The Reverend Dr. Seuss (for Paula Deen, Dark Girls, and Haters)

A Star-Bellied Sneetch assuming superiority over a
Plain-Bellied Sneeth.
courtesy of hilobrow.com

After reading Dr. Seuss's Sneetches on Beaches to Mini Mo last week, I thought to myself, "Dang! Dr. Seuss brought a word right there!" In essence, Star-Bellied Sneetches thought they were better than Plain-Bellied Sneetches and went out of their way to showcase their superiority over the Sneetches without stars. They excluded them and put them down, to the point that the Plain-Bellied Sneetches paid money to change themselves in order to fit in with the Star-Bellied Sneetches. When the Star-Bellied Sneetches realized that they could no longer distinguish which Sneetches were "better" than the others, they then paid to change themselves! Getting the picture here? Hatred and prejudice (and wasted money) over that which is superficial.

I read this book to my child right around the time the bomb dropped on a bigoted Paula Deen--and some of her supporters!--and right before the premiere of the documentary Dark Girls and the start of George Zimmerman's trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin. This reading also took place weeks after people went H.A.M. over an adorable Cheerios ad. While it's been easy to wax hopeful after reflecting on the truths of this children's book, I'm conscious enough to know that the forces of prejudice are many and varied: long established institutionally in some cases and deep-rooted within families in other cases. (Btw, Crunk Feminist Crunkadelic makes similar big-picture connections in her post "Girl, Bye: Why This Moment is Bigger than Paula Deen." Do check it out.) Mini Mo's father and I are planning to teach her early and often that she is not better than anyone else, nor is anyone else better than she is. The teaching's got to count for something, methinks.

At 66 years old, Paula Deen is perhaps too old (and too deeply Southern?) to have had The Sneetches read to or discussed with her. Maybe those who have tormented dark girls all over the globe, even within their own families, didn't apply the book's themes to themselves. Whatever the case, it's no secret that, even when children go through stages of rebellion and alternate influences, the fundamental teachings they grow up with have lasting impacts--for better or worse. I guess that's what gives me a little hope. Yes, bigots continue to teach bigotry to their children, but people with good sense are teaching their children, too. People with good sense, TURN UP! And, consider reading The Sneetches to your children, nieces, nephews, cousins, godchildren, etc. The Reverend Dr. Seuss excellently highlights and preaches about the ridiculousness of prejudice. In the end, after all the wasted money and confusion about who's better and who's lesser, "the Sneetches got really quite smart" when "they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches / And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches."

If you're unfamiliar with The Sneetches (celebrating its 50th anniversary), here's an awesome video version of it, submitted by YouTuber m7a7b725! Enjoy and share!

Beyond Lil Wayne: Maybe More of Us Need to Feel Sick

When I glanced at what were clearly side-by-side images of Emmett Till, assuming the caption would reference the Lil Wayne controversy, I had a feeling the image next to the cute, smiling boy's face would be from his funeral. However, I did not expect it to actually show his unrecognizable, brutalized face, which his mother so famously wanted the world to see. After all these years of knowing the story and reading accounts of the events, I have intentionally avoided seeing that face, knowing what it would do to me. Now, here I am, fighting back tears and nausea, as I knew I would.

Rapper and musician O'hene Savánt posted the following image and caption on his Facebook page on February 16, 2013, in response to Lil Wayne's lyric and apparent ignorance:

‎"“beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.”-Lil WayneI've TRIED not to say anything but I'm a revolutionary so some things I can't tolerate! THIS is what happens when you have ignorant heroes young people...and don't think for a second that this matters to someone who has a majority white demographic. If you're BLACK, Wayne doesn't rap for you. YOUR heritage doesn't matter to him. YOU are disposable. It matters to me though, I'm a soul brother from the lineage of Curtis Mayfield and Langston Hughes artistically. It's UN ACCEPTABLE, and part of the reason that I am just about through with Hip hop. Sorry but I just am... Hip BOP, will be my life from now on MAINLY because Hip hop has been taken over FOR TOO LONG by fools! I'm sick of grown men and women, defending and ignoring disrespect and disloyalty to my community. The CULTURE of Hip hop is dominated by a bunch of bitches and hoes. Bitches who are scared to speak up, and hoes who are willing to do anything for money. Well, I'm not one. Choose your "here-hoes" better. Choose who you support with your money more wisely. That is all...for now.

