Feb

24

Mark’s Spinach Face

Filed Under Uncategorized | 7 Comments

This kid is the master of facial expressions.  I’ve caught him making some of the goofiest faces.  He was making this face over and over again a few weeks ago.  Believe it or not he actually likes the spinach, but he just has a funny way of showing it.

marks-crazy-spinach-face

Feb

19

Eric Holder Says Americans Are Cowardly on Race Issues

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Race and Racism, U.S. History, history | 13 Comments

I don’t agree with every little tidbit of his speech, but I do think he’s right.  The deny, avoid, ignore pattern is so prevalent when it comes race, and it doesn’t serve the interest of racial justice at all.

Here’s a quote about Holder’s speech, and a link to the entire article:

In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.

In the speech, Holder urged people of all races to use Black History Month as a chance for honest discussion of racial matters, including issues of health care, education and economic disparities.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said.

Race issues continue to be a topic of political discussion, but “we, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.”

Holder’s speech echoed President Barack Obama’s landmark address last year on race relations during the hotly contested Democratic primaries, when the then-candidate urged the nation to break “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years” and bemoaned the “chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.” Obama delivered the speech to try to distance himself from the angry rhetoric of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Holder cited that speech by Obama as part of the motivation for his words Wednesday, saying Americans need to overcome an ingrained inhibition against talking about race.

“If we’re going to ever make progress, we’re going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified,” Holder told reporters after the speech.

Feb

17

Getting My Mojo and My Email Back

Filed Under Uncategorized | 5 Comments

So as many of you have probably noticed I’ve been MIA at my site for the past year. I try to put up the occasional post, but taking care of two infants is really overwhelming. I promised myself I would get back to my site when the babies slept through the night, and finally last week, after 8 months we had to let the boys cry it out. I decided not to feed them anymore in the night, and it only took one night for them to sleep through the night.

I’m already starting to feel better, and I’m getting my mojo back.  My career and my site have been suffering, and I’ve decided I’m the poster child for family leave.

On another note, my email is messed up.  This weekend I was going through my email at the blog, which has really piled up, and I realized I’ve been having email troubles. Several emails I’ve sent haven’t gone through. I’ve been receiving messages (I think I’ve gotten all them them, but who knows.), but there was a problem with the server where messages weren’t going out.  In the fog of my sleep deprivation, I somehow missed that this was happening, so if you wrote me and didn’t get a response, I’m sorry. It seems that my emails was not working properly, and I don’t know how long its been happening.

In the meantime, I’m excited about blogging and writing again. It may be at a slower pace, but my goal is 2 substantive/original posts a week, and 2 general posts a week. There are so many things to write about. As Yvette alluded too in my last post, we are in the Obama era, and I have a lot to say about our first black President. I’m also starting a new blog about parenting and diversity, which I will unveil soon.

I’m happy to be back, and thanks for sticking with Rachel’s Tavern through the semi-hiatus.

Feb

10

Truth and Reconciliation American Style

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Crime/Hate Crimes, Race and Racism, U.S. History, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

In this video, former Klu Klux Klan member Owen Wilson discusses his apology to congressman John Lewis. The story is very powerful, and it’s a classic feel-good redemption story.

On the one hand, it is really nice to see someone come around and realize the error of their ways. On the other hand, it’s sad that we don’t have more people from Mr. Wilson’s generation (and other generations) coming forward to apologize for their roles in these historic events.

Feb

6

It’s Black History Month

Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The shortest month of the year. I suppose I need to have a thoughtful post. My first thought is that we need a Black future month.

Feb

3

Miley Cyrus Mocks Asians–Why We Need to Start Talking About Racism to the Young

Filed Under Pop Culture, Race and Racism | 2 Comments

Apparently teen star Miley Cyrus has been caught in a photo mocking Asians. Is this another “youthful indiscretion”?

A snapshot of Cyrus, 16, best known as the star of the Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana”, and friends posing with an Asian friend and pulling their eyes sideways surfaced on the Internet this week.

The OCA, a national organization in the United States dedicated to advancing the social and political welfare of Asian Pacific Americans, called on the singer-actress to apologize.

The group said the image “falls within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent.”

“Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American friends,” OCA executive director George Wu in a statement issued on Monday.

Wu said the fact that an Asian friend was included in the photo “does not make it acceptable.”

Representatives for Cyrus did not immediately return calls for comment on Tuesday.

She is relatively young, so I’m a little more sympathetic to the youthful indiscretion argument, but she’s old enough to have a sense of the offensive nature of making “slant eye” gestures.

As a culture, Americans need more avenues for young people to talk openly about racism and racially insensitive behavior.  I wish we didn’t totally avoid race as a topic of discuss with the youth.  As I write this I’m trying to think how I would explain the problems with this to a 9 year old Hannah Montana fan like my step son.

Feb

2

I’m Gonna Watch This Michael Phelps Marijuana Controversy

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Media Praises and Critiques, Pop Culture, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

You know if this was a black athlete smoking marijuana, we’d get to hear how terrible he is, and how he’s no role model, blah, blah, blah.

But instead we have a white athlete and this is what we get:

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Anyone notice a trend here?  23 year old white guys, especially ones who are presented with a middle class veneer, are always “youthful.”  Remember when George Bush was drinking and driving, even though he was in his 30s, it was a youthful indiscretion.  I’m not disputing that Phelps is young, but if this were a black athlete at 23, people would be talking about how this man needs to take responsibility and act better.

You know the drill right?