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Ifill "Overwhelmed" by Response to Book

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Gwen Ifill tells a Columbia University audience how she had "a black moment" on Election Night when she heard that Barack Obama had won. (Credit: Sia Nyorkor) 

Fall's Campaign Football Is Winter's Success

Politics & Prose, a Washington bookstore that often hosts the capital's political class, featured PBS' Gwen Ifill on Saturday night, and it drew one of the biggest crowds of the store's 25-year history,

That would be 400 to 500 people, co-owner Carla Cohen told Journal-isms, in a venue that usually seats 200 for such events. The seats were taken as soon as they were set up.

Moreover, it was a "mixed" audience, Cohen said, "half African American and half white, along with other ethnicities," but also "mixed by age. We were really surprised. I told that to a well-heeled African American woman. She just laughed at me." To that woman, the breadth of Ifill's appeal was taken for granted.

At Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism: Associate Professor June V. Cross, left, Gwen Ifill, and students Sia Nyorkor and Jessica Hopper. (Courtesy Sia Nyorkor)Ifill, moderator of "Washington Week in Review" and senior correspondent on "The News Hour," is promoting her new book, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," published last week. On Monday morning, she was at Columbia University. "It was a packed house at 8:15! and a full house last night" at the 92nd Street Y," Sree Sreenivasan of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism told Journal-isms. At the Y, she was with Michele Norris of National Public Radio.

Then, on Monday night, Ifill was scheduled to be at The Study at Yale in New Haven, Conn., where the $15 tickets included a glass of wine and a $5 coupon toward purchase of the book.

Last week saw a reading at a pre-inaugural D.C. reception of the National Association of Black Journalists, an appearance at the Newseum and a well-attended book party at the home of Atlantic publisher David Bradley, where the guests included journalists David Brooks, Jim Lehrer, David Broder, Judy Woodruff, Tom Brokaw and Maureen Dowd, according to the blog FishBowl DC. With a first printing of 100,000 copies, the publisher is expecting success.

["So far we have sold 367 last week," 235 at Politics and Prose and at another venue, "and 458 this week. We don't have these kinds of sales  ordinarily, I assure you," Cohen said on Wednesday.]

This is the book that, even before it was published, became a lightning rod.

Ifill moderated the presidential campaign's only vice presidential debate, between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden. "VP Debate Moderator Pens Pro-Obama Book," read the headline on the Fox News Web site. "A Debate 'Moderator' In the Tank for Obama" bannered a column from the conservative columnist Michelle Malkin.

They were wrong. The book is about the evolution of black politics, not just about Obama, and Ifill hadn't even written the chapter on him. But some said the attacks caused Ifill to pull her punches in the debate.

Still, the publicity might have been good for sales. "I have been overwhelmed by the response to the book so far. There is a real hunger out there for this topic right now," Ifill told Journal-isms on Monday.

Cohen agreed. "The timing was fantastic. The subject and she were perfectly matched. She's Ms. Breakthrough herself. She's an example of what she's writing about. I hadn't realized how much of a breakthrough she is."

'She's my Shero,' said Sia Nyorkor, right, vice-president of the Columbia Association of Black Journalists and membership director, Society of Professional Journalists.Ifill's appeal "has a lot to do with Gwen's personality," Cohen added. "She says people say they feel like they know her."

The nascent book tour is becoming full of teachable moments.

At Columbia, the session ended with "all sorts of 'fan' pics - student hugs Gwen while another student takes their picture," as one professor said.

Ifill shared there how she felt on Election Night when Obama won. "I'm reading exit polls and I stopped. 'I'm having a black moment,'" she explained. "That's OK, and I went back to work. I could not not appreciate the moment, partly because my parents are no longer alive. I had to appreciate it for them." Yet she told the students she could compartmentalize those feelings and carry on as a journalist.

In a washingtonpost.com chat last week, Ifill responded to several who wondered, as one did, "Do you think there'll be some point when we forget that Obama is black? You know, when he's just the president doing his job, not the first African American president doing his job."

Ifill replied, "Why would we want to 'forget that Obama is black?'

"Listen, there is nothing wrong with celebrating difference," she said at another point. They key is to not allow it to be an I-am-better-than-you thing. In a country that enslaved its citizens, yet used them to build the Capitol steps on which President Obama took the oath of office, there is nothing wrong without taking note of the arc of history - so much of which has happened in out lifetimes.

"Race is not all of what we are, but is part of what we are. What's wrong with that?"

