Colorlines Magazine articles from September 2002

Colorlines Magazine archives from September 2002

Note from the editor.(violation of illegal immigrants' civil rights as result of security measures after terrorist attacks)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
September 22, 2002... I'm writing this from a motel room in Dallas, where I've just come from a long day talking with local activists and lawyers about immigration enforcement after 9/11. Texas, they tell me, is a mammoth of a problem. Where to begin? They have...

Note from the publisher.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... Last February a friend told me that black and brown folks in New York got a small break from the racist vagaries of the child welfare system right after September 11, since there weren't enough police officers to deal with the fall out and...

Letter to the editor.
September 22, 2002... Dear Editor: I feel compelled to respond to Ryan Pintado-Vertner's recent article in ColorLines (Summer 2002), entitled: "From Sweatshop to Hip-Hop." It is unfortunate that in the course of researching his article, Mr. Pintado-Vertner...

Racefile.(California: San Fernando Valley attempts to break away from Los Angeles)(this and other items are discussed)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... L.A. Secession: A Racial Split Using righteous battle cries for "independence" and "empowerment," a coalition of San Fernando Valley business owners and residents are attempting the ultimate form of white flight with a ballot initiative...

And now they come for the students...: from computerized tracking to fee hikes, the government is cracking down on America's immigrant students. (Report).(difficulties for foreign students since the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks)
September 22, 2002... Part of the government's "new and improved" xenophobic hysteria is now to step up its plans to control foreign students in this country. The Bush Administration announced in early May that they are accelerating the implementation of a...

Ethnic media grows up: will increasing mainstream attention alter the ethnic media landscape? (Report).
September 22, 2002... From the Arab American newspaper competition in rural Michigan to Hindi pop tunes piping over Radio Asia in Tampa, Florida, the past decade has seen an inspiring spike in the number of national and local radio stations, newspapers, magazines,...

Bearing the burden: why are communities of color facing obesity and diabetes at epidemic levels? (Report).
September 22, 2002... Althia Gauthier's mother was only 42 when she had a heart attack A smoker with high blood pressure and a poor diet, Gauthier's mother had no idea what she was experiencing, no inkling that she was at risk for a heart attack at her age. ...

"Saved" by the system: why are so many kids of color taken into the child welfare system? Akiba Solomon finds out what happened to one family. (Child Welfare).
September 22, 2002... It's been awhile since Rhonda * climbed out of the quicksand of child protective services. But the Washington, D.C., mother and wife is still reeling from the six months she was separated from her two-year-old daughter and her newborn twins....

A century of child-saving: Marisa Castuera traces the child protection movement to a time when child abuse was seen as a depravity of the immigrant poor. (Child Welfare).
September 22, 2002... For the past 130 years, the system of child welfare has been locked in a steady conflict with people of color and the poor. State-run child protection service (CPS) agencies wield tremendous power: They can intervene in a family's life on a...

Racial harm: Dorothy Roberts explains how racism works in the child welfare system. (Child Welfare).
September 22, 2002... It is often said that American child welfare policy operates like a pendulum. It swings between two main objectives: keeping troubled families together on one end, and protecting children from parental harm on the other. In recent years the...

Losing the funding game: African refugee groups are scrapping for resources in San Diego. What does their situation say about immigrant communities and the foundation world? (To the Point).
September 22, 2002... When Dr. Melake Ghebrehiwet arrived in San Diego in 1975, he was one of six Eritreans in the county. Today, the Eritrean Community Services of San Diego, which he helped found in 1985, has a membership of 150 families and serves an Eritrean...

Hard labor: one company's exploits in day labor reveal what's wrong with the temp industry. (To the Point).(Labor Ready Inc.)
September 22, 2002... It's 5 A.M. on a downtown street in a metropolitan city. There is very little hustle and much less bustle; the buses are only just starting to trek down the main boulevards. Yet, some men begin to gather outside a storefront this early in the...

One nation under Allah: Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, but it still fits the profile of the "other". (To the Point).
September 22, 2002... It was 1989, shortly after the fall of the Wall, and I was a just a young Filipino American drawn to the underground culture and intensity of Berlin. I had taken to hanging out with Kurdish and Turkish friends while in Germany. I found their...

A place at the table: the United Nations established a historic new forum for indigenous issues. What will it mean for Native peoples around the world? (Action).(Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues)
September 22, 2002... The mere usage of the term "indigenous" itself, it should be noted, has been a thorn of contention in some countries, particularly as there is no absolute, unilateral usage and acceptance of it. The government of India does not acknowledge that...

