About Talia Whyte

Posts by Talia Whyte:

The Black Panthers: Diplomats for Revolution

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Black Panther Newspaper Panthers in Kasbah AlgiersLast weekend I saw the new documentary “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.”  I have read a lot about the Panthers since I was in high school.  Much of what I know comes from the larger context of the Black Power Movement, which includes Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael and the Nation of Islam.  The film is really meant to be a primer for people who don’t know much about the Panthers to get a basic understanding of their most important milestones, like the breakfast program and the murder of Fred Hampton.  The two-hour movie is packed with a lot of information; so much information that many of the topics brought up could be their own documentaries.   

Following the film screening, director Stanley Nelson was present and took questions from the audience.  The most common questions were why was this or that not included in the film.  The reality here is that it was meant to be a two-hour movie, and only so much time to cover all the important topics.  A true movie that included every aspect of the Black Panther timeline would be a 10-hour mini-series!  

Some of the topics that were briefly discussed in the film that I would have liked to have learned more about include the misogyny within the Party, the alleged crimes committed by Ericka Huggins, Jamal Joseph and others, and the weird, criminal behavior of Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver.  But, again, maybe these subjects need their own dedicated movies.

What stood out to me was the international solidarity the Panthers attempted to create after Cleaver went into exile in Algeria via Cuba, following a police ambush in Oakland that killed young panther Bobby Hutton in 1968.  By this time, the Panthers had already gained a reputation as revolutionaries by other oppressed groups worldwide and connected with other liberation struggles.  

Algeria was already a hotbed of revolutionary acts, since its violent independence from France in 1962.  (To learn more about the Algerian struggle, read Frantz Fanon’s A Dying Colonialism and watch Gillo Pontecorvo’s powerful The Battle of Algiers. – both well worth your time!)  By the time Cleaver and company came to Algeria in 1972, President Houari Boumediene had turned his country into a haven for other revolutionaries seeing refuge.  The Panthers were granted an office space in the old North Vietnamese embassy, a small, monthly stipend from the Algerian government and were allowed to grant asylum to other Panthers coming from America.  Kathleen Cleaver once said that the BPP international chapter was the “embassy of the American Revolution, receiving revolutionary visitors from all over the world,” and sharing news about “revolutionary developments within the United States.”  

However, the Cleavers overstayed their welcome and were eventually kicked out of Algeria, after the fiasco behind the hijacking of Western Airlines Flight 701.

By the time the Cleavers left, Pete O’Neal, former chairman of the Kansas City BPP chapter, found refuge in Algeria and became the new leader of the international section.  O’Neal was a hardcore Marxist who felt that his prosecution by the US government on gun charges was politically motivated.

Eventually O’Neal and his wife Charlotte were also forced out of Algeria and moved to Tanzania, which was ruled at the time by socialist President Julius Nyerere.  O’Neal still lives in Tanzania on his farm where he advocates for community development and self-reliance.  PBS also produced this documentary about O’Neal a few years ago, which I highly recommend.

Why You Need a Personal Website

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Website Wireframe Sketch On Digital Tablet Screen

One of the most frequently asked questions by my clients is whether or not they should have a personal website.  Many of them are job seekers looking to better brand themselves to potential employers.  In my opinion, I think personal websites can only enhance your chances of finding your dream job.  And, no, I am not just saying this because I am a web designer trying to get new clients.  I say this coming from my own experience with this website.  

I am self-employed in journalism and digital marketing, so it is a must that I have a website that showcases who I am and my previous work.  In today’s competitive market, anyone in any field that is not self-employed also needs a website to get the next job.  

