The Black Church

For this blog topic, coverage of the Black church in the US, I shot for a diverse selection of news media. Relevant Magazine is a Christian, progressive magazine targeting young evangelicals, Time is a news weekly that targets upper class liberals, and Ebony covers politics and culture and targets the black community.


The Problems of Christian Hip Hop

This article explores the phenomenon of Christian Hip-Hop. The author defends the genre, acknowledging that it has had limited success, but believes Christian Hip-Hop artists would make better music and sell more albums if music labels gave them a higher recording budget. My main observation is that this article seems to be written primarily for white people. The author makes no attempt to address other issues about the music that might make more sense from an African American standpoint. The Black Church is briefly mentioned, only to point out its limited support for the genre. The tone and reasoning the author uses makes me think that he is completely ignorant of the significance Hip Hop music plays in black culture, or even in the black church.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/music/blog/16950-the-problems-of-christian-hip-hop


Jeremiah Wright Goes to War

This article, in Time Magazine, covers a press conference given by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and attempts to put into context some of the radical remarks in his sermons by pointing out that civil rights leaders and other black leaders historically have not been afraid to use strong, controversial language. The actual remarks of Wright reminded me of the chapter in Priest-Nieves that discusses how the Bible can be used to justify good or bad theology based around an ethnic context. The author seizes upon a point Wright makes about how white America does not understand black churches, and supports it by giving historical examples like Martin Luther King. The author himself does appear to have a deep understanding of African-American religious tradition. The tone of the article is critical, yet sympathetic, pointing out that most people only know that black churches have “good music,” and yet they don’t “hear the lyrics of pain and suffering.”

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1735662,00.html

Understanding The Word

This article, in Ebony Magazine, presents a scathing defense of the remarks by Rev. Wright. The author declares “Sunday mornings show America at its most segregated,” pointing out that most white Americans are completely ignorant of the Black church culture so historically significant in America. The author also makes the point that most black people had no problem whatsoever with Wright’s remarks, that they were normal among black ministers and are a response to what they say stems from centuries of fighting for their rights. What left the biggest impression on me was how the author included the full quote from Wright that set off so much controversy. To be honest I had only heard the most radical phrase of it before and made my judgment. I’d never considered it fully or in context, and now my impression of what Wright said is different.

http://www.ebonyjet.com/perspectives/national/understanding.aspx

St. Paul of the Cross Roman Catholic Church

For Blog 4, I attended the Friday morning mass St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church in La Mirada. I’ve always liked the way Catholics and Mormons have services every day, and wanted to see what this kind of service would be like and what kind of people would attend.

My brief research into this church beforehand made me expect mostly Hispanic parishioners, which their were. I arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the service started, and I could hear personal prayers being said aloud in Spanish. Of the 40 or so that were there, I was the only one that seemed younger than 50.

The cross is the most common symbol seen at the church, however, the Catholic Church is highly symbolic, and almost all of the decoration, the images and statues, the priest’s clothing, and even the design of the building, have meaning. The symbol I noticed especially was a large, almost to-scale cross with a statue of Jesus Christ hanging from it that hung on the front, inside wall

The service itself was liturgical, with a lot of standing up and sitting down, several scriptural readings, and a short homily by the priest. The only music I heard were old hymns that everyone sang out of an English/Spanish hymnal.

I spoke with a man named Oscar who had been the reader during the service, and he told me he had been attending the church for about 15 years, and that his three daughters were enrolled in the private school run by the church.

My prayer session afterward was very positive. I felt God working at St. Paul’s and thanked him for it.

Korean-Americans in the Media

BRUCE AND JU-CHAN FULTON BRING KOREAN LITERATURE TO THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD

This article, from the Seattle Times, is about a married couple who translate Korean literature into English. I think this piece is the perfect example of how journalists should write about immigrants. Not until the fourth paragraph does the author identify the wife as Korean, which forces the reader to rely on the author’s description of the couple, that they are translators, which is the subject of the story.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2011868432_litlife17.html


KOREAN AMERICANS UNITE TO KEEP UW PROGRAM ALIVE

This article describes how the effort of the Korean community in Washington State raised enough money to continue the Korean Studies program at the University of Washington. The author writes in a way that makes you believe the program is valuable and would be a significant loss for the University, however, I think more could have been said about the specific ways that the Korean community came together to raise the money. Also, when the author uses the word “unusual” to describe the communities efforts, it gives the impression that the community isn’t normally very unified. This would be ok if the author supported this impression.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002169062_korean03m.html


KOREAN AMERICANS / FEELING FOREIGN IN THEIR NEW HOMELAND -- A STRUGGLE TO FIT IN

This article, in the Seattle Times, does an excellent job summing up the situation and struggles of the Korean immigrant population in the Puget Sound city of Federal Way. The article leads with the story of the first non-white to be near election the city council. The story keeps a graceful tone, describing the difficulties Koreans face learning English and integrating into society, and highlighting the progress being made. I liked how the author also focused on advent of Korean churches in the area, pointing to the nine that now exist in the city as a sign of progress.


