Columns by Dori J. Maynard

Nelson Mandela and the Gift of Hope

Somewhere in my house are several copies of South Africa’s 1994 election ballot. When I bought them, I was seeking more than just a piece of history. I was buying hope because they reminded me that the impossible can be possible if we stay true to our course.

 

 
  

  

    


  
  	    

      In the aftermath of Oscar Grant and Johannes Mehserle 
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      
Two days after a Los Angeles jury found former BART officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter, I overheard two white couples discussing the case over brunch. One of the men said it was “inconceivable” that Mehserle knowingly shot Oscar Grant in the back as Grant lay facedown on a BART platform with his hands cuffed behind his back.


About that time, members of our Oakland Voices project were discussing the case and the ways in which “police violence plays out in our communities.”


 
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      It's Time for the Media to Integrate the Race Beat
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Saturday, April 10, 2010        

        




By Dori J. Maynard.
 
This piece ran first on HuffingtonPost.com
 
During the debate over health care reform, some white protesters hurled racial epithets at black elected officials and even spit on one. Later that same week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on a movement to have people write in "Confederate Southern American" as their race on the 2010 Census. Most recently, the governor of Virginia declared April Confederate History Month, initially issuing a proclamation that failed to mention slavery.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Rushed words
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Wednesday, December 16, 2009        

        




If all I knew about African Americans was what I learned from the media, I might sound like Rush Limbaugh too.
 
 Last week, Limbaugh demonstrated that he does not have his finger on the pulse of the black community by announcing that the triple threat of high black unemployment, the fact that Tiger Woods’ bad behavior was played out with a host of white women and President Obama’s inability to specifically address the high rate of black unemployment has wrecked havoc with our emotional health.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Covering rape across the fault lines: a discussion
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Monday, November 2, 2009        

        




The account of a Richmond, CA teenager reportedly beaten, robbed and gang raped outside of her high school during the homecoming party has spread across the local and national news.
 
 Reporting about a sensitive issue like rape is often tricky. This story, which touches on all the fault lines of race, class, gender, generation and geography, is no exception. After the jump we’ve linked to several of the stories, including pieces that discuss the victim’s alcohol intake in varying details.
 
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Committed Fathers of Color: Everywhere and Nowhere
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Monday, July 27, 2009        

        






SOME YEARS my father's birthday fell on Father's Day. In many ways, that was appropriate. For all of his professional success, I think what gave my father the most profound sense of joy was being a dad.

     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      How Different Media View Racial Controversies
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Friday, July 24, 2009        

        






No matter the medium, the subjects were the same. Jesse Jackson made some rather unwise remarks about Barack Obama and the New Yorker published a satirical depiction of the Obamas that many thought missed the mark.

     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Bloggers Demonstrate the Difference Diversity Makes
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Friday, July 24, 2009        

        






Two days after the election both UNITY and the National Association of Black Journalists sent out open letters urging the media to redouble their efforts to diversify staffs in the aftermath of the historic election of Barack Obama.

     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Ta-Nehisi Coates, from Politics to Poetry
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Friday, July 24, 2009        

        



Go to Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog and you don't know if you're going to find a post on politics, poetry, the NFL or the world of videogames.
A journalist who has worked at Time Magazine and the Village Voice, Coates started his own blog after being laid off from Time Magazine. Then, back in August, the author of the recently released "The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely Road to Manhood," was added to the magazine's roster of bloggers at the Atlantic.com.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      When is a Riot a Riot?
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Friday, July 24, 2009        

        



By now almost everyone knows that a group of demonstrators protesting against the killing of a young father by a transit officer splintered off and began a wave of destruction in downtown Oakland.
Mainstream media outlets called it everything from a riot to a violent protest. Some bloggers referred to it as a civil unrest, rebellion or both a riot and civil unrest.