Brown Man Thinking Hard

I had fun on the BBC Radio panel yesterday, even if it was mostly a lot of waiting for a moment to jump in the conversation. If I didn't learn anything else, I was reminded once again that the courtliness and gentlemanly comportment my father insisted on when I was growing up, a sense of decorum I still carry, has no place in the world of high octane media personalities.

As these radio appearances increase, I am slowly beginning to let the real Brown Man hang out there. Like your president, I don't ever think I'll be a fast talker.

An hour IS a long time - if you are short on time, and only want to hear my parts, you can find them at the 10:00, 18:10, and 45:45 marks by clicking this link.

And if you are really short on time, just read Wednesday's post - I said the same things on the air I say here all the time.

Things that don't get said enough .

I had no idea when I taped last weeks radio show that I would be the lead-in for the First Edition interview with Congressman Alan Grayson

He's the Florida Democrat who has been getting all the attention because of the provocative, over -the-top antics he has been using lately to spotlight the inconsistencies in the GOP arguments against healthcare reform.

Kris Broughton & Sean Yoes Talk About Politics

"Who is this president that we elected that can't commit to a direction at this late date and be the leader on something that he's going to point to next year as the crowning achievement of his administration?

It's his horse - he's gotta ride it."

First Edition with Sean Yoes - Guest Appearance November 1st

I like this radio gig.

With three appearances under my belt, it looks like the Brown Man might get to do this regularly.

So I've archived these first on-air moments, partly because I like hearing myself, but mostly because I'd like for you to hear them too.

Kris Broughton & Sean Yoes Talk About Politics

"I think that [Obama's] ability to focus on multiple areas at the same time is something we're still not fully appreciative of yet."

First Edition with Sean Yoes - Guest Appearance August



Kris Broughton & Sean Yoes Talk About President Obama

"Obama instinctively has a need to talk to you about the hard things, the bad things first."

First Edition with Sean Yoes - Guest Appearance September 6th



Kris Broughton & Sean Yoes Talk About Race & Politics

"These people are angry because someone is kinda pushing their buttons. They're not necessarily racist."

First Edition with Sean Yoes - Guest Appearance September 13th


Enjoy.

Excerpted from "A Sharecropper's Healthcare Plan"

"I am self employed.


My deductible is $10K and all visits are paid out of pocket until that deductible is met. This summer, I paid thousands of dollars in medical payments for my child who had taken ill suddenly. My monthly premiums are $398.00.


I have never filed a medical claim in fifteen years. The doctors’ invoices are paid by me and the insurance company premiums are paid whether I work or not.

The more I write, the more I feel like the sharecropper.


I am working to pay for nothing."

Genma Holmes
author of the blog Genma Speaks

I'd been thinking about putting a "SEARCH" feature on this blog for some time, since the posts were starting to pile up.

Blogger must have known how lazy I've been lately - the last time I went to update this center column, a brand new "SEARCH" gadget was staring at me from the top of the gadget list. A few seconds later, it was installed.

It is located at the top of the right hand column, and comes with a non-color coordinated text box - does Blogger think of everything or what?

It works a lot like Google. Just type in a phrase, like "mortgage bailout" or "Michelle Obama" or "Obama" or "politics" or "AIG", or even "Michael Jackson, or one of my favorites, "rap", and all the posts that contained those phrases will be listed immediately.

I typed in the phrase "black people" and ended up spending fifteen minutes rereading some of my own posts, written so long ago that I'd forgotten what I'd said.

Enjoy.

I'm not normally a TV watcher, but The Real Housewives Of Atlanta was such comedy last year I had to check the premiere of season two out last night.

The Real Housewives Of Atlanta have all gone Hollywood - all of them have lost weight, all of them seem more aware of the cameras, all of them seemed to be playing roles on top of their normally fake diva roles - I don't know if I'm going to get through this season.

Its almost as if they are taking their fake reality seriously.

Oh well.

I was over at The Black Snob, reading at article about my fellow alum Toure' , the writer whose article published in the New York Times Magazine in advance of the Obama family's upcoming vacation on Martha's Vineyard has caused an uproar among those black folks on the island who are proud of their pedigrees.

Toure' presented an unflattering portrait of their island society, including a quote from one "unnamed African American who summered on the island" that not only described Michelle Obama as a "ghetto girl", but then had the nerve to back it up by adding "you know she's from the same place that Jennifer Hudson is from."

The irony of the whole piece, though, the one that topped off the week, was a quote in the article in the Martha's Vineyard paper by none other than Elizabeth Gates, daughter of THE MOST FAMOUS BLACK PROFESSOR IN AMERICA, who had to admit that some of the society doings black people often rush to participate in when they "make it" were overrated.

Maybe THE MOST FAMOUS BLACK PROFESSOR IN AMERICA will realize after his arrest that he really lives in LaLa Land. I live in La La Land myself, but I KNOW this isn't reality.

Looking down our noses at each other is one of the longest, if also one of the least productive, of the African American traditions. I thought about this for a second before I pushed the button on my book review, but I am no Lawrence Otis Graham, trying to burnish my background.

I come from a long line of outsiders and contrarians, and plan to continue the tradition.

Brotherman - The Odyessy Of Black Men In America
Edited by Herb Boyd and Ronald Allen

Still I Rise
Ronald Laird
Taneshia Nash Laird

Sag Harbor
Colson Whitehead

Suave is cool in a movie star. In a doctor, not so much. Sanjay Gupta was so smooth I wondered if he had ever really gotten his hands dirty as a doctor.

Obama's new pick, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is the real deal.

Since Essence Magazine was kind enough to actually focus on something I think is worthwhile instead of that "How To Keep Your Man" stuff they do every other month, I'm going to post this link they sent me to a pretty good article they've got on the Good Doctor written by Cynthia Gordy.