September 2014
n a i l l i v e z n o r B e th Michael Brown
Jordan Davis
nt Suppleme A newsletter from the An electronic newsletter from the Department of African African American American and and African African Studies Studies Community Extension Extension Center Center Community
Oscar Grant
Trayvon Martin
The Continuing Racial Dilemma By: Ted Bagley
Features Pages 1,3: The Continuing Racial Dilemma – Ted Bagley Pages 6-8: Open Air Prisons, Democracy for Africans – Turwanire Mandla Upcoming Events Page 4: Senior Citizen Movie Matinee Page 5: Black Girls: The Silent Crisis Page 9: Rites of Passage September Meeting
Though I agree that racism is alive and well in our country, Ferguson, Missouri, is simply a symptom of a more prolific problem of not respecting ourselves. This dilemma tends to perpetuate the larger issue of institutional racism in this country, which promotes the lack of respect we receive from others. As the economy has gotten worse, the “have and have nots” have become a larger divide. The elimination of the middle class has had huge implications on all people and specifically people of color. Those who have to struggle to break the choking grip of poverty have found themselves thrust back into the ranks of the “have nots” and that seems to be ok with those in power. Those who have been fortunate enough to rise above the fray, from an economic stand-point, have failed to reach back either through personal or financial involvement in their communities. Though the number of Black millionaires has grown substantially, primarily because of professional sports, entertainment, and education, our dollars are not pooled to make any type significant difference in our communities. We have few banks, investment firms, and significant real estate initiatives and we spend more than we save. We allow ourselves to be divided economically, socially, and politically. A strong culture can’t be built on a shaky foundation. We should put down the gangs, violence, disrespect for our women, spending and not investing, leaving children without direction, and not being involved in the political process and pick up an understanding of what’s being done to us and not for us. We must do everything possible to demand, through our actions, respect from those who are looking for reasons to not do so. Racism is alive and well both inside and outside of our communities because we often allow it. Our young Black men will continue to be killed in alarming numbers because it’s “open season” and our system of justice gives no balance to the scale. Let’s not give the bad elements of the system an excuse because, believe me, they are looking for one. The system is not bad; it’s the people that are allowed to manipulate it for their own racist objectives that are the problem. continued on page 3
Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413
Phone: (614) 292-3922 Fax: (614) 292-3892 http://aaascec.osu.edu aaascec@osu.edu
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of the CEC 12Core Programs 6 T he Ohio State University’s AAAS Community Extension Center is the outreach component of the Department of African American and African Studies. The CEC is one of the few off-campus facilities of its kind in the nation. Originally housed at two different locations on Ohio Avenue, the CEC moved to its current location in 1986. The CEC plays an integral role in enhancing the life chances of those who live in and around the Mount Vernon Avenue Area. Toward that end, the CEC offers an array of programs at no or nominal cost to the public. Programs include, but are not limited to, the following: conferences, symposia, computer classes, credit and noncredit courses, summer programs, lecture series, and film series. People from all walks of life have participated in these programs. Based on evaluations of our programs and personal testimonies, the CEC is having an impact on residents living in and around the Bronzeville Neighborhood.
1 Black Veterans Day Salute During the salute, Black men and women from Ohio who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces are publicly recognized. Since the salute’s inception in 2006, the CEC has honored Vietnam War veterans (2007), Korean War veterans (2008), African-American servicewomen (2009), World War II veterans (2010), Gulf War Era veterans (2011) ,Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans (2012) and Black Civil War Veterans (2013)
2 Ray Miller Institute for Change & Leadership This 10-week long leadership course trains young Black professionals from the Columbus community in various areas of leadership. The Institute was founded in 2006 by former State Senator and Minority Whip Ray Miller. Miller has built a reputation as a strong advocate for those who have historically not had access to power. Admission to the Institute is highly competitive. The Institute is offered during OSU’s autumn and spring semesters with the support of OSU’s Office of Continuing Education. Participants who complete the course receive three CEU credits.
3 Senior Citizens Movie Matinee The movie matinee is a chance for senior citizens to watch a film that otherwise might be cost prohibitive in an accommodating environment. A discussion, usually led by an OSU professor or administrator, is held at the end of the film.
