Who Wrote These/Did This Website?

I really had to laugh at loud at some of the community descriptions of various Mon Valley towns. Who is responsible for this? Also the main page is one of the worst Joomla! based sites that I have seen in a while...

The Irrelevancy of "Black Culture"

I got into a heated debate yesterday (surprise, surprise) with a man on a list-serve for Black Jews who put it out there that Black Jews should not focus on gaining acceptance from the Ashkenazi Jewish community, but rather rally together and build a new sub-group within Judaism. A group that would formulate minhagim, customs and the like from our "shared Black culture". Well I asked him to define this "shared culture" because in my opinion, there is no "Black culture"; at least not one that is substantial or concrete enough to build a new sub-group within Judaism. Not that Judaism even needs any more subgroups. But that is a whole different discussion.

My feelings on this topic stem purely from personal experience and my own worldview. I am not trying to say that I am right; and others are wrong. However I have what I feel is a valid opinion on a very subjective term ("culture"). Yet I was insulted and called names (surprise, surprise...I have a knack for this you know) for my views. So in this medium, where I won't be subject to so much of the back and forth (and misinterpretations that come along with that), I decided to clarify my points here, on my own blog.

1) My first issue with Black culture is it's definition. What is it exactly? Black American history is a part of it...but not the main part in my opinion. The history of any group does not necessarily yield any kind of power over the same group in the present (take the unfortunate case of the Native Americans, whose illustrious history does little to help them now). Also a common history is not enough to bond people together. Historically, Jews and Muslims had good relationships. But that is not the case now. But anyway, back to the definition of culture. Let's see what Merriam-Webster says:

the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group ; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time c: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization d: the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic

Ok, so looking at the definition above, you see that "culture" is basically referring to a set of norms that mold how a person lives. For example, in urban culture (New York city and the like), you have a society which is fast-paced, lives in an environment where space is a premium, eats out a lot, and has public activity going on 24-7 (this is just a gross generic example, I don't see such a broad group as a legitimate culture either). I agree that there was a point in time where Black Americans did largely share a stronger common culture; especially before the 1960s. However, in the generations that have followed, the Black American population has become increasingly diverse; socially, economically, regionally, and by nationality. Just how much does a low income Black woman in the Bronx have with a Nigerian computer engineer in Silicon Valley? Probably just their brown skin color (but wait...East Indians are also brown...)

2) My second issue with Black culture is that of ownership. Being a Black American does not automatically endow you with the gift of Black culture...whatever that may be. Even in my case, where I was raised by a Black family and within the Black community; here in my adult life, Black culture has very little influence over my lifestyle. Instead, my daily life is far more tempered by the laws and regulations of Judaism. My preferences in hobbys and entertainment come from my friends and acquientances who are mostly White. The food I eat is pretty standard American fare with occasional things from West Indian and Asian cuisine thrown in. Now, if Black culture were reflexive, and I could take the things that I do, and the life that I lead, and add that to the "Black culture pot", then that would be great. But I do not think it works that way. So if that is the case, than Black culture is pretty much irrelevant to me. Again, this does not mean I am glossing over Black history or the origins of my people. What I am saying is the unique norms and societal ways of those ancestors has had little bearing on my life today. This is not disrespect to those ancestors. In fact I think it is the utmost respect for them.

3) My third issue with Black culture is the double-standard it presents. If there is a "Black culture"; then there should be a "White culture" and a "Hispanic culture"....even a "Jewish culture". And many people may stand up and say that these cultures do in fact exist. But I would curious to see what exactly they present as examples of these "cultures". Yes, let's stop and think about this for a minute. Actually, it is a very scary thought; because most of what will be presented will be gross stereotypes...not true cultural markers. The reality is within these larger "cultures" you have much more accurate/valid cultures such as Italian-American culture, Cuban-American culture, Syrian-Jewish culture, Black-Jamaican culture, etc. Yet even with these subgroups, most people will have no problem accepting the fact that Maria Capecci (ficticious name), 4th generation Italian-American holds on to very few remenants of her Italian heritage. She is a Buddhist, her husband is a Black man, and her job has her working 4 months out of the year in Brazil. Should she still be forced to claim things and affiliate on the basis of her Italian-American culture?

I understand that my stance on this issue has the very real potential of being offensive. Hopefully those who really know me realize that I am not the type of person who minimizes the accomplishments of Black people worldwide and the rich traditions and various things that have emerged from our people. The issue here is not that I am not proud to be a member of the Black community; but rather what that membership requires from us. I feel that being a member of the Black community, at the present time, is purely genetic. It would make more sense to have the Black community drawn along cultural and societal lines...but it is not (and has not been, ever). In the United States, it is not like Africa where differing tribes see each other (and are seen, to a certain extent by outsiders) as different people. No. If you have African ancestory in America, than you are a Black American. This classification totally invalidates the notion of there being a "Black American culture" then, because you are glossing over all of the great, unique differences between many different types of people.

