Lee's Wednesday Musings
Members of the Tell Me More production team. Pictured: (back row, l-r) Will Wright, George Lyle, Beneva Schulte, Douglas Hopper; (third row) Claudette Habermann, Lee Hill, Addie Whisenant, Monika Evstatieva, Marie Nelson; (second row) Teshima Walker, Jennifer Longmire; (front) Michel Martin. Credit: Margaret Low Smith, NPR.
Lee, here...
Like the photo? It's a picture of the TMM staff (with the exception of a few folks) at a recent Capitol Hill event with the Congressional Black Caucus.
Now, picture the same people in the photo decked out, from head to toe, in costume attire for Halloween ... I'll help you out a bit: Michel sat at the microphone for today's program dressed as Tina Turner. And, yes, I am blogging in my Rick James ensemble. Breathtaking. Kidding, am I? The beauty of radio (and blogging) is that you'll never know...
So, my colleague, George Lyle, and I co-wrote and recorded this commentary the other day on colorism in the Black community. We thought it would be interesting to offer our perspectives, as black men. So often, it seems, these observations are only told by women of color and among women of color. But, ill-informed perceptions can set-up shop in the lives of men, too. Here's a note we received from one of our Canadian "brothers":
I'm a dark skinned brother in Windsor Ont., Canada and I know that I have had to face much more discrimination than the light skinned brothers. But also I get no love whatsoever from the black women in my community where I was born and have lived for 50 years. So at this very moment I find myself unemployed, unmarried and childless and frankly speaking don't have much love for my own race.
Any idea the wounds of colorism could slice so deeply? Maybe you'll hear his expressions, in his own voice, in this Friday's BackTalk.
Tomorrow ... Oprah's storm.
Authorities in Johannesburg, South Africa are pulling up their sleeves to investigate The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls there. All the latest buzz follows allegations of abuse by one or more students. Many are watching closely to see how, and if, the billionaire philanthropist and media mogul will weather this storm. Tomorrow, we'll talk to someone who's in South Africa. She'll take us further inside the story as some ask why the academy seems to have an infinite list of restrictions when it comes to student contact with the outside world...
And, I know this is early -- I think you can say you read it first on our blog -- but I've been in meetings lately discussing a very cool project we're working on for NPR's 2008 presidential election coverage. All I can say is that we plan to take web user interactivity to an entirely new level.
So, stay connected...
P.S. We're also wondering if Friday's "Blackout" might affect the opening night of American Gangster, co-starring actor Denzel Washington ... Any thoughts? Just curious.
4:14 PM ET | 10-31-2007 | permalink
