greetings all,
i've decided to accept an offer to be one of the bloggers for the newly launched huffington post religion page: http://www.huffingtonpost.com. i am hoping it will make me a bit more disciplined blogger and also give one black woman thinking theologically a larger audience.
see you soon once they get the religion page up and running. my first blog will be a reflection based on the 44th anniversary of the first attempt by civil rights protesters to march from selma to montgomery, alabama in support of black voting rights.
best to all,
emt
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
tiger, tiger...
i did not sit in front of the television and watch tiger woods' apology this past friday morning. i was attending to more important things and watched it later that night in an espn special report. what? a special report about a man admitting that he had been unfaithful to his wife--by press accounts, several times? rather than go into the more standard analysis of why we put extremely talented sports figures on high pedestals or that there have been signs since he first left college to join the pga tour to make millions that he needed to mature much more in terms of how he deals with folks interpersonally, i am more intrigued with the fact that several reports covered the kind of script that these apologies need to give:
us? there was one point that i had absolutely no quarrel with that woods said--this is between him and his wife when it comes to his unfaithfulness. sponsors will do what makes the most sense for them to keep up a profitable bottom line--they are not part of morality play. a couple, who has never invited us into their marriage, are well within their bounds to say that we will not have entry now. my hope for them is that both of them are finding ways to be honest with each other to be clear about their expectations of themselves and of each other and that they make a decision that is good for them and their children.
the fact that the apology followed a script, of sorts, is barely worth dwelling on in my estimate. that he said he was sorry, that he apologized to those who believed in his integrity and found that belief misplaced, that he committed himself to making sure his charities do not suffer, and so on--all well and good.
but i am left with a nagging question through all of this. do we tend to mistake athletic skill for integrity in our elite athletes? from pete rose to mark mcquire to charles barkely (who was clear he wanted no part of being a role model) to tonya harding, we seem to equate athletic prowess with having good sense and/or common sense and integrity. we follow this pattern with other professions as well.
true enough, those of us in the public eye cede some of our privacy such that our human foibles can become the stuff of gossip and speculation. and i am not arguing that we need to be given a pass in this regard, it is part of the territory. but when folks, so personalize folks like woods that i hear things like "i can never forgive him," i think we've gone too far. woods will have to deal with the fact that he broke a vow he made to his wife (and children), that he lied to her and them.
- no tie, open collar shirt with a jacket (he did)
- no script, speak from memory (he didn't)
- keep it short (he didn't)
- look contrite (he looked awfully uncomfortable and if that is the twin of contrite, he was)
- take questions (he didn't)
- keep it open to the public (he didn't)
us? there was one point that i had absolutely no quarrel with that woods said--this is between him and his wife when it comes to his unfaithfulness. sponsors will do what makes the most sense for them to keep up a profitable bottom line--they are not part of morality play. a couple, who has never invited us into their marriage, are well within their bounds to say that we will not have entry now. my hope for them is that both of them are finding ways to be honest with each other to be clear about their expectations of themselves and of each other and that they make a decision that is good for them and their children.
the fact that the apology followed a script, of sorts, is barely worth dwelling on in my estimate. that he said he was sorry, that he apologized to those who believed in his integrity and found that belief misplaced, that he committed himself to making sure his charities do not suffer, and so on--all well and good.
but i am left with a nagging question through all of this. do we tend to mistake athletic skill for integrity in our elite athletes? from pete rose to mark mcquire to charles barkely (who was clear he wanted no part of being a role model) to tonya harding, we seem to equate athletic prowess with having good sense and/or common sense and integrity. we follow this pattern with other professions as well.
true enough, those of us in the public eye cede some of our privacy such that our human foibles can become the stuff of gossip and speculation. and i am not arguing that we need to be given a pass in this regard, it is part of the territory. but when folks, so personalize folks like woods that i hear things like "i can never forgive him," i think we've gone too far. woods will have to deal with the fact that he broke a vow he made to his wife (and children), that he lied to her and them.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
mourning lucille clifton
less than a day after learning of poet lucille clifton's death, a news report flashes across my television that henry louis gates has donated the handcuffs from his arrest to the smithsonian.
