Black sororities forbid members from wearing Greek-letter paraphernalia during protest

You can’t wear your Greek-letter paraphernalia when you protest the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

That’s the official word coming from the heads of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.  Both sororities have stood on the frontline in promoting community service and social justice in the black community. Why would the women wearing green and salmon (AKA) and cream and crimson (DST) forbid their sorors from promoting their participation in the protest against police brutality?

What damage can come from sporting a t-shirt with those celebrated Greek letters?  Is the official word from the big shots a statement against the protest, or is this a way for the more seasoned membership to keep youth in their proper place?

Translation, don’t mess with the corporate brand.

Recent actions of black institutions expose a deep generation divide that could impact the future of black activism. As older black leaders seek ways to manage protest, youth are outraged over the criticism they receive after putting everything on the line for the cause? A variety of assumptions are made regarding youth that feeds the expansion of the schism between older leaders and youth.

In Columbia, Missouri, members of the local chapter of the NAACP challenged college students not to march after the grand jury decision related to the death of Michael Brown was read.  Mary Ratliff, state president of the NAACP, informed students their planned march wasn’t sanctioned by the national body, and there was no way to assure their safety.

She asked them not to protest.

“This is not a youth movement,” Ratliff informed those gathered at the Second Missionary Baptist Church to hear the ruling. “It’s up to us who have done this before.”

The protest couldn’t wait for corporate approval.

Youth showed up after members of the NAACP marched 130-miles from Ferguson, Missouri to the Missouri State Capitol.  Seventy-five dedicated people endued all kinds of weather and racist confrontations along the way to the capitol.

“We march because all, all, all, all lives matter!” Cornel William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, shouted to the cheers of 150 people.

Tension began to swell when Roslyn Brock, chairman of the NAACP’s National Board of Directors, made an assumption about the youth in the crowd.

“I want you to think about the consequences of your actions, because too many folks died for the right for us to be here,” Brock said. “The time is now, because courage cannot skip this generation.

What did Brock mean by confronting youth regarding the consequences of their actions? Was she blaming those in the room for looting and rioting? Her words reflected a deep disconnect with youth. Her words were perceived as disrespectful of the hard work of youth in organizing and showing up in Ferguson soon after the death of Michael Brown. 

Michael Hassle challenged the NAACP marchers not to take pride “in marching 100-and-something miles, when we’ve been out there protesting for over 100-and-something days!”

The Rev. Cassandra Gould, pastor of Jefferson City’s Quinn Chapel AME Church, told the crowd she understands the “passion” of the younger protesters. 

In Ferguson, youth managed violent protest the best they could.  Youth organized on college campuses and communities across the nation.  They have done so devoid of the support of adults.  This is why youth dismiss the opinion of many civil rights icons.  It’s why they asked Jesse Jackson to leave and question the motives of Al Sharpton.  It’s why many turn a deaf ear to the voice of black clergy.

Many showed up too late, and many who showed up failed to consistently show up.  Youth are demanding accountability, while older leaders are demanding respect for what happened long ago.

Brock told youth not forget those who led the civil rights efforts of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s “to move this nation forward, not backwards.”

Youth want to know why many failed to show up before the cameras took over. 

“The time is now, because courage cannot skip this generation,” Brock said.

To that youth are asking a deeper question.  Where have you been? Youth are not waiting for the baton to be passed on to their generation of leaders.  They have created their own way, and aren’t looking for or asking for permission from those still stuck in an old strategy.

Instead of telling youth what to do, take notes.

The AKA’s and Delta’s are attempting to define the terms of protest.  They want youth to keep their name out of the movement for justice.  They don’t trust youth with their corporate brand.  They’re afraid a picture will be taken with a looter wearing a t-shirt with their Greek letters.

They don’t get it!

This is not an AKA or Delta movement. 

It’s a “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “I Can’t Breathe” movement.

Word of wisdom to old leaders - stand back and watch.

You showed up too late, and your baton is too short to pass on to these youth. 

They carry a big stick.

And, in case you missed it, the stick isn’t used to beat people.  Like Moses, youth use that big stick to point the way to justice.

They show up every night.  They keep fighting, and they don’t need your permission.

