Michael Jackson.. Masks and Madness

Michael Jackson passed only a few hours ago. I find it strange how i feel because i haven't been connected to this man in any way for years. I haven't listened to the songs that I grew up listening too in years either, but today going through my old Jackson 5 music that i used to play so much when I was six, seven, eight, nine etc. I realized that even after years of not listening to these songs I knew all the words by heart.



Tears came to my eyes. Michael Jackson was my idol when I was a child. I don't like the idea of fame or people almost worshipping famous people, I don't get excited to meet people who are 'famous' or even who I respect a great deal who are well known, so the sight of seeing people pass out and cry at the sight of another human being is disturbing to me to say the least. So I don't use the term 'idol' loosely. What I will say is that I was fixated on Michael Jackson (as millions of people young and old were at the time and continue to be today).





When I was a kid I was obsessed with the Michael Jackson that existed before I was born. Of course I was really into 'Thriller' and 'Bad' and even off the wall but I used to go to video store (back when there were actual videos not DVDs) and rent this old tape of Michael and the Jackson 5 on a regular basis (until I learned how to dub tape to tape and 'owned' a copy for myself.

He was this powerful little black boy.. who was singing these grown up songs in a powerful voice that was still the voice of a child with the soul of a man who lived much longer then he had at the time. He looked like me. He had a little afro like me, his skin colour was like mine, he was cool and talented and so popular it was crazy. He had a gift and a presence that was undeniable and I looked up to him like he was my older brother. I watched everything that he did.

I greatly admired Michael Jackson for a solid decade, from as far back as I can remember until I was maybe about twelve or thirteen.





Then he started changing, and although I was still too young to really comprehend what was happening something about him changed. Not just the obvious exterior things, but his voice, his spirit. The music industry often does this to people, fame often does this to people. I've seen it happen first hand. I used to think that you could avoid it by being grounded, surrounding yourself with other grounded people and fighting to be normal, but the fact is being famous (especially as famous as Michael was) is not normal or natural and will effect you (more often then not negatively).

Michael Jackson influenced almost every artist that came after him or during his reign over popular music. He was hands down the most well known human being on the planet for years. I heard some one say on television today "he sacrificed his childhood for us" and this is not far from true. I would say more clearly that his childhood was sacrificed.



His life was obviously a twisted and distorted one from his childhood and this undoubtedly effected his psychology in too many upsetting was to even mention. He had an obsession with being young forever. His ranch was called 'Neverland' he had a fixation on Peter Pan and little children. He was 'friends' with little boys like Macaulay Culkin and Emmanuel Lewis and a lot of other children when he was well into his forties and of course there were often allegations of child sexual abuse.

Michaels' identity was skewed beyond recognition and he took it out on his physical appearance so much so that in the last ten years he was often referred to as a freak. I think we got so accustom to the freak Michael we forgot the old Michael, the one we loved, watched and looked up to.



Still, Michael always made music that was in some way socially conscious. He had his hits but he also had songs like We Are The World, Black and White, Earth Song, They Don't Really Care About Us, Heal the World, In Our Small Way and so many more, on every project that he put out. I think we forget sometimes in all the craziness that a part from making huge hits like Thriller he was always a socially conscious artist of sorts.



Today I remembered that little black boy that influence my life so much. Looking at the old clips of him performing with his brothers you can't help but be sad at what that life and that amazing talent did to that little boy. He was an amazing spirit and even in his skewed view of reality, his narcissism and strange acts, you kind of knew that he was a gentle spirit with good intentions despite his extremely warped view of the world and what it made him do.



Rest in Peace big brother.. you were far from perfect but you were a force to be reckoned with and you influenced my life personally so much when I was growing up that I can't deny your power and your magic.. with all due respect.. Ian Kamau

September Nine Mixtape (Download)

download mixtape at...

http://www.zshare.net/download/616892724d78a9fe/


also available at...

http://www.iankamau.podomatic.com (as well as Sketches podcasts 1-5)


album 09.09.09

So.. my blog is usually about ideas but I'm going to start posting more regularly and putting up some of my music and projects as well. I know this blog isn't really active (some folks have complained) I'm going to try to post more interesting stuff more regularly that doesn't require me sitting down and thinking hard about how the world needs to change (although I'm not going to stop doing that either)...

