news from kintespace.com ::: 3/30/2010

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month and second Black PhD to graduate from Harvard, wrote the acclaimed Miseducation of the Negro way back in 1933. In the 1940s, psychologist Kenneth Clark’s “Doll Test,” demonstrated that Black children were being psychologically conditioned to yearn and favor the looks of White people at the expense of self-dislike. His critical findings were cited during Brown vs. Board of Education when the Supreme Court desegregated schools in 1954.

Here we are, decades removed and Dr. Woodson’s book is still widely sold and studied, while Black children are still predisposed to view White dolls as “prettier and nicer” with hair that’s “better” than Black dolls. Educationally, we face ever-dismal challenges where Black children enter kindergarten a full year behind Whites; by high school the gap extends to 4 to 5 years; and 58 percent of Black males don’t even graduate high school.

::: Ursula Rucker on YouTube.com

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_ursula_rucker0.html

“Ursula Rucker is one of the premiere spoken word recording artists in the music industry today. As a poet and performance artist, Ursula has enchanted critics and fans across the globe with her diverse repertoire, captivating vocals and accessible poetic verse.”

“Since 1994, Ursula has shared her songwriting talent and mesmerizing voice with an array of recording artists and producers including King Britt, 4 Hero, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Josh Wink and The Roots. Each was drawn to the soft spoken eloquence and undeterred honesty which have become Ursula’s signature.” —aalbc.com

::: kinte cast #4: an evil kind of excitement for a managerial utopia

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/zcore/redirect/kintecast004

This was kinté cast #004 an evil kind of excitement for a managerial utopia. This show depends entirely on a Canadian interview by radio free school of the great, award-winning New York school teacher, John Taylor Gatto. We, here in the kinté space, entitle this interview, “John Taylor Gatto: Outing School.”

This is followed by the ingenious poetry of Fumilayo Bankole. She reads “War” from a presentation we entitle “Fumilayo Bankole: L.A. River.” We then move into tracks by Noam Chomsky in “Noam Chomsky: Propaganda and Control of the Public Mind” and former Black Panther, Elaine Brown in “Elaine Brown: The Condemnation of Little B,” talking about the ideals of the Enlightenment, the right for man to self-control one’s labor, what slavery really means and how the fate of Blackness is intimately tied with the fate of whiteness.

The next move is toward the power of nothingness, protesting in the singing voice of Cassendre Xavier in the presentation we entitle, “Cassendre Xavier: Nothing Is All I Need.” After nothingness comes the world-renown poet Chris Abani reciting “Libation” by Lucille Clifton in “Chris Abani: Break a Leg” here in the kinté space. We end this show with a few well-chosen words by Professor William H. Watkins in “William H. Watkins: The White Architects of Black Education.” Sounds/music sources by Bill Laswell, his “Ambient Realms” release from Sony Creative Software. So, yes, “life is hard”—and, by the end of this episode of the kinté cast, we should have a better idea where the concrete factory is…

Direct download: rasx_-_an_evil_kind_of_excitement.mp3

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