WikiCity – How Citizens can Improve their Cities | This Big City

WikiCity – How Citizens can Improve their Cities | This Big City

I'm coming back to teach in the Fall semester. One of my classes will be the RP 300: Florida History. A major new class exploring Florida history. Given the RP's goal is to use Florida to explore hemispheric issues, I'm thinking about how local issues link to bigger problems. How does the WikiCity concept connect to Florida? The insurgent grassroots effort to repair and reclaim public spaces to make them more liveable has plenty of examples in Florida. Everything from new urbanist development to urban gardening can be found in the state.

The King’s Speech in Form and Function

The 2011 Oscar ceremony was summed up by The King’s Speech, a movie that celebrated a privileged white man “finding his voice.” The film ironically, is about overcoming a disability, yet winning best picture, actor, director, and original screenplay served to highlight the movie industry’s lack of racial diversity. Shawn Tan’s win and Halle Berry’s appearance aside, diversity in this year’s show seemed to consist of celebrating “mature” performers or showing members of the LGBTQ community standing proud and thanking their partners. Women, beyond standard categories for performance, garnered honors for their work behind the camera.

At night’s end, The King Speech’s victory served as a metaphorical celebration of the white men who dominate the U.S. entertainment industry. This, despite the fact that the latest census indicates the United States will be majority minority by mid-century, or the more immediate reality that Hollywood serves a non-white global market. However, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science has made little headway promoting racial diversity. This is not to say that no program exists. The Academy awards grants every year to promote minority involvement in the entertainment industry. Still, the lack of racial diversity at the Oscars demonstrates how obstacles to diversity in the entertainment industry’s professional culture need more complex solutions than simple community outreach.

The Oscar show reflects on both the real business of making movies and how those movies shape our imagination about the American experience. In 2001, when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won awards for best actor and actress, their victories came two years after the then-president of NAACP Kweisi Mfume, challenged television networks for their lack of diversity. His critique led the major broadcasters to sign a pledge to pursue diversity in front and behind the camera. By comparison, movies have offered little in the way institutional commitment to challenge the lack of minority representation.

While there is a small cadre of minority performers with an on-camera presence, winning an Oscar is a statement that resonates beyond acting. As Melissa Leo said in her acceptance speech, the Oscar is “about the work.” It is the ultimate marker of excellence from your peers. Winning the Oscar is an affirmation from professionals to professionals. Academy members alone decide the winners, and thus a consideration of racial minorities’ successes or failures is a very real commentary on the professional culture within the industry. Acting aside, the televised categories represent thousands of professionals working within highly unionized industries that cannot seem to mentor racial minorities to the highest levels of success. This failure in turn creates the impression for millions watching that those jobs are not available to racial minorities. Indeed, while “cross over” performers achieve a mystical acceptance, the stigma create by the category demonstrated the continuing separation created by race in popular entertainment. Even a successful director like Spike Lee struggles to receive funding for projects. Lee challenge to Hollywood is well known, but while some would argue that writer/producer/actor Tyler Perry has overcome these barriers, I disagree. Perry’s appeal rests, in part, on his recognition that African-America audiences have been ignored. His theater, television, and film productions have recreated segregation era chitlin circuit, skillfully creating Afro-centric tales that act as counterpoints to mainstream white media.

It is unfair to suggest that this year’s winners are somehow responsible for the lack of diversity among the nominees. Indeed, such suggestions confuse the real issue. In order for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to give an award to racial minorities, more must be members of the club. This means more programs designed to target minorities behind the camera and in the front office. This is made all the more crucial by media convergence, but it is also made easier. With fewer and fewer companies producing entertainment, creating a culture that makes inclusion a priority becomes easier. The requirements demanded for the NBC/Universal merger are a functional if not spectacular example of institutional guidelines that can promote inclusiveness. NBC/Universal promised investment in minority production companies, targeted program for minorities, and diversity at all level of corporate structure. Without efforts like these, changes in professional culture are unlikely and the Oscar ceremony will continue its imperfect reflection of the American experience.