No coincidence that this is coming out on the first day of summer... enjoy

peace... k

The Culture of Entitlement...

The Culture of Entitlement.. a short extempo/freestyle by ian kamau...

wrote this in an email to a white male friend of mine this morning and thought i would like to share it... it was a response to a white male attending a 'all female' gathering for a girl program in Nairobi, Kenya... posted it on my blog too... i think this conversation between groups of people with different kinds of power and privilege is important to have not only amongst ourselves but between different people who are on different sides of this conversation....

http://www.iankamau.blogspot.com / http://www.iankamau.podomatic.com

Sorry about the punctuation.. I know it can be annoying.. No pictures in this blog.. just thoughts.. I haven't posted in a long time because I tend to only write when I really feel like sharing something in public.. but I'm going to try to start posting more often if not regularly this summer..

Most people who belong to the dominant culture (that's europeans in the case of north america and europe... and some would argue anywhere that has been touched by geographic, economic, social colonization... i.e the caribbean, africa, india, brazil etc. etc. etc… i.e everywhere) have an understanding of the world based on the ever present and all encompassing privilege that they hold in society due to their race and/or culture... whether acknowledged or unacknowledged it is ever-present and over-riding.. they act different in society.. they are treated differently and dealt with differently in society.. this is so all-encompassing that it is the only way most of us know how to deal with society.. the way we have learned.. what we have seen.. how we have been treated.. how we respond... what our privileges have been... men are also obviously the dominant group in society.. so similar things apply when we (men) are in contact with the world.. men are the 'dominant culture' of much/most of the world (in politics, social settings, family structure, religious institutions etc. etc. etc.)..both traditionally and currently.. that means that the dominant cultures/genders way of reacting to things is from a dominant cultural perspective.. that means what you say, how you say it, how you are treated, how you respond to that treatment and... (what we are talking about here)... what you expect and how you expect to be treated.. what is normal by dominant culture standards is actually not normal.. that means.. how the dominant culture/gender is accustom to being treated in this world is actually far from how most of the world gets treated.. this means their 'normal' is actually far better then the majority of the world.. and also means that because this preferential treatment is the 'norm' for them.. it is what they expect.. better (knowingly or unknowingly)...

so.. if you are not really part of another culture or gender.. and don't have people around you who are of that culture or gender.. I mean constantly.. you fall into.. what I affectionately call.. a culture of entitlement.. meaning.. you expect better then most and when you don't get better.. you believe you are entitled to it.. so you push your way into things or respond negatively when a space is not made for you... people who occupy this position often start sentences with phrases like 'well what i'm I supposed to do...' and generally act defensive when questions are posed to them about this issue... that response is based on either 1) sever misunderstanding and/or 2) guilt

this applies to a bunch of different things (europeans, men, people with money, 'higher castes,' straight people, able-bodied people, christians in the west, 'good-looking' people etc. etc.. you get the point)... this mentality combined with privilege is what sends europeans fresh out of university to africa, india, south america and all over the 'developing' world to 'help' .. they come back wearing the clothes, speaking the language and calling them selves 'honorary' members of that society because people have told them that over-there... but they only hold on to the fun/exciting parts and not the everyday life, which includes not only cool shit and laughter but hardship, poverty and oppression... when people of those cultures who are politically aware see these people that resent them because they realize who skewed the perception is as compared to the reality... yes it was great to go and spend all this time in africa.. but would you live in the slums that you worked in? how do you perceive the people? really.

