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Welcome to The SuperSpade: Black Thought at the Highest level. Here, we present broad perspectives and critical analysis of current events in the areas of politics, social justice, and the environment from the often ignored perspective young Black men.
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The latest from Brandon, Garlin, & Steve
Over 600,000 Petitioners Call for an End Fox News Racism
by Garlin II
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The SuperSpade’s partnership with Color of Change, Brave New Films, MoveOn.org, and Nas to outline just how racist Fox News climaxed yesterday.
600,000+ signed petitions were delivered to Fox HQ by Color of Change and Nas. The rapper also spoke to the crowd about why they were there and what they wished to accomplish.
Art & Activism
Artists are important to movements.Their creativity gives movements vibrancy. Their notoriety gives movements visibility. Their passion makes movements inspiring.
Here’s a video of the event:
Nas was also on The Colbert Report talking about this action:
Why this is important
The myth of the post-racial society is becoming more and more pervasive. The problem is that it is itself based on a conservative, racist mode of thinking about race in America that equates progress with individuals. Using this as a measuring stick, makes it possible for the Fox News’ of the world to attack individuals and Black folks collectively.
If instead we saw that progress can only be meaningfully defined as collective improvement, we would focus on solving the root causes that lead to individuals making the choices that look stereotypical. Who knows, maybe CNN will go at it like that? I doubt it.
One Love. One II.
Quick Notes
SuperSpade Quick Notes Summary for 2008-07-23
by Garlin II
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- New post at The SuperSpade: Barack Obama rejects Fox News on his Middle East trip ( http://tinyurl.com/5b4w3j ) #
See more of The SuperSpade's Quick Notes Summaries from other days.
More Posts
Is There Anything Good About Being Black in America…
by Steven M Devougas
2 Comments
…besides hip-hop, Barack Obama and professional sports?
Welcome to a Primetime Pity Party
If you were like me, you watched “Black in America” on CNN tonight; which lead me to the question that is the title of this post. While I applaud CNN for shedding light on the numerous ails of the black community, I could tell it was not geared towards African Americans or else the discussion would have been much different. (more…)
McCain feels disrespected by NYT - Black on Black Thought
by Brandon Q.
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This is part of the bi-weekly Black on Black Thought feature
What’s up fam, this week James Dickson ripped into The New York Times (NYT) for their not publishing an article on the conflict in Iraq penned by Senator John McCain. For context, McCain’s piece was a defense of his supporting the conflict in Iraq and it was a response to an article written by Senator Barack Obama that was published the week before.
James said,
Rather than the nation ignoring McCain’s piece, as it almost certainly would have, the NYT has made it the first must-read political tract of 2008. Rather than bypass the piece when it would’ve run in the NYT, I instead read the piece — which, admittedly, was the typical “BUT THE DEMOCRATS ARE WORSE!!!1″ Republican attack line — on CNN.com, a site that, if it has lower circulation than NYT, isn’t by much.
I actually disagree that McCain’s piece is now a must-read political tract. This type of analogy is is akin to people buying NWA’s music solely because it was banned. And not for nothing, Obama is a really good writer and it is painfully obvious that he wrote his article while it appears that McCain’s article was written by the Communications staff and quite frankly, it read like it went through the campaign filter about ten times before they sent it to the NYT.
James himself admitted that McCain’s piece was lackluster which begs the question, why does the NYT editors have to publish bad journalism? Regardless, James went on to point out that decisions like the one made by NYT serve to highlight the growing prominence of the blogosphere and the decline of mainstream media. I think this claim is a bit overblown because the vast majority of political blogs react to articles in the mainstream media via commentary/analysis. (like we are doing right now)
The larger issue is that McCain is losing in the marketplace of ideas and by that I mean that his ability to paint an inspiring vision of a better America is similar to the article he submitted to the NYT; lackluster. And while the notion of fair and balanced news analysis is seductive, it is fleeting, which is why you can get more in-depth analysis by reading Black on Black Thought.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Barack Obama rejects Fox News on his Middle East trip
by Garlin II
No Comments Yet
There is one good thing that I do see about Barack Obama’s trip overseas. It turns out that his campaign actively refused to include Fox News as a part of his media entourage.
Why this matters
This is important because how candidates and Presidents deal with the media is indicative of how they will deal with the people at large. By Obama rejecting Fox News, he is rejecting their practices as an organization,which is a win for tolerance and open-mindedness. I fervently applaud such actions, and you should too.