4 Computer Literacy Program Throughout the academic year, the CEC offers free and reduced-cost computer technology courses. The program is geared toward seniors but open to everyone. Courses include the following: Senior Computer Orientation, Internet, Email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher.
5 Lecture Series Presentations given by OSU faculty, students and/or community members about topics pertinent to the Black community.
Math and Science Program
The Math and Science Program was established in partnership with the OSU Medical Center in 2003. The Math and Science Program exposes students in grades 4 through 12 to the wonders of math and science using hands-on activities. The purpose of the program is three-fold: 1) To increase competency in math and science among students of color; 2) To expose students of color to math and science related careers; and 3) To encourage students of color to major in math or science. The program meets on the fourth Monday of each month from October to May.
7 Summer Residential Program The Summer Residential Program (SRP) was established in 1999 and is designed to provide students with both an appreciation for and an understanding of African-American and African culture and history. The SRP also helps students strengthen their computer literacy skills. Past themes include: “Entrepreneurship in the Black Community and Economic Freedom” (2013), “The Underground Railroad” (2012), “All Eyez On Me: Deconstructing Images of African-American Women in Hip Hop” (2011), “letz b down: Social Justice Advocacy for Blacks During the American Revolutionary War Era” (2010), “The Low Country: Black Culture, Literacy and History in Charleston, South Carolina” (2009). The program is held every June and is for rising 11th and 12th graders. Students live on OSU’s campus.
8 African Affairs Symposium This one-day symposium brings members of the African American and African communities together to discuss issues of particular interest to Africa. The inaugural symposium in 2007 examined the life of South African civil rights activist Steve Biko. “Africa in the Age of Globalization” was the theme of the 2008 symposium. The 2009 symposium examined the life of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, West Africa. In 2010, the focus was on Pan-Africanism and the Diaspora. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the theme of the 2011 symposium.
9 Summer Enrichment Program This week-long, non-residential day program is designed to help rising 9th and 10th graders improve their reading and writing skills. The program, which was founded in 2009, is hosted annually in June and accepts approximately 15 students.
10 History of Black Columbus Conference This one-day conference celebrates the rich history of African Americans in Columbus and increases awareness of the significant contributions African Americans have made in all areas of city life. This annual conference is held in the spring.
11 Black History Month Forum The forum is in its fourth year and is focused on celebrating African descended peoples from all over the world. This year, documentaries about the following influential Black historical figures were shown: John Henrik Clarke, Kwame Nkrumah, Fannie Lou Hamer, James Baldwin, Minister Elijah Muhummad.
12 Enemies of the State The annual event features activists from America’s most notorious radical organizations, people who pressured America to live up to its highest ideals. In past years, activists from The Revolutionary Action Movement (2013), The Us Organization (2012), and the Black Panther Party (2011) were invited to speak.
About Bronzeville During the 1930s, African-American leaders in Columbus named the predominately African-American neighborhood between the boundaries of Woodland Avenue (East), Cleveland Avenue (West), Broad Street (South) and the railroad tracks (North) “Bronzeville.” The population was approximately 40,000 residents. In 1937, the same African-American leaders elected a mayor of Bronzeville and created an eight member Cabinet to address social, political and economic issues in the neighborhood. Now, as a result of the establishment of several Neighborhood Civic Associations such as the Woodland Civic Association (East) and the Discovery District (West), Bronzeville was reduced to its current boundaries: Taylor Avenue (East), Jefferson Avenue (West), Broad Street (South), and I-670 (North). The Bronzevillian is inspired by this rich history.
CEC Advisory Board Paul Cook Wanda Dillard Francisca Figueroa-Jackson Mark S. Froehlich Ray Miller, former State Senator Lupenga Mphande, Ph.D. William E. Nelson, Jr., Ph.D. (Deceased) *Ike Newsum, Ph.D. and Chair Rick Pfeiffer, City Attorney Thomas Simpson, Ph.D. Reita Smith Charleta Tavares, State Senator Nana Watson
CEC Director *Judson L. Jeffries, Ph.D.