over the last several months, i've been away from this blog due to the demands of work and simply trying to keep my head above water as i've tried to survive a tide of conservative backlash against president obama with its assurances that he has been a do nothing irrelevant president. quite odd from folks who have consistently stonewalled any efforts at bipartisanship and have consistently acted as if he was not duly elected. it fails to recognize the over 90 actions he has taken--some small and many quite significant--since taking office a little over a year ago. no, i've not always been pleased with all of them, but obama is a far cry from previous presidents who slept their way through office or let others actually run the government for them.
and then there is the disturbing case of the baptist missionaries who have been charged with kidnapping haitian children after the earthquake. when coupled with the ahistorical and inane remarks of pat robertson (who always seems to have something outrageous to say just at the moment when no one is paying him any attention) that the people of haiti made a pact with the devil that prompted the earthquake, the tragedy in haiti grows and stains our hands. robertson's "analysis" is classic historical revisionism wrapped in ignorance about actual historical fact. it also absolves the united states and some european nations from their role of systematically boycotting haiti when it won it's independence in 1804. a systematically crippled infrastructure and decades of economic sanctions and a near 20 year u.s. occupation of the country are important factors in the poor building construction that exacerbated the effects of the earthquake. we have a troubling habit of blaming nature or god when human (il)design exacerbates natural events.
on another front, many of us are shaken by the murder of three tenured biology professors by a colleague who was denied tenure. it's too early to know the whys of the killer's actions, but i am left deeply troubled by the images of the deceased and the alleged killer and the possible role that class, geography, and race may have played in a tenure decision and a colleague's deadly reaction.
we have lucille clifton's words to help us through these times. i will, however, miss her voice reading her words. she was here at yale a year or so ago. elizabeth alexander had the great foresight to bring her back for what was her last reading here. we knew her health was failing, but her voice was strong and her mind was clear as she read and talked with us that night. afterward at dinner, she delighted us with stories of life and living and listened closely at our talk talk as well. it was a wonderful evening with words and laughter and good food and drink. it is her voice that lingers with me from that evening and the times i've heard her read her poetry. i am glad to have that voice to turn to when i leaf though her poetry collections and linger over a favorite poem or my eye catches on one of her marvelous turn of phrases.
those handcuffs in the smithsonian do nothing for me.
over the last several months, i've been away from this blog due to the demands of work and simply trying to keep my head above water as i've tried to survive a tide of conservative backlash against president obama with its assurances that he has been a do nothing irrelevant president. quite odd from folks who have consistently stonewalled any efforts at bipartisanship and have consistently acted as if he was not duly elected. it fails to recognize the over 90 actions he has taken--some small and many quite significant--since taking office a little over a year ago. no, i've not always been pleased with all of them, but obama is a far cry from previous presidents who slept their way through office or let others actually run the government for them.
and then there is the disturbing case of the baptist missionaries who have been charged with kidnapping haitian children after the earthquake. when coupled with the ahistorical and inane remarks of pat robertson (who always seems to have something outrageous to say just at the moment when no one is paying him any attention) that the people of haiti made a pact with the devil that prompted the earthquake, the tragedy in haiti grows and stains our hands. robertson's "analysis" is classic historical revisionism wrapped in ignorance about actual historical fact. it also absolves the united states and some european nations from their role of systematically boycotting haiti when it won it's independence in 1804. a systematically crippled infrastructure and decades of economic sanctions and a near 20 year u.s. occupation of the country are important factors in the poor building construction that exacerbated the effects of the earthquake. we have a troubling habit of blaming nature or god when human (il)design exacerbates natural events.
on another front, many of us are shaken by the murder of three tenured biology professors by a colleague who was denied tenure. it's too early to know the whys of the killer's actions, but i am left deeply troubled by the images of the deceased and the alleged killer and the possible role that class, geography, and race may have played in a tenure decision and a colleague's deadly reaction.
we have lucille clifton's words to help us through these times. i will, however, miss her voice reading her words. she was here at yale a year or so ago. elizabeth alexander had the great foresight to bring her back for what was her last reading here. we knew her health was failing, but her voice was strong and her mind was clear as she read and talked with us that night. afterward at dinner, she delighted us with stories of life and living and listened closely at our talk talk as well. it was a wonderful evening with words and laughter and good food and drink. it is her voice that lingers with me from that evening and the times i've heard her read her poetry. i am glad to have that voice to turn to when i leaf though her poetry collections and linger over a favorite poem or my eye catches on one of her marvelous turn of phrases.
those handcuffs in the smithsonian do nothing for me.
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