Category: blog posts

Live Blogging “Reaffirming the Role of School Integration” Conference

by justin

MoveSmart.org is incredibly pleased to bring you live coverage of the “Reaffirming the Role of School Integration in K-12 Education Policy: A Conversation Among Policymakers, Advocates, and Educators” Conference.

This live blogging is sponsored by the Poverty & Race Research Action Council.

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Update 11/27: C-Span has posted video of the morning from this conference on their website.

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10:03am – Bryan Gilmore of the Howard University Fair Housing Clinic calls the room to order, welcomes everyone to the conference, and introduces Dean Kurt. L. Schmoke. Dean Schmoke welcomes everyone to the School, highlights the work of Charles Houston Jr, and frames this event as the continuation of Howard’s committment to civil and human rights.

10:10am – John Brittain, a visiting professor of law at the David A Clarke School of Law, introduced the opening panel, “Why Are We Here?” and highlights the importance of and increasingly multicultural nature of school integration. Panelists include Theodore Shaw, former head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and current professor at Columbia Law School, and Lisa Chavez, research analyst at the Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity at Berkeley Law School.

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new post: “Just a Facelift? How HUD is Using New Tech under President Obama”

by justin

I’m very excited about my first post for the Pop!Tech blog. It explores how the new media directives of the Obama administration are translating down through the bureaucracy. It’s still early, but the results so far are disappointing.

“Open gov” advocates and civic hackers have had an exciting few months. The White House has launched a series of bold initiatives aimed at advancing the use of new tech and increasing data sharing – and hired some very smart folks to lead the way. But the federal bureaucracy is enormous, consisting of more than 1.8 million employees across 15 departments. How is this bold, digital agenda filtering down to the folks who will actually have to implement it?

For years the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been seen by many as more a tool to fulfill political favors than an agency charged with providing and ensuring safe, fair, and affordable housing. Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who led the agency from 2004-2008, was forced to resign amidst a flurry of patronage and conflict-of-interest scandals. He once famously warned a conference of black contractors, “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

Read the full post.

Hopeful Footnote on Vick Return

by justin

a footnote to NFL Comeback by David J. Leonard

For years I’ve been a big fan of Colorlines and the work of the Applied Research Center – their analysis of structural racism is spot-on and they continually impress and I’m already looking forward to their 2010 convention here in Chicago. I’m also a fan of football and follow via the web, local news, and ESPN not just my hometown teams (Saints and Bears) but the entire league (and a bit of college too). Much to my surprise – the tone and tenor of the commentary on Michael Vick’s return to the NFL has been largely positive from the sports press.

Vick’s mentor Tony Dungy, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts and the first African American coach to win a Superbowl, has made the rounds of media outlets to universally positive reception. I’ve not seen or read a single sports commentary that believes Vick should not have been given a second chance. Plenty of them are skeptical of his success and have been critical of his (limited) on-field performance to date, analysis largely based on his lengthy time away from the game and its impact on his conditioning.

The “NFL Comeback” web exclusive Colorlines story completely leaves the coverage of the sports press out of its analysis and in doing so omits a hopeful footnote. For the millions who – like myself – are preoccupied from August through February with following the game they love the majority of representations of Michael Vick have emphasized his right to a second chance and his right to make a living in his profession.

Sure, some mainstream media characterizations and commentators have said that Vick should not be given a second chance and animals rights activists have demonized him. But a significant portion of mainstream media and nearly all of the sports media have framed the story as a comeback and advanced the idea that he deserves the opportunity. It’s likely that Vick’s talent played a key role in this depiction; were he a less-talented and lower-profile player I doubt that his return would have been reported on as widely or positively.

Regardless, this was a teachable moment and it will be interesting to see if the message from the sports media has impacted the racial breakdown of who believes in Vick’s right to a second chance. I hope it has.

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On a less hopeful note, don’t forget about PETA’s anti-Semitic sensationalized campaign “Holocaust on Your Plate”.

And if you’re wondering, I’m a Saints fan first.

why i joined the Foundation for Change

by justin

As you can well imagine, trying to start your own non-profit organization is not a financially lucrative endeavor. I’m working hard to get MoveSmart.org off the ground, and we’re counting our pennies and cutting back while I’m only paid for a small part of my time.

Despite these constraints, Abbie and I joined James Perry’s Foundation for Change and will be donating $50 to his campaign every month from now until the election (or run-off, whichever comes last). You should too.

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