Black Celebs Become Major Political Players

The Politics of Black Entertainers

Magic Johnson and Oprah Winfrey

Getty Images (2)

Hat Tip: npr.org

Los Angeles Times: Black Celebs Become Major Political Players -- "Hollywood's biggest and richest fundraisers of this election cycle are being hosted by some of the entertainment industry's most respected and influential African Americans, a potent symbol of how much has changed in recent years." More HERE

Gonzales has no crediability

The Washington Post is exposing Gonzales for who he is, a liar, not worthy of being the Attorney General. Yet the Democrats continue to play games with Bush administration regarding Gonzales and the War in Iraq. Did the American peope not send a clear message in the last election? Are the democrats not getting it? Why is Gonzales still in public office? As the Washington Post reports, "Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft was "feeble," "barely articulate" and "stressed" moments after a hospital room confrontation in March 2004 with Alberto R. Gonzales, who wanted Ashcroft to approve a warrantless wiretapping program over Justice Department objections, according to notes from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III that were released yesterday."

One of Mueller's entries in five pages of a daily log pertaining to the dispute also indicated that Ashcroft's deputy was so concerned about undue pressure by Gonzales and other White House aides for the attorney general to back the wiretapping program that the deputy asked Mueller to bar anyone other than relatives from later entering Ashcroft's hospital room.

Is this and other information not enough to impeach Gonzales? What's wrong with the Democrats? I think the Democrats are gtting as bad as those Evil Republican Bastards.

Is it true that when black politicans pay more attention to white voters, they can lose black support?

Well that may be just what is happening in Baltimore, MD. Check out this article. This brotha may be having some trouble in Baltimore because he wants to act White.

Mayoral candidate receives white support but trails among blacks

Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby, June 24, 2007

Mayoral candidate Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. chats with attendees of a South Baltimore block party held in support of his campaign. More than 60 percent of the voters polled who said they would vote for Mitchell are white. Only 32 percent of his backers are black. More HERE

Old School Racism or Telling It like It Is?

In Line, But Out of Step?

I have white, Latino, Asian, bi-sexual, Jewish, and gay, friends. And yes I understand none of us is "Pure" ethnically, and we all have ancestors from different parts of the world. I live in a heterogeneous community and have lots of friends from different ethnic backgrounds. I grew up in Boston. But I got to tell you, for me. I'm personally against black women dating white men, because of the lack of black men.

I'm personally against black women marrying white men, who have caused so much pain to the black men. Yes, I know the argument will be, what about black men who cause pain to black women, and I don't have my head in the sand about that issue. I understand my arguments against intermarrying may seem futile and old school, but the lynching of black men is not old school, and white males continue to do it. I understand that God does not judge humans by external appearances, but in America, whites and blacks do. It is what it is. Judging from the letters from my recent NPR comments black and whites who are living Martin Luther King's dream are not feeling me. I say, tell it to the all white Supreme Court, (including the Acting White member). An check out the new public opinion on the rights of blacks to equal educational opportunity. HERE

News & Notes, August 16, 2007 · Every Thursday, News & Notes reads listeners' e-mails. Today, Farai Chideya and producer Christopher Johnson read letters about interracial relationships, the late journalist Chauncey Bailey, and kudos for the show.

Acting White - Cry baby

UPDATED: James C. Collier (Acting White) is a cry baby. Black Conservatives who want' to be white have issues.

Question: What is the reverse of ACTING WHITE?

Acting White: NPR News & Notes

Yes, I said it. Mr. "Harvard Educated" Acting White blogger - James C. Collier not only has a blog called Acting White, he truly Acts White. Mr. James Collier recently wrote a post on his blog. So in keeping with his opinion that I am just a blog re-poster, I have taken the liberty of re-posting his recent post, and his scathing comments about me. My responses to this "La Shawn Barber, wannabe" are post are in red italic. this guy is truly trying to make a name for himself as the new conservative blogger. Now trying to peddle black women into the arms of white men. this guy is stuck in the unrealistic fantasy dreams of some of our greatest American dreamers like MLK. Here is some of what this guy had to say in his recent post:

The wonderful people at National Public Radio (NPR) saw fit to invite me onto one of their dailies, News & Notes, for a blogger round table discussion on black topics in the news. The host, Farai Chideya, a fellow Harvard alum, does a great job of ‘herding cats’ around issues of interest. Here is a link to the program, if edutainment is what you seek – and it was indeed quite ‘spicey’ as the producer Devin Robins describes it.

