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December 8 – December 21, 2016
On The Dock This Issue:
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Done with TV News and Papers If one of Trump’s goal was to destroy the credibility of legacy news sources, he won from where I sit. And, the legacy news media helped him win. | |
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| A Dying Mule Always Kicks the Hardest Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II says our struggle for freedom is not linear: Every advance toward a more perfect union has been met with a backlash of resistance. |
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| More White People Are Dying Than Are Being Born in 17 States By the year 2020, 50.2percent of all children in the US are expected to be non-white, according to the Census Bureau. |
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| Gambia Elects “No Drama” Adama Barrow Via Marbles During his term, according to Reuters, the outgoing leader claimed to have invented a herbal cure for AIDS that only works on Thursdays. |
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| How Polyester Fleece Clothing is Bad for the Earth Just one fleece jacket could shed over 81,000 minute strands of polyester per wash. New York City, alone, could have 6.8 billion microfibers flowing into its harbor every day. |
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| Contemporary African Immigrants in the U.S. Symposium Contemporary African immigration and African communities in the United States will be the focus of a half-day, free symposium at the Library of Congress. |
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| Activities Interesting, diverse things to do |
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| Readers' Trends Port Of Harlem, Pinterest, and Facebook |
It is extremely ironic for me, a publisher, albeit of a small magazine, to emphatically announce that I no longer watch legacy television news such as ABC News. And, this is after I stopped reading legacy newspapers such as the Washington Post.
After the U.S. Presidential election, I just could not visualize spending another 30 to 90 minutes a day watching talking heads analyze, pontificate, wrongly prognosticate, and hyperbolize things that we now know were guesses, misleading, false, or just plain trivial.
If one of Trump’s goal was to destroy the credibility of legacy news sources, he won from where I sit. And, the legacy news media helped him win.
I have long stopped watching ABC national news, with all of its sensationalized, game-show sound effects - - and forever breaking news. But, even after settling for the tamed PBS News Hour, I just flipped it off, too.
I had to unplug PBS days after the election, as one Clinton supporter battled a Trump supporter over what Trump supposedly had tweeted. The ping-ponging should have stayed in the game room. On a cerebral show like the NewsHour, either the show producers should have displayed the tweet or called a time-out and moved on. (In this Trump-era, what was factually tweeted would have not mattered any way.)
Just as I skimmed newspapers online for free before the election, I now depend more on filtered (by friends) Facebook postings, e-magazines, e-newspapers, press releases, and online and in-person news conferences for news and information. I like being able to read what I want and very quickly move pass or click off the foolishness.
Let me offer another example of the foolishness I am avoiding: remember how much the word “deplorable” became a negative for Clinton. Yea, she called people out of their names and could have attributed the word to their behavior instead. However, when I read the whole statement on the Internet, I got a completely different picture of her message - - completely different.
After the U.S. Presidential election, I just could not visualize spending another 30 to 90 minutes a day watching talking heads analyze, pontificate, wrongly prognosticate, and hyperbolize things that we now know were guesses, misleading, false, or just plain trivial.
If one of Trump’s goal was to destroy the credibility of legacy news sources, he won from where I sit. And, the legacy news media helped him win.
I have long stopped watching ABC national news, with all of its sensationalized, game-show sound effects - - and forever breaking news. But, even after settling for the tamed PBS News Hour, I just flipped it off, too.
I had to unplug PBS days after the election, as one Clinton supporter battled a Trump supporter over what Trump supposedly had tweeted. The ping-ponging should have stayed in the game room. On a cerebral show like the NewsHour, either the show producers should have displayed the tweet or called a time-out and moved on. (In this Trump-era, what was factually tweeted would have not mattered any way.)
Just as I skimmed newspapers online for free before the election, I now depend more on filtered (by friends) Facebook postings, e-magazines, e-newspapers, press releases, and online and in-person news conferences for news and information. I like being able to read what I want and very quickly move pass or click off the foolishness.
Let me offer another example of the foolishness I am avoiding: remember how much the word “deplorable” became a negative for Clinton. Yea, she called people out of their names and could have attributed the word to their behavior instead. However, when I read the whole statement on the Internet, I got a completely different picture of her message - - completely different.
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? . . . The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”
Port Of Harlem would have asked voters: Isn’t it deplorable to support any one who is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it?
Instead of asking for a further explanation from Clinton, Port Of Harlem would have asked voters: Isn’t it deplorable to support any one who is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it? And, how can you justify your support for Trump and overlook the hurt feelings and the disfranchisement of your fellow human beings, fellow Americans, and fellows Earthlings?