JAPANESE AND KOREANS LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER IN HARMONY IN L.A.'S LITTLE TOKYO

I really this article from the LA Times. It tells the story of how an influx of Koreans into Little Tokyo has been handled by the local Japanese there. The lead outlines the conflict, touching on racial stereotypes from both sides and the conflicts they create. But what follows is a very positive account of how the two ethnic groups have been able to put aside their differences, which stretch back to each of their respective homelands, and live in social harmony.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-korjapan23-2009feb23,0,2634061.story



YOUR BRIGHT FUTURE' SPOTLIGHTS KOREAN ARTISTS AT LACMA

This is an interesting article from the LA Times that profiles a Korean art exhibition at LACMA. The story focuses first on a Korean artist, featured in the picture, who is acknowledged to be the leader of the Korean Pop art movement in South Korea. The fact that he is the only artist at the show who is Korean educated is noted; I would have liked to hear more about why this is significant. The article goes on to discuss several other artists and their influence in the art “scene.” The article is certainly positive, especially because it highlights an area of Korean culture not known in America, at least not to me.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-korea21-2009jun21,0,1919054.story


COUPLE AT HELM OF IRVINE FIRM ARRESTED IN $8-MILLION PONZI SCHEME TARGETING KOREAN AMERICANS

This article in the LA Times gives details about a couple arrested for running a Ponzi scheme that targeting Korean American investors, costing them over 80 million dollars. The article mostly just consists of the facts, though one thing I noticed about the way it was written concerned the motive for the crime, which the article describes by quoting the Attorney General involved in the case. He says “They were doing it in large part just to have the aura about them of being successful.” This desire for success by Koreans has popped up in several of the articles I reviewed, and seems to be a commonality between Korean immigrants in LA and Seattle.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/couple-at-helm-of-irvine-firm-arrested-in-8million-scheme.html

Hsi Lai

Tuesday, June 8, 2010
11:45am – 2:45pm

For my first visit to a foreign place of worship I chose the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights. In preparation, I researched the temple itself, learning, among other things, that it is the biggest Buddhist temple in California, and is dedicated to Ch’an Buddhism, a derivative of Zen. I also brushed up on the basic tenants of Buddhism.

I have visited a Chinese Temple before, on a trip to China, and I was interested to see the ways that this temple was different, being in America. It was mostly the same. The design and décor of the temple itself was actually more extravagant than the one in China. The monks looked and seemed exactly the same – quiet, polite, friendly, and devoted. The mix of worshipers also differed little. The majority there appeared to be just visiting, with a few pious worshipers who seemed very focused and devout. The average age was around 50. I spoke with a woman there who told me that she was a practicing Buddhist, but that she visits the temple only a few times a year. I watched her burn incense and place it in some sort of oven, but I had a difficult time understanding her explanation of this practice.

What surprised me most about this visit were ways that the Temple was similar to my own Eastern Orthodox Church. Of course, the belief systems are worlds apart, but many of the practices, like the burning of incense, prostrations, the silence, and an attention to beauty were all familiar to me.

My prayer time after was very good - I felt that the similarities between my church and the Buddhist temple was a wonderful way in which I could relate, and possibly minister to, people from that culture.

Summer Blog One

For an analysis of media coverage of Latinos, I chose to focus on three articles from the Seattle Times and three from the LA Times. I chose these two areas of coverage because I was curious to see if coverage differed between two typically “liberal” areas – but with only one of which containing a significant Latino presence.