That’s called a new day.

What took us so long to boot Donald Sterlings out of the NBA?

The players should have boycotted.  We shouldn’t be surprised because most of the owners are racist.  Why was she recording him in the first place?  Why was she with a man that old, and isn’t he married?

These are some of the comments made after the world was exposed to the bigotry of Donald Sterling.  It is true that his disdain for black people was documented long before he was caught doing what most bigots fear – having one of those closed door conversations recorded.  Someone should have told him what you do in the dark will come to the light.

Elgin Baylor, who served as the Clippers executive vice president and general manager from 1996 -2008, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Sterling in 2009, claiming he was underpaid and “treated as a token because of his race”.

By now, most people know that Sterling settled a lawsuit in 2006 filed by the U.S. Justice Department.  The lawsuit accused Sterling's rental company of refusing to lease Beverly Hills apartments to blacks and Latinos in his properties in Koreatown.  After settling the case, Sterling continued to deny the charges. $2.75 million is a load of money when you are innocent. You feel me on that one?

Some folks never learn from their mistakes.  Before forking up close to $3 million, Sterling settled a lawsuit in 2003. The lawsuit was filed by the nonprofit Housing Rights Center and a group of tenants who lived in Sterling's properties.  The lawsuit accused Sterling of "numerous discriminatory statements and housing practices," according to court documents.  The terms of the settlement were never disclosed.

So, we know Sterling’s position related to hanging out with black people and other minorities. That is what he said on the tape. Remember, I don’t want black people in my house. His racism is no secret, and it has never been.  What people are asking, after he was caught saying what people already knew, is why nothing was done before now?

Despite the multiple lawsuits filed against Sterling, the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP honored him for his work in giving tickets to inner city youth in 2009.  The group was set to hand Sterling the Lifetime Achievement Award on May 15. 

How did that happen?

There is a long list of questions.  Like, how can a woman who is black and Mexican date a known racist?  How can players, aware of his racist ways, sign to play there?  How can a black coach agree to coach his team?  How does his wife deal with his sickening ways?  Why would a woman who looks like that pick a man who looks like that? Well, we know the answer to the last one.

Needing to get paid aside, where’s the courage?  Where’s the righteous indignation preceding all of this becoming public?  Why didn’t the NBA do something?  Why, why…?

But wait just a minute.  Isn’t the blood on all of our hands?  Isn’t this a gaudy reminder of how over the top wealth can be used to get people to turn their heads to things that disgust them the most?  Was it the billionaire at the end of Sterling’s name that blinded the vision of the NAACP, the players, owners, coaches, girlfriend, wife and fans?

Aren’t we all guilty of allowing money to keep us silent when bigotry shows up?  Why did black fans continue to buy tickets from a team owned by a man caught more than once with his bigotry dangling on his sleeves? 

Maybe it’s about our willingness to put our love for the game above principles.  How else can you explain those who continue to root for the Washington Redskins when the owner has clearly stated he doesn’t care about what Native Americans think?  I suppose it’s cool, in the minds of some, as long as it’s redskin and not blackskin.

Yes, there are numerous questions that beg answers. Like, how long should we wait to forget the past?  Can I forget the roles that BMW and Mercedes Benz played in bankrolling Nazi Germany?  At what point does one forgive and forget, and at what cost? Besides, isn’t it all old news?  Call me an elephant, because I don’t forget that easy.

There’s more.  Do we disregard the sexism and misogyny of those with enough money to make it appear as the games of rich men?  Should we overlook the assumption that women serve the purpose of satisfying men with power and money?  Can I avoid the thought that Sterling is mimicking some old school pimp moves by assuming he owns his women just like he owns the players on his team?  That’s a serious plantation move.

Yes, I’m guilty of hating both the player and the game.

But, tell me, are these the benefits of having enough money to make it look like something different  – the benefits of billionaire status – while holding others to a different expectation?

So, who’s to blame for what just happened? 

Maybe, just maybe, it’s the consequence of living within a culture that gives people with money a do not go to jail pass for refusing to live by the rules others take for granted.

If so, we need another set of rules.

Adam Silver did just that on Tuesday.  It doesn’t matter how much money you have player. You can’t play here anymore.

