SATURDAY POLITICS: The Racial Implications Of Impeaching Obama Depicted In A Cartoon

hat/tip to Joe Jervis

FILM REVIEW: Fruitvale Station

The other half and I saw Fruitvale Station at the Arclight Cinemas Pasadena when I was back in Los Angeles last week. Fruitvale Station is a movie based on the life of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American man who was fatally shot (in the back, while face down on the pavement!) by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in the early hours of January 1, 2009 in front of a group of his friends while taking the train from partying in San Francisco. The shooting was caught live on multiple cell-phone videos that went viral on the Internet in the days and weeks following the killing. Mehserle was eventually charged with murder, the trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles County but he was only found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years. He served 11 months in prison and was released. He was the first peace officer to be tried for murder for a line-of-duty fatal shooting in over 15 years. The Oscar Grant case was a cause celebre for several years and every New Years Day there are events to remember Oscar in Oakland and Northern California.

Fruitvale Station is the movie about the famous Oscar Grant case. It is filmmaker Ryan Coogler's very first film (although it was executive produced by Oscar winner Forest Whitaker) and stars Malcolm B. Jordan (Chronicle) and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (The Help).

Stylistically, Fruitvale Station is somewhere between a documentary and a drama. It is most definitely not a hagiography of Oscar Grant. We seem him make foolish choices as well as bad ones. But the film makes it clear he loved his daughter Tatiana and her mother very, very much. When he is on the floor of the BART Fruitvale Station after being shot he says to the officer who shot him "Why did you do that? I have a daughter." It is an absolutely devastating moment in the film, which is replete with them. Spencer plays Oscar's mom and the two have a very close relationship. She knows that he has a tendency to wander astray and you can see it in her eyes as she watches her son carefully. The other emotionally devastating scene in the film is the one in which we see Oscar's mom get the news about her son's death and then again when she views the body of her son.

A word must be said about the performance of Michael B. Jordan in the lead role. He is absolutely mesmerizing, despite being on screen for almost every scene one never gets bored or uninterested in what he is doing, even when one is annoyed with the choices his character is making. Hopefully this performance will not be forgotten when the end of the year comes around and film accolades for the year are announced.

That being said, even though it is an emotionally draining experience Fruitvale Station is most definitely worth your time and attention to see. It is exactly the kind of film the medium is made for, to impact the audience in a meaningful and lasting way another art form may not have been able to.

Title: Fruitvale Station.
Director: Ryan Coogler.
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for some violence, language throughout and some drug use.
Release Date: July 26, 2013.
Viewing Date: July 30, 2013.

Writing: A-.
Acting: A.
Visuals: B+.
Impact: A+.

Overall Grade: A/A- (3.85/4.0).

LGBT Groups Issue Open Letter on Trayvon Martin Case

A coalition of three dozen LGBT groups issued an open letter on Monday calling for justice for Trayvon Marin in light of Saturday's jury verdict declaring his killer not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

An Open Letter: Trayvon Deserves Justice

We cannot begin to imagine the continued pain and suffering endured by Trayvon Martin's family and friends. We stand in solidarity with them as they continue to fight for justice, civil rights and closure. And we thank everyone who has pushed and will continue to push for justice.

Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights. We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected. But our work does not end there: we will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities.

We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Brandon Teena, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Marco McMillian, Angie Zapata, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo and countless others.

Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Justice delayed is justice denied and in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "a right delayed is a right denied." We honor Trayvon by seeking justice for all people.

All Out
American Civil Liberties Union
Believe Out Loud
BiNet USA
Bisexual Resource Center
Center for Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Work
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network)
GetEQUAL
GMHC
GLAD
GLAAD
Harvey Milk Foundation
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
Lambda Legal
Movement Advancement Project
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
The Trevor Project
Trans Advocacy Network
Transgender Law Center
Trans People of Color Coalitionsp;in light of Saturday's jury verdict declaring his killer not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Zimmerman Found NOT GUILTY of Murder or Manslaughter

George Zimmerman has been found not guilty by a 6-person, all-female Florida jury of 2nd degree murder and not guilty of manslaughter, despite the uncontested fact that he shot and killed unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin with his concealed firearm in February 2012.

A recap of the whole sad affair:

Zimmerman was not charged for 44 tumultuous days in which the case generated large protests in several cities, turned a hooded sweatshirt like the one Martin wore into a symbol of solidarity, and drew the attention of President Obama, who said, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

As debate over race, guns and Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law swirled, a special prosecutor appointed by the governor announced April 11, 2012, that Zimmerman was being charged with second-degree murder – a move that his supporters said was meant to quell the public outcry.

Zimmerman pleaded not guilty throughout the case to the charges against him.