Students Present Papers on Historical Fiction at Phi Alpha Theta Conference

From the Public Relation Department Campus News Feed................

Professor of History Claire Strom holds herself to a high level of excellence, and expects the same from her students. On April 2, the hard work to meet these standards paid off for three of Strom’s students—Matt St. Jean (Class of 2011), Sebastian Novak (Class of 2012) and Carlee Hoffmann (Class of 2013)—who presented their papers at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at Flagler College.

Rollins’ participation in Phi Alpha Theta, a national honor society for students and faculty of history, is nothing new, but this marks the first time since Strom began teaching at Rollins that students have participated in the conference.

As part of her class History of the South, offered in the fall semester, Strom assigned students Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Seraph on the Suwannee, which profiles a middle-class white woman named Arvay Henson living in Central Florida in the early 20th century. As part of their final paper, the students wrote about the historical accuracy of Hurston’s fictional writing.

Since the conference considers papers written by undergraduate students, Strom decided to encourage a few students to submit their papers to the conference committee. “I felt that Matt, Sebastian and Carlee really excelled on this assignment and could benefit greatly from the experience of sharing it with other historians,” said Strom. “Matt and Sebastian in particular did great work with primary documents to piece together the actual histories of citrus and turpentine production during this time period, and their research provided great insight into the author’s intentions.”

Through their work with these primary sources, St. Jean and Novak found key information about the levels of accuracy in Hurston’s novel regarding the production of citrus and turpentine in Florida during the early 20th century. While Hoffman’s research was less focused on primary documents, her paper offered an insightful comparison of Hurston’s portrayal of middle-class white women and actual women living at the time.

The papers were part of a larger project at Rollins called Project Mosaic, aimed at combining several educational facets to strengthen and enhance Rollins’ African and African-American Studies program. Novak and St. Jean used sources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop their points, and both students were honored to read their papers at the conference, which isn’t typical for undergraduate participants.

“It was very rewarding to be involved in this experience, but it was kind of scary not knowing exactly what to expect at the conference,” said Novak. “There were so many questions like how many people would be there, would they ask questions, would they like our papers? Putting yourself out there in that way is always a challenge, but they were very receptive to our participation, and I was proud that my paper was appreciated enough that it was deemed appropriate for the conference.”

By Sarah Hartman (Class of 2011)

Rollins Football History: Sport and Culture in the Southern Mind

Rollins Football Team, 1907

Rollins Football Team, 1908

Rollins Football Team, 1921










Do you remember the Rollins Football team? Probably not, the Football program at Rollins was dropped in 1949. The problems associated with college football are well known, especially for smaller colleges that try to support those programs. In the long run, the lack of football saved the college money and time.

Today, the football team is punchline for a college T-shirt and nice trivia question. Yet, the football program at Rollins also gives historians and those interested in sport history a chance to examine race relations in Florida. In 1947, the Homecoming game between Rollins College and Ohio Wesleyan was canceled because the Ohio Wesleyan team wanted to bring an African-American player. When Hamilton Holt, the college president, announced that the Rollins v. Wesleyan football game was canceled, he stressed that the college made this decision to preserve the racial balance in the community. The issue at hand was simple. Should Ohio’s Kenneth Woodward, a Black running back, be allow to play in the game.

The crisis was created in part because the Ohio Wesleyan team, which has promised not to bring Woodward, reversed their decision and press to bring their teammate. Face with allowing the African-American player to attend or suspending the homecoming game, the Board of Trustees and the President chose to stop the game. In deciding to cancel the game, Holt was force to articulate his position on race in United States. A founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Holt was known for his public stands against racial and social intolerance.