Let’s break down the reasons:

  1. You can control your brand – The first thing most recruiters do today is google the names of prospective job applicants.  As many of you know, both good and bad things about you can show up in a google search.  Having your own website can control your brand and help protect your reputation online.  Presenting information on your own website shows you in the way you want others to view you online.  Also, having your name as the website’s URL (yourname.com) also establishes your brand and will guarantee that your site will show up on the top of the first page in search engine results.
  2. Sell yourself – The whole point of your personal website is to sell yourself.  Why should someone hire you?  Your online portfolio should be a grand showroom of your best work for recruiters who want additional information about you that goes beyond a CV or resume.  You can show off what makes your skills and personality unique and marketable. Also, anyone in the world can see your website, and you never know where your next job will come from.  I have gotten really awesome job opportunities from people who happened to stumble upon this website!
  3. Show your investment – Having your own website shows others that you invest in yourself and career by branding yourself online.  Employers will take you more seriously.
  4. You are accessible – Having a website makes it easier to find and contact you about work.  Your website should have a clean, simple navigation design, where it is easy to find your biography, contact information and samples of your work.  Stick to the three-click rule, make sure your site supports web diversity and avoid busy-looking websites like the plague.
  5. Links to social media and networking tools – Your website can also be the one-stop to all of your social media accounts, which makes it easier for recruiters to find you online in other places.  You can also put links to other online spaces where recruiters can find your work like Behance.  A word on social media: a lot of people ask me why they should have a website, when they already have a Linkedin or Facebook page.  The reasons are already stated above.  Everyone’s social media accounts look the same.  Having your own website distinguishes yourself from others and showcasing your unique skills and personality.  Furthermore, there are always new social media tools coming onto and going away from the market.  Websites are more future-proof that can grow with your career.

Now that summer is over and everyone is back to regular work and school schedules, now is a great time to think about doing a personal website.  Global Wire Design is running a 10 percent discount on all of its services until 30 September 2015.  Contact us about your online marketing solutions!  

Two Gone, But Not Forgotten Musical Geniuses

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Nina SimoneNina Simone and Rahsaan Roland Kirk were two larger-than-life, musical geniuses who never received the commercial recognition they should have received during their respective lifetimes.   Recently, two documentaries about Simone and Kirk came out that give a new perspective on their lives and give them the highest praise due to them.  I loved both films and I hope you will see them too!

What Happened, Miss Simone

I didn’t know much about Nina Simone’s life before the documentary beyond listening to her records.  But after watching it, I had a greater understanding of where she was coming from both musically and politically.  Raised in the segregated South, Simone had to overcome many racial barriers in the music world.  She was denied a scholarship to Curtis Institute of Music because she was black, but ended up at Juilliard.  To pay for school, she played piano in Atlantic City, where she perfected her mix of jazz, gospel, blues and classical music.

She had a very messy private life.  I knew that she had bipolar disorder, but didn’t know about the domestic abuse she suffered under her husband, as well as being emotionally abusive to her daughter.  And, apparently, she fired a gun at a record company executive she thought was stealing royalty money from her.  Her volatile behavior was only known to a few people until after her death.

But she is best known for her powerful songs, which became some of the most important music of the civil rights movement.  “How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?” she once said.   Hit songs like Mississippi Goddam and Young, Gifted and Black became anthems for the era.  However, her career suffered commercially because of her radical politics.  She was denied appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show because she embraced black power.

Simone would be reduced to singing in small nightclubs in Paris for a few hundred dollars a performance.  Her mental illness also became more pronounced as the years progressed, and she eventually died from breast cancer.  But her musical legacy lives on.

One of her best performances, including Mississippi Goddam:

Rahsaan Roland KirkThe Case of the Three Sided Dream

Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an interesting character.  He was a jazz multi-instrumentalist who considered himself a “journey agent” and his band members “poets.”  He was blind, but he had vivid dreams that helped him see his music.  The movie title is named after his most famous album, which was also political in nature, with rants about the Watergate scandal and racism.

Kirk once proclaimed that jazz was black classical music.  In the early 1970s TV shows like the Ed Sullivan Show preferred to have pop stars come on to perform instead of jazz musicians because they were more commercially acceptable.  Kirk mounted a campaign to get “black classical music” on mainstream television by having fellow “jazz militants” disrupt live television programs like the Dick Cavett Show with whistles.  Kirk finally got Ed Sullivan’s attention and was invited to perform, but only under the condition that he performed a nice, non-threathening Stevie Wonder song.

