Whether in Africa or in the global Diaspora, there continues to be an ebb and flow of good news and bad news, things to cheer and things to abhor.
News that Marlon James had become the first Jamaican writer to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction, for his book, “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” was exceedingly joyful. And you can’t get any more representative of the Diaspora when you consider the award is hosted in London, given to a man of Jamaican ancestry, who currently resides in Minneapolis.
At the very moment we cheer James and his success, we are saddened to learn that an Eritrean immigrant, mistaken for a militant, was shot by a security guard in Israel and then died after being set upon by a mob that ravaged him. His death is a terrible example of the mounting causalities in the bloody turmoil wracking the country.
Another writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates, an African-American now living in Paris, has been highly praised for his book, “Between the World and Me,” and we certainly join those celebrating the accomplished young author. But we are sickened by a recent ad in the Pennysaver, a Westchester-based newsletter, seeking a registered “laid back nurse,” but explicitly stating “no Haitians.” We share the outrage expressed by the Haitian American Nurses Association.
Our laughter goes out to comedian Eddie Murphy, the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Of course, the situation facing fellow comedian Bill Cosby is hardly a laughing matter, something Murphy acknowledged.
There is at least a smidgen of relief to the family of Walter Scott, who was shot and killed by a police officer in North Charleston, S.C., last April. But we know that a $6.5 million settlement is not the substitute for a life so full of hope and promise.
How wonderful to see ballerina Misty Copeland the other night on Jimmy Kimmel’s show aired from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Not only was she given an opportunity to display her remarkable skills as a dancer but also she exuded a wide-ranging personality that will make her a welcome guest on many a talk show.
Amid a rash of recent shootings by law enforcement officers across the nation, particularly of unarmed Black men, we are concerned about an incident over the weekend in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where Corey Jones was shot and killed by a police officer. According to the police, Jones, waiting to be picked up after his car broke down on I-95, assailed a plainclothes officer who approached him and was shot during the ensuing confrontation.
Congratulations to award-winning journalist Kevin Merida. The former managing editor at the Washington Post has been named editor-in-chief of ESPN’s the Undefeated, a website dealing with reporting and commentary on race, culture and sports.
Merida earned his degree in journalism from Boston University, but because he spent many a night and day in the nation’s capital, he would be keenly interested in the fate of Howard University’s public television station, WHUT, which could be headed to the auction block, according to a memorandum from the university.
WHUT may not survive in its present format, but now that Oprah Winfrey has invested her considerable clout in Weight Watchers, the company immediately registered an uptick in the price of its stock. The “Oprah Effect” is like the Midas touch: No matter where it lands, things get better and brighter.
Her touch could be used in the international arena because it is very disconcerting that John Ashe, the former president of the U.N. General Assembly and ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, has been arrested for allegedly taking bribes. His attorney, a native New Yorker, Robert Van Lierop, who lives in New Jersey, says his client will be vindicated of all charges. We are reminded of the FIFA imbroglio, in which the organization’s former vice president, Austin “Jack” Warner, a politician and businessman from Trinidad and Tobago, was charged with “wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.”
Meanwhile, there is much excitement and enthusiasm on the reparations front, largely because of the influence and scholarship of Sir Hilary Beckles, a Barbadian historian and currently the vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies. His association with the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, based in the U.S. and headed by Dr. Ron Daniels, has given the reparations movement a fresh burst of energy.
As we go to press, two moments of joy and despair are intertwined. Many viewers watching the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday evening show were rewarded by the appearance of comedian Tracy Morgan at the Bronx Zoo and rapper Jay Z, who escorted the audience to the Barclays Center for his performance. But in the middle of his interview, the show was interrupted for a press conference from Harlem Hospital, where Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio mourned the death of NYPD officer Randolph Holder. He was shot and killed while pursuing an armed suspect. Holder, an immigrant from Guyana, was 33 and had been on the force five years.
To expand this roundup of events, incidents, whether good or bad, would merely confirm our place in the human family. This piece is a very broad stroke about current affairs, clearly a departure from our usual editorial with an issue-oriented approach. But there are times when we like to look at the big picture to see how the Black world is faring, not only here but also abroad. And as you can see, our condition is no better or worse than the rest of the world, although we must emphasize that Black Lives Matter!