Holt argued that while his own family history and personal sentiment opposed racial discrimination, the decision to stop the football game was driven by a desire to preserve the racial climate in Winter Park. The decision to call off the game of course drew attention from people on both side of the issue. Some condemned the decision, while others were mindful of the problems that would have been created by allowing an African-American player to freely compete in the Jim Crow South. Indeed, the racial climate in 1947 offered ample proof that Jim Crow restriction on African-American would be enforced through violence and intimidation. Nonetheless, there was clear evidence that African-Americans were unwilling to take such abuse.

In 1944, a statewide NAACP chapter, under the leadership of Harry T. Moore, began a campaign against lynching and in 1944 the group won a major victory when the state's white only democratic primary was ruled unconstitutional. Moreover, Moore was instrumental in raising African-American voter registration in Florida from five percent in 1934 to thirty percent in 1950, the highest in the South. Moore's story emphasize African-American desire overcome segregation's restriction, but his death in 1951 in a bombing highlights the fears that drove Holt's decision.

The recent story about the creation of a football club on campus has refocused attention on Rollins' Football history. While football's appeal in southern culture has only increased since the end of Rollin's program, the reality of funding a football program have not gotten easier. Indeed, the controversy over the cost of collegiate sport has grown more heated as rising tuition costs lead observers to question the future of access to higher education. Strangely, while professor's salaries are an open question for many critics of higher education, costs associate with sport are seemly accepted. Indeed, while professor salaries have grown little, major salaries for coaches, especially football coaches at major programs have been and continue to be formidable. Whether or not the current effort will result in a return to Rollins' glory days as a football power is yet to be determined. Still, the issues tied to football's re-emergence on campus go beyond play and touch on vital questions linked to rising costs in higher education.

History and Civil Rights

Julian Bond's recent visit to Rollins College was a unique opportunity to interact with someone with long history linked to the struggle for civil rights in the United States. As the person who nominated Mr. Bond to Winter Park Institute, I was asked to introduce him at events. It would have been an honored but, I demurred in part because there are many people on campus with their own history of striving for civil rights that would be better choices. Of course, Barry Levis my colleague in the History department at Rollins was high on my list.

Barry Levis came to Rollins College in 1968 as a professor of history. For more than forty years Levis has served the college as an active faculty member, student mentor and champion of academic excellence. Levis, like Julian Bond, hails from Pennsylvania. He grew up in Philadelphia like Bond, and went on to study at Pennsylvania State University, where he received his bachelor’s, M.A., and his Ph.D. in history. Since coming to Rollins Barry Levis embraced his own identity as gay man and emerged as an advocate for LGBTQ faculty and student. His efforts, along with other faculty, are reason that Rollins has domestic partner rights. Moreover, Barry has served as an advocate for diversity in curriculum, the faculty, and for the student body. I think my presence here is in part a result of that commitment.

I know this is something he regrets deeply, but it is too late:-)

So it was extremely fitting that Barry Levis gave a perfect introduction to Julian Bond on March 3, 2011. Mr. Bond talk detailed how he became involved in the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Barry Levis' introduction touched on the many points of overlap between the two men, but perhaps knowing Dr. Levis own efforts, his introduction is perhaps more meaningful for you.



My name is Barry Levis, Professor of History. When growing up in suburban Philadelphia in the 50s, I was vaguely aware of the great clashes of the Civil Rights movement. But, after all, it was taking place in another country south of the Mason-Dixon line where people spoke strange non-northern dialects of English. Frankly, I didn’t pay much attention. I was away at college when the race riots broke out in Philadelphia in 1964, and again only dimly paid attention. Returning from college in 1965, however, I did take notice since it had come rather closer to home. My father was ranting at the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, which he often did, because our Episcopal Bishop, Robert Dewitt, had engaged in marches around Girard College trying to de-segregate it. Stephen Girard had founded the college for fatherless white boys, and Bishop Dewitt among others tried to get the court to break the will since by now a large portion of the city was African-American. My father, an equal opportunity bigot [unless you were a white Protestant Republican who drove a GM car, you were somehow subhuman], was infuriated that the bishop had marched in full Episcopal regalia around the school. So this sort of discrimination thing was not just something that happened in the South. I also learned about the same time that my high school in Abington had before Brown vs. Board of Education actually had two campuses: the main one offering college preparatory courses and another in Crestmont, where our maid lived, the vocational program. That year proved a turning point in my life as I drifted away from what I had been taught at home to become what my father claimed was a communist.