Embattled Oakland Police Chief to Step Down

"Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker, whose department has been rocked by a series of scandals and embarrassments in recent months, said today that he will resign next month and blasted the City Council for paying 'lip service to their commitment to public safety,'" Henry K. Lee reported Tuesday for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

"The department has . . . weathered criticism for its handling of the investigation into the August 2007 slaying of journalist Chauncey Bailey in downtown Oakland," among other problems, the story noted.

"Tucker acknowledged today, 'We made mistakes in that case, and we continue to make mistakes on many of the investigations we do. That is going to continue until we're able to have some rational funding stream, a rational look at how investigations are going to be being done in the city of Oakland.'"

Just last Thursday, Capt. Edward I. Poulson, who heads Internal Affairs, was suspended by the department. "The FBI is investigating allegations that the head of the Oakland Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division nearly nine years ago beat a drug suspect who later died and then ordered subordinate officers to lie about it, according to police sources, some of whom federal agents have recently interviewed," Thomas Peele and Bob Butler of the Chauncey Bailey Project reported.

"Tucker is also the subject of a whistleblower complaint filed in December, alleging he promoted the then-police union president in exchange for killing a no-confidence vote by rank and file officers," the Oakland Tribune noted.

Tucker, 65, said at a news conference at Oakland City Hall that he will step down Feb. 28 after serving more than four years as chief. [Added Jan. 27]

Juan Williams Likens First Lady to Stokely Carmichael

Fox News commentator Juan Williams Monday night said of first lady Michelle Obama, "she's got this Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going. If she starts talking . . . her instinct is to start with this blame America, you know, I'm the victim. If that stuff starts to coming out, people will go bananas and she'll go from being the new Jackie O. to being something of an albatross."

Williams, who is also an analyst on National Public Radio, was speaking on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor."

The comment was publicized Tuesday by the progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America, which said, "Williams provided no evidence for the claims that Michelle Obama's 'instinct' is to 'blame America' or be 'the victim,' nor did he provide examples of her having 'this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going.' Additionally, Williams did not provide any evidence that she could be a 'liabilit[y]' or an 'albatross' for Obama."

Williams was critical of Obama during the presidential campaign, then emotionally discussed the importance of his victory on Election Night. Last week, in the Wall Street Journal, Williams again praised Obama's historic accomplishment, but belittled his Philadelphia speech on race. "It was an ordinary speech. At best it was successful at minimizing a political problem. Yet some in the media equated it to the Gettysburg Address," he wrote.  [Added Jan. 27.]

"Did the New Yorker Rip Off a Mexican?" No, It Says

New Yorker: 'The drawings are distinctly different' "I did a double take today upon looking at the latest issue of the New Yorker, the one on the right," Gustavo Arellano, who writes the "Ask a Mexican" column in California's Orange County-based O.C. Weekly, blogged on Thursday. "It looks suspiciously like the image on the left on the left drawn last year in February by Lalo Alcaraz, iconic Chicano cartoonist and author of the syndicated comic La Cucaracha. Now, I know that everyone rips everyone off, but can anyone point to an image of Obama-as-Washington dated before Lalo's much-better version (the New Yorker image, btw, was drawn by Drew Friedman, one of my all-time favorite comic drawers)? And can anyone say what exactly is the comparison or joke?"

His posting was headlined, "Did the New Yorker Rip Off a Mexican?" Other Lalo fans blogged as well and wrote letters to the magazine.

New Yorker spokeswoman Alexa Cassanos responds:

"Neither Drew Friedman nor Fran?ßoise Mouly (our cover editor) had seen [Mr. Alcaraz's] depiction of Barack Obama as George Washington before our cover ran.

"Much attention has been paid to Presidential firsts this year, and Gilbert Stuart's iconic portrait of Washington is the natural place to start a visual exploration of the theme.

"It's not surprising that Mr. Alcaraz and Drew Friedman (and probably others we don't know of) each thought to depict Obama as Washington, but the drawings are distinctly different — the facial expression is somber in ours, while gleeful in his; the two faces are facing in different directions; and the hair and clothing are more detailed in our image than in the other. The differences ensure that each image's audience will come away with different things to think about, which is as it should be."

Choice for N.Y. Senate Seat Called Anti-Immigrant

"If Governor David Paterson wanted to deliver a slap to immigrant New Yorkers, he effectively did so with his appointment yesterday of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand," New York's El Diario/La Prensa editorialized on Saturday.

