Ta-Nehisi Coates

A Great Day In Harlem

Mon,23 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Last Friday, me and the boy trooped down to the Upper West Side so I could have him further indoctrinated in the ways of effete liberalism. All that football is turning him into a ruffian. After some soccer in the park, a soy latte, and some musings over New Yorker cartoons ("So then pig says, 'One of us is clearly in the wrong movie...'") we headed to Whole Foods to check the price on arugula. But what I found, instead, was so much better.

Dog Fish Raison D'Etra--my favorite beer. I've had this in a few bars, but haven't been able to find a six. I loaded up, got some tofurkey, organic sprouts and a few other things that they don't eat in normal America, and returned, unburdened, to my apartment in Harlem. Because the best thing about that Whole Foods is that they deliver. Beer. To Harlem. All hail gentrification. All hail The Wine Track. Except when it's Dog Fish.

Make Of This What You Will

Mon,23 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Liberals think Obama is lighter than he is, conservatives think he's darker. Or some such. I looked at the pictures and it looked like "brightness" issue as opposed to dark-skin/light-skin issue. I don't know.

Look, you know me: I'll never undersell the significance of racism in human beings, and specifically the power of anti-black racism in America. It's as old as the country. Having said that, I don't know what to make of this study. I guess there are people who don't think racism is much of a force in American life. I doubt that this will change that. For my purposes, I'm pretty much done with debating them anyway. We overrate "dialouge," "conversation" and "debate."

Feed Me Hip-Hop And I Start Trembling

Mon,23 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

In my memoir, I talk about a buddy who, whenever he was about to get jumped, use to recite the last half of Rakim's Microphone Fiend. It was like armor for his nerves. I think about that whenever I hear society mocking the mask which young black boys don in urban America. We manufacture the conditions, and then rail at kids for creating a code of survival in response.

In my time, hip-hop was an art-form based on that code. If you were a kid living in a city, and thus acclimated to the rules of that city, if you spent time trying to understand which blocks were off-limits, if you ever assembled friends, in the manner of land-lords assembling vassals, if you never went to see your girlfriend solo, if, in other words, you lived with the threat of random violence, then hip-hop was the language of your life.

Hip-Hop, at that point, took the pose and iconography of the streets and melded it with the traditional job of the party MC--moving the crowd. From that fusion, you got a mythological figure--the MC as a literary swordsmen who, in a violent world, dispatched his enemies with words. Rakim, to me, was the first person who really took that imagery, that melding, off into the stratosphere.

When I heard this...

I'm everlasting, I can go on for days and days
With rhyme displays, that engrave deep as X-rays.
I can take a phrase that's rarely heard
Flip it. Now it's a daily word.
I can iller than all nam, a killing bomb,
But no alarm--Rakim will remain calm.

And this:

So follow me or where you thinking you were first?
Let's travel at magnificent speeds throughout the universe.
What can you say as the earth gets further and further away,
Planets as small as balls of clay.
Astray into the Milky Way, world's out of sight,
As far as the eye can see, not even a satellite.
Now stop and turn around and look,
As you stare into darkness, your knowledge is took.
So you keep staring and suddenly you see a star,
You better follow it, cause it's the R...

...it was one of those moments that clarified what I wanted to do. I can't tell you how many afternoons I spent, as a kid, trying to write something like that and then taking it up to Wabash, with my brother Bill, and struggling with the beat. Here's the thing: I was a horrendous MC. I mean just abysmal. But those were basic lessons about writing, that stick with me to this day. Constrained by form, be it blog post, sonnet, or the beat, how do you say something original and beautiful? How do you do it with potency and economy? There's a reason why "I can take a phrase that's rarely heard\Flip it, now it's a daily word," is, perhaps, the most hailed couplet in all of hip-hop. It's two lines of braggadocio which are worth about ten verses from your average battle rapper. But it's also a beautifully circular statement about the power of words.

]]>

You're stepping with 007, better make it snappy
No time to do your hair baby, brothers are bussing at me.

Or:

This is off limits, so your vision is blurry,
All you see is the meters of volume pumping lyrics of fury.

I would hear that and what got me, was not what was said, but what was left unsaid. Who's the girl with no time to do her hair? Where are they? What happened that you can only see the meters? Did they really take Rakim's mic when he was kid? I didn't get it at the time, but in retrospect, I loved all the caverns and nooks which Rakim's lyrics left behind, all of those spaces where the listener's imagination could explore and build their own narrative.

I write this because Rakim has a new album out, which I bought, and didn't 't like very much. Whatever, I didn't expect to like it. I hope Rakim makes records till the day he dies. I'll certainly buy them until the day I do. I owe him plenty.

Open Thread

Mon,23 Nov 2009 17:50:12 GMT

Better late than never. Sorry guys.

