Hanif on Media

What a week.

Between writing, editing, interviews, research, configuring social media sites, a class and a few public events, I’ve yet to recover from meeting the impressive array of folks at last week’s Census Bureau summit. But here are some notable items since then about which I expect to share more:

• The week really got rolling at the 9 a.m. Monday swearing-in of now-former Florida state Rep. Priscilla Taylor as the new District 7 Palm Beach County commissioner. I’ve known Ms. Taylor since she was a Port of Palm Beach commissioner. The Democrat seems an inspired appointment by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist

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  Former Florida state representative Priscilla Taylor, at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast in West Palm Beach two years ago, with Gov. Charlie Crist, who has appointed her to the Palm Beach County Commission.

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• The next evening, I also dropped by the kickoff of former Rep. Henry “Hank” Harper’s campaign to replace Ms. Taylor for the state House District 84 seat he once held. He’s one of several candidates such as Delray Beach Commission Bernard “Mack” Mackenson. As with “Monday Morning At the Commission,” it was good to catch up with folks I hadn’t been seeing elsewhere.
• The talk of African-centered education takes on different tenor depending on who’s talking. Amefika is walking the talk from his Joseph Littles-Nguzo Saba charter school in West Palm Beach to Washington, D.C. To be around this school’s kids, parents and teachers is to know they’re something special. Watching the youth head out for the first several blocks with him and other adults was more than special. I plan more on that too. For now there’s a blog at school’s web site, and Twitter updates at www.twitter.com/jlnscswalkathon.
• Tarra Pressey, the CEO of Tarra Pressey Enterprises, owns and manages food and beverage concessions from South Florida to Atlantic City. She just won another contract for the Fort Lauderdale airport. She’s busy encouraging girls to excel her. Yet she’s in her early 30s and hardly slowing down. She spoke at a Black Chamber of Commerce-sponsored session at her Sam Snead’s Tavern at the Palm Beach International Airport. I hope to share what she had to say, and more.
• As always, the monthly Focolare meeting on Saturday was inspiring. I’ll share more on that over at InterFaith21.
• On the national front, another classic: President Obama’s speech to the NAACP. I highly recommend reading or watching that one, and his Ghana speech. I’m not expecting to agree with all of his policy positions, much less expecting perfection. But I agree with countless other Americans, and folks around the world, that he is the best mind, and the most mature, balanced spirit to have occupied the Oval Office in lifetimes. Given that our country’s problems are daunting enough without the divisive shenanigans from the other side of the aisle (latest exhibit: Senate’ Judiciary’s Sotomayor hearings), we should stand with him even more strongly now.
• International? Thanks to the abominable media coverage of the Mideast, there still are people who think we invaded a certain sovereign nation, sacrificed or defaced the lives of thousands of our young people and millions of Iraqis, while squandering trillions of dollars and running our economy into the worst rut since the Depression, because “Saddam wouldn’t disarm.
• To help round out the perspective, some sites are must reading. Richard Silverstein’s Tikun-Olam is among them. So is Juan Cole’s Informed Comment. The University of Michigan professor of history is the most authoritative voice I know on “the Middle East, history and religion.”

Just that quick shout-out for now. I hope to catch up on all that, and more as time allows.