Tag: Blackness

James Baldwin and the Jewish State

Baldwin didn’t speak often of Israel, but he still managed to say plenty

For James Baldwin, nothing started or stopped at the borders of the United States.  His comments about Black-Jewish tension in the country of his birth took on worldly dimensions, offering unusual insight into domestic race relations, international affairs, and conflict in the Middle East. 

Baldwin wasn’t a policy wonk, but, befitting a person of his stature, he commented regularly on contemporary issues of global import.  Public figures don’t normally escape questions about Palestine and Israel; Baldwin was no exception.  The few times he spoke about the region reveal a thinker of significant prescience and a skilled rhetorician who doesn’t allow audiences the luxury of comfort. 

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What to do about Corporate Media

Should leftists pursue access to corporate media? Only if they’re willing to accept rejection.

If you consider yourself a leftist, corporate media are your enemy.  I don’t use the term “enemy” to sound melodramatic.  Nor do I use it hyperbolically.  I’m thinking about its denotation as a person or entity whose interests are anathema to your own.  If you are not of the elite (culturally, politically, or economically), or don’t long to join the club, then hostility exists between you as a consumer of news and those who deliver the product, even if you don’t always see it.  In fact, corporate media view you with bald contempt.  You needn’t return the favor (though it won’t hurt to try), but it’s wise to understand that the industry is beyond redemption (by its nature) and does its best to keep you disempowered. 

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