Anderson@Large

Honoring Our Past

Last night I attended the Congressional Black Caucus’ Black History Month commemoration, "A Celebration of African Americans in Congress."  The event was held in the ornate Cannon Caucus Room, a venue that was largely off-limits when the Republicans were in control.

The CBC honored trailblazers like Lorraine Miller, the first African American House Clerk and first African American officer of the U.S. Congress, as well as trailblazers from the Reconstruction Era, including Congressman Robert Smalls.

There’s a new documentary on Congressman Smalls, who went from the slave house to the House of Representatives.  To view the trailer, click here.

While Black History Month will soon be, well, history, CBC Chair Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick said: “You are black history.”  She asked:

Will you do your part?  Will you speak out?  Will you join something?  Organize?

Well, will you?

History Makers

I'm on my way to DC, where I plan to visit one of my favorite places, the National Portrait Gallery.

As Black History Month comes to a close, I will pay homage to Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and Rosa Parks.

I'll check out portraits from the Harmon Collection, which includes the works of visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance who were almost forgotten to history.

And then it's on to the incandescent Josephine Baker.

A Banker’s Heart

In front of Bank of America’s former San Francisco headquarters, there’s a black-granite sculpture that locals call the “banker’s heart.”

I LOL when I read Bank of America chairman and CEO Kenneth Lewis’ opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal defending the decision to offer credit cards to illegal immigrants:

We created this pilot program in Los Angeles to help Bank of America customers with little or no credit history build a solid credit history with a leading bank, and to strengthen our relationships with individuals and families we hope will become loyal Bank of America customers in the future as their financial needs grow.

Question:  When was the last time your bank helped you?

In aiding and abetting illegal aliens who have no business being in this country, the money-grubbing BofA shows there’s no such thing as tainted money; instead, there ‘taint enough.

You can show your respect for the rule of law by joining fed-up Americans who are calling for a boycott of Bank of America.

For more info, click here.

Missing New Orleans

Mardi Gras revelers have gone home. The beads and empty cups have been swept off Bourbon Street.

But for the tens of thousands of Katrina survivors still living in FEMA trailers, the estimated 53,000 students who have "disappeared" from the Louisiana public school system and the public housing residents who have been barred from returning to habitable units, the party has been over for 543 days.

CBC in NYC

Tomorrow the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Rep. Yvette Clarke will bring the flavor of CBC Week to New York City.

Rep. Clarke will host a District Level Forum to identify strategies to break the cycle of poverty, as well as the sense of hopelessness that ensnares a disproportionate percentage of black men in the criminal justice system.

Dr. Elsie Scott, Interim President and CEO of the CBCF, said in a statement:

The DLF-NYC will allow us to bring a taste of our Annual Legislative Conference, which is held in Washington each year, to the New York Metro area. We think that a forum in New York during Black History Month will provide a fitting forum for promoting civic engagement and discussing key issues of the day.

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, CBCF Senior Research Analyst, added:

The DLF in New York will elicit specific strategies to combat poverty and criminal justice intrusions in the Black community. It’s time to move beyond rhetoric and toward a strategic policy agenda. The only way to achieve this is for constituents, activists, experts, youths, and policy makers to exchange ideas and set benchmarks. We expect the NYC-DLF to be a history making event!

There will be four panels focusing on poverty, criminal justice, hip hop and activism, and advancing a strategic policy agenda.  Rep. Danny K. Davis, who’s been at the forefront in advocating policies that give ex-offenders a second chance, will deliver the keynote address.

The symposium will be held at Harren Hall on the campus of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The day-long event is free and open to the public.

To register, click here.

Black Like Me

Like me, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing or reading about whether Sen. Barack Obama is “black enough.”

Typically, the ones asking the question are outside the black community.  So here’s a clue: look at us.  We run the gamut from “light, bright and damn near white” to deep rich chocolate.

While my parents were African Americans from North Carolina, I’m often described as “exotic-looking.”  When I’m on one side of town, I’m hit on in Spanish; on another in Creole.  In DC, I’m greeted in Amharic.  And when I lived in Africa, they thought I was a “mulatto.”

As for Obama’s biracial ancestry, he’s one in at least a million according to the recently released American Community Survey report on blacks:

About another 1.8 million reported their race as Black and one or more other races, including 1.1 million people who reported their race as Black and White (emphasis in original).

Obama doesn’t have to prove his blackness to us.  Hell, we know he’s black.

That said, Obama does have to prove he is "our kind" (and here) and his candidacy is in our best interest.

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

I’m off to a slow so there’s not much here. Move along.

But before you do, please take note that “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” will air tonight on PBS. The documentary is a provocative look at misogyny, homophobia and misguided notions of masculinity in hip-hop.

To check your local listings, click here.