CEC Staff Sarah Twitty Senior Program Coordinator & Fiscal Officer Kevin L. Brooks, Ph.D. Program Coordinator Alecia Shipe Technology Program Coordinator
Address Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center 905 Mount Vernon Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43203-1413 *Ex officio members.
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Without laws, we perish. When these laws are manipulated, we still perish. Somehow and someway we must find a way to reverse this trend. Just an idea… (E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N). I am the father of three young men and one daughter and I make a point to tell my sons to be respectful if they are stopped on the roads and highways in the surrounding communities. I tell them that if they are stopped, answer questions respectfully and live to see another day. Deal with the consequences of a ticket later when out of harm’s way. I tell my daughter to respect herself by requiring that young men, who are in her company, be respectful in how they behave, how they present themselves, and how responsible they are. Keep your standards high and others will see what they will have to aspire to in order to be in your company. Your values and your personal brand is your foundation. Never in the history of this great country have we seen a faction of Congress disrespect the office of the President as we have under this BLACK President. Never before has the House of Representatives refused to support some of the same legislation they were supportive of under a Republican administration. Never before have they so blatantly thumbed their collective noses at situations such as the assault on our young Black and Hispanic men with laws like “stand your ground,” racial profiling, incarceration of innocent men of color, and the astronomically high unemployment rates in the minority communities. These are all signs that the racial divide is expanding in scope and we must tie a knot in it and hold on. I close with… why are we still voting on whether to renew the civil rights act? Why do we still focus on the President’s color and not his credentials? Why are minorities still profiled on the city streets and airports of our nation? Why, because racial equity and diversity inclusion are viewed as unnecessary entities and this shows why the American experience with racial justice is still in handcuffs. Until America obtains a conscious, things will continue to change but ultimately remain the same. Red, yellow, black, or white… we are all precious in his sight.
Images courtesy of www.upi.com and www.ryot.org
Ted Bagley is an Author and Vice President Global Human Resources for the Manufacturing Division of Amgen Pharmaceuticals.
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Senior Citizen Movie Matinee
On September 9th we will be showing the movie The Monuments Men. Please RSVP by calling 614-292-3922
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Black Girls: The Silent Crisis
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Open Air Prisons, Democracy for Africans By: Turwanire Mandla
In the past few months, many have been stunned by the alarming number of Africans in the United States shot down by police and even by private individuals: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford in Ohio, Ezell Ford and Dante Parker in California, and Renisha McBride in Michigan. They join a long list of Africans, particularly youth in the USA, routinely struck down by police in what is termed “aggressive policing.” At the same time, we have seen the true horror of Zionism as over 2000 Palestinians, over 500 of which were children, are remotely massacred in Gaza and the West Bank by the Israeli military machine in “aggressive security operations.” Does a common pattern seem apparent between the aggressive policing/security practices of Israel and the United States? Both are settler states and both, throughout their entire history, have employed state-sanctioned violence called “aggressive methods,” to contain subjugated, redundant, restive racially different populations. Africans in the Americas and Palestinians are historically subjugated populations, for reasons that should now be understood. African American populations from Brazil, to Jamaica, to the United States historically had one purpose and that was to provide cheap labor to build the economic might of capitalist nation-states. In the present period of advanced technology, labor, in general, is no longer needed in great quantity and African labor is the least needed(!), triggering the security needed by these states to design the control of millions of economically disenfranchised, redundant restive populations by some means. From earliest times, one manner chosen has been that of the “open air prisons,” deliberately constituted ghettos, areas where containment can be carried out with impunity. Areas where the practices applied do not disturb the “peace and tranquility” of the broader populations, for whom the nations-states were originally constituted.
