Random Thoughts: Reflections On NABJ Convention, Donald Trump, Harold's Chicken and 'Protecting The Sister'
'Trump, who essentially proceeded to defecate on the convention, didn’t deserve to stand in our sacred space. Frankly, I wouldn’t have invited him. Period.'
By John W. Fountain
CHICAGO, Aug. 6—I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY some would favor inviting former President Trump to the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last week. The reality, however—long before he ever opened his mouth and assaulted our dear sister and fellow Black journalist (ABC News’) Rachel Scott with insults and aggressive hostilities—is: He was who we thought he was!
These are my random thoughts from this year’s NABJ convention. Just random thoughts.
NABJ, for me and other Black journalists, has long been a sacred space. Our space. A safe space. A place of rest, rejuvenation, regeneration and recalibration. A place where I remember many years ago as a young journalist at a time when I was struggling to cope in a white mainstream newsroom, I was walking through the halls at a convention and happened to spot two Black journalistic icons, Acel Moore and Les Payne.
They didn’t know me from a can of paint. I called their names excitedly and walked up and introduced myself then popped a question after telling them I was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune.
“How y’all deal with these white folk?” I asked.
They asked me what I was doing at that moment. “Nothing,” I said. They promptly invited me to sit down and talk over a drink. I don’t recall exactly what those two battle-tested veteran brothers said to me. But I never forgot how they made me feel: seen, heard, encouraged... In that moment, they saved my career.
That’s one of the things I love about NABJ. And that’s why, despite NABJ’s tradition of inviting presidential candidates to our annual convention, I was disappointed and disturbed that the organization extended an invitation to former President Donald Trump, who, for starters, is a convicted felon, twice impeached as president, and a well-documented liar who has disparaged Black women journalist and politicians and has promised to pardon those convicted for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Trump, who essentially proceeded to defecate on the convention, didn’t deserve to stand in our sacred space. Frankly, I wouldn’t have invited him. Period. And certainly the moment, as my mama used to say, that he started “acting a fool,” I would have ended the discussion and told him in my Bernie Mac voice:
“You don’t have to go home, Mr. President. But you gotta get the hell up outta here.”
Anywho… A family member emailed me after learning Trump was speaking at NABJ. He asked simply, what’s next, “The KKK speaking at Rainbow PUSH?”
Exactly. Just random thoughts.
Amid so-called polls that suggest Black male voters are flocking to Trump, my first question is: Whatchoo talkin bout Willis? Next question: Whose polls?
That is certainly not my sense as a Black man or as a Black journalist who weeks ago ventured to the West Side’s North Lawndale to speak with a group of Black men—ranging from the age of 60-something to 18 (some of them first-time voters)—about this year’s election and the so-called growing Trump magnetism amongst the bruhs. Not a single Trump supporter among them. But also not exactly thrilled about the Democrats either.
Here, in the neighborhood where I grew up and where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. moved in with his family in January 1966, to call attention to Chicago’s Black poor, they candidly expressed an overall sense of disenchantment, discouragement and also disengagement. But the most apparent “d” word was disconnection.
The question for them: What is the next president of the United States—Republican or Democrat—going to do about all the guns, economic despair, absence of jobs and the abundance of poverty and blight in the 60623? A neighborhood where a 2019 analysis by New York University School of Medicine found that residents who live in downtown’s Streeterville (60611) live to be 90, while residents of North Lawndale—less than 8 miles away—live to be 62, a 28-year gap in life expectancy.
Will they vote? Some said, yes. Some, no. Others, maybe. But this much is clear: It’s gonna take more than political pie-in-the-sky rhetoric or smoke and mirrors. And more a candidate or party that presents a solid proposal for social reform and policies that offer hope and a reason for folks on this side of the tracks to go to the polls.
But as far as I can see, we’re trapped in a two-party system. Caught between a rock and a hard place. Just random thoughts.
Ok, let’s “protect the sister.” But to assume or assert that Black men don’t have any choice except to vote for Harris just because she’s Black doesn’t exactly compute.
MAN, MY NABJ CONVENTION bag of goodies was kinda thin this year. Chicago’s famous Garrett’s caramel mixed with cheddar popcorn that some registrants reportedly received was MIA in my bag by the time I scooped up my NABJ bag on Friday. But it did contain a bunch of fliers. Plus a good old handheld paper cardboard church fan! Yes! Uh, no. Just my random thoughts.
