#NPR's CodeSwitch

[giftedpoison]

i started school again recently after taking a really long break to figure my shit out.

and my first assignment literally has me emailing the teacher because it feels like she's asking us to divulge trauma on a discussion board post for our peers to consume.

and that feels weird. and i'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt by emailing her to get more explanation about the assignment. but am excruciatingly terrified i'm gonna make an enemy out of her by mistake during my first week.

(also for context I'm taking an Intro to Literature course. No idea how that connects)

[macaron-tea-party]

NPR Codeswitch being the best!

Recommendation time!

A great episode as always from the Codeswitch team at NPR.

Man was it depressing to hear all these kids having so little knowledge of Marsha ‘Pay it No Mind’ Johnson.

[protoslacker]

Liz Sostre lovingly described her husband as a "very complicated" man. He was smart, funny and principled. He saw widespread injustice in the world, but he was optimistic that it could be fixed. He was a champion of the poor, but he dismissed people who said "money is evil" as people who usually had it. Money was a good thing, he said. The problem was that not everyone had enough of it.

Liz Sostre quoted in a report at NPR CodeSwitch (April 2017) by Joseph Shapiro. How One Inmate Changed The Prison System From The Inside

This morning Shrinkrants at Bluesky linked to an upcoming book release event for A Continuous Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Martin Sostre by Garrett Feiber.

I was eagerto learn a little about Martin Sostre and found Joseph Shapiro's report. It's really great and really gives a sense why a biography of Martin Sostre has been so anticipated.

Note from AK Press: For each copy of A Continuous Struggle preordered from AK Press or Burning Books, we'll send a free copy of the paperback Incarcerated Readers' Edition to someone in prison

[brehaaorgana]

You still do not understand the point. You are not Black. Therefore your analysis of the situation is not warranted or needed. You should instead, reblog Black bloggers, repost (with credit and links) from Black users of other social media and donate to Black people in need. Adding another non Black voice on the topic of antiblack racist violence is never helpful. You are not the exception.

Okay, so first, I think this is inherently going to be a difficult conversation since you're anonymous.

second, I think we're talking past each other here, and genuinely, I'm not really sure why you think it's unhelpful for me to tell non-black people to stop and ask themselves some questions about a call by a non-black person to go watch a black woman be murdered by the police. I didn't make a huge callout post or demand anything or insist anything.

this is i guess point three, but: in all my time in the world thus far, it has been understood that I, as a non-black person, should tell my fellow non-black people when they don't have the right to decide something or say something or demand something regarding antiblackness or black people.

Like...genuinely, did we stop doing "Somebody come get your cousin?" on the social justice internet in the last decade for some reason?

Was I NOT supposed to say anything when fellow non-black people were trying to make choices/claims/whatever that aren't theirs to make, because we're not black? am i not, as a non-black person, supposed to speak up if i see something potentially problematic about non-black people's behavior towards violence against black people, particularly police brutality and murder, and ask them to THINK ABOUT IT?

also this is just....a Real Take. Like.

i've had my literal (mexican-american, cop) uncle blocked on facebook since Freddie Gray was murdered in 2015 because I told him he was being antiblack, which he was.

was i supposed to just phone a black friend to do the emotional labor of telling him he was being antiblack since non-black people can't speak on the topic of antiblack racist violence? That's sort of what you're implying here.

anyways anon i edited my other post, so here you are:

Black Voices on the topic of Viral videos of Police Killings of Black People:

PBS: White people don’t understand the trauma of viral police-killing videos by Dr. Monnica Williams.

Al Jazeera: Videos of police brutality can perpetuate Black trauma — The wanton display of footage of violent Black deaths re-traumatises Black communities and promotes racist tropes.

Sage Perspectives: When Black Death Goes Viral: How Algorithms of Oppression (Re)Produce Racism and Racial Trauma

Jstor Daily: Viral Black Death: Why We Must Watch Citizen Videos of Police Violence

This whole book: Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism

What to Consider before Watching Videos of Police Brutality

the New Republic: What Does Seeing Black Men Die Do for You? (Apparently re-titled as: Videos of Police Killings Are Numbing Us to the Spectacle of Black Death)

NPR's Codeswitch: A Decade Of Watching Black People Die

hope that works.

edit -- also for context my full comments:

brehaaorgana

2h

Genuinely (as someone who has handled graphic original photo print documentation of genocide/war crimes before)*** I don't see a reason to make a spectacle of a video recording of a black woman's murder by cops in order to understand what happened. It's just not necessary to do. Being a direct eyewitness to this kind of thing is not always necessary or even something desired by surviving family/community/friends.

bolding my own. Generals and specifics my own.

