Black News,Your Views, African American News Source.
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This page features print and video news stories that effect the lives of African Americans. Of course there are news stories about Barack Obama's historic bid to be president as well as stories on other black politicians. There's news on medical issues such as diabetes and hyper tension. There's news on racism and discrimination. There's news about regular every day people who go above and beyond to help the Black Community.
You can give your opinion or comments by emailing me at george@letstalkhonestly.com or on the LTH Chat Box.
Hillary Clinton supporter Delmarie Cobbs claims that Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones called her an uncle tom. Watch his denial and her version of the event below:
08/27/08
Obama assasination attempt at DNC?
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Denver police have foiled what may have been an assasination attempt
against Barack Obama.Denver Police believe that the attempt may have
taken place during Obama's speech at Invesco Field. Read more by
clicking the link below:
Michelle Obama's DNC Speech
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08/25/08
8 million African Americans not registered to vote
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Hi this is is George cook and I thought this would be a great story to share to help remind people that they have up until 10/06/08 to register to vote so that they can vote in the November Presidential election.
Despite record numbers of voters who turned out during the presidential primaries last spring, eight million African-Americans are still not registered to vote. This according to Rick Wade, African-American vote director for the Obama for America presidential campaign.
Wade explains that the eight million unregistered Black voters accounts for 32 percent of eligible Black voting population nationwide. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
TV One and BET deny they're Obama cheerleaders
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The African American-oriented cable TV networks are bound for the Democratic convention with happy hearts but clear eyes, they say.
By Greg Braxton SOURCE www.latimes.com
AMID the crush of media at next week's Democratic National Convention will be two relative newcomers to the election scene: TV One and BET, a pair of cable networks that court an African American audience. As all media outlets, the pair must meet the usual programming and logistical demands of convention coverage, but they also face a question that is virtually unique to them: What is the line between pride and advocacy?
Although Sen. Barack Obama's historic candidacy has prompted the two networks to devote unprecedented resources toward political coverage, it also means they must find a journalistic balance between honoring the achievement and reporting the news. That tension has been highlighted by both networks' decision to extensively cover the Democratic convention and practically ignore its Republican counterpart.
Both networks can provide a depth and insight that perhaps the mainstream media cannot, but they are still wary of charges of favoritism, which have already surfaced within some pockets of the black national media.
"If the media outlets are covering this just because he's black, that's the wrong reason," said Harry Lyles, an Atlanta-based urban radio and media consultant who has been critical of many black radio stations' Obama boosterism. "Any time there's a presidential campaign, it should be important to African Americans, and not just because one of the candidates is black."
For TV One, which has never covered a political convention, the decision to be in Denver was simple. It wanted to showcase what it considers to be one of the most critical moments in African American history -- a major party's coronation of an African American candidate. Its coverage, which comes at the expense of much of its usual lifestyle and entertainment programming, will be exhaustive.
It's planning to deliver live gavel-to-gavel coverage during prime time, just as mainstream news outlets CNN and C-SPAN do. That coverage will be supplemented by a freewheeling talk show, "TV One Live: DNC Afterparty," featuring, among others, the Rev. Al Sharpton discussing the day's events, and segments on convention food and fashion.
"Our mission is to celebrate African American culture and to chronicle African American achievement," said TV One Chairman Johnathan Rodgers, who is investing $1 million toward convention coverage -- a considerable amount for a small network. "When the year started, this was not in our budget. But when he became the presumptive nominee, it just seemed like this was a sure thing for us."
But TV One executives contend that Obama isn't getting a "rubber stamp" from the network. One of the hosts for the "Afterparty" program will be the Rev. Marcia Dyson, a strong supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Also, comedian Sheryl Underwood, a Republican, will be one of the panelists as well.
"We've gotten folks who can discuss these issues and what's happening from all sides of the coin," said Robert Branch, TV One's director of programming and production. "There will be balance from people who can speak with passion."
Meanwhile, Black Entertainment Television is returning to limited journalism after abandoning its nightly newscast in 2005. The network will feature periodic reports and interviews from the floor and will broadcast Obama's acceptance speech live. It also will air a special live edition of its new weekly news show, "The Truth With Jeff Johnson."
Kevin Brown, BET's vice president of news and public affairs, rejects the suggestion that his network might be biased in its coverage.
"I really take offense to the charge that black journalists can't be objective. There is the celebratory nature of the moment, that's true," said Brown. "But we're going to call the candidates on their agendas. We can't give either of them a free pass. We do have to keep in mind our demographic, which is the 18- to 34-year-old viewer, and be responsive to that. But that will not taint the integrity of the journalism that goes into it."
But not everyone regards possible preferential treatment of Obama by black cable networks as damaging.
"I don't have a problem with the cheerleading," said Darnell Hunt, head of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. "The black press will provide a perspective and viewpoint you won't get from other press."
The networks dream of landing an interview with the candidate, or at the very least, with his wife, Michelle. TV One also wants to interview members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who are frequently overlooked by mainstream news shows.
They both plan to greatly scale back their efforts at the Republican National Convention, which begins Sept. 1. BET will offer only limited coverage, while TV One will have none.
"Just by definition, covering the Republican National Convention doesn't fit into our mission, and our viewers would not expect it," said Rodgers. "There's no need for us to bring a presence to an event if there's no African Americans involved."
However, if Sen. John McCain chooses Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his running mate, TV One would at least provide a live broadcast of her acceptance speech, added Rodgers.
But Hunt believes it's a mistake for the black channels to ignore the Republican National Convention, which has low support from most blacks.
"They should be covering all conventions," he said. "There hasn't been the type of investment in collecting news about the state of black America that would balance and complement the news that comes from more mainstream outlets. And given the role the RNC has played in the problems of this country, I would think those networks would want to be there."
The black networks, however, need ratings, and they are unlikely to be garnered with expansive coverage of the Republican convention, say executives. Obama, in some Democratic primaries earlier this year, was winning well over 80% of the African American vote, and those same voters hunger for news about the Illinois senator, they said.
"During the debate season, I would look at my ratings for those nights and they were lower, while CNN's and MSNBC's were higher," said Rodgers. "It was clear my viewers were looking for information and for a place to talk about what is happening."
While juggling duties for several media outlets, including CNN, Roland Martin, who will be TV One's chief political analyst, defended his network's decision to report just from the Democratic convention.
"People have to remember that TV One is not a news network," he said. "They cannot go to a convention like this and cover it like a news story. If people are looking for a news element, they should go to CNN. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh will be broadcasting from the DNC. I think not. You have to analyze who you are."
08/24/08
Black Republicans switching parties to vote for Obama
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Click the link below to read a great USA Today article about a small but growing trend of Black Republicans ( Is that an oxymoron?....lol) switching parties to vote for Barack Obama. This has some saying that they are just voting by race.....
Barack Obama is my inspiration, says lost brother source-http://www.telegraph.co.uk Discuss this story on the LTH Chat Box
George Hussein Onyango Obama
George Hussein Obama, 26, was discovered this week living in a shack on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. He told The Daily Telegraph that although he had hardly spoken to his half-brother, the Democratic candidate's book Dreams Of My Father was providing the inspiration to lift himself out of poverty.
