MetaFilter posts tagged with africanamerican

San Francisco's Black Exodus

lunit — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:57:55 -0800

San Francisco's Black Exodus. Since the last report in 1990, San Francisco’s Black population has dropped by 40 percent, faster than any other major city in the country. In an effort to reverse the loss, Mayor Gavin Newsom started the African American Out-Migration Task force in 2007. Last year saw the passage of Proposition G, endorsing plans for a major housing development in Hunter's Point (a historically black neighborhood in San Francisco), which though endorsed by the Mayor, was highly controversial. Also that year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee passed "housing reparations to stem African-American displacement" in the form of legislation that gives descendants of people displaced during the redevelopment of San Francisco's Western Addition and Hunters Point first priority for the city's affordable housing. Here's an excellent three part history of Bayview/Hunter's Point.

"This is what happens to black men in America."

ocherdraco — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:19:59 -0800

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for "breaking into" his own home.

Big fun with the Five Racketeers

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:14:16 -0800

Behind them on the stage, a giant watermelon. In their hands, little tiny guitars, which they play like mosquitoes on speed. They scat, they dance, they get halfway through the alphabet. Their percussionist has the coolest little drum kit ever, but that doesn't stop him from playing the stage floor and the walls. Who are they? Why, The Five Racketeers, of course! And who's that lady who storms the stage for a little shimmy at the end of the clip? Well, that's Eunice Wilson, and she stuck around to do another number with the fellows. You want more, right? OK! Then let's head down to the All-Colored Vaudeville Show, for some serious oooold-school entertainment.

The African-American Migration Experience

netbros — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 08:44:41 -0800

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience is organized around thirteen defining migrations that have formed and transformed African America and the nation. From The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture [prev], more than 16,500 pages of text, 8,300 illustrations, and 60+ maps. Until recently, people of African descent have not been counted as part of America's migratory tradition. The transatlantic slave trade has created an enduring image of black men and women as transported commodities, and is usually considered the most defining element in the construction of the African Diaspora, but it is centuries of additional movements that have given shape to the nation we know today. This is the story that has not been told.

"I'll be glad when I'm not still the only one."

ocherdraco — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:01:32 -0800

Alice Randall is best known, perhaps, for her novel The Wind Done Gone, a parody of Gone With the Wind that tackles the earlier book's treatment of race. But Randall, a Vanderbilt professor and Harvard graduate, isn't just a novelist: she's a country music songwriter, the first black woman to have a No. 1 song on the country music charts. Randall's work, whether it's her novels or her music, often explores the African-American experience in unexpected ways,* and is filled with copious literary allusions. Her second novel, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, about an African-American professor of Russian literature whose son, Pushkin, disappoints her by becoming, of all things, a football player, echoes The Godfather with its opening line, "LOOK WHAT THEY DONE TO MY BOY!" and her song "Many Mansions" is probably the only country music song to open with a line from a poem by Emily Dickinson. Another song is called "A Hundred Years of Solitude" after the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Randall is a rarity in the world of country music, which has been called the de facto "soundtrack of white flight," both for who she is and for the subjects of her songs. She's written a song about a man who got lynched between his wedding and his reception ("The Ballad of Sally Anne"), and songs ("I'll Cry for Yours, Will You Cry for Mine?" and "Went for a Ride," respectively) about slave and Confederate dead in the Civil War and about black cowboys in the Old West (referenced in this bio). Beyond just writing songs, Randall teaches about the artform: she has a course called "Country Music Lyrics in American Culture" and co-wrote a book of playlists to guide listeners through the genre. *I'd just like to point out that this is my favorite link in the whole post, a meaty interview at identity theory.

Cave Canem Feature

netbros — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:33:13 -0800

The Drunken Boat publishes poetry from around the world, translations of poetry, reviews of poetry collections and anthologies, and interviews with well-known poets. The current issue features Cave Canem poets, home for the many voices of African-American poetry and committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African-American poets.

Because Firefox is just too darn white.

zardoz — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:48:21 -0800

Blackbird. Are you reading this page on Firefox, Opera, or IE? More importantly, are you black? Then you might want to check out Blackbird: "a web browser designed for the African-American community."

389 years ago

desjardins — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:18:50 -0800

389 years ago...