Someone replied:

I mostly agree with you, but I do think there's something to be said about how disconnected most of us feel from these issues, I think sometimes it does help to actually see it, if you can handle it, and if it's done respectfully with intent to educate. I have a lot of thoughts on this that won't fit in a reply.

My response:

that's fair, I also have a lot of thoughts that won't fit in a reply. Another (less about ethics) concern I had was jury contamination when this goes to court. But in general I think it's not…great to encourage people to make a spectacle of black people being murdered, especially in the US, & especially given the horrific history of using black murders as a recreational visual consumption activity by non-black ppl in the US. basically I would say there's a lot of questions I believe ppl need to ask of themselves if they do this. "who decides if, how, and when it is respectful for you/me to watch someone's murder? How does seeing it in the wild on the internet ensure an educational understanding? How is watching a black murder today different from when people made souvenir photos of black lynchings in the past? What makes it different? Does watching murder teach me something new? like ultimately I don't need an answer from anyone or even your answer specifically. That's all hypotheticals. but there's a huge amount of labor, ethical & legal guidelines, praxis theory & usually multiple degreed people that goes into things like "presenting [community traumas and state violence] the Atlantic Slave Trade or Holocaust or Trail of Tears in meaningful, educational, and respectful contexts" and ppl encouraging folks watching a horrific murder online aren't…engaging in any of that.

Someone else just replied to me:

@brehaaorgana thank you so much for sharing your thoughts in such a thoughtful, understanding, & appropriately serious manner. You never admonished but you certainly didn't mince your words/hold back from implying that this is anything but superfluous, unnecessary, and garish. Watching is nothing but gawking, when details and precise relaying of the event exists. One doesn't need to watch to understand that the cop is repellent & unqualified to be armed w/ authority. I don't care how much it helps you to "engage"; you've now admitted that you're watching the butchering of a human life for a self-serving purpose, even if that purpose is part of an otherwise commendable effort to remain informed and critical.

idk i feel pretty okay saying i, personally, am wary of personally making a spectacle of black people being murdered by police.

***I've obviously been to holocaust museums, native american museums, black american history museums, and so on, but I am referring specifically here to personally handling albums of photos taken and developed by Japanese soldiers during World War II while working in a museum research context.

[spunkbop]

Chitlin’ Cookin’ Time in Cheatham County

Over spring break this year, I was deeply entrenched in a strange uncharacteristic country/folk phase. In this phase I rediscovered and expanded upon my love for singer Sierra Ferrell when I stumbled upon her song "Chitlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County" and was immediately charmed.

The song came up by chance as a recommendation by our lord and savior Spotify after I had finished showing my mother the majesty of Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album.

It was at this point that I really truly started wondering what chitlins were. There had been a mention of a "chitlin circuit" in one of the songs in Cowboy Carter, but being from suburban Milwaukee and never particularly engaging with southern culture in any meaningful way, I didn't have the slightest inkling of what they may be.

Google gave me a rude awakening.

If you're eating chitlins, otherwise known as chitterlings, you're eating pig intestines.

Generally speaking, the West African diaspora is culinarily incredibly resourceful; essentially no edible part of a slain animal is left to waste. The tradition of eating pig intestines is heavily rooted in the West African ancestry of enslaved African Americans.

The history of eating pig intestines in the United States however, as is usually the case with American history, especially in the era before the abolition of safety, is much darker than simply carrying tradition across the Atlantic.

At the time of chitlins' development, the parts of a butchered animal that you were allowed to eat was decided by your class. While the upper class ate "high on the hog," slaves were left with cuts of meat that were considered undesirable, including the intestines.

Ultimately, however, whether its in Western Africa or in the American South, eating animal intestines is a legacy of resourcefulness and resilience, but it is also a labor of love.

In order for chitlins to be eaten and cooked without releasing a foul smell, the intestines must be thoroughly washed by hand. Today, chitlins are often reserved only for special occasions like holidays because of this time consuming and labor intensive process, but for those who love chitlins, the effort is definitely worth it.

While many Black Americans shy away from chitlins these days, either because they're disgusted by the concept of eating intestines, they don't like the flavor or texture, or because of their ties to slavery, for others, there is a strong sense of cultural pride in consuming chitlins. South Carolina even has an annual festival to celebrate the food and draws crowds of tens of thousands of people every year.