During a Wilson Center conference call on African expectations from Donald Trump, I learned about past policies and current thoughts. And, Fatima Sadiqi, Senior Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies at Morocco’s Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, responded to my question on whether Trump’s rhetoric will spark a backlash of violence out of Africa. She said, his “kind of rhetoric is exactly what will play in the hands of (terrorists) . . . ,in my view, will push more youth to extremism, because it will give them, like, a good excuse to do that.”
This was the type of exploratory news that the legacy media could have placed focus. It would have been like reading the car reviews before buying a car versus watching a 30 second, flashy commercial.
Port Of Harlem would have asked voters: Isn’t it deplorable to support any one who is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it?
Instead of asking for a further explanation from Clinton, Port Of Harlem would have asked voters: Isn’t it deplorable to support any one who is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it? And, how can you justify your support for Trump and overlook the hurt feelings and the disfranchisement of your fellow human beings, fellow Americans, and fellows Earthlings?
During a Wilson Center conference call on African expectations from Donald Trump, I learned about past policies and current thoughts. And, Fatima Sadiqi, Senior Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies at Morocco’s Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, responded to my question on whether Trump’s rhetoric will spark a backlash of violence out of Africa. She said, his “kind of rhetoric is exactly what will play in the hands of (terrorists) . . . ,in my view, will push more youth to extremism, because it will give them, like, a good excuse to do that.”
This was the type of exploratory news that the legacy media could have placed focus. It would have been like reading the car reviews before buying a car versus watching a 30 second, flashy commercial.
The reactionary wave that swept across America with the election of Donald Trump is not an anomaly in our history. It is an all-too-familiar pattern in the long struggle for American reconstruction.
The story of our struggle for freedom is not linear: Every advance toward a more perfect union has been met with a backlash of resistance.
The story of our struggle for freedom is not linear: Every advance toward a more perfect union has been met with a backlash of resistance.
When African-Americans became full citizens of the United States during Reconstruction, a violent backlash arose in the Redemption movement that included both the violence of the Klan and the voter suppression of Southern Democrats. The same kind of backlash followed the legislative victories of the civil rights movement — what many historians call a “Second Reconstruction.”
Richard Nixon’s “law and order” campaign of 1968 was an intentional effort to appeal to racial hate and fear without using overtly racist language. His adviser, Kevin Phillips, called it the “Southern Strategy.”
Read the Complete Story
Richard Nixon’s “law and order” campaign of 1968 was an intentional effort to appeal to racial hate and fear without using overtly racist language. His adviser, Kevin Phillips, called it the “Southern Strategy.”
Read the Complete Story
More White Americans are now dying than being born in a third of U.S. states, according to a study released (last) Tuesday, which shows White deaths outpacing births in a record 17 states stretching from California to Maine.
The study mirrors projections by the U.S. Census Bureau that the country’s White population will start to decline in absolute numbers by 2025. Minority populations, particularly Latinos, continue to grow thanks to higher fertility rates, and the Census projects that the U.S. will be majority-minority around the mid-2040s. (By the year 2020, 50.2percent of all children in the US are expected to be non-white, according to the Census. )
Read the Complete Story
Read the Complete Story
In almost a dramatic reversal from the world’s “teacher” of good governance, the small West African nation of Gambia elected “No Drama’ Adama Barrow as its next president. His election will end the 22-year rule of His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa, who came into power via a coup.
During his term, according to Reuters, the outgoing leader claimed to have invented a herbal cure for AIDS that only works on Thursdays, personally administered another herbal cure he had concocted for infertility, and arrested hundreds on suspicion of being witches or wizards, and threatened to decapitate gay people.
Unlike the close election in the United States where Clinton won the popular vote and Trump the Electoral College, the Gambian election was more decisive, 45.5 percent of the vote for Barrow, 36.7 percent for Jammeh Babili Mansa, and 17.8 percent for Mammah Kandeh.
During his term, according to Reuters, the outgoing leader claimed to have invented a herbal cure for AIDS that only works on Thursdays, personally administered another herbal cure he had concocted for infertility, and arrested hundreds on suspicion of being witches or wizards, and threatened to decapitate gay people.
Unlike the close election in the United States where Clinton won the popular vote and Trump the Electoral College, the Gambian election was more decisive, 45.5 percent of the vote for Barrow, 36.7 percent for Jammeh Babili Mansa, and 17.8 percent for Mammah Kandeh.
As reported on our Facebook page, Wilson Center Panelists Terrence McNamee, Deputy Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa, said that the use of the Electoral College to many Africans “does not seem particular democratic.” He added, that the when “advising” African countries on democracy, many will now say, “Hey America, you have some work to do on the home front.”