"When you have a brother who wants to be the number one most important person in the world, it obviously gives you a lot of inspiration," Mr Obama, 26, said at his corrugated tin shack in a Nairobi slum.
"There was a long time when I was just taking a break, doing nothing, trying to find myself and what I wanted to do. Now I am more focused on my future, and I can say it is because I understand more about things because of hearing what Barack is doing."
Mr Obama said he has had only two brief conversations with the presidential candidate when he visited his Kenyan family two years ago. They have the same father as the Illinois Senator, but a different mother, Jael, who is now an American citizen living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Barack Obama's Kenyan family is scattered across the country, including his grandmother and uncle in the west close to Lake Victoria and several aunts and cousins living in Nairobi.
But this is the first time that his half-brother George, who had been unheard of until this week, has spoken to the British media.
The half-brothers' father died when Mr Obama was just six months old, and he was raised in Nairobi by his mother and a step-father, a Frenchman working for the European Union.
He lived in South Korea for two years from 2001, when his mother moved there for business, he said.
When he returned to Nairobi he became distanced from his mother and slept rough for several years before being offered his simple room in a small compound owned by his aunt, Barack Obama's older sister.
He now in more regular contact with his mother, but has no phone and can rarely afford the costs of the international call.
"It was difficult not knowing much about my father, but when I read Barack's book, Dreams Of My Father, I learnt a lot and it really helped me to understand my past and my family," he said.
Today, Mr Obama is studying to be a mechanic at a college close to his six foot by eight foot one roomed home on a muddy road behind the Soldiers of Faith Church in Nairobi's Huruma slum, one of the more violent areas of the city.
"Huruma is a tough place, last January during the elections there was rioting and six people were hacked to death," he said.
"The police don't even arrest you they just shoot you. I have seen two of my friends killed. I have scars from defending myself with my fists. I am good with my fists."
Now, the shy but bright Mr Obama said, "I want to work hard and get myself to somewhere more comfortable".
He will not be calling on his famous brother for help, however.
"We have only met twice, once when I was five or six, and again in 2006," he said. " I cannot say that we are close, he probably does not even think about me. I am not going to start pestering him, I don't want to look to him for help, I want to achieve things for myself.
"I don't even tell people that I am related to Barack Obama, I don't want people here to be harassing me because they think I have money or influence. I have nothing like that, I am a person who likes to live quietly.
"I don't have any ambitions to do anything like politics, in Kenya, that means nothing. I read the newspapers, but only the sport section. Sometimes I am sure there are things about Barack which I miss, but it doesn't matter to me.
"Of course, if I was in the US I would vote for him, I think everyone should. But I am a bit biased," he joked.
Trouble The Waters, a Katrina Documentary
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There have been other Katrina documentaries most notably Spike Lee's When the Levee's Broke but most have dealt with the aftermath of Katrina. The film Trouble the waters follows a family DURING Katrina as it was actually happening.
Trouble the Water, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her husband trapped in New Orleans by the hurricane and its deadly floods.
Trouble the Water takes you deep inside the 9tth ward of New Orleans as the hurricane begins to rage and floodwaters trap the community. This terrifyingly honest film documents the harrowing voyage of living through Katrina. Watch the trailer below:
Mixed-Race Kids Cuter, But Worse Behaved?
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The author of Freakonomics ( Steven Levitt ) wondered, "What's it like to grow up with one parent who is black and another who is white?" Well, here's what he offers as his findings (emphasis ours):
1) Mixed-race kids grow up in households that are similar along many dimensions to those in which black children grow up: similar incomes, the father is much less likely to be around than in white households, etc.
2) In terms of academic performance, mixed-race kids fall in between blacks and whites.
3) Mixed-race kids do have one advantage over white and black kids: the mixed-race kids are much more attractive on average.
4) There are some bad adolescent behaviors that whites do more than blacks (like drinking and smoking), and there are other bad adolescent behaviors that blacks do more than whites (watching TV, fighting, getting sexually transmitted diseases). Mixed-race kids manage to be as bad as whites on the white behaviors and as bad as blacks on the black behaviors. Mixed-race kids act out in almost every way measured in the data set.
US Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died
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By M.R. KROPKO, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - A Cleveland Clinic official says Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio has died.
Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil says Tubbs Jones died at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday after suffering a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function.
The 58-year-old Tubbs Jones was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war. She suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in her east side district Tuesday evening.
Here is a brief bio
During her first term, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones secured passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement (CAPE) Act, her first piece of legislation. This bill uses common sense enforcement reforms to protect children from abuse and neglect without increasing federal spending or imposing unfunded mandates on states.
In the 107th Congress, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones introduced the Uterine Fibroids Research and Education Act of 2001. This act would increase funding for research on uterine fibroids and provide enhanced public education about this condition. The Congresswoman introduced the Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices Reduction Act, which would require certification of mortgage brokers and enhance penalties for predatory loans, and the Campus Fire Prevention Act, which would provide money to equip college dorms, fraternities, and sororities houses with fire suppression devices. The Congresswoman introduced the Retiree Health Assistance Act of 2001 to fund the health care costs of retired steelworkers. She is an original co-sponsor of a number of important pieces of legislation, including election reform, healthcare for low and middle-income families, and a bill to establish a nationwide system for tracking chronic diseases.
Other Public Offices
Congresswoman Tubbs Jones has made a number of historic achievements in her distinguished career as a public servant. Prior to her election to the House, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones served as the first African-American and the first female Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor. She was the first African-American woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and was a Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland.
Education
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones is a graduate of Cleveland Public Schools. She went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, graduating with a degree in Social Work from the Flora Mather College in 1971. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate form Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1974. Additionally, she has received honorary doctorates from Myers University, Notre Dame College and Central State University.
Family
The Congresswoman was married to Mervyn L. Jones, Sr., deceased, for 27 years and is the proud mother of Mervyn Leroy Jones, II.
Committees
Committee on Ways and Means
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
08/20/08
Race sometimes a problem in eyewitness IDs
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Cross racial ID's in which one race identifies another are leading to several innocent people being sent to jail based on misidentifications with those winding up in jail often being African American.
"The majority race is not as good at identifying minorities as it is its own race. This is hard-wired in some way that we don't completely understand. But the phenomenon should be presented to the jury," said Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project. Read the entire story by clicking the link below
Laurence Fishburne joins cast of CSI.
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How do you replace one very good and intense actor in William Peterson. You get an equally good and intense actor in Laurence Fishburne.Fishburne, an Emmy and Tony winner, will be introduced in the ninth episode of the upcoming 10th season, the network told The Associated Press on Monday. He'll play a forensics scientist with a secret. Read more about his character and his role on CSI by clicking the link below:
Barack Obama views on Clarence Thomas
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Click the link below to see Barack Obama discuss why he would not have appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court during a forum moderated by Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church .
