“Lady” | Regina Spektor

A Sunday morning tribute song to Billie Holliday is a great way to begin and to end your week.

Two Questions for the “About Our Children” Telecast

Tonight on MSNBC from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., they are telecasting a panel called “About Our Children.” The panel will discuss “poverty in America, focusing on the parenting, education and health issues facing the poor in the United States.

If that didn’t make you cringe, here are the panelists:

[Dr. Bill] Cosby, along with panelists including Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, Terrie Williams, author of “Black Pain” and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers

Some nights I thank Jesus I do not have cable; this night is one of those nights. I don’t know what to expect exactly; but I DO know that Dr. Cosby has a track record of making points by ridiculing poor African-Americans — or should I say, ridiculing stereotypes of them. Us. I’ve been poor all my life despite my current academic pedigree, and I still am.

I do like Ben Jealous, though, after reading about his plans for the NAACP and seeing evidence of those plans taking shape. Now after my incident with Julian Bond (where he gave me the meanest look after liveblogging his visit to UB… in the front row), as well as many other situations I don’t care to dig up and recount, I thought I should keep my mouth shut about any skepticism about anything controversial until I find a job. My blog is now linked to my name after suggesting a fundraising campaign for The Nation, and it’s forced me to rethink the ways I present myself and how they’re read professionally.

But in the end, I can’t help what I think. Even if the thoughts are dead wrong, controversial, or meandering, they’re my thoughts. And if I can’t advocate for what I think and believe, what good would I be entering the legal field advocating for others on any meaningful level?

Now I’m a fan of Mad Men, despite criticisms that it doesn’t do enough for identifying racial animus and people of color’s perspectives in the sixties. (I think the silence speaks volumes; but that’s another post.) There’s a scene in one of the episodes in which Don Draper instructs two developers of the soon-to-come Madison Square Garden project that if they don’t like what’s being said, they need to change the conversation. So, taking that advice and adapting it to my own ends, I decided to send in two questions to the panel and throw caution to the wind. Both issues bother me and I hope that the panelists will address them without any of my suggestions being involved. If they’re not, so be it. I tried.

Question #1:

If you want to understand why so many people of all ages turn to the streets after a history of committing crimes, it’s due to the fact the streets are the only places that meet them where they are and get money in their pockets. When will people in higher echelons of society turn their attentions to prisoner health care and effective reintegration? The prison system is where opportunities to change lives are lost. Our current system of incarceration does very little to rehabilitate socially the people it captures. The prison population has high rates of disease and poor health care. The non-profit organizations that are dedicated to helping prisoners have to fight an uphill battle against the stigma of being in jail. This society has little respect for the idea of prison sufficiently paying a debt for crimes committed against it. And the private prison owners profit from the ineffectiveness of reintegration and the absence of true rehabilitative efforts.

How do we set up a system in which the streets aren’t the only options for people leaving prison doors and in which they can receive proper care after serving their sentences?

Question #2:

When I was growing up, going to the library was the best cultivator of my imagination. Having access to so many books — and reading them regularly — helped me shape my dreams and pushed me towards higher education in the long run.

My heart broke when I learned recently that the entire Philadelphia public library system was planning to shut down due to lack of funding. Free public libraries are where so many children develop the desire to learn. What investments are people making to ensure threatened closures of public libraries, like the hold-up in Philadelphia, will not happen in the future?

I don’t have cable; but I highly doubt they will reach the panelists and if they do, they won’t merit an answer besides “PRISONERS NEED TO PULL UP THEIR PANTS-AHHHH.” Or “people need to spend less money on the IPODS AND JORDANS and more money in the BARNES AND NOBLE!” Because we know poor people need help dressing themselves and sit as unaffected by consumerist culture as those higher up on the economic food chain.

Cynicism aside, I highly encourage others who plan to watch “About Our Children” to send questions, too. So much so that I’m linking the question box twice. It’s the best way to hold people accountable for what they’re advocating.

for colored girls who need help auditioning for for colored girls

I am excited.

There is going to be auditions for for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange at my alma mater.

And this colored girl sorely misses acting. I haven’t done anything like performance art since leaving undergraduate school. It’s been three long years, and I think I supplanted acting for blogging and writing. I have to have some type of creative healing in my life. It’s my best way of sharing my truth.

The only problem is while I’ve read for colored girls before, and I’ve even performed one of the monologues — I’ve never seen the full play onstage. It helps me sometimes to see plays when I have trouble visualizing how to dramatize them. My mind has always been all over the place with for colored girls.

