California
Bayside, KNHM 91.5 FM, 4:00 PM [stream]
Mendocino, KPMO 1300 AM, 4:00 PM [stream]
Mt. Shasta, KMJC 620 AM, 4:00 PM [stream]
Pacific Grove, KAZU 90.3 FM, 7 PM [stream]
Sacramento, KQED 89.3 FM, 1:00 AM[stream]
San Francisco, KQED 88.5 FM, 1:00 AM[stream]
Yreka, KSYC 1490 AM, 4:00 PM [stream

Come back.

Best-
All tattered in medalions

What is the opposite of irrational zeal anyway?

Let me ask you one more thing. If your lover called you on the phone to convey beautifully, in the most heartfelt way, their undying love for you; and while they were talking there was some static on the phone line; would that phone static take away from the sentiment of your lover’s words? Why does some lack of “proper audio production� affect the enjoyment you said you had?

I’m sorry if I said you were not listening, I only want you to listen in a new way. This is not your father’s public radio. This is different, this is challenging – for all of us. We are building this together – you included. I’m really just asking you to keep listening and reading for a while; you might come away with a different idea of what public radio is/can be.

All I can say sidewalker is that I hope you read all of Malcom z’s posts. You will come away with a feeling that your small positive influence might help this boy/man in a big way.

Do you really look out for each other who is looking out for the women in your lifes on your job, in the streets, on the train, you see a man is judged by the way he treats all women of his hue. Regardless of her age, complexion, size, or shape. No one will respect you unless you repect your woman. Sociology 101

nother, my heart aches for this boy/man. The tension and anger in him after 7 intense days in custody was visible. He seemed like a caged tiger at times. He’s calmed down since and is focusing on his two jobs, but clearly there is more that troubles him and I don’t know if this ordeal will be a positive learning experience (god, I hate such words) or the source of rebellion against cold authority. He still does not want to talk about it much and though he tries to look repentful, I wouldn’t say he feels he deserves what he got. I, too, am torn.

And thanks for that beautiful response to Tatterdemalion. Maybe he just needs to listen a little more and a little closer to Chris, who is a master at making his guests relax and open up. The world is strange, a mouthpiece like Rush gets 3 hours for his droning monologue and Chris gets 1 to converse on interesting topics with thoughtful guests and this community.

It seems indeed like a ‘must read’.

Your words are inspirational.

I hope you will return to this ROS community with reports from Africa. It would be great if you spread our community to the place we all sprang from.

Sidewalker, thank you for your story. I’m a little torn. On one hand he will be reluctant to settle disputes with violence; on the other hand the harsh punishment might make him resentful and angry, and ultimately violent again.
What do you think sidewalker?

I’ll try to say this in as few words as possible. This sphere that I cherish so much, this sphere that you have now entered, is a sphere lead by Mr. Lydon. He is the conductor on this train of curiosity and we are free to punch our ticket and get off or on at anytime. When you choose to ride a few stops with Mr. Lydon at the helm, you have to trust that he knows when to periodically stop and start the train (interrupt and ask a new question).

The guests are usually experts in their field, each one of them could probably go on for 20 hours straight elaborating on any part of the specific subject. It is up to Mr. Lydon to keep the hour long vision of the show on track. He can only do this by interrupting. Personally, with my own conversations, I embrace interruptions. I see it as essential for healthy discourse, as long as it’s done in a tactful way.

The ultimate irony about criticisms of Chris’s interruptions, is that his listening skills are his genius. It’s the critics who are not listening.

Now to your second point. Mr. Lydon’s sighs are like music to my ears. He can say more with “hmmmm” then a hundred words. When you hear “hmmmm” you hear thinking, you hear, I’m not going to fill up this space with empty words; I’m going to ponder for a moment. I can’t emphasize all this enough Tatterdemalion. Let me give you an example. Instrumental music – take classical or jazz. Do you feel that emotions can be conveyed in music without words, with strictly sounds? The sighs and sounds of Mr. Lydon are conveying so much, only without words.

Try to listen in a new way. You might find the enjoyment you experienced with this show, was only the beginning.