The history of chitlins goes far beyond West Africa and slavery however. The phrase "chitlin circuit" is a colloquial term for a collection of venues that were friendly to African American performers during the Jim Crow era and often sold chitlins as concessions.

Though these joints often paid poorly, many elite artists like Little Richard and James Brown got their starts in the Chitlin Circuit, and the venues in general were a massively important cultural center that facilitated the development of rock and roll.

The 2014 NPR article titled The Origin (And Hot Stank) Of The 'Chitlin' Circuit' includes a quote from author of The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll, Preston Lauterbach, in which he perfectly sums up why I feel that chitlins and "chitlin circuits" are so important:

"The Chitlin' Circuit was African-Americans making something beautiful out of something ugly, whether it's making cuisine out of hog intestines or making world-class entertainment despite being excluded from all of the world-class venues, all of the fancy white clubs and all the first-rate white theaters. I think ultimately there's a lot of pride in it."

Sources:

Brown, T. B. (2014, February 16). The Origin (And Hot Stank) Of The 'Chitlin' Circuit'. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/16/275313723/the-origin-and-hot-stank-of-the-chitlin-circuit 

Rummel, Rachel. (n.d.). Chitlins. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/chitlins-american-south 

[multimedia-journal-project]

Blog Post #3: NPR's "Code Switch"

NPR, which stands for National Public Radio, has been producing high-quality news, thought-engaging podcasts, and more, since the 1970’s. A branch of this non-profit organization is NPR’s “Code Switch” Podcast, which explores issues of race, ethnicity, identity, and culture in the United States. 

Its thought-provoking and informative podcasts may take the form of storytelling, interviews, and commentary. The different creative structures keep listeners engaged and attentive. Additionally, the podcast often examines the intersection of race with social aspects, such as culture, politics, history, and simple everyday life experiences. By bringing to light complex and sensitive issues, the podcast is able to create understanding and empathy within its listeners. 

This is the cover of the Podcast:

Photo Credit: NPR.org

The name itself, of the podcast, “Code Switch” means mixing languages or patterns of speech in conversation. The podcasts explore how many of us subtly change the way we express ourselves. The cover photo of the podcast is representative of the name: the use of colors, textures, and patterns, are used to exemplify the distinct parts of our identity that are used, even within a single interaction.

One of NPR’s “Code Switch” episodes titled, "What's Good? Talking White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo,” explores the concept of white privilege. In this episode, Dr. Robin DiAngelo, who is an American academic, author, and educator explores white fragility and whiteness. She identified that when confronted with discussion of race and racism, white people tended to show discomfort, defensiveness, avoidance, dismissiveness, etc. These responses were due to the “perceived” attack on their identity, and or, character. 

This conversation on whiteness and white privilege relates to Peggy McIntosh’s article titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” This article explores the everyday advantages that place White people ahead, and how these privileges are manifested in society. In this article, McIntosh displays a “White Privilege” checklist that helps identify whether one was White privilege or not.

Below are pictures of the checklist:

Photo Credit: Portal CVT

Both NPR’s podcast: "What's Good? Talking White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo,” and McIntosh’s  “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” explore the concept of whiteness which has been normalized as the default. Due to this harmful default, other racial identities are seen as highly visible and racialized. 

Identifying whiteness as a social construct, recognizing the privileges it brings, and using one’s unearned power to bring about change are crucial for the intersection of race and everyday life to be positive for all.

Citations:

NPR. (n.d.). Code switch. NPR. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch 

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. UW System authentication redirector. (Peggy McIntosh). https://uwmil.instructure.com/courses/650882/files/71792038? module_item_id=22107017

[kai-konishi]

The TikTok Algorithm

Works Cited

Farahany, Nita. "TikTok Is Letting People Shut Off Its Infamous Algorithm—and Think for Themselves." Wired, 14 Aug. 2023, www.wired.com/story/tiktok-has-started-to-let-people-think-for-themselves/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Hern, Alex. "How TikTok's Algorithm Made It a Success." The Guardian, 24 Oct. 2022, www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/23/tiktok-rise-algorithm-popularity. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Kung, Jess. "What internet outrage reveals about race and TikTok's algorithm." Code Switch, NPR, 14 Feb. 2022, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2022/02/14/1080577195/tiktok-algorithm. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Smith, Ben. "How TikTok Reads Your Mind." The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/12/05/business/media/tiktok-algorithm.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

Wall Street Journal. "Investigation: How TikTok's Algorithm Figures Out Your Deepest Desires." Wall Street Journal, 21 July 2021, www.wsj.com/video/series/inside-tiktoks-highly-secretive-algorithm/investigation-how-tiktok-algorithm-figures-out-your-deepest-desires/6C0C2040-FF25-4827-8528-2BD6612E3796. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.

