Articles Feature

Green Party VP Hopeful: Obama’s a ‘Tom’

by richard01962

Jill Stein Won’t Ask Her Running Mate to Apologize

Black Journalists Report on White Heroin Addict

Before Tragedy, Wade Joined Violence Discussion

Kaepernick Aided by Change in Climate for Protest

Where’s Coverage of Blockade of Dakota Pipeline?

Talahongva Among Winners of Top NAJA Awards

Mizzou Ramps Up Diversity Recruiting, Mentoring

Mic Team Assigns Stories Based on Life Experiences

Black-Newspaper Publishers Urge Emerge Revival

Short Takes

From left, author and activist Cornel West, Green Party president nominee Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party vice presidential nominee Ajamu Baraka. (Credit: ajamubaraka.com)
From left, author, activist and Green Party supporter Cornel West, Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein and the party’s vice presidential nominee Ajamu Baraka. (Credit: ajamubaraka.com)

Jill Stein Won’t Ask Her Running Mate to Apologize

Ajamu Baraka, the African American vice presidential candidate of the Green Party, has declared President Obama an “Uncle Tom,” and the party’s presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein told the Washington Post editorial board that she would not ask him to apologize.

Her explanation of why she will not makes her view of African Americans no better than Donald Trump’s, Jonathan Capehart, a black member of the board, wrote Friday.

“Is that an appropriate way to talk about the president of the United States, to call him an Uncle Tom?” Capehart asked Stein during an editorial board meeting with Stein.

Stein replied, “I would never do that.”

She continued, “I can assure people that his vision is essentially my vision, and that he agrees with the details of our policy proposals period. I have worked with him for many years and have never heard him use language like that, and so, it’s news to me that sometimes he does speak in that very blunt and inflammatory language.

“But to look at his actions, and his track record, he is definitely in the tradition of a Martin Luther King. And he can speak to that in better detail than I can, but I am entirely comfortable with him as a person who supports my vision and my agenda. His very blunt and inflammatory language on occasion speaks to a very large demographic that feels like they have been thrown under the bus and they have been locked out. . . .”

Capehart flagged this as among the most offensive parts of the conversation, the transcript and video of which are on the Post website.

” ‘He is unapologetically a member of an oppressed group, and he speaks in the language of his culture.’ This broad brush of ‘his culture’ is no different from Donald Trump’s ‘Right now, you walk down the street you get shot’ pitch to African Americans. This is as offensive as it is unbelievably dumb.”

Capehart concluded, “Stein’s excuse-making for Baraka’s ‘very blunt and inflammatory language’ makes her no better than Trump. As is her unwillingness to not ask Baraka to apologize to the president. That is no way to talk about any African American, especially the president of the United States.

“You know I don’t put up with anyone calling an African American an ‘Uncle Tom.’ I have defended Obama against this charge, and I have defended black conservatives, including Justice Clarence Thomas, as well. Blacks use it against other blacks viewed as insufficiently black. And too many far-left whites excuse it as some ‘dialect’ or ‘language of his culture.’ They are the worst.

“Funny how people who swear they are doing things in the best interests of the oppressed condone things that compound the oppression.”

In a May segment of "In the Shadow of Death," CBS News reporter DeMarco Morgan shows Beth Eagan, or "Auntie Beth," a video of her nephew Jason Amaral using drugs. (Credit: CBS News)
In a May segment of “In the Shadow of Death,” CBS News correspondent DeMarco Morgan shows Beth Eagan, or “Auntie Beth,” a video of her nephew Jason Amaral using drugs. (Credit: CBS News)

Black Journalists Report on White Heroin Addict

Since May, the “CBS Evening News” has been turning on its head the stereotype of white journalists reporting on black pathology. For a series called “In the Shadow of Death,” senior producer Kim Godwin, field producer Jonathan Blakely and correspondent DeMarco Morgan, all black, have been reporting on Jason Amaral, a 30-year old heroin addict who is white.

“I challenged them to find a story about heroin addiction that we haven’t seen before,” Godwin told Journal-isms by email.