"The congresswoman will replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's junior senator. In Clinton, New York had both a defender of women's rights and an advocate of humane, sensible immigration reform. But Paterson chose to play politics by selecting an upstate representative who could shore up his support in that region — at the expense of immigrants.

"Gillibrand's anti-immigrant record speaks for itself: she has emphasized an enforcement approach to immigration; called for deputizing local police to perform federal immigration duties; and passed legislation that would bar employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers from receiving federal contracts."

S. Mitra Kalita Returns to States to Work for WSJ

S. Mitra KalitaS. Mitra Kalita, former president of the South Asian Journalists Association and immigrant business reporter for the Washington Post, has returned to States to become deputy economics bureau chief at the Wall Street Journal in New York, SAJA reported on Monday. Kalita took a leave of absence in 2006 from the Washington Post to move to India with her husband and daughter to write a book and help launch Mint, a financial publication in New Delhi. There, she became a columnist and editor.

SAJA also announced that:

  • Madhulika Sikka, a longtime SAJA member and former producer for ABC-TV's "Nightline," has been named executive producer of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition."
  • Vikas Bajaj, former SAJA vice president and convention chair, will soon become the New York Times business section's first correspondent in Mumbai. He will also write for the International Herald Tribune.

. . . Haynes, Jones Took Buyouts at Post-Gazette

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation announced that reporters Monica Haynes and LaMont Jones accepted buyout offers from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Haynes left the paper before Christmas.

"She started out at the paper as a news clerk while in college and was promoted to features writer and entertainment columnist. She leaves to focus her attention on new endeavors, such as the creation of www.gossipdiva.net, which offers commentary on celebrities and social trends. She is also developing an independent writing and public relations career. Haynes is currently vice president of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation.

"Jones left the paper at the end of the year. He was fashion editor for a decade after having covered features, higher education, minority affairs — a beat he conceived — and other assignments. He also conceived and coordinated the paper's monthly teen page for a decade. An ordained minister, he leaves to focus on his ministry, to launch TheStyleArbiter.com in February, and to continue his book-publishing career at www.pneumapublishing.com, which he founded. He also plans to market a board game created by his father and is communications director for an African-American woman running for Pittsburgh mayor. He is pursuing freelance and other opportunities, as well. Jones is a member of the board of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation."

Pittsburgh's Monessa Tinsley-Crabb Dies of ALS

Monessa Tinsley-Crabb"Monessa Tinsley-Crabb, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who for years battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, died yesterday at her Carnegie home. She was 55," Carmen J.  Lee reported Thursday in the Post-Gazette.

"Mrs. Tinsley-Crabb was a Post-Gazette reporter from June 2000 until Dec. 31, when she joined other newsroom employees in accepting a company buyout. Among her last pieces for the Post-Gazette was a series of columns explaining the effects of ALS, her devout Christian faith despite the disease's ravages and her advocacy for ALS research and patient services, including treks to Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.

Despite losing the ability to speak and growing steadily weaker, Mrs. Tinsley-Crabb maintained until recent months a weekly routine of e-mailing family and friends, and working on book reviews or her health column for the Post-Gazette.

". . . Mrs. Tinsley-Crabb fought through her shock at the prognosis that the disease likely would kill her and decided last year to chronicle her struggle with ALS publicly in a column for Post-Gazette readers titled 'Hope & Healing.' She was as candid about maintaining the devoutness of her Christian faith as she was about her waning strength and her approaching death."

Latino Shelter Magazine Suspends Publication

"With shelter magazines hit heavily by the recession, the only Spanish-language title in that category, Casa y Hogar, has suspended publication and is looking for new financing and a new business model," Laurel Wentz reported Monday for Advertising Age.

The last issue of Casa y Hogar, published six times a year, was dated October/November 2008 and featured Geraldo Rivera, his wife and their New York home on the cover. The issue had a limited print run and distribution of only about 300,000 rather than the usual full run of 998,000 copies, and the December/January issue was never printed.

"'We're restructuring our business and won't publish the first two issues of 2009,' said Filiberto Fernandez, publisher-CEO of Casa y Hogar. "We'll continue the online presence, and when we return, it will probably be as an online presence and a print supplement.'

"Launched in 2005, Casa y Hogar (Spanish for 'House & Home') was heralded as the first glossy shelter magazine aimed at U.S. Hispanics whose dominant language is Spanish."

