All posts by Dr. James Thomas Jones III

African-American History

KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON: WHY I AM SO INSPIRED BY A PHOTO TAKEN ON THE WHITNEY PLANTATION

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Eric Morris is one of my dearest friends in the world. In many ways, our lives have been on parallel tracks. We attended the same schools, however never sat in the same classrooms as he was a year my senior, the same church, and our beloved mothers actually sat next to each other every Sunday on the same pew, listening to the same word of God via the Rev. Archie Johnson and the Rev. Dr. Johnny R. Heckard.

Yet, we are opposites in regards to our personalities. While Eric is an extrovert capable of engaging anyone, I am solidly in the camp of ambiverts, an introvert around unfamiliar settings and people and an extrovert around close friends and a few family members. I’ll tell you the truth. There were times when I thought that Eric’s life mission was to poke, prod, and provide commentary regarding everything that he encountered, particularly my stoic demeanor.

I remember the following question as if it were presented to me yesterday. In his joyful, yet inquisitive manner, Eric articulated the following.

Man, let me ask you something. Why are you so serious You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, all that you do is read, write, and think. Hell, what do you do for fun Many you are way too serious about life. 

Of all of our thousands of verbal exchanges this inquiry stands as a prominent memory for a host of reasons. Within this question I found a description of myself — I have actually never had a drink of alcohol or smoked anything (I was frightened by what would occur if I used any type of drugs because addiction runs in my family), yet it simultaneously show that even my closest friends never realized that my actions were aimed at fulfilling a directive my mother and the surrounding Black community provided early in my life. If I had to put this directive in words, it would be stated in the following way.

You are our soldier and your primary duty is to engage and defeat the adversary at every turn through any methods available. This is a life’s work that will only be accomplished via the total dedication of your life.    

I will tell you the truth; there is not a period in my life that was not dedicated to fulfilling this Herculean task. I was motivated by the fact that there was work to do, people to save, others to inspire, and the sacrifice of my life was not too big of an ask.   

This calling serves as propulsion for my lectures and the unyielding demand that I be referred to as DR. JAMES THOMAS JONES III. Despite what many may think about the fact that I will not respond to anything other than Dr. Jones, the truth of the matter is that this demand flows from an interaction with an elderly Black lady who approached me on my campus and related how it lifted her spirits to see that “Black folk are now called Doctor this and Doctor that. Y’all keep on keepin’ on. I love it!!!!!!!”

This pivotal moment in my life has risen to the forefront of my mind due to my own “keep on keeping on” moment. I recently viewed a group of medical students from Tulane University posing for a photo on the Whitney Plantation. Sydney Labat, one of the students in the photo, provided the following caption for the powerful moment.  

Standing in front of the slave quarters of our ancestors, at the Whitney Plantation, with my medical school classmates. We are truly our ancestors’ wildest dreams.

I can only speak for myself in stating that there is no more fulfilling occurrence than when a student reaches a significant marker in their lives be it graduation, entrepreneurship, marriage, etc. and continues a path of ascension that I know makes our ancestors say “Keep on keepin’ on.”

I salute these future medical doctors and all young people for their steadfast determination to engage and conquer the many obstacles standing between their current station and ultimate destination. I pray that they remember that this entire world is in desperate need of their contributions and counting on their success as it serves as yet another dose of wind that educators such as myself will use to stay afloat in the arduous struggle to continue the historical struggle to throw up roads to success where there has previously not been any road or light.

Keep on keepin’ on y’all.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.    

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RICHARD G. HATCHER: A LIFE OF POLITICAL LESSONS THAT BLACK AMERICA CONTINUES TO IGNORE

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I have attempted to make sense out of Black America’s deafening silence regarding the death of Richard G. Hatcher, the first Black mayor of Gary, Indiana. In many ways, this silence is yet another reminder that far too many Blacks have little understanding of a historical record that holds indispensable lessons regarding what will and what will not work in the struggle for Black liberation.

If nothing else, Black America should know who Richard G. Hatcher and Carl B. Stokes, the first Black Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, as they were living symbols of a “Black Power” politic that failed to uplift Black America from an all too familiar position of economic marginality.

Those well-versed in a volatile identity politic driven 1960s that witnessed Richard Hatcher and Carl B. Stokes’ election as the first Black men to lead major American cities will tell you that by the mid-sixties non-Southern Black activist communities had abandoned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. non-violent civil disobedience and pursuit of integration with a hostile White community in favor of a yet to be fully defined “Black Power” politic.

There is no more prominent example of shifting political winds than the fact that the Watts Rebellion began August 11, 1965, a mere five days after President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. While many Americans displayed optimism regarding a potential path to racial reconciliation, Black America abandoned gradualism in favor of an impatient Black Power politic. Black Powerites rallied behind one of two goals.

  • The overthrow of America via revolutionary action.
  • The seizing of central cities via political participation and economic solidarity.  

Ironically, the vanguard organization of the 1960s, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would travel down both of these paths during their existence.  

While outlandish Black Powerites issued threats that they had no power to execute, Richard G. Hatcher became the Mayor of Gary, Indiana. 

Parliament beautifully articulates this unprecedented moment as the arrival of “Chocolate cities and Vanilla suburbs.” This moment of Black political hope was born of equal parts White flight and Black political naïveté.

The ascension of Black men to political power in cities such as Gary, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Atlanta was a test case regarding the utility of the vote. Unfortunately for Blacks, this test of political theory would prove that there was not much that Black Mayor’s could do to reverse the steep economic decline each of these embattled cities would experience.      

Gary, Indiana, much like Maynard Jackson’s Atlanta, suffered mightily as a result of the racial slur that it was now a Black city. While White citizens fled the central city, they carried their businesses and much-needed taxable income with them. It soon became apparent that not even the election of a Black Mayor could significantly alter the fortunes of Black urbanites. During a late-seventies interview, Hatcher addressed the worsening struggles of cities such as Gary in the following way.   

There’s almost a vested interest among a lot of powerful business people, the tax assessors and other county officials who keep business taxes low here, in proving that a city run by a black will fail.

Unfortunately for Blacks who dedicated their lives to expressing “Black Power” via electoral participation, it became increasingly clear that such efforts were incapable of staving off poverty, violence, or other social maladies that flowed from the river of economic inequality.

In the wake of his ascension to the apex of local politics, Hatcher shared lessons learned during the journey. According to Hatcher, there was no balm for the suffering that the ‘powerless’ experienced at the hand of “affluent elements of our society.” In fact, this nation’s central cities were nothing more than “repositories for the poor, the Black, the Latin, the elderly.” Hatcher now understood that such groups were incapable of accomplishing significant change. Hatcher now believed that the only hope for meaningful change would occur via a coalition of liberals, Black Powerites, and radical Whites who were truly committed to concepts such as “power to the people.”

Unfortunately, it appears that such concepts are as meaningless to present society as the death of Richard G. Hatcher, a man whose political life once held so much promise. 

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.

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WHY 50 CENT’S ATTACK ON OPRAH SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT HOW LITTLE BLACK MEN AND WOMEN SUPPORT PROGRESSIVE BLACK WOMEN

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Before an attentive global audience, famed comedian Chris Rock simultaneously shocked Whites and angered Blacks by airing a portion of Black America’s “dirty laundry” before “mixed company.” According to Rock,

There is a Civil War going on within Black America between Black folk and niggas. And niggas have got to go!!!!!!!

Unbeknownst to Whites, Blacks regularly discuss this risqué topic in the privacy of their homes, barbershops, during Black-only happy hour gatherings and church meetings.

An attentive listener would realize that Rock’s riveting commentary touched on only one of the many “Civil Wars” occurring within Black America. Politically astute Blacks can attest to the fact that at any given moment there are many “Civil Wars” occurring within a non-monolithic Black community. This understanding of the never-ending in-fighting within Black America makes the recent attack of Oprah Winfrey by rapper 50 Cent understandable.

In case you missed it, 50 Cent took the famed talk show host to task for inconsistencies in her #MeToo activism.

From the hip-hop icon’s perspective, Oprah has chosen to attack Black men such as Michael Jackson and Russell Simmons while remaining quiet as a mouse regarding White men deserving of her attention.

According to 50 Cent,

I don’t understand why Oprah is going after black men. No Harvey Weinstein, No Epstein, just Michael Jackson and Russell Simmons this … is sad.

