February 26 - March 4, 2021

On June 19, 2020, I made a commitment to educate myself on the lingering effects of racism, discrimination, and bias in America. Every day through June 18, 2021, I will read an article or book chapter, listen to a podcast, watch a movie or documentary, view a webinar, or do something substantive to educate myself in these areas. As part of that commitment, I will post to this blog each Friday with a list of what I've done over the past week as well as any pertinent thoughts or reflections.

Today's post covers the week of February 26 - March 4, 2021.

 

Judas and the Black Messiah

The story of Fred Hampton, Bill O'Neal and the Black Panther Party is told through this biographical drama starring Golden Globe winner Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield. Hampton, who not only led Chicago's chapter of the Black Panther Party at age 20 but also formed alliances with other organizations advocating for the poor, was featured in an October blog post for his efforts in creating the Rainbow Coalition.

The film is largely about the role the FBI played in Hampton's incarceration and eventual murder. J. Edgar Hoover is portrayed early in the film speaking to a room full of agents and warning against the emergence of a "Black Messiah." O'Neal, who is arrested for car theft at the beginning of the movie, becomes an FBI informant inside the Black Panther Party. O'Neal grows close to Hampton and eventually drugs him and provides the FBI with the information they need to find and kill him.

I'd recommend watching the Rainbow Coalition documentary linked above, or doing other research on Hampton, O'Neal and the Black Panther Party of Chicago, before watching Judas and the Black Messiah. While the film is an excellent dramatic remake of the events of 1968 and 1969, I found it very helpful to have some background on Hampton's life and the Panthers prior to watching the film.

 

The Muddled History of Anti-Asian Violence 

Hua Hsu writes for The New Yorker about the recent episodes of violence against the Asian-American community. Hsu points out several cases where law enforcement has been slow to label these incidents as hate crimes. Hsu writes, "In the age of Black Lives Matter, the desire to carve out a crisp, pithy position is greater than ever," but nothing of the sort has come together for Asian-Americans. Often times, the myth of Asians as the "model minority" has obscured the challenges they've faced because of racism. Hsu encourages us to examine the whole history of violence against the community in hopes of seeing the patterns that may help us identify and solve the problems.

The U.S. Needs a Third Reconstruction - and Business Should Lead It

Roy Swan, Director of Mission Investments for the Ford Foundation, writes this piece for Harvard Business Review. The first two attempts at Reconstruction in this country failed, and it's time for Americans to try again. This time, however, corporations are best positioned to lead the way. Citigroup estimates systemic racism cost the American economy $16 trillion over the last 20 years, but businesses can address the problem through a series of recommendations offered by Swan.

 

Making the Team: Sports and Equality in American History 

The National Endowment for the Humanities has a terrific website of resources for Women's History Month, including this episode of the podcast Backstory.  Host Ed Ayers covers three critical events in the history of sports equality - a 1922 women's track and field meet, hosted by France, where Lucille Godbold led a team of 15 Americans in their first ever international competition; the 2004 Summer Olympic men's basketball game in which Puerto Rico defeated the United States; and the 1968 Summer Olympic medal stand protest of Tommy Smith and John Carlos.