Oral History of Black Leadership

Kattullus — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:52:25 -0800

Explorations in Black Leadership is a collection of video interviews with prominent African-Americans, focusing on activists of one sort or another. 34 people are interviewed, including Nikki Giovanni, John Lewis, Barbara Lee, Bobby Rush, Dorothy Height and Amiri Baraka. There are full transcripts of every interview. Here's an excerpt from the Nikki Giovanni interview: "The kids today have to have a voice. I'm amazed that they found it. I remember Sugarhill Gang with Sylvia, you know: "Uptown, Downtown, the Holiday Inn." You know, things like that. Then, of course, I remember the explosion of Tupac Shakur. Losing Tupac was a great loss for this generation. I have a tattoo--it says "Thug Life" --because I wanted to mourn with this generation. I don't see how people can knock the kids…paying so little attention. I had deep regrets--and I know Rosa Parks, you know, we don't hang out but I know her--I so regretted that she lent her name to be used against Outkast, because Rosa Parks is a wonderful--is a wonderful tune. And they were giving her problems. If people don't--if the younger generation doesn't sing the praises of the older generation they get forgotten."

If not in your backyard, then whose?

desjardins — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:54:54 -0800

Newcomers, with the zeal of recent converts, are often the most vocal in resisting change to the neighborhood they have just discovered. An exploration of NIMBYism. If not in your backyard, then whose? Probably a low-income minority group. Opposition to affordable housing is often thinly-veiled racism. How NIMBYism affects a seven-year old boy on LA's skid row. African-Americans fight back against environmental injustice. A Latina activist blogs about gentrification. There's also YIMBYs (Yes In My Backyard).

There will also be a singing crocadile

Navelgazer — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:46:22 -0800

In January of 2004, Disney shut down their Florida animation studio, part of their decision to move away from 2D, or cell-shaded, animation for good. Two years later, as part of the new deal with Pixar, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull were brought in as heads of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, and promptly declared that 2-D Animation would thrive again on their watch. For their first new project, the team wanted to show support for the still-struggling New Orleans, and simultaneously introduce Disney's first Black Princess in "The Frog Princess" (Or The Princess and the Frog, as it is now known), a fairy tale set in 1920's Jazz-era Louisiana, with Randy Newman providing a period-specific score. Much response to the project has been quite positive, but as with all things, the devil is in the details.

Underground Railroad

netbros — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:36:24 -0800

The Underground Railroad refers to the effort -- sometimes spontaneous, sometimes highly organized -- to assist persons held in bondage in North America to escape from slavery. Historic places along the Underground Railroad are testament of African American resolve. One of those places is Lycoming County, PA. Freedom means a hard, dangerous trek. Do you try it?

Being Black in Utah

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:33:02 -0800

Being Black in Utah. The Washington Post chronicles some amusing stories (and some not) of racial interactions in the Beehive State. Yet despite their small numbers black people have been in Utah from the beginning.

African-American Snapshots & Portraits

JPowers — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:32:13 -0800

African-American Snapshots & Portraits (page is slow to load) (previously) (via).

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas

mediareport — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:26:34 -0800

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture from 1967 to 1979. Douglas is still alive and making posters for the cause, in this case the San Francisco 8, who were arrested earlier this year for the murder of a police officer in 1971 -- despite the fact that evidence was thrown out of federal court in 1976 because "officers stripped the men, blindfolded them, beat them and covered them in blankets soaked in boiling water," and "used electric prods on their genitals." The SF Weekly published a detailed 5-page story about the case in November 2006.

Ghetto Capitalism

jason's_planet — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:36:18 -0800

Ghetto Capitalists At once an outsider and a welcome participant in the ghetto economy, he found that he was suddenly part of “a vast, often invisible web” of economic exchange. That web supports the residents of Maquis Park and adds a strange sort of order to their existence, tempering chaos and adding predictability to the lives of Chicago’s poor. For the most part, the people he meets seem eager to trade. It’s just that much of what they’re trading isn’t going to meet with the approval of a law-and-order Republican or a bleeding-heart Great Society Democrat.