AAPP: We agree, they are wonderful people at National Public Radio (NPR). The host, Farai Chideya, does a great job! I guess the fellow "Harvard" alum comment was, important to say for the Acting White Blogger. You see Mr. Collier seems to believe readers of his blog need to know that he graduated from "HARVARD" university. You see what he is saying is, white folk I'm one of those good Ivy League coloreds. "I'm one you."


My goal was to not make a big fool of myself or my blog, and I am happy to say I almost achieved it.

AAPP: You got to be kidding me. A black man who tells black woman to go out and find yourself a white guy. You made a fool of yourself Mr. Acting White.


Really, I was OK except for a brief moment when my hearing-aid seemed to quit working, and I don’t even own one. We were having sound disruptions in the Cal Berkeley studio, but I cannot say this is the cause of my lapse.

AAPP: Mr. Acting White, When you think and try your best to act white your brain lapses. Stop being surprised brotha, it is what it is.

The question lobbed to me was about class conflict between black women and men, relative to marriage, and I think the danger of it threw a circuit-breaker in my head(phones). The answer that failed to come out was that professional black women who marry blue-collar black men should be prepared to live with the clinking of mimosa glasses and beer bottles. For some this trade-off is fine, for others it will be too much.

APPP: Mr. Acting White, The white guys that you want Black Sista's to hook up with are big beer drinkers. And sista's better get ready for those white guy's to call her a Ni#*!@ and his family and friends too. Oh, that's right you probably want our sisters to marry HARVARD white guys.

The other bloggers on the program included La Shawn Barber, a very sharp, no nonsense woman who does not mince words or conclusions when it comes to what ails black folks. Some of my detractors have lumped me in with her and I now consider this a compliment. The third blogger was LN Rock, of African-American Political Pundit, a re-poster of black blogs who has a penchant for pouring gasoline on himself and lighting a match, as he did today.

AAPP: I agree La Shawn Barber, a very sharp, no nonsense woman who does not mince words or conclusions when it comes to what ails black folks. The problem is most times her neo conservative observations and conclusions are based are based on the same premise of your observations - Stupidity, ignorance and hatred for ones own people.

LN distinguished himself in two ways, first by declaring that post-Katrina New Orleans would eventually be 100% black-free, as the result of conspiring whites. Farai’s amazement could not be contained.

AAPP: OK, 100% exclusion of black folks from New Orleans cannot be realized by the U.S. government, but they sure can give it a hell of a try. Who would have thought that hundreds of thousands of black folks would be dislocated from New Orleans even today. Who would have thought our people by the thousands would be moved off their land and placed in toxic trailers?

While we spend billions of dollars every month to rebuild Iraq. Farai’s amazement could not be contained? My Amazement cannot be contained that you don't get it. But then again, you have to many more important things to do to research what is going on in New Orleans with black folks. But hey, You have you "Acting White" Blog to work on.

He followed this with the accusation that black women who marry non-whites are traitors and that I must be married to a white woman because I support black women marrying whoever they want, including white men.

AAPP: The great thing about Blogging and America is everyone has a right to their opinion, including you. And guess what ME too. I do believe that black women who marry non-whites are traitors. Black women should be committed to the advancement of our people.

For me, I like my coffee black. the darker the berry the sweeter the juice, and we should always remember Black Don't Crack. oops, you don't know any of those words... your too busy trying to get black woman to marry others, while you got yours. No

At the risk that he will no longer pilfer my blog, I will say he has a set of knuckles growing out of his forehead.

AAPP: Acting White, You can do better than that. A HARVARD educated man like you who loves to Act White. Come on dude, At the risk that I will no longer pilfer your blog? I'm not sure if you remember recent history, but you asked to cross post on my other blog African American Opinion. And yes, it is a blog with post from other Black Bloggers, fully linked and credited. Now all of a sudden, Mr. HARVARD educated, says I pilfer your blog? Don't do that to yourself, you have not reached that level of Acting White Greatness.

