Academic Rants

  Recent global affairs bring greater awareness to the instability of world peace. Daily the threat of another world war appears to grow.  For example, there are acts of chaos in virtually every major nation. There are demonstrations in authoritarian and democratic states, government crackdowns in numerous nations, economic crises associated with the pandemic and rising inflation, and the growing embers of war. Some of these challenges are ongoing. The Chinese government is quelling freedom movements in Hong Kong and religious freedom in the west. Protests in Iran have met fierce regime resistance. In more democratic settings, protestors have used social media to test the limits of free speech and freedom of assembly. Protests appear to pop-up in response to imagined or perceived threats.  The January 6th controversy has invigorated violence in the United States and it is seeking additional outlets. Cheered on by Fox News, North American truckers contesting COVID mask and...

  The Montclair State University Galleries will present New York-based artist and filmmaker Ajamu Kojo’s   Black Wall Street: A Case for Reparations   from February 15 – April 23, 2022. The artist’s first solo museum exhibition is a sanctuary and homage to Black Americans as Kojo reimagines their past. Black Wall Street: A Case for Reparations  is Kojo’s ongoing series of large-scale paintings that capture the imagined lives of Black professionals in the Greenwood District before the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The community was dubbed “Black Wall Street” for its thriving culture and wealth in spite of strong segregation laws. The portraits present a spiritually uplifting dedication to the people who called Greenwood their home over a century ago. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ajamu Kojo is a figurative painter and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. As a scenic artist, his projects include Law & Order, Boardwalk Empire, Vinyl, BULL and more. Alongside working on television ...

  Celebrating Black History Month 2022 John Andrew Kenney, 1874-1950 The Great Migration, the historic movement of African Americans from the South to the North was triggered by economic opportunities, racial discrimination, racial intimidation and fear. Thousands fled from the former plantations and labor camps to northern cities from Chicago to Washington, D.C. This mass exodus continued for over two decades halted by the impact of the First World War, a series of race riots, a pandemic and ultimately a Great Depression. In the process the nation witnessed a tremendous shift of manpower and brainpower culminating in a Black Renaissance.  Lost in the numbers of southern refugees is John Andrew Kenney, Sr. An unsung hero, Kenney was a noted civil rights activist of the pre-Brown era; a superb physician; member, secretary and later president of the National Medical Association; the founder of the National Medical Association Journal; founder of several hospitals; and devoted hu...

The tragedy of Trayvon Martin's murder made many Americans aware of stand your ground laws. Yet, these laws are common throughout the nation. Some 36 states have some aspect of these "line in the sand" defining actions.  There are two varieties of these laws: the more recent "Stand Your Ground" law and the older "Castle Doctrine" law.  Both allow you to use deadly force as a means of self-defense when you feel that your life or the life of a family member is threatened. However, the history behind these laws is not what most Americans consider associated with 2nd Amendment Rights. The Castle Doctrine comes from medieval English law stressing that only the King had the right to take someone's life. As a result, when people felt threatened they should retreat beyond the walls of the castle for self defense. Only if the castle wall was breached and the castle was invaded could deadly force be used. The Castle Doctrine was a concept designed to repel h...

  In her brilliant Harvard Law Review article, Monopolizing Whiteness, Professor Erika Wilson highlights the process of social closure. This is how predominately white school districts are able to hoard resources which in turn produce higher quality schools and ultimately better prepared students. What studies have demonstrated is that students in white segregated schools do better than students in black or minority-segregated schools. The statistics also indicate that most white students in white segregated schools do better than their black classmates. As a result, until we make wholesale modifications to our education systems, it is important for black students to begin their educations in white segregated schools rather than enter them at some later point. However, the legacy of residential segregation indicates that most people of color spend a great deal of their social and economic capital breaking into these neighborhoods later in life as opposed to earlier and place their ...

  Sport, Society and Social Change I think the 1960s is a pivotal time in American society. It’s a time of revolutionary change in the world of sports for both men and women of all races. Although the color line was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, it wasn’t until the 1960s that America’s professional leagues had witnessed complete integration. The 1960s is a transformative movement in sports history. It changed the visible world and the foreseeable future. It placed the black athlete in a position of responsibility and influence to bring, as Jim Brown would argue, “African Americans to the forefront on every level.”   This is a history lesson in of itself. The previous century saw the rise of the black athlete and the fear created by his success. The color line instantly followed segregating sports   just as it had normal facets of daily life. Keep in mind that the NHL started its desegregation process in 1958 but remains racist, the NBA (1947/1950 had Asian and Af...

 On September 24th a group of concerned citizens will gather in West Windsor, New Jersey and discuss school segregation. The audience will consist of politicians, clergy, scholars, attorneys, activists, educators and parents. Passionate voices will fill the meeting place and the congregation will demand justice. Several solutions and potential solutions will be offered before the session is adjourned. People will leave with hope, feeling a sense of satisfaction.  However, in spite of the best intentions, the importance of this event will be lost on the majority of the state's residents who will not know or care about such things. For in New Jersey, you see, school segregation is a problem or it isn't. While I want to suggest that New Jersey is like any other state, it actually is very different from most of the other 49. The Garden State ranks in the top five in school funding, school expenditures, school performance, and high school graduation. It also ranks in the top six in...