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Pride Is About Authentic Accountability

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Another LGBT Pride Month is about to come to a close, and, of course, we have been bombarded with rainbow flags on social media profiles and “pride” branded merchandise.  It is a great thing that society has progressed that Corporate America is open to celebrating the LGBT experience.

However, I have many thoughts and concerns about this.

I think there is a lot of hypocrisy with some of the individuals and organizations sending out pride well-wishes.  The most obvious one is Trump sending out a pro-LGBT tweet earlier this month when his administration is actively discriminating against transgender soldiers in the military and forbidding U.S. embassies around the world from flying the rainbow flag.  Or the National Security Agency (NSA) putting out a pro-pride tweet when this agency, along with the FBI and CIA, has a long, prolific history of surveillance or blackmail in the LGBT community.

But even companies assumed to be gay-friendly are problematic like YouTube, which got backlash earlier this month for not banning racist and homophobic attacks on a gay YouTuber.  And there are dozens of other companies that are also questionable when it comes to their true allegiances.

I think Corporate America has been gravitating to “pride marketing” for several reasons:

  1. It’s trendy, and it helps companies get noticed
  2. LGBT people are everywhere in every race, ethnicity, religion, income, geographic location, and most importantly, they have spending dollars
  3. Homophobia is seen by Corporate America as an easier form of discrimination to fight against, unlike other types of bias that come with heavy, historical baggage like racism, anti-Semitism, or Islamaphobia, xenophobia, etc.

And quickly frankly, it is easy to do; anyone can put a rainbow flag on their logo temporarily and give the false, superficial impression to the world that they are pro-LGBT without having to be accountable for why they are doing it.  Also, some of these companies will even conflate other marginalized groups and their issues under the rainbow flag.

No one can’t ever accuse us of being anti-immigrant, sexist, or racist because we have pride written in bright, rainbow colors on our website! – Corporate America

We in the black community has been complaining about this hijacking of Black History Month for similar reasons.  Many companies purchase large advertisements in major black publications like Essence, Ebony, or Black Enterprise for the February editions to “celebrate” the achievements and advancements made by African-Americans. And, yet, most of these companies, especially the tech companies, have very few, if any, black employees.  And if they do have a black employee, it’s usually their token black “chief of diversity” or someone else who doesn’t have a decision-making, leadership role within the organization. The company trots out this type of person only to sell the idea of workforce diversity, not the actual work behind making real workforce diversity happen.  I have written previously about why these chiefs of diversity/inclusion/community relation/etc. positions are a joke.

I hope the LGBT community goes back to all of these companies on July 1 when the rainbow flag and pride logos and merchandise go away and hold them accountable.  First, they should ask these companies what are they really doing about LGBT equality.  While our society has made strides with making marriage equality a reality, LGBT people can still be fired from a job or denied housing because there are still no federal laws protecting them.  Gay and bisexual men still can’t be blood donors.  Second, what are these companies doing to safeguard intersectional LGBT folks?  How are they protecting LGBT people who may also be immigrants or Muslims?  What are they doing to protect LGBT people of color who might have a negative interaction with the police or criminal justice system?  What about LGBT veterans or LGBT people with disabilities?  If these companies are not doing anything about these issues, then they are not authentic, accountable allies.

Waving a rainbow flag is just not enough anymore!

What’s really sad about this is that most of these companies don’t even know what the Stonewall Uprising was, which is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year. The Stonewall demonstrators in 1969 just wanted the right to exist.  I think that is a simple request.

Why Art is Political

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Kehinde Wiley Photo Credit: ArtInfoPiggybacking on last week’s post on the Caribbean economy, this week I wanted to take an artistic perspective on island politics. I am  a big fan of Kehinde Wiley’s work, and I always like finding an opportunity to talk about him. I had brunch last weekend with a couple of friends who were not familiar with his work. I told them that he is kind of an artistic interpreter for the hip-hop generation.

He is known for taking black and brown people and putting them in traditionally European portraiture. For the last few years he has been doing “The World Stage” series, where he paints poor people mostly from developing countries in heroic poses; poses that have historically been reserved for the privileged class. The portraits really make you think about history, race, class and power.

Here is World Stage Jamaica:

And here is World Stage Haiti (The book for this part of the series comes out 23 June!)

Finally, his new exciting project, An Economy of Grace, focuses on black women:

Why Going Car-less Is Really Better

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orange line mbtaThis month as part of my resolve to not resolve series, I was scheduled to write about how using public transit, bikes and walking are better options than the hassles of a car.  However, we had the worst winter in Boston ever and the city’s public transit system was a hot mess, and that made me really think about this issue again.  After thinking about it, I still advocate for being car-less.  I have been car-less pretty much all of my adult life for four main reasons.

Expense: It is cheaper to buy a bus or subway pass and/or ride a bike than to buy and maintain a car.  When you add up the cost of gas, insurance, routine tune-ups, the premium prices for parking and the occasional “fix the problem” with the car, it gets expensive.

Sustainability:  Too many unnecessary cars on the road is bad for the environment, especially single occupancy cars.  Unless you have to drive many things or people (small children, disabled, elderly) around and/or regularly drive in an area where public transit and bike-friendly roads are limited, it is best to avoid cars.

