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Models Monday: I’m Done

Rashard Mendenhall played running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers for four years before being picked-up by the Arizona Cardinals. Now, at 26-years-old, he’s decided to retire. Mendenhall wrote a wonderful blog post for The Huffington Post about his decision. Skeptics presume that his decision is based on his desire for a larger contract, but Mendenhall’sContinue reading “Models Monday: I’m Done”

Models Monday: Women’s History Month

Like Black History Month, Women’s History Month began as a week long celebration. Though this national dedication began in 1981, before being extended to a month in 1987, I have no memory of women’s history being marked until the mid-nineties–and even then, I thought it was a reactionary effort to somehow challenge February as aContinue reading “Models Monday: Women’s History Month”

Models Monday: Energy

Several weeks ago, I was invited to attend a meeting with other professionals about programs my community plans to implement. As I hold key positions in these programs, my input regarding the implementation and the expected outcomes concerning a problem we all agree on, justified the invitation. After my talk, the woman who invited myContinue reading “Models Monday: Energy”

Michael Dunn Plans to Fight

Unlike the 33 law students who I previously wrote about, I imagine the greatest challenge of attending law school being learning how to translate seemingly pedantic words into judicial significance. To that end, while the attempted murder conviction in the Michael Dunn trial for the three boys who managed to live makes sense, it doesn’t makeContinue reading “Michael Dunn Plans to Fight”

Models Monday: Lord Have Mercy (Part II)

Now these young black people are in law school but there’s no evidence that they know anything about the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Little Rock Nine, James Meredith, or Autherine Lucy. Ask Elizabeth Eckford about how lonely she felt in 1957 when she tried to enter Little Rock Central High School whileContinue reading “Models Monday: Lord Have Mercy (Part II)”

Models Monday: Lord Have Mercy

Now that I’ve stopped shaking my head, I can actually focus on the many problems with the documentary film American Promise–the title alone is problematic. What promises has this country ever fulfilled with respect to black Americans? Remember those 40 acres we were supposed to get? With the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Sherman’s January 1865 promise ofContinue reading “Models Monday: Lord Have Mercy”

NY Times Op-Doc about Jordan Davis (Continued reflections on black boys)

If you haven’t done so already, I recommend viewing Orlando Bagwell’s New York Times Op-Doc When Loud Music Turned Deadly. I also recommend what really amounts to Bagwell’s artist’s statement as an accompaniment to this short film about the coldblooded murder of young Jordan Davis. The documentary would have been much longer if Bagwell had theContinue reading “NY Times Op-Doc about Jordan Davis (Continued reflections on black boys)”

Models Monday: The Announcement

Well, the time has finally come for us to determine whether or not the Dalton School is as problematic as I suggested in a previous post. Will Idris demonstrate the verbal dexterity, that I believe, an “elite” school should foster? Will we see the confidence his parents suggest results from being educated in an “elite” school?Continue reading “Models Monday: The Announcement”

Models Monday: No Explanation Necessary

I just left a very lively, engaging conversation with a very prominent legal scholar whose brilliant work has greatly influenced how scholars discuss identity. During this occasion, however, the young people in attendance expressed what has become, for me at least, this boring, misguided approach to inhabiting racially diverse spaces and encountering hostile identity basedContinue reading “Models Monday: No Explanation Necessary”

Models Monday: MLK, Jr. Holiday and Your Grandparents

I often think about Toni Morrison’s interview with Anne Koenen in 1980 where Morrison reflects on a stunning conversation she has with a young girl: When I talked to a very young black girl recently, it seemed to me that she had never heard of anything. They’re grown up like they never had grandmothers. OfContinue reading “Models Monday: MLK, Jr. Holiday and Your Grandparents”