William Barber coming to Columbia, Mo to discuss Moral Monday: The rejection of power and privilege

The sound of pain is hard to endure. It gets worse when you’re standing in privilege.

There’s something about conceding that your life is made better because of gifts handed down.  It’s not that you are more gifted or smarter than the rest.  You simply have more stuff to begin with.  Sometimes that stuff is not the type placed in a bank account. 

Stuff can be race or gender.  Sometimes it’s heterosexual or Christian privilege.  As much as we hate to admit it, our lives are shaped by how others perceive us more than the gifts we bring to the party.  Too many of us weren’t invited to the party because our personal appearance failed to fit the invite requirements.

But, this isn’t the prelude to a pity party.  It’s a celebration of a brewing trend that is capturing the hearts of people of privilege.  More and more, people are less content with holding their privilege as a reward for being lucky enough to be born on that side of the tracks.  They’re getting it.  Something is not right.  We can no longer deny the God given dignity of people born with a wooden, rather than silver spoon, in their mouth.

You see, I’m accustomed to protest.  I was born within a culture that refused to bow down to the limits imposed on me because of my race.  My mama believes in whipping that ass when folks get in her way.  Yes, I was nurtured within a family culture that stepped up whenever someone seemed broken by another person’s assumption of privilege.

I thank my mama for that.

I’ve been singing we shall overcome as long as I can remember.  It often happened in what seemed to be the brush arbor of black faith.  That’s the place where the slaves stilled away at night to get their praise on after master and missy gave them Hell all day.  My ancestors would hide away somewhere under the protective arm of trees to sing revolutionary songs.

That stuff brings chills to my body whenever I think about it.  Many consider that weak-minded submission.  I regard it critical in our understanding of an ever present counter-culture that constantly redefined the terms of human existence.  It was that, damn you, we gonna do it our way, moment.

I’m used to that.  Be it at the Second Missionary Baptist Church here in Columbia, Missouri, or back at Compassion Ministries in Durham, NC, I know what it feels like to hold hands with my people while calling on God to let my people go.

But this new energy is forcing me to rethink my assumption related to bondage and limitations.  James Cone tells us that God is God of the oppressed, and, since black folks are oppressed, the liberating message of God is found within the community of black people.  I’ve always said amen to that, and, to a large extent, it still roots the way I think about praxis and practice.

But wait. 

Back to this new stuff.  A new movement led by people willing to reject the advantages of their privilege has taken center stage.  It’s what happened in North Carolina with the Moral Monday movement.  Rev. William Barber, North Carolina NAACP President, has led a coalition of grassroots folks in recasting the terms of discourse regarding public policy.

Barber is a black man who leads a congregation in Goldsboro, NC.  He is a product of the black church, with a down home preaching style that rekindles memories of grandma cooking collards greens after signing in the choir on Sunday morning.  Barber is old school worship united with progressive theological insight.  There is no question that Barber is black.  There is no question that his love for black folks has propelled him in the middle of a flourishing movement.

I get that.  I get all of it, but the shift is among those willing to do what the young rich man couldn’t do after Jesus imparted the challenge.  They are rejecting all of that privilege in hope of a common good.  Their views and desires are not embedded from what they can get out of it all.  They are living from the inside out, rather than the normal position.

It’s happening here in Missouri.  Can you feel the wave? Back in North Carolina, Barber led thousand into the state legislative building in acts of civil disobedience.  Close to 1,000 people willingly went to jail to protest the actions of extremist politicians.  Many of them weren’t black, in fact, most of them are white.

Clergy in Columbia, Missouri have decided to stand for justice.  Many lead congregations filled with people of privilege.  They are willing to stand for those hindered by the refusal to expand Medicaid benefits in the state.  They are fighting for early voting, to assure all citizens have access to the democratic process.

They will stand with me on April 1 when Barber comes to town to discuss Moral Monday.  We will wear our robes, hold hands and pray.  We will sing a few revolutionary songs and prepare to reverse the tide of hate laced public policies.

The revolution has changed over the years.  It has no race, no gender, no sexual orientation, and is not limited by theological views.  It’s a movement of those who need more to make it, standing with people who have more than enough.  This is a movement of dignity.  We are all the same.