Short Takes

  • "The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into payola allegations at some of the Rio Grande Valley's most popular Spanish-language radio stations," Jeremy Roebuck reported Sunday for the Monitor in McAllen, Texas. "But the commission's enforcement bureau remains tight-lipped about the extent and exact nature of the probe. The FCC recently sent out letters of inquiry questioning whether disc jockeys accepted cash payments or other gifts in exchange for guaranteeing radio airplay to certain bands or record labels, a company spokesman for one radio conglomerate said. Investigators have also met with certain radio personalities and station managers."
  • Tony Award-winning playwright and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of "In The Heights," 2008's "Best Musical," will be the keynote speaker at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' 20th Annual NAHJ Scholarship Banquet in February in New York, the organization announced¬†last week.
  • Eric Draper, who went from the Associated Press to spending the last eight years as chief White House photographer to George W. Bush, was asked¬†by David Beard of the Boston Globe: "He wasn't very popular in the African-American community. Did you get tired having to defend him?" Draper replied, "I never had to defend him on the outside, and race was never an issue on the inside. What surprised you was that people of all stripes really respected the president when they stood right in front of him."
  • "The pace of homes getting ready for the digital TV changeover is quickening, but with the Feb. 17 transition date approaching, the potential is growing for a significant loss of TV audience for advertisers. There is still the possibility that the switchover date will be postponed, probably to June 12," Ira Teinowitz reported¬†Thursday for Advertising Age. "While Nielsen reports that 94% of households are ready for the digital switch, close to 10% of African-American and Hispanic households are 'totally unready.'" The Senate last night approved a four-month delay in the nation's transition to all-digital television to give consumers more time to prepare for the switch, the Washington Post reported for Tuesday's editions. "It is unclear if the House will immediately pass the Senate's version of the bill."
  • The 2005 single-vehicle rollover accident that killed Las Vegas anchorwoman Polly Gonzalez is at the center of a civil lawsuit set to go to trial in February, along with her death, David Kihara reported¬†Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Her family is suing Ford Motor Co. They claim the Ford Explorer she was driving was unsafe and contributed to her death. Gonzalez was the community's first Hispanic prime-time anchor. She was known for her volunteer work with Hispanic youths and for urging kids to stay out of gangs."
  • "William Kristol, the conservative columnist, and The New York Times have quietly ended their relationship after little more than a year, the newspaper said on Monday," Richard P?©rez-Pe?±a reported for the Times. "Also Monday, The Washington Post announced that it had hired Mr. Kristol to write a monthly column and contribute to its opinion blog, PostPartisan."¬† On the Daily Beast, Scott Horton wrote, "The New York Times' decision not to renew Bill Kristol's opinion column was because of the conservative writer's sloppiness and uneven quality, according to a reliable source with first-hand knowledge of the decision." Horton noted that Kristol even criticized the Times on Jon Stewart's late-night comedy show.¬† ‚ÄòYou're reading The New York Times too much,‚Äô he declared. ‚ÄòBill, you WORK for The New York Times!‚Äô Stewart pointed out.‚Äù
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Richard Prince's Journal-isms originates from Washington and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It began in print before most of us knew what the Internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a "column." For newcomers: The words in blue (on most computers) are links leading to more information. The Web site BugMeNot.com provides passwords and user names to some registration-only news sites. Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.

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Comments

Kwame Ture (aka Stokely Carmichael)

Submitted by Askia Muhammad (not verified) on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 19:42.
My friend Juan Williams is losing it if he thinks comparing someone to Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) is a bad thing! He was one of my very special all-time heroes! He was responsible for a number of detours in my life and career (see "My World: Officer Candidate School" on Soundprint.org) and I am eternally grateful for having known him! Before I ever met him in the flesh, one of my first journalistic adventures, while still in school at San Jose State, was reporting on and frequently interviewing then 80-plus-year old Lorna Smith, a White woman who lived in San Jose, who spent a summer working on the Mississippi Project in 1964 and was so inspired by Stokely, she collected "All Things Carmichael" for the rest of her life, compiling more than a dozen huge scrapbooks which she donated to the Stanford University Library! What's wrong with being like Stokely Carmichael? Absolutely nothing! We need more thinkers and leaders like him in my humble opinion! For more reading on Lorna Smith's extensive contributions to Stanford University's Library concerning the great Stokely Carmichael, follow these links: and Stokely Carmichael was a decent, honorable, principled, generous, and loving man who made a tremendous contribution to our struggle, making it possible for the likes of Juan Williams to even be at the Washington Post, or NPR or Fox News in the first place. In 1968, he singlehandedly began the full-employment- for-Negro- reporters- movement, by demanding that the National Press send Black reporters only to cover his events, otherwise they would not be admitted to his press conferences! He was once married to musical icon Miriam Makeba, aka "Mother Africa." I repeat, if Juan Williams meant to insult First Lady Michelle Obama by comparing her to my champion, then he missed the mark big time!! And any young journalist in particular who takes the comparison of anyone to Stokely Carmichael as anything but the highest compliment, even in this "post racial" era needs to study more. Here I've provided some refererences to begin that research. Sweet peace and chicken grease, Askia Muhammad, Washington, DC