While I was still living in my suburban haze, however, Julian Bond—a fellow Pennsylvania, I’m proud to say—had already become renowned as a student civil rights activist and leader. He moved to Pennsylvania in 1945 when he father became president of Lincoln University, near Kennett Square. He attended the George School just up the pike from Abington in Bucks Country and then attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, George. But unlike me, he did not remain political passive; he quickly became a student leader in both the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. In 1960, he founded the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights, a group instrumental in desegregating Atlanta’s theatres and parks. That same year, he helped organize SNCC (The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee). By 1964 he had been elected but expelled from his seat not once but twice in the George State Legislature because of his stance on the War in Vietnam. He subsequently served four terms in the State House and six terms in the State senate. He was nominated to run as Vice President in the 1968 Democratic election, although he turned it down because of his age. In 1971 he became involved with the Southern Poverty Law Center and served as its president from 1971 to 1979. Subsequently, he served as Chairman of NAACP from 1998 to 2009. He has held teaching position at Penn, Harvard, UVA, Drexel, and Williams. And he even has time to write poetry!

I have always been an admirer of Mr. Bond because he consistently speaks in measured tones, but his message is at all times inspiring and uncompromising. Although we are now three days from the end of Black History Month, it is still not too late to look back at those events, in which Mr. Bond was so intimately connected. As he told an Orlando Sentinel reporter, “It seems to me a proper time to celebrate the achievements and struggles of African-Americans. Even today, those struggles continue.”

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Julian Bond to talk about that history.



Thank You Dr. Levis....

Flashback--Reflections on Black History Month from 2007...Still About Right

Given Black History Month is around the corner, I am expecting to be asked about being black or blackness or whatever. There is no way for me to really answer these questions, but of course I do my best. Still, anything I can do answer in advance would probably be good. So, I went to the archives!!!!

I wrote this for the college newspaper wayback in 2007. The world has changed--African-American President!! On the other hand, it hasn't changed that much. I changed some words, who wouldn't? Still most of it is the same and I think it hold up well.

________________________________________________________

Well, it is Black History Month again. As usually my immediate thought is that we got the shortest month. Black people have done a lot for this country; you could have at least given us January. I did not take up this space to complain however; instead I want to consider the importance of a "black" history month.

It is true; the average person cannot identify famous black inventors, politicians, educators, doctors, or artists. On the other hand, it is likely that person could not identify any famous white persons for the same thing. It is asking a lot of people who cannot find Iraq on a globe to remember things that happened five, fifty, or even 150 years ago. Still, the whole idea of a special month for X group is problematic. For example, April is…Poetry Month…no, wait, it is Math Month, no, that is not right, it is Zoo and Aquarium Month. April is all of these things, yet when April rolls around I think to myself, "How long until the semester is over?"

The problem with a special month is that people sleepwalk through it, leaving the meaning behind the month…meaningless. Do not get me wrong, the need to celebrate the unique culture of the many peoples that make up the United States is noble. Yet, being forced to do so has been, and continues to be, a source of resentment.

Recently, Francis Fuyukama, a guest at the upcoming Rollins Colloquy, wrote in Prospect Magazine that the American identity is rooted in a White Protestant culture. As a result, the things Americans most identify with themselves, "the famous Protestant work ethic, the American proclivity for voluntary association and the moralism of American politics are all by-products of this Anglo-Protestant heritage." This interpretation of American identity plays well in Peoria, but it is not really true.

