ZZ Packer, "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," "Brownies" chapter

When I read ZZ Packer's descriptions, such as, "A few seemed to be lolling their heads in slow circles, half purposefully, as if exercising their necks, half ecstatically, like Stevie Wonder," — I snorted out loud in laughter.

She is to be praised for he ability to nail — to a "T" — a mental image, a perfect description of a person, a scene, an idea, etc.

In the "Brownies" chapter of "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere," which is about two girl scout troops — one predominantly black, the other white — a few of the black girls become upset over a white girl calling one of them a nigger. This sets up a scene where Packer, again, creates brilliant imagery. For me, it's the exactness of her words that really makes me feel good as a reader, and as one who can relate to her out-of-the-ordinary, yet appropriate, references. So, while the black girl Arnetta says she wants to "teach (the white girls) a lesson for calling us niggers," she is sitting down cross-legged, as Packer describes it, "like an embittered Buddha."

"An embittered Buddha." If those three words had ever been strung together before, Packer should be sued for plagiarism. Packer is already one of my favorite authors, and I've only read one chapter of her book.

Media Audiences

Barack Obama's March 19 speech in Philadelphia came at a time when his campaign was under the shadow of the Senator's affiliation with the controversial Reverend Wright. His topic for the speech: race in America. 

Let's see how three different media covered this already famous half hour. The print versions are from March 20. The CNN broadcast was March 19, the day of the speech.

The New York Times (Print Edition)

In the lede, author Jeff Zeleny uses language that could be considered editorial by some journalism fundamentalists. 

Zeleny writes that Obama "delivered a sweeping assessment of race in America ... bluntly confronting the divisions between blacks and whites."

This is not atypical of The New York Times. Much of their front-page reporting operates with certain assumptions — assumptions that current administration is "bad" and that global warming is actual and so on.

Now this is not necessarily a slight against the Times by any means. It's an observation that I and a couple Times readers I know — with varying, often diverging, political viewpoints — share.

And to avoid to digressing, let's continue. Zeleny, further along the article, calls Obama "a living bridge" between blacks and whites (I will attribute the responsibility of the writing to Zeleny because he carries the byline).  Now even I, an Obama supporter, found this wording very suspect. But I liked it because I like Obama; so shame on me, too. 

As for the article's sources, Obama, of course, is the main one. There are some paraphrases from "advisers," and there is a direct qoute from L. Douglas Wilder, the mayor of Richmond, Va., who was the nation's first elected black governer.

There are not accompanying graphs or charts for the story, just photos. What was most striking about this presentation was the writing style.

SFGate.com (The Chronicle's online edition)

This article definitely had a local feel. It sources former Mayor Willie Brown, a USF professor, a San Francisco reverend and one of Joe Lieberman's advisers.

It's a summary article — appropriate the day after a speech — with Bay Area voices. Like the Times, it carries some strong language. Perhaps Obama's compelling status and stature evoke these types of liberties. Also, it's difficult to deliver straightforward reporting of an epic-type speech. People were compelled and inspired; I bet the reporters were, too.

The beauty of online articles are the links. There are audio, video and text links to the speech. There is poll, with live results, about the speech's impact next to the article, and underneath the body of the article are reader comments. Interactivity brings news to life.

CNN's "Larry King Live"

Wolf Blitzer, for some reason unknown to me, is hosting this episode. A black couple are his guests. One is Georgetown professor and Baptist minister Michael Dyson along with his wife, Maria Dyson, also a minister and a contributing editor to Essence magazine. He supports Obama, and his wife supports Clinton (Who sleeps on the couch?).

My first reaction is that CNN plays this one very safe by having black guests for the show. It's obvious that the speech was rousing, and I don't think any major news outlet is ready to overtly or covertly be too critical of Obama at this time. My guess is that if anyone is to be immediately critical of Obama's speech, they are safe to present black speakers. The guests, however, have much praise for Obama. Dyson even compares Obama to King, Jr.

Immediately following commercial break, though, new guests are on the panel. Bev Smith, a black, urban radio show host is accompanied by radio personality Ed Shultz, who is white and an Obama supporter.

I do not intend to alienate blacks or whites by making these distinctions, as far as panel members are concerned. I just know that these things are important elements of news presentation at times like these. Should the "black voice" be presented immediately following a speech, such as this one? Absolutely. It's fair and appropriate. Should the "black voice" be presented more often following other news? Absolutely. Unfortunately, it's not.

Anyway, a mix of Obama and Clinton supporters now give their takes on the speech, and nary have a bad thing to say about it.

Telling Details

The air is fresh, so crisp that I can feel it brush my cheeks near my nose as I inhale. 

It's late — just after 2 a.m. And it's quiet, except for the occasional sound of a passing car as I near Fourth Street. The light from the light posts affect a strange hue on the plants, grass and cement campus walkways, almost like a black-and-white movie.

Nobody is in sight. A walk that is normally traversed in the company of fellow students is a walk in solitude at this hour.

I'm about 50 yards from Fourth Street, having walked from Dwight Bentel Hall. King Library, a ways off to the right, is shut down by this time. It's lights are off, and its doors are locked. Every door is probably locked at SJSU, except for one off to my left, Uchida Hall. A janitor is at its glass door with his big, gray garbage barrel.

Word of the Week #5

Emigre

This was headlined this morning (Feb. 18) on the lead story of the San Jose Mercury News.

The headline read: Illegal emigres defy the image

Webster's says ...

emigre

n. 1. an emigrant  2. a person forced to flee his or her country for political reasons, as a Royalist during the French revolution

Bon jour, emigre.  OR  The Kosovo-bound emigres fled their former Serbian homes.

Word of the week: "de facto"

Yes, de facto. Sounds funny if you say it enough.

I found this word, or set of words, in a New York Times editorial column. I've heard and read it enough beforehand to have a marginal understanding of its definition, but I like to be sure about things.

"This has remained de facto policy, all the administration lip service to sunlit government notwithstanding."

Webster's says:

1: actual; especially : being such in effect though not formally recognized de facto state of war>2: exercising power as if legally constituted de facto government>3: resulting from economic or social factors rather than from laws or actions of the state <de facto segregation>
And I say:Should such circumstances arise in where the goblin king has become terminally incapacitated, comatose, vegetative, grumpy or stricken with Alzheimer's, the the de facto ruler of the hovel shall be the goblin queen.

De facto!