“It took a couple of months to find and establish a relationship with Jason. We wanted honest and open access. A [peek] behind the curtain at a true addict with a real message. I’m very proud of the extraordinary work done by the team. So far we’ve done 4 parts. The next part will run at the end of September. We’re still following Jason, and we expect the next installment will have a bit of a surprising twist.”

The choice of a white heroin user is consistent with the national trend. “The average user of heroin has changed drastically in the last decade,” Lindsey Cook wrote a year ago for U.S. News & World Report.

“In 2000, black Americans aged 45-64 had the highest death rate for drug poisoning involving heroin. Now, white people aged 18-44 have the highest rate. The share of people who say they have used heroin in the past year is actually decreasing for non-whites. Heroin has taken hold of the white suburbs, which has prompted more attention for what is now being called a ‘health problem.’ ”

A.J. Katz wrote for TV Newser on May 16, when the series began, “In part one of the series, CBS News Correspondent DeMarco Morgan follows Amaral the day before he enters rehab. Amaral is shown doing heroin, talking about the drugs he does on a daily basis and how he goes about procuring them. It’s a look into the life of an addict.

“ ‘We wanted to look behind the numbers and find a compelling story of someone who is trying to beat an addiction that’s killing thousands of people every year,’ said field producer Jonathan Blakely. ‘There’s this image of what an addict looks like, but what you will see from Jason is that he could be your next door neighbor, your classmate, your co-worker. Jason challenges our notions of what it means to be an addict.’ . . .”

CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds has also reported for the series.

The final panel during "An Undefeated Conversation: Athletes, Responsibility, and Violence" on Thursday at the South Side YMCA in Chicago. Dwyane Wade appeared via satellite. (Credit (Brent Lewis/The Undefeated)
The final panel session during “An Undefeated Conversation: Athletes, Responsibility, and Violence” on Thursday at the South Side YMCA in Chicago. Dwyane Wade appeared via satellite. (Credit: Brent Lewis/the Undefeated)

Before Tragedy, Wade Joined Violence Discussion

On Thursday, NBA superstar Dwyane Wade “led off his portion of The Undefeated’s special town hall conversation about gun violence in Chicago by telling moderator Jemele Hill that his experience growing up in the city ‘was a lot of us killing us,’ ” Richard Horgan reported Saturday for FishbowlNY. “On Friday, a most horrific confirmation that this is still the case occurred.

“It was 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Wade’s cousin Nykea Aldridge, 32, was pushing a baby stroller and on her way back from the Dulles School of Excellence after registering one of her other four children for the school year. The man she was walking with may have been targeted; she was shot in the head and arm; she died, later, at the hospital.

“Wade tweeted his reaction Friday. A day after offering, arguably, the very best description of the root problem during his portion of The Undefeated town hall. . . . ”

The Undefeated added that Wade and his mother were part of a series of panel discussions at the town hall. “Wade, who was not in Chicago, appeared via satellite. . . . Wade did not speak directly about gun violence during his appearance for The Undefeated but addressed ‘deep-rooted’ divides in the community.

“ ‘We kinda adopted that mentality that, you know, it’s about me surviving,’ Wade said, discussing Chicago’s history. ‘It’s important for all of us to help each other.’

“Wade grew up in a South Side Chicago house headed by his mother, who was then a drug dealer. Jolinda Wade gave up drugs and turned her life around after being released from prison in 2003. Now a pastor, she sees the problems that contribute to the violence in the communities. . . .”

Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, and his brother Derren Sorrells, 22, were charged in the shooting death. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pointed Monday to the two “as Exhibit A in the case for stiffer sentences for repeat gun offenders,” Fran Spielman reported Monday for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The killing became fodder for the national presidential race. Republican Donald Trump suggested Saturday that the shooting “validates his claims about urban crime. ‘Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!‘ he said,” Gregory Korte reported Monday for USA Today.

“Trump’s critics accused him of politicizing the tragedy. And on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway deflected questions about the meaning of that tweet. . . .”

