Kate Kendell, Eva Paterson: ‘Standing Together and Continuing the Conversation’
Next Thursday, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments in our legal challenge to Proposition 8. As we seek to overturn Prop 8, we have the broadest array of support ever seen on an LGBT issue before any California Court. This support speaks directly to the relationships and coalition work that many in the LGBT, religious, business, and civil rights communities have been doing for years. However, there is another truth motivating the breadth of voices calling on the court to invalidate Prop 8. Prop 8 is an assault on the California Constitution and the most fundamental principal of any functioning democracy: all people will be treated equally under the law.
RaceWire: Addressing Obama’s Racial Coding, plus Lakoff, Mike Lux
Tammy Johnson on racewire.com talks about her concerns over the use of racially coded language in President Obama’s address to Congress earlier this week. Her post has additional comments in addition to the video.
It’s interesting to take Tammy’s analysis and compare it to George Lakoff’s pre-speech assessment of the “Obama Code,” his definition of how the President tends to “express his moral vision indirectly” – “connects with his audience using what cognitive scientists call the ‘cognitive unconscious,’ ” and utilizes “seven deep, insightful, and subtle intellectual moves.”
Mike Lux also weighs in on The Speech saying that the President’s address could not have been a clearer call for what Mike identifies as the “Big Change Moment” in his new book “The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be.”
NY Post Editorial Cartoon: Simian Stereotypes and Cartoonist Excuses
If nothing else, the now-infamous New York Post cartoon by Sean Delonas published Wednesday showing a chimp shot to death by police officers should be a clear answer to the question of whether we’re in a “post-racial” America.
As EJS President Eva Paterson and others have argued, the answer to that question is a resounding “no.”
In a piece published Wednesday, Cal psychology professor Phillip Atiba Goff states that persistent simian stereotypes tagged to blacks are not mere small and unimportant post-racial leftovers of the “bad old days,” but significant psychological mechanisms of discrimination.
“It is tempting to … downplay the significance of ‘isolated events’ of bigotry and ‘armless words or pictures.’ But precisely because the dream of post-raciality is seductive for so many, it is all the more important that we not forget that cartoons like the one in today’s New York Post are never isolated-and consequently, never harmless,” he writes.
Attorney General Holder’s Remarks on Black History Month
Attorney General Eric Holder’s remarks yesterday on Black History Month provoked divided reactions. Below is the full text of his remarks as prepared for delivery. Eric Ethridge of The New York Times provides a roundup.
ERIC HOLDER: Every year, in February, we attempt to recognize and to appreciate black history. It is a worthwhile endeavor for the contributions of African Americans to this great nation are numerous and significant. Even as we fight a war against terrorism, deal with the reality of electing an African American as our President for the first time and deal with the other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past, and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country, endures. One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country one must examine its racial soul.
Video of Mike Lux Talk in San Francisco
UPDATE FEB. 18: The video is being revised so the embedded player doesn’t work right now. I’ll post the new one when it’s done.
Almost 75 folks braved the weather on Feb. 15 to meet Mike Lux, author of “The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came To Be,” at San Francisco’s new political hotspot, Mercury Lounge. The video above was taken by Dave Johnson (thanks for putting that together, Dave!). A post of the evening is also on the Commonweal Institute’s site.
I joined EJS President Eva Paterson in co-hosting this event with Commonweal Institute, Ellee Koss, Netroots Nation, Rebecca Prozan, Matt Haney and Dexter Ligot-Gordon.
A very special thanks to Mercury Lounge for their incredible support, including hosting our event on a night that they’re usually closed, and to Commonweal Institute for underwriting this event.
Mike also appeared at Monday’s Drinking Liberally and today at a lunchtime event at Manika Jewelry co-hosted by Vida Benavides, Monica Walsh, Laura Efurd, Maria Echeveste,Yoko Nakagawa, Keith Kamisugi, Gene Benavides, Bouapha Toommally, Trina Villanueva, Hector Preciado, Emi Gusukuma, Tessie Guillermo and Daphne Kwok.
Visit http://theprogressiverevolution.com to learn more about the book and buy it online.
Tonight: Thelton Henderson Film by Abby Ginzberg on KQED
Our friend Abby Ginzberg made this documentary about our friend and hero, the amazing Judge Thelton Henderson. It airs tonight, Feb. 17, at 11 p.m. PT on KQED. We hope you’ll watch it. Visit soulofjustice.org for more information on the film.
Robert Borosage: Progressives Need to Push the Senate on Stimulus Bill
EJS works with many other groups to push a progressive vision for America and the world. On Tuesday, we were part of a call to discuss unconscious racial bias and the current political scene.
Before the call started we were kibitzing about the economic stimulus plan and how progressive folks might get involved. Robert Borosage gave us his perspective on what should be done. His analysis follows. As you will read, he feels that three Republican Senators are key to this effort.
Visit OurFuture.org to take action and also call these Senators and ask them to restore the cuts to the stimulus bill:
- Sen. Arlen Specter – 202-224-4254
- Sen. Olympia J. Snowe – (202) 224-5344
- Sen. Susan M. Collins – (202) 224-2523
Here’s Robert Borosage’s analysis: