Your Black World: Book Review of "Reggie Wakes Up"

Book Review of "Reggie Wakes Up"
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer - YourBlackWorld.com
Reprinted From Black Commentator

“Under the FUBU is a guru, that’s untapped...”

-Hip-Hop artist, Common, The 6th Sense.

With the recent victory of President-Elect Obama, many have speculated a change of attitude in young black men, vis-à-vis the thirst for educational prowess. Whilst this prediction does seem, by all measures, accurately reflective of the lingering emotion within Black circles, some have suggested the need for a handbook of sorts, as necessary in guiding Black students, male and female, toward a more promising future. Of such is Zekita Tucker, a St. Louis author and publisher, whose advocacy for Black students builds on the legacies established by W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Janice Hale, etc. Zekita Tucker, of fame “Don't Call Me Nigga,” has a new book out titled, “Reggie Wakes Up.”

Reggie Wakes Up is a blueprint for teachers and students alike – with an emphasis on public schools. In a moment when numerous questions abound, concerning the fulfillment of a Black presidency, Ms. Tucker has provided some suitable and reliable answers, in dealing with Black students. Meant for ages 8 and up, Reggie Wakes Up takes a hard look into the public school system, and its effects on the psyche of Black students. Though written in simplified terms, and intended for a young readership, Zekita Tucker takes into strong consideration the impact teachers have on their students. With subtle advice for tutors confused about their role(s) in the education relationship, Ms. Tucker has written and published a great resource for combating the sleeping giant of black academic inferiority in the public and private school systems.

Reggie, the book’s main character, is presented as a representation of young black masculinity in society. With a clear overdose on commercial Hip-Hop and other forms of mindless entertainment, Reggie’s view of life is infinitely limited to the Black characters he sees repeatedly on TV, and hears on the radio. With a nickname of “Dolla,” Reggie’s outlook is blurred by the pursuit of temporary pleasure, and endless gains. As he strolls late into class, Reggie feels at home in a classroom filled by nonchalant and directionless students. Prompted by Ms. Roberts (his 6th grade teacher) to take off his hat, Reggie refuses as he furthermore declines the offer to pay close attention to her subsequent demands.

In public schools across the country, marred by unenthusiastic, frustrated, ill-equipped and financially-challenged instructors, most similar scenarios unveil an all-too-familiar ending: The protagonist gets suspended, the rest of the class revolts, teacher takes leave of absence, less-enthused substitute teacher is hired, and the vicious cycle repeats itself – until each student has been suspended, or placed in detention, at least once. In this case, however, Ms. Roberts lays out a manuscript for future, and present, inner-city school teachers.

“Going rogue,” as it’s colloquially known, she employs some creativity in engaging her increasingly lifeless classroom. “How many of you would like to be important in your community and make lots of money?” she asks. At this point, every hand goes up. Leading through a series of succeeding questions, she stumbles while inquiring how many of her students “want to study hard, focus and go to college or university.” Puzzled by the intense decline in enthusiasm, as expressed by her students, in pursuing some form of advanced education, Ms. Roberts curiously inquires what each student foresees as a successful future, devoid of any substantive engagement with education. In a highly predictable move, the words “model,” “go ‘pro’ (baller),” and “rapper,” swing high from the lips of her students.

Those who have struggled for many years with the hoop/mic-dreams of younger Black males/females understand the dire need for, as Dr. King might put it, a revolution of values in the younger generation. The psychological warfare waged by big-media companies against the mental-fiber of Black children is bearing poisoned fruits, as more, and more, Black kids see no future worthy of aspiration, beyond the entertainment realm. For a disturbing number of Black younger adults, a deliberate avoidance of critical interaction with intellectual stimulation is a viable route toward financial empowerment.

Aware of this trend, Ms. Roberts, a diligent, skilled and empathetic tutor, enlightens her students on the powerlessness of most Black entertainers: “...I’m sure that those things probably look really good and make life seem much easier than it really is,” she says, “but why not start a business or choose a career that will give you the money that you want and some form of power?” With a look of bewilderment overwhelming her students, leading one to ask if “money doesn’t,” ultimately, “give them [Black entertainers] power,” Ms. Roberts explains that the ones who “seek them out to do those jobs for entertainment” are the characters with “real power.” This foreign language, of empowerment beyond entertainment, is carried on as Ms. Roberts informs her students that “the people who control TV, politics, and big companies… decide on how things… work.” Ms. Roberts advises that to “break” this “cycle… of bad habits,” it’s “important” to begin the process of mastering education as a weapon for liberation.

