Marvin Gaye in the recording studio
NPR’s Throughline seeks to explain the present through past events. Last month it rebroadcast its pod on James Baldwin featuring his interlocutor Prof. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., who reminded us of Baldwin’s insistence that America has been lying to itself since its founding.
The 1619 Project, the Palestinian right to return, the January 6th commission.
To my mind, each is also linked by our desire to erase our original sins, rather than contend with our past and work to upend the scaffolding of those systems which gird them. Too many of us prefer to live within the cold comfort that our construct of false narratives provides, rather than admit to the wages of white supremacy, of apartheid, and of aspirational authoritarianism.
For every Republican who mewls about “critical race theory,” I can’t imagine that a single one could explain what the Academy means by it, and how teaching through its lens moves us towards justice. Certainly, by the UNC Board of Trustees’ decision to overrule a departmental tenure offer to 1619’s Nikole Hannah Jones chills academic study into race. And that is its greater purpose.
Peter Beinart, himself an observant Jew, broke with conventional thought regarding the Palestinians some time ago. In this essay last week, Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for the Right of Palestinian Return he points out the double standard that Jews insist on “a right of return for me, but not for thee.” Clearly, the AP’s editors were not persuaded by Beinart, as they fired reporter Emily Wilder after Stanford Republicans smeared her, an Orthodox-schooled alumna who made no effort to disguise her support of Palestinian rights. What seemed to move the ball forward this week -- at least to the point of a ceasefire -- was a progressive Democratic caucus galvanized by Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s passionate speech, our first Palestinian-American member of Congress.
What more is there to say about the Republican Party’s efforts to pretend that there was no insurrection on January 6th, 2021 -- going so far as to reject a bi-partisan commission that they negotiated, and to deny monies to reinforce the safety of the Capitol?
While the House passed a number of measures, the upper chamber sat on its hands, and has adjourned until mid-June. It failed to meet a target the Biden Administration had set for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, scheduled for this coming Tuesday, a year to the day of Mr. Floyd’s murder at the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin. The last I heard about the status of bi-partisan negotiations, Republican Senator Tim Scott was attempting his best Susan Collins -- in his case, shear the bill of its ban on Qualified Immunity -- and then not vote for it.
This week we were reminded just how urgent the provision is because of the horrific leaked videos of Louisiana barber Ronald Greene, also killed at the hands of law enforcement one May. In his case, one year earlier. The family was told that he had been “resisting arrest” and “became unresponsive” before passing. That was a bald-faced lie. The footage which captured the lead officer from the State Police tasing and dragging Mr. Greene was a lynching.
This week’s FOMO contemplates Forgiveness and Reconciliation, with a heaping of skepticism; gleans the origin story of the shape-shifting Rep. Elise Stefanik; blisses out to Mark Ronson and Questlove in joyous conversation; and marks May’s cultural events: a century since the Tulsa Race Massacre, fifty years since Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?, and a mere year since George Floyd was taken from us.
Unfuck The Police
Forgiveness isn’t always fluffy. It can be about grappling and finally putting one’s health above fury. With Friends Like These podcast host Ana Marie Cox is devoting her entire season to the topic of “Forgiveness and Reconciliation” amid our divided nation. It’s a perfect fit, given her gift for holding space for always respectful and difficult conversations. In the episode Unf*ck the Police, she is in conversation with W. Kamau Bell, whose CNN show The United Shades of Americais itself dedicated to a single topic -- this season, policing. I learned a great deal -- not just gathering more insight on how to push reform, but witnessing two master interviewers being present, vulnerable, wise, and sometimes hopeful. Bell closes the pod with the goal, “Let’s get to a new day.”