Oh I Guess I Do Have A Pittsburgh Accent After All

For some reason I have always maintained some sense of pride that I somehow turned out to be a bit more "cosmopolitan" than the majority of my Southwestern Pennsylvanian counterparts. This does not mean that I look down on them, but I just have a different set of life experiences that makes me the person that I am. With that being said, I am proud to be from this area. But I always figured that it was my little secret; that I could blend into the larger world seemlessly.

This past weekend, I was in Silver Spring, MD and talking to some of the locals. We were discussing colleges and Carnegie Mellon came up (ok, so I brought it up). A woman looked at me and asked, "Are you from Pittsburgh?" Oh; wait....how did she know that? Never for a second did I think that it was my accent or vocabulary (I didn't say "slippy" or "Liberty Tubes" or anything). But little did I know...I did. I said car-NEG-GEE Mellon and not CAR-neg-gee Mellon; like I guess the rest of the world says. But then again, maybe they are right and we are wrong, because I do [properly] say "CAR-neg-gee Hall". This woman then asked me to say "umbrella". Ok -- "UMB-rella". Ah-ha...busted! Because apparently everyone else says, "um-BRELLA". Oh well, who knew?

And how did she know all this? Well she used to have a roomate that was a Pittsburgher once upon a time. So she picked up on my accent right away; the accent I never knew I really even had!

So Long Geocities

I was browsing around Spacefem's site, and saw her mention that Geocities is shutting down. Awwww. I still have a page on Geocities that I refuse to link because it's old and pretty embarrassing quite frankly. Going through the content, I was a 22 year old with an obsession for subcultures and thought that life would just take care of itself. Oh, and of course, music could conquer the world.

So now 7 years later, it is pretty mind boggling to see how I have changed (my livejournal was also started around that time; urgh...I shudder to read that stuff!). Not so much that I am a different person, but my perspective has been completely turned around. I have always went against the tide, but back then it was usually the ideas of some friends or a boyfriend that I followed. Now I am so much more of an initiatior. If I can find no one else who is doing something similar, I am no longer bothered by it.

A lot of things have stayed the same though. I still love reggae and ska music; although I don't feel the need to go to every single show and drive for miles to see a show anymore (well that, and a lot of them are on Shabbos). In fact that page has some pretty good information I wrote up regarding the music, skinheads and rudies, and the whole scene. Of course most of the sites I linked are gone or marred by pop-up ads. One of them, Rudies All Around is another geocities page. It was last updated in 2001 probably. I knew several of the people personally on that site. I guess if I could remember their last names, I could try to stalk them on facebook. But they are probably in the same boat; and we drank beer far too often to say we could take anything meaningful from our time together. But I wonder what they are up to; casually. If they are still playing the Slackers, The Clash, The English Beat, and Laurel Aitken.

I wonder if the 22 year old me can look at the 29 year old me and be impressed or surprised? Looking back I laugh at how I was sort of late getting into things. Perhaps I had the spirit of a 17 or 18 year old at age 22. I mean the bulk of the graphics on my site were cartoon drawings for goodness sake! But it was fun -- and I was fun. It sucks that Geocities is doing this because while it is tough to look at my page now, I will probably wish I had it in 10 or 20 years; when I have a more seasoned sense of humor. But no; it is part of the price I will pay for being an early adopter. For participating in this generation's facination with quick and easy electronic publishing. Where everyone can be high profile in their own mind.

So Blogger: I wonder how long it will take you to steal away the words I write here today?

No More "Spokespeople"....Please

I am really tired of all these various "prominent" (as in "visible") Black Americans making statements and casually implying that they speak on behalf of the Black community. No, you do not. Because we (Black Americans) are not a homogeneous, voiceless bunch of mindless lemmings. By the way, what prompted me to post about this is reading an article where Marion Barry states that there will be "Civil War" over the issue of gay marriage (article is here); and that the Black community is completely against this. Of course, this is BET news; and I am going to soon go off on a major rant about them to (I can sense it).

My personal views are that there is a need for some sort of civil union between couples regardless of sex. I do not think it should be forced to call this union "marriage" however. But the union would afford all the benefits of a traditional marriage. I do not feel that homosexuals should suffer social or economically. But I am a stickler for terminology, so when it came up on the ballot in FL I voted against "gay marriage".

But back to the point of my posting, I offer the following meme to you, dear Mr. Barry:

New Job; Still In The Mon Valley

Last Thursday I started a new job in the IT Department at California University of Pennsylvania. I admit, it is sort of funny to tell this to local people, and yet they immediately think I will be relocating to the west coast of the U.S. For some reason, Southwestern Pennsylvanians are not always mindful of all of the various cities, boroughs, townships, etc. that are right in their own backyard.

I must admit though, sadly, I do not know too much about the place where I work. When I was in junior high, I spent a week there in a music master camp (speaking of music, we just recently did a joint concert with the CUP band). My boss earned her MBA there, but other than that, I really am quite the uninitiated one. I am working as an Executive Staff Assistant to the VP of Information Technology; a position that surprisingly did not exist more than a month ago (his, not mine). This is quite surprising, in that before this, the school's IT department did not have a dedicated director.