Health: I think it goes without saying that driving around in a car all the time contributes to bad health habits, like physical inactivity and mindless eating.  In my experience being car-less forces you to walk, run or bike more often and the desire to eat mindlessly diminishes.

De-stress: Driving is very stressful.  Dealing with other drivers, getting lost, finding directions and car breakdowns can take a toll on you over time.  Walking or biking (when you are not competing for road space with other cars) is more relaxing.  You also get more free air, which is good for the mind and body.  When you ride a bus or subway train, you can use the traveling time to do other things like reading, napping or just watching your surroundings.

I actually wrote this blog post while traveling to a client meeting on the bus! I get more done sometimes when I am on public transit than in my office.  Also, when you walk, bike or take public transit, you are more mindful of things going on in your environment that you wouldn’t notice if you were driving.

Again, I should stress that being car-less only effectively works if you live and work in an area with access to decent public transit, dedicated sidewalks and bike-friendly roads.

While this winter season was unprecedented,  if anything, the many storms highlighted why Boston needs to invest in better public transit and infrastructure.  The problem isn’t just that the MBTA is corrupt as heck and run like the mob. The problem here is that car-less people are treated like second-class citizens because public transit and infrastructure are viewed as an afterthought and not essential in America’s car-obsessed culture.

It is totally unheard of that a major cold weather city would shut down its whole public transit system for multiple days, and then run on limited service for another month because of snow and cold temperatures.  The MBTA general manager actually recommended riders to not take the T during the storms. I talked to friends from Toronto and Montreal; both cities that get considerably more snow and colder temps than Boston.  All of them said that their winters are harsh, but their transit systems are always running, regardless of weather.

One Torontonian friend who happened to come to Boston during one of the storms in February was also shocked by how many sidewalks were not shoveled for pedestrians.  Although there is a law on the books about shoveling sidewalks within three hours of a storm in Boston, for the most part, it is not enforced.  I found myself walking in roads trying to avoid skidding cars because of icy, unshoveled sidewalks in many areas.  The only reason I can use sidewalks again now is because the snow is finally melting with warmer temperatures and heavy rain.

It would actually make more sense to have better public infrastructure for inclement weather.  If there were better trains and buses in Boston, we could encourage more people to use public transit and ditch cars.  If there were less cars on the road during storms, there would be less traffic accidents, spin-outs and other safety hazards.  If snow removal on sidewalks was enforced better, more people would be willing to walk around.  There are some people who ride bikes year-round, even when snow is on the ground, like a former roommate I had many years ago.  If roads were shoveled better and had dedicated bike lanes, they could accommodate both cars and bikes in a more efficient way.

I would even go as far as saying that maybe parts of the city should permanently ban cars, especially downtown.  Only allow buses, bikes, cabs and delivery trucks in those areas.  That could significantly improve traffic.  Unlike New York and Washington D.C., Boston was not a planned city.  Traffic is horrible in these areas mainly because of narrow, awkward roads that were originally built in the 1600s for horses and buggies.  Boston would actually be an excellent city for making alternative transportation more of a reality.

Also, I should note that MBTA breakdowns are not just a winter phenomenon.  I have been on the Orange Line with no air conditioning many times during summer heatwaves and suddenly the train stops running for 10 or 20 minutes due to “signal problems.”  And you wonder why nobody in Boston wants the city to host the Summer Olympics in 2024?

Being car-less can be done; it’s just that America needs to change its car-filled mentality.

What Robert Frost Teaches Us About The Holidays & Life In General

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Snowy Woods

When I was in the 5th grade, I remember my teacher requiring us to memorize a poem and recite it in front of the class.  He selected Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” for me to recite and he gave me a month to memorize it.  At the time, I was glad to get that poem because it was only 16 lines long.  But I do remember my teacher telling me that I am probably too young to understand the beauty of the poem, but I will when I am older.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

 

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

 

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Now I am older and I understand what my teacher was trying to tell me.  The poem is simple but profound.  There have been many interpretations of it over the years, including these interesting analysis here and here.
The poem was written in the summer of 1922, but was inspired by an incident in 1905 when Frost went to town on his horse to sell eggs and make enough money to purchase Christmas gifts for his children.  The trip was unsuccessful and he became deeply depressed and stopped his horse in the woods on his way home to cry.  Apparently, the horse shook his bell and Frost smiled and continued on home.

Here’s my “I’m not a poet” poetry interpretation.  The poem is about life (“woods”) and death (“frozen lake”).  It’s about contemplating life under duress, or in this case, taking in the scenery.  This time of the year brings a lot of stress, pain and misery for many people.  Some other people believe Frost was insinuating suicide in the poem, as his family was plagued by tragedy and mental illness throughout his life.  I think the horse is a metaphor for God or some other higher being of moral authority reminding his owner that life goes on (“promises to keep”) and now is not your time to die (“miles to go before I sleep”).

Okay, so I guess some of you reading this are asking why I am being such a “Debbie Downer” on Christmas Eve.  I bring this poem up because of its meaning. A lot of us have been stressed out by all the breaking news lately. Sometimes you have to put life stresses in perspective, and keep moving forward.

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