“My music teacher was like, "Ester, you need to pay attention in class." I'm like, "No miss lady, 'cause I can sing." I didn't want anybody to change the way I sung. I learned by gospel CDs and by watching my momma sing; I didn't need this teacher to tell me. I wish I had, because then I would have learned how to play the damn piano or something. I would have a couple of more things under my belt if I wasn't so hard-headed.” IfsWayWantNeedsI CanHardPlayWishCausesPayAttentionClassTeacherMissingCouplePay AttentionDamnPianoBeltsCdsMommaMusic TeacherMy Momma Author:Ester Dean
“For too long, reporters for the big media outlets have been fixated on novelty, always moving too quickly onto the next big score or the next hot get. Paradoxically, in these days of instant communication and sixty-minute news cycles, it's actually easier to miss information we might otherwise pay attention to. That's why we need stories to be covered and re-covered until they filter up enough to become part of the cultural bloodstream.” NeedsLongHas BeensEnoughStoriesBigsMightMovingNextPayAttentionMinutesMediaMissingInformationCommunicationEasierNewsHotPay AttentionThese DaysInstantScoreCyclesCoveredSixtyReportersOutletsNoveltyFiltersAlways MovingInstant CommunicationSixty Minutes Author:Arianna Huffington
“What the left ends up missing is that politics have always been at the heart of American culture; it's been a white identity that's been rendered invisible and neutral because it's seen as objective and universal. As a result, we don't pay attention to how whiteness is one among many racial identities, and that identity politics have been here since the get-go.” HeartHas BeensEndsCultureLeftWhiteResultsPayAttentionMissingIdentityUniversalInvisibleObjectivesPay AttentionAmerican CultureWhitenessIdentity PoliticsRacial Identity Author:Michael Eric Dyson