Monthly Archives: July 2006

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Hair, deception, entitlement and more

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First, just watch the clip:

Question #1: Did you find anything wrong with what you just saw? (Answer it in the comment section below, preferrably before you continue reading).

I can’t remember when the fact that this occurs was first pointed out to me, that many black women have had the experience of people asking about their hair and then touching it without permission. I’ve had dreadlocks and funky goatees and people have asked about it, but I would certainly be weirded out if they just reached out and touched or pulled on my facial hair!

A couple things to point out here. First, the deceptive idea about hair. At some point one learns that some women use hair extensions, ‘weave’ and straightening or curling irons to do their hair. An even deeper secret is that most women in their 30’s (even some late twenty’s) are already greying and regularly dye their hair to cover up that fact. And then there are plenty out their who wear wigs, hair plugs, and all kinds of other things. When I first learned of some of these things it saddened me that we live in a culture that does not embrace ones natural beauty, whether it be cultural or age differences. So, along these lines, why is it that a black women is often confronted about her hair, when it is no more curious then the thousands of women dying their hair to met our “youthful” cultural standards. “So do you dye your hair?” (I ask as I comb through to take a close look at the roots)

Second, there is the issue of entitlement also needs to be dealt with here. Commenter, gatamala, puts it well on Mixed Media Watch’s post about the video:

I think it is a sense of entitlement/ownership masked in “curiousity”. It is dehumanizing to have someone poke/prod/pull to ostensibly check you out. I guess some people can’t put the auction block of the mind away.

Finally, there is the issue of us. Does seeing things like this, hearing people rise up and say something about it, or just letting it fall by the wayside change things? How do we make this world a better, more caring, more informed, more loving, and more real place for all of us?

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Race and the Media: It’s not just a Katrina thing.

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Some of you might have been paying attention during the Hurricane Katrina coverage and hopefully at least considered the idea that our media is sometimes biased in the way that it covers news stories.

Mixed Media Watch, one of my new favorite blogs, has posted on some recent coverage of two murders written about in the Washington Post:

I just read an interesting column by the ombudsman of The Washington Post, attempting to shed some light on how the paper handled two equally horrific murder cases. A reader had written in to note that the murder of the white man, Alan Senitt (pictured), landed on the front page of the paper, while the murder of the black man, Chris Crowder, only made the front of the Metro section. The reader asked:

“Can you think of a reason why the white man would get front-page treatment while the black man wouldn’t? Why does the white man merit a photo with the story but the black man doesn’t? Did geography and skin color have any impact on where these two stories were placed in the newspaper? I don’t see anything about the Senitt story that would merit front-page treatment over that of Crowder.”

Read the response and the rest of the story…

What’s your take on this one? Is it normal and your tired of raising concern about it? Is this the first time you’ve considered something like this? Are you busy validating the justification in your mind and writing this one off?

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haka: Talk about intimidation factor

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Because everyone should know what the Haka is:

From
Haka – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The haka is often described as a “war dance”, but it is more correctly a chant with hand gestures and foot stamping, originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. The haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent the many instruments. The hands, arm, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy, or whatever feelings are relevant to the occasion.

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An Inconvenient Truth: It was stinking hot yesterday

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Yesterday, I was driving around in a vehicle with no air conditioning at work, I then biked home in the sweltering heat, and was very excited to sit down in my cool air conditioned home. Sure is hot out there.

Mindy and I took off to go see the very talked about documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. We’d both already done our fair share of reading up on the subject, so the movie wasn’t shocking, but it was fairly scary when the reality of the timeline began to hit you.
Mindy and I left and discussed a little how we felt, and I shared that I was fairly apathetic to the idea that many people would change. I feel if anything most folks would be content to sit back and just see if what Al Gore shared in the film ends up being true or not.
Mindy was more hopeful. She pointed out that she really felt like people would listen and begin to try and make changes. They might not be drastic changes but every little bit helps. I realized Mindy’s right, and I need to take the “glass half-full” approach on this one and encourage others to see it and make some changes in their lives.

By the way, the movie is based on a presentation by Al Gore (it pretty much is the presentation) concerning global warming. It’s very informative and engaging enough that you won’t lose interest (there’s a reason it’s so popular).

Here’s how to get started:

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Sorry I’ve been neglecting you…

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I feel bad about not posting more on here. For one there are a million things running through my head, which is usually a good reason for me to post umpteen times. And with my limit on internet time (only 30 minutes a day), you’d think I’d have more time to write off-line and then post things for you. Sorry, that’s not happening.

I guess my mind is just in a whirlwind waiting to settle down with this community and housing thing. I’ll let you know the outcome when I know but I got to stop any play by play which might mean very little posting in the next couple days.

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Zidane: First interview after World Cup incident

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I was shocked and dissappointed after watching the headbutt on the World Cup on Sunday. As I’ve checked up on the situation a little I’ve realized there was a little more to the story. I couldn’t think of what might cause someone to act as Zidane did (not that I think he was justified in any way), but it does lend some perspective.