Photos For College Apps

Mon,23 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT

I don't want to side-track the Morehouse thread with this, but I want to take this a little further. It was always rumored that HBCUs, back in the day, asked for photos to enforce their brown bag policy. I have no idea as to the truth of that, but it's the sort of thing that's said in discussion about classism and intra-racism. A commenter in the Morehouse thread, says that Stanford required a photo when he applied years ago

These leads to a couple of other questions. How many of you had to submit photos for college apps and in what year? I applied to Howard in 93, and a photo wasn't part of the application. Not sure if it ever was. I could see the Ivies requiring it in like pre-1960s, and I guess the same for black schools.

Changed

Mon,23 Nov 2009 15:00:07 GMT

Massimo Calebresi and Michael Weisskopf's story on Greg Craig's resignation is really really depressing. For all of us who hoped that Obama would lead us out of the War on Terror dark years, the increasingly answer appears to be, sorta. For me, here is the key exchange:

Obama, a onetime constitutional-law professor, told Craig he needed more time and asked for an extension. But when Michael Hayden, Bush's CIA director who had stayed on in Obama's first month, learned that the memos might be released, he went ballistic.
"What are you doing?" Hayden, just retired, demanded in a March 18 call to Craig. If Obama released the memos, Hayden argued, al-Qaeda would be able to train its warriors to resist the techniques described in their contents.
"The President is never going to authorize any of those techniques," Craig replied assuredly, so there was no danger in disclosing the methods to the enemy.
Hayden pressed on: "Lemme get this right. There are no conditions of threat this nation might face that would prompt you to interrupt the sleep cycle of somebody who may have lifesaving information?"
There was a long silence. Craig would not concede the point.

It's amazing that we're still discussing ticking time-bombs. But here's something else: It's increasingly become my conclusion that most of want to live in a free society, as long as it's inexpensive. I don't mean that to be dismissive--our lives are all we have, and some diligence about how, and when, they're risked is natural. Catastrophe inspires a particular fear, and catastrophe at the hands of foreigners, for whatever reason, feels like an existential threat. There is a natural inclination, when you remember how those people died on 9/11, to want to do whatever you can to make sure it never happens again.

But everything costs. I hoped that, as president, Obama would expend some capital making us aware of the long-term costs of sacrificing our values for a kind of short-term security. Conversely, I hoped he'd remind people that long-term interests and deeply-held values, often exact a short-term costs. Perhaps these are the limits of electoral politics. What politician wants to remind Americans that the threat of terrorism--domestic or otherwise--is the cost of a free society?

Morehouse's New Dress-Code

Mon,23 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Saul Williams doesn't like it. I think I'd probably care a lot more, had I went to Morehouse (as Saul did.) It's a little hard for me to get upset about a small, elite college enforcing a dress-code. I don't think this sort of thing what have worked at a lot of the larger HBCUs. I just can't see them even attempting this at Howard. All of that said, this is the sort of thing that would have kept me from applying to Morehouse--not that I was anywhere near qualified. College was my time to figure out who I was and what I wanted. The last thing I needed was someone else trying to dictate that to me.

I don't think any of us like profanity on tee-shirts, or seeing some dude's boxers because his jeans are on his calves. I understand why shades at convocation, and Yankee caps at graduation may be annoying. But I think folks should be very clear about what they're trying to achieve and why. Is the literal quality of Morehouse graduates declining? Are they less successful now then they were thirty years ago? How, specifically, will a dress-code change that?

I think people often take to complaining about how people dress, when they're actually bothered by something else. Dress is a kind of intellectual short-cut that allows you to get around hard problems--either real or perceived. Of course short-cuts often lead to other unforeseen problems. As Williams notes, the school has banned cross-dressing. Some of the school's gay students are, understandably, pissed.'

On another note, I have a question for Morehouse and Hampton grads. Is it true that applicants have to submit photos? Did they ever have to in recent memory? I keep hearing this, but never first-hand from anyone who went there.

NFL Open Thread

Sun,22 Nov 2009 16:57:11 GMT

What we looking at today? As always the Indy v. B-more game will be interesting. I'm watching Dallas take on the Skins. Even in a season like this, it's always nice to beat Washington.

New Mooned

Fri,20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I don't really have anything intelligent to say about Twilight. But as always, Alyssa does. Read the whole thing:

I don't imagine that I was alone when I was young in wishing there was something magical about me - or in reading Talking to Dragons until it became dog-eared or keeping The Mists of Avalon perpetually on renewal at the library. What girl doesn't wish she could discover some special attribute about herself that would smooth her way through the demons of junior high school and beyond--particularly if that something would get her noticed for the first time by a boy or girl with special attributes of their own? But earlier this week, when I stumbled over the Twilight finish line, reaching the final page of Breaking Dawn, the series' last book, it seemed clear to me that even in my younger days, Bella Swann would never have captured my imagination in the same way Cimorene, or Juniper, or Wise Child, or Morgaine had, and still do. Those heroines understand the joy of being loved by someone else. But their stories make the case that being a witch, or a warrior, or a queen--even without a king--might be better than an eternity as a metaphorical princess in a metaphorical tower, no matter how much the vampire company sparkles.

So You Ig'nant Voters Hear Me...

