A radio interview program. “Urban Agenda” is a celebrated Twin Cities forum for dismantling race and racism, for creating community connections and engaging in collaborative problem solving.
Tune in for interviews with Dr. Yusef Salaam (Exonerated Five) and author Ibi Zoboi, about their book, ‘Punching the Air’! Following that dynamic conversation, I facilitated a panel with National Book Award Finalists Pamela Sneed (Funeral Diva), Frank Wilderson (Afropessimism), and Adam Smyer (You Can Keep That To Yourself) on personal narrative as political struggle!
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/tcbf20-personal-2
Let me know if you dig it!
This headline in the ‘Education Post’ grabbed me. What? To better education outcomes for Black students, schools need to change how they teach White students? I dig it!
Please join me in this segment of ‘Urban Agenda’ with my guest, Nahliah Webber, the Executive Director of the Orleans Public Education Network, to critically examine and reimagine public education!
Nahliah Webber, the Executive Director of the Orleans Public Education Network, is dedicated to disrupting education practices that negatively impact Black students and their intersections in the US and beyond. She holds double bachelor’s degrees, Magna Cum Laude, from Sweet Briar College and a master’s from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, where she focused on racialized school policies and practices.
Nahliah teaches us how to make education equity a VERB! Listen to the young people!
https://educationresearchalliancenola.org/events/live-discussion-voices-of-new-orleans-youth
“No persons of any race other than the Aryan race shall use or occupy any building or any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant.” – Mapping Prejudice, A Racial Housing Covenant from Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Join me in this segment of ‘Urban Agenda’ with my guest Kirsten Delegard, co-founder of ‘Mapping Prejudice’!
“This research is showing what communities of color have known for decades. Structural barriers stopped many people who were not white from buying property and building wealth for most of the last century.
map
/map/
verb
gerund or present participle: mapping
represent (an area) on a map; make a map of.
In Minneapolis, these restrictions served as powerful obstacles for people of color seeking safe and affordable housing. They also limited access to community resources like parks and schools. Racial covenants dovetailed with redlining and predatory lending practices to depress homeownership rates for African Americans. Contemporary white residents of Minneapolis like to think their city never had formal segregation. But racial covenants did the work of Jim Crow in northern cities like Minneapolis.
prej·u·dice
/ˈprejədəs/
noun
noun: prejudice; plural noun: prejudices
preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
This history has been willfully forgotten. So we created Mapping Prejudice to shed new light on these historic practices. We cannot address the inequities of the present without an understanding of the past.” – Mapping Prejudice
In 2020, Minneapolis stands out for its parks, the health of its residents and a whole host of other positive categories…if you’re white. If you’re black, it is an entirely different reality, Minneapolis is also home to some of the worst disparities in the United States, including for the education of black students. Segregation 2020.
seg·re·ga·tion
/ˌseɡrəˈɡāSH(ə)n/
Learn to pronounce
noun
noun: segregation
the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart.
“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” – George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, Inaugural Address, 1963. How did he know?
“They (incarcerated people) are a dream constituency. You don’t have to build them any roads, or schools, or develop any new infrastructure to support them….and they can’t vote you out.” – Andrew Virgen, Director of Census Operations and Engagement, State of Minnesota
Incarcerated people are counted in the facilities in which they are imprisoned, not in the communities that the majority of people will return to. This means that concentrated centers of wealth are built, on the backs of the incarcerated, across small Minnesota towns that fight to build and maintain prisons. Lino Lakes, Moose Lakes, Duluth, Sandstone, real people, real towns, real people, real power, concentrated, every ten years, until the next Census.
From the Constitutional Convention of 1787 the mandate is given for a count of United States citizens to take place every ten years. The number of House of Representatives seats in Congress would be determined based on that count. The dilemma? How to count the enslaved black people of the South who numbered so many while the Northern States, smaller and fewer in number wanted equal representation. The ‘answer’ – the 3/5 Compromise. Human-beings, Black people, black human-beings, counted, as persons and property.
The result of the debate set forth in Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution was a compromise, incorporating ideas of both property and person: Population would be calculated by adding “the whole Number of free persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed,” plus “three fifths of all other Persons.” Those “other Persons,” of course, were slaves. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-three-fifths-compromise-rationalizing-the-irrational/
Join me in studio with Kelsey Dawson Walton, Hennepin County Engagement Division Manager and Hennepin County Census Engagement Lead; Andrew Virden, Director of Census Operations and Engagement with the state of Minnesota; Jolie Wood, with Ramsey County she is a Policy Analyst and Ramsey County Census Lead; and Bihie, local community organizer and Director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center and Hennepin County Census Engagement Partner as we rap about the myths and realities of being counted for black people.