the other side of the coin is that the group that is not dominant (i.e women, people of colour, religions that are not dominant, people with disabilities, gay lesbian bI trans-gendered people, people who don't fall into the standard of beauty etc. etc. etc.) often are not forth-right and direct with the dominant culture because they are accustom to being 'dominated' ..so in some settings for example.. black/african people won't speak openly and honestly about what it means to be black in a european society or women won't speak openly and honestly in mixed company.. so they need their own spaces.. to be comfortable to speak and express their honest opinions..

now.. most of us deal with this quietly.. I disagree with this non-speaking mentality but I understand why people would choose not to speak... often the response (which we spoke about before) can be negative... if that negative response comes from someone who has more economic, political power then you.. or someone for example who is your employer.. well.. you understand.. if that person is your friend (I would argue that a true friend needs to be able to deal with the honest reality of who you are) you risk disagreements with your 'friend' and/or potential end of friendship... so why would you speak.. well.. because you understand that their is something more important at play here.. but many people don't.. saying things like 'how can I be honest when they are in the room' but more often 'I wasn't comfortable' or 'it wasn't a safe space'... again I would say that the world isn't and has never been a 'safe space' and one should speak honestly everywhere and all the time no matter who is around you (not-disrespectfully mind you.. honestly.. there is a difference.. but direct is more often then not interpreted as harsh and cold and angry.. many people say this about me for instance)... but.. when you are trying to nurture that honestly and comfort in people (specifically young people or people who are un-accustom to dealing with issues like this) in a world/culture that is not used to it (canadians are the worst).. it is often essential to have a space that is 'safe' to grow the confidence in people to be able to speak in public in the same way that they speak in more private settings...

a great example of ‘the detriment of honestly’ is my mother.. a black woman filmmaker.. the first of her kind in this country.. who always spoke directly, openly and honestly about issues of race and found it impossible in recent years to be hired by places like the CBC and the NFB (places that she had ten years prior occupied leadership positions in) and other institutions in media, film and television.. despite more then thirty-years of experience in the field.. they said constantly that she was ‘over-qualified’ ..the reality is she would speak about issues of race in film and television… saying things like ‘if this project is about black people in Canada, why are their know black people working anywhere but in front of the camera?.. it is only right that we hire black crew’ ..when they said their was no black crew to be found in Toronto (a completely ridiculous, closed minded and ignorant statement).. she would break out the binder full of crew of people of colour (writers, directors, ADs, editors, DPs, grips, lighting etc etc)… black people would work if my mother worked… but then she couldn’t get work anymore.. glass ceiling.. now she lives in Philadelphia.. I’m worried the same will happen to me at some point..

I say all that to say this.. people who are part of the dominant culture, if they say serious about making positive changes in themselves and in-tern society need to be not just aware but hyper-aware of who they are and the spaces they occupy.. they need to be hyper-aware of how they deal with people and what they assume.. and have to open to hard conversations like this one.. they need to be hyper-aware of their privileged and what it means.. that means not be embarrassed of it but aware and accepting of it and the reality of it and what it means.. with themselves, with their friends, with their co-workers etc etc.. they need to understand when their is a situation where people tell them 'this is only for us' .. and be hyper-aware if they happen to end up in that space.. they should know to only do what they need to do.. and exit.. out of respect and understanding...

I use an analogy when speaking about privilege sometimes that goes like this. Imagine your father owned a house and my father owned a house.. one day your father decided to kidnap my father, steal his house and his land and call it his own.. we were born and grew up.. if I, the son of my father, being aware of the kidnap of my father and the theft of his house walked up to your door after both of our fathers had passed and said.. ‘you know what.. I want my house back.. this was my fathers house’ ..would you feel entitled to that house because you grew up in it? That is what I mean when I say ‘the culture of entitlement’ ..ask the first nations people about that analogy or anyone who has had a history of colonization and/or slavery …the funny thing is that it seems like it is completely impractical to say ‘no.. actually... this is mine’ in this day and age.. you will be called a ‘radical’ by even the most ‘liberal’ of people.. but that’s the world we live in.. if the canadian or American governments suddenly said… ‘we are giving all of the stolen land back to the first nations people for them to decide what to do with it because our appropriation of it was unjust from the beginning’ how many of us would give up our house, our parents house, our cottage willingly because that would be the just thing to do? That is the culture of entitlement.. we are all guilty of it.. the question is how aware of it are we?

peace (comes in conversation)

ik.

Paradigm Shift...

On November 4th 2008 it was announced the Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States of America. There has been a lot of conversation about what he will do as president and how he will do it. It is true that he has a lot that he needs to do if he wants to change the state of America and it's relations with the world. It is obviously an uphill battle. I've told many people in the last few days that I think that most likely his presidency will reflect the administration of Bill Clinton. There has been a lot of talk about Obama playing the centre and uniting the country. He is not a "radical" or a "socialist" as many right-wing folks have tried to label him this is obvious (he is not Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Bobby Seal or Dedan Kimathi) what he does seem to have however is a strong awareness and intelligence that will help him to work towards the things that he has spoken about over the course of his long campaign. I think the best we can do is wait and see what he will do before we begin to define him in one way or another. Barack Obama's actions will tell us who he is and what kind of a leader he will be in the future, hope and speculation cannot tell us that. Americans and people all over the world should not pretend that Obama is perfect and will not make mistakes and we should not hesitate to call him on his decisions if and when he makes bad ones.



But....what I really want to speak about here is the paradigm shift that has just happened in the United States and all over the world. I don't mean paradigm shift in the sense that things will drastically change in the world because of the election of the first black president but what I do mean is that a radical change in perception (and reality) has happened literally over night on November 4 and 5, 2008.

Obama has been defined as a black man. I don't want to assume that he defines himself as simply as this (like many assumed that Tiger Woods, another person of mixed race and heritage defined himself as black) but I do know that the world sees him as a black man.



The shift that has occurred is due to what would be defined in law as a precedent. A precedent in law is a case serving as an example to be followed. In this case it is something that has never happened before, the election of a black president in the United States of America. The precedent means one thing for America in general but often something different for black America and for black/African people around the world. It means that something deemed impossible for generations (including many youth today) is in fact a possibility. This belief in what is possible might seem a small thing to some who might say "ya, he's black, so what" but essentially knowing that it was impossible for the majority of my life and then a few days ago seeing happen was amazing to me. I walked different the next day, I felt proud that someone who looked like me could do what generations had hoped for but most still believed would never happen.

The anger and fear that many have expressed has also been interesting to watch, people showing their true colours (so to speak). One woman on who was interviewed on BBC simply said "Obama scares me" after explaining why she voted for John McCain. The shift has occurred in all kinds of people who believed it couldn't, wouldn't or shouldn't happen simultaneously.

The moment that I thought was the most beautiful was not when the major news networks began to announce that he would be the next president but rather when the announcer at the stadium in Chicago said "ladies and gentlemen, the next first family of the United States of America" and Barack Hussein Obama, his wife and his two little girls walked out on the stage in front of tens of thousands of people. To think that the next family that occupies the White House will be a family that looks not unlike mine.



Maybe then that means that the decision makers in the most powerful nations of the world and the seats that they occupy might begin to look like, well, the actual world. Maybe then it is possible for the power to actually be balanced. Maybe the leaders of the most diverse nations on the face of the planet will actually be, well, diverse. Where the colour of you skin or your religious (or non-religious associations) or your gender or your sexual orientation will not be a block to certain parts of the society as they presently are. Maybe we can stop talking about "reverse racism" and start talking about Eurocentrism and contemporary white supremacy, or maybe that's too radical.

The bottom line is a lot of minds changed, a lot of minds opened up, a lot of people believed in things that they never believed in before after the night of November 4th, 2008. Regardless of whether we recognize that change or not, a whole lot changed instantly that night. Now what Barack Obama does is another story but the fact that he as a chance to do it is the most beautiful part of this whole thing for me (so far).

As a friend of mine said to me on the night of the election "all things in due time."



....k

Obama...'08

“Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked, so Obama could run. Obama is running so our children can fly....”