The Gaza strip as an “open air prison” began as a series of tents on the Sinai Desert more than 50 years ago, as a place to contain the Palestinian populations displaced to make way for Zionist settlement, as their lands were given to European Jews by British and American governments, at the end of the Second World War. The idea of “open air containment,” or a prison, can be traced back to the early Spanish conquest of Mexico and Andean nations and has its latter-day manifestations in the form of reservations for Native Americans and segregated communities for freed enslaved Africans across the breadth of the Americas. These formations are historically developed systems of population control and containment utilized by settler/capitalist societies to control restive or potentially restive subjugated populations. As a consequence, the policing practices common across the United States, and elsewhere in the Americas, are not the anomalous developments mused over by Euro-American commentators, and the African-Am political class collaborating with these practices; they are systematic developments. Systematic developments that, in the contemporary context, it seems accurate to term the “Gaza Strategy”; a planned military/ policing containment strategy routinely employed to control the movement and engagements of subjugated peoples. It is employed to ensure “protection and quiet” for other classes of people benefiting from capitalism. In Gaza, it manifests in Zionists laying siege to an entire population, cutting them off from the world in every imaginable way—economically, socially, culturally, politically—thus, at the same time, severely limiting communications with other populations. Zionist settlers enjoy a privileged status, while evidence is that Palestinians do not even have a “right to life” itself in the eyes of the Zionist State. A factual assessment of African, Latino, and Native American ghettos, reservations, and the large Caribbean Island nations would indicate that a similar state of siege exists, with all of the characteristics of Gaza, differing only in intensity. Once effective control means are in place, subjugated populations find themselves at the mercy of the subjugators for every need related to material existence-life. Such essentials as food, decent housing, social services, education, and infra-structure are, when sparingly provided, characterized as the charity or the benevolence of subjugating powers or peoples. Captive peoples are frequently characterized as
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representing an existential threat because of criminality or cultural differences, especially if the subjugated culture is racially or ethnically different, as in the cases of Palestinians, “Latinos,” and Africans, from the subjugators. Today, the strategy for containment of subjugated populations is being tested and refined in occupied Palestine. Palestine represents an ideal theater for testing the military machinery of containment, much of which is provided by the United States. Western governments have shown time and again they are behind any acts of extermination and policies of social genocide practiced by the Israelis against the Palestinians. Moderation, non-violence, and disarmament of subjugated peoples are always the key proposals made by the oppressive state, while it glibly justifies arming itself as a necessary component of peace. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon both used the language of required “quiet,” as defined by them, before they might engage in directly addressing the root problems at the heart of the conflicts. Such a backwards and undemocratic position is reminiscent of parents saying, “Sit down and shut-up or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Consistent shootings and violence against Africans in the USA and Jamaica, wars of extermination against Palestinians, sieges of Black Favelas in Brazil, the slaughter of mine-workers in South Africa are all examples of settler-democracy for subjugated people-containment. The historical fiction that nothing is gained by violence, only thorough non-violence, is completely untrue, a lie! Any examination of the historical record of the Civil Rights and Black Power stages of the African Movement in the United States clearly shows that at the heart of change was violence, violence either by the state, or state-sanctioned white terrorist groups, or fear of African uprisings. Capitalism, in particular, and power, in general, never concedes or makes concessions without violence in the calculations. Public accommodation legislation was a direct result of “direct action” action campaigns such as freedom rides, sit-ins, the Children’s March, and boycotts, which were met with state-violence. The Voting Rights Act grew directly out of state-violence against demonstrators on the bridge in Selma, Alabama. The many rebellions of the 1960s, called riots, led to urban programs meant to tap down uprisings. University student take-overs in the latter years of the 60s and early 70s, and the violent responses of the state, forced the development of Affirmative Action Programs across American academia. These are irrefutable historical facts highlighting the irreconcilable tension between the capitalist system and its subjugated masses, particularly disenfranchised minority populations. The Zionists, acting as test agents for the rest of the capitalist world, seek to ascertain the extent to which unbridled savage violence can be unleashed against a subjugated resistant people. They want to see the extent of the public backlash to such violence, alongside the effectiveness of various weapons systems. This testing should not be seen as designed solely to contain the valiant people of occupied Palestine. Palestine is only the test area for a strategy that the capitalist global system will employ worldwide to protect its interests; the