I’m VERY surprised that none of the speakers turned it around to origins and the necessity for white ‘personal responsibility’ and participation in solutions. Strret life is an emotional, psychic escape from demonization. The demonizers hold most (but not all) of the cards at this table.

If money poured in for after-school programs, as in Patterson’s proposals, and if those programs did not include means for effectively sensitizing white kids — and their parents — to the subtleties of their personal rascism, if these programs were largely black on black, then I think there would be no net advancement in the underlying situation.

As I said above, whites are anesthetized to their role. I’m non-plussed to hear intelligent blacks and other social scientists ignore the chance to state the obvious. The whole on-air discussion focused on the victims, I’m disappointed in Chris and the speakers.

reality bytes it: “But they also highlighted another crisis: the failure of social scientists to adequately explain the problem, and their inability to come up with any effective strategy to deal with it.

Are you referring here to the lack of attention to white participation in the problem? Individuals and institutional?

dwood37: Who is the author of the book, ‘When and Where I Enter”? Thanks.

malcolm z: I liked everything you said and was even envious. Your family seemed like a gently gilded cage to me. I had another experience.

I grew up in a two-parent lower middle-class inner-city white family with parents who faught like beasts and a brother who was mentally disabled, dangerous and turned to crime because that’s where he fit in. It killed him at 19. I coped by pretending I didn’t belong to them. I had my own life from about nine or ten on. Since I was interested in art I found my own way to the public school where I could major in art, My art teacher got me more art lessons after school. I was horse-crazy so I snuck out to a stable where I cleaned stalls. Finally someone taught me to ride. At school I organized committees for what I thought we needed. Wherever I went doors opened if I showed interest appropriately. My parents knew nothing of all this, still don’t thirty years later. You could say it was my street life, but I always noticed and appreciated that I was rewarded and reinforced by the surrounding community on which I relied. I grew up thinking I could do whatever I wanted IN SPITE OF my family.

malcolm z; “Babu, Since you brought it up, try inviting some black people to your environmental meetings. I’m sure you could find some who were interested if you tried.”

In practical terms, where would you suggest I start looking? I have built playgrounds with black people for their neighborhood(s) but the natural intersection of black’s — and other minorities’ — interest in broad environmental activism eludes me. It is missed and would be a very strong addition.

I’m just now dealing with a young lad, 19, who was baited on the street late at night on the way home from his part-time job. He didn’t like what the other guy, 23, said and they exchanged words and in the end the young lad punched the other guy, who was lying on the ground with a bloody nose when the police arrived. The young lad got taken into custody for 7 days and interrogated, mainly because he was dressed in the fashion of the day, gangsta wear, and his pride kept him from falling at the feet of authority and begging for forgiveness. He ended up going before family court (an adult here is 20 and over) and he was given a suspended sentence with probation of from 1-2 years, depending on his behaviour. He has to report to a probation officer and his record will be officially wiped off the books when he turns 26. He was suspended from jr. college for a year (he was about to graduate so they will hold his certificate) and lost the chance at a permanent job. He must also pay compensation to the guy he hit of about $2,500.

He was in a sense lucky because he has a support network around him. His parents were beside him. His teachers have stood by him and fought to make sure he was not expelled. He could get a couple of part-time jobs, which will help pay off the money. On the other hand, the police, the courts and the college authorities were intent on applying the rules of personal responsibility. In court the judge said, be a man. Take responsibility. Don’t cause your parents trouble.

These words are fine and hopefully the experience will teach him to think before he acts and to understand the repercussions of his behaviour. But the fact is he did something that many of might have at his age given the circumstances. He should have just turned a cheek and walked away from the abusive words but he didn’t. He had been bullied in jr. high school and this time he wasn’t going to be. He was being a man, in a different sense.

Do we leave him to his own doings? You broke the rules, you face the consequences. It’s your personal responsibility. Or do those around him and, in a way, the greater community and society also help him learn and make better choices the next time. Isn’t it all of our responsibility?

Is cry of “victimization” dead?

Herein lies the problem…