The media pattern that I decided to research was the TikTok algorithm. I go on TikTok everyday and the algorithm is a very influential in the media I absorb throughout the day. I found out how it works and what kinds of videos TikTok decides to show you. And also what not to show you. There are some flaws in the algorithm, and furthermore, the EU has recently decided to ban the algorithm in order to preserve "cognitive liberty" among people.

[lesbiancosimaniehaus]

Listening to this fairly interesting episode of NPR Codeswitch but the title of the thing is “going to evangelical church in a black body” and I cannot for the life of me get over how bizarre that kind of phrasing is. I don’t get how we are so removed from like a basic materialist understanding of the world (amazing in a day and age when probably half of the people who listen to that show are “communists”) that it’s like not… instinctual to equate the self w the body. Idk. The whole way of talking and thinking about that is so bizarre and inconsistent

[megafangirlofmanythings]

Oh buddy, it's dumber than that. Let me tell you what. It's been around for a long time, and its nature is even weirder.

"In the late '90s, when Asia went through a huge financial crisis, South Korea's leaders decided to use music to improve its image and build its cultural influence. So the country's government poured millions of dollars into forming a Ministry of Culture with a specific department devoted to K-pop.

"It turns out that the Korean government treats its K-pop industry the way that the American government treats its automobile and banking industry, meaning that these are industries that have to be protected," Hong says.

This included doing things like building massive, multi-million dollar concert auditoriums, refining hologram technology, and even helping regulate noeraebangs — karaoke bars — to protect the interests of K-pop stars.

"They wanted Korea of the 21st century to be like America of the 20th century where America was just considered so universally cool that anything made in America would automatically be bought.""

-NPR

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/04/13/399414351/how-the-south-korean-government-made-k-pop-a-thing#:~:text=In%20the%20late%20'90s%2C%20when,department%20devoted%20to%20K%2Dpop.

In fact K-Pop actually was reported to have started in 1885 due to a traveling missionary,Henry Appenzeller.

-wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Appenzeller

And what I think @anime-liberation-front is think of was this back and forth incident

"On May 25, 2010, South Korea responded to the alleged North Korean sinking of a navy ship by broadcasting 4Minute's single "HuH" across the DMZ.[414] In response, North Korea affirmed its decision to "destroy" any speakers set up along the border.[415] That year, The Chosun Ilbo reported that the Ministry of National Defense had considered setting up large TV screens across the border to broadcast music videos by several popular K-pop girl groups such as Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls, After School, Kara and 4Minute as part of "psychological warfare" against North Korea.[416] In September 2012, North Korea uploaded a video with a manipulated image of South Korean president Park Geun-hye performing the dance moves of "Gangnam Style." The video labeled her as a "devoted" admirer of the Yusin system of autocratic rule set up by her father, Park Chung Hee.[417][418]"

-both facts from wikipedia

Conspiracy theory sunday

KPop became popular in 2012 due to Psy's song "gangnam style".

"Elsewhere in the world, the genre has rapidly grown in success,[115] especially after Psy's "Gangnam Style" music video was the first YouTube video to reach one billion views, achieving widespread coverage in mainstream media.[116][117]"

-Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-pop

"While the majority in Western countries have not heard about K-pop before PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ in 2012, Korean pop idols started to become famous in Asian countries in 2003. Singer BoA and boy group TVXQ became the first K-pop idols to successfully break into the Japanese market. "

-https://www.statista.com/statistics/937232/south-korea-kpop-popularity-worldwide/#:~:text=The,-K%2Dpop%20is&text=While%20the%20majority%20in%20Western,break%20into%20the%20Japanese%20market.

[lukesunbornn]

heyo you seem cool! i’m trying to find sources on the taylor swift anti semitic thing bc i do Not want to support her if that’s the case and i was wondering if you had any? (i saw another blog attacking ppl for asking so that’s why i’m on anon) i hope you have a lovely day! :>

here’s a great resource for you!!