Kwame Ture (aka Stokely Carmichael) LINKS

Submitted by Askia Muhammad (not verified) on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 19:59.
The links referred to are at Soundprint.org once there, search for Askia Muhammad. The piece is "My World Officer Candidate School." And for the Stanford University reference, Google-search for "Lorna Smith, Stanford University." Askia Muhammad

Juan Williams Compares Michelle Obama to Stokely Carmichael

Submitted by Guest (not verified) on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 20:13.
Williams' comments were way off base. I have never heard Michelle Obama blame America for anything or portray herself as a victim. Stokely Carmichael was a radical black activist; Michelle Obama is not a student of that approach. The new first lady is more appropriately compared to Coretta Scott King, who graciously (and beautifully) joined her husband in a larger cause while maintaining decorum. Both women had a role in changing black history, but Michelle in no way mirrors Stokely Carmichael. Williams' comment appealed to a Republican audience, I'm sure. Other than that, he is out in left field.

Juan Williams compares Michelle Obama to Stokley Carmichael

Submitted by Jeff Winbush (not verified) on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 23:05.
Why would anyone be surprised that Juan Williams would dis The First Lady to the amusement and delight of his Fox employers. Juan is a Happy Negro. Always has been. What would you expect from someone who admires and is a friend of Uncle Clarence Thomas? (snip) Same as it ever was. A Black man and women in the White House isn't going to change that.

Juan Williams

Submitted by David Nicholson (not verified) on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 05:40.
Apart from the need to be provocative so he can continue as Fox News' HNIC, what was Juan thinking? He's an intelligent man and an indefatigable reporter. Like Shelby Steele (or Stanley Crouch) he's an iconoclast whose ideas go against the grain but are often worth listening to. For reasons I can't quite understand, though, Barack Obama seems to have stuck in his craw. Neither of the Obamas should be above criticism. But "Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress"? Or blaming America and casting herself as a victim? I'm not the one (it's been a couplea years since I talked to Juan), but somebody needs to speak to the Negro and try to get him to quit putting his foot in his mouth.

Juan Williams' big mouth

Submitted by Glenn (not verified) on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 02:40.
I get so tired and annoyed hearing and reading about all of the consistently dumb comments made by Juan Williams. In an effort to turn my rage and anger into humor and laughter at his expense, I pick up and reread journalist Jill Nelson's wonderful book from 15 years ago, Volunteer Slavery. I quickly turn to pages 97 and 98 in the book when Nelson vividly and clearly paints a portrait of the obnoxious commentor with an explective-laced home girl beat down. Nelson writes of an unpleasant encounter with Williams during her days at the Washington Post when Williams, once again opened his big mouth and said something stupid. Nelson writes, in part, "Listen, Juan, don't f**k with me. You know, you're worse than a Negro who carries white folks water for them, because your own water is dirtier than theirs could ever be. Don't get into my business again, because if you f**k with me, I'll destroy you." A helluva book--if not only for those 2 pages that give Williams a well deserved and I might add, a well placed kick!!

Reagan's forever infamy

Submitted by Wang (not verified) on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 01:18.
Speaking of Barack Obama: BARACK OBAMA IS AN EXCELLENT PRESIDENT! Obama is a racial-minority individual and does not like racism: I know it may be hard to believe. However, it is absolutely true that Ronald Wilson Reagan committed horrible, racist, hate crimes during his presidency. A lot of people know about Reagan's infamy. And a lot of people will know about Reagan's infamy--even until the end of human existence: they'll find out. Numbers 32:23: "Be sure your sins will find you out." Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate B.S., With the Highest Level of Academic Honors at Graduation, 1996 Messiah College, Grantham, PA Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993 (I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet indicating the content of this post. And there are at least hundreds of copies in very many countries around the world.) _________________ 'If only it were possible to BAN invention that bottled up memories like scent so they never faded and never got stale.' (Once again, please consider an illustrative analogy: like scent that is held in or restrained or inhibited or suppressed or bottled up.) Off the top of my head, it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.

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