Cathy J. Cohen - Democracy remixed: black youth and the future of American politics

DEMOCRACY REMIXED

The Politics of Public Housing: Black Womens Struggles
Against Urban Inequality
Rhonda Y. Williams

Keepin It Real: School Success Beyond Black and White
Prudence L. Carter

Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities, and
the Call for a Deep Democracy
J. Phillip Thompson III

Party/Politics: Horizons in Black Political Thought
Michael Hanchard

In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture
in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Richard Iton

Race and the Politics of Solidarity
Juliet Hooker

I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre
Lorde
Rudolph P. Byrd, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, and Beverly
Guy-Sheftall, editors

Democracy Remixed
Cathy J. Cohen

CATHY J. COHEN

OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS

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Copyright 2010 by Cathy J. Cohen

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohen, Cathy J., 1961
Democracy remixed : black youth and the future of American politics / by Cathy J. Cohen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-537800-9
1. African American youth-Social conditions. 2. African American youth-Political activity. 3. United States-Race relations. 4. United States-Politics and government. I. Title.
E185.86.C5815 2010
305.23508996073dc22 201000042 8

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

For Ella

It has been written a million times that no one is able to write a book alone. The support necessary to identify interesting questions, engage in research, and finally write and review the text of what you hope will be a compelling and well-thought-out manuscript is provided by many colleagues, friends, and family. This book is no different. I owe many, many people a very deep debt of gratitude for their support, especially all of the young people across the country who took time to answer our survey and talk directly to me and the other researchers associated with this project. Thank you!

I have been told that attempting to name anyone is a mistake because undoubtedly I will forget some person or group critical to the process of producing Democracy Remixed. I understand the risk but still want to highlight at least a few people for a more public thank you and hope that others who are not mentioned here, but who contributed greatly to this text, will forgive me for issuing a private thank you the next time I communicate with you.

I want to thank all the students, young professionals, and gifted people 30 and under who took time out of their schedules and lives to help with this book and the creation of the Black Youth Project website ( www.blackyouthproject.com ). Thank you Alexandra Bell, Jamie Bharath, Paula Nicole Booke, Annette Burkeen, Jamilia Celes-tine-Michener, Aron Cobbs, Nate Cook, Andrew Dilts, Amir Fair-dosi, Samuel Galloway, Tanji Gilliam, Marissa Guerrero, Justin Hill, Crystal Holmes, Marcus Hunter, Mosi Ifatunji, Edward James, Ain-sley LeSure, Tehama Lopez, Jonathan Lykes, Jerusalem Melke, Julie Merseth, Charles Miniger, Alexandra Moffett-Bateau, Leigh Richie, Laurence Ralph, Michael Ralph, Scott Roberts, Jonathan Rosa, Theo Rose, Claudia Sandoval, Fallon Wilson, and Deva Woodly.

I also want to extend my thanks to Michael Dawson, Martha Biondi, John Brehm, Fione Dukes, Mary Ann Esquivel, Richard Iton, Diana Jergovic, Waldo Johnson, Bakari Kitwana, Melissa Harris Lacewell, Taeku Lee, Beth Niestat, Eric Oliver, Mary Pattillo, Mario Small, Rolisa Tutwyler, Celesete Watkins-Hayes, and Lisa Wedeen for their intellectual insights and day-to-day support as I labored to finish this book.

The only way this research could have been conducted was with the support of funding agencies. For such assistance, I want to thank The Ford Foundation and specifically Thomasina Williams and Sarah Costa for their generous intellectual and financial support for this work. I also want to express my gratitude to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Division of the Social Sciences, the Office of the Provost and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago for providing time, research support, and space for the Black Youth Project. Similarly, a special thank you must be extended to David McBride, Alexandra Dauler, and Jessica Ryan at Oxford University Press and my co-editor Fred Harris for their patience and good will.

When everyone else is gone or are otherwise occupied, the people I know I can depend on for unconditional support are family and friends. Thank you to Charles and Quinters Cohen, Charlene, Henry, Charles Jr. Terry, Tamara, Charles III, Tony, Milton, Milyon, Malaiya, Mikayla, DaWasha, TiErica, Tiana, Kamontae, Tyshonn, Terryon, Harmony, Peyton, Barbara, Peter, Jason, Asha, Tracye, Amir, Kim, Michelle, Jocelyn, Robert, Thomas, Winston and Beatrice Richie, Winston Jr, Charlotte, Kara, Laurel, Anne, Alex, Camille, Louis, Janet, Doug, Katherine, Len, Jackson, Acey, Mary, Willa, Catlin, Sansi, Laura, Jill, and Nate.

Finally, if any two people have left their imprint on this book and my heart it is Beth Richie and Ella Carmen Cohen-Richie. Beth did lots of heavy-lifting around this book, including reading and commenting on every chapter at least twice. Both of them were extraordinary in the time they afforded me away from our family to work on this book. Most importantly, they both provided me with needed distractions from the book as a reminder of what really is important in life. I cannot imagine my life without them and the book and I are better because of them.

DEMOCRACY REMIXED

M Y INITIAL INSPIRATION for this book was my nephew Terrance, or Terry as our family calls him. Terry was the first grandchild, which meant that all the hopes and dreams of earlier generations were entrusted to him. Yet, despite the best efforts of his mother, his stepfather, and the rest of his family, Terrys life trajectory was different from what wed hoped. Terry never graduated from high school, and by the time he was 25 he had seen two of his best friends killed by other young black men. Terry spent time in prison and fathered a number of children, while having difficulty finding and holding a job. To an unsympathetic reader, Terry might be the stereotypical black youth, without direction and doing harm to responsible black people trying to get ahead. For many who do not know him, Terry might seem like the young black men and women who appear briefly on the evening news: those young black people who many believe have chosen a deviant lifestyle immersed in a culture of poverty, sex, violence, and consumerism.