Black Power Babies Rock Philly

Black Power Babies Rocked Philly on Sunday Muhammida El Muhajir's production of Black Power Babies rocked Philadelphia's theatre row on Sunday. After viewing Katori Hill's play The Mountaintop, the audience was invited to the panel discussion Black Power Babies. Panelist included Lois Fernandez, founder of the Odunde Festival, along with her daughter Oshunbumi Fernandez; Dr. Molefi Asante, father of Afro-Centrism; Mrs. Amiri Baraka and son Amiri Baraka, Jr., Marvin X and daughter Muhammida El Muhajir. Michael Coard was the reluctant moderator who desired to be a participant.   L to R, Moderator Michael Coard, Marvin X, Mrs. Amina Baraka, Dr. Molefe Asante  Kenny Gamble and Marvin X Mrs. Amina Baraka, Marvin X, Muhammida El Muhajir, Kenny Gamble  Dr. Molefe Asante, Mrs. Amina Baraka, Marvin X, Amiri Baraka, Jr., Kenny Gamble Oshunbumi Fernandez and mother, Lois Fernandez of Odunde Festival Producer Muhammida El Muhajir and actress Amirah Vann, star of The Mountaintop which preceded Black Power Babies panel Sara Lomax-Reese, President of WURD am, Marvin X, Muhammida El Muhajir, Mr. Amina Baraka Black Power Babies 3.0: Mahadevi El Muhajir, daughter of Muhammida El Muhajir and Shani Baraka, daughter of Amiri Baraka, Jr. Marvin X interviewed by Denise of WURD WURD Speaks Featuring "The Mountaintop" & Black Power Babies 900AM-WURD Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 3:00 PM (EST) Philadelphia, PA

Ticket Information

TICKET TYPE	SALES END	PRICE	FEE	QUANTITY
General Admission This ticket grants you admission to The Mountaintop performance as a well as the WURD Speaks symposium immediately following the show.	Ended	$50.00	$2.24	Sold Out
WURD Members General Admission MEMBERS, PLEASE CALL THE STATION TO PURCHASE TICKETS!!! This ticket includes admission to The Mountaintop performance and the WURD Speaks Symposium Black Power Babies.	Ended	$46.00	$2.14	Sold Out
VIP Admission & Reception This ticket grants you access to The Mountaintop performance, WURD Speaks symposium title Black Power Babies and the VIP reception following both events that is complete with food & cocktails.	Ended	$75.00	$2.87	Sold Out

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Event Details

First WURD Speaks event of 2013!!!

Join WURD at The Philadelphia Company for an amazing 2-in-1 Black History Monthexperience. The first part of this WURD Speaks event is a viewing of the award winning play, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall and directed by Patricia McGregor. Immediatelyfollowing the play, there will be a captivating discussion titled Black Power Babies: An Intergenerational Discussion Exploring Living the Legacy of a Movement.

The Mountaintop

WINNER – LONDON’S OLIVIER AWARD FOR BEST NEW PLAY AND BROADWAY HIT!
Memphis – April 3, 1968. A gripping re-imagining of the events taking place the night before the assassination of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After delivering his magnificent and memorable “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, an exhausted and defeated Dr. King retires to Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel where he encounters a mysterious and spirited stranger as an epic storm rages outside.

Black Power Babies

An Intergenerational Discussion Exploring Living the Legacy of a Movement

Black Power Babies are the children of men and women active in the black power movement of the 60s -70s that are now leaders in all aspects of society – business, arts, politics, academia, and beyond. Join us as we have multiple parent-child pairs that will give personal accounts and insight on the movement and it’s lasting effects on the world. 

This panel discussion will immediately follow “The Mountaintop” performance.

Black Power Babies is a Sun In Leo Production that had it's debut in Brooklyn, NY

VIP Reception

After the eye-opening experience of “The Mountaintop” and the riveting WURD Speaks discussion on Black Power Babies, we will have a VIP reception where you can unwind with food and cocktails. You’ll have the chance to talk with family, friends and those involved with the production about your experience viewing The Mountaintop and Black Power Babies! If you would like to attend, please purchase the VIP Admission & Reception ticket for $75.