Here’s a video clip of the interview. From what I can tell the subtitles are pretty accurate.

more news.

And if your into that sort of thing.

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Skepticism about travel

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I’m certainly open to other thoughts and opinions on this one, but lately I’ve been pretty skeptical of travel. I’ll explain more later, but I wanted to throw something out there and see how many people wanted to commment back on it.

I’ve always wanted to travel the world, backpack Europe, cruise the USA and South America, and visit lot’s of countries. Now, I’ve felt like all those desires are really just selfish. It just seems wrong when there is so much need in the world for me to be spending my leisure traveling. Even if I did it in the name of “missions” and a desire to help people, I just don’t think it would fly in my mind. I’m feeling lately that my desire to travel is something I need to forego in this lifetime.

Now, I’ve made exceptions, I’ve traveled and will travel to visit family and friends on occassion. I’m not saying you have to stay in one place forever, but short term stuff just seems tough for me to justify in my mind.

I know people will have opinions on this one, let me hear them.

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Biking as a form of capitalist rebellion

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I bike to work. I have for most of this year and to a large degree I’ve biked as many places as I could since I was in high school.* The two primary reasons I have choosen to bike are financial and physical.
I don’t like cars. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy driving, especially my stick shift, but I could do without. Cars cost you money no matter how much you drive them (licenses and tags, insurance and oil changes) and then they cost you money when you do drive them (gas and maintenance). I’ve had some bad experiences with cars (three of which I put about $400 into to fix and they promptly broke less then a week later). When I average repairs and everything out (except gas) it has cost Mindy and I about $1000 a year to have a car. It has cost me much less then $100 a year to have my bike (far less if I hadn’t had two stolen). Every day I bike to work I save money, and then environment and more.
I don’t like ‘working out.’ It’s not that I hate fitness clubs, I just find it silly that we’ve advanced our technology so much that we don’t get enough exercise in our daily routine. Now we schedule in a time to drive to the gym, burn some calories, drive home and eat more then we need. I work up a decent sweat every time I bike to work, and I really like that because I have to go to work, and now I’m getting some exercise while I do it.

That was more then I thought I would say about my own personal motivations for biking, but it brings me to my final point. I’ve said this before: I’m glad gas prices are going up. I really don’t like the idea that oil companies are probably the ones benefiting, or that violence and the threat of violence has contributed to the increased prices. Yet, in our society, where we are ignorant of our impact on the environment, and we are so focused on what is convenient for me, we really don’t choose to change unless it is hurting our pocket book.
I’ve biked around town at all hours of the day and I see more and more people who are biking to and from work then I have ever seen before. The cool thing is these aren’t your hip, “look-at-me-I-bike-to-work” type, these are folks who pulled the two wheeler out of the garage, dusted it off and said, I’m not going to let capitalism have the last say. Keep biking.

*There has been periods of time where “could” does not include any ride in which I would get sweaty, I’d have to wear a helmet, or I would possibly be seen by someone I know. Those periods occured mostly in high school, but still occur on occassion.

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Future writing topics

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Through recent conversations, readings and other things I’ve been listening to, I’ve begun a list of things I’d like to write about. The problem with this list is it is a list of things that is going to require me to do a little research, refrencing things and so forth. It won’t be writing off the cuff like I usually do. I think I’m capable of doing this, it’s just going to take a little more effort on my part. I am a poor motivator of myself though. Rather, I do well with interaction and dialogue. That being said here are some short summaries of things I would like to write about soon.

Who am I Trying to Follow?- I’ve been meaning to do this one for a long time. The title of my blog means a lot to me and I’ve realized it probably needs some interpretation. I’d like to write a series of post about who it is I’m trying to follow and more importantly, why. I have hesitated in writing this before because a direct response to this question can often result in misinterpretation. Sometimes, I think it would be better for someone to read my writings and determine from that the answer to the question. This series will come, it just might take me a while to be satisfied enough to post it.

Christianity and Anarchism- I’ve been listening to the audio CD from a recent conference on this topic put on by Jesus Radicals. It’s sparked a renewed interest in me and a desire to articulate my beliefs as it relates to this. Just to get you slightly interested, I think I would say I’m in many ways an anarchist in my beliefs. I would even say, I think Christianity is far more Anarchist then it is capitalist. More to come later.

Universalistic thinking- I don’t know if I just made up that word or not, but this topic is going to be way touchy. This conversation has popped up a number of times in a couple circles I’ve been a part of and I feel the need to articulate some of my thoughts on the issue. If you don’t really know what I’m getting at you might just have to stay tuned for the post. Basically I want to discuss the idea of faith and it’s exclusiveness or lack thereof.

That’s it for now. I’m afraid if I make my list any longer I won’t end up writing on any of them. Hopefully I can post something about one of these topics in the next week, while it is still fresh in my mind. Stay tuned.