When the trial unfolded a year later, prosecutors argued the volunteer neighborhood watchman was a wannabe cop who “profiled” Martin as the teen walked back from buying Skittles at a 7-Eleven, and then followed him against the advice of the police dispatcher he called to report a suspicious person.

[...]

The defense told jurors that Zimmerman was just doing his civic duty when he was ambushed by Martin, punched in the face and slammed repeatedly into concrete before he fired a single shot that pierced the teen’s heart.

“That’s cement. That is a sidewalk. And that is not an unarmed teenager with nothing but Skittles trying to get home,” O’Mara said.

Here's a poignant reaction to the verdict from MSNBC contributors Melissa Harris-Perry and Joy Reid:

They do an excellent job of providing an answer to the question "why do people think this case is about race?" by discussing the reaction of parents of black children compared to parents of non-Black children to the verdict.

George Zimmerman Trial Begins TODAY

George Zimmerman admits to shooting and killing Trayvon Martin,
an unarmed Black teenager

Finally! More than a year after the news about the fatal shooting of another unarmed Black male became a huge sensation, the trial of Trayvon Martin's killer is beginning in a Florida courtroom today. George Zimmerman, 29, claims he shot and killed the 17-year-old in self-defense. The story became an international story when police authorities in Sanford, FL questioned but released Zimmerman after hearing his story, raising questions about how police in a Southern state consider and (de)value the life of Black person. After weeks of marches and protests in multiple American cities, Zimmerman was finally arrested an charged with a crime (second-degree murder).

According to CNN:

Monday marks the start of jury selection in Seminole County, Florida, where Martin was fatally shot on February 26, 2012. The shooting put a national spotlight on Zimmerman's hometown of Sanford and sparked fresh debates about race relations and gun laws in America.  

Zimmerman is Hispanic; Martin was African-American. 

An initial decision not to pursue charges against Zimmerman led to the dismissal of the town's police chief and the appointment of a special prosecutor, who accused the neighborhood watch volunteer of unjustly profiling and killing Martin. 

Zimmerman now faces a second-degree murder charge in Martin's death. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently free on $1 million bond.

The Zimmerman-Martin case became another Rorshach test on race in America. We (at MadProfessah.com) shall be watching to see if the criminal justice system (in Florida, no less) can pass the test of "equal treatment under the law."

MUST READ: Coates' "Fear of a Black President"

One of my favorite bloggers, Ta-Nehisi Coates, has an astonishingly insightful (and well-written) essay about race, (American) politics and Barack Obama which is published in the latest edition of The Atlantic magazine under the title "Fear of a Black President."

The article is summarized at the top with a short paragraph:

As a candidate, Barack Obama said we needed to reckon with race and with America’s original sin, slavery. But as our first black president, he has avoided mention of race almost entirely. In having to be “twice as good” and “half as black,” Obama reveals the false promise and double standard of integration.

The basic thesis of the piece is that Obama is another example of the common belief that minorities (or women) who are "the first" often have to be "twice as good" as their majoritarian counterparts, while simultaneously trying to appear only "half as different" from the dominant group already in the power structure.  It covers everything from public reactions to the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman incident, the Katrina disaster, Republican recalcitrance and defiance to Obama's presidency, Joe Biden's own racist gaffe (remember when he called Obama "clean"?), America's long storied history of white supremacy, Skip Gates' run-in with a white police officer on his own front stoop and yet another fatal shooting of an innocent Black man that can be ascribed to the assumed guilt of dark skin. Powerful stuff.

Coates says that he worked on the piece for nine months and it shows. At times the writing is simply stunningly beautiful; it is complex, clear and humming with energetic ideas. To wit,

By virtue of his background—the son of a black man and a white woman, someone who grew up in multiethnic communities around the world—Obama has enjoyed a distinctive vantage point on race relations in America. Beyond that, he has displayed enviable dexterity at navigating between black and white America, and at finding a language that speaks to a critical mass in both communities. He emerged into national view at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, with a speech heralding a nation uncolored by old prejudices and shameful history. There was no talk of the effects of racism. Instead Obama stressed the power of parenting, and condemned those who would say that a black child carrying a book was “acting white.” He cast himself as the child of a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas and asserted, “In no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” When, as a senator, he was asked if the response to Hurricane Katrina evidenced racism, Obama responded by calling the “ineptitude” of the response “color-blind.

Now, that is a paragraph (almost) any teacher would be proud a student of theirs wrote. Congratulations, Ta-Nehisi!

The rest of y'all go read the piece in its entirety for yourself. Right now!

Romney-Zimmerman 2012?

Comedian Bill Maher is attempting to help presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney select a Vice Presidential running mate. One of his suggestions is that Romney choose George Zimmerman, the Latino gun enthusiast who is claiming that Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law empowered him to shoot and kill an unarmed 17-year-old Black kid named Trayvon Martin who was walking around "looking suspicious" in his neighborhood.