What the fictional Ms. Roberts understands, which many inner-city tutors sadly struggle with, is the degree to which the educational system, as it stands today, works in harmony with enemies of Black advancement. Inner-city Educo has lost its inspiration “to draw out” passions for greatness in younger Black students. Ms. Roberts is aware of the necessity for a re-education, within the education paradigm, to take place – if a future of possibilities is to be unraveled in the next generation. As the Hip-Hop artist Nas, remarked earlier this year, in a song titled N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and The Master), from his controversial album Untitled, “They say we N - I - Double G - E – R/ We - are - much more/ Still we choose to ignore/ The obvious/ Man, this history don't acknowledge us/ We was scholars long before colleges.”/ It goes without saying that the Eurocentric educational model is a misfit for most Black students.

With the attention span of her students at an unprecedented high, Ms. Roberts snags the opportunity to inspire her students toward becoming marathon runners in the seemingly endless race for educational excellence in the Black Community. Ms. Roberts confirms the potential for distinction in her once-nonchalant pupils: “Even though most African Americans have had many challenges and disadvantages in the past,” she says, “we have a chance now to catch up.” Raising the stakes, Ms. Roberts announces her students as “the key” to the Promised Land of equality.

Breaking conventionality seems to be the least of her worries at this point. As she sees it, the depth of concern for her students could not be, and should not be sugar-coated to fit into the presumed mold of an acceptable educator. To Ms. Roberts, conventionality – otherwise known as eurocentricity – in inner-city schools was/is the cause of the jaw-dropping statistics of Black students, and an end to the vicious cycle is optimum. Ms. Robert’s leadership is a blueprint for success for any aspiring educator, who holds dear the value of her/his students.

In a symbolic gesture to highlight the sacred relationship between a teacher’s words and a student’s consciousness, Reggie, who had remained visibly silent through the whole ordeal, asks how much of Ms. Robert’s comments affect “our community.” Before Ms. Roberts can chime in, a classmate mentions that “because we are all a small part of our communities… we can change things from bad to good.” With the intense level of emotion and excitement tethering on the brink of explosion, Reggie wakes up from his mental slumber and removes his hat of insouciance.

At a time when most administrators are scrambling to develop creative models that incorporate the victory of the President-Elect into school curriculum, Ms. Zekita Tucker has written a blueprint for what such a model must look like. Reggie Wakes Up is a must-read for students, teachers, parents, activists and other concerned citizens.

Dr. Christopher J. Metzler Interview With YBW On Obama & "Post-Racial" America

Interview with Georgetown University dean and author, Dr. Christopher J. Metzler, by Tolu Olorunda.

Dr. Chris Metzler is associate dean at Georgetown University and the author of The Construction and Rearticulation of Race in a Post-Racial America. In his new book, Dr. Metzler makes the case that Sen. Barack Obama’s meteoric rise to political stardom is an inclination of racial progress, however, not an indictment on racism in the U.S. and beyond. Dr. Metzler is also a political analyst and a full time advocate for diversity at higher institutions and global organizations. I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Metzler on issues including diversity, the role of a disproportionately white media in the 2008 presidential election, Sen. Obama, and the concept of “post-racialism.” Dr. Metzler was poignant in dissecting the politics of “racial-exceptionalism,” which has aided Sen. Obama immensely in his historic bid for the White House:

Thanks for joining us, Dr. Metzler. Can you describe what your educational background entails of?

Well, I have a Masters degree in Human Rights from Columbia University, and a PhD in Law from University of Aberdeen. I am also a member of Oxford University and Kellogg College.

What preceded your deanship at Georgetown?

I was on the faculty at Cornell University for 8 years, and at Cornell, I headed the equal opportunity and diversity program. There, I did a fair amount of reach into issues of Human Rights, diversity and equal employment opportunity. At Cornell, I created the nation’s first certification program for diversity management professionals. In addition to academic, I also do a fair amount of work in the private sector.

Based upon your lengthy work in the field of diversity, do you sense a substantive improvement in diversity vis-à-vis College, Universities and the academic world at large?

There is an improvement, but I wouldn’t call it substantive. There is an improvement with regard to the number of students of color being recruited into Ivy League Universities. However, in some respects, a number of faculties still don’t know how to work effectively with students of color. A number of faculties don’t take enough time to think about having classrooms which are inclusive of students of color. So while I think there has been a numeric improvement, I don’t think there has been a sustained improvement.

In a recent interview, you said, “If diversity is the right thing to do, frankly everyone would have done it already… The difficulty is that we have not been able to define that with any specificity what we mean by diversity.” Can you expound on that?

In most organizations, there is a stated “commitment” to diversity, but for most of those organizations, that simply translates to activities centered on diversity; for example, Martin Luther King Holiday or Black History month – the shortest month of the year. Very few organizations want to actually focus on looking at the institutional racism, which is still rampant in these organizations, and address them. It is far easier to participate in activities, which don’t substantively change the organizations. Some of them now have a definition of diversity which is so broad that it makes it meaningless and, therefore, renders no one accountable.

