I came across this article a few days back, but at the time we were knee-deep in our own battle over race, and a body can only tolerate so much animosity on his site at a time.

Over on the site New Black Man, Emory Associate Professor of English and African American Studies, Lawrence Jackson, recounts an incident with Decatur police in June reminiscent of the Henry Gates arrest, when he was stopped along Clairemont Road for bicycling after dark without a headlamp.

Much can and – I’m sure – will be said about this in-depth account, but one thing cannot be argued; Jackson’s account is honest.  He’s very upfront with a series of past interactions with police that have forever altered his perception of officers.  He’s also honest in describing his “fury” once police pulled him over.  He could have skimmed over these factors, but he didn’t.

I don’t have the answer for this one.  I wasn’t there.  But I can predict how the conversation will go.  Some will argue that he broke the law and that his reaction to police is unacceptable.  Others will argue that this is just one more case of racial profiling, where a black man received a ticket where a white man never would.

I would just like to remind everyone that every man and woman is shaped by their own experiences.  Be it the cop in the car, the professor on the bike, or the anonymous commenter with a point to get across.  Facts are one thing, “truth” is perceived.

With that in mind, I ask everyone upfront to respect both each other and the conversation.

JKGA reminds us of the free Emory Cliff bus in response to my recent “In case you didn’t know, Atlanta traffic sux” post.  My issue with actually using the Cliff bus has always been its limited range.  Other than to commute daily to Emory, I have to be honest in saying that I don’t think I would ever use it.

However, for those of you that do make frequent trips to Emory and up North Decatur, did you know that you can track the position of every Cliff Bus live online (each bus is a little moving blob) and on your mobile phone (text only)?  It’s a pretty great feature.

But be careful, I quickly found myself wishing that MARTA had a similar service.  It might actually make riding the buses a viable (a.ka. smarta) option once again!

Emory Wheel

David Horowitz had come to Emory to discuss and debate the term “Islamo-fascism” with a room full of students and faculty. A group of mostly non-Emory protesters had other ideas.

From the Emory Wheel…

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Conservative commentator David Horowitz was forced to cut short his speech on “Islamo-Fascism” in the face of repeated interruptions, heckling and catcalls from some audience members in a packed lecture room in White Hall on Wednesday.

The event played out like a tug-of-war between two groups: protesters who shouted questions or anti-conservative tag lines after every few sentences Horowitz spoke and another faction in the audience who became increasingly vocal about their desire to hear him speak uninterrupted.

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It is at best ironic and at worst hypocritical to argue against terminology that implies oppression of speech (among countless other things) by oppressing that voice. Many quotes in the Wheel article agree.

For more on National Islamofascim Awareness Week”: The Huffington Post laughs at the event but welcomes the debate, while Christopher Hitchens makes a case for defense of the term in Slate.

Photo Courtesy of 11 Alive

A stage being set up on Emory’s Clairmont campus for the Fall Band Party concert featuring hip hop and R&B singer Akon, collapsed this afternoon resulting in injuries to three workers (none were students). The much-anticipated concert was subsequently canceled. No word on whether it will be rescheduled.

The AJC does a little internet sleuthing of its own and quotes a favorite Decatur Metro resource, The Emory Wheel.

“After a year and a half of promises, the Student Programming Council has finally convinced a big-name artist to appear on campus,” the school newspaper, The Emory Wheel, said in an editorial last week.

“An invitation to the concert sent out through Facebook Monday night already has more than 1,200 confirmed guests,” it added.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.436120&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3DdalaiInterviewFinal.flv%26width%3D340%26height%3D200%26bufferlength%3D7]
The Emory Wheel has the video (see above) from an interview the Dalai Lama gave to the press on Sunday.

For anyone that hasn’t had the opportunity to hear the Dalai Lama speak or will not be able to attend this afternoon’s public talk at Centennial Olympic Park, this is a great way to get beyond the headlines and hear the man in his own words.

UPDATE: WABE interviewed Emory Wheel editor Chris Megerian about his experience interviewing the Dalai Lama in the video above. Click the audio steam below to listen.

[audio http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wabe/local-wabe-642017.mp3]

Back to the headlines…

The AJC and AP report from the faculty ceremony this morning where the Dalai Lama was officially instated as a member of the Emory Faculty. During the ceremony, the Dalai Lama was presented with his own Faculty ID card by student Emily Allen who went on to say “I suspect you will not need to carry this with you for identification, but in any case, we wanted you to know you are welcome,” The Dalai Lama also exhibited his famous self-deprecating sense of humor when he exclaimed “With no training, no modern education, now somehow I got a professorship. I feel really rewarded.”

Photo Courtesy of Emory University

With Dalai Lama’s much anticipated visit to Emory now in full swing, the AJC reports on long term plans between the university and Tibetian monks that stretch beyond this weekend.  Each party has a challenging task, with the monks teaching over-stressed and caffeinated college students spirituality and meditation, while Emory faculty will teach monks in India concepts of modern math and science.

Anything worth doing isn’t easy.  Expect a lot of beneficial things to come out of this partnership in the future.

More info on the partnership can be found on Emory’s website here.

Emory’s Dalai Lama website is currently (9:45a Friday) showing “Breaking News” in big red letters announcing that there are a limited number of online tickets now available for Sunday’s First Emory Summit for Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding. If you want to see and hear the Dalai Lama converse with leaders of the other major faiths, in what promises to be a less hectic atmosphere than Monday’s Centennial Park appearance, quickly buy tickets $40 bleacher seats here. (it’s the third event from the top of this cluttered page)

They are disappearing fast. I saw $50 seats 10 minutes ago and now they’re gone (9:54a)   Tickets are now SOLD OUT

From Emory Press Release…

Emory University’s eighth annual “State of Race” event will feature the subject of the movie “Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina (“woo-ses-ah-bah-gee-nah”), who will deliver a lecture in Glenn Memorial Auditorium on “Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to be Learned” at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct 16.

Also a “Screen on the Green” of “Hotel Rwanda” will be held at 8 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15 on the Jenkins Courtyard of Goizueta Business School.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at the Dobbs Center on campus, 605 Asbury Circle. 404-727-8425.

If you work in downtown Decatur and have a free lunch hour, Emory wants to expand your horizons!  Starting tomorrow  the University will host one talk each month for the remainder of the year branded as “Life of the Mind“. Each lecture starts at noon (and I assume runs about an hour).  See dates, location and lecture topics below.

From Emory’s Press Release…

Lectures will be held at noon in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library. Visitor parking is available in the Fishburne deck, 1672 N. Decatur Road. For more information, call 404-727-6055.

Wednesday, Oct. 3
“Our Inner Ape: What Primate Behavior Teaches Us About Human Nature.” Frans de Waal, C. H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior and director, Living Links Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center

Wednesday, Nov. 7
“On the Origins of Evolution.” David Lynn, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology

Wednesday, Dec. 5
“The Empty Set: Labor, Technology and the Transmogrification of 21st Century Cinema.” Eddy Von Mueller, faculty member, Emory Department of Film Studies