czvasser Afroticity

Looking The Other Way

hoodie-tmartin“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” Wiiliam Wilberforce

roland hayes

Roland Hayes, the brilliant tenor became the first African-American man to earn international fame as a concert vocalist. In 1942, Mr. Hayes’s wife, Helen and daughter, Afrika, sat in a whites-only area of a shoe store and were thrown out. When Mr. Hayes defended his family, he was beaten and he and his wife were arrested. The incident inspired Langston Hughes to compose the poem, Roland Hayes Beaten.

ethel waters 3

The Beulah Show, the first sitcom to star an African American actress, moved from radio to ABC TV on October 3, 1950, starring Ethel Waters for the first season. Hattie McDaniel, star of radio’s Beulah, joined the cast around September of 1951 but only filmed six episodes of the second season before falling ill. She was quickly replaced by Louise Beavers who stayed with the show until its cancellation in 1952.

heisman trophy 600“I’m not black, I’m O.J.,” a reference to an alleged quote from O.J. Simpson’s murder trial. Simpson was saying, as the story goes, that through fame and fortune he had managed to distance himself from the issues plaguing black men in America: poverty, police brutality, incarceration. I guess he was wrong. Continue reading “Looking The Other Way” →

czvasser Fried Chicken

Finding My Own Ass

There has, in the past, been some question about whether I could find my own ass with two hands. I am proud to announce, albeit with difficulty, athletic ability and practice, I can. Anyone that would like to help me find my own ass is certainly encouraged and welcomed under the new Trump-Weinstein-Cosby Doctrine. In other words, you can help me find my own ass with or without the use of drugs, intelligence, promise of promotion, fame or election. In any case, gain, stardom or political office is not implied or promised. If necessary or appropriate, just grab my ass!

czvasser Afroticity

Proctor & Gamble: The Talk

Freedom of Speech is perplexing. We should all exercise our right to Freedom of Speech but when people can’t agree on the “truth” and suggest their “Alternate Facts” are just a valid, what are we left with? Noise, just noise. Now that we have Freer Speech we should work towards intelligent conversation and eventually meaningful dialog.

I had “The Talk” with my mother and continued it with my children. I had “The Talk” with my Cool Nerd granddaughter before she started Jr. High School this year in a neighborhood with a checkerd past outside our own.

Please don’t think “The Talk” is one conversation. It becomes the “To thine own self be true” speech. It becomes part of the lexicon to live by. The scene where the mother tells the daughter it’s not about her driving, it’s about whether she comes home brought tears to my eyes especially given the death of Sandra Bland and similar and related incidents that continue around the country.

At basketball practice one evening, from the other side of the court, I saw a kid stick his foot out and trip a 10 year old teammate as he walked by. A rukus ensued so I headed over with the assistant coach. We asked what was going on and one kid complained he had been tripped and said, “These guys were always picking on me”. We asked the other kid what happened and he immediately pointed to the innocent kid standing next to him and said, “He did it”. The kid tripped was ready to accept this as proof someone had wronged him even though someone innocent was blamed. I told the kid who had caused the trip I had seen him purposely stick his foot out. He thought for a moment and said he “I didnt do it”. Even in the face of adult witnesses, this kid was going to stick to his story.

This isn’t about how I handled it, but about people. I wish we were better. We can be if we admit the truth even though sometimes it is shameful.