If nothing else, this matter provides insight into how many Black men view the duties of “their sisters” as they seek to navigate this White Man’s world.

The alluded to men harbor a dogged belief that at their best, Black women serve as “helpmeets” whose sole purpose is to aid them along this path called life. These women sacrifice themselves for the good of the Race without any expectation of reciprocity. Although such demands may appear selfish, the truth of the matter is that the alluded to self-centeredness is informed by a historical record rife with Black mothers, grandmothers, girlfriends, aunts, daughters, and acquaintances effortlessly sacrificing lives and muting hopes and dreams for the men that they adore.

Make no mistake about it, when Whites attack Black men, there is a natural expectation that Black women will rush to the front of the line to defend Black men. Ironically, the above expectations are not lessened when Black women are the victims of some Black male’s brazen attack. For far too long, Black men have taken it as a given that Race trumps gender in the minds of Black women. Far too often, Black women have served as a willing sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered at opportune moments for the benefit of all others.

Although frightening, it is nevertheless true that many Black men mirror 50 Cent’s thoughts in believing that Black women are little more than a tool to be used to advance personal political agendas. Behind closed doors, it is not considered boorish for Black men to demand that Black women settle into a depressing intellectual slum that promotes Black male interests while muting the concerns and interests of Black women.

One needs to look no further than 50 Cent’s commentary to understand that many Blacks consider Oprah Winfrey a traitor to the Race. Such thinking beckons Black America to a time where racial solidarity was essential to survival. Unfortunately for those harboring such thoughts, many Black women have vacated “their place” and take definitive steps toward advancing an agenda centered on “Black women issues”; interests that may not benefit Black men directly.

There may be no clearer sign that many Black men are participating in a Civil War against Black women such as Oprah Winfrey who seek to take Black men to task for their actions against their “sisters”. Unfortunately, it does not appear that there are many Black men interested in aiding Black women as they seek to ascend out of a marginalized position that has historically been so marginal that Malcolm X termed them “the most disrespected person on the planet.” Even the most optimistic among us must concede that far too many Black men appear to have at best a loose alliance and fleeting interest in the plight of Black women.

And in the words of 50 Cent, “that is … sad.”

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.   

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Why The Recent Pageant Success of Black Women Could Be A Double-Edged Sword for Black Girls

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I understand the current hoopla surrounding the historic achievements of women of African descent in the “beauty pageant” world. Just in case you missed it, it has been an unprecedented year as the alluded to women have captured the following crowns.

  • Kaliegh Garris (Miss Teen USA)
  • Nia Franklin (Miss America)
  • Cheslie Kryst (Miss USA)
  • Zoaibini Tunzi (Miss Universe)
  • Toni-Ann Singh (Miss World)

I salute these women for the years of hard work they put into honing their acumen, it was certainly time well spent as it led to a crowning achievement. I feel that this moment calls for me to issue a phrase that includes the words “Black girls rock” or something out of that vein.

Yet, my psyche is disturbed.

The source of my disturbance is the realization that my people have once again allowed a historic enemy to dictate their self worth and serve as a measure of “how far we have come” and “how far we have to go.”

I am sure that in the wake of this “historic achievement” little Black girls around the world have been told some variation of the following.

  • “You can be anything in the world.”
  • “The sky is the limit for your potential.”
  • “If you work hard enough, that could be you on that stage one day.”  

Although such statements are self-esteem builders for young Black girls, a process that I wholeheartedly support, there is an unfortunate sub-discourse that informs young Black girls around the glove that “this is a White world” and true success is measured by their ability to garner accolades from those who have historically shown no genuine interest in appreciating either the presence or God-given talents.

This is a significant conundrum facing persons of African descent. On the one hand, Blacks have historically been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as Whites paraded their cultural achievements as if they were the only signs of beauty, culture, music, and fashion. Ironically, there is not a single persons of African descent who failed to realize that the cultural standards being boastfully promoted by Whites “could not hold a candle” to what was occurring within their community.

Although not covered by the white press, Blacks were convinced of their superiority in regards to dancing, music, culinary skills, fashion, and the beauty of Black women was unrivaled. Unfortunately for Black America, what they considered indisputable facts did little to erode feelings of disrespect from a larger White society, a populace that refused to concede even the smallest element of Black superiority. This “white out” seemingly birthed an unquenchable desire within Black America to enter that hostile society and force its inhabitants to acknowledge not just our equality, but dare I say, our cultural superiority.