08/17/08
Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated
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By John Blake CNN
(CNN) -- The Rev. Paul Earl Sheppard had recently become the senior pastor of a suburban church in California when a group of parishioners came to him with a disturbing personal question.
They were worried because the racial makeup of their small church was changing. They warned Sheppard that the church's newest members would try to seize control because members of their race were inherently aggressive. What was he was going to do if more of "them" tried to join their church?
"One man asked me if I was prepared for a hostile takeover," says Sheppard, pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, California.
The nervous parishioners were African-American, and the church's newcomers were white. Sheppard says the experience demonstrated why racially integrated churches are difficult to create and even harder to sustain. Some blacks as well as whites prefer segregated Sundays, religious scholars and members of interracial churches say.
Americans may be poised to nominate a black man to run for president, but it's segregation as usual in U.S. churches, according to the scholars. Only about 5 percent of the nation's churches are racially integrated, and half of them are in the process of becoming all-black or all-white, says Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-author of "United by Faith," a book that examines interracial churches in the United States.
DeYoung's numbers are backed by other scholars who've done similar research. They say integrated churches are rare because attending one is like tiptoeing through a racial minefield. Just like in society, racial tensions in the church can erupt over everything from sharing power to interracial dating.
DeYoung, who is also an ordained minister, once led an interracial congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that eventually went all-black. He defines an interracial church as one in which at least 20 percent its membership belongs to a racial group other than that church's largest racial group.
"I left after five years," DeYoung says. "I was worn out from the battles."
The men and women who remain and lead interracial churches often operate like presidential candidates. They say they live with the constant anxiety of knowing that an innocuous comment or gesture can easily mushroom into a crisis that threatens their support. Poll: Race and religion in America »
"It's not all 'Kumbaya' and 'We are the World,' " says Sheppard, the pastor of the Northern California church, who was raised by his father, a Baptist preacher, in the black church. "There are plenty of skirmishes."
Can't we just be Christians?
If it's so tough, why bother? That's one of the first questions interracial churches must address.
DeYoung says he encountered many blacks who said they wanted a racial timeout on Sunday.
"They would say, 'I need a place of refuge,'" he says. "They said, 'I need to come to a place on Sunday morning where I don't experience racism.' "
Whites also complained of their own version of racial fatigue, other scholars say.
Theodore Brelsford, co-author of "We Are the Church Together,'' another book that looks at interracial churches, says whites often say that church should transcend race.
"They'd say, 'Can't we just get along without talking about race all the time? Can't we just be Christians?'"
Not really, say advocates for interracial churches. They argue that churches should be interracial whenever possible because their success could ultimately reduce racial friction in America.
American churches haven't traditionally done a good job at being racially inclusive, scholars say. Slavery and Jim Crow kept blacks and whites apart in the pews in the nation's early history. Some large contemporary black denominations, like the African Methodist Episcopal church, were formed because blacks couldn't find acceptance in white churches.
Large denominations like the Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians split over race in the 19th century when their members clashed over the issue of slavery, Michael Emerson, a scholar on interracial churches, recounted in his book, "Divided by Faith."
But interracial church advocates say the church was never meant to be segregated. They point to the New Testament description of the first Christian church as an ethnic stew -- it deliberately broke social divisions by uniting groups that were traditionally hostile to one another, they say.
DeYoung, the "United by Faith" co-author, says the first-century Christian church grew so rapidly precisely because it was so inclusive. He says the church inspired wonder because its leaders were able to form a community that cut across the rigid class and ethnic divisions that characterized the ancient Roman world.
"People said that if Jews, Greeks, Africans, slaves, men and women - the huge divides of that time period -- could come together successfully, there must be something to this religion," DeYoung says.
Biblical precedents, though, may not be enough to make someone attend church with a person of another race. Something else is needed: a tenacious pastor who goads his or her church to reach across racial lines, interracial church scholars say.
The Rev. Rodney Woo, senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, may be such a person. He leads a congregation of blacks, whites and Latinos. Like many leaders of interracial churches, he is driven in part by a personal awakening.
Woo's mother is white, and his father is part Chinese. He attended an all-black high school growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, where he still remembers what it was like to be a minority.
"Everyone understands the rules, the lingo, the mind-set -- except you," he says. "It was invaluable, but I didn't know it at the time."
When he became pastor of Wilcrest in 1992, he was determined to shield his church members from such an experience. But an exodus of whites, commonly referred to as "white flight" was already taking place in the neighborhood and the church.
Membership fell to about 200 people. At least one church member suggested that Woo could change the church's fortunes by adding a "d" to his last name.
"The fear there was people would think I was Chinese," he says. "There would be a flood of all these Asians coming in, and what would we do then?"
Woo kept his last name and his vision. He made racial diversity part of the church's mission statement. He preached it from the pulpit and lived it in his life. He says Wilcrest now has about 500 members, and is evenly divided among white, Latino and black members.
Woo doesn't say his church has resolved all of its racial tensions. There are spats over music, length of service, even how to address Woo. Blacks prefer to address him more formally, while whites prefer to call him by his first name, (a sign of disrespect in black church culture), Woo says.
Woo tries to defuse the tension by offering something for everyone: gospel and traditional music, an integrated pastoral staff, "down-home" preaching and a more refined sermon at times.
But he knows it's not enough. And he's all right with that.
"If there's not any tension, we probably haven't done too well," he says. "If one group feels too comfortable, we've probably neglected another group."
Going from "they" to "we"
Sometimes, though, a determined pastor is not enough. Interracial churches can also implode on issues far more explosive than worship styles -- like sex and power.
One such issue is interracial dating. Some scholars and leaders who deal with interracial issues say it's not unusual for parents in racially-mixed churches to leave when their teenage kids begin dating.
Woo saw that exodus at Wilcrest. Some parents talked about the importance of a multiracial church, until their kid became attracted to someone from another race within the church.
"As kids began to date, some things get revealed," he says. "They didn't want their kids involved in interracial dating -- and that's not just whites."
Accepting black leadership is another touchy subject. Most interracial churches are led by white pastors. A congregation typically becomes all-black if a black pastor is hired, says DeYoung, the "United by Faith" co-author.
"As long as the top person, the senior pastor, is white, power sort of resides with whites," DeYoung says. "But when that shifts, it does something psychologically to people. People usually leave."
Black pastors who do gain the acceptance of interracial congregations still have to watch themselves. Some white parishioners, even progressive ones, get uneasy when a black pastor gets too fiery in the pulpit, says Brelsford, co-author of "We are the Church Together."
"A black church sermon that could be understood as impassioned might be interpreted as angry and defensive by a white congregation," Brelsford says. "It could kick into fear of black men."
Sheppard, the black minister of the church in California, says he modified his style to appeal to all sorts of people.
He says he abandoned the pulpit pyrotechnics he learned growing up in the black church when his congregation's racial mix changed. He also carries his authority lightly, dressing casually in the pulpit and consulting with church committees before making decisions. In conversation, he's relaxed and accessible.
"I'm very aware of how rare this is," he says of being the black minister of an interracial congregation. "I'm humbled by it."