*****PLEASE READ*****

Things to keep in mind

• Admission tickets grant you access to The Mountaintop performance and the WURD Speaks Symposium immediately following
• WURD MEMBERS, PLEASE CALL THE STATION BETWEEN 9-5 TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS!!!
• VIP Admission tickets grant you access to The Mountaintop performance, WURD Speaks Symposium and VIP reception with food and cocktails
• Tickets to this particular performance and event are only available through WURD and not the Philadelphia Theater Company
• Seating assignments will be given out within a week of your ticket purchase
• This is by far one of the best Black History experiences in Philadelphia

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Robert Reich on the State of the Union's Economy

Robert Reich

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Beyond Outrage'

Coming Tuesday (Hopefully): The State of the Union's Economy

Posted: 02/10/2013 4:45 pm

If you're sitting in the well of the House when a president gives a State of the Union address (as I've had the privilege of doing five times), the hardest part is on the knees. You're required to stand and applaud every applause line, which means, if you're in the cabinet or an elected official of the president's party, an extraordinary amount of standing and sitting

.

But for a president himself, the State of the Union provides a unique opportunity to focus the entire nation's attention on the central issue you want the nation to help you take action on.

President Obama has been focusing his (and therefore America's) attention on immigration, guns, and the environment. All are important. But in my view none of these should be the central theme of his address Tuesday evening.

His focus should be on the joblessness, falling real wages, economic insecurity, and widening inequality that continue to dog the nation. These are the overriding concerns of most Americans. All will grow worse if the deficit hawks, austerity mavens, trickle-down charlatans, and government-haters who have commanded center stage for too long continue to get their way.

In coming weeks the GOP will be using another fiscal cliff, a funding crisis, and another debt ceiling showdown to convince Americans of an outright lie: that the federal budget deficit is our most important problem, that it is responsible for the continuing anemic recovery, and that we must move now to reduce it.

The President should make it clear that any Republican effort to hold the nation hostage to the GOP's ideological fixation on the budget deficit and a smaller government will slow the economy, likely pushing us into another recession. And that those most imperiled are the middle class and the poor.

He should emphasize that the real job creators are not the rich but the vast majority of ordinary Americans whose purchases give businesses reason to add jobs. And that if most Americans still cannot afford to buy, the government must be the spender of last resort.

Perhaps it's too much to hope for, but I'd encourage the President to call for boosting the economy: Reversing the recent Social Security tax hike by exempting the first $20,000 of income from payroll taxes and lifting the ceiling on income subject to it, to make up the shortfall. Reviving the WPA and CCC, to put the long-term unemployed directly to work. Raising the minimum wage. Imposing a 2 percent annual tax surcharge on wealth in excess of $7 million to fund a world-class system of education, so all our kids can get ahead. Cutting corporate welfare and the military but not cutting public investments or safety nets the middle class and poor depend on. Giving tax credits to companies that create more new jobs in America. Helping states and locales rehire the teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and social workers they need.

This is the most fragile recovery in modern history, from the deepest downturn since World War II. Most Americans are not experiencing a recovery at all. As has been shown in Europe, austerity economics is a cruel hoax. President Obama must acknowledge this in his State of the Union, and commit to fighting those who would impose it on America.

ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage," now available in paperback. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

 

Follow Robert Reich on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RBReich

Dr. Hare replies to French Student on the Sociology of theBlack Body

Salutations, M. Nicolas Martin-Breteau,

Nous vous remercions de votre intérêt pour votre demande et de l'intérêt dans mes observations et expériences. Je suis très familiariser avec le Professeur Loïc Wacquant, qui semble l'héritier présomptif de Bourdieu (dont certaines œuvres que j'ai acheté et lu). J'ai beaucoup apprécié le professeur Wacquant «Body and Soul» et souhaite que j'avais appris à le connaître mieux quand il était dans ce pays. Comme vous le savez peut-il en bas de page de mon mémoire de maîtrise (1957). dans «Body and Soul».

J'ai hâte de communiquer avec vous par courriel ou par téléphone. Pour votre information mon numéro de portable est 41 672 2986, mais en raison de circonstances particulières, je vais passer ces jours, il est généralement préférable de communiquer par e-mail, et d'utiliser le téléphone pour tout le suivi nécessaire ou à la vérification au cas où un courriel peut être accidentellement supprimé ou saccagé par le serveur.