“This happens to be my first time to participate in an election and it feels great to have a voice,” said Rugiatou Bah, a recent high school graduate and member of the Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnserhip (POHGEP) Facebook Friends group.
Bah and other Gambians voted on Thursday by placing marbles into drums marked for each candidate. Hatab Fadera, Executive Member of the Gambia Press Union says the “peaceful and democratic transfer of power we are beginning to see, for the first time in our country's political history, is a great feat for us all. It shows that democracy is possible through the use of a marble.”
“This happens to be my first time to participate in an election and it feels great to have a voice,” said Rugiatou Bah, a recent high school graduate and member of the Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnserhip (POHGEP) Facebook Friends group.
Bah and other Gambians voted on Thursday by placing marbles into drums marked for each candidate. Hatab Fadera, Executive Member of the Gambia Press Union says the “peaceful and democratic transfer of power we are beginning to see, for the first time in our country's political history, is a great feat for us all. It shows that democracy is possible through the use of a marble.”
We’re all familiar with the issue of non-biodegradable plastic debris (shopping bags, soda bottles, fishing nets, etc.) clogging up our waterways and making its way out to sea—sometimes accumulating in huge “gyres.” But what you might not realize is that even if you are responsible about recycling and not littering, you may still be contributing to the ocean's plastic burden by virtue of the clothes on your back.
“The single biggest plastic pollution problem facing our ocean is microfiber: trillions of pieces of tiny fibers flowing into the ocean—every time we use our washing machines,” reports the nonprofit Rozalia Project. “Our synthetic clothing is breaking up, sending this plastic microfiber out with the drain water.” According to the group, just one fleece jacket could shed over 81,000 minute strands of polyester per wash. “New York City, alone, could have 6.8 billion microfibers flowing into its harbor every day.”
According to activist Sarah Mosko, the tiny size of microplastics actually adds to their dangers. “Because plastics are lipophylic (oil-loving), oily contaminants in seawater are drawn to them,” she reports on a research blog.
“Japanese researchers found that plastic pellets no more than a half millimeter in diameter could adsorb hazardous chemicals (like polychlorinated biphenyls, nonylphenols, and derivatives of DDT) onto their surfaces at up to one million times the concentrations in the surrounding water.”
The tiny size of microplastics means that even minute creatures can ingest them, thereby introducing any chemicals they carry into the very bottom of the food chain.
“The single biggest plastic pollution problem facing our ocean is microfiber: trillions of pieces of tiny fibers flowing into the ocean—every time we use our washing machines,” reports the nonprofit Rozalia Project. “Our synthetic clothing is breaking up, sending this plastic microfiber out with the drain water.” According to the group, just one fleece jacket could shed over 81,000 minute strands of polyester per wash. “New York City, alone, could have 6.8 billion microfibers flowing into its harbor every day.”
According to activist Sarah Mosko, the tiny size of microplastics actually adds to their dangers. “Because plastics are lipophylic (oil-loving), oily contaminants in seawater are drawn to them,” she reports on a research blog.
“Japanese researchers found that plastic pellets no more than a half millimeter in diameter could adsorb hazardous chemicals (like polychlorinated biphenyls, nonylphenols, and derivatives of DDT) onto their surfaces at up to one million times the concentrations in the surrounding water.”
The tiny size of microplastics means that even minute creatures can ingest them, thereby introducing any chemicals they carry into the very bottom of the food chain.
The Rozalia Project adds that “ingested pollutants can un-stick from the plastic and end up in the stomachs and tissue” of everything from plankton to whales, causing issues at the cellular level as well as digestive problems. Rozalia researchers found that two-thirds of all fish species tested from markets in California had microfiber or microplastic in them. Even those who don’t eat fish may not be able to avoid ingesting microfibers, given that farm animals are typically fed fish meal as a dietary staple.
So what can be done? Rozalia has developed “the world’s first consumer solution” to stop microfiber pollution. The patent-pending microfiber catcher works in any washing machine, catching microfibers so they can’t flow out with the drain water. “Early test results show the microfiber catcher keeping 2,000-9,000 pieces of synthetic microfibers from flowing into our public waterways per wash per household.”
Outdoor clothing and gear makers are starting to realize that they can be part of the solution as well. Earlier this year, Patagonia commissioned microbiologists from UC Santa Barbara to study the problem and suggest ways the company could reduce microfiber pollution moving forward. The company is sharing the findings with its competitors in order to collaborate on industry-wide solutions.
We probably can’t do much, concludes Sarah Mosko, about the microplastics that are already contaminating our oceans, but we can start making smarter clothing choices, adding that “natural fiber cloths like cotton, silk, wool, bamboo, hemp and even soy may be better choices for those concerned about the environment. All derive from renewable sources, are intrinsically biodegradable, and their fibers would not attract oily chemicals out of seawater.”