The people in the pews must also do their share of adapting, scholars and ministers say. Only when ethnic groups no longer feel compelled to abandon their entire culture on Sunday morning can a church claim to be interracial, Brelsford says.
An interracial church isn't one in which all the black members act, dress and worship like the church's majority white members to make them feel comfortable, he says.
Interracial churches resist "taking one dominant identity and forcing everyone to fit into it," Brelsford says.
That appears to have happened at Sheppard's church in Northern, California. Since its rocky early days, it has now grown to a multiracial congregation of about 6,000 people. Whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos - all now attend.
"We refuse," Sheppard says, "to be a one-flavor-fits-all church."
Interracial congregations often include people who probably wouldn't have become friends in any other circumstances. They are people like Dwight Pryor, a black man who grew up in segregated Mississippi seeing blacks brutalized by whites. He says he grew up disliking white people.
Today, Pryor says he is best friends with a white member of Wilcrest, a man who grew up in Alabama during segregation in a family that hated blacks.
When Pryor sees his friend on Sunday, he says he no longer sees a "they" or a "them" trying to invade his world.
He sees his brother in Christ.
"We come to love each other," he says. "When I look into his eyes, I can see the love of Jesus Christ. He and I have become friends."
Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick now facing assault charges
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A judge has now found that there is enough evicence to Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatick with assault; Just to refresh your memory Mayor Kilpatrick allegedly assaulted two law officers trying to deliver a subpoena at a friends house. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Jeremiah Wright is not writing a book
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CNN's Roland Martin is reporting that the rumor floating around about Jeremiah Wright penning a book are false. Jeremiah Wright's daughter has confirmed that there is no book. Read the short story below:
A New York magazine cover story last week reignited the debate over Rev. Jeremiah Wright when it stated - without attribution - that the former pastor of Sen. Barack Obama was releasing a new book.
But his daughter, Jeri, told me today that the story is absolutely false.
"The only book we're working on is the history of Trinity (United Church of Christ) and I haven't even started editing that," Wright told Essence.com.
After I reached out to her, she called her father, who is teaching and ministering in Ghana (I ran into him last month when I was in the West African nation) and said he "laughed" when she asked about the book.
"He said that he also got an email, but was unable to respond since he's in email hell," Wright said, meaning in a place in Ghana where it's difficult to send and receive email.
"I asked him if he was writing and he said, 'Nope. I'm not publishing anything. I'm not going on any book tours.'"
Rumors about a pre-election book by Wright have been surfacing for the last few months, and intensified since the New York article.
It even has caused a stir among Obama supporters, who were also chasing down the rumor to see if there was any legitimacy to it.
I even got calls from executives in the publishing world inquiring as to whether the story is true.
Jeri Wright says when her dad returns to another part of Ghana, he will issue a formal response to the New York article reiterating that what they reported is false.
08/14/08
Published with permission of articles writer
Former cop indicted in Taser death in Louisiana
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By Howard Witt www.chicagotribune.com/howardwitt Tribune correspondent
August 14, 2008
NEW ORLEANS
Ruling in a racially explosive case that some forensic experts have described as police torture, a grand jury in the small Louisiana town of Winnfield indicted a white police officer Wednesday on charges of manslaughter and official malfeasance for repeatedly shocking a handcuffed black suspect with a Taser device, resulting in the man's death due to cardiac arrest.
After two days of closed testimony, Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils announced that the grand jury had indicted Scott Nugent, 21, for the death in January of Baron "Scooter" Pikes, 21, while in police custody. Two other Winnfield police officers who were present during the incident were not charged.
Nugent, who was fired from the police force in May, could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted on the charges. He surrendered to sheriff's deputies immediately after the indictment was issued, a spokesman for Nevils said, and a $45,000 bond was set.
"It is our intention to show at trial that Mr. Nugent caused the death of Baron Pikes by 'Tasing' him multiple times, unnecessarily and in violation of Louisiana law, and by failing to get him medical attention when it was apparent he needed it," Nevils said in a statement. "In a civilized society, abuse by those who are given great authority cannot be tolerated."
Pikes, wanted on a drug possession warrant, was apprehended and handcuffed Jan. 17 after a foot chase. Although Nugent's police report of the incident stated that Pikes did not resist or struggle after being handcuffed, the officer administered nine 50,000-volt Taser shocks to Pikes' body after he was slow to respond to Nugent's order to stand up.
Witnesses said Pikes pleaded with Nugent to stop Tasering him. But within 39 minutes after he was first subdued, Pikes was dead.
Winnfield police claimed that Pikes told them during the incident that he suffered from asthma and was high on PCP and crack cocaine. But Winn Parish Coroner Dr. Randolph Williams found no evidence of such drugs in Pikes' system or any sign that he suffered from asthma. He ruled Pikes' death a homicide and noted that Pikes was unconscious when the last two Taser shocks were administered, after he had been loaded into a squad car and delivered to the police station.
Both Williams and Dr. Michael Baden, a nationally prominent forensic pathologist who reviewed the case, said the incident "could be considered to be torture."
The Pikes' case, first recounted in the Tribune in July, aroused fears of a cover-up among family members and civil rights groups because Winnfield, the birthplace of Louisiana Govs. Huey and Earl Long, has a long history of political corruption.
Nevils' predecessor as district attorney committed suicide amid allegations that he had skimmed $200,000 from his office accounts and demanded payoffs from criminal suspects. The former police chief, who was Nugent's father, also killed himself, after losing a close election campaign marred by fraud allegations. The current police chief was convicted of drug possession as a young man and was pardoned by former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who is now serving a federal prison sentence for corruption while in office.
Skin Bleaching Thrives Despite Ugandan Government Ban on Dangerous Cosmetics
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Results of bleaching
In a sad story that shows that black women all over the world are dealing with self esteem and beauty issues women in Uganda are putting their health at risk by bleaching their skin in an attempt to be more "beautiful". This has become such a problem that the goverment has now banned some bleaching creams and lotions. This story features a very sad a telling paragraph
Consumers of bleaching cosmetics claim that they want to enhance their beauty. One woman who declined to be named, explains, “One has to look good, by having fair, lighter skin.” Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Judge frees convicted Ohio rapist after DNA test
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(AP) A judge on Monday released a man who spent nearly 18 years in prison on a charge he raped a 10-year-old girl after a lab re-examining cases across Ohio showed that his DNA profile doesn't match evidence from the crime scene.
Robert McClendon, 52, was the first inmate to be tested in the review.
He was transported Monday from the Chillicothe Correctional Institution to a courtroom where he met with lawyers from the Ohio Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic based at the University of Cincinnati.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider, citing the DNA test, granted McClendon's release from custody.
"You know, you go through times where you feel it might not happen, but you never, ever give up hope," McClendon said after his release. "You don't ever use the word, 'never happen.' It's not healthy."
Jennifer Bergeron, a lawyer with the Innocence Project, said she expects prosecutors to formally drop charges against McClendon within the next two weeks.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, who must decide whether to seek a new trial, said he hasn't been able to discuss the new developments with the victim or her family. Continuing to prosecute the case seemed unlikely, he said.