William Rhoden tells the Journalists Roundtable in Washington Sunday of the penalties faced by black athletes who protested in earlier eras. (Credit: Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)
William C. Rhoden tells the Journalists Roundtable in Washington Sunday about penalties faced by black athletes who protested in earlier eras. (Credit: Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)

Kaepernick Aided by Change in Climate for Protest

Sports and political commentators might be debating San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem, but what might be most remarkable is the change in climate that permits Kaepernick to make his protest without penalty.

That’s the view of William C. Rhoden, who wrote his final column for the New York Times last month after nearly 35 years there, 26 of them writing the “Sports of The Times” column.

In an appearance before the Journalists Roundtable in Washington Sunday and with host Michel Martin on NPR’s “All Things Considered” immediately afterward, Rhoden recalled what befell black athletes who took political stands in earlier decades.

Martin observed, “In 1967, Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted. In 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos celebrated winning gold and bronze medals at the ’68 Mexico City Games with a silent protest on the victory stand. What were the consequences that they faced?”

“Well, for Ali, first of all, he lost his title,” Rhoden replied. “He lost his belt. He lost his source of income. . . . Curt Flood will never get into the Hall of Fame for standing up against Major League Baseball, never.

“MARTIN: He refused to trade in 1969.

“RHODEN: Yeah. In ’69, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, and he said I’m not going. I’m not a piece of meat to be traded.

“MARTIN: Tommie Smith and Carlos…

“RHODEN: Tommie Smith and Carlos couldn’t find work, were demonized. You know, John Carlos’ wife — there was so much pressure. I mean, she committed suicide. There were other things, but it was so much pressure. Tommie Smith couldn’t find work. And again, they were demonized. . . .”

Rhoden told the roundtable, “protests have become chic. You protest within this box.” He had told Facebook and Twitter followers earlier in the day, “Athletic Protest is ok as long as [it’s] validated by the (white) powers that be…step outside that box, and out come the fangs of racism.”

Athletes have begun to realize their power and to lose their fear, said Rhoden, whose “Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete,” was published in 2006. “I think with a lot of guys what started happening is that money began to weaken them because they were so afraid of losing it and having stuff taken away,” he told Martin.

“And I think that when they began studying the lives of Ali and Curt Flood and these people looked back, they saw that, wow, you know, this actually empowered them. It actually strengthened them. It actually is why we’re talking about them years later. . . .”

As for management’s view, the “NFL is made up almost by 78, 79 percent African-American men. That’s the league. The NBA almost high — like 87 percent African-American men. So . . . you better tread lightly on this stuff because these are the guys that make your league. . . .”

Where’s Coverage of Blockade of Dakota Pipeline?

“As the Lakota Sioux continue their peaceful blockade of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, the story’s absence from the national media narrative is palpable,” Nick Bernabe wrote Thursday for theantimedia.org.

“Considering the corporate media’s chronic quest for controversial stories on government versus public standoffs, you’d think this situation would garner the typical media frenzy invoked during a right-wing militia occupation of a federal building, for example, or a tense standoff between the Black Lives Matter movement and police. But it’s not.

“As of late, the media has faced criticism for its selective coverage of certain events — like, say, focusing on single terror attacks in Western Europe that garner thousands of headlines while basically ignoring similar or worse attacks that occur on a constant basis in Muslim-majority countries.

“But the confrontation unfolding in North Dakota, in particular, is strikingly similar to the recent standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, which involved a right-wing militia advocating land rights against the federal government. The militia was led by the controversial Bundy family, which previously drew sensationalized coverage during a similar standoff in Nevada in 2014. So why were these stories covered extensively while the other — also centered around land rights — has been mostly ignored?

“The first point is actually very simple: Native Americans standing up for themselves is not polarizing. . . .”

Talahongva Among Winners of Top NAJA Awards

Patty Talahongva
Patty Talahongva

Patty Talahongva, a lifetime member and past president of the Native American Journalists Association, is to be honored for her “lifetime of service to journalism and many years of dedication” to NAJA when the group bestows more than 200 National Native Media Awards next month, NAJA announced on Tuesday.