Fri,20 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Nate Silver offers the prognosis:

For starters, I'd somewhat dispute Tom's unspoken assumption that Palin is liable to be looking at this decision through such a narrowly rational prism. Was quitting the Alaska governorship -- particularly in the sudden and disorganized way that Palin did it -- a decision characteristic of someone who carefully ponders all the facts and circumstances before jumping to a conclusion? Not hardly. Palin is impulsive, impatient, ambitious, thrill-seeking: not the type of politician to prudently wait for a better moment.

Add on to that painfully, painfully unself-aware. Thinking about Sarah Palin in 2012, makes me think back to being a kid when all your friends, after school, would pump your head up, in hopes of getting you to step to some big-ass Walbrook Junction kid, who'd failed eighth grade twice. You'd end up getting your feelings hurt--and your Starter snatched.

There are people pumping up Sarah's head, and she's just ig'nant to take the bait. She will run in 2012--and get destroyed in the primary. She needs to talk to Ziggy Sobtka. It all ends with her stranded up on one of those cans...

Ziggy takes some bad advice.
by bzzinglikeneon

Open Thread At Noon

Fri,20 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT

The world is yours...

Again, Am I Missing Something?

Fri,20 Nov 2009 15:08:58 GMT

Is there serious evidence that political correctness led to Fort Hood? Is there real evidence that the military didn't look into Hassan for fear of offending Muslims? I'll gladly post that evidence, but right now, this is all I can find:

As a student, some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the young Army psychiatrist -- who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 29 others wounded -- had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, alarming an Islamic community leader from whom he sought counsel.
"I told him, `There's something wrong with you,'" Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I didn't get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seem right."
Danquah assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.

I find that last graph really suspicious. It's not a quote, and I can't actually tell who said what. Please help me. Is there more to this?

Of Course The Only Frog-Prince I Care About...

Fri,20 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT

...is Susan Mitchell's. This is one my all-time favorites, and if I had a daughter I'd give this to her right when she went on the pill. I'll give it to Samori as soon as voice starts deepening.

I no longer tremble.

Night after night I lie beside her.
"Why is your forehead so cool and damp?" she asks.
Her breasts are soft and dry as flour.
The hand that brushes my head is feverish.
At her touch I long for wet leaves,
the slap of water against rocks.

"What are you thinking of?" she asks.
How can I tell her
I am thinking of the green skin
shoved like wet pants behind the Directoire desk?
Or tell her I am mortgaged to the hilt
of my sword, to the leek-green tip of my soul?
Someday I will drag her by her hair
to the river--and what? Drown her?
Show her the green flame of my self rising at her feet?
But there's no more violence in her
than in a fence or a gate.

"What are you thinking of? she whispers.
I am staring into the garden.
I am watching the moon
wind its trail of golden slime around the oak,
over the stone basin of the fountain.
How can I tell her
I am thinking that transformations are not forever?

On the basics of word-play, it's a beautiful poem. (It's displayed after the jump.) But on another a level it says so much about boredom. I mean, the dude is dreaming of mud...

]]>In March I dreamed of mud,
sheets of mud over the ballroom chairs and table,
rainbow slicks of mud under the throne.
In April I saw mud of clouds and mud of sun.
Now in May I find excuses to linger in the kitchen
for wafts of silt and ale,
cinnamon and river bottom,
tender scallion and sour underlog.

At night I cannot sleep.
I am listening for the dribble of mud
climbing the stairs to our bedroom
as if a child in a wet bathing suit ran
up them in the dark.

Last night I said, "Face it, you're bored
How many times can you live over
with the same excitement
that moment when the princess leans
into the well, her face a petal
falling to the surface of the water
as you rise like a bubble to her lips,
the golden ball bursting from your mouth?"
Remember how she hurled you against the wall,
your body cracking open,
skin shriveling to the bone,
the green pod of your heart splitting in two,
and her face imprinted with every moment
of your transformation?

I no longer tremble.

Night after night I lie beside her.
"Why is your forehead so cool and damp?" she asks.
Her breasts are soft and dry as flour.
The hand that brushes my head is feverish.
At her touch I long for wet leaves,
the slap of water against rocks.

"What are you thinking of?" she asks.
How can I tell her
I am thinking of the green skin
shoved like wet pants behind the Directoire desk?
Or tell her I am mortgaged to the hilt
of my sword, to the leek-green tip of my soul?
Someday I will drag her by her hair
to the river--and what? Drown her?
Show her the green flame of my self rising at her feet?
But there's no more violence in her
than in a fence or a gate.

"What are you thinking of? she whispers.
I am staring into the garden.
I am watching the moon
wind its trail of golden slime around the oak,
over the stone basin of the fountain.
How can I tell her
I am thinking that transformations are not forever?

Not That I'll Be Going To See It...

Fri,20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

...but a reader sent along the trailer to The Princess and The Frog. It's amazing how much shit has changed. Doesn't mean it's all changed. By as a kid who came up on 80s cartoons, it's shocking to see them doing this in New Orleans with black folks.

Giuliani Out Of The Gov Race

Thu,19 Nov 2009 20:13:51 GMT

Thank de lawd. Had he won, I might have had to relocate. I can deal with a GOPer after Patterson. But not Giuls.