"I do not think it's heading to a new trial," O'Brien said.
McClendon was reserved in court.
"To be in prison for 18 years for something you didn't do and then know you are going to walk out of court a free man, that's a lot to take in in one day," Bergeron said.
McClendon planned to go to the home of a relative in Columbus on Monday to celebrate his release at a dinner with about 50 supporters, friends and relatives, said Mark Godsey, faculty director of the Innocence Project.
Longer term, McClendon said he wants to get a good job, maybe start a business and, if he's needed, speak publicly on DNA testing.
"This is not just about me," he said. "I believe that there are others in prison like me, and then there are others in prison who are guilty. You've got to give it a chance to work."
McClendon, who denied raping the girl, was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. He was denied parole in 2007.
DNA Diagnostics Center, a lab north of Cincinnati, agreed to conduct tests on McClendon and other inmates for free as a public service after The Columbus Dispatch published a series in January featuring 30 inmates whose applications for new DNA testing had been stalled.
The newspaper's investigation also found flaws in the state's DNA testing system — police and courts routinely discard evidence after trials, and prosecutors and judges often dismiss inmate applications for DNA testing without a stated reason.
In McClendon's case, authorities had long since lost or thrown away swabs from the victim's medical exam — typically the best evidence for testing rape cases — but agreed to provide the lab with the girl's underwear.
Using new technology that was unavailable at the time of the crime, the lab found faint traces of semen that didn't match McClendon's DNA profile, the Innocence Project announced last month.
Prosecutors said McClendon took a 10-year-old relative from her backyard, blindfolded her, drove her to a house and raped her. The victim reported the rape the next day and was taken to a hospital.
McClendon was convicted largely on the victim's testimony, Bergeron said. There was no physical evidence to tie him to the crime, she said.
McClendon had a prior record. He was convicted in the 1970s of attempted corruption of a minor for having sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 19.
08/12/08
Clinton advisor wanted to attack Obama's heritage???
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Mark Penn
Mark Penn the top campaign strategist in the failed the Hillary Clinton Campaign wanted to attack Barack Obama's heritage and make it seem as if he were not "American" enough to be President of the United States. He surmised in a memo that since Obama lived part of his life in Hawaii and Indonesia they could paint him as less "American" Thankfully Hillary never took that advise and that plan never got off the ground. Here are parts of the memo:
All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.
“Save it for 2050. ... Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back
“Let’s explicitly own ‘American’ in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn’t. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let’s use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let’s add flag symbols to the backgrounds.”
Bernie Mac did not have AIDS
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Hi this is George cook owner of this site and I have noticed that many have arrived on this page by searching for Bernie Mac and AIDS.
I want to emphasize that Bernie Mac did not die of AIDS or any illness stemming from it.
Bernie died of complications related to Sarcoidosis a disease that can inflame and scar the lungs.
Experts believe that sarcoidosis occurs when the immune system attacks the body according to the Mayo Clinic. It can leave people more vulnerable to infections including pneumonia.
Sarcoidosis afflicts about 36 out of 100,000 blacks. Former NFL star Regie White was also a victim of the disease.
Isaac Hayes dead at 65
What a very sad weekend. First we had the passing of Bernie Mac and now today music icon Isaac Hayes has passed. Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Schular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.
(CNN) -- Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film "Shaft," has died, sheriff's officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday.
Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Schular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.
Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff's department said.
No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement.
Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio's backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.
He released his first solo album in 1967.
In 1971, the theme from "Shaft" became a pop hit and won an Academy Award for best original theme song. The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
08/10/08
Section 8 Moves Poor to Suburbs, Tensions Follow
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Under the Section 8 federal housing voucher program, thousands of poor, urban and often African-American residents have left hardscrabble neighborhoods in the nation’s largest cities and resettled in the suburbs.
Law enforcement experts and housing researchers argue that rising crime rates follow Section 8 recipients to their new homes, while other experts discount any direct link and think racism may be playing a factor. Read the story of one town Antioch CA. by clicking the link below:
In some very sad news Bernie Mac died today 08/08/08 from complications related to his recent bout with pneumonia. News source CBS News Chicago. Read the entire story below:
CHICAGO (STNG) Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital early Saturday morning, according to Sun-Times Columnist, Stella Foster. He was 50.
Although a spokeswoman for Bernie Mac, whose real name is, Bernard McCullough, said on Friday the actor had been responding well to treatment for pneumonia, Foster said that she received calls early Saturday morning from Mac's family members.
Publicist Danica Smith said Thursday in a statement that Mac's condition is ''stable.'' Smith first announced on August 1st that Mac was hospitalized in Chicago.
Smith has said the pneumonia isn't related to an inflammatory lung disease Mac also has. That condition has been in remission since 2005.
Mac made waves last month with off-color jokes during a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The comedian starred in the critically acclaimed Fox television series ''The Bernie Mac Show.'' His film credits include roles in the ''Ocean's Eleven'' franchise.
Princess and the frog movie trailer
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Last month I posted a story about troubles with Disney's black princess movie The Frog Princess. Disney has released a short teaser that shows us what Disney's new princess will look like although it doesn't reveal much more. Watch the video below:
08/06/08
US officer acquitted of killing mom holding baby
By JOHN SEEWER,AP
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Tarika Wilson
LIMA, Ohio (AP) - A white police officer was acquitted Monday in the drug-raid shooting death of an unarmed black woman that set off protests about how police treat minorities in a city where one in four residents is black.
The all-white jury found Sgt. Joseph Chavalia not guilty of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent assault. He had faced up to eight months in jail if convicted of both counts.
Chavalia shot 26-year-old Tarika Wilson and her year-old son she was holding, killing her and hitting him in the shoulder and hand, during a Jan. 4 police raid on her house. One of the child's fingers had to be amputated.
Officers had been looking for Wilson's boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer.
Wilson's family members stormed out of Allen County Common Pleas Court before visiting Judge Richard Knepper finished dismissing the jury.
Prosecutors said Chavalia recklessly fired into a bedroom where Wilson and her six children were gathered.
Chavalia had testified that he thought his life was in danger when he fired the shots. He said he saw a shadow coming from behind a partially open bedroom door and heard gunshots that he thought were aimed at him. It turned out the gunfire he heard was coming from downstairs, where officers shot two charging pit bulls.
Following the shooting, many residents accused the police department of being hostile and abusive toward minorities. One group led a series of marches through the city to protest what they said was mistreatment by police.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the city and demanded that the officer who fired the fatal shots and those who planned the raid be held accountable. Chavalia was the only person charged.
Wilson's boyfriend, Anthony Terry, was arrested and pleaded guilty in March to charges of drug trafficking.
Black AIDS stats rival some African Nations
We all know AIDS in the Black Community is literaly killing thousands. But new stats from a report titled "Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic" show that although black people represent only about one in eight Americans, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is black, the report notes.
