It's A Done Deal

Tony Cox hosts News & Notes' final broadcast.Geoffrey Bennett, NPR

Folks,

We aired our last original broadcast of News & Notes today -- Friday, March 20. And by 6 p.m. Pacific time, all the staffers here will have cleaned out their desks, turned in their I.D. badges, and discontinued their voice mail and e-mails. In that regard, we're going through what the rest of America is dealing with during these very tough economic times.

But, while it's the end of a show, it's not the end of what we started six-and-a-half years ago, first with Tavis Smiley, then with Ed Gordon, then with Farai Chideya, and lastly, with me as host. The central idea of News & Notes is that black folks matter. Our opinions matter. Our views matter. And we want to be heard. We want to be part of the national and international political and cultural dialogue, and not in the way mainstream media decides for us, but in the way that we decide for ourselves.

NPR was courageous enough to give that idea birth.

Now, it's up to us to keep it going.

So goodbye, News & Notes.

Hello, future.

Tony Cox

11:13 AM ET | 03-20-2009 | permalink

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What's My Name?!

We had one of those conversations on News & Notes today that I think hits home for everybody.

What should you be called if you're an adult and a child addresses you? What about strangers? Or, what if you've achieved a status that has earned a title of one sort or another?

This all started with Barack Obama, of course, whose I'm-just-one-of-the-guys demeanor belies his elected status as the leader of the free world. What further complicates it, is the nasty history of racial subjugation that is so stingingly present when people of color, any color actually, are reduced by the insult of being called "out of their name." The "N" word comes to mind here.

My NPR colleague Karen Grigsby Bates literally wrote the book on the subject of name-calling etiquette, and, coming from a black perspective, she knows full well the reasons why we sometimes call people what we call them.

Having Kevin Ross, a former Los Angeles Superior Court judge, join the conversation made it even more compelling, since his original on-air reference to the president as "Barack" got a lot of listeners upset last week. He didn't back down, but he explained himself.

We all have stories of people mispronouncing our names, not using our titles (if we have one), or being too familiar with us before they know us. Throw in the racial dynamic, and there is the potential for all sorts of unpleasant encounters. Check out the conversation we had, and give us your feedback.

What's in a name depends on who's talking and who they're talking to. I'm reminded of what my dad used to say, tongue partly in cheek. He said, "Call me what you want, just don't call me late for dinner."

Tony Cox

2:05 PM ET | 02-18-2009 | permalink

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Take a Time Out!

iStockphoto.com

You know what's funny about this business?

You never know what people are going to respond to. I expected that we might get some feedback on our segment on "To Spank or Not to Spank," but the reaction was much more than I'd anticipated.

A lot of people were pissed. At least, those who consider the practice of corporal punishment barbaric. Some people equate spanking with abuse, period.

Judge Lynn Toler and I delved into this sensitive area, but spoke candidly and from the perspective of parents (we both are), who have spanked our children. When compared to the hurt that words or emotional abuse can also cause, spanking seemed to be at least worthy of consideration.

Or so I thought.

Now I'll admit when I asked the judge about "where" it was appropriate to administer a spanking, I didn't expect that she would answer "on the thigh." What I had meant, but hadn't made clear enough to her, was where "in public" a spanking might be appropriate, since in public is exactly where children are often at their misbehaving worst.

I think the location of spanking is an issue that some parents grapple with, both on the child's body (hands, behinds, legs -- but differently for boys than for girls), as well as when and where in public a spanking is the only way to get your point across.

I think a lot of this discussion is generational and cultural. When and where I grew up, adults were free to administer spankings and there was a tacit approval given to certain close friends and neighbors to give you a whack if you merited it.

Not now.

And that's why we had the discussion. And that, presumably, is why a number of listeners responded, suggesting that the judge and I perhaps needed therapy, or maybe something worse because we are clearly out of touch, and behind the curve of parental disciplining.

I'm not so sure about that. Maybe I need a time out to think about it.

Tony Cox

4:07 PM ET | 01-29-2009 | permalink

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I See White People

Supporters of then President-elect Barack Obama celebrate outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008.

Lawrence Jackson, AP Photo

Since the election and inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, our show -- and countless others -- have talked ad nauseam about the issue of race, and what Obama's ascension to the highest office in the land means for America and its citizens -- especially for citizens of color.

But black folks aren't the only ones who have a stake in the success or failure of the new black president. In fact, although we have claimed him as wholly ours, the truth of his mixed-race heritage cannot and should not be over looked.

Is he, as so many have suggested, a post-racial figure?

Do white Americans have reason to fear him?

Today, we committed a major segment of our show to talk with people, whose racial views we too often take for granted. We wanted to hear what white folks think about race and the president, from white folks themselves.

Two bloggers -- a generation apart in age -- appeared on News & Notes to discuss Obama from the white perspective. A third scheduled guest fell ill at the last moment and had to back out.

Was the discussion insightful? Informative? Uncomfortable?

Yes, yes and yes.

It is not often that shows centering on black issues showcase white guests in this way. But we did, and we will again.

Check it out, and give us your feedback.

Has there been a paradigm shift on the discussion of race in this country?

There has on News & Notes.

Tony Cox

4:50 PM ET | 01-27-2009 | permalink

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Hello, Goodbye

Outside of News & Notes' Studio B

Geoffrey Bennett, NPR

While all eyes and ears are on the Inaugural festivities in the nation's capital this week, we're undergoing our own changing of the palace guard here at News & Notes.

Farai Chideya has left the program, effective today, but will be back in a cameo role during our inauguration coverage on Tuesday. We're all going to miss her deeply, not only because she's an outstanding communicator, but because Farai is one of the good people in the business.

She cares, and her ability to connect with folks on-air, and off, is in no small measure what has made News & Notes the show so many of you have come to appreciate.

I've also been privileged to be a part of this show's history, and, along with the other members of the News & Notes staff, I'd like to assure you that we're not gone. Yet.

Until March 20, 2009, News & Notes will continue to air every day as it always does, with new shows. As host, I promise we will continue to bring to you the same insightful, sometimes controversial, but always relevant stories of and by people who often slip below the mainstream radar.

There has never been a program quite like ours in the history of National Public Radio. It was a bold experiment that, unfortunately, has nearly run its course. So, until the "On Air" light goes out nine weeks from now, we're gonna play on.

I invite you to stay with us.

Tony Cox

4:24 PM ET | 01-16-2009 | permalink

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