Nathan Hare

415 672 2986

Troy Duster on Merit Scholars, Military and Affirmative Action

Merit Scholars, the Military, and Affirmative Action

January 23, 2013, 12:29 pm

By Troy Duster

Those opposing affirmative action argued before the Supreme Court in the fall that a deep commitment to individual fairness should trump any concern for diversity. The plaintiff, Abigail Fisher, claimed that she was the victim of racial discrimination because Latino and African-American students with lower scores had been admitted to the University of Texas, while she, who is white, had not. In contrast, proponents of affirmative action argued that diversity is a vital, compelling state interest.

If admission to college were based solely upon test scores, there would be no need for admissions offices: Students would just submit their test scores and high-school grade-point averages, and a computer would admit them in rank order. No college has ever done so, and none ever will. For a wide range of reasons, admissions officers make assessments based on such factors as high-school reputation, recommendation letters, evidence of “late blooming” and community engagement, alumni parents, balance for region and gender, and the wishes of financial donors.

Experienced professionals from military, corporate, and educational worlds have filed briefs in the case supporting the diversity side of the argument. One brief, from 25 four-star generals, admirals, and other military leaders, argued that “a highly qualified and racially diverse officer corps is not a lofty ideal,” but rather “a mission-critical national-security interest.” The military depends upon racially diverse ROTC programs, the generals said, which in turn depend upon racially diverse student populations.

The pre-eminent path to admission to West Point is relevant to this claim about test scores versus other considerations. The military academy, which is designated by Congressional mandate to train Army leaders for the coming generation, gives every Congressional district two admits—an unapologetic quota system. The recommendation of the representative from each district is the ticket to admission, not rankings based upon test scores.

But what of the very embodiment of meritocracy, the annual allocation of National Merit Scholar awards, by the group whose very name represents the meritocratic ideal, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation?

It comes as a shock to many to learn that those recipients are selected under a geographically based quota system, which insulates students from competition with their peers in other states. As a consequence, the states—which confer semifinalist status to roughly one half of one percent of high-school students—have radically different standards.

At the first stage of the selection process, about 16,000 semifinalists for the Merit Scholar awards are selected by test score alone, nationwide.  Then comes the interesting part, relevant to the Supreme Court’s decision about what is fair in judging applicants: test scores alone versus diversity. Much like those admitted to West Point, winners of the National Merit Scholar awards are chosen by state.

Here is how it works: The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) is divided into three parts, worth 80 points each, so that a perfect score would be 240.  The cutoff point for each state is different, however. As the chart below shows, in some states the winning score must be as high as 221 to 218 (Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Connecticut). In other states, it is as low as 202 to 200 (Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming). How is that fair?  Why not just judge everyone by the same standard, and award Merit Scholarships to those with the highest scores—at the top of the national pool?  These are not State Merit Scholars. These are National Merit Scholars.

It is noteworthy that the opponents of affirmative action are not attacking the way in which National Merit Scholars are chosen. Perhaps that is because they understand that it would not serve the interests of the nation better if all Merit Scholars were chosen from only a few states, all of which are “blue,” with none going to the states lagging far behind, all of which are “red.”

And yet because we are a nation that wishes to allocate Merit Scholars to students from coast to coast, and from Alaska (204) and Hawaii (211), we opt for diversity over individual scores on standardized tests. The logic is identical to that of the military academies, not only West Point but the Naval and Air Force Academies as well.  Would it serve the nation’s interest better to have its military officers selected from only a few states? In her majority opinion on the topic, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor argued (Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003) that the United States needs to have diversity in its leadership class as a compelling state interest—that it would be intolerable for one segment of the population to dominate those roles.

As the Supreme Court deliberates the Fisher case and the future of affirmative action, the justices need to ask the same question that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the military academies have posed: Does a single-minded reliance on “individual merit” as measured by test scores serve the national interest? If its answer is a resounding no, the court will need to explain to history why race—the  mechanism of the nation’s most noxious form of systemic discrimination over four centuries—cannot, unlike the roulette of geographical residence (Congressional district or state boundary line) be taken into account in efforts to ensure that the nation’s leaders are as diverse as the nation’s racially and ethnically diverse population.

Troy Duster is a senior fellow and Chancellor’s Professor at the Warren Institute for Law and Social Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a past president of the American Sociological Association.