The Western Journal of Black Studies

The Spring Issue: Vol. 38, No. 1

Interpretative Profiles on Charles Johnson's Reflections on Trayvon Martin: A Dialogue between George Yancy, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Charles Johnson.

Page 1 - 12.

SPIRIT HEALTH

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/us/a-spiritual-legacy-endures-in-healthy-eating.html?_r=0

UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED

Waiting for the bus on 16th Street yesterday - everyone driving in their cars were playing with their cell phones.

Should I be given the power to issue tickets or must I learn to drive first?

APRIL 24, 2014    This week the world celebrated Earth Day, though it's not clear whether the Earth itself participated in the celebrations. "Forget the flowers and the long speeches," the Earth is saying to anyone who'll listen, "and do something to bring down my temperature already!" As Nathalie Baptiste writes this week in FPIF, climate change is not some future catastrophe but a problem in the here and now, particularly for the island nations of the Caribbean. And inWorld Beat, I discuss the actual price tag associated with drastically cutting carbon emissions without sending the global economy back to the 14th century. We also have a pair of pieces on Cuba this week, as columnist Laura Carlsen explores the shift in public opinion in Florida in favor of a thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations and Arturo Lopez-Levy proposes a mutual release of political prisoners. International lawyer Reza Nasri explains the sources of Iran's mistrust of the international community. And I take a look at the increase in military spending in Asia (which reminds me: we inadvertently dropped a decimal point in last week's newsletter — global military spending is actually $1.7 trillion, not $17 trillion). Finally, on a sad note, we pay tribute to FPIF columnist Carl Bloice, who recently passed away. He was an acute observer of international relations from the ground up. Fellow columnist Conn Hallinan celebrates his life and work this week. John Feffer Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus World Beat Earth: Game Over? John Feffer Video games usually provide you with multiple lives. If you step on a landmine or get hit by an assassin, you get another chance. This formula applies to first-person shooter games as well as simulation exercises like SimEarth. The real Earth offers a similar kind of reboot. Catastrophe has hit our planet at least five times, as Elizabeth Kolbert explains in her new book, The Sixth Extinction. During each of these preceding wipeouts, the planet recovered, though many of the life forms residing in the seas or on land were not so fortunate (“many” is actually an understatement—more than 99 percent of all species died out in these cataclysms). As Kolbert points out, we are in the middle of a sixth such world-altering event, and this will be the first—and possibly the last—extinction that we will witness as human beings. The planet and its hardier denizens may soldier on, but for us it will be game over. Read more… FPIF Features Climate Change Comes to the Caribbean  Nathalie Baptiste Climate change is already wreaking havoc on the Caribbean's vital fishing, tourism, and agriculture industries. Goodbye, Carl Bloice  Conn Hallinan Conn Hallinan remembers Carl Bloice—an FPIF columnist, longtime journalist, and lifetime advocate for the dispossessed. Why Iran Doesn’t Trust the International Community  Jahandad Memarian International law expert Reza Nasri explains Iran's distrust of international media, institutions, and NGOs. Free Alan Gross—and the Cuban Five!  Arturo Lopez-Levy If the U.S. wants Cuba to release USAID contractor Alan Gross, it should give up its own political prisoners from Cuba. Sunshine State Thaws U.S.-Cuba Relations  Laura Carlsen A majority of Floridians now favor thawing U.S. relations with Cuba. Will Washington follow? World Cuts Back Military Spending, But Not Asia  John Feffer Driven by a rising China and arms exports from the United States, military spending in Asia is on the increase. Focal Points Blog Five Ways the Myth That Iran Was Developing Nuclear Weapons Was Hyped  Russ Wellen How an Iranian nuclear-weapons program became accepted wisdom. From Grozny to Crimea: Russia Learns to Finesse Military Intervention  Russ Wellen Russia has come a long way from military operations in which casualties to civilians were of little concern. U.S. and Saudi Arabia: A Loveless Marriage  Amanda Ufheil-Somers It’s time for the United States and Saudi Arabia to make a clean break. German Activism: Bridging the East-West Divide John Feffer  Twenty years ago, the West German Greens and the East German citizen movements created a political alliance that continues to this day. Scientists Support Seymour Hersh Russ Wellen  Don’t underestimate Syrian rebel know-how: they may have made the rockets used to launch chemical weapons at Ghouta. Support FPIF! To protect our independence, we never run ads on FPIF. We take no money from governments or corporations. We survive on donations from readers like you. We’re a small non-profit with a tiny staff, so your dollars go a long way. Donate today!

THE ONE?

Elizabeth Warren May Not Be Ready to Run for President, but Her Book Is   by John Nichols   Read »

HOLD THE DATE!
 

After the longest winter, we open our studio to show new work and fresh inspiration, and to welcome our friends!

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 12–6 P.M.

411 New York Avenue NE, Third Floor
Washington, D.C. 20002 

MICHELINE KLAGSBRUN
RAYE LEITH 
The Tuesday Night Group 

 

COME RACE WITH ME

Kentucky Derby - May 3rd
Preakness - May 17th
Belmont Stakes - June 7th

Quote of the Day

You can hawk your gold if you’re hungry
Sell your mule when you’re desperate
What can you do with so many poems
Sprouting dead hairs in an empty coffin

    - Marilyn Chin

What's Going On?