After all:

"It's unorthodox, but who better than George Zimmerman to personify your campaign theme of, I think the black guy's up to no good?"

Indeed.

How To Talk About The Zimmerman-Martin Case

hat/tip to Daily Kos.

JUSTICE! Zimmerman Charged With 2nd Degree Murder

INMATE INFORMATION 
Booking #: 201200004452 
Name: GEORGE ZIMMERMAN 
Date of Birth: 10/05/1983 
Location: I 
Arrested by: Seminole County Sheriff`s Office 
Arrest Date: 04/11/2012 08:30:00 PM 


1st Appearance: 04/12/12 13:30 - 2012001083CFA
Inmate may not be bailed.

THE CHARGES ARE 
MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE

ACCOUNT BALANCE 
$121.00
Seminole County - John E. Polk Correctional Facility

What Do You See? A Racial Rorschach Test

What Do You See? What do you think is happening in these pictures?

An interesting study trying to get to the root of racial understanding by children was commissioned by Anderson Cooper of CNN. It uses the pictures above and asks children "What is happening in these pictures?" It is supposed to be an update of the now-classic doll research from the 1940s which investigated how African-American kids viewed race (and revealed that they had incorporated negative self-image about dark skin from a very early age).

According to CNN:

The updated study aims to answer such questions as these: “Is race a factor in how children view conflicts and choose friends? Do children see race or are they, as many parents believe, socially colorblind? How, when and why do they form their opinions on race? Can those opinions change over time or at a certain age, are kids “hard-wired” about race? And does the racial make-up of their school and environment affect their opinions on race?”

The full story entitled "race relations through a child's eyes" can be viewed online.

One of the points of doing this research is to point out the reality that people of different races can view images and events very differently, as the ongoing controversy about the killing of Trayvon Martin has revealed to some.

There's a 2011 report (Post-Racial? Race and Americans in the Age of Obama) by the Greenlining Institute which summarizes:

 “People of color tend to see the state of relations between whites and blacks as being far worse than whites see it. While more than twice as many whites believe there is “a little” racial discrimination in America as believe there is “a lot,” Hispanics divide roughly evenly between the two choices, while blacks overwhelmingly see “a lot” of discrimination – by a nearly four to one margin,” the summary read.

According to this report, only 16 percent of whites believed that there was “a lot” of discrimination in America, compared with 56 percent of blacks and 26 percent of Latinos. As to whether there was “some” discrimination, 44 percent of whites, 56 percent of blacks and 48 percent of Latinos agreed. When it came to whether there was “a little” discrimination, 39 percent of whites, 8 percent of blacks and 21 percent of Latinos concurred.

What do you think about race relations in America? Give feedback in the comments!

LGBT Groups Issue Joint Trayvon Martin Statement

Several national LGBT groups issued a joint statement on the Trayvon Martin case yesterday:

An Open Letter: Standing Alongside Trayvon Martin’s Family and Friends

The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is a national call to action. Our hearts go out to Trayvon’s family and friends for the loss they have experienced. We stand in solidarity with them as they demand answers and justice. We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies.

Many in our community have been targets of bigotry and bias. We have a great deal of experience grappling with the role bias plays in violent crimes against our communities. We well know the stories of young people targeted for violence just because of who they are: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Deoni Jones, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Angie Zapata, Sean Kennedy and countless others.

Trayvon’s killing is a wakeup call to the enduring cancer of racism and racial profiling. The pain his family continues to endure transcends communities and unites us all. Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Trayvon’s killing is tragic and the stark reality that racial bias played a role in his death has alarmed our nation. Questions must be asked. Answers must be sought. And justice must be served. We join our voices to the chorus of so many others to demand that local and federal authorities find those answers. We stand in solidarity with Trayvon’s family and friends as they seek justice for his killing. In the timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

The letter was signed by

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers  

Equality Federation 

Family Equality Council 

Freedom to Marry 

GLAAD 

Human Rights Campaign 

Immigration EqualityInternational Federation of Black Prides

Lambda Legal 

LGBT Progress at the Center for American Progress 

National Black Justice Coalition 

National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) 

National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) 

National Coalition for LGBT Health 

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

National Stonewall Democrats

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates

PFLAG National 

Pride at Work 

Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

The Trevor Project 

UNID@S

Hat/tip to TowleRoad. It is good to see LGBT groups stepping up and responding to this tragic situation whihc has captured the nation's attention.

Faux News Barely Covers #TrayvonMartin Story

Color me unsurprised.

Hat/tip to Think Progress

WATCH: Obama Comments On #TrayvonMartin Case