I fully admit that upon graduation (which is coming up soon), I did not really see myself as being a high level secretary. However the pay is not bad and the benefits can not be beat. Of course one of the best benefits from my standpoint is the free tuition for graduate school. On top of that the overall situation is very good. I work in a department heavily staffed by men; which cuts down on workplace drama and a pressure to "fit in" to a pre-determined office culture. However it is true that academia has its own culture. One thing I learned after 3 days on the job is that the process and the pace of things in a college is very different from the corporate world. I am sure I have more to say about that as time goes on.

Currently my commute is easy and takes only about 35 minutes. I basically just hop on the turnpike (route 43) and I am there. I do not like the $2.20 in tolls however. Yesterday morning I went like I was going to my old job - towards I-70. I took the Speers exit and that took me up (eventually) to California. I had to stop for gas, but I did not notice any serious lag in time; I still reached California in just under 45 minutes (this includes my stop). So I don't know if I see the point in paying the toll; except for maybe come the wintertime, when going up that hill from Speers may get treacherous.

"Virtual Backlash" - Saying Things That Should Not Be Said

On March 26, 2009 Demonje Rosser was shot in Clairton about a block away from where my mother lives. The next morning, there were many references to the tragedy on Facebook -- things along the line of "R.I.P. Demonje" and general feelings of shock and disdain. I did not feel compelled to post something myself; mainly because I did not know this man personally despite the fact that he was 2 years younger than me and we attended the same [small] school. I did however comment on some of the other wall postings...and that is when all hell broke loose.

Because of the format of Facebook and my respect for the privacy of others, I can't really post verbatim what occurred. And I will also say that I have a knack for having the things I write online be misinterpreted towards the worst case scenario. I fully realize this, but I don't see why my rights to voice my opinion and feelings should be censored simply because people lack reading comprehension skills (and this is not some cheap insult -- reading comprehension is actually a more difficult skill than people give it credit for).

So what did I say that caused such an uproar? I said that the citizens of Clairton (myself included) need to stop buying into the image that we reside in a wild uncontrollable ghetto (like something out of City of God or the like) and/or that being an economically depressed city warrants (or should be accepted as an acceptable cause) excessive, mindless acts of violence. I said this in the vain of believing that those who willingly own the victim role have little hope of bettering their position and raising themselves out of dysfunction. My comments resulted in a public criticism of my personality ("elitist", "self-righteous" and "rude" were among some of them) and some private messages which said that I should basically be cussed out for saying such things. Interesting...to say the least.

What I did not say (and I knew to leave it alone because it would surely cause me to suffer some real virtual harassment) is that I do not attend these vigils and neighborhood prayer events either. I would rather not hear the same old tune and see these preachers and politicians patronize the citizens of Clairton about how bad our city is. While Clairton is a far cry from Mayberry, it pales in comparison to some of the real ghettos in this country. On top of that...talk is cheap. The truth of the matter is these people sit and get paid and drive 3-year old cars and make these annual speeches. In the meantime, what are you actually doing to change this city? Have you solicited any organizations or companies to set foothold here? Have you created any new programs to keep our youth out of trouble? Have you formed relationships with the more economically strong neighboring communities of Jefferson Hills, Elizabeth, or West Mifflin? Are you contributing to the image of Clairton at all as a viable community to live in to outsiders? If the answers to these questions is even a slight "no", then you have already accepted the "Clairton just sucks" mantle and the reality becomes a reflection of the attitudes.

Now, back to the hositility I encountered on Facebook; it reminds me of how emotions rule over logic when you feel like the situation is out of control, hopeless, or if you know deep down that your view is a distorted one. This is not about having reverence for the dead -- but rather accepting the current status quo and not wanting to move beyond this. In my opinion (which I am finding out more and more, upsets people highly) is that this is a great disservice to the dead because their life was taken early, and for what? Are the people on Park Ave. and elsewhere in Clairton going to stop tolerating riff-raff standing on the corner all hours of the night and speak out against those who vandalize the city's public property? Demonje's shooter and any other future criminals will not be deterred by R.I.P. messages on Facebook -- but they will be by well-lit areas where thriving business and a mindful community mentality. True, Facebook is a personal tool and you have the absolute right to express your feelings however you want. But it seems quite deluded to me if you accept that Facebook sentiments are warranted during a time of community tragedy but criticism and discussion of the situation that caused the tragedy is not.

I have not given up on Clairton; but my hope is surely not in the city's current residents. Clairton's future relys on those who are very young and more so on those who will move into the city at a future time. These new individuals will not be tainted with the poisoned viewpoint that exists in the psyche of the old-time residents. The city may have to almost completely empty out before that happens; raze entire sections and start anew with brand new construction and developments (filled with new people). People who are off of the gerbil-wheel and can start some new trends in this poor mill city on the Mon.