Another startling stat shows that if Black Americans were a nation we would higher HIV infection rates than some African Nations. Learn more by clicking the link below and reading the report:
66 year old grandmother college
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Georgia Hawkins
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A Clarksville grandmother proves you're never too old to accomplish your lifelong dreams.
Friends and relatives often call Georgia Hawkins "Grandma Dynamite" and the name fits her.
Life can throw a few curve balls, but the 66-year-old woman refused to let anything stand in the way of becoming a college graduate.
"I'm hoping after I have my knee surgery I'll be able to get back in the yard again," she said.
Although she can't do all the things she used to, it hasn't slowed her down.
"I was so excited because it was the first big accomplishment I had made in my life," she said, looking at mementos on her high school graduation.
But after graduating from high school in 1960, her plans to continue her education got off to a bad start.
"My second year of college my father passed away and I think I went to school one semester after he died. It was really hard to go to school because money, at the time, was an issue," she said.
The next four decades included family - her husband, a Fort Campbell soldier George Hawkins and their daughter and two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Now 48 years later, Hawkins said she found time for something else.
"I always had that inner feeling. ‘Hey, you need to get your degree,'" she said.
She will soon graduate from Bethel College with a degree in business.
"It was fine until we had to start on our thesis paper," she recalled about her progress. "And I thought what in the world am I doing? How am I going to ever put my paper together?"
Well, she did. She earned an A.
Getting a degree means a great deal to Hawkins. She hopes to inspire others - starting with her 3-year-old granddaughter.
"I hope that she'll go straight through school and get her degree and finish," she said.
Hawkins said she will graduate with A's and B's. She never missed a class.
It took some two years to get her bachelor's degree.
She said she is thankful. Several courses she took over the years were transferable.
Hawkins will graduate Saturday from the college in McKenzie, Tenn. After graduation, she hopes to become a motivational speaker.
Jena 6 judge removed from case
A state district judge on Friday decided that the judge presiding over the cases of five black teens prosecuted for allegedly beating a white teen could not be fair and removed him. Of course D.A. Reed Walters has said he will appeal. Read the story by clicking the link below:
African American-Owned Condom Company Fears the Widening AIDS Epidemic
Thursday July 31, 1:03 pm ET
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- When Kirk Manuel speaks, you hear anguish in his voice. You hear the heartbreak of a man who has see one too many members of his community impacted by HIV and AIDS.
When Kirk Manuel speaks, you hear courage in his voice, too. You hear a man who believes in his product, Head Strong Condoms, and in the power of hope.
Manuel is a serious man from a town in Arkansas, a town that has lost several residents to AIDS-related illnesses.
"In poor and rural communities, you can find liquor, you can find tobacco, but you can't always find condoms," Manuel says. "We need to do a better job educating, and we need to do a better job making condoms available, too."
Head Strong Condoms aims to do just that. There are no bright colors, no fruity flavors, no glow-in-the-dark condoms. These are just condoms. The focus is where it should be, Manuel says: preventing pregnancy and protecting against sexually transmitted disease.
Manuel created Head Strong Condoms, the only African American-owned condom company he knows of, after he heard of HIV-infected adults knowingly infecting others with the virus.
"There is a growing trend of HIV-infected individuals knowingly infecting others with the virus," Manuel says. "This is an unspeakable act, but every person must take personal responsibility for their own protection, which means using a condom every time."
Though the condoms currently are available in few stores -- nine in Memphis, five in Little Rock, and three in South Texas -- Manuel plans to expand his reach. His initial focus is on mom-and-pop retailers, but he'll be asking Lil Drug Store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Family Dollar and Dollar General to carry his products, too.
"Dollar stores are in low-income neighborhoods," Manuel says, "but try finding a condom in one of those stores. They're not there and it's a tragedy."
Manuel says Head Strong Condoms will donate condoms to those in need as part of the company's "no excuses" philosophy.
"Aside from abstinence, condoms are the most effective form of birth control, the most effective way to prevent STDs," he says. "There is no excuse for not using a condom. Head Strong Condoms are easily affordable. If you can't afford condoms, there are places you can get them free. There is no excuse."
House of Representatives apologizes for slavery
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On July 29th the U.S. House of Representatives formally apologized for slavery. You can read the actual resolution in a PDF format by clicking the link below:
Graves of Some Famed Black Americans Vandalized in Delco
by KYW's Hadas Kuznits
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Police in Delaware County, Pa. are trying to determine who is responsible for the vandalism of a prominent cemetery containing the remains of some historic black Americans.
Collingdale, Pa. police chief Robert Adams says detectives are investigating a huge case of vandalism at the Eden Cemetery:
"All in all, there were 201 stones knocked over. The first group of 30, we believe, were done two weeks ago. The remainder, a combination, was done this past weekend."
He says the cemetery is at least a century old:
"They tell me it's the oldest African-American cemetery in the United States."
Opera star Marian Anderson is buried there, as is Octavius Catto. Each played a part in the civil rights movement of the US. Catto's gravestone (top photo) was among those desecrated; Anderson's was not.
Adams doesn't think the motive was racism:
"No. Absolutely not. I believe it just to be pranksters and kids anging out, walking through. I have not found any evidence whatsoever of any kind of hate or racism or anything whatsoever."
Racism or not, the michief has caused a lot of grief:
"I was just there, and there was a woman standing over a gravesite and she was crying. It was her great grandfather's, and it had been flipped over."
Adams has been in contact with local community and juvenile organizations whom he says will be donating their time this week to clean it up.
07/21/08
White Wisconsin voters admit race a factor
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New data from Wisconsin suggest that white voters in Wisconsin will factor in race into their voting decision. Some of those polled worried that Barack Obama may be prejudice towards them. One of those polled made the very telling statement below.
"With a colored president, they 'll think (government) will lean more toward the colored people and we 'll be a minority, ". Yeah you read right the man said "colored"
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW
Taser death ignites racial tensions
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In a town not far from Jena, La., fears of a cover-up mount
By Howard Witt Tribune correspondent
WINNFIELD, La. — At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between — during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser, while reportedly pleading for mercy —is now spawning fears of a political coverup in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all.
Here in the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors — Huey and Earl Long—the police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying.
Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.
The current police chief is a convicted drug offender who got a pardon from Edwin Edwards, the former Louisiana governor who is serving time in federal prison for corruption convictions.
All of that tangled history is now wrapped up in the Pikes case, because Scott Nugent, the officer who Tasered him, is the well-connected son of the former police chief who killed himself—and the protege of the current chief, who hired him onto the force.
"A lot happens in this town, and it just gets swept under the rug," said Kayshon Collins, Pikes' stepmother, who has participated in several local protests over the case. "What the police did to Scooter just isn't right. They would never have Tasered a white kid like that."
The official police version of what happened to Pikes on that brisk January afternoon reads like a sad but familiar story in Winnfield's local newspaper.
Nugent spotted Pikes walking along the street and attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for drug possession, according to Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter. Pikes took off running, but another officer cornered him outside a nearby grocery store. Pikes resisted arrest and Nugent subdued him with a shock from a Taser.