Gil Scott Heron said the revolution won’t be televised.  This time it will be the lead story on network  TV.  The images will force people to say ‘those people are just like me.’

All-boys academy for black and brown boys attacks culture that negates importance of education

The critics of an all-boys academy claim the proposed school are sexist, cost too much and is counterintuitive to the intent of Brown vs. Board of Education. Each appears as a vital argument; however, none take into account the troubling culture that makes an all-boys academy the best solution for Durham’s black and brown boys.

“The ‘extensive data’ that Kenney refers to goes unexplained,” Tim Tyson, State Education Chair for the NAACP, responded to my recent blog supporting a proposal for an all-boys academy. “This assertion certainly does not represent any consensus of the scholarly literature. People of good intentions can differ. But to pretend that the research shows a deafening roar in favor of academies segregated by race and gender are unjustified. “

Tyson’s thesis, along with the assessment of others, fails to take seriously the stack of research and statistics that give credibility to an alternative approach.  Research suggests an inner-city culture that regards education in negative ways, which guides poor academic performance and dropouts among minority boys.

The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University’s Theories of Change among Single-Sex Schools for Black and Latino Boys: An Intervention in Search of Theory was published in 2010. The study examines the work of six all-boy schools and offers a strong argument in support of their relevancy. 

Need for Changing Boys’ Ideas of What is a Man

The Metropolitan Center study discovered the importance of framing the social/emotional need for a masculine identity based on their understanding of ―street‖ images and the absence of male figures that often surround boys of color

“I think that this notion of manhood that a lot of your urban youth experience is pretty one-sided,” a member of the staff at an all-boy school says.  “It pretty much looks at this aspect of strength and power and equates them solely with sexual prowess, the ability to earn money, and the ability to defend.”

The study uncovered how students are bombarded with imagery and the identity of being a thug, being a gangster, being hard, as defining what qualifies one as a man.

School is referred to as something that ―girls‖ do, and it is for this reason that some administrators claim it is necessary to separate the boys from female students – to give them a space where they do not have to ―compete‖ or feel the need to show off as ―men‖ who are ―too cool for school.‖

Bilson &Mansini’s Cool Pose is informative in unlocking the implications related to inner-city culture.

Need for an Academic Identity in their Social Identities

Minority boys face the acting White stigma.  Cook & Ludwig address this matter in their book The Burden of Acting White. 

“Due to the history of racial discrimination in the United States, African Americans began to doubt their intellectual ability, began to define academic success as White people’s prerogative and began to discourage their peers from emulating White people in academic striving, i.e., from acting white,” the book concludes.

All-boys schools confront the negative perceptions of education among minority boys by establishing a brotherhood among students that instills the resilience to develop and sustain their emerging academic identities.

Need for Future and Leadership

Those interviewed in the study expressed it was through this identity work that they could begin the work of transforming black and brown boys into ―leaders.‖

“These single-sex schools transmit the message that their Black and Latino male students should become examples in their own right and find ways to ―give back to their communities,” the study states. “The young men are being primed to lead the next generation in transformational change for their communities. Rather than sit back and be influenced by the negativity of street culture, the schools direct their students to take positive control of their own lives and take what they learn back to ―the community.”

Need for High Expectations

An administrator suggested that the structural issue of racism prevents Black students, in particular, from making educational gains:

“I would say social issues just from the standpoint of being a young Black male, dealing with racism,” the administrator said. “And so, you’re going to have to converse with people who have low expectations of you, who have no expectations of you. Or you might be in an environment where they don’t want you to be.”

Core in the analysis of public education is how the biases of school administrators and teachers impact their ability to teach minority boys.

Need for Relevant Curriculum and Instruction

The schools in the study expressed the need to center teaching and the curriculum around the educational needs of their students, with careful attention given to the social, emotional, and academic challenges minority boys face.

There is massive evidence that points to how the culture of minority youth clashes with the academic goals of the traditional public school setting.  As admirable as the goal to embrace an integrated school may be, the body of evidence clearly speaks to cultural dynamics that make it problematic to teach those who regard education as a thing that black and brown boys don’t need.