Celebrate the Wins
While this week saw some harrowing moves made by Governors and State Legislatures -- abortion bans, criminalizing trans folks -- voters brought us forward in many races and ballot referenda this past week. At the top, The Appeal’s Daniel Nichanian -- @taniel -- in this tweetstorm -- corrected the record re: the false narrative that there was going to be a backlash to progressive D.A.’s across the country. Earlier in the week he was bullish that Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner would be re-elected despite the police unions gunning for him. It wasn’t even a squeaker; Krasner trounced his reactionary primary opponent.
One bit of good news that hadn’t occurred to me until I posthumously familiarized myself with Krasner’s endorsers: The incumbent actually had the support of fraternal organizations representing Black and Latino law enforcement and firefighters, who had broken with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Now I’m pondering the possibility of a new coalition: If we can’t readily dissolve the police unions, can we work towards building relationships between those cops (mostly POC in uniform) who have aligned with reform?
Read This
Verso Books is the publisher of The End of Policing, Alex Vitale’s well-researched and accessible history of modern policing. The e-book version of the text is currently FREE to download. It’s a slim volume without an ounce of fat.
Enemies of Democracy: Elise Stefanik
The Politicology podcast has recently launched a series, “Enemies of Democracy,” scrutinizing bad faith actors who are putting our Republic at risk. This week’s episode features Lucy Caldwell, a former Harvard classmate of Elise Stefanik, who foresaw the upstate New York moderate’s pivot to Trump supporter. Unlike, say, Ron Johnson, Stefanik is sentient, and Caldwell attempts to mine what Stefanik is after and what she’ll do to reach her goals. Given that Stefanik rose to power by flipping a blue district red, many of her constituents should be feeling betrayed, as she prepares to run for re-election in 2022.
Making Earworms
Mark Ronson is like Phil Spector, but with good hair and lacking sociopathic tendencies. He is best known for discovering Amy Winehouse and has an Oscar on his mantle for A Star is Born. While I have written how much I stan both music podcasts Object of Sound and Switched on Pop, I’m excited to add Fader Uncovered to my rotation. Why? Ronson may have a deep reservoir of knowledge, but he leads with being a fan. This pod with Questlove is the perfect tee up to the musician’s upcoming Summer of Soul documentary on 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival. Affectionately known as Black Woodstock, the event featured icons from Stevie Wonder, to Nina Simone, and Sly & the Family Stone. Fun fact: instead of allowing the NYPD to do security, it hired the Black Panthers. The Sundance-acclaimed documentary premieres in both theaters and Hulu beginning July 2nd.
Live Theater This Fall
Reopening Night is a dead simple website tracking (Re-)Opening Nights for theater with direct links to shows which have begun selling tickets. Famously, Hamilton starts up September 14th, but Hadestown (my favorite show in some time) hasn’t announced yet. Reading today’s roster I was reminded of the shows I had designs on seeing last March. I can’t think of booking a more joyful return than David Byrne’s American Utopia. Bryne’s original letter explaining the meaning of the show by explaining his process, holds up remarkably well. If you can’t get to NYC, you’re in luck, it’s still streaming on HBO Max and worth every penny.
Are Things Really Gettin’ Better, Like the Newspaper Said?
As May closes, there are a number of intersecting events to commemorate; some in anguish, others with hope:
•As noted earlier, Tuesday marks one year since George Floyd’s murder. On that day the National Urban League has organized 9 minutes and 29 Seconds of Silence, and will go on Instagram Live at 6pm ET to remember his life and legacy.
•May also marks one hundred years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, the bombing of “Black Wall Street.” Here, Viola Fletcher, a 107-year-old survivor, recalls the terror. The 1993 documentary, Going Back To T-Town, is also currently available to stream on PBS.com.
•Finally, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? was released May 21, 1971, fifty years ago, in the midst of the Vietnam War and racial unrest. Apple TV+ just dropped a docuseries, 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything. It’s first episode is “What’s Happening?” opening with the backstory of the anthem. Gaye’s plaintively simple lyrics could have been written today:
“Don’t punish me, with brutality.
Come on, talk to me.
So you can see.”