The G-word

An interesting conversation on utilizing ethnography in a "national security" (sorry, I can't say it with a straight face)/military context:

Steve;

a nice lady named Anne at Space and Culture.

Also pertinent because at the moment I am gestating a new blog documenting my latest career arc in what we will broadly call "social work". As Neha says, there are social workers and then there are social workers-- more on that in the new blog, to be announced.

Those Dark-skinned People

Washington Post, The Color of Disaster Relief

Remember when we were in the midst of Katrina media-coverage, and many people were pointing out the racial disparities of who got help first, and what kind of help they got? And how other [politically-correct/naive/dishonest] people would respond: "Oh, that's ridiculous. We don't do racism in the U.S. Stop complaining."

Yeah, well, actually, we do.

Those Latinos

Remix: The Anthem en Espanol
from The Courant

[Hear it here.]

This is an ironic position to take for many reasons, not least of which being the fact that the national anthem itself represents a neat little piece of cultural cross-pollination, borrowing its famously tough-to-sing tune from "Anacreon in Heaven," an old British song of revelry.

More importantly, though, those who dismiss "Himno" reveal they've somehow missed the point of America.

This country, as has been argued repeatedly in recent weeks, was founded, built and made great by immigrants. Regardless of what rapper Diddy might claim, it was our founding fathers who, in breaking from Great Britain, invented the remix, laying the groundwork for a nation that would create its own culture from the scraps of others.

[Musically, it's as bad or worse than every other pop rendition of the Anthem. Culturally, I think it's fascinating, and wonderful, actually. People who are getting their panties in a twist about this are in DENIAL about the heritage and the future of our country.
I'm not going to get into a big evaluation of the whole immigration reform issue because it's really complex, but if you want to know my view on something in particular, leave a question in Comments. ~ AMM]

An update on Those Palestinians

DC Indymedia: GW Students Rally for Freedom of Speech, Condemn Repression

Those Palestinians

This is outrageous, yet not surprising. A former colleague of mine from George Washington U's Students for Justice in Palestine is being slandered as a hater of Jews and a terrorist.

In fact, he is perhaps the most passionate fighter for Palestinian human rights I have ever met. In working with him for over a year on various projects on campus, I never heard anything close to an anti-Jewish statement from his lips. He is wickedly smart, and full of spirit in his fight for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. He eats, sleeps, breathes Palestinians' rights. As an activist and a human being, I really admire him. I feel honored to have worked with him, and I'm proud to say, "Hey, I know that guy!"

Decency to 'Those People'

From the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson:

"If we lump undocumented immigrants into an undifferentiated mass of Those People, we can avoid really looking at the immigrant experience. And we can convince ourselves that it is somehow different from the periodic waves of immigration that have shaped this nation -- that suddenly it is not an issue, or even a problem, but an urgent crisis."

Those Africans

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle..."

From the New York Times:

... Some 150 artists eventually recorded the song. It was translated into languages from Dutch to Japanese. It had a role in more than 13 movies. By all rights, Mr. Linda should have been a rich man.

Instead, he lived in Soweto with barely a stick of furniture, sleeping on a dirt floor carpeted with cow dung.

Mr. Linda received 10 shillings — about 87 cents today — when he signed over the copyright of "Mbube" in 1952 to Gallo Studios, the company that produced his record. He also got a job sweeping floors and serving tea in the company's packing house. ....