I finished reading James McBride's The Color of Water this morning. The book had been on my reading list for a spell. Next on my list is Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman and Morowa Yejide's new novel Time of The Locust.

In the mail yesterday was a nice gift from Lolis Elie. He sent me a copy of Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans.

Yesterday at WAMU I met Jen Marlowe. A key person trying to keep the memory of Troy Davis alive. Here is a link to the amazing work she is doing:
www.donkeysaddle.org

I just interviewed Maurice Jackson (Georgetown University history professor) for The Scholars. A wonderful conversation about the history of D.C. black music. Jackson just guess edited the special jazz issue of the Washington History magazine. It's out now...

Jackson always look like he could be playing with Lester Young. I took this picture of him

International Arts Night Poetry Reading

at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center

8230 Georgia Ave.

Silver Spring, MD 20912

This event, a fundraiser for Pyramid Atlantic, is part of an international potluck and arts activities night.  Donation:  $10, or bring a dish for the potluck and donation is $5.  Eating and arting begins at 6pm.

Poetry reading begins at 7pm and includes poets from cultures around the world:  Zein El-Amine from Lebanon, Danuta Kosk-Kosicka from Poland, Ashira Malka an Israeli American, Kenneth Forde from Trinidad/Tobago, and Nancy Naomi Carlson who will read translations as well as the original poems in French of Abdourahman Wahberi from Djbouti.  (Abdou was planning on reading himself but has just returned from South Africa not feeling well.)

I’m so excited about this evening of oral/aural travel around the world—I do hope you can come.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want more information:  annebeck48@gmail.com or (301) 270-8037.

Anne

-- 
Anne Becker

annebeck48@gmail.com

ME-K IS UP FOR AN AWARD

Me-K photo by Ethelbert

Greetings! Aqueous Books is pleased to announce the shortlist for the Flann O'Brien Award for Innovative Fiction. Congratulations to the following authors:

Don't Trust Anyone Without Secrets by Me-K Ahn
The Executioner's Race by Andrew Bynom
Partisans by Mark Cunningham
Leave a Crooked Path by Simone Hanson
Kinds of Leaving by Nancy Hightower
Water on a Hot Plate: Stories by Murli Melwani

The winner will be announced on April 30, 2014.

The extraordinarily high quality of submissions made selecting even the shortlist a tough decision. Thank you to everyone who submitted to the Flann O'Brien Award for Innovative Fiction. Submissions for the next award will be opening up in May. Check the Submission Guidelines page at http://aqueousbooks.com/submission_guidelines.htm for status updates.

Because several of you have asked about the submission status remaining as "New" in the submission manager, the status remains set as new until the submission has been assigned to another staff member. In this case, I am judging the contest and so did not assign these out to anyone else. However, I have read carefully through every submission.

Aqueous Books is looking forward to this month's release, Sibs, the seventh short story collection from Nathan Leslie. You can read more about this upcoming release and the author at http://aqueousbooks.com/index.htm.

Best regards,

Cynthia Reeser
Publisher
Aqueous Books
P.O. Box 170607
Birmingham, AL 35217
pubs@aqueousbooks.com
http://www.aqueousbooks.com

RADIO DAYS

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-04-23/special-readers-review-celebration-poetry

The Political Campaign of Andy Shallal: A Look Back and The Look Ahead

April 28, 2014, 1:00 pm4:00 pm
IPS Conference Room
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC

Join Andy Shallal, E. Ethelbert Miller, Joy Zarembka, Steve Cobble, and Jonetta Rose Barras for a conversation about:

Did the Shallal campaign for mayor of DC change the landscape of DC politics?
What strategies did the campaign pursue? What was successful? What failed?
How progressive is the progressive DC community?
What funding obstacles did the Shallal campaign have to overcome?
What role did the media play in getting the Shallal message out to the community?
Is DC ready for a dialogue on race, educational reform or income inequality?
Should Andy Shallal run again?

Reserve your 2014 Jefferson Lecture tickets!

The 43rd Annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities: An Evening with Walter Isaacson

Monday, May 12, 2014, 7:30 p.m. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall 2700 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Register for required free tickets at www.neh.gov. Other inquiries may be directed to 202-606-8446 or rpoor@neh.gov Join the National Endowment for the Humanities for the 2014 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities with Walter Isaacson, acclaimed author, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization, and biographer of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin, who will speak on The Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences. The annual Jefferson Lecture, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is the most prestigious honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. #JeffLec2014 Preview the Upcoming Lecture In his lecture Isaacson will touch upon the careers of Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Ada Lovelace, Walker Percy, and Edwin Land and others who fused humanistic thought with scientific discovery.   Reserve Your Free Tickets!

"We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. You are cordially invited to attend a reception and fundraiser featuring Rev. William Barber, President of the North Carolina State NACCP and leader of the Moral Mondays Movement.  Join national faith, labor and community leaders as we support the largest movement in the South since Selma! When MONDAY APR. 28, 2014 From 6pm to 8pm Where BUSBOYS AND POETS 1035 5th STREET NWWashington, DC Register

We are raising funds for the NC Moral Mondays Movement and Moral Mondays 11 Week Freedom Summer Organizing Training.

Suggestion donation for the reception is $100. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to support NC Moral Monday/Forward Together Movement and Moral Freedom Summer. Donations are *not* tax deductible.

Forward Together, Not One Step Back!

moralmondays.kineticslive.com