The reality of Barack Obama as a president has yet to be seen but the energy that he has created as a presidential canidate has been interesting to watch to say the least. Obama has not restored faith in the system but he has inspired hope for change in the White House. If however he plays the same American political game that the world is accustom to seeing politicians play he could potentially destroy this hope for change as quickly as he created it and make it spiral downward beyond the dismal point that it is at now. Barack Obama is not a Messiah so people should not treat him as such, what he is is an intelligent, hardworking and seemingly trustworthy man, but he is also a politician. The reality of his leadership in America may not reflect his words on the campaign trail, we should not expect it to (although that doesn't mean we shouldn't hope for it). We will see what he chooses to do and what he actually has the ability to do (what the powers that be will let him do) and how hard he will push or push back to make things better in America and in the world. The resume and the job interview is not in fact the job.



On a symbolic level the idea of Obama or any other black person (person of colour, or woman, non-christian, non-heterosexual, or person from any historically marginalized group) being the leader/figurehead of the United States (currently the most powerful nation on the planet) was unimaginable until very recently. The significance of having anyone who is not an white male in the White House is immense both nationally and internationally because of perception of power and politics. Now everyday people will have more faith in the idea that America and in tern the western world might not always have to be controlled by rich people of European decent.



Obama has also greatly inspired the ignorance and fear of people and these feelings have been seeping (gushing in some cases) out of them directly and indirectly since his campaign started. From these ridiculous "Joe the Plumber" references to the Barack Hussain Obama middle name issue to statements about personal fear and black power. The idea of a black man of direct African decent, with a arabic middle name frightens many ignorant people quite a lot apparently. In fact it exposes a distinct perspective and a clear lack of trust for what is often described as "the other." The funny thing is that "the other" is the majority of the world, insane to think that many believe although they don't want to admit that they are more comfortable with certain people (as criminal as they may be) being the political and power centre of the world? Interestingly enough the polls have shown that people of colour (who have traditionally been disenfranchised in North America and the western world), young people (who typically don't vote because they don't see the point and are apathetic because of lack of hope), and people of higher education (and I would argue higher awareness) have largely voted for Obama. Less educated, under-experienced (often the religious right) and generally close minded people seem to sway more towards the McCain camp.



It has been funny to watch and read the news and hear Obama being called a terrorist and a Muslim. I think we can all agree that nobody is interested in having a terrorist president in office in the states although the last eight years hasn't been too far off from that. I've grown tired of hearing Obama describe himself as having a "funny name" the reality is he doesn't have a "funny name" he has an African name, it's as funny as Dick or Jane as far as I'm concerned. The funniest part of the whole thing is that although he is not Muslim, very few people in the media have actually asked the question "what is wrong with being a Muslim?" The statements about Obama being a "closet Muslim" have regularly been made with an seemingly inherent understanding that being Muslim is a bad thing and something to be hated and not trusted, such ignorance, don't we live in a secular society? The idea of secular society is that no religion enters into politics because of the fact that the society is comprised of people of many different faiths and non-faiths. Secular society ensures that all people will all views can be a part of society without facing discrimination based on what they believe. Secular society is not anti-religious it is pro-diversity in believe but it seems any vague association with non-christians (Obama's father was raised Musilm and didn't see his son beyond the age of ten.) So again, people seem to feel more comfortable with what they know, white, rich, christian, male...running the country, and any suggestion of anything other then that is met with fear and ignorant comments like "he's a Muslim" which although it is just not a fact seems to be a major point of anguish for people who most likley don't know anything about Islam save Malcom X, Osama Bin Laden and September 11th (i.e. nothing). Regardless Obama's election to the White House will only see more ignorant and slanderous comments and we will begin to understand a little more about how ignorant some folks are in this world.





