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New book from William Julius Wilson worth your time

William Julius Wilson writes provocative, groundbreaking stuff.

Included in his bibliography are books like When Work Disappears, The Declining Significance of Race and The Truly Disadvantaged.

Now, Wilson is out with his latest study that promises to be his most important work to date. More Than Just Race tackles the historic debate sparked over four decades ago by the social commentary of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action," or the so-called "Moynihan Report."

As would be expected, Wilson comes at the issue from a new perspective that rings true upon reading the first reviews of his latest book. As a matter of fact, I heard a group of young black men speaking in exactly Wilson's terms just last week as we discussed a new project that aimed to create real jobs for their community.

For a sample of Wilson's thinking, take a look at the review from Slate below:

How To Understand the Culture of Poverty

William Julius Wilson once again defies both right and left

By Sudhir Venkatesh

Pop quiz: Who made the following observation? "At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of [black America] is the deterioration of the [black] family. It is a fundamental weakness of [black Americans] at the present time." Each year, I pose this question to my undergraduate students. Most will guess George Bush, Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton, or Bill Clinton. This is not surprising, given their age. More telling is their perception that such a view might come from the political left or right. It reveals just how commonplace the link of family-race-poverty is in the American mindset.

But there is a little trickery going on: Replace "black" with "Negro" and change the date to 1965. The correct author is Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He wrote these words as part of a policy brief to help President Lyndon Johnson understand the distressed social conditions in urban ghettos. "The Negro Family: The Case for National Action" leaked to the press and created a firestorm of controversy with its contention that a "tangle of pathology" engulfed black America.
The so-called "Moynihan Report" brought about a new language for understanding race and poverty: Now-familiar terms like pathology, blame the victim, and culture of poverty entered American thought as people debated whether Moynihan was courageously pointing out the causes of social ills or simply finger-pointing. Moynihan forced a nation to ask, "Is the culture of poor blacks at the core of their problems?"

[read more here]

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Hip-Hop, Slavery, Rock n' Roll and the Fury of Islam

Not long ago, I listened to a BBC radio broadcast dealing with the influences of Islam on American music. Unfortunately, I was driving and did not take the time to pull over and properly document the program name or the reporter.

However, the salient points of the report proved unforgettable.

I didn't realize it but, according to this report, a large percentage of all African slaves transported to the New World in the 17th century were practicing Muslims.

The report went on to demonstrate the influence of Islam on the music of the slave quarters in North America, with particular emphasis on the music of the black church.

As the report unfolded, I was amazed by the similarities in sound and melodies that became clear as the music of Islam was compared to the music of the slave spirituals.

Even more fascinating was the obvious and enduring connection to Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll and Hip-Hop, all examples of American's unique contribution to the world's musical expression.

A couple of my reflections have stuck with me since hearing the report.

For one thing, our connections and exposure as a people to the culture, thought and religion of Islam are not limited to our recent history. The influences go way back before the founding of the nation.

Ironically, some of the cultural and artistic influences that modern day, fundamentalist Muslims find most abhorrent in the West, and especially in the United States, are largely the result of the mixture of the North American slave experience and what was an early attempt, albeit unknowing after many years, to preserve and honor the sounds, influences and memories of Islam.

Who would have thought that Elvis, B. B. King, Miles Davis and Snoop Dog shared the same cultural and artistic family tree with Islam?

It is as if, once strained through the horrible filter of 17th, 18th and 19th century American slavery, Islam's music "corrupted" and "turned rotten" (at least according to modern day Islamic fundamentalists). One result has been to inflame a world of backlash among millions of modern day Muslims. This part of our national musical heritage, now exported back to the nations responsible for at least a part of its origins, rouses intense hatred, conflict and violence, at least in some quarters.

Of course, from my very Western, American perspective, the influences of African American music on my culture simply evidence the amazing creativity and resilience of the human spirit. No matter how despicable, unjust or violent the oppression, the people endured, at least in part, thanks to their music.
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Now that you mentioned it. . .

Interested in gaining some helpful insights into the history and anthropology of "Hip-Hop" music?

Check out this essay in a very unexpected publication: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0704/feature4/.

Inner city kids and our culture. . .

The fresh graffiti sketch stood out bright red thanks to the "Bloods" trademark it portrayed right there on the stall wall inside our downstairs men's restroom at our Haskell Avenue Resource Center.

Bloods and Crypts and gang warfare--inner city reality. I hate to see the signs of this negative presence.

It strikes me that when life turns hopeless, a growing number of urban youth turn the entire matter into a video game-like experience.

Busting a cap up against somebody's head seems no more difficult than firing away with the aid of a joystick after dropping a couple of coins in a game machine.

While there is absolutely no justification for the violence often accompanying this urban fact of life, it does seem useful to ask, "How did we get here?"

What's up with all of this?

It is really difficult to come close to the beginning of any semblance of understanding if you view the situation through middle-class eyes.

The turmoil experienced by urban youth is driven in part by the economics of the social context. I would argue economics plays a large part.

We live in a very material world. Cities epitomize the material. The kids who reside in the cities of the U. S. don't get an exemption from this cultural reality.

We can talk all day about "the importance of spiritual values," but the fact remains, young people are shaped by our marketing, consumer-dominated, material society.

Think about it.

Television, advertising, music, movies, print media, billboards--everywhere any of us turn we are being sold on something and our need for it. In fact, we are all bombarded on a daily basis, so much so that we've come to expect it. [For some reason at this point my imagination takes me to the annual Super Bowl commercial competition!]

Identity is transactional in the U. S. today. To be somebody, to enjoy not only the "good life," but the hip life, you have to own, use, possess, consume.

Hard to do if you're broke.

Hard not to compare yourself and your circumstance to folks across town who seem to "have it all goin' on," especially when your neighborhood is a mess and no one wants to pay any attention to it, except possibly to tell you how dangerous and bad it is.

Complicate the entire picture now by adding in the mythology of the drug trade. You know, the notion that you can make "big money" running drugs--one of the inner city's cruelest lies. The only people making real money in drug trafficking don't live in the ghettos of American, you can be certain of that!

With limited funds, opportunity, hope and healthy community, those who buy the unrelenting sell of American consumer culture band together, sometimes in gangs, but usually just as kids full of their music, their "look" and their swagger, without much direction or purpose.

What's needed here is serious intervention. Of course, many of us who are trying to interrupt the cycle are trapped in our own ways by the same materialist curse!

What's the answer? Where is the way through?

Relationships. Friendships. Honest conversation. Risking it by simply reaching out. Placing oneself in unusual circumstances and venues to simply communicate that there are people who care and that there is a better way.

I suppose I'm talking about a new kind of spirituality crafted and experienced with the help of many of the very values and lifestyle choices that can challenge the urban scene today.

Those who make the effort to understand, to connect, simply to be present--those folks will matter in a big way.