NPR Audio Link

NPR Audio Link

While I was a producer for ABC News, I had the great fortune to travel around the country and sit in countless living rooms in small towns and in big ones. I’ve had people use the word n—er to my face in conversation just as their biracial, clearly adored grandchild ran into the house. Running right into Pop-pop or Gramma’s lap. Problematic, for sure. But worthy of much more than a simple, singular reaction or knee jerk situational analysis.
That’s why I like this clip. You really cannot judge a book …

Well it’s proved true again. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. I’ve never backed away from any opportunity to inspire or engage in dynamic often uncomfortable discussions about race in America. Obviously, that’s why I started this blog more than a year ago. Rev. Jeremiah Wright is now catapulted to the forefront of a discussion that is long overdue. But the timing could not be more complicated and perhaps unfortunate for presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Did you miss it?
Click Here to see the entire interview.

Keep On
D Train
“The sky is the limit and you know that you can have what you want
Be what you want.”

In his interview with Bill Moyers, Jeremiah Wright delivers an uppercut to Barack Obama’s character and in turn his presidential candidacy. I was so wrong about this one. I’d figured that the Obama campaign would benefit from Wright emerging from his self-imposed quiet period and re-framing his big blast sermons in more easily digestible terms. Not so.
BILL MOYERS:
Here is a man who came to see you 20 years ago. Wanted to know about
the neighborhood. Barack Obama was a skeptic when it came to religion.
He sought you out because he knew …

Colson Whitehead wrote an insightful and droll Op-Ed for the “New York Times.” Here’s an excerpt:
Geraldine Ferraro and Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, have been complaining that Barack Obama is leading in the Democratic presidential campaign only because of his skin color. Multimillionaire TV pundits are lecturing “the common man” on how outraged they should be about Mr. Obama’s elitism.
It’s all hokum, and I should know. For it is I, The Guy Who’s Where He Is Only Because He’s Black.
Most folks don’t know much about me, apart …

As an Obama supporter, I am disappointed by the results in Pennsylvania. But unlike many others, I don’t think Clinton’s campaign was in any way surprising or out of line with its vitriol. Politics is indeed a contact sport, not for the faint or fuzzy of heart. I watched Hillary Clinton in an interview with Ann Curry the other night. And Clinton said, point blank, “I have to win.” That’s clarity. She did not say she has to make the country better, she did not say she wanted to inspire …

From The United Church of Christ website:
Jeremiah Wright to be interviewed by Bill Moyers
In what will be his first interview since snippets of his preaching became a central issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. will speak publicly to veteran journalist and fellow UCC member Bill Moyers.
The interview will be broadcast on Friday evening, April 25, on Bill Moyers Journal, a PBS news series that airs nationally. Check local listings at www.pbs.org/moyers.
Wright retired in March after 36 years as senior …

My tummy is in knots about tomorrow’s primary. So…I figured we could use a good laugh.
Enjoy. Back to Rushing Water tomorrow.

For YOU, what’s the hardest aspect of talking about race?
With friends? Acquaintances? Co-workers?
On a blog?
For me it’s staying in touch with my patient self and keeping in mind that what I want most is to build bridges between us.
Please have your say on this thread, be candid. Use your name or make up one. Your experience is important.
So, what do you think?

“Around the way girl”
LL Cool J
“Honey coated complexion using Camay. Let’s hear it for the girls from around the way.”

Congress is poised to take 16 million books out of the hands of 4.6 million poor children. We must stop them from doing that.
For the past two years I have had the privilege of giving out new books to some of the poorest children in the most blighted communities in Los Angeles at Christmastime. What you most need to know is that the eyes of these kids light up when you put a book in their hand. They say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ usually unprompted. They hold the …

Once again there’s a fuss about words. Last week the words were “bitter” and “clinging.” Truth is, some people are bitter and some people use their religion to amplify and justify self-righteous attitudes about “others.” I think it’s dangerous to see any group of people, ie small town folks, as of one mindset. Anytime we do that we dehumanize a group just a little and that moves us in the opposite direction of reconciliation. I know that every time I hear blanket descriptions of the personalities and values of inner …

In the winter of 2004, a source first told me that the Federal government had sanctioned testing an AIDS vaccine on mostly black and Latino foster children ages 1 month to late teens. I did not believe it. When finally convinced that it was true, I sobbed openly as we walked through the park. I had only the back of my hand to wipe my eyes and my nose, but I didn’t care. I was so enraged and so impotent. It was excruciating and useless to have this knowledge because …