Also conspicuously absent was the presence of any Black male journalists on the three-panel team that interviewed Trump. No not one. How’d organizers miss that one? Inquiring minds want to know.
I suspect if it had been reversed—an all-Black male panel of interviewers—sisters wouldn’t have stood for it. And rightly so. So on behalf of the brothers, may I ask: How about a little Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?
Just random thoughts.
What the cluck? Did anybody else notice that the nearby Harold’s Chicken on South Wabash prices mysteriously crept up while we NABJers were NABJing in the Chi. A 5-piece wings diner increased 41.17 percent from $8.50 on Thursday to $11 on Friday. A certain long-term investigative reporter friend of mine pointed out the discrepancy as we stood in line to purchase afternoon victuals. Brought to the attention of the chicken attendant at Harold’s who took our order for wings with hot and mild sauce, she assured that it had absolutely nothing to do with the NABJ influx and was instead a planned permanent hike. Hmmm. Not sure I clucking believe it.
While downtown Chicago basked in the economic glory of convention goers and Lollapalooza this past weekend, the shooting continued in the other Chicago with 48 wounded and five people killed, according to reports. With two mass shootings this weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive, it brought the number of mass shootings so far this year in Chicago to 20. Damn. When will it stop?
Shout out to the brothers that I was honored to serve with on “The Black Male: Coveted & Banned” panel: Richard Fowler, Charles Blow, Gianno Caldwell, moderator Kevin Cork, and Aaron Day who coordinated the session. It was a lively discussion on the critical role Black males will play in this year’s election and was itself proof that Black men are not a monolith. And just as important: That we can agree to disagree and yet remain agreeable.
A huge shout out as well to my former Washington Post colleague Jackie Jones, dean of Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication. NABJ honored her with its inaugural Drum Major Award. Yaaaaay, Jackie!
By the way, great to see you Hamil, Cheryl and T. Shawn!
Random thoughts.
REGARDING THE RECENT WIN With Black Men call—and the preceding Win With Black Women call—for Vice President Kamala Harris, which raised collectively more than $3 million for her campaign, it reflects a willingness of Black men—and women—to “put their money where the mouth is.”
Except I couldn’t help but wonder if we rallied with the same fervor around the issue of missing and murdered Black women and girls in America how far it would go in helping to solve some of these cases and also elevate the issue in hopes of making the streets safer for our sisters, daughters, mothers.
Or how about a call to focus on the fratricide that leaves the bodies and blood of young Black men lying dead in streets across America? Or a call getting to the bottom of why our selective rage boils over whenever a white cop shoots someone Black (as in the recent horrendous shooting of Sonya Massey) but is barely a wisp of steam and stirs no protests when the slaying of us is by us? Aren’t “we” still our best hope?
Just random thoughts.
The notion is brewing that as Black men, “we must protect this sister,” Kamala Harris. Those were words Van Jones uttered on CNN, asserting that Black men would rally behind Harris because she is a Black woman and has already, in her brief presidential campaign, faced racial insults.
Ok, let’s “protect the sister.” But to assume or assert that Black men don’t have any choice except to vote for Harris just because she’s Black doesn’t exactly compute or man that if, for whatever reason, you choose to not vote for Harris that you have to turn in your Black card.
So Black men are supposed to just fall quietly in line with no questions, without weighing the issues, without giving any thought to whether it is Harris’ and the Democratic Party’s proposed policies and promises or Trump’s and the Republican’s that best serve them?
At the end of the day, it may well be that in light of Trump Harris is the best choice to protect our democracy. But how can we forget that it was the Democrats who usurped Democracy to give us Harris in the first place after kicking Joe Biden to the curb after he won the presidential nomination in an open and fair primary.
Oh, and regarding “protecting the sister,” I think U.S. Secret Service—and Doug Emhoff—appear to be doing a very fine job.
Just random thoughts.
Great to see so many young journalists at NABJ this year. To you, I say, three things:
No. 1: “Keep your head up” as you return to your various newsrooms and endeavor to be true to your craft and calling.
No. 2: “You can’t argue with excellence, be excellent.”
And finally, No. 3: “Never Internalize Their Disrespect.”
Safe travels to all. See you in Cleveland next year for our 50th anniversary!
Email: Author@Johnwfountain.com
