Unbought and Unbossed
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I have always loved Shirley Chisholm’s campaign slogan, which became the title of her autobiography. This is not the first time I have celebrated her here, and it will not be my last. She has been an inspiration for generations — especially for Black women in politics — so much so that now MVP Kamala Harris chose a red and yellow design for her campaign logo that celebrated the campaign buttons Chisholm used when she ran for President.
This 2019 feature in Teen Vogue, pointed to the fact that some of our younger folks did not know much about her. Columnist Jenn M Jackson wrote:
I first learned the name Shirley Chisholm when I was in my 20s. Barack Obama was running for president of the United States and I was interested in learning more about how many Black people had made the decision to run before. Most of the information I found focused on Jesse Jackson, who ran in the 1980s. It took deep digging to find out that there was actually a Black woman who ran over a decade before him. And she did it unapologetically
Thanks to groups like The Shirley Chisholm Project, at Brooklyn College, “A repository of women's grassroots social activism in Brooklyn since 1945,” her legacy is being passed on. If you are not already following them on social media — suggest you do.
What I’d like to share today, is some of the up and coming attention being paid to Chisholm. Just saw this news from Buffalo, New York, where Chisholm is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
New York City announced in 2018 that there would finally be a statue in the city dedicated to Chisholm.
NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray announced today that in two years, a statue of former congresswoman and political trailblazer Shirley Chisholm will be standing tall at the Parkside entrance to Prospect Park.
Finally.
It was nine years ago when we first wrote about the incredible difference in the number of male and female statues in New York City. The numbers have not changed since then; there are still around 145 statues honoring male historical figures across the five boroughs, while only five historical females are represented: Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, Gertrude Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman.
If you think "well, they're only statues," think of what message this sends to anyone traversing the city. It says that men built this city, that men are more important than women, that men are more deserving of these honors. But McCray is changing the landscape and the message it sends with her She Built NYC initiative, and the first big step is this statue of Chisholm. Forever a fighter for women and minorities, she was the perfect choice, and the announcement comes on what would have been her 94th birthday, and the 50th anniversary of her election to the House of Representatives.
However, the COVID epidemic has caused a major delay in the plans.
At the height of the pandemic last year, as the city was forced to shut down, all design and construction projects were frozen including an initiative to build monuments of famous women from New York’s history. The first of those monuments, honoring Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was intended to be built by the end of 2020. But, while the design process has resumed, there seems to be no certain timeline for its completion and it seems unlikely that it will be completed this year.
Legislation for a statue of Chisholm to be placed in the U.S. Capitol has also been drafted. There is no updated word yet on the status of this bill, which currently has 24 Senate co-sponsors — here’s hoping it comes to pass.
In the world of film and television, I’ve been following news about upcoming biopics about Chisholm.
This announcement of a casting call indicates that making the film is underway.
Though this film project was announced in 2020 — there has been no updated news since then, so it is unclear what is happening, though IMBD lists it as “in development”
These efforts will help ensure that she is not forgotten, at a time when attempts are being made to erase our history.
So wish a happy birthday today to Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, and help ensure she is celebrated every day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS ROUND UP BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien wants to know why national media outlets that spent so much time covering the late Gabby Petito don’t offer the same level of attention for missing Black Americans, especially Black women and girls like Keeshae Jacobs.
The disparity in coverage is something the late PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill once famously referred to as “missing white woman syndrome.” It’s also the subject of Black and Missing, O’Brien’s new HBO docuseries, which the premium cable network released on Tuesday.
“Why are the stories about missing Black women, and Black people generally, why are they not told, why are they not shared, why are they not so interesting to the media? ” O’Brien asked during a recent interview on The Dean Obeidallah Show, which aired on Friday, as reported by Mediaite. “And why is law enforcement seeming to be unwilling to really chase after these stories?” she added.
O’Brien’s four-episode series follows former law enforcement officer Derrica Wilson, who now serves as co-founder and CEO of the Black and Missing Foundation, a non-profit that brings awareness to missing people of color. Derrica and her sister-in-law, Natalie Wilson, lead a team helping families of color find their missing loved ones
Soledad O’Brien
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shamika Klassen, a doctoral student at Colorado University Boulder conducted a study between April and May of 2020, analyzing over 75,000 tweets and interviewing 18 Black Twitter users. Klassen compares the findings to serving a similar purpose as the Green Book. Formally published in 1936 as The Negro Motorist Green Book by Black postal worker Victor Green, the book provided a guide for Black travelers to avoid discrimination and physical harm as they journeyed from town to town.
Alongside her CU colleagues, Carnegie Mellon peers and Harvard associates, Klassen discovered that the platform wasn’t being utilized solely to share memes, but also to request safe suggestions for lodging, places to eat without being side eyed, and which professionals to book in which areas.
“What was most interesting to me was the many different ways that Black Twitter was giving life to people,” Klassen said in an interview. “There are benefits, there’s empowerment, there were also people warning about racism, and it was so interesting to see all the different ways people were being fed in their spirit by Black Twitter. It’s more than just funny hot takes or getting entertained by the Verzuz battles happening, but a rich, deep, meaningful community of people.”
Among those interviewed was Orville Rawlins, a West Indian resident of Denver who says he never makes a move without consulting Black Twitter first.