[bostonpoetryslam]

If someone says 'I don't like any music,' I'd be like 'who are you? I don't understand' ... I think they haven't heard the right music. So I think we have to help people find the right poem for them.

Kevin Young, interviewed by Karen Grigsby Bates for NPR’s Codeswitch

[holyshit]

Hiiiiii Kay! I think maybe you don't know, but "gypped" meaning cheated or swindled out of something is derived from the word "gypsy" and is actually super offensive. Just so you know for future reference and use! Here's an article about it if you're interested: https://www . npr . org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/why-being-gypped-hurts-the-roma-more-than-it-hurts-you

oh damn, i had no clue! i will edit the post and use a different word! thank you so much for letting me know, i appreciate it <3

[allthingslinguistic]

Sociolinguist Amelia Tseng is on NPR Codeswitch talking about heritage language learning and identity. Description: 

Shereen and Gene look at "racial imposter syndrome." It's what one listener described as feeling fake, or inauthentic, in her identity. We invited listeners to write in, and hundreds of bi-racial and multi-cultural people shared their views. We'll also talk to social scientists about the basic need for belonging and the role language plays in identity. Later, writer Heidi Durrow joins us. She's founder of The Mixed-Remixed Festival, the largest annual gathering of its kind in the U.S.

[petitprincess1]

You know I support you. But before you encourage the white folks, please remember you cannot be racist against white people. Cracker historically has it's roots as a derogatory term WHITE PEOPLE used for POOR whites. It wasn't until american northern whites decided to equate "whip cracking livestock" to mean "overseer" in the 19th century. It was used against lower class immigrants with Celtic roots mostly. Not racist, but yes it's mean? I guess? Cracker is like a term of endearment amongst poor whites here in Florida and we know when people are trying to be mean about it but it has as much bite as a saltine. Anyway NPR did a thing on it: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/07/01/197644761/word-watch-on-crackers

(Am white with a history degree focusing on race in the American south)

I never used the term cracker though. I used it against someone because THAT person used the term cracker and because it was in an anon. I have no reason to use the term and never have tbh.

However, I will keep this because I am always up for learning something new.

[npr]

After three days on a Greyhound bus, Lela Mae Williams was just an hour from her destination—Hyannis, Mass.—when she asked the bus driver to pull over. She needed to change into her finest clothes. She had been promised the Kennedy family would be waiting for her.

It was late on a Wednesday afternoon, nearly 60 years ago, when that Greyhound bus from Little Rock, Ark., pulled into Hyannis. It slowed to a stop near the summer home of President John F. Kennedy and his family. When the doors opened, Lela Mae and her nine youngest children stepped onto the pavement.

Reporters' microphones pointed at her, their cameras trained on her family. The photographs in the next day's newspaper show Lela Mae looking immaculate. In an elegant black dress, a triple string of pearls and a white hat, she was dressed to start a new life. 

But President Kennedy was not there to meet her. And there was no job or permanent housing waiting for her in Hyannis. Instead, Lela Mae and the others were unwitting pawns in a segregationist game.

[preathfics]

I know this is random but do you know any good podcasts, doesn’t necessarily have to be soccer related?

Umm… you may have just…

News:

The daily

Up first

True Crime:

My favorite murder

Someone knows something

Special Topics: 

Season 1 of Serial

Dirty John

Sports: 

Hall of Shame

The Herd

The Lead

Stories: 

This American Life

Radio Lab

Embedded

Modern Love

Rough Translation

Serial

Revisionist History

Radio Ambulante (this is in spanish)

Race/Ethnicity:

Codeswitch

Latino USA

1619

Music:

All songs considered

Alt Latino

Interviews:

Fresh Air

So many white guys

The hilarious world of depression

Social Science/Economics:

Invisibilia

Planet Money

The indicator

(Less so for me, but others like: Hidden Brain, Freakonomics Radio)

Politics

NPR Politics Podcast

FiveThirtyEight politics

Pod Save The People

Pod Save America

Limited Pods on Special Topics:

Unerased (conversion therapy)

Nice White Parents (modern/historical school integration)

Caliphate (interview/deep background on a former ISIS member)

Finding Fred (Mr. Rodgers)

Dolly Parton’s America (Dolly with some the history of the modern south/country)

S-town (the very compelling story of one man living in the South)

More perfect (Season 1. History of the supreme court)

The office ladies (re-watch the office with Pam and Angela)

Anyone else have recs?