the cause and stop this problem for the sake of humanity. Why not take ownership for your sexual assaults and fix the damage you’ve left behind? Only then would you take the first step in redeeming yourself and help fight rape culture. What will you do, Mr. Cosby?

Signed,

Brotha Wolf

The post An Open Letter To Bill Cosby appeared first on Madness & Reality.

He later apologized for his “lapse in judgment” and that he “will work to regain the trust” he has lost and “the first step is saying I’m sorry”.

Greg Anthony and the Prostitution Rabbit Hole

As expected, his job is in indefinite hiatus. To be more exact, Greg Anthony will not be back on the air for CBS this season. Hell, he may not be back on the air ever. He was also suspended by TNT. Such digressions are truly tough to ascertain the level of forgiveness to be given. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if he never comes back to mainstream TV again.

Greg Anthony

You see, Greg Anthony has to stand in the court of public opinion. And public opinion can be equally harsh, forgiving, and even dismissive. You will have quite a few that will want his head. Also, you will have those that will “feel his pain” or “could care less”. It may be the court of public opinion that determines if Greg Anthony will go back to commentating or go out like Nick Halsey.

The Marv Albert Correlation

If there is any corresponding situation to explain the possibility of “forgiveness”, it would be the situation that Marv Albert put himself in. Marv Albert was caught up in a similar situation (and even more heinous):

During testimony, it was revealed that Albert forced a female companion into his hotel room bed, bit her 15 to 20 times and then forced her to perform oral sex on him (that counts as sodomy, too, Jesus fans).

And Marv Albert didn’t deny a bit (ha!) of it. His only defense was that the assault was consensual. And that’s when another woman came forward and claimed that he’d pulled a similar, but this time far more dramatic stunt with her. In this incident, Albert called a hotel employee up to his room to “help him send a fax.”

She arrived to find Albert wearing a garter belt and women’s underwear, fully aroused. She claimed that the freaky sports legend tried to force himself on her, but she was able to escape by, and I’m not joking, knocking his toupee off his head and running out of the room. I can only hope she yelled “No!” first in her best Marv Albert voice. [1]

Marv Albert was eventually fired. A couple of years later, he was back on TV.  And some seasons after that, NBC lost their NBA contract.

While there is evidence that those with transgressions can be forgiven, does that mean that Greg Anthony will be back on the air?

The honest answer is that he may not get that second chance.

Greg Anthony and Second Chances

One of the biggest things going against Greg Anthony is that he may not be considered “irreplaceable”. The question remains whether or not he actually is a pure necessity to CBS and TNT. Let’s face it: Marv Albert practically cross dressed, forced sex, and bit females and he is back on the air. Greg Anthony, however, tried to buy a piece of prime DC street booty. There is no real comparison to situations on degree of depravity. But does Greg Anthony add enough to the network in which people will “miss him”?

Another issue (that I really don’t want to bring up) is that he is Black. We all know the redundant song of “Black people having to work harder to make it”. It may get old, but it is the truth. All of his hard work may be at high risk just because of his skin color. Being at the mercy of public opinion is one thing; being Black and at the mercy of public opinion can be career suicide.

Greg Anthony Epilogue

Plain and simple, Greg Anthony got caught up. He made a dumb decision and he is paying the price. However, the “forgiveness” that may/may not be afforded to him deals with his professional need and racial acceptance. Greg Anthony not being a necessity/need/asset to any network is one issue. But, I would hate to see him not become employed because his skin resembles the Chocolate City that he was caught up in.

The post Greg Anthony Is Not Marv Albert appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Child advocates originally fought to improve the speed of the systems in place for processing potential parents. The demand for more stringent laws are now meant to protect these same children. Simplifying the system actually back fired on them.

Industry leaders are calling it a tragedy since what had the potential to serve as a support system has now been reduced to a political platform and the people suffering the most are the same children who these programs were supposed to benefit. The amount of children bought into the United States through adoption has taken a sharp decline showing over a 50% drop in the number of adoptions in less than 10 years.

Image Via Link

Those that support a reduction in children placed through International adoption believe now is a perfect time to improve the systems of support available within a country rather than seeking to ‘export’ the problems they face with displaced children. The idea is that International adoption should be a last resort and not treated as a convenience. Though placement within a child’s own country is not always possible; some cultures do not accept outsiders into their families. Focus is now on those children who are currently in orphanages waiting for homes; their fate is yet to be determined.

While bureaucratic red tape and sensationalized media attention clash…..homeless children wait on someone to give a fuck. As an adoptee I have my personal feelings about the entire system of foster care which may be different from those Hallmark card loving folks whose eyes tear up when they see Sally Struthers on tv late at night.

How do you feel about international adoption? Should the children stay in their own country or be placed anywhere there is an available family?

Do you think the countries should scale back their willingness to allow international adoption and should instead work with the families to alleviate the circumstances that are causing the upset in the family structure? Or is that too much to ask of government officials and adoption is justified under such circumstances.

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