On Obama’s Trip
I haven’t said anything about Barack Obama’s current trip to Europe and the Middle East for a few reasons:
- Everyone else is talking about it, so there’s not a lot of new news to share
- It is reactive action. Obama has been very good about taking ownership of issues, national defense in particular, away from the Republicans. For a generation, it has been true that if the debate was about national security, then Republicans & conservatives automatically won. Obama was done quite a bit to change that, but this trip was a step backward because the action was based on the acceptance of John McCain’s completely idiotic premise for critiquing Obama’s war policy. The premise is that Obama is “naive” and that he “doesn’t really know what’s going on”, both of which are wrong. The critique was that he needed to “see things for himself”. By taking the trip, he accepted these. Instead, I would have liked for him to define a different narrative that shows how strong he is and has been in terms of the correctness of his judgement, one that exudes pride in America taking the position as the worlds wisest diplomat with Obama as President. I digress…
I want Progressives and Democrats to stop accepting Republican/Conservative frames of issues. This is the reason that we are always on the defensive. It’s time to go on offense.
One Love. One II.
Confronting Racism at Fox News
by Garlin II
4 Comments
The SuperSpade is partnering with Color of Change, Brave New Films, MoveOn.org, and now rapper Nas to outline just how racist Fox News is and how this racism has been used to stir up fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Barack Obama.
We encourage everyone to sign this petition that Color of Change created to show your support for shining light on the many, many, many examples of racism at Fox. Over 620,000 people have signed on already.
The petition itself will be delivered to Fox News HQ by Color of Change, Nas, and other supporters on Wednesday, 23 July 2008. Make sure you sign it to be a part of this action!
Also, listen to this Nas song from his latest album that talks specifically about Fox News.
One Love. One II.
The latest comments
- Queen Esther commented on Is There Anything Good About Being Black in America…:
Thank you! Very well expressed. Do you think we'll get a show that tells the story of the middle to upper class... I really agree with you that we are survivors, and we are "overcomers". Whatever challenges we face, we can make it through. For me the thread that sustains me is my... - Garlin II commented on Confronting Racism at Fox News:
Karmi, Whether one agrees with Nas wearing a shirt that says Nigger on it, that is not a racist act, and it does not change Fox News' consistent negative depictions of Black people in general and Barack & Michelle Obama specifically. Nas' shirt raises other questions, which we've talked about tangentially on this site before, but let's... - Garlin II commented on Confronting Racism at Fox News:
Media coverage of the delivery of the petition and signatures is coming online now. Nas will be on The Colbert Report tonight on Comedy Central @ 1130PM Eastern talking about this action.... - Karmi commented on Confronting Racism at Fox News:
Rapper who wears “Nigger” t-shirt criticizes Fox for “racism” The former victims of racism have now become the racists...... - Garlin II commented on Stop Speculation Now - Black on Black Thought:
James' response to this article is here.... - Josh Maxwell commented on Stop Speculation Now - Black on Black Thought:
Hello. I would like to put a link to your site on my blog roll if you want to do the same for mine. It would be a good way to build up both of our readerships. thank you.... - Nonso Christian Ugbode commented on Who’s image is it? - Black on Black Thought:
Very trenchant analysis brother Garlin. Additionally I was wondering, doesn't satire have to include some clue within it as to the party being made fun of? There is no representation in this cartoon of the right-wing being presumably criticized. Satire targeted at the victims of stereotypes is not satire, it's just a stereotype loudly... - Karmi commented on Race Talk in America:
Karmi here…saw Garlin’s post at the JJP blog, and followed his provided link to here. Just checking out y’all great site, and found this post…hope you don’t mind a W/M responding to it. You can delete it if you do.
