Columns by Dori J. Maynard

It's Time to Recognize All Dads on Father's Day

Dear Sheryl Sandberg,

You advise women to lean in and speak up. I’m taking your advice.

I can’t tell you how disappointed I was in the Father’s Day feature on which your Lean In Foundation collaborated with Time magazine. 

 

 
  

  

    


  
  	    

      Recalling Dad's Encounter With Intensive Government Monitoring 
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      
At age 55 and dull, part of me buys the case that it's better to lose a little bit of privacy for a whole lot of security.

So  the government wants to monitor me? Okay. I have nothing to hide and  you, poor investigator, run the risk of dying of boredom.

But that's today when I have nothing to hide and little to fear.

In  the tumultuous 1950s and 1960s, the story might have been different,  something my dad reminded me of as he lay dying of cancer in the summer  of 1993.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Coverage of Oakland violence does not offer proper context
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      
This column was originally published on The Oakland Tribune. - MIJE Staff


To the outside observer, my neighbor Sasha probably looks like a homeless drug addict.

On the surface, that's true. He's the first to admit it.

For  residents on our block, Sasha is also the one who takes out our garbage  each week, rakes leaves, trims plants, cleans litter off the sidewalk  and brings news of neighborhood goings-on.

In short, skimming the surface with Sasha means missing his essence.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      It's Time for Ordinary People To Lead Discussion on Guns  
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Thursday, December 20, 2012        

        




My first job out of college was in Bakersfield, Calif., far from the Northeast where I was born and raised.


There were a multitude of differences that required not only an adjustment but also a complete recalibration of what I expected from the world. Bakersfield was far from a culture of Sunday brunches, The New York Times and Woody Allen-loving moviegoers. In those early 1980s, New Yorkers were still unabashed Allen fans.


By far the biggest difference was the everyday role that guns played in the lives of many friends and colleagues.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      What Moves You - Images of Voice and Hope Summit: Mind Full Media 2012
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      


At the Image of Voice and Hope World Media Summit—Mind Full Media 2012—I was invited to be part of the panel “What Moves You” and asked to talk about the mythology the media is creating around communities of color. 


Here is the presentation I delivered September 28, 2012: 


     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Trayvon Martin and the Media Depiction of African American Males 
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      
“He’s got his hand in his waistband, and he’s a black male.”

 — George Zimmerman to a 911 operator shortly before he fatally shot Trayvon Martin



When people ask why I do the work I do, sometimes I tell the truth — because I don’t want my brothers shot.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      "Black Woman Redefined" Author Sophia A. Nelson Talks About Media Images Today
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Wednesday, July 20, 2011        

        




Yesterday a Summer's Eve ad was the talk of social media networks. Author and media commentator Sophia A. Nelson discusses the ad, black women's images in the media and why she was compelled to write the recently released "Black Woman Redefined".
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Chauncey Bailey Project: A Journalistic Collaboration
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Tuesday, June 14, 2011        

        




At a time when two reports are heralding the importance of journalistic collaboration in this age of rapid media transformation, an Oakland, CA jury succinctly made just that point when it convicted Yusuf Bey IV and Antoine Mackey of murdering journalist Chauncey Bailey.
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Connecting with the Communities We Cover
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Thursday, May 12, 2011        

        




There is something disorienting about living in a town where the perception and reality of your city are often sharply at odds.


Mention Oakland, CA, and the words may vary, but the response is often the same. “EW!” “I’m sorry about what’s happening to your city.” “That’s scary.” “It’s really been going through a rough patch.” “You live in Oakland? I’m scared to go there.”
     


    
 


 

  

  

    


  
  	    

      Obama, Osama and a New Conversation
    

  
  
      

      
          

  
  

	      

    

            

                    Thursday, May 5, 2011        

        




Last Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher was playing when my brother’s text arrived telling me that Osama bin Laden was dead.


While much of the rest of the country waited for President Obama to address the nation, I watched conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart echo others calling for the release of the president’s college records and suggesting that he didn’t write his first book.