Then on the way to the police station, Carpenter told the newspaper, Pikes fell ill and told the officers he suffered from asthma and was high on crack cocaine and PCP. The officers called for an ambulance, but Pikes later died at the hospital.
Six months later, the Winnfield police are standing by that story. Meanwhile, the Louisiana State Police are investigating the case, and no charges have been filed against Nugent or two other Winnfield police officers who assisted him in arresting Pikes, although the City Council did decide to fire Nugent from the force in May.
Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils says he expects to present the case to a grand jury after he receives the results of the state police investigation.
Evidence contradicts report
But there is already abundant evidence contradicting the official police version of the incident.
An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes' system and that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner.
Moreover, Pikes did not resist arrest, and he was handcuffed while lying on the ground, according to Nugent's police report of the incident. It was only after Pikes refused Nugent's command to stand up that the officer applied the first Taser shock in the middle of his back, Nugent wrote.
Several more Taser shocks followed quickly, Nugent stated, because Pikes kept falling down and refusing to get back up. Grocery shoppers who witnessed the incident later told Pikes' family that he had pleaded with Nugent: "Please, you all got me. Please don't Tase me again."
Williams said police records showed Nugent administered nine Taser shocks to Pikes over a 14-minute period. The last two jolts, delivered as police pulled Pikes from a patrol car at the police station, elicited no reaction because the suspect was unconscious, Williams said.
After consulting about the case with Dr. Michael Baden, a nationally prominent forensic pathologist, Williams ruled last month that Pikes' death was a homicide. On the death certificate, he listed the cause of death as "cardiac arrest following nine 50,000-volt electroshock applications from a conductive electrical weapon."
"God did not just call this young man home," said Williams, who has served as parish coroner for the past 33 years. "If somebody can tell me anything else that killed this otherwise perfectly healthy young man ... I'd like to know it."
Williams is no stranger to controversy in Winnfield. Back in 2004, his garage was firebombed, and he says he's been shot at 19 times by people upset with the independence of his investigations. He wears a gun holstered at his waist.
"This case may be the most unnecessary death I have ever had to investigate," Williams said. "[Pikes] put up no fuss, no fighting, no physical aggression. ... He just didn't respond quickly enough to the officer's commands."
Nugent, 21, declined to be interviewed for this story. But his attorney, Phillip Terrell, said that Nugent acted according to his training—an opinion seconded by police spokesman Lt. Charles Curry.
Taser safety guidelines
Yet the official Winnfield Police Department Taser policy appears to prohibit the weapon's use against a non-violent, handcuffed suspect.
"The Taser shall only be deployed in circumstances where it is deemed reasonably necessary to control a dangerous or violent subject," the policy states. It also requires that a suspect who has been Tasered should immediately be checked out at a hospital.
What's more, safety guidelines issued by Taser International Inc., the manufacturer of the device that is now used by more than 12,700 law-enforcement and military agencies worldwide, warn officers to "minimize repeated, continuous, and/or simultaneous exposures."
Company officials, citing dozens of medical studies, insist Tasers are safe when used properly. But few of those studies examined the effect of multiple Taser applications over a short period of time. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a study released in June, concluded that "the medical risks of repeated or continuous [Taser] exposure are unknown."
In less than two years on Winnfield's 20-officer police force, police records show, Nugent ranked as the department's most aggressive Taser user. Among the recipients were a 15-year-old African-American runaway who was not charged with any crime and Pikes' father, currently serving a prison sentence for a drug offense, who was Tasered by Nugent last year, according to Kayshon Collins.
Disney's black princess movie in trouble?
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Maddy?????
It seems that Disney's attempt to add a black princess named Maddy to it's line of heroines has run into a few snags. The film Princess and the Frog: An American Fairy tale is facing accusations of racial stereotypes including the main characters name, Maddy. There's also the fact that in the original version the prince was white, and that many say that unlike other Disney heroines Maddy is subservient. Whew! Read more by clicking the link below:
Vintage Black Cinema Commemorative Stamps
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Purchase stamps at your local Post Office or online by clicking here USPS Store
WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Vintage movie posters highlighting various facets of the African-American cultural experience as represented in early film return on postage when the U.S. Postal Service issues the Vintage Black Cinema stamps. The 42-cent commemorative First-Class stamps will be dedicated July 16 at the Newark, NJ, Museum during the Black Film Festival and will go on sale nationwide that day.
Explained U.S. Postal Service Vice President and Consumer Advocate Delores Killette: Whether spotlighting the talents of entertainment icons Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Fredi Washington, Louis Jordan, Daniel L. Haynes, Victoria Spivey or King Vidor, or documenting changing social attitudes and expectations -- these posters now serve a greater purpose than publicity and promotion. They are invaluable pieces of history, preserving memories of cultural phenomena that otherwise might have been forgotten.
Scheduled to join Killette at the 10 a.m. dedication ceremony Wednesday are Emmy-Award winning Actress Lynn Whitfield who played the leading role in The Josephine Baker Story; Josephine Bakers son Jean-Claude Baker and his brother, Jarry; Louis Jordans widow, Martha Jordan; Paul Ellington, grandson of Duke Ellington; Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker, and Gloria Hopkins Buck, chairwoman of the film festival.
My adoptive mother, whose theme song was Two loves Have I, my Country and Paris, would be delighted, thrilled and deeply moved by this wonderful tribute to African-American culture, said Jean-Claude Baker, one of Josephine Bakers adoptive sons. Her legend was global and her heart embraced the world. But, despite the acclaim in films like Princess Tam-Tam she never forgot that she was, at heart, a daughter of St Louis.
The Vintage Black Cinema souvenir sheet includes 20 stamps in four rows with five different commemorative stamps featuring posters advertising movies produced for African-American audiences prior to 1950. Stamp Art Director and Designer Carl T. Hermann of Carlsbad, CA, intended to evoke a strip of film with perforations, or sprocket holes, running down the left and right edges. This souvenir sheet also includes selvage text.
Remembered as the first screen appearance of Duke Ellington, the 1929 film Black and Tan features three songs by Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra. In this 19-minute short, Ellington, playing himself, is in danger of having his piano repossessed. When his fatally ill girlfriend dances at a nightclub, she saves Ellingtons music -- and asks to hear his Black and Tan Fantasy on her deathbed.
In the 1921 silent film The Sport of the Gods, the family of a wrongfully convicted man flees disgrace in Virginia only to face immorality and temptation in New York City. Based on a novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the film was produced by the short-lived Reol Motion Picture Corporation, which made several movies for black audiences.
One of only four movies to star American-born entertainer Josephine Baker, Princess Tam-Tam tells the story of a novelist who discovers a simple African woman, played by Baker, and presents her as a princess to Parisian society. Released in France in 1935, this French-language feature remains a rare film showcase for Bakers singing and dancing.
Highlighting the talents of singer, saxophonist, and jump blues bandleader Louis Jordan, the 1945 short Caldonia is often cited as a precursor of todays music videos. The four musical numbers featured in this 18-minute film also appeared as individual soundies, short films shown on video jukeboxes at nightclubs and restaurants during the 1940s.