“People will make jokes on Twitter that these are the restaurants in the area, but this one has spices and they know how to use them,” Rawlins said. “That might seem minor to other people, but spices are the things that make the food, spices are what counts for us. Whenever I see a review of some small restaurant, hole in the wall, a food truck with my followers, I put more worth in that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alabama attorney general says city must pay $25,000 fine for renaming Jeff Davis Avenue after Fred Gray, a civil rights lawyer who represented Rosa Parks. The Grio: Montgomery faces fine, lawsuit for dropping Confederate name
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alabama’s capital city last month removed the Confederate president’s name from an avenue and renamed it after a lawyer known for his work during the civil rights movement.
Now the state attorney general says the city must pay a fine or face a lawsuit for violating a state law protecting Confederate monuments and other longstanding memorials.
Montgomery last month changed the name of Jeff Davis Avenue to Fred D. Gray Avenue. Gray, who grew up on that same street, represented Rosa Parks and others in cases that fought Deep South segregation practices and was dubbed by Martin Luther King Jr. as “the chief counsel for the protest movement.”
The Alabama attorney general’s office sent a Nov. 5 letter to Montgomery officials saying the city must pay a $25,000 fine by Dec. 8, “otherwise, the attorney general will file suit on behalf of the state.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a developing country reliant on its tourist industry, the rapidly eroding ‘smiling coast’ shows the urgent need for action on climate change
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Saikou Demba was a young man starting out in the hospitality business, he opened a little hotel on the Gambian coast called the Leybato and ran a beach bar on the wide expanse of golden sand. The hotel is still there, a relaxed spot where guests can lie in hammocks beneath swaying palm trees and stroll along shell-studded pathways. But the beach bar is not. At high tide, Demba reckons it would be about five or six metres into the sea.
“The first year the tide came in high but it was OK,” he says. “The second year, the tide came in high but it was OK. The third year, I came down one day and it [the bar] wasn’t there: half of it went into the sea.”
That was in the 1980s, before most people had even heard of the greenhouse effect.
But to Demba, 71, and many others like him, it was obvious even then that things were changing. The sea was coming in further and further every year, and the coastline, bit by bit, was crumbling.
Now, the Leybato has lost not only its beach bar but, at high tide, its beach: the sea comes right up to the bottom of the terrace and splashes over the top. The erosion of the coastline is clearly visible in the cracked paving stones and exposed roots of the coconut trees. The sea grass that used to carpet the ocean floor has gone.
Leybato hotel owner Saikou Demba has watched the Gambia’s coastline crumble over the years. Photograph: Sylvain Cherkaoui/The Guardian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
France is inducting Josephine Baker — Missouri-born cabaret dancer, French World War II spy and civil rights activist — into its Pantheon, the first Black woman honored in the final resting place of France’s most revered luminaries.
On Tuesday, a coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco — places where Baker made her mark — will be deposited inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris. Her body will stay in Monaco, at the request of her family.
French President Emmanuel Macron decided on her entry into the Pantheon, responding to a petition lobbying for her “pantheonization.” In addition to honoring an exceptional figure in French history, the move is meant to send a message against racism and celebrate U.S.-French connections.
“She embodies, before anything, women’s freedom,” Laurent Kupferman, the author of the petition for the move, told The Associated Press.
Baker was born in 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri. At 19, having already divorced twice, had relationships with men and women, and started a performing career, she moved to France following a job opportunity.
“She arrives in France in 1925, she’s an emancipated woman, taking her life in her hands, in a country of which she doesn’t even speak the language,” Kupferman said.
She met immediate success on the Theatre des Champs-Elysees stage, where she appeared topless and wearing a famed banana belt. Her show, embodying the colonial time’s racist stereotypes about African women, caused both condemnation and celebration.
Josephine Baker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OUTH AFRICA had a rotten 2021. Corrupt politicians plundered covid-19 relief funds, deadly riots took more than 330 lives and rolling power outages hobbled the economy. Yet South African scientists have deservedly won plaudits this year. It was local virologists and epidemiologists who had honed their skills studying another virus, HIV, who discovered the new Omicron variant of covid. When cases spiked unexpectedly, they studied samples, determined that it was a new and worrying variant and—most importantly—shared their findings immediately.
No good deed goes unpunished. Hours after Joe Phaahla, the health minister, announced that South Africa had identified the new variant, Britain shut its airports to flights from South Africa and several other southern African countries. America and the European Union soon followed suit, banning flights and closing their borders to travellers from the region. Many South Africans felt they were being unfairly punished for their country being scientifically rigorous and open. It is far from clear that Omicron originated in South Africa. And it may already be spreading in the rich countries that have isolated the region, southern Africans complain. Moreover, some South African scientists have pointed out that the travel ban may also be hampering the race to learn more about Omicron by blocking supplies of the reagents they need to study it.
Travellers walk near an electronic flight notice board displaying cancelled flights at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on November 27, 2021, after several countries banned flights from South Africa following the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant Omicron. - A flurry of countries around the world have banned ban flights from southern Africa following the discovery of the variant, including the United States, Canada, Australia,Thailand, Brazil and several European countries. The main countries targeted by the shutdown include South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
(Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP) (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.