In Canada we arrogantly pride ourselves on being more progressive, more tolerant and often more intelligent then our neighbours south of the border yet "we" just re-elected a conservative prime minister with the lowest voter turnout since, well, ever. This last federal election only 59.1% of Canadians voted. This incredibly low voter turnout I'm sure is as much about lack of personality as it is about peoples lack of faith in the system. Personally as soon as I was of voting age I began voting, ten years later I admit I haven't voted in an election in quite sometime, I don't believe it's good but I'm also terribly uninspired by my choice of people to vote for, none represent me in the slightest so why should I waste my time? (unfortunately the answer is Stephen Harper...again.) I'm not sure how Obama will affect us here in Canada but I'm certain I have no interest in seeing a Harper/McCain North America. I think we've had enough cowboys and 'mavricks' in power...





After all of this I still think that most wonderful part of this entire thing would be seeing a black woman and two little black girls playing on the White House lawn. As a simple symbol the idea that a black family will inhabit the White House for at least four years will drastically change the perception of powerlessness for black people all over the world. Seeing a black woman as first lady, and a black man "commander and chief" will in fact alter the "hearts and minds" of the entire world. For the older generation I hope it will be a validation of all they had to go through to get as to us (their children) to this point and will inspire a new hope in young people about what their true potential is in the world. It will not be a far-fetched dream for me to tell my future children then they will be able to be Prime Minister one day. I hope that it will mean that people in general can envision people of colour, women and men occupying the highest positions of power all over the world and maybe that will mean we are a step closer to where we need to be as human beings.



I guess we can.

Ian Kamau | Nov 3, 2008

More of The Same...

(sigh)

Well…more of the same…I thought publishing a brief post on the above issue would be appropriate because of my last blog post. So continuing on the theme of peoples warped psychology and skewed sense of humor is this months (April 2008) Vogue cover. The cover itself doesn’t say much to me other then the same old, big angry black guy will a basketball stereotype, nothing new, but when my boy Taiwo sent me both this and an old King Kong poster today the problem became much clearer to me.

I think I’ve spoken enough about the psychology it takes to create images and parallels like this without seeing a problem so I won’t bore you with another rant about that but I just thought this should be seen and spoken about. I’m not sure why this was created and why these parallels were drawn but it seems that this is not at all a mere coincidence.

I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine about white supremacy, not in the typical way that people discuss white supremacy (i.e the KKK, skinheads and the like) but everyday white supremacy, the type of supremacy that we seem to accept in out day-to-day lives.

We all live in a society that is dominated by the thoughts and systems of a particular group of people. This is a simple and clear reality. As enlightened as some of us might be we (and I do mean we) have Eurocentric and white supremacist world-view. I say “we” because all of us have been influenced by and raised in societies that are dominated by the ideas, standards, ethics and systems of Europeans. These systems and ideas were spread by colonialism they are now spread by popular culture, media and foreign policy. Whether you live in the western world or the east you have been influenced (at least) by the Eurocentric perspective. I don’t believe that all of these systems and ideas are bad, I do however think that they are only a small fraction of the ideas and systems that exist in the world and there is no reason why we should see the entire picture.

What does it take for this cover or the cartoons published in my last post to exist? It takes an idea in the mind of a person and a world view that doesn’t see an issue with making a statement like this; and it is a clear and well defined statement, similar to the cartoon published in the Globe and Mail last month.

For us (black people and people of colour) it is a kind of double consciousness (as stated by W.E.D. Dubois in his book The Souls of Black Folk) seeing the world from two perspectives, our own and the Eurocentric one. For progressive white folks it is a matter of true awareness and understanding of this in them-selves (if you deny this or become defensive you’re probably part of the problem)…and for others it is probably just the way that they understand the world (i.e republican politics).

This magazine cover, the first one in the 116 year history of Vogue to carry an image of a black man, is making comparisons to black people, people of African decent and giant gorillas. We should call it what it is, another white supremacist world view and more of the same.

…

k

Sambo Alive & Well...'08

Funny how people see the world…I’m a little late on this I know



On Feb 18th, 2008 a cartoon was published in The Globe & Mail that depicts a clueless black teacher in a classroom pointing to a chalkboard full of confused math problems, the heading of the cartoon simply read “Afro-centric Algebra.” The teacher is portrayed as a fool with a foolish look on his face and a phrase put in his mouth that simply reads “S’up Dog?”