The first article from the LA Times is headlined: Irvine Man Accused of Hate Crime Against Latinos. The fact that the editors chose to identify Latinos as victims in the headline demonstrates, I think, that they believe the race of the victims is significant, and even that racially motivated crimes might be a problem in LA. The story went on to further show this understanding in a well researched article that made a strong case that the crime was in fact a hate crime.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/irvine-man-accused-of-hate-crime-against-latinos.html

The second two articles from the LA Times also displayed a deep understanding of the Latino presence in Los Angeles by carefully and sensitively identifying Latinos when the distinction is significant to the story or community. One of the articles mentions a “Latino man” in its description of a homicide suspect, but not until a lower paragraph of the article. This shows that the editors believed that the fact the man was Latino mattered to his description, but not enough to label him “Latino” in the headline.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/homicide-report-17-killings-last-week-in-la-county-four-officerinvolved-shootings.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/immigration/la-me-0602-arizona-boycott-20100602,0,2153405.story

The three articles from the Seattle Times all deal with an alleged beating of a Latino man by Seattle police officers that was caught on tape. The first article covers backlash by the Latino community and with a calling by “Latino leaders” and civil rights groups for the officers involved to be fired. I found it interesting that the writer made the distinction between Latino and civil rights leaders. The second article details a probe into the incident by the police department. It quotes the mayor expressing concern about the incident and also a damning quote from the video by a police detective threatening to beat the victim. The third article is a letter from an editor of the newspaper expressing the paper’s determination to cover stories like this one that threaten minorities.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2011888815_seattlepoliceofficersrespondtovideoshowingabuseoflatinoman.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2011868728_police_expand_probe_into_offic.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011895998_apwaseattlesuspectkicked.html

I found the coverage by both papers to demonstrate a significant understanding of the issues in each area involving Latinos. Both papers avoiding using specific descriptions like “Mexican” or “Cuban,” instead using the term Latino in all instances. Both papers also seemed to pay particular attention to certain stories specifically because they involved the victimization of minorities.

168 Days (in prison)

In 2002, Vanessa Leggett broke the record for an American journalist spending the most time in jail for refusing to divulge sources or unpublished materials to authorities investigating a crime. The information she was protecting involved a murder investigation by a grand jury of a man named Robert Angleton. Angleton was a millionaire bookmaker for Houston high rollers in the 90’s, as well as an FBI informant for other bookies and criminals in the area. Then, in 1997, his wife, Doris Angleton, a well known Houston socialite, was found shot to death in their Houston home. After ruling out other possibilities, Robert Angleton and his brother Roger became prime suspects. How Vanessa Leggett became involved in, and became, ultimately, the most controversial figure in the complicated and ugly mess, is why I chose to feature her in this blog.

Leggett’s passion, according to an article by Skip Hollandsworth, who met her back in early 1997, was to write a true crime novel. This passion is what got her mixed up with the Angleton case. She believed it would make the perfect book. She began doing research about the people involved, and interviewed whomever she could. After Roger Angleton was arrested on suspicion of colluding with his brother to murder his brother’s wife, Leggett interviewed him in jail. In the rambling interview, he actually confessed to the murder, and said he was hired by his brother to do it. Shortly after this confession, Roger committed suicide in his jail cell.

A Texas court requested the tape of this interview, and Leggett cooperated willingly. But the tape was not used by prosecutors, determining that its contents unreliable and the court failed in indicting Robert. Leggett continued research for her book, interviewing other bookies and criminals, police officers, detectives, family members, government officials – all of whom were connected to the Angletons in some way. Then a federal investigation into the case began, and a grand jury issued a subpoena demanding Leggett to surrender all the notes and information she had collected about the case. Leggett refused, was found in contempt of court, and was arrested and sent to a federal prison for the remainder of the investigation.

If I was Vanessa Leggett in this situation, I would have done exactly as she did. She wasn’t unwilling to cooperate with authorities – the surrender of her interview with Roger proves this. She refused to comply with the subpoena by the federal grand jury because she didn’t believe the information it requested was crucial to the indictment of Robert by the federal court. In the Cohen chapter relevant to this issue, a writer criticizes journalists who refuse to give up information from or identities of their sources based solely on “principle.” I don’t think this is what Leggett was doing, and demonstrated this in her initial cooperation with authorities. Like hers, my willingness to comply with a similar subpoena would depend on the reason for the request and relevance of the information, not just principle.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/us/book-contract-for-writer-jailed-for-contempt.html

http://old.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel012202.shtml

http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/comlaw19&div=34&id=&page=

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2001-12-01/reporter.php

For as long as history can tell, man has always made law. Another equally dependable observation may be that that those laws are rarely concrete, for where rules and laws exist, exceptions accompany them. Regarding the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, this notion is plainly evident.

Freedom of Speech is a right recognized by America’s founding fathers as an essential element to our free society; however, there exists no free, democratic government, including ours, that will guarantee true, absolute, freedom of speech. Exceptions have been made to the First Amendment which exclude certain types of speech from its protection