Released in 1929, Hallelujah was one of the first major-studio films to feature an all-black cast. This dramatic story of a field laborer who is seduced away from his community by worldly temptations was filmed primarily in Arkansas and Tennessee. Noted for its portrayal of the rural African-American religious experience, Hallelujah earned King Vidor a nomination for Best Director.
A local NY Magazine The New Yorker has a controversial cover that depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as terrorist. They claim they were making light of all the false rumors about Obama but no where in the actual article or the magazine is this point made clear. You can read more about this story by clicking the link below:
King Children suing each other
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Two of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s children are suing their brother, accusing him of wrongfully taking money from their parents' estates.
Bernice King and Martin Luther King III allege that Dexter King took "substantial funds" out of Coretta Scott King's estate and "wrongfully appropriated" money from their father's estate
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Corrections officers in Ronnie White case identified
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The FBI and the State Attorney's Ofiice in Maryland have identified the guards who had access to Ronnie White on the day he died. Read more by clicking the link below:
American Medical Association apologizes to black doctors
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The American Medical Association has apologized to African American Doctors for racist policies it had in the past. These policies limited it's membership to whites only. This hurt black doctors since many hospitals would only hire members of a medical association. The AMA even admits that this led to the disparity in healthcare among blacks and whites that we see today. Read the article by clicking the link below:
In selecting the top 40, BE conducted a comprehensive outreach effort to the CEOs and diversity executives of the top-grossing 1,000 publicly traded companies and the 50 leading global companies with significant U.S. operations. BE's corporate diversity survey focused primarily on activities related to the participation of African Americans and other ethnic minority groups in four key areas: supplier diversity, senior management, board involvement, and employee base. Related Items:
Recognizing Best Companies for Diversity
Aetna - Hartford, CT
Aflac Inc. - Columbus, GA
ARAMARK - Philadelphia, PA
AT&T Inc. - San Antonio, TX
Bank of America - Charlotte, NC
The Coca-Cola Co. - Atlanta, GA
Comcast - Philadelphia, PA
DaimlerChrysler Corp. - Auburn Hills, MI
Denny's Corp. - Spartanburg, SC
Eastman Kodak - Rochester, NY
Eli Lilly & Co. - Indianapolis, IN
Exelon Corp. - Chicago, IL
Fannie Mae - Washington, D.C.
FedEx Corp. - Memphis, TN
Ford Motor Co. - Dearborn, MI
General Mills, - Minneapolis, MN
General Motors - Detroit, MI
IBM Corp. - Armonk, NY
Johnson Controls Inc. - Milwaukee, WI
Kellogg Co. - Battle Creek, MI
Marriott International Inc. - Washington, D.C.
McDonald's Corp. - Oak Brook, IL
MGM MIRAGE - Las Vegas, NV
Pepco Holdings, Inc. - Washington, D.C.
Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. - Somers, NY
PepsiCo - Purchase, NY
PG&E Corp. - San Francisco, CA
Pitney Bowes - Stamford, CT
Ryder System Inc. - Miami, FL
Starbucks Coffee Co. - Seattle, WA
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
- White Plains, NY
State Farm Insurance - Bloomington, IL
Texas Instruments, - Dallas, TX
TIAA-CREF, - New York, NY
Toyota Motor North America Inc. - New York, NY
UPS - Atlanta, GA
Wachovia Corp. - Charlotte, NC
WGL Holdings Inc. - Washington, D.C.
Xerox Corp. - Stamford, CT
Yum! Brands Inc. - Louisville, KY
Mike Dyson's response to Obama's Father's Day speech
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You knew it wouldn't take too long.....lol. Click the link below to check out Michael Dyson's response to Barack Obama's Father's day speech.
Real men don't walk away from the babies Fri Jun 13, 12:15 AM ET
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By Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint
Why do we persist in blaming the black family crisis on "unwed mothers"? True, roughly 70% of black babies are born each year to single mothers, mostly poor. One reason for the prevalence of single motherhood: Black females who used to get married when they became pregnant are no longer doing so. More than that, some black women don't want to marry the fathers of their babies because they contribute little beyond their sperm. Due to injustice and bad choices, many black men are unemployed, unemployable, or wards of the criminal justice system.
No one can speak honestly of black family hardships without addressing the issue of the estrangement of "unwed fathers" from their children. Real men do not walk away from the mothers of their babies. A father is expected to help take care of his children, but some of these men have trouble taking care of themselves. The more socially impotent black men are feeling, the more they will rely on sexual conquests to prove their manliness. But having drive-by babies whom they abandon only reflects their insecurity.
The situation is by no means hopeless. Once black men claim their children and feel the warmth of a hug, they will begin to understand what fatherhood is all about. Many young men have been struggling with the challenges that come with greater father involvement. They simply do not know how to be fathers. Many have never seen a real father in action. Later, they do not realize the importance of fathers in a child's healthy development, or the fact that unemployed, separated and unwed fathers can still contribute significantly to their children's well-being.
Thankfully, some African-American men are already confronting the father-child estrangement. They have formed organizations, such as Concerned Black Men, to serve as mentors for young black males. Civil rights and faith-based groups have developed "black male responsibility" projects. National organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, reach out to young black males, keeping them on the path to achievement. Government policies supporting fathers, such as the earned income tax credit, are also important. All these efforts deserve our whole-hearted support for the good of America.
In some difficult cases, men with low self-esteem avoid their children simply because they see themselves as bad role models. What they need to appreciate is that from the moment they commit themselves to their child, they can still become good role models.
Kids, thank goodness, don't ask for a résumé or for references. They don't want to see our bank accounts. They just want fathers in their lives.
Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint are co-authors of Come On, People: On the Path From Victims to Victors.
Wendy Williams husband conspired to kill rival!
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Kevin Hunter, who is married to Williams, sought out a male WBLS employee for help in finding a hit man to rub out Hot97 personality Tarsha Jones, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday. Read entire story by clicking the link below:
Innocent black man beaten by police
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Leave it to New York police to remind everyone that although Barack Obama has made history that this country still has a long way to go when it comes to black men and the police.
James Minter was handcuffed and beaten Garden City Long Island Police after they mistook him for the wrong man. He cooperated, didn't resist and was still beaten. The police knew they had done something wrong because later on they went to the hospital and tried to apologize and make deals to get Mr. Milner to not file a complaint. What is so sad about them trying to make a deal is that they assumed because he was black that he had some criminal or legal issues they could make "go away". Watch Mr Milner tell his story by clicking the link below:
African Americans and Depression
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Terrie Williams represented some of the world's biggest celebrities: Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Janet Jackson, to name a few. But Terrie battled something rarely discussed in the Black Community.
Author Terrie Williams discuses her dealings with depression and how it is dealt with in the African American Community in her new book, Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting. Learn more about Terrie Williams by clicking the link below:
Barack Obama's Civil Right Plan
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Click the link below to read a PDF Document containing Barack Obama's civil rights plan. In it he discusses hate crimes, racial profiling, ending deceptive voting practices, and much more:
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