I will say he has a set of knuckles growing out of his forehead.

That Hurt! Ouch, How White of you!

Nevertheless, I thought the show was a great chance for a live ‘dust-up’ of the issues of the day. The N&N team seem like a hustling bunch, with good instincts for what matters to people. I look forward to more opportunities like this, knowing that there is always the risk of the late hit out-of-bounds, by bloggers who shall not be named.

Ditto

James C. Collier

Acting White: NPR News & Notes

AAPP: I guess Mr. HARVARD Acting White needs to read more than the Harvard Press.

A 20-Point Plan To Destroy Black New Orleans

By Robert D. Bullard, Feb 01, 2006 San Francisco Bayview

As reconstruction and rebuilding move forward in New Orleans and the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast region, it is clear that the lethargic and inept emergency response after Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that overshadowed the deadly storm itself. Yet, there is a "second disaster" in the making - driven by racism, classism, elitism, paternalism and old-fashioned greed.

The following "Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans" is based on trends and observations made over the past three months. Hopefully, the good people of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and the United States will not allow this plan to go forward - and instead adopt a principled plan and approach to rebuilding and bringing back New Orleans that is respectful of all of its citizens.

1. Selectively hand out FEMA grants. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is being consistent in the slow response in getting aid to Katrina survivors. FEMA's grant assistance program favors middle-income households. Make it difficult for low-income and Black Katrina survivors to access government assistance. Direct the bulk of the grant assistance to middle-income white storm victims. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and several other legal groups have sued FEMA over its response and handling of aid to storm victims. FEMA has referred more than 2 million people, many of them with low incomes, to the Small Business Administration to get the loans.

2. Systematically deny the poor and Blacks SBA loans. Screen out poor and deny Black households disaster loans. The New York Times editorial summed up this problem: "The Poor Need Not Apply." The Small Business Administration has processed only a third of the 276,000 home loan applications it has received. However, the SBA has rejected 82 percent of the applications it received, a higher percentage than in most previous disasters. Well-off neighborhoods like Lakeview have received 47 percent of the loan approvals, while poverty-stricken neighborhoods have gotten 7 percent. Middle-class Black neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city have lower loan rates.

3. Award insurance claims using the "wind or water" trap. Because of the enormity of the damage in the wake of Katrina, insurance companies will categorize a lot of legitimate wind claims as flood- or water-related. The "wind or water" problem will hit Black storm victims hardest because they are likely to have their insurance with small companies - since the major firms "redlined" many Black neighborhoods. Most rebuilding funds after disasters come from private insurance - not the government.

4. Redline Black insurance policyholders. Numerous studies show that African Americans are more likely than whites to receive insufficient insurance settlement amounts. Insurance firms target Black policyholders for low and inadequate insurance settlements based on majority Black zip codes to subsidize fair settlements made to white policyholders. If Black homeowners and business owners expect to recover from Katrina, then they must receive full and just insurance settlements. FEMA and the SBA cannot be counted on to rebuild Black communities.

5. Use "green building" and flood-proofing codes to restrict redevelopment. Requiring rebuilding plans to conform to "green building" materials and new flood-proofing codes can price many low- and moderate-income homeowners and small business owners out of the market. This will hit Black homeowners and Black business owners especially hard since they generally have lower incomes and lower wealth.

6. Apply discriminatory environmental clean-up standards. Failure to apply uniform clean-up standards can kill off Black neighborhoods. Use of full-scale cleanup of white neighborhoods to residential standards, while allowing no cleanup or partial cleanup - industrial standards - of Black residential neighborhoods. Failure to clean up Black residential areas can act as a disincentive for redevelopment. It could also make people sick. Use the argument that Black neighborhoods were already highly polluted with background contamination, or "hot spots," exceeding EPA safe levels pre-Katrina and thus need not be cleaned to more rigorous residential standards.