small populations strategically placed around the world working in the interests of a wealthy 5–8% of humanity. One of the most important of these interests is the military supply industry, perhaps the greatest profit center in the entire capitalist enterprise, and therefore a powerful group shaping state policies worldwide. In a “globalized world,” rabid capitalist countries like China and Russia have no self-interest in openly opposing Western strategies outside their own spheres. Most other Asian, and all African countries, are so reliant on the West for their very existence that their silence is assured. The military elites, wealthy princes, and despots of the so-called Middle East are in open collaboration with Israel and the USA; their interest is to keep their own populations subjugated, ignorant, and subject to the ravages of medieval religious interpretations, highways to a mechanical form of social-order fascism. Only Spanish speaking America has shown any form of strength in confronting Zionism, with Bolivia going full tilt to declare Israel a terrorist-state. Capitalist globalization has meant they need containment strategies worldwide. In Ghana, the local commission class (collaborationist) has leased the Sekondi-Takoradi region to the Chinese for oil development. Freezing out the local people from jobs has led to resentment of the Chinese foreigners, creating an active conflict-point. Kenya has discovered gas reserves on the coast, setting in motion a scramble to steal land-rights from local people, fueling the deployment of the military to contain protests. China has a major conflict with native peoples of its Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Oil and natural gas has been discovered in the region and Han-Chinese expatriate settler communities have been established to exploit these much-needed resources, again at the expense of an ethnic community not historically self -identifying as Chinese. Organized violence has frequently broken out, with the Chinese harshly employing the “Gaza strategy” to hold the region. Most heinous of all is the deplorable, less than “third world” conditions of Native American reservations, mired in every level of violence imaginable, despite the fiction of “Indian sovereignty” and mafia-controlled casinos. Immigration everywhere is a global flashpoint of military containment strategies. In the United States, walls like those built to keep Palestinians out of “Israel” have been constructed to keep out the indigenous peoples of the Americas, people seen by many as an existential threat to the continuation of the United States as an essentially European nation. Neo-fascist government officials on both the local and national levels are demanding the militarization of the southern border to drive back these Native American hordes. The “border patrol” is the
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largest quasi-military force in the country. In Western Europe, daily arrivals of thousands of African and “Middle Eastern� immigrants has triggered the rise of the right-wing in electoral politics, with factual evidence indicating these Right elements are firmly rooted in the fascist ideologies endemic to the culture. In the Russian Federation, subjugated Asiatic regions of the country have been opened up to exploitation of natural resources, such as oil and natural gas. Again, this exploitation is being done at the exclusion of native peoples, who are being forced to migrate to Russia proper, seeking employment. Racist Russian nationalism has led to apartheid-like restrictions on immigrants, alongside violence from fascist Russian terrorist groups against all non-Russians. Conflict in the Ukraine is an intramural capitalist struggle over containment matters. There are no stand-out progressive forces involved in that conflict. Russia wishes to retain control over the Ukraine through its settlers and the West hopes to pull the country out of the Russian orbit through its old historical allegiances, many of which are fascist in nature. In waging a struggle, it is important, indeed critical, to recognize patterns indicating systemic developments. The current increased assault on Africans in this country is one response to several factors: a declining capitalism, endemic racism, and demographic changes in its racial make-up. What happened in Ferguson is comparable to events in Palestine, South Africa, Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, and numerous other places around the world. Characterization of the Israel matter as religious is false nonsense; Israel is a racist apartheid nation-state stolen from the Palestinian people, period! Violence against Africans in this country is firmly and inextricably a part of the DNA of the USA and cannot be removed by cameras or electing Black politicians, even presidents. A people must know its real enemy. A people must know how a system develops mechanisms (processes) and strategies to employ against them and why. A people must know that they are never dealing solely with an event or even a process; they are always and without fail dealing with a system built around how the means of production and distribution of goods and services are organized. Capitalism is a totality; it is an economic system, a political arrangement, a legal system, a social division of society, a way of thought, and a way of life, as well as a cruel and all-engaging mental pathology.
Turwanire K-T Mandla, who currently lives in Arizona, completed a B.A. degree in International Studies at Union Institute in Cincinnati and recently completed two advanced degrees--an MBA and a Master’s of Science at Grand Canyon University.
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Rites of Passage Program
To RSVP or for more information contact Dr. Kevin L. Brooks at 614-292-4144 or Brooks.745@osu.edu
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