This isn't much different then thing kind of ignorance that was exhibited in the creation and printing of the cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban...



I’m sure that most reasonably intelligent people of basic self and social awareness would see a major problem with the psychology behind the creation and publication of a cartoon like this but the illustrator, the editor of the Globe and the Globe & Mail itself have found no problem.

The cartoon surrounds the debate about black focused schools in Toronto. The illustrator of this cartoon and The Globe & Mail (as much as I’m sure they have tried to absolve themselves of the responsibility of publishing this clearly racist and condescending cartoon) found the idea of black focused schools to be so ridiculous a thought that this cartoon was published without seeing any issue with it. The premier of Ontario has gone as far as to describe the idea of black focused schools as being a new form of segregation.

“Ontario “won’t hesitate” to prevent the segregation of kids according to race by quashing a proliferation of black-focused schools across the province if other school boards start following Toronto’s lead,”

-Premier Dalton McGuinty

Segregation was a system imposed on black people who were largely powerless by whites who held (and still hold) the majority in power in the world. If we look the landscape of the contemporary Canada, the systems of law, politics, education, economics, media and social life are still guided and controlled by Eurocentric values, ideology, politics, education and power. This should be no surprise to anyone who looks honestly at our system. Even in a country as “diverse” as Canada this diversity is not reflected in most positions of decision-making and power.

The reality is that we live in an unequal society. The education that we receive here is not at all reflective of the people that live here and are in the school system and the Premier has such low understanding of the situation that he will say that “Ontario won’t hesitate to prevent the segregation of kids according to race by quashing a proliferation of black-focused schools across the province.” Maybe then Mr. McGuinty should “quash” the proliferation of Eurocentric schools as well (that would probably be a much bigger job though). Would he say the same about Catholic schools? Is it possible for men who have been the backbone of a patriarchal system since it’s inception to teach women about themselves?

I had one black teacher from grade one until I left high school. I went to Oakwood Collegiate. In 1996 at the age of 16 we got a young black teach by the name of Jamil Kalim. It was the second year of an Afican Civilizations course that older students at the school involved in the black students association at Oakwood (Afro-Can) fought to get. This course and this teacher inspired us. He was invested in us as young people who were part of the same community. In class and outside of class he dedicated himself to us. We learned about ourselves and saw that it was possible to do what we wanted to do in life. He was my only black teacher in my entire secondary and elementary life. He was also the first person that forced me on stage for my first performance. We need to know about ourselves

Now I’m not saying the black focused school supported (in some way) by the board of education are the way to solve the inequality in what the education teaches, but it is an option.

The second thing I want to talk about is this cartoon…



I’ll keep this brief and only say that the mentality required to create and publish a cartoon such as this brings images of Sambo, watermelon and alligators into my head. The cartoon of the Prophet Muhammed also comes to mind. The cartoon suggests that there is nothing valid about black focused schools. That black focused schools would be an ignorant step down from our current system of schooling and that a black teacher such as the one portrayed in the illustration would have little to offer his students. Unfortunate but not surprising that this skewed and blatantly racist mentality exposes itself in what was meant as a “joke” (for more examples of overt and underlying racist humour please see The Simpsons and Seinfield). The profound lack of understanding and respect for not only the idea of black focused schools but also black people in general is so apparent in this cartoon that you would have to be either an incredible unaware fool or an outright racist not to see a problem.


Here are some people who might like to hear from you regarding the ignorance of this cartoon...

pcrawley@globeandmail.com

egreenspon@globeandmail.com

Barbara.Hall@ohrc.on.ca

cco@ohrc.on.ca

letters@globeandmail.com

http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/default.asp


I’ve posted a few more examples of pure artistic ignorance on the blog for your viewing pleasure…sad but true...examples of stereotypes, ignorance and misunderstanding.

k.





Reminds me of a couple of other things I've seen out in the world before....







nuff said.....k