Durham’s statistics make the case – 3,002 black male and 560 Hispanic male short term suspensions in 2011-2012, compared to 249 white male students.  233 black male and 68 Hispanic male dropouts out of a total of 363 for all students.  47% reading proficiency among black males compared to 81% among white males.  64% math proficiency among black males compared to 90.6 compared to white males.

Add to the pot unemployment, incarceration and metal health concerns and you have an increasing divide between black and brown males and their white counterparts.

Tyson argues the affirming of Brown vs. Board of Education. His is a valid claim when taken outside the context of the current plight of black and brown boys.  This is what John Stuart Mills called Experiments in Living.  There are times when the conceptions of good must be tested by the experiences we have in living them out, not merely by comparing them with ethical institutions.

Is it possible that the integration of public school has fostered a population left fractured by the internalized inferiority created by a well-intentioned union?  If so, we, as a society, are obligated to undo a culture that makes education a bad thing among black and brown boys.

They have the right to achieve.  Our failure to respond in an affirming way is paramount to casting them to the wolves to continue their journey toward low achievement and incarceration. 

Is that the message we want them to hear?

Gov. Pat McCrory calls "Moral Monday" unlawful and acceptable

"We welcome feedback, we welcome lawful demonstrations, however, we don't welcome unlawful demonstrations, and that should not be accepted," Gov. Pat McCrory said on Tuesday, according to WTVD.

Note the insensitivity.  Note the righteous indignation.  North Carolina’s Governor has resorted to labeling the actions of protesters criminal.  300 have willingly gone to jail to show disdain over a series of laws passed by the Republican controlled General Assembly.  McCrory’s attack of demonstrators reflects a broader negligence toward those in opposition.

McCrory said he has no intent in meeting with members of the NAACP, student unions and environmental groups to discuss their complaints with the GOP. McCrory told WTVD the demonstrations were “unlawful” and therefore “unacceptable.”

 So Gov., are you serious? Do you really believe the 1,600 people who showed up last week for “Moral Monday” are criminals who have no right to show up to attack legislation that makes it harder  for the poor to survive?  Do you really think it’s criminal to stand against a voter ID law that will impact the poor and senior citizens?  Are we supposed to bow at your moves to pave the way for hydraulic fracking, cuts to education spending, rejection of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare and cuts unemployment benefits?

Maybe, just maybe, the Governor thinks he can get away with tagging protestors as a gang of angry blacks and throw back hippies.  What better way to swing public opinion in his direction than to challenge people to consider the illegitimate conduct of the mob? It’s just “those people” complaining again. 

Really? All of them?

Maybe it would help the Governors cause to fail to mention that most of those arrested are not black.  Many are older citizens pissed off at how Republicans have systematically turned that clock back to a time when the state was ruled by white men with no regard for equal opportunity and social justice.

McCrory, and his gang of legislators, are the anti-Obama.   Seemingly, the plan is to separate North Carolina from a national agenda.  Sound familiar?  The call for state rights makes you wonder about a plan for secession from the union.

Read Civil War 101.

The movement back is reflected in a charter school agenda that has effectually re-segregated public education.  The rhetoric of poor academic performance functions to electrify support among disgruntled black parents and white parents in search of schools that offer an academic advantage for their children.  Lingering beneath the language of public education is a social agenda rooted in the hysteria stirred by race.

Policy makers continue to play games with voters while burying their racism under the chatter of accountability and budgetary restrictions.

McCrory calls it criminal to expose the other side of social change.  He calls it illegal to protest what many consider heartless, immoral and reckless.  It’s called “Moral Monday” for a reason.  Those gathering each Monday are challenging the GOP to be guided by a morality that supersedes a political agenda.  McCrory’s branding of the “Moral Monday” crowd fails to state the obvious – that protesters are showing up because Republicans, in their minds, are a gang of thugs devoid of moral integrity. 

That point is reflected in comments made during a Tuesday protest held Charlotte, NC. Kojo Nantambu, president of Charlotte’s NAACP, called Gov. McCrory "one of the most wicked people I’ve ever met."

