Skip Gates: Exercising His Privilege

So I was just sent this link to yet another article about Skip Gates from one of my many unnamed sources. Apparently she, like me, thinks that the media’s attention on the whole fiasco is a bit overblown. Come on now, it’s not like this is the first time a brotha has been racially profiled in Cambridge. Of course it doesn’t help that President Obama made a half-assed statement the other night.

But despite Obama’s best attempts to try to back away from his earlier “cops acting stupidly” statement, the story just won’t die. Especially since Professor Gates is on a mission to pour gasoline on the fire. Check the Harvard professor’s latest statement found over at Ben Smith’s blog at Politico.

“Often we’re chosen for events for larger reasons, and I think I was chosen to be arrested in my own home so that I would start to devote my considerable resources toward a problem that plagues American society and plagues the criminal justice system –

Now I am all for Professor Gates using his influence to shape the nation’s discourse on race relations. I just hope that he takes a moment to chill out before he goes full throttle. Not only are there dozens of great organizations doing amazing work on this issue, but I am pretty sure he is not the best spokesperson for the racial profiling cause. After all, it’s not like he is the typical person getting harassed by the cops on a daily basis. I mean, the fact that he is so pissed about getting smacked by the gloves of racism highlights that he is a tad bit disconnected from the realities of urban America.

I mean, just last week hip-hop legend Paradise Gray was arrested while filming a nonviolent protest for a local community group in Pittsburgh. Long story short, this stuff happens every day.

So Professor Gates, if you are going to use your incredible privilege to influence the discussion about police brutality and racial profiling, please link up with the grassroots experts working on this issue. You aren’t the first brotha that’s been harassed and word to Frank Jude, you definitely won’t be the last.

Posted by:

Biko Baker

Rapper Rhymefest Protests FOR Walmart!?

I found this video at Nahright. Apparently Chicago based MC and on and off again Kayne buddy, Rhymefest attended a pro-Walmart rally yesterday. It seems that ‘Fest, whose real name is Che, was pissed that Chicago councilmen blocked the building of a Walmart on the Southside of the Windy City. Interesting. I have a lot to say about this, but I will leave it for another blog.

Shouts out to Rhymefest. Sometime back SOHH.com wanted to have me and him have a virtual debate via their blogs. It never happened, but I would have loved to have gone tit for tat with the guy that wrote “Jesus Walks.”

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Biko Baker

Racism or Male Ego: Which Was More At Fault in the Skip Gates Case?

So I guess the cop that arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates had a distinguished record, and even taught racial tolerance classes. Apparently, he was even hand picked by a black police commissioner. It sorta seems like this guy might have not been that bad of dude.

Of course, his stellar track record doesn’t prevent him from being a bigot, but it seems like there is more to this story than racial profiling. It’s not like I’m a prognosticator, but I am wiling to bet that both of these celebrated dudes’ male egos got in the way. And I’m sure that race shaped their interaction, because race influences everything we do, but I am willing to bet that neither one of these guys had enough sense to let cooler heads prevail.

And I know that I will prolly take some flack for this, but I am of the opinion that you really just shouldn’t go popping off at cops. (And this is more of a “do as I say and not as do” statement because in the past I’ve had many heated interactions with cops while being profiled.) Typically, all that ever happens when you go off on the boys in blue (especially racist cops) is that you put yourself one step closer to getting got like Oscar Grant. (And I am not saying that Oscar Grant deserved to get shot, because apparently he was trying to cool his friends down that fateful night.) Yes, Professor Gates is one of the 21st century’s greatest minds, but that doesn’t mean that he is immune to catching a ‘tude when he is being racially profiled.

Of course, I don’t really know what happened, so I should just mind my own business, but I am willing to bet that Gates was extra salty when he was stopped at his front door; I know that I would be! He prolly just kept it too real when the officer approached him, and then quickly escalated to being pissed off when he realized that the cop didn’t care that he was a famous professor.

And I am sure that the more heated Gates got, the more intolerant the officer got.

But I could be wrong. I don’t really know what happened. I am just willing to bet that neither of these guys could be the bigger person and just chill out.

If you would like to learn more about how to interact with angry police officers check out the Ella Baker Center. Word to Van Jones, they have some excellent tips on how to deal with ‘the po po.”

Posted by:

Biko Baker

Hair is to Black Women What Weight is to White Women!?

I’m neither, but word to Madaam CJ Walker, I find this video pretty damn interesting. I haven’t seen all of CNN’s “Black in America” yet, but this makes me want to check it out. Did you see it? Whatchuthink?

Posted by:

Biko Baker

What’s Your Ecological Footprint?

We’re always hearing about how the human race harms the environment. Between flying on airplanes that emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide, cranking up the air conditioning during the summer and turning on every light in our homes so our neighbors think we’ve got a lot of friends over, Americans tend to burn a lot of energy.

But one person can’t make a HUGE difference, right? WRONG. Find out how your individual lifestyle and consumption habits affect our environment and what steps you can take to reduce your ecological footprint.

The quiz is actually REALLY fun and so easy to do but the answers are shocking. It surprised me how big my footprint is and made me realize I’ve gotta take better actions to take care of our planet!

How big is your footprint? Take the quiz to find out!

Posted by:

Kiera Aaron