At the turn of the twentieth century, many Americans were convinced what made this country great was that the process of creating the United States incorporated the best elements of many immigrant people and forged them into an "American" identity where deeds and ideas mattered more than class, traditions, and lineage. Basically, immigration and multiculturalism made American unique. There were many conceits in this "melting pot" idea. Still, the result is we consume the elements of many immigrants culture without thought. Our culture pulls from the food, language, and belief of many people from around the world, but strips away the markers of difference.

Reacting to this ideas inform Black History Month, Hispanic History Month, and Italian Heritage Month. Yet, unlike their Italian counterparts, African Americans still face questions about their worth in society. Questions that stem from continued marginality. Even as studies show a growth in the black middle-class, the fact remains that race and racism persists. For African-Americans, the incorporation of their cultural perspective is a bitter pill. On the one hand, urban music, food, and style are the very definition of "urban" culture, while at the same time resentment and resistance prevents African Americans societal participation. And make no mistake, it is resistance. Whether it is segregation that ensures the wealth building opportunities associated with homeownership do not affect black neighborhoods or the lack of access to financial services that contributes to a wealth gap between African-American and mainstream society, racial biases remain an important part of the black experience. So the need to recognize African Americans and other minorities as fully functional and contributing actors in the U.S. identity remains strong.

This commitment does not depend on recognition in a special period however; instead it requires us to consider how the strength of differing perspectives helps the United States and how U.S. society must make sure that we do not ignore the inequity that sometime come from struggle between the majority and the minority. For all of the fear associated with multiculturalism, the ideas at the heart of U.S. identity resonate with every American. As we face the new century, a global perspective informed by American popular culture is shrinking the distance between people. It is a good idea to celebrate difference in this circumstance even if only to demonstrate that those who are different than us need not fear us. This is a lesson we can take to heart every month of the year.

Planning History, Atlanta, J. Horace McFarland, Visual Culture and You

This academic year is a strange beast for me. I am officially on sabbatical, a concept that non-academic types find hard to understand. Suffice to say, after a long period of testing, my department and the college have judged me worthy for tenure. Tenure is defined as"status granted to an employee, usually after a probationary period, indicating that the position or employment is permanent." In practice, popular culture has defined tenure as "you can't be fired, so now you can goof off." It is part of the whole, "ivory tower as bad cultural motif." In practically terms, after review I was awarded tenure and took the opportunity to go on sabbatical for the academic year. This means I do not teach any classes, not that I don't do any work. Since my work is kinda intellectual in nature (keep your jeering down to a low roar) outside observers don't necessarily see me breaking my back digging ditches--so to them I'm lounging in coffee shops...goofing off.

Skeptics aside, I have been pushing my particular lines of urban inquiry forward. Yeah, I'm a urban historian, so I study the city. I do so through some exotic lens (comics), but I do it through structural lens (city planning) as well. I am currently working hard at both the comic and planning lens. Comics are interesting in part because they allow me to consider basic questions about American urban history using popular culture. Comics, as I have spoken about, tell us about how U.S. citizens perceive the urban experience. My musing on this subject are freely accessible in academic and non-academic forums, so I'm not going to repeat myself here. Still, comics touch on the powerful impact of visual culture.

Visual culture also has links to city planning in my complicated mind. Recently, an article I wrote on J. Horace McFarland, a somewhat overlooked Progressive Era planning and conservation advocate was published by Pennsylvania History. McFarland is, at a very basic level, a human Swiss army knife(you groan, but you won't forget). He did so much, reformer, photographer, rosier, writer, lobbyist, speaker, proto-feminist, and the list go on and on.

As president of the American Civic Association (ACA) McFarland championed planning and conservation throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe between 1904 and 1924. I am currently working on a manuscript on Progressive Era planning in Atlanta. This research grows out of my dissertation, but it has evolved a bit because as I have continued to find information linking Atlanta to the broader debate going on in the United States about planning in the Progressive Era. McFarland is one point of intersection between Atlanta and broader world. McFarland's experience in Atlanta, similar to his experience in other cities, was to emphasize, through visual means, the consequences of rapid, unchecked urbanization. McFarland photographed cities across the United States, combined those photos into lantern slides (think powerpoint slide) and showed them to local residents. The goal was to allow the community to see the damage created by their actions and galvanize them to support reform. This kind of documentary as activism continues today. Still, we owe a debt to photographers like Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, and McFarland for their efforts.

