Sometimes are arms are too short to box with God

We have to realize our limitations and say: No mas. That's what is prudently being said in Utah were six men have been trapped in a mountain as a result of a mining accident. Even though it seems unlikely the six men still survive -- tests of air quality from holes drilled into several areas of the mountain indicated that the air was not sufficient to sustain life --heroic efforts were made to tunnel into the mountain to try to rescue them. And that effort claimed three lives last week, while injuring six others of the rescue team.

Family members of the six who were initially trapped are understandably disappointed that the tunneling has been stopped, upon the orders of federal safety officials. But why risk the lives of rescue teams when it seems so unlikely that the original six can possibly alive after more than two weeks?

At some point we have to be prudent and realistic, even if that brings little comfort or closure. The families of those who died when that bridge over the Mississippi collapsed in Minneapolis seemed to understand that and to exercise patience. They could see the danger in sending divers into the murky waters at night amid all sorts of hazardous debris while trying to recover the dead. That task has stretched out until now. The last known missing person was pulled out of the water yesterday.

If you knew Rudy the way a lot of us do

I have faith that most people tuned in to what’s happening in the world beyond their own everyday lives will pay attention to what the various presidential candidates are saying versus what the truth is. If they do so, they must help spread the word about Rudy Giuliani’s blatant attempt to rewrite his past and pull the wool over the eyes of people who’d barely heard of him as of Sept. 10, 2001.

Take a look at Wayne Barrett’s explication of the Rudy lies and exaggerations about his expertise in handling terrorist attacks – all based on his exploitation of Sept. 11 and his confidence that by evoking the image of him “leading” New Yorkers from Lower Manhattan that day will bring about such reverence that enough people will be bamboozled into choosing him as the nominee of the Republican Party and, ultimately, the President of the United States. Barrett’s Village Voice piece totally eviscerates that strategy.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0732,barrett,77463,6.html/full

Motive Behind a Journalist's Assassination

Chauncey Bailey (see previous post) was working on a series exposing how a rump group of criminals calling themselves Black Muslims were involved in all manner of crime, including rape, murder, fraud. Take a look at this article from the San Francisco Chronicle's Leslie Fulbright, where a member of the family involved, the Beys, tells of being Bailey's main source.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/07/MNA1RDQAE1.DTL

And take a look at this piece from the Village Voice, where a journalist named Chris Thompson tells of being threatened by members of that Bey clan when he, too, ventured into dangerous territory -- namely, the truth.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0732,thompson,77457,2.html

True journalists speak truth to power -- regardless of race, creed, color or anything else -- as often as possible. They are the eyes and ears and noses that try to hold accountable those aspects of government and civil society that mean the difference between true democracy and bullshit served on a stick.

Bailey was the victim/hero/martyr here. Don't forget that as others may try to turn this into a persecution of the Beys.

Refreshing Perspectives from Obama

Hillary Clinton says she thinks Barack Obama is inexperienced and naive if he thinks he can bring a fresh approach to foreign affairs. Too bad. What's wrong with the current approach is evident in the US standing in the world when it comes to respect. Obama would meet face to face with leaders of nations George W. Bush considers evil. Obama also would not let Pakistan off the hook when it comes to fighting terrorism. If Pakistan won't do the job of going after terrorists hiding there and in the border areas with Afghanistan, the US will.

Obama also has a good take on the intense focus on the N, B and H words by some civil rights and civic leaders to the exclusion of other issues. In the current VIBE magazine, where he's on the cover, he says: "My priority as a U.S. senator is dealing with poverty and educational opportunity and adequate health care. If I'm ignoring those issues and spending all my time worrying about rap lyrics, then I'm wasting my time."

The NAACP has taken up this cause; so, too, has Al Sharpton. Let Obama focus on other matters.

Journalist Assassinated in Oakland

On most days being a journalist in the United States is not nearly as dangerous as being a taxi driver. Outside the U.S. the killing of journalists – the killing of the messenger, if you will – is more commonplace.

