The Counterpublic Papers, vol. 1 no. 23

Last week around the time I sent the newsletter out I’d received word of Orlando. 

I didn’t say anything here but on Facebook I’d said something to the equivalent that the authorities should treat this as akin to a church bombing. 

By this I meant that certain nightclubs have always functioned as a sanctuary for white, black, and brown lgbt communities. And increasingly as a sanctuary for house heads gay and straight. I’ve come closer to God on the dance floor than I have in any church I’ve ever attended. 

But. 

As one of my colleagues lovingly pointed out, we shouldn’t need to make this heteronormative move to treat what happened in Orlando with the care and attention we should. Years ago when Richard Pryor passed away, Salon magazine referred to him as “the black Lenny Bruce”, which as I noted to them was kind of like calling Michael Jordan “the black George Mikan”. I did the same thing. With good intentions but still.

What to do though? It’s important to note that we didn’t always think of the Second Amendment the way we do now—as something fixed in stone. There wasn’t always a time in which it’d be easier to buy an AR-15 in the state of Florida than oranges grown outside of L.A. That meaning’s been constructed over time. The NRA and the gun lobby play significant roles here, as do right wing talk show hosts. 

Acknowledging this construction process is important for a couple of reasons.

First it helps us realize that the fight to change the 2nd Amendment is one that’s going to take a long time. I’m thinking it took at least thirty or so years before the understanding we have now crystallized. 

Second it moves us towards long term strategy and tactics, and away from thinking that one more massacre might be the tipping point. Thoughts gun legislation are split in two…and no specific event will change that. 

….

Cedric Robinson died a couple of weeks ago. If there was anyone I had in mind when I thought about Black Studies 3.0 it was Cedric. Robin Kelley who comes closest to his legacy now, wrote a thoughtful piece about Robinson’s legacy in Counterpunch. It’s worth reading. Robinson’s Wikipedia entry begins his academic career in 1979, glossing over almost two decades of work. For my purposes I was specifically interested in his Michigan career, Robinson held a position in Michigan’s political science department from 1971-1973. For about a decade or so, as the result of radical student activism (black and anti-war), the department sought to extend the type of courses they taught and sought to bring in grad students with more of a commitment to changing the world as opposed to simply studying it.  This put a big burden on the two black faculty they had (Robinson who wasn’t even on the tenure track, and Nellie Varner—herself a Michigan PhD who’d leave the academy entirely, returning to serve as Regent for 16 years) but one that Robinson took with relish. The community he built at Michigan remained important to him after he left the University—from what I understand he was critical in BAM II when black students protested against the university in 1977.   

Along similar lines, my colleague Nathan Connolly commemorated the 50th anniversary of “black power” or at least its entry into American mass consciousness. The piece isn’t about black power per se, but about how to bring a black power sensibility to history. It’s well-written and thoughtful, but it begs the question—How do you translate a methodological orientation into an ethical practice? How does loving black people enough to understand that you have to go beyond standard archives in understanding their activity….translate into working in the academy? Into mentoring black students? Into working with black colleagues? Into living in black cities? Connolly writes of “courage”. How does this translate?

….

The final game of the NBA Championship featuring the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers begins in a few hours. I like both teams but prefer Cleveland over Golden State—if Cleveland wins, LeBron James (the best player of his generation) ends up with a 3-4 record in the NBA Finals, whereas if Cleveland loses he ends up with a 2-5 record. Folks have been focusing on skin-tone politics—two of Golden State’s best players are what black folk call “high yellow” causing Black Twitter to generate the hashtag #teamlightskin—but although this approach lends itself to interesting Facebook conversations there really isn’t a there there.

A much more interesting approach would examine how people like Dave Gilbert (owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Kevin Plank (founder and CEO of Under Armour) benefit. Over the past decade or so Gilbert’s purchased so much land in downtown Detroit that some call it Gilbertville, while Plank’s in the process of getting $535 in tax increment financing to add a wing to downtown Baltimore. 

I took this approach in a piece that may or may not appear in the Jacobin today. 

….

I’m going to end there. On Tuesday I’m going to be guest-hosting the Marc Steiner Show. Don’t know what I’m going to talk about yet. 

I’ve got a very good father. And I’ve got a lot of kids that I tend to do stuff for. But the day doesn’t and really hasn’t meant anything to me. Doing what I do for my children is what I’m supposed to do. With that said someone was gracious enough to give me the opportunity to take my kids to the downtown DC jazz fest. Kamasi Washington is the headliner. If you see a group of about six with someone in white linen bringing up the rear it’ll probably be me. Shouts out to the folk for whom Father’s Day means something. And for the stat geeks among you keep this in mind. 

See you next week. For those who've got this in the form of a drunken text, I'm Lester Spence. This is the Counterpublic Papers.