The Paula Gordon Show |
Linens | |||
We need to talk, say Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Dr. Beverly
Guy-Sheftall. They took the lead by writing and talking about
what they call a crisis in the African-American community and strongly
urge their sisters and brothers to do no less. We also need to act,
they say. Create a country in which transformation is possible. The
ultimate solutions require us to reorganize our ways of life, they believe.
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Conversation 1 We must talk, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall tell Paula Gordon and Bill Russell. The subject must be hard realities, including those within the African-American community, they say, and expand. |
Conversation 2 Dr. Cole describes racist roots for African-Americans’ profound unwillingness to discuss the community’s “dirty linen.” Dr. Guy-Sheftall explains how insidious and far-reaching this silence is. They describe settings where women have been willing to talk to each others, explore the wide-reaching consequences of the community’s unwillingness to talk, then consider the limits of women taking gender-related problems to male religious leaders. |
Conversation 3 Dr. Guy-Sheftall and Dr. Cole say “the struggle
for women’s equality in African-American communities,” includes
but is not limited to women. The violence of men against women is
NEVER acceptable, they declare. Dr. Cole describes domestic violence as
learned behavior that comes out of the heart of patriarchy, clear that
it must be unlearned. Dr. Guy-Sheftall describes her need to remember
the days of segregation and speaks out for remembering so the African-American
community can capture what was positive in those days. The community is
in crisis, Dr. Cole says, and states the Noah Principle: There
will be no more credit for predicting the rain, it’s time to build
the ark. She offers hope for transformation. |
Conversation 4 Dr. Guy-Sheftall describes all the issues that are currently “off the agenda” in America -- racism, poverty, choice for women -- and calls for a change in national political leadership in the 2004 presidential election. She encourages everyone to be outraged by the direction the United States is moving, calls everyone to build constructive alliances with people who care about people, to reclaim the country from morally bankruptcy, to make systemic transformation possible. Dr. Cole calls on the African-American community to deal with its internal contractions so it can address external oppression. Dr. Guy-Sheftall says the community must take some responsibility for its own issues and work on them, leaving blame behind. Women are viewed as leaders, with examples. |
Conversation 5 Both guests address the role and importance of hip-hop in the community and in the world. Hip-hop is put in the context of the larger society and seen as a barometer of where we all currently are. Solutions to the negative aspects of hip-hop are discussed, including reorganizing ways of life. Both guests identify a continuing need for generations to reach out to each other. |
Conversation 6 Dr. Cole says her own and Dr. Guy-Sheftall’s love for black people is their driving force in seeking protection, health and safety within the black community, especially for women and children. Dr. Cole urges the community to face the modern HIV/AIDS plague. Dr. Guy-Sheftall calls for the community’s leadership to step forward. Dr. Cole describes everyone’s work: to figure out how to deal with difference, to separate difference from privilege and power, to understand the dire consequences of failing to do so. |
Acknowledgements We were delighted to welcome Drs. Cole and Guy-Sheftall to this conversation at the end of what was for them a very long week. |
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