(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Black Kos Tuesday: In defense of the joys of Black historia [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 In defense of the joys of Black historia A comment by Chitown Kev I’ve been feeling a little under the weather today with a headache that hasn’t gone away but is better than it was this morning. I’m not so under the weather that I’m unable to do a bit of surfing on the internet. (Honestly, I think the feeling stems from nothing more and nothing less than a three-hour nap that I took from 7-10 pm on a Sunday night (!) and then staying up until 4 am browsing at various online archives— my body clock has simply felt off ever since.) I have greatly enjoyed reading retrospectives like, say, author Ishmael Reed’s entertaining and personal history detaining the origins of the Black Arts movement in the 1960’s (Mr. Reed always has good tea to tell!) or really digging into the curriculum and framework of the Advanced Placement African American Studies course, as suggested by commenter JennaT in Sunday’s APR (I am quite impressed with the portions that I have read so far). I’ve mentioned before my love of the etymology of the English word history which stems from its use by the first “historian,” Herodotus This is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that things done by man not be forgotten in time, and that great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians, not lose their glory, including among others what was the cause of their waging war on each other. “History” was never supposed to be the mere recitation of past events facts into the form of a coherent narrative. Historia encompasses much of what we now call the “social sciences” and even meanders off into myths (for which Herodotus was sharply criticized even in his times). It’s why I love even the title of the AP course: African American Studies, which best encompasses the investigations into Black historia and includes the “great and marvelous deeds” of everyone involved; the highlights as well as the lowlights. Attempts to denigrate Black historia by white folks merely seek to deprive everyone of the joys of investigating Black historia in favor of a study of white supremacist narrative based mostly in falsehoods and myths which do, after all, have their place but is not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth based on any kind of empirical evidence. I need to keep as much joy and even sanity as I can. Therefore, I wish as much Black historia for myself and everyone else that we can stand. News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell seeks to become the first Black justice elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Associated Press: Abortion among major issues at stake in Wisconsin court race ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A conservative tilt on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has given Republicans victories on voting restrictions, gerrymandered legislative districts and other high-stakes cases in recent years. Voters now have a chance to tip that balance toward the left, with implications for abortion rights and perhaps the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in one of the nation’s most closely divided political battlegrounds. Tuesday’s primary will feature two conservatives and two liberals running for the seat of a retiring conservative justice. The top two finishers advancing to the April 4 general election. The eventual winner will determine whether conservatives maintain the majority on the officially nonpartisan court or it flips to 4-3 liberal control for at least the next two years. The court came within one vote of overturning President Joe Biden’s win in the state in 2020, and both major parties are preparing for another close margin in the 2024 contest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To protect Black people from police brutality, we need to surround them with economic opportunity. The Grio: We can’t stop police violence against Black people without economic justice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tyre Nichols may have died at the hands of several Black cops, but the root cause of his death was systemic racism. Many will try to say that police brutality is not a systemic issue. They argue that police brutality happens because of a “few bad apples,” but it’s hard for them to admit that the criminal justice system is designed with racist intent. There are those who can admit that maybe we have a racist policing problem — but they believe that if Black people just worked hard enough, they can achieve prosperity at the same levels as white people. There are those who see injustice in both the criminal justice and economic systems in the United States, but they cannot see how they are connected. What’s hard for many to admit is that the entire economic system is stacked against Black communities. We must come to a point where we admit that racism isn’t the expressed bigotry of a few individuals. It is systemic. It is pervasive. It is inseparable from every social, economic and political facet of life in the United States. The refusal to believe Black people when they speak on their experiences and traumas is one major reason my organization, Prosperity Now, keeps a running scorecard on Black quality of life in every zip code. With clear data, we see the trauma. Black communities are constantly told they must prove their traumas are real, but they are consistently denied the data to do so. This hinders our ability to remove obstacles and carve out pathways in the courts and through policy. We must work aggressively to ensure that the systemic and interconnected nature of racism in the United States is undeniable. And we have the data to prove it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's carnival week in Rio de Janeiro,Here's some Afro-Brazilian history from some of the most legendary Afro-carnival parades of the past. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Leandro Santanna’s mother wanted to teach him about their Afro-Brazilian culture and history, she didn’t seek out books, films or documentaries. Although more than 50 percent of Brazil’s 215 million people self-identify as Black, the amount of media on their history and culture is limited. This is changing today, but it was significantly worse in the 1980s and ’90s when Leandro was a child and adolescent. So his mother turned to Rio de Janeiro’s carnival parade. “My mother, who was a school teacher, was different when it came to teaching us about our history,” said Santanna, the executive director of Rio de Janeiro’s Afro-Brazilian History and Culture Museum (MUHCAB). “She would have us read the lyrics of the samba music for the samba school parades. That’s how I learned about people like Zumbi and Chico Rei.” Every year, Rio de Janeiro’s samba schools put on the “world’s greatest spectacle,” with music, drum corps, floats, dancers and costumed paraders. Don’t be fooled by the “school’s” name. Samba schools are really Black community organizations that work 10 months out of the year toward one goal — to create a parade that will win Rio de Janeiro’s carnival, which this year is Friday, Feb. 17 to Tuesday, Feb. 22. And since the 1960s, samba schools have mounted carnival parades with research-backed themes that address Afro-Brazilian culture and history — samba enredos, as they are called in Portuguese. These parades are broadcast to the entire country, so the capacity to teach and influence people is uncontested. Since it’s Black History Month and carnival week, let’s learn some Afro-Brazilian history through some of the most legendary Afro-carnival parades. x YouTube Video ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The History of the 1968 Sanitation Strike. I AM STORY: The I AM Story Podcast retells the story of a labor struggle that rocked a city and altered our history. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1968. Memphis, Tennessee. The heart of the racially segregated South. Black sanitation workers faced poverty wages and degrading, dangerous conditions on the job – a modern-day plantation. The city refused to see the men or hear their grievances. But after two sanitation workers were crushed to death on the job, 1,300 of their AFSCME Local 1733 brothers said enough is enough, risking everything by going on strike. They marched in the streets demanding dignity and respect. They wanted recognition of their union…and recognition of their humanity. Stop calling me “boy,” they were saying, because “I AM A MAN.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2153865/-Black-Kos-Tuesday-In-defense-of-the-joys-of-Black-historia Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/