A definition: Transracial or transcultural adoption means placing a child who is of one race or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another race or ethnic group. In the United States these terms usually refer to the placement of children of color or children from another country with Caucasian adoptive parents. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/f_trans.pdf
Another definition: Transracial adoption refers to the process of placing a child who is of one race or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another race or ethnic group.”In the U.S., transracial adoption is the placement of children of color or children from another country with Caucasian adoptive parents. ” https://definitions.uslegal.com/t/transracial-adoption/
One of the themes that emerges across ‘transracial’ adoptee experiences is that of the white savior. You, adoptee, are so lucky that we chose you to be a part of our family, to share our resources, to gain access to our privileges…. I wonder, given the two definitions above, two of the top choices on Google… is there a correlation?
In this segment of Urban Agenda, I’m joined by Author & Founder of ‘More Than A Single Story’, Dr. Carolyn Holbrook, Dr. Jonathan Lofgren, and Melissa Olson to talk about their experiences as adoptees and children of transracial adoptees. It’s a powerful listen. I hope you can dig it!
Aluta Continua.
Author Aundria Sheppard Morgan has just released her latest book, ‘Smiling is not Resilience, an Unfinished Memoir’, an invitation to walk with Aundria as she meets pain, heartache, illness, and unimaginable loss with such deep honesty as to compel me, as a reader, to examine my own grief.
In this work, Author Sheppard Morgan also redefines ‘resilience’, resisting the American tendency to wrap life’s tragedies into neat bows that lead to a stronger heroine at the ‘end’ of every grief. She also resists the mythologies of the ‘strong black woman’ with every part of the story she tells.
Listen in with me as Aundria shares her life experiences so candidly as to give every listener permission to sit with our grief(s), until we can pause to examine them, to reflect on the ways that we are changed, and to land wherever we land, no bow required.
We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Thank you, Aundria, for taking off the mask!
Join me in studio with Ayo and Adrian Mack, Co-Founders of The Black Family Blueprint. How are Black relationships impacted by the disruption of enslavement? How is Black love marketed to Black people? Who shapes the expectations for Black love?
Join us to learn more about how “Black love is Black wealth”! (Wisdom shared from Nikki Giovanni)
You can connect with Ayo and Adrian here! https://blackfamilyblueprint.com
“We didn’t exist in the other papers. We weren’t born, we didn’t get married, we didn’t die, we didn’t fight in any wars, we didn’t contribute anything of significant achievement.. we were truly invisible.. unless we committed a crime. The Black Press! The Negro Press! We did get married! They showed us our babies being born! They showed us graduating! They showed our PhDs! ” – The Black Press, Soldiers Without Swords
Join me in studio with my guest, Harry Colbert Jr. , Managing Editor and Award-Winning Writer at Insight News, as we ruminate on the necessity of our beloved Black Press, from the home of The (Western) Appeal, the first Minnesota-published African American newspaper to gain national readership under the editorship of Frederick D. Parker!
Aluta Continua!
“…keep on throwing pride for me…and I…will…be…okay. 🎼 ” – Tish Jones
Tish Jones: Poet, Artist, Educator, Lover of Words, Founder and Executive Director, TruArt Speaks!
I call her ‘Liberation Theologian’ because every time she speaks, 🗣, she is liberating minds, challenging us to confront our fears, teaching us about how to create authentic relationships with young people, and inspiring us to believe that “We gon’ be alright!” –
Warning: She spits fire 🔥!
“I’m going to release my new book, ‘The Past is Perfect: A Memoir of a Father Son Reunion.” Author Alexs Pate, in studio with me in late fall 2019. “I want to talk about that absence, but also about the reunification of this family.”
“There is a space between my son and me, an emptiness. It happened over a twelve year period. It’s dark and cavernous there. Voices disappear there. No echo. He lived and had experiences, I lived and had experiences, we were separate. But knowing that the empty space exists only makes me want to know him more…”
Join me and my guest, Alexs Pate, who’s teaching us about the pain of loss and the possibility and power of reunification of fathers and their children. For every Black man who has ever lived under the myths about your absence from your children, this is for you.
In this segment of Urban Agenda, I’m in studio with Rekhet Si-Asar, Founder of ‘Ink Black Ink’, and Lesley Anne Brown, Author of ‘Decolonial Daughter: Letters from a Black Woman to her European Son‘. Join us as we explore myriad issues that are a part of living as black women in the world, and our strivings to celebrate ourselves and our sisters!
In Black Ink (IBI) has made it their purpose to make sure the stories of Minnesota’s black communities are heard. With a FUBU (For Us, By Us) mentality, IBI strives to capture the untold stories of African heritage Minnesotans by creating and publishing a database of black writers, editors, illustrators, distribution reps and other publishing.