What is incumbent upon the corporate structures as well as the peoples of culture to bring about that diversity?

Well, a number of things: First of all, an acknowledgement that we are not living in a post-racial America. We have gotten to the point where discussions suggest that racism is no more an integral issue in every organization in America. Secondly, as it relates to people of color in organizations, we must step up to the plate to speak on issues of racism/diversity in these organizations. In a way, we are complicit because we, often, don’t want to have that discussion. We would rather participate in these useless ethnic food and dress days. It’s what I refer to as “Taco Tuesday, and Soul Food Wednesday.” So we have to participate in a practical way. Thirdly, what we need from organizations is a demonstrated commitment to diversity.

In you new book, The Construction and Rearticulation of Race in a “Post Racial” America, you break down the dynamic of Race in an alleged post-racial America. How significant is that to the emergence of Sen. Barack Obama?

It is extremely significant for a number of reasons. First of all, what the book does is put into historical context the genesis of Race in America. We know that Race is not biological, rather social. So we have to ask ourselves this question. Does Race matter? It certainly does. So if we look at the number of caricatures of Race throughout our experience, we see that in the 60s for example, there were always two choices: Dr. Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. For a number of white Americans, the more palatable choice was Martin Luther King, because he was viewed as more “acceptable.” With regard to Sen. Obama, he is not the first Black individual to run for public office. Before him, there was Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisholm. But all three of them were considered, by a number of White people, to be “maddening” Negroes, while Senator Obama is a more “acceptable” Negro. And thus, they can consider themselves to be non-racist in voting for Sen. Obama. A number of people in the media have been silent on this issue because they don’t want to be viewed as racist, and also because they have neither the language nor the sophistication to talk about it.

Do you think that the media, being disproportionately white, makes them inept and devoid of the necessary intellectual faculty to deal with this issue proportionately?

Yes. Let’s look at who is covering Race in this election. You had Soledad O’Brien supposedly host this discussion about being Black in America. From my perspective, that was one of the biggest wastes of time – relative to race. The folks who she got to speak about race did nothing. The conversations were empty and did not advance the conversation in any way. Then you look at the political commentators. The vast of the American media does not have the language to talk about Race. They all want to speak of Obama as “transcending Race.” But how do you transcend Race when you live in a society whose very foundation was built on Race. So they then recruit a few Black Commentators to speak on Race. And, in fact, with a few exceptions, none of them have been able to talk about it in any significant format. So you might have Roland Martin analyzing the dynamics of Race, but he is clearly an Obama supporter, and that is identity politics. That only provides a reaction to Race, instead of an analysis of it. In my book, I also analyze the issues of White privilege because a lot of people (Black & White) have a problem discussing it.

There has been a lot of talk within the Black Community by Black scholars and activists – a la Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, and Earl Ofari Hutchinson – about Sen. Obama running away from his race, in order to appease white delegates. But it also seems inevitable when put in the context of our society. In your assessment, how do you analyze that dynamic, and what will be the outcome of this historic 2008 presidential race vis-à-vis Race vis-à-vis Black people.

It’s a catch-22, but I don’t think he had to do it, or be the messenger. I think he could have employed surrogates to act independently in analyzing the issue of Race. But he didn’t do that, and it ended up where he was the one essentially speaking out about it. I also think you’re right, because he boxed himself in, and at that point he could not be seen as the “Black candidate.” I have had White colleagues who admit to me that they would vote for Obama because he seems to transcend Race. What those white people don’t understand is that thinking that way exposes the fact that a number of white people are still trapped into the kind of racial thinking that got us to where we’re at presently. Now, there are a couple of scenarios. Number one, if he is not elected, we’re going to see a significant number of hand wringing in the Black Community; because, to them, if this “acceptable Negro” couldn’t even get elected, who can? So there might be a disengagement from politics for the Black Community. Number two, if he wins, he cannot be a “Black president.” He’s going to have a very delicate balance relative to how he governs. We have to ask, “What are the kinds of policies he puts forth that affect Black folks disproportionately?” He has already started talking about the issue of affirmative action in terms of a more class-based system. Also, if he wins, a number of White folks would begin beating the drum that suggests racism is finally over because of the fulfillment of a Black president.

And how do you suggest Black people ‘play the hand they’ve been dealt’ with regard to a potential Obama presidency?

Black folks of conscience must look at the policies he would be able to influence and figure out how they would affect people who have been historically disenfranchised (people of color). We must also figure out a way to advocate for the historically disenfranchised in such a way that the problems they are experiencing are alleviated in an Obama presidency.

This interview was conducted by Tolu Olorunda, Staff Writer for YourBlackWorld.com