Being a man that literally toots his own horn, he went against the establishment and played the powerful “Haitian Fight Song” with Charlie Mingus and other poets.

One of his most memorable performances:

Lessons I Learn From Being An Educator

education written on a blackboardI never thought I would become an educator, but through my work with Global Wire Associates, I organized approximately 80 classes a year around the world teaching a variety of subjects, from basic computer literacy to digital journalism to interactive multimedia and 3D modeling.  I have instructed all types of people  –  teenagers interested in STEM topics, stay-at-home moms starting online businesses, working journalists updating their digital skills, recent immigrants, special needs persons and senior citizens who want to learn basic computer literacy and nonprofit managers needing better engagement with their online constituents.

In September I am going back to New York again during UN Week to teach web development classes to journalists from developing countries.  I may be continuing my STEM empowerment classes into the fall if we are able to secure funding.

Teaching is tough work, but it is also very rewarding.  I have learned a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses instructing others.  I learned a lot from other educators who have mentored me.

Here are my lessons from the last 10 years:

Meeting other people where they are at:  Being a web developer, I forget sometimes that most people are not tech savvy and using all the latest tech gadgets and programs.  This is where I have had to leave my ego at the door and learn how to be patient and comfortable with helping students on different learning curves.

Learn from doing:  I am a big fan of project-based learning.  I always hated it when a teacher just droned on for the entirety of a class session.  I think students learn more effectively by actually doing the work.  For example, if I am teaching web design, my students will actually build a website in class.

Learn from each other: With project-based learning, my students generally work in teams. Putting students in teams forces them to learn a variety of skills like communication, as well as take ownership of their learning.   

Culturally Responsive:  The classroom is becoming more diverse, and it is more than likely your students don’t share the same background.  This is why it is important to listen to, build relationships with and get feedback from your students in order to figure out nuanced ways to make education equitable.

Things don’t always go as planned:  Sometimes I create a well-prepared curriculum, only to have to toss it out and do something totally different. Things don’t go the way I planned it all the time, and that can be a good thing sometimes.  Some of the best teaching moments I have ever had come from unexpected moments.

Let students help with the curriculum: I am a fan of democratic education.  Having student input gives me a better understanding of my students’ needs and how I can improve my teaching abilities.  I always encourage questions during lessons or ask them to tell me to spend more time explaining a specific topic.

Admit when you don’t know something: I don’t pretend to be a know-it-all.  If I don’t know something, I will say that to the student.  In my experience, students appreciate the candor because we are all human.

Make sure everyone learns one thing: I try not to cram a lot of things into my courses because technology subjects tend to be overwhelming enough, especially if the students are new to computer literacy.  I encourage my students to make sure that they walk away from class learning at least one new thing, and make sure that one thing is something that could impact their life.

For instance, I taught a class on basic computer literacy five years ago, and one of the students recently moved to Boston from Haiti.  She knew very little English and very shy, but she was able to understand most of my class.  I told her at the beginning that she should focus on learning one thing that she understands and can be useful.  Her one, useful takeaway was how to log into, read and send email.  This class took place a couple of weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, and some of the student’s relatives evacuated to southern Florida, but she didn’t know where actually. However, she did know that the relatives had Gmail accounts.  She was able to locate and make first contact with her relatives who were found in Miami by email.

Every once in a while, I bump into my former student in my neighborhood.  Her English has greatly improved, and she says that she is now taking classes in Microsoft Office at a local community college.  She is always thanking me for helping her with her email.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal to many people these days to know how to send an email, but that class made such an impact in her life.  She always says “Thank you, Talia, thank you very much for your help and patience.”

Sometimes the smallest things can make a big impact in another person’s life.       

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