Locking away profits: capitalizing on immigrant detentions has turned into a booming business for Lehman Brothers. (Action).(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s financing of prison management companies)
September 22, 2002... "It's clear that since September 11, there's a heightened focus on detention, both on the borders and in the U.S.," Steven Logan, CEO of Cornell Companies, Inc., boasted to his investment analysts this past October. "What we are seeing is...

Politics of poetry. (Culture).(commercial exploitation of poetry, poets; expectations of poetry audiences)
September 22, 2002... "I wonder what all the conservative or right-wing poets are doing these days?" asks Wanda Coleman, Los Angeles poet and author of the award-winning Bath water Wine and Mercurochrome, who has been writing and performing for 30 years. ...

Portrait of the assimilartist: Nikki S. Lee has transformed herself into a black hip-hop groupie, a Latina, and a white midwesterner--but insists it's not about race. (Culture).(photographer; book Nikki S. Lee: Projects)
September 22, 2002... When I watch any movie in he which some lone, righteous figure is being relentlessly and unjustly pursued by the police state--take Harrison Ford's The Fugitive, for instance--I root for the prey with an intensity that defies the bounds of the...

How Race is Lived in America.
September 22, 2002... by New York Times Correspondents The most compelling essay in How Race is Lived in America describes the horrific working conditions of a slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Workers are segregated and scapegoated as a company...

Lauryn Hill. (Race Records).(Unplugged 2.0)
September 22, 2002... Unplugged 2.0 (Columbia) Though maligned for being didactic, preachy, and a bit nutty on this follow-up to her classic debut, there's still much to admire on this disc of solo Lauryn. Accompanied only by her stiff acoustic strumming, her...

Cinematic Orchestra. (Race Records).(music recording Every Day)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... Every Day (Ninja Tune) British jazzbo J. Swinscoe somehow convinced aging American gospel/soul legend Fontella Bass to collaborate with his future-jazz ensemble, so he flew to Missouri to hang out with her and her grandkids. The results of...

Joseph Malik. (Race Records).(Diverse)
September 22, 2002... Diverse (Compost) Folky Scottish singer-songwriter Malik and accompanist David Donnelly come out of nowhere with this shimmering debut that wonders," What if Nick Drake and Shuggie Otis drank Tang in space together?"

Erik Truffaz. (Race Records).(Mantis)
September 22, 2002... Mantis (Blue Note) French trumpeter Truffaz helms this collection of spaced-out jazz riffs and percussive collisions. Fusing the electric spirit of Miles Davis, the warm enclosures of dub reggae, and an understanding of contemporary dance...

DJ/Rupture. (Race Records).(Minesweeper Suite)
September 22, 2002... Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat6) Expatriate/rupture's exquisite mixes have become the stuff of legend, mashing up ragga, rap, and punky electronics with vicious ease. Check this, his first widely distributed work, for more warlike beats,...

Hu Vibrational: Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake.(Boonghee Music 1)
September 22, 2002... Boonghee Music 1 (Eastern Developments) Master percussionists Rudolph and Drake meet on this terrific EP of evocative rhythms and earthy, spiritual textures. Coached on by brilliant Los Angeles Di Carlos Nino, the pair stumbles on grooves...

Transnationale.org. (Activist Web).(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... http://www.transnationale.orgl Created and maintained by Observatoire des Transnationales, a French nonprofit, Transnationale.org offers extensive information about transnational corporations, organized by country, company, industry, and...

LabourStart. (Activist Web).(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... http://www.labourstart.org/ The Presenting itself as a portal for the labor activist, LabourStart provides headlines, forums, mailing lists, links, and a wide array of other timely resources. Find out about strikes, worker struggles, and...

Workers' rights consortium. (Activist Web).(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... http://www.workersrights.org/ The primary purpose of the WRC is to assist in the investigation and enforcement of manufacturing codes of conduct, specifically in relation to university branded products. The organization consists of college...

International labour organization. (Activist Web).(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... http://www.ilo.org/ The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, and its official website provides resources concerning human rights, labor, and social justice. Features of the site include publications on international labor...

Business and Human Rights. (Activist Web).(Brief Article)
September 22, 2002... http://www.business-humanrights.org/ Organized as a virtual clearinghouse, Business and Human Rights offers extensive links to articles, news items, press releases, and other materials regarding the intersections of business and human...

Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past. (Book Reviews).
September 22, 2002... by David R. Roediger In contrast, Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past is a dense collection of essays that strives to translate the coded language of white privilege, explaining the subtle processes by which racial hierarchies...

The Lost Children of Wilder. (Book Reviews).
September 22, 2002... by Nina Bernstein Reading Bernstein's book, I could not stop thinking about my brief enounters with the child welfare system in New York City. The most painful one came in my fourth and best year of teaching. Three of my students, cousins...