The audition isn’t until the end of October, and I’ve checked out a copy from the library. But I need you guys to tell me about performances of the play. What drew you to go see it? What do you think of all the ladies? What stood out for you in some of the monologues? I have my own thoughts, and I think I’d be best playing the lady in blue. And I’m a little overwhelmed by my excitement to do this play!

I may try to read a few excerpts and record them… get some feedback. I don’t know. I’m just excited! It’s something other than job hunting to look forward to doing.

Protected: l.w.c. – lonely while christian

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Van Jones Resigns from Position as White House Advisor Amid Rethuggery

Unspoken completion of that title: “because he has expressed political views and Republicans are going for broke.” According to the Washington Post, Jones has signed a petition claiming suspicion that the Bush administration had more involvement with 9/11 than most suspect, and for using “a crude term” to refer to Republicans in a speech. (I am curious about which one; there are many.)

I am upset to see Mr. Jones resign from these accusations, though I understand he does not want to distract from the cause of making America greener and cleaner. Politically-involved Republican spokespeople and politicians too often think that by attacking the promoter of important causes and goals for America, they are striking at the heart of the issue’s success. Jones is a stronger and better activist by stepping out of the way and hopefully returning to the trenches of bettering America’s environment and paving the way for creation of more green jobs.

As for the people who have caused Jones to retire, I hope they have a better candidate and better plans for the country as a whole. Crude terms are appropriate if people continue to treat politics as a game of noisemaking and do not consider the lives and well-being of the country and its inhabitants.

back in my day when we wanted fellowships we had to go to the kingdom hall…

Great fellowship opportunity via Carmen at All About Race. There’s a very close deadline, though (September 6); so get your paragraphs in fast!

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is an organization dedicated to helping better, bolder progressive candidates get elected. We provide candidates with the tools and knowledge to hit the ground running from Day One, skipping the learning curve that can cost so many campaigns months of lost time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our staff includes senior organizers from top-tier congressional campaigns and progressive movement organizations. We’re a not-for-profit, one-stop shop for progressive candidates at the state and federal levels.

We also run online advocacy campaigns on prominent issues like the public option. In the last couple months, ABC, NBC, CNN, Politico, Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, Huffington Post, and others have reported on our work.

On any given day, our work might include: recruiting a great candidate to run for office; managing a field team; designing the next generation of campaign software development; tracking competitive races nationally; writing a press release or blog post; planning a fundraiser; and more!

We are now launching the 2009 Fall Fellowship Program. From September 14 – December 11, our Fall Fellows will have the opportunity to take responsibility for high-level projects, matched to their unique skill sets and interests, while working remotely from their own homes. These projects might include:

Designing and building a website for a congressional candidate.
Outreach to national bloggers and analysis of key congressional races.
Working on field targeting for a top legislative race.
Learning the world of campaign finance and fundraising.

In addition, we’ll offer monthly “brown-bag lunches” via webcasts with senior organizers and congressional staff, and periodic seminars on different skills associated with political campaigns.

Interested? Send your resume and a one-paragraph statement about why you consider yourself a progressive to pcccapplications@gmail.com. You can read more about the PCCC at http://www.BoldProgressives.org.

Deadline for applications is Sunday, September 6 at 5pm EST. Fellows must commit 15 hours a week. The Fall Fellowship is unpaid at this time.

And a really cool fellowship for filmmakers, screenwriters, and animators…

IHS Opportunities in Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and Animation

Dear M-,

Because you indicated an interest in film & fiction when you signed up at TheIHS.org, I thought you might be interested to know you can apply now for an MFA scholarship or a summer production internship. The scholarship provides well-deserved funds to complete your degree and the internship allows you to learn the best production methods from industry professionals.

Our Film & Fiction Scholarships are awards of up to $10,000 for students pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree and who share an appreciation for the potential and promise of a free society. MFAs in a variety of areas are eligible: film directing, production, screenwriting, playwriting, and fiction writing. Apply by January 15.

The IHS 2010 Summer Production Internship Program includes a paid internship at a production company making films, documentaries, animated features or an online video series, and our summer workshop with talks by filmmakers and policy analysts. You’ll receive a $2,000 stipend plus a housing and travel allowance. Internships are available during the spring, summer, and fall, and we’re currently accepting applications for spring and summer. Apply by November 15 for spring and February 15 for summer.

To learn more and apply, visit: www.TheIHS.org.

If you know aspiring filmmakers or novelists who share our commitment to advancing freedom, please forward this email to them.

Cheers,

Keri

Keri Anderson
Student Coordinator
Institute for Humane Studies

Almost makes me want to go for a MFA early…

Nah, too soon. I’m tired, y’all.