7. Sacrifice "low-lying" Black neighborhoods in the name of saving the wetlands and environmental restoration. Allow Black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East to be "yielded back to the swamp" while allowing similar low-lying white areas to be rebuilt and redeveloped. This is a form of "ethnic cleansing" that was not possible before Katrina. Instead of emphasizing equitable rebuilding, uniform clean-up standards, equal protection and environmental justice for African American communities, public officials should send mixed signals for rebuilding vulnerable "low-lying" Black neighborhoods.

8. Promote a smaller, more upscale and "whiter" New Orleans. Concentrating on getting less-damaged neighborhoods up and running could translate into a smaller, more upscale and whiter New Orleans and a dramatically down-sized Black community. Clearly, shrinking New Orleans neighborhoods disproportionately shrinks Black votes, Black political power and Black wealth.

9. Revise land use and zoning ordinances to exclude. Katrina can be used to change land use and zoning codes to "zone against" undesirable land uses that were not politically possible before the storm. Also, "expulsive" zoning can be used to push out certain land uses and certain people.

10. Phased rebuilding and restoration scheme that concentrates on the "high ground." New Orleans officials are being advised to concentrate rebuilding on the areas that remained high and dry after Katrina. These areas are disproportionately white and affluent. This scenario builds on pre-existing inequities and "white privilege" and ensures future inequities and "white privilege." By the time rebuilding gets around to Black "low-lying" areas, there are not likely to be any rebuilding funds left. This is the "oops, we are out of funds" scenario.

11. Apply eminent domain as a Black land grab. Give Katrina evacuees one year to return before the city is allowed to legally "take" their property through eminent domain. Clearly, it will take much longer than a year for most New Orleanians to return home. This proposal could turn into a giant land grab of Black property and loss of Black wealth they have invested in their homes and businesses.

12. No financial assistance for evacuees to return. Thousands of Katrina evacuees were shipped to more than three dozen states with no provisions for return - equivalent to a "one-way" ticket. Many Katrina evacuees are running short of funds. No money translates into no return to their homes and neighborhoods. Promote the "right to return" without committing adequate resources to assist evacuees to return.

13. Keep evacuees away from New Orleans jobs. The nation's unemployment rate was 5 percent in November 2005. The November 2005 jobless rate for Katrina returnees was 12.5 percent, while 27.8 percent of evacuees living elsewhere were unemployed. However, the Black jobless rate was 47 percent in November compared with 13 percent for whites who have not gone back.

Katrina evacuees who have made it back to their home region have much lower levels of joblessness. This is especially important for African Americans whose joblessness rate fell over 30 percentage points for returnees. The problem is that the vast majority of Black Katrina evacuees have not returned to their home region. Only 21 percent of Black evacuees have returned compared with 48 percent of whites.

14. Fail to enforce fair housing laws. Allow housing discrimination against Blacks to run rampant. Katrina created a housing shortage and opened a floodgate of discrimination against Black homeowners and renters. In December 2005, the National Fair Housing Alliance found high rates of housing discrimination against African-Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 66 percent of the tests conducted by the NFHA, 43 of 65 instances, whites were favored over African Americans.

15. No commitment to rebuild and replace low- income public housing. Shortly after Katrina struck, even the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spoke of not rebuilding all of the public housing lost during the storm. The HUD secretary's statement is a powerful signal to New Orleans' poor that public housing may not be around for them to return to.

16. Downplay the Black cultural heritage of New Orleans. Promote rebuilding and the vision of a "new" New Orleans as if the rich Black culture did not matter or act as if it can be replaced or replicated in a "theme park" type redevelopment scenario. Developers should capture and market the "Black essence" of New Orleans without including Black people.

17. Treatment of mixed-income housing as superior to all-Black neighborhoods. First, there is nothing inherently inferior about an "all- Black" neighborhood - or an all-Black anything for that matter. Black New Orleanians who chose to live in neighborhoods that happened to be all-Black - whites have always had the right to move in or move out of these neighborhoods - should not be forced to have their neighborhoods rebuilt as "integrated" or "multicultural" neighborhoods. Also, "mixed-income" housing, to many Blacks, conjures up the idea of 10 percent of the fair market housing units set aside for them. Many Blacks are battle-weary of competing for that 10 percent. New Orleans was 68 percent Black before Katrina - and most Black folks were comfortable with that.