So what can be done? Rozalia has developed “the world’s first consumer solution” to stop microfiber pollution. The patent-pending microfiber catcher works in any washing machine, catching microfibers so they can’t flow out with the drain water. “Early test results show the microfiber catcher keeping 2,000-9,000 pieces of synthetic microfibers from flowing into our public waterways per wash per household.”
Outdoor clothing and gear makers are starting to realize that they can be part of the solution as well. Earlier this year, Patagonia commissioned microbiologists from UC Santa Barbara to study the problem and suggest ways the company could reduce microfiber pollution moving forward. The company is sharing the findings with its competitors in order to collaborate on industry-wide solutions.
We probably can’t do much, concludes Sarah Mosko, about the microplastics that are already contaminating our oceans, but we can start making smarter clothing choices, adding that “natural fiber cloths like cotton, silk, wool, bamboo, hemp and even soy may be better choices for those concerned about the environment. All derive from renewable sources, are intrinsically biodegradable, and their fibers would not attract oily chemicals out of seawater.”
Contemporary African immigration and African communities in the United States will be the focus of a half-day, free symposium at the Library of Congress. Tickets are not needed.
Toyin Falola, the John W. Kluge Center Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress, will host the symposium. Other participating scholars include Abdul Karim Bangura, Nemata Blyden, Kenneth Harrow, and Dr. Moses Ochonu.
Toyin Falola, the John W. Kluge Center Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress, will host the symposium. Other participating scholars include Abdul Karim Bangura, Nemata Blyden, Kenneth Harrow, and Dr. Moses Ochonu.
The symposium is Thursday, December 15, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Thomas Jefferson Building 10 First Street, SE in Washington. The event will take place in room 119.
Washington
Fully Committed
MetroStage
1201 N. Royal
Thu, Dec 8–Sun, Jan 8
Straight White Men
Studio Theater
9th and P, NW
through Sun, Dec 31, 2016, $
BZB Gift Show
Shiloh Baptist Church
9th and P Streets, NW
Sats Dec 10, 17, 10a-7p, free
Fri Dec 23, 10a-9p, free
Alexandria Holiday Market
300 John Carlyle Street
Alexandria
Dec 9-11,16-22,11a-7p, free
Baltimore
Create Natural Ornaments Workshop
Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum
300 Oella Avenue
Sat, Dec 10, 12p-3p, free
Fully Committed
MetroStage
1201 N. Royal
Thu, Dec 8–Sun, Jan 8
Straight White Men
Studio Theater
9th and P, NW
through Sun, Dec 31, 2016, $
BZB Gift Show
Shiloh Baptist Church
9th and P Streets, NW
Sats Dec 10, 17, 10a-7p, free
Fri Dec 23, 10a-9p, free
Alexandria Holiday Market
300 John Carlyle Street
Alexandria
Dec 9-11,16-22,11a-7p, free
Baltimore
Create Natural Ornaments Workshop
Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum
300 Oella Avenue
Sat, Dec 10, 12p-3p, free
New York
Leroy Campbell
"The Fight Continues"
Richard Beavers Gallery
408 Marcus Garvey Blvd
Brooklyn, NY
Extended to Sun, Dec 18
open Sats and Suns, noon-7p, free
Movies
Loving
Now Showing, $
Hidden Figures
Opens Dec 25, $
Webinar
Feel Good Aroma Feng Shui
By Sherry Burton-Ways
Sun, Dec 18,6:30p. EST
Coming
Peace Ball: Voices of Hope and Resistance
National Museum of African-American History and Culture
Jan 19, 9p-1a, $
7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Daley’s Destinations
Jul 29, 2017, $
Leroy Campbell
"The Fight Continues"
Richard Beavers Gallery
408 Marcus Garvey Blvd
Brooklyn, NY
Extended to Sun, Dec 18
open Sats and Suns, noon-7p, free
Movies
Loving
Now Showing, $
Hidden Figures
Opens Dec 25, $
Webinar
Feel Good Aroma Feng Shui
By Sherry Burton-Ways
Sun, Dec 18,6:30p. EST
Coming
Peace Ball: Voices of Hope and Resistance
National Museum of African-American History and Culture
Jan 19, 9p-1a, $
7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Daley’s Destinations
Jul 29, 2017, $
| From the Last Issue | On Pinterest | On Facebook | On Website | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rising Beyond Poverty |
 White Supremacists More Deadly than Jihadist |
 Let's Make January 20, 2017 National " Turn Off Your TV" Day |  The Other Side Voices of the Incarcerated (3rd consecutive) |