Last week, for the first time in several decades, an American journalist was assassinated in the line of duty in Oakland, California. A masked gunman shot to death Chauncey Bailey, the editor of Oakland’s Black weekly newspaper, The Oakland Post. A 19-year-old member of a splinter Black Muslim group has confessed to the slaying. Hardly anyone believes he acted alone. [[The young man's group is not affiliated with the Nation of Islam.]]

West Coast media have paid attention to this. So has CNN. So has Farai Chidaya, host of National Public Radio’s daily program, News and Notes. Richard Prince, the online columnist has been all over this story (http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince).

But where there should be outrage-tinged coverage among other media, there has been no coverage at all. When will Black + American yield equal treatment? When will Black life be as valued as that of Whites? Had a White editor been gunned down on an American city street, most likely because of a story on which he was working, wouldn’t that editor’s name – or at least the incident – be the subject of conversation and protest across this land?

Contact your local media and ask what’s going on.

The Closing of Copeland's

If you are a New Yorker, especially an uptown Manhattan person, you've no doubt heard about, and probably even patronized, Copeland's -- the dream and product of hard work of Calvin Copeland. But times caught up with Mr. Copeland and Sunday was his final day in that famous space on West 145th Street. For $25 Sunday you could enjoy some wonderful live music and you could eat all you could. Believe me, some of the folks did just that.

People came from far and near. Some came because they'd seen or heard something in the news and wanted to represent. Some, including a celebrity baker, came as volunteers. Most, like myself, had once been regulars though the myriad choices now available in a booming Harlem made Copeland's less the must-go-there place. Star Jones Reynolds and her husband Al heard about the closing while vacationing in France and upon landing stateside Sunday made a bee-line for Copeland's where Star said she just had to have a final order of chicken wings from one of her favorite places. Rep. Charles Rangel, among the many politicians to attend or send representatives or issue proclamations, noted: "Calvin Copeland for over five decades has endured, through the riots of the 1960s, the crack epidemic of the 1980s, personal financial ruin and even fire, [and] found a way through his cooking to keep people like me, Muhammad Ali, Richard Pryor, Stevie Wonder, David Dinkins, Harry Belafonte, Dakota Staton, Natalie Cole, Bishop Tutu, Sammy Davis Jr. and Michael Jackson as frequent and enthusiastic customers...."

Malcolm X's daughter, Attilah Shabazz, stood on line with everybody else, some for more than an hour in the rain, trying to get in for that final meal. Mr. Copeland, 82, was the gracious host, chatting with everyone, posing for pictures.

There were parties of six and parties of twelve and parties of twenty -- and I couldn't help but think if all these folks had been more faithful, maybe Copeland's would still be around. But, on the other hand, Mr. Copeland did not keep up with the times and has said that he was caught off guard by this boomtown Harlem and its culinary tastebuds.

I’m Cheering for Barry Bonds!

Even though this San Francisco Giants player is two home runs shy of tying the record set by Hank Aaron in 1974 and may do so during the current series against my beloved Atlanta Braves, I’m cheering for him to tie and break the record.

Probably because so many others – especially white people – are rooting against this man who lives by his own rules of media engagement. White sports journalists are not accustomed to this and have accentuated the negative. That has poisoned the history-making home run record chase for others.

I was disappointed Sunday by a commentary on CBS Sunday Morning by a journalist I ordinarily admire: Bob Schieffer. He said, among other things, “Barry Bonds is no hero. He is just a guy who hits home runs. Who would want a kid to be like him?”

See his full commentary at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/22/opinion/schieffer/main3086258.shtml

A whole lot of white people hated the Braves’ Hammering Hank Aaron when he homed in on the previous record set by Babe Ruth. People then, as they are now with Bonds, sought ways to place an asterisk next to his record, questioning forever its legitimacy. Now he is the home run god and Bonds is the evil interloper. Because Aaron and a number of baseball’s bigwigs have said they won’t be present whenever Bonds ties or breaks the record, I’m cheering for this godson of the great Willie Mays all the more.

Go, Barry!