Unbeknownst to Whites, Black parents have always prepared their children to go to war with what they considered a hostile White society in arenas ranging from athletics to academics. Black parents provided their children with a refrain that “you are going to have to work twice as hard to get half as far” and that “failure was not an option.” These were the marching orders that Black children received at the beginning of any foray into enemy territory. 

If provided the opportunity, I am sure that many of my ancestors would have made Malcolm X’s incisive query of “Who is he (meaning the White man) to be equal to” the foundation from which they advised the generations that followed them. In hindsight it is obvious that efforts to wrest trophies, crowns, and accolades from a resistant White community has done nothing in regards to the continuing fight to uplift Blacks.

Although much can be made regarding this historic moment for Black women, those arguments will never include a reasonable assertion that the pageants mentioned above are now controlled by Blacks or serve the interests of subsequent generations of Black girls who are at this very moment being taught to consider success on those stages to be a valid measure of their worth. As with most things surrounding Black life, even this “achievement” brings forth warning alarms as it was provided by those who have historically resisted anything positive for Black America or persons of African descent around the globe. And as we all know, that which has been given can be taken at a moments notice.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.

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The Desperate Need for Black America to Address its Cultural Diet

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The phrase “you are what you eat” is a common refrain among most people. I am sure that each of us has heard such wisdom directed our way by someone (parent, grandparent, teacher, coach) who felt that they knew better than you did. American youth, regardless of the generation being examined, scoffed at the insinuation that preceding generations were providing an indispensable truth via the above popular saying.

Although I shudder to think that I belonged to that number who knew better than those who’d come before me, truthfully, I think that the vast majority of us belong in that number.

Famed playwright August Wilson placed the following words in Doaker, a Pullman Car Porter, mouth in the play The Piano Lesson. According to Doaker, “Time go ‘long, time go ‘long.” This short line has always remained prominent in my mind because it serves as a reminder that time is always going ‘long.

It is this evaporating intangible substance called time that “God ain’t making no more of” that provides each of us the opportunity to not only re-evaluate the path that we have traveled, but also a few fleeting moments, if we’re fortunate, to make sense of it all. During this blessed time I have come to understand that the saying “you are what you eat” is applicable to so many other areas of our life, most notably in regards to our consumption of popular culture.

Observation and participation have convinced me of the following truism. If one repeatedly uncritically consumes ridiculous portrayals of Black life there is little chance that the foolishness that they are allowing into their minds will not become a life philosophy.

It is a bit ironic that just as one’s physical appearances is a reliable indicator of what type of food has been consumed, our public persona, worldview, language, and behavior reflect our cultural choices. In fact, the signs of a poor cultural diet are more reliable than those of high caloric, carbohydrate filled food diet. Although unfashionable to say, it is easy to identify those hooked on a vitamin-deficient cultural diet.

Most agree that adherence to a righteous cultural diet is the most important diet of all due to its phenomenal impact on the life that one leads.

Unfortunately for Black America, legions of Black folk appear to be taking their cues regarding behavior from various reality television personas and putting forth their best effort to replicate the referenced foolishness.

When applied to culture, the prospect that “you are what you eat” should frighten many Negroes. Fortunately for such poor scraps of humanity, there is an opportunity that requires minimal effort for them to reverse course. They must simply cease their consumption of negative images that they have gradually become addicted to and replace such foolishness with uplifting images. There is no other reasonable path of ending the cycle of violence, nihilism, and unbridled stupidity that serve as highlights in the dim-witted lives of so many of our people.

In many ways, the alluded to images are a double-edged sword that simultaneously damages the minds of Black America while convincing outsiders that such ilk is an appropriate representation of Black life. The psychological damage emanating from reality televisions depiction of Black life inevitably leads huge-swaths of Black America to view their kind via a prejudiced and bigoted lens that is remarkably similar to the one used by their historic opponents.

It is time that we replace shows like The Real Housewives of Atlanta with uplifting and progressive depictions of Black life such as Hidden Figures. The refusal to consume negative images is at worst a significant portion of the formula to uplift our community. Failure to do so dooms significant segments of our community in both the short and long-term.  

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.