Great article, in the W-TIMES (good), by James Dickson, and equally great response to... - Garlin II commented on Race Talk in America:
See James' intro to Black on Black Thought and specific response to this post here.... - Brandon Q. commented on The 5/3 Compromise:
Thanks Walter, I really appreciate your comment sir and given the electoral significance of Ohio, (2004 Presidential) the census count in 2010 could allow whichever party dominates the state legislature to to redraw the political boundaries that make it favorable for their party at the state and national level. I have a question, did you... - Walter Echols commented on The 5/3 Compromise:
Excellent article. I was aware that there was some accounting of inmates regarding food but not aware how the system was manipulating the count in total to affect budgets and how services that are based on the census count is affected. I worked in the system in Ohio but was never close enough... - Yvonne Posey Gilchrist commented on UPDATED: The SuperSpade on NPR’s ‘Day to Day’ Thursday:
Garlin, This is terrific. I'm so very proud of you! Love, Mom... - Fatima commented on Obama does the right thing:
my hope is back.... - Clarence commented on How you win matters:
I don't think the point of the photo was to "make up" for anything. I don't believe it's Obama's policy to refuse photos with Muslim-Americans. I reject the notion that a volunteer is a direct representative of him....... - Fatima commented on How you win matters:
Thanks B for the post. This situation has been the last straw for many voters in the Arab and Muslim communities. And its highly unfortunate that it happened in Michigan since it's 1. An Arab Muslim hotspot 2. A contested state. It's going to make it really difficult for Muslim Obama supporters like... - Clarence commented on How you win matters:
First let me point out a couple of things. 1. You say, "someone from Obama's team," I think this is a misleading characterization of the individual involved in telling the women they could not sit behind the stage. It was an un-paid, probably first-time, volunteer that I would venture to guess acted... - Garlin II commented on How you win matters:
I agree with you on this B; it's quite troubling and eerily similar to Obama's refusal to pose with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who happens to be homosexual. I don't want this sort of triangulation/pandering in the name of "reaching out to Independents and Republicans" to be the indicative of a deeper conflict within Obama... - Tyler commented on Happy Father’s Day:
Excellent post, brotha!... - Billione commented on Happy Father’s Day:
Ooooooooooooooh, I'm telling your Mama! LOL. I love it mad!... - Garlin II commented on And you thought gas was high, what about the food?:
B, This is indeed frightening. What this is indicative of is the larger trend of militarization, meaning that we are now being led to think of all international political issues in terms of war and military intimidation. This mode of thinking, tragically, has permeated our political discourse in ways that will only be remedied by conscientious, genuine,... - Brandon Q. commented on Rethinking policy advocacy: what rights do we actually have?:
Great post G, And it got me thinking how brilliant the framers were by not enumerating many rights to the American people along with the massive difficulty it takes to actually amend the constitution. On a deeper level think about how many more "rights" you are granted when you have money as opposed to people... - Tyler commented on Dap as an act of terrorism?:
It's just indicative of how little white folks know about black people. Watching these two white women grasp at straws to explain what "this means" is the saddest thing I've seen in a bit. Case in point of how far apart our cultures can be from one another.... - Garlin II commented on Dap as an act of terrorism?:
Fox gave an "apology" that can be seen in my post at Brave New Films. I guess I should say thank you.... - Michelle Riggen-Ransom commented on Dap as an act of terrorism?:
A terrorist fist jab?! Is that even a thing? My goodness, mad craziness abounds.... - Antoine commented on The Weekly Dream: The Hardest Task Ever:
I think this is a great topic, although I am pretty late reading it. I too have prided myself on learning from the mistakes of others. I believe there is an invaluable lessoned to be learned from the mistakes of others. For instance, I am the product of a teenage parent, so... - Min. D.J. Young commented on Black silence on Jeremiah Wright:
Let me begin by saying, I find NO FAULT in Jeremiah Wright. I have sat at the feet of African-American ministers and have heard such preaching throughout all of my 67 years. Label it what you will, his messages are prophetic declarations of the judgment that is coming upon the United States of America. Such... - Linda Hamilton commented on VOTE: Ralph Nader for President - Does anybody care?:
I applaud his election as president. He sounds like the only one who isn't in the pay of the illuminate,I would like to see him go after the American Bad Men before the one world government takes over.Nader sounds like he knows what is going on,I wish he were my mentor... - SALIM KASUJJA commented on Breaking news re: Iran:
am pleasured to have my say on the nerval world issue of Irans nuclear progrmme.iran like any other country has a right to develop nuclear weapons because its an independent state and no one should question its development.these double standards are don by the west in favour of the state of isreal there fore iran... - steven santos commented on Is racial integration required?:
integration required no, freedom to decide whether to integrate ,yes. Ask yourself, do integrated schools do better than non integrated schools ? Before you rush to judgement, compare the past with the present ! Is racial integration required for a good education, no. And the list goes on. You are, I'am.... - staygoogleki commented on The Weekly Dream: Old School:
land site green water no pets keyboard...
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- New post at The SuperSpade: Over 600,000 Petitioners Call for an End Fox News Racism ( http://tinyurl.com/6amtcr ) 2 hrs ago
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