McCroy’s vilifying of ‘Moral Monday” protesters snubs the resolve of those willing to make the trip to Raleigh each week. McCroy may consider their presence “illegal” and “unacceptable”, but the actions of the GOP is worse.

Laws passed by the GOP are immoral, wicked, dishonest, sinful, corrupt – pick the word that best reflects the mean spirited actions of those who use the law to enforce an old agenda.  The actions of protesters may be unlawful.  Their actions may be unacceptable to members of the GOP.  That may be true.

But if I’m one, what does that make you?  Insert playground taunting of youth.

What is a moral law? Moral laws are rules of behavior an individual or a group may follow out of personal conscience and that are not necessarily part of legislated law in the United States. Moral law is a system of guidelines for behavior.  For me, moral law is tantamount with the demands of my spirituality.  Some regard them as a set of universal laws that apply to everyone.

The actions of the GOP violate moral law.  Acts of civil disobedience are designed to remind those in power of a law greater than the laws they make.  The Governor calls their actions illegal.  His response, and the actions that preceded his response, are immoral.

The GOP’s response is to send some to jail.  For many who have protested against the GOP, there is a place worse than jail reserved for those who violate moral law.

I call that unacceptable.

Others call it Hell.

Taking Down to Black People

When I first heard Jesse Jackson’s rebuke of Barack Obama for “talking down to black people,” I conceded that old dude is jealous and in need of medication for an obvious mental illness. It must be tough to witness the rise of a young, vibrant, intelligent, articulate, spokesperson able to accomplish what he couldn’t.

With that being said, I’m not sure this is all about an old man refusing to take his seat in the rocking chair as the next generation takes control.

I listened in disgust as Jackson whispered his desire to cut Obama’s family jewels, and thought homeboy has taken this thing too far. He needs to check himself, take a nap, and rethink all that hostility. This is a new day, and it’s time out for playa hating on Obama. Those old crabs in the barrow were tugging at the best chance black folks have at the White House, and I fumed at each assertion Jackson made.

For a brief moment, I celebrated Obama for telling the truth. Black people are slack. We don’t take care of our children. We cry the victim game whenever things don’t go our way. Our boys are enamored with the thug culture, and our young girls are mimicking the image of the video vixens on BET. I listened to Obama challenge black people to rise above the lure of the streets. I watched as those gathered at the NAACP annual convention rose to their feet in a resounding Amen.

I wanted to join them. I wanted to participate in this great moment, but something was wrong with the rhetoric of his message. An opportunity was missed. Obama made the same mistake as Bill Cosby. He overstepped in his claim, and, in doing so, participated in the further dissemination of negative information regarding the state of Black America.

There is another side to this story, a piece that we all should cheer. Not all black people are poor, drug addicted and pregnant before the age of 20. Not all black men are absent from the lives of their children, hooked on stupid, treat their women like garden tools or measure their manhood by the bulge in their pants. There is more to black America, much more, and I wanted to hear Obama communicate the good rather than fuel the stereotypes that hinder our ability to see past our assumptions.

By casting that large umbrella over black America, Obama has further victimized black people by reminding us of how the problems of a few can be used to categorize what it means to be a part of the whole. Isn’t it time to rethink what it means to be black in America? Isn’t it time to shed light on the good examples instead of casting a bright light on the few among us used to classify what it means to be black?

My mother and father have been married for over 50 years. My father is my role model. My uncles are like my father-black men who took care of their children. My cousins take care of their children. My father and uncles passed on meaningful lessons that have helped nurture me into the man I am today. This is not an anomaly. It’s what happens with black families across the country.

Instead of feeding the flame of negative sentiments regarding the black man, woman and family, let’s tell the truth. What you see on BET doesn’t define black life. I’m fed up with that assumption, and Barack Obama needs to help others understand the truth.

Yes, there are some knuckleheads out there. Some of them are black. Some are white. Some are Hispanic. Some are bi and tri racial. The bad in America can’t be reduced to the state of black America, and I would love it if our leaders would stop and celebrate the good that is Black America.


Maybe that’s what Jackson meant when he said Obama talks down to black people. I understand the need to challenge us to do better, but it sure would help if he could help America see there is more to black life than all those stereotypes pasted in the minds of most Americans.