#OccupyOakland
October 25th, 2011
Posting a piece of shocking video from the #OccupyOakland protests/police clash tonight. That’s home for me. Just wish all my friends, any SFSU j-school alum, current and former teachers, and Xpress News staffers a safe night. Well…as safe as they can be in this climate.
More videos at link below:
I caught another video, equally as disturbing…though I have some questions about the editing and its editor. Healthy skepticism. But still disturbing. You can’t make this stuff up.
PHOTOS from Golden Gate Xpress: http://www.goldengatexpress.org/2011/10/26/occupy-oakland/
(Fond memories of my college paper days at Xpress. I miss it.)
PHOTOS from the Oakland Tribune: http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_19188125
The Cain, Cain, Cain coverage
October 23rd, 2011
photo credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Okay. I’ll say it…
I’m fascinated by the media coverage of Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. Over the last two weeks, I’ve consumed all manners of analysis and opinions on the former pizza chain executive’s rise to the top of the GOP field.
The Associated Press says he’s “stumbling in the glare of the national spotlight.” The New York Times has shed light on his introduction to Washington as (gasp!) an industry lobbyist, despite his appeal as an outsider. Miami Herald’s Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. has flatly implied Cain “seems embarrassed he’s black.” Cable news network pundits have praised and criticized the catchy and simplistic nature of Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, though through poorly stifled laughter. And just about every popular black news blog site — namely The Root, The Grio, HuffPo’s BlackVoices, and Loop21 — has attempted to decipher his seemingly lackluster appeal to black voters.
I’ll admit I’ve been much more interested in black political pundits’ and columnists’ take on the “Black Walnut.” The mainstream media’s coverage of Cain has been predictable. The “Big Guys” have been careful to avoid racial land mines. And much of their hardline analysis has been fair.
But I’ve been disappointed in how many tired comparisons I’ve seen drawn between U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain. I think it was last week we heard Cornel West hurl “crack pipe” jabs at Cain on CNN. And there’s the various black bloggers echoing Pitts Jr. in decrying Cain’s racial politics an identity crisis. The argument could be made that this sort of ethnic commentary is just as predictable as the main stream approach.
I always get the feeling this commentary is based on the assumption (not fact) that, because he has dark skin and is a Republican, Cain suffers from acute Uncle Tom-itis. This is not to say that all authors of commentary critical of Cain subscribe to a common credo — that Democrats, by default, have all the answers to black problems. Too much of what I’ve read and heard is often recycled rhetoric from race debates waged decades ago. Can we (ethnic newsmen and newswomen) move on?
However, in defense of the ethnic press and punditocracy, Cain himself hasn’t made it easy to shelve the race and morality commentary for a focus on issues. In the last two weeks we’ve learned a few things: (Albeit entirely possible that some of it is taken out of context…)
- Cain once wrote that Jesus (Christ) was killed by a ‘liberal court’
- Cain told a CNN anchor that blacks are “brainwashed against the GOP”
- Cain prefers we call him “black American” and not “African American”
…there’s more. But I don’t want to belabor the point, which is that Cain leaves room for character attacks for lack of depth on just about every issue important to voters. Now that the 9-9-9 plan has been thoroughly analyzed, Cain is seen by the media as flailing to keep his lead in the polls.
But I’d implore the ethnic press not to fall back on the tried-and-true Uncle Tom commentary. As entertaining as some may find black-on-black rebuke, it informs no one.
Cain could do enough stumbling from now until primary time that he trips on his own sword. An unfortunate example: his boasting of lacking knowledge of foreign leaders. “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” may not be on his mind…but Cain was the topic of conversation at Sec. Hillary Clinton’s meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week.
Now THAT is emasculating.
Upstate apple picking
October 16th, 2011
Took a trip with my cousins to upstate New York. We stayed with Tangie’s friends, in their home in Woodstock. On the way back to the city, we stopped at Minard Farms in Clintondale for apple picking.
RIP
October 5th, 2011
Thank you, Steve.