Lanier Phillips, survivor

hurdy gurdy girl — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:53:57 -0800

It sounds like a bad Newfie joke: the Newfoundlanders who had never seen a black person before and tried to scrub the colour off his skin. But the story is real: in 1942, Lanier Phillips was the only black survivor of the wreck of the USS Truxton off the coast of Newfoundland. Like the white survivors, he was half-dead and covered in oil when he arrived on shore, and the women nursing the survivors were puzzled when they could not clean the black colour off his skin. What happened next affected Phillips' self-perception and prompted him to push for equal treatment in the US Navy. He went on to become the first African American US SONAR technician, and continues today, at the age of 84, to speak across the US about his experience with the people of St. Lawrence. [previously]

Adding voices and viewpoints to the blogosphere

amberglow — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:19:08 -0800

rsspect and AfroSpear -- both bringing more Black voices of the blogosphere to our attention. Rsspect is a growing collection of feeds, and AfroSpear a group blog. The loss of Steve Gilliard of the NewsBlog this week has caused many to rightly question why more minority voices aren't as visible or prominent online.

Kool-Aid Pickles

jason's_planet — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:23:37 -0800

“Kool-Aid pickles violate tradition, maybe even propriety. Depending on your palate and perspective, they are either the worst thing to happen to pickles since plastic brining barrels or a brave new taste sensation to be celebrated.” (BugMeNot)

Hair we go again

eisbaer — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:59:43 -0800

Good and bad hair. Whether you're dark or you're fair, the subject of hair is a delicate one for an African-American. There are strong opinions about it and curiosity abounds. However, the desire for "good hair" makes women vulnerable to dangerous products that the FDA discourages (and a fellow mefite has recommended for clothing repair). Despite the apparent success of the "Black is Beautiful" mantra these products remain popular, and their makers specifically target the youth market. One brand markets a "texture softener" to "concerned" parents [PDF] and directly to children [Flash]. Just make sure you "Follow directions carefully to avoid skin and scalp burns, hair loss and eye injury" [PDF]. This torturous relationship with hair (and skin!) is not new. It's often called colorism and is a mjor motivator for caustic coiffure. Fortunately, a more "naptural" approach is still available for those who are not their hair.

heroic urban portraits inspired by Maoist propaganda

desjardins — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:36:22 -0800

Kehinde Wiley : painter and sculptor . "The subjects, anonymous men in T-shirts and jeans that Wiley approaches on the street, are given the mantle of authority and grandiosity bestowed on figures such as Napoleon in Jacques-Louis David's famous depiction with a rearing steed or the holiness of saints." (via)

You down with BYP?

The Straightener — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:31:34 -0800

The Black Youth Project, "will examine the attitudes, resources, and culture of African American youth ages 15 to 25, exploring how these factors and others influence their decision-making, norms, and behavior in critical domains such as sex, health, and politics." The project is run by University of Chicago professor Cathy J. Cohen. The sitemap may help you get a handle on what is a tremendous amount of information. Or you could read the press release for a succint summary and links to mentions in the media.

This is a historian’s dream, more than four hours of never-before-seen film...

y2karl — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 07:53:55 -0800

Currie Ballard, a historian in Oklahoma, has just made what he calls “the find of a lifetime”—33 cans of motion picture film dating from the 1920s that reveal the daily lives of some remarkably successful black communities.

A Find of a Lifetime
Twelve different short excerpts of the film are linked

"If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated".

matteo — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 09:25:12 -0800

The Jackie Robinson of architecture. An orphaned African American boy from downtown Los Angeles, Paul Revere Williams wanted to be an architect, and when he mentioned his career goal the high school guidance counselor ”stared at me with as much astonishment as he would have had I proposed a rocket flight to Mars... Whoever heard of a Negro being an architect?”. Therefore, Williams learned to read and draw upside down -- he knew that white clients would not sit next to him -- graduated from USC and in 1924 became the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi. In a 50-year long extraordinary career, he designed landmarks like the Theme restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport (with Welton Becket), the LA County Courthouse, the Hollywood YMCA, Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, restored the Beverly Hills Hotel. Some of his most interesting buildings, like the La Concha Motel in Las Vegas have either been razed to the ground or, like the "Batman house", aka 160 S San Rafael mansion in Pasadena, have been destroyed by fire. Now, Williams' historic Morris Landau House has been cut into 21 separate pieces and sits in a Santa Clarita storage yard, rotting away. More inside.

The South Bronx: A Legacy in Song

Miko — Thu, 18 May 2006 08:04:46 -0800

Music from Morrisania: Dr. Mark Naison, urban historian at Fordham University and principal investigator of the Bronx African-American history project, leads a musical tour of one South Bronx neighborhood from the 1950s to the present, describing how hot summers, open windows and a fertile mixing of ethnic groups influenced landmarks in American musical history -- from Tito Puente to "Watermelon Man" to KRS-One.