18. Allow "oversight" (overseer) board to manage Katrina funds that flow to New Orleans. Take away "home rule," since the billions of Katrina redevelopment dollars that will flow to New Orleans is too much money for a majority Black city council and a Black mayor to oversee or manage. More important, the oversight board will need to represent "big- money" interests - real estate, developers, banking, insurance, hotels, law firms, tourist industry etc. - well beyond the purview of a democratically elected city government to ensure that the vision of the "new" New Orleans, "smaller and more upscale," gets implemented.

19. Delay rebuilding and construction of New Orleans schools. The longer the New Orleans schools stay closed, the longer the families with children will stay away. Schools are a major predictor of racial polarization. Before Katrina, over 125,000 New Orleans children were attending schools in the city. Blacks made up 93 percent of New Orleans schools. Evacuated children are enrolled in school districts from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Three months after the storm, only one of the New Orleans' 116 schools was open.

20. Hold elections without appropriate Voting Rights Act safeguards. Almost 300,000 registered voters left New Orleans after Katrina. The powerful storm damaged or destroyed 300 of the 442 polling places. Holding city elections pose major challenges regarding registration, absentee ballots, city workers, polling places and identification for displaced New Orleanians. Identification is required at the polls, and returning residents may not have access to traditional identification papers - birth certificates, drivers' licenses etc. - destroyed by the hurricane. More than three months after Katrina struck, 80 percent of New Orleans voters have not made their way back to the city, including most African Americans, who comprised a two-thirds majority of the population before the storm.

Most of the estimated 60,000 to 100,000 New Orleans residents who have made it back are white and middle class, changing the racial and political complexion of the city. Holding elections while the vast majority of New Orleans voters are displaced outside of their home district and even their home state is unprecedented in the history of the United States, but it also raises racial justice and human rights questions.

Robert D. Bullard is the director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

The 'Browning' of America

Farai Chideya of NPR

Analysis

Bloggers' Roundtable

News & Notes, August 15, 2007 · Three leading bloggers discuss new data that suggests whites are becoming more of a minority in America, the increase in black women choosing interracial marriages, and Sen. John Edwards' racial handicap in his White House bid.

Guests include freelance writer and blog consultant LaShawn Barber, who runs the political blog LaShawn Barber's Corner; Jim Collier of the blog Acting White; and L.N. Rock, who writes the blog African-American Political Pundit.

Is My Left Wing a "whitosphere" blog? Is Francis Holland Blogging While Black?

Why the continued banning of African American blogger Francis L. Holland, Esq? Does he not have a license to drive in the blogosphere? Or are there certain neighborhoods he just can't go into because he has too much dialague about issues related to the blogosphere takeover by possible CIA operatives or issues related to blacks and white segregation of the blogosphere?

What is going on with liberal bloggers? What is going on with Black -International - Internet Activist Francis L. Holland? Hey, Liberal Bloggers - Can't we just get along? Has Francis Holland been Rodney Kinged? Is Francis Holland a trouble maker? Is this the 60's and 70's all over again?

It seems that everywhere Francis L. Holland goes in the liberal white blogosphere he gets banned. When he is in the AfroSphere, well we may not agree with him all the time, but we never find a need to ban the brotha. (Yet) - :-)

Why are white, (so called), liberal bloggers so sensitive? Does Francis Holland some how touch a nerve, open the wound, rub a little salt on it? Is the brotha making people feel a we-bit uncomfortable? Taking you to another zone? Or is it just Francis Holland Bullshit? I agree with the Liberal Journal Man who is not feeling this Censorship In The Blogosphere.

Liberal Journal writes:

"I am fucking disgusted at these scumbags calling themselves liberals who choose to limit speech on their sites. What is liberal about deciding what speech is right or wrong? What is liberal about saying that an idea or theory has already been “debunked”? What if new information comes out?

What’s worse is that I have yet to see hate speech be the subject of a banning or deletion. In other words, these are ideas. Ideas which may be repeated elsewhere. Ideas which you may not agree with (at the moment). But ideas. You bring shame to the word liberal."




AAPP - Maybe we can all learn something about race relations of the blogosphere by looking at the Francis L. Holland ban as a case study in democratic