Talahongva, Hopi, is to receive the 2016 NAJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award during the 2016 NAJA Media Awards Banquet on Sept. 20.

The group is joining the Excellence in Journalism convention in New Orleans, along with the Society of Professional Journalists and Radio, Television and Digital News Association.

“The recipients of the 2016 NAJA Richard LaCourse Award are Antonia Gonzales and Pauly Denetclaw for their coverage of the Gold King Mine waste spill in Colorado for National Native News. . . .

“The recipient of the 2016 NAJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award is Mvskoke Media, located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

“The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN) added free press protections for the tribe’s media division, Mvskoke Media, with the passage of a free press act in Oct. 2015, enabling the agency to provide enhanced coverage, without interference from officials.

“Since that time, the independent media agency, which includes the Muscogee Nation News, Native News Today and Muscogee Radio, in addition to a graphic design and print division, has continued to produce outstanding coverage over the course of the last year. Mvskoke Media has filed important stories on tribal housing, health, finance and government, among others since these protections were put in place. . . .” [Added Aug. 30]

Mizzou Ramps Up Diversity Recruiting, Mentoring

“A new University of Missouri recruiting initiative will seek out promising young journalists from minority communities in an effort to increase the diversity of the talent pool for media companies,” Rudi Keller reported Thursday for the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune.

Ron Kelley
Ron Kelley

“The effort, a joint project of the MU School of Journalism and the Mizzou Advantage initiative, will support students pursuing careers in news and public relations, identifying talent in high school and providing mentors to support them through college and their first years in the workforce.

“The project was unveiled Thursday during a . . . session of the school’s multicultural journalism class by Dean David Kurpius, Mizzou Advantage Director Jerry Frank and Provost Garnett Stokes.

“Ron Kelley, assistant vice chancellor for advancement, will be executive director of the program, beginning his new job Sept. 12. . . .

“The project is the latest step by MU to address student demands for a more diverse and inclusive campus that resulted in a leadership crisis last fall. The Board of Curators responded with $921,000 in funding for new campus diversity initiatives and hired Kevin McDonald for a new position, chief diversity, inclusion and equity officer for the UM System. . . .”

Mic Team Assigns Stories Based on Life Experiences

“Attributing a lack of diversity to a talent pipeline is admitting that your newsroom is relying on antiquated methods of finding the best people for the job,” Meredith D. Clark wrote Monday for the Poynter Institute.

“That’s the impression I came away with after talking to members of Mic’s Identities team, whose connections to diverse communities are demonstrated by its ability to elevate conversations through the lens of identity and personal experience,” Clark wrote.

“. . . the Identities team strives to consider the journalist as an element of the journalism. Rather than working toward the unattainable notion of total ‘objectivity,’ they strive toward a framework of authenticity, considering how life experiences, place and connections impact one’s ability to get the story and tell it accurately.”

For example, “In the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando . . . Mic dispatched a young Latino, gay journalist who had been covering LGBTQ communities, and had the experience to present a nuanced picture of a breaking news event that targeted a marginalized community,” Clark continued, quoting Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Mic’s senior editorial director of culture and identities.

” ‘He’s going to get a different sources than an anchor who covers disaster and mass shootings,’ she said. . . .”

Black-Newspaper Publishers Urge Emerge Revival

“The passing of George Curry now raises the question of ‘Who will take his pen?’ Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, wrote Monday for NNPA.

“Who will step forward to keep the freedom-fighting legacy of George Curry alive today and into the future? Before George died, he had established EmergeNewsOnline.com. The NNPA supports George’s legacy and we encourage everyone to support Emerge News Online to ensure that what George envisioned and worked hard to establish will continue to grow and be successful in the marketplace. . . .”

At Curry’s funeral on Saturday, the Rev. Al Sharpton urged mourners paying tribute to Curry Saturday to keep alive Curry’s dream of reviving Emerge magazine said he would write a check to help.

Curry died of heart failure on Aug. 20. He was 69.

Short Takes

Sumi Mukherjee
Sumi Mukherjee (Courtesy Sumi Mukherjee)
Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.
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