Recently, Rebecca Ross, made me aware of a new web based project called Picturing Place. Picturing Place is an academic research project housed primarily by two universities [U.C.L_Urban Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture Research Fund and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design], both accredited by the UK Higher Education Council For England (HEFCE). The goal of the project is to critically explores the role of images and image-production in processes of urban change. The project incorporates multiple forms and images of cities. Urban renderings: maps, plans, and project descriptions are all open for inclusion. Added to that, actual depictions of the city: pictures, murals, billboards and other representation that shape our perceptions of urban space are also included. The project's goal is to encourage discussion about the role that visual languages has in the production of the built environment. I understood immediately that the problems facing reformers in Progressive Era United States fit within this project's framework. So, I went through the process to get an image from McFarland's collection included on the project. It is strangely apropos that the image I contributed to Picturing Place was taken in 1911. Now in 2011, this interdisciplinary project is bringing together scholars to create an interactive relationship between images and cities. I suspect Picturing Place will grow as the opportunity to communicate the impact of urbanization visually through the web-base platform offers opportunities to promote global discussion. I can already see other images I would like to contribute the website. If you have opportunity, you should contact them to submit images as well.

I'm thinking while on sabbatical. I'm doing as well. There is more to come on Atlanta, McFarland, visual culture, and space as it relates to the urban experience.

Yusheng Yao on the China-U.S. Relations

With the state visit from Chinese President Hu Jintao, Yusheng Yao took a moment to react to recent media reports about the evolving relationship between the United States and China.


The U.S. And China: Rivals That May Need Each Other As this NPR story suggests, Americans then to look at future relationship between the United States and China with two possible extremes.
America has entered a new year with a rising national debt and deficit projections. Meanwhile, China continues its ascent as a global economic player. In the years to come, an economically bruised U.S. may have to share the superpower spotlight with the competition. Still, former Pentagon strategist Thomas P.M. Barnett tells NPR's Guy Raz, American hype over China's rise is overblown, while foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman predicts that China-U.S. relations will get "bumpier" over the next few years.

As our resident China expert, Yusheng Yao reflects on these two positions.

In regard to Barnett's argument that China's rise is overblown: I don't think China's rise as an economic power is overblown--the dynamic and momentum of China's growth will continue for years to come. yes, it will take decades for the most Chinese to reach the level of American middle class. But that is not very relevant. What China lags far behind is its comprehensive power (especially what Joseph Ny's definition of soft power--cultural values and political system, etc) and it will not be easy for China to narrow the gap. Barnett's another point is that the challenge for the U.S. with China is not its competition but the level of responsibility it takes to the world system. That is true; but he may underestimate China's desire to change the rules of the game, not just to follow the established rules in world politics, finance, etc. That can be a great challenge for the U.S. in the future: how much are we willing to accommodate that?

Rachman's comment on U.S./China relations as "always had elements of friendship, cooperation and rivalry" can stand when we think of the more recent relationship of past 15 years. If we push the relationship back to the late 80s and early 90s, we found much difficult time after Tiananmen, and then before Nixon came to China, the two countries had been deadly enemies. For the present, when U.S. economy is not good and China is booming, China is perceived as taking unfair advantage of the bilateral and world trade system. I agree with Rachman that the bilateral relations will be bumpier in the next five years and I would go further to say that the relationship will be more bumpier as the balance of power is shifting between the two on more issues.

Miramax, Weinstein Co. pact for sequels - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety

Miramax, Weinstein Co. pact for sequels - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety

The Weinstein "re-invented" small movie company as cultural powerhouse. The sequel could be worth more to them than getting the entire library at some level.