Category Archives: Race

The Promise of Prosperity

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For as far back as I can recall, black-eyed peas and collard greens have been an essential part of every New Year’s celebration.

Some eat them on New Year’s Eve.

Others, New Year’s Day.

I do both.

And I know that I am not alone.

It is a tradition.

A southern tradition with tentacles that reach every corner.

Eating collards and black-eyed peas on the first day of the year invites a prosperous year ahead.

The “greens” represent dollar bills.

The swelling of the cooking peas symbolizes prosperity.

In full disclosure, I will honor the tradition welcoming 2012.

I will take shortcuts…with the help of Goya and Wegman’s, but I will honor the tradition.

Happy New Year.

I wish you good health, the love and support of family, good friends, dollar bills and prosperity.

The History of the African-American Funeral Director and the Fight for Civil Rights and Racial Intregration

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“To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors & the African American Way of Death” is not merely a book about the history of death.

It is much more.

It is a history of African-American entrepreneurship.

At its core, “To Serve the Living” is about African-American funeral directors.

They were pioneering entrepreneurs in a largely segregated trade, economically independent and not beholden to the local white power structure.

More importantly, their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights and to serve the living as well as bury the dead.

“These entrepreneurs had both the financial resources and the prestige as leaders of their respetive communities to stand at the forefront of the formative campaigns for civil rights…”

The financial and political clout of African-American funeral directors provided them with a stature that could coalesce the community on points of relevance ranging from voter registration to community empowerment. This is a testament to their resilience, fortitude and pioneering spirit in times when such qualities in African-Americans were challenged and often times resulted in bodily harm or death.

In a September 2011 C-Span interview, the book’s author Dr. Suzanne E. Smith points out the impact, viability and prominence of the African-American funeral director, from antebellum slavery to today

“…[P]rimarily, barber shops, beauty shops and funeral homes have remained largely segregated…[F]or the most part there is a loyalty in the African-American community to the African-American funeral director.”

Click here for the C-Span interview

The Black List Gave Me Goosebumps

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The rich and diverse fabric of African-American culture and accomplishment is on display and being celebrated in Washington, D.C.

Serena Williams, Toni Morrison, Puffy, Samuel Jackson, John Legend and Whoopi Goldberg are there.

There are fifty distinctive individuals…some weren’t as recognizable to me…others’ accomplishments shatter myopic and limited stereotypes.

These men and women were the ones who really filled me with pride, made me smile and compelled me to tell you that, if possible, you need to go and see The Black List.

Even if you’ve seen the HBO special, you will benefit and be moved by the museum experience.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ life-sized portraits capture each individual’s humanity and soul.

Admission is free.

Yes, the Black List gave me goosebumps and my soul soared!

The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.
October 28, 2011 – April, 22, 2012

 

(Pictured from top to bottom are Steve Stoute, media mogul; Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts)

Mad Men, Advertising and the absence of African-Americans…at the top

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I am very selective with regard to the television that I watch on a regular basis.

The AMC Series Mad Men falls into the category of what I do watch.
It is intelligent television – well written and well acted.

The season four finale aired last Sunday, prompting an onslaught of media coverage including a candid New York Times interview with the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner.

One of the questions focused on the show’s lack of any major African-American (or other minority) characters.

Weiner explained, given the 1965 timeline and within the storyline:

“…this is going to change. By the way, it changes socially. It does not change in advertising. It still has not changed. And I will go to the mat on this thing.”

As a 25 year veteran of the ad industry, I agree with Weiner.

Strides have been made as evidenced by the presence of African-Americans in all facets of the business today.

However, I would not go as far as to suggest that racism does not exist in advertising.

It does.

While the journey is far from over, the fictional arc of where the industry was as portrayed in the show represents the steps taken forward.

To the original points I made, Mad Men is good and entertaining television.

Like the African-American ad executives that Weiner referenced in the interview, I believe that there should not be more African-American characters in the show.

Simply put, it just wouldn’t ring true.

I stand on the shoulders of pioneers like Tom Burrell, Caroline Jones, Frank Mango, Vince Cullers and Madam CJ Walker.

Their efforts may not make it to the Mad Men storyline, but their importance and trailblazing efforts changed the trajectory of the advertising industry.

click here _ for the full New York Times article.

Boy

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I was not surprised by the content of this article.

Shocked.

Disgusted.

Outraged.

These adjectives more accurately describe what I felt.

Unlike Messers. Ash, Haithon and the Honorable UW Clemon, the former Federal judge, I did not grow up in the South.

This, in no way, minimizes the sting and blatant disrespect associated with the word boy…especially in the context that is outlined.

Which makes the recent reversal (and reprimand of the plaintiff’s attorney) by the Eleventh Circuit Court all the more appalling.

Denying one’s right to be treated with respect and dignity only serves as another tool of racism.

While in this instance the conversation focuses on race, the underlying issue is broader and suggests that while countless strides have been made in the fight for equality, we have a great deal of work yet to complete.

Photo by Gordon Parks, Black Muslim Rally, New York, circa 1963