Read this if you don't know about Emitt Till.
...they took Till, transported him to a barn, beat him and gouged out one of his eyes, before shooting him through the head and disposing of his body in the Tallahatchie River, weighting it with a 70-pound (32 kg) cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. His body was discovered and retrieved from the river three days later".

Do you feel sick too? I hope you do, and I hope you take that feeling and pass it on to the children in your lives, whether they're students, nieces, nephews, offspring or neighbors. I don't want to disturb or frighten these children, and I don't want them to believe that knowing their history should be limited to the ghastly aspects, of which there are many. Instead, I want them to understand that all of this history, good and bad, should be respected, and they should be proud to know it. If that involves some repulsion, then maybe that repulsion will help them to grasp the seriousness of the legacies that make their lives possible. I imagine that not feeling sick about these events and the society that made them possible allowed Lil Wayne to say the ignorant ish that he said. Otherwise, he could not have opened his mouth to say it, no matter his creative process. (George E. Curry shares a similar sentiment here.) 

One day, when I think she's ready, I'll have to share stories like Emmett Till's with Mini Mo. Maybe she'll feel sad like I did the first time I saw Roots. Maybe she'll feel angry. Perhaps she'll even have nightmares, but I'll hold her if she does. I'll tell her that, while things like this still happen, our world has made some important changes. Because these things still happen, I'll tell her that we can't forget and that we can't let our children forget.

Bob Dylan shares this same message in his "The Ballad of Emmett Till" (video courtesy of YouTuber leonehistory):

Reppin' Our HBCUs' Nerds

I remember when Dr. Iyegha mentioned the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) in Honors Geography during my freshman year in undergrad. I immediately became excited by the idea that I could BE A NERD with a team again! See, I am a nerd--and proud. Ever since I was in elementary school and got a taste of Knowledge Bowl, I knew that I had a thing for pressing a buzzer and answering questions, exercizing all the "useless" information I had in my brain. That progressed to Scholars' Bowl in high school and then to HCASC in college.

Me (left) after a game with my teammate (and twin) during our senior year

HCASC is an academic competition program, sponsored by American Honda Motor Co., that pits 48 teams from our nation's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) against each other every spring. Teams buzz in and answer questions on any subject you can imagine. Think Jeopardy! This year's national championship tournament marked the 23rd year of the program. Having played all 4 years of my undergraduate career and having volunteered with the program for the past 3 years, I am so thankful that this awesome program still continues, promoting scholastic rigor and creating "Friends for Life"--the program's tagline that might sound cheesy but is so real.

To say that I get sentimental about this program and all those who make it happen is an understatement, which is why I was so disappointed to see a silly argument about the program's being "racist"in the comment section of this promotional video on YouTube:

1. The term racism indicates the superiority of one race over another. How is this the case when a) HBCUs are not "all-black" and b) are not barred to any race? Anyone who checks out the team photos will see all the colors of the rainbow represented at the competition--and thus in its participating institutions.
2. It's not as if HCASC is the only program that gives our nation's nerds a chance to showcase their brain-skills. HCASC began in 1989 and is a College Bowl company. As the HCASC website states, "In 1989, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. approached the College Bowl Company and asked them to create a special version of its world-reknowned game for America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities." College Bowl goes all the way back to the 1950's with a radio-broadcast competition, and the first televised tourney was in 1978.
3. Both College Bowl and HCASC participants have benefited greatly from these programs, as millions of dollars have been granted to institutions in each program. Beyond the financial institutional grants, these competitions offer wonderful networking opportunities and the enjoyment of nerds locked in intellectual battle.

I want to take this opportunity to shift the attention to the coaches, players, and teachers who keep getting students into this program. I especially want to shout-out the volunteers who take time off work and away from their families each year strictly because they love what this program represents and enjoy helping the students experience an amazing few days each year. A hearty thanks goes to American Honda, College Bowl, NAFEO, and ACUI for continuing to believe in this endeavor and promoting academic achievement in our HBCUs. To all of you and my fellow alumni, let's continue to show that this program cannot be reduced to a fallacious "argument" about racism. Let's keep doing what we've been doing for the last 23 years, for as long as we can, and spread the word. Nerds unite!