James Rucker was one of the many progressive activists, technologists and journalists who descended upon Providence June 7-10 for Netroots Nation. For many attendees, this was possibly the most important year for political online activism, as the presidential election heats up between President Obama and Republican candidate Gov. Mitt Romney.
Watch my video interview with him here
Issa Rae, the creator and star of the hit web series, The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, was a speaker at the first annual “Black Women in America” conference Feb. 25. The sudden success of “Awkward Black Girl” says a lot about not only the potential of viral video and good old-fashioned word of mouth, but also a growing desire among people of color to see better portrayals of their communities in the media.
Bunker Hill Community College held the opening reception Feb. 9 for its latest exhibit “That’s a Fact: Young, Gifted and Black.” Many of the area’s best and brightest artists, filmmakers, musicians, writers and photographers were invited to display and celebrate their art. It was exciting to attend because it almost looked like a modern day Harlem Renaissance gathering.
During the 1920s and 1930s many African-Americans moved to the North as part of the Great Migration. Many of those migrants had creative aspirations and made their way to Harlem. These artists used their work to express the new black identity; many of them influenced by self-determination, the Jazz Age and the racial bigotry of the time. Like their Harlem forefathers, the young artists in this exhibit are expressing their own black identity, only this time their influences are hip-hop culture and their pride in having a black man in the White House.
Watch the video here
I recently had a chance to go back to my alma mater Emerson College to speak to some current students of color about the state of race relations on campus. The four students in the video are executive board members of Emerson’s Black Organization with Natural Interests (EBONI). In recent years, the school has been plagued with accusations of subtle racism and lacking racial diversity among its faculty and student body.
A couple of years ago, two black professors accused Emerson of denying them tenure because of their race. Up until that time, Emerson College had only granted tenure to just three black professors in its 129-year history. There have also been many claims by students of color over the years that they didn’t feel welcomed by their white counterparts on campus.
Watch the video here
State Rep. Byron Rushing joined local community activists at Hibernian Hall Oct. 19 to discuss the history of the 45-year-old Madison Park Development Corporation, as well as highlight the roots of black activism in Boston. It was an enlightening conversation among elder activists that showed that change is possible when all people organize as one around a common agenda and goal.
So it was interesting when Occupy Boston activist Brian Kwoba got up during the discussion to ask the panelists what tips the current Occupy Movement could take away. Panelist and Dudley Main Streets executive director Joyce Stanley said that unlike the Roxbury activists of the 1960s who organized around not allowing the I-95 to be built in the community, the Occupy Wall Street movement doesn’t have a clear agenda nor has it made any specific goals for their protest.
“If you don’t have clear goals when you are organizing a movement, eventually people start to lose interest in what you are protesting about,” Stanley said.
Watch the video here
Roslyn McCallister Brock, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) national board, was the keynote speaker at the centennial gala for the Boston Branch on September 17. Last year she succeeded Julian Bond, becoming the fourth woman and the youngest person to serve in the position. In recent years, the organization has been accused of lacking relevance and not addressing the concerns of younger African Americans. However, during the gala, it seemed like there was an explicit effort to redress these complaints.
Watch the video interview here