A Trinidadian-American writer and activist explores motherhood, migration, identity, nationhood and how it relates to land, imprisonment, and genocide for Black and Indigenous peoples. Having moved to Copenhagen, Denmark from Brooklyn over 18 years ago, Brown attempts to contextualise her and her son’s existence in a post-colonial and supposedly post-racial world where the very machine of so-called progress has been premised upon the demise of her lineage. Through these letters, Brown writes the past into the present – penned from the country that has been declared “The Happiest Place in the World” – creating a vision that is a necessary alternative to the dystopian one currently being bought and sold.
This is a powerful listen!
I hope you can dig it!
(Re)Learning a (New) Language …. In Black
“When I hear Black people saying, “Man, nothing’s happening with our people. We’re making no progress. It seems like we’re standing in place”, I think of Moody Greene and the 200-meter dash!
When we were coming up in middle school, Moody Greene was our runner. He had terrible form for the 200-meter, wagging his head back and forth as he ran, a fact that frustrated his coach and fans, that is, until Moody won the race, when the end ultimately justified the means.
As Moody would round the corner, people would shout, “Where’s Moody? I can’t see him! He’s nowhere to be found!” It never failed, though, that as soon as all of the runners were visible on the track, there was our Moody, out front, leading the way to the finish line!
“This”, Mahmoud said, “is analogous to the struggle of Black people in the 21st century, we can’t yet see around the corner, but as soon as we do, we will see our Moody, spearheading the road to our freedom, all the way to the finish line.””
Professor Mahmoud El-Kati, Professor of American History at Macalester College
My mentor, intellectual hero and friend, shared his love of black people in the telling of this story. This is the genesis of ‘Urban Agenda’, a desire to share our history, left for us in literature, art, mythology, story, custom, language and culture by our Ancestors. It is my belief that examination and reflection at the intersection of our history and present will help us to better understand ourselves, each other, and our contributions to the world!
In this post, I share ‘The Hiptionary: A Survey of African American Speech Patterns with A Digest of Key Words and Phrases’. I hope you dig it!
They want me to remember. They want me to remember their memories, but I keep on remembering mine.
— Lucille Clifton.
Hey Beauty!
Welcome to your Urban Agenda!
If you’ve ever listened to a segment of ‘Urban Agenda’ you know that we hold space ‘in the village’, a beloved community of our making and remaking, a place where black lives, perspectives and contributions are amplified and celebrated!
“Language can invent anything, so make your own definitions and live as if!” In the wisdom of James Baldwin, words matter. When I say “Beauty”, I mean YOU, the listener/reader/scholar/student/critic. “Fat on That Head” under “Signify! Testify!? My way of sharing information that I hope you will share to inspire others to see Black peoples and cultures through the lens of human-beings rather than through the myths of ‘race’. When I ask, “Can you dig it?” I ask as it is defined in The Hiptionary, 1.”To understand, to comprehend, to be in the know. 2. A signature word in the rise of bebop language. Dig suggests to go deeper into something, to make sure you comprehend. Circa 1930s and 1940s bebop.
One more thing you should know before you decide to read or listen. I love, LOVE, Love, lOVE, LOve, LOVe, LOVE Black peoples and cultures and that is the basis for this work!
Hope you dig it!
Lissa
Mr. George Floyd, Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 26, 2020
George Floyd told them he couldn’t breathe, and for nine minutes, the Minneapolis police kept their literal knees on his neck. Even with knees on his neck, his life being stolen from him, he still chose respect, to use the word officer. I’m struck by this, stuck on this. Officer.
I’m so hurt for Mr. Floyd’s beloveds, and I’m so hurt for our village. One more Beauty lost the myth of race and the realities of racism Professor Mahmoud teaches us about. Another loss, another wound, another hurt, another terrible testimony.
July 17, 2014 “I can’t breathe!” – This time, the voice is that of Eric Garner. A man who was accused of selling loose cigarettes on the street, the police arrive, video is rolling, Mr. Garner is dead.
Repeat.
May 26, 2020 “I can’t breathe officer” – This time his name is George Floyd. Mr. Floyd is accused of forgery, the police arrive, video is rolling, Mr. Floyd is dead.
May the Ancestors walk Mr. Floyd home as the poet Sonia Sanchez said she walked Tupac home.
“What a beautiful boy to lose.” – Nikki Giovanni for Tupac Shakur, 1999
Conundrum: A confusing and difficult problem.
Bill Cosby: Stand Up Comedian, Actor, Author, Musician, Creator (Fat Albert), A Brand!
Bill Cosby: Convicted Sex Offender.
Bill Cosby: Black Man. In prison.
Not in prison: Not Matt Lauer. Not Harvey Weinstein. Not Louis C.K. Not Moonves. Not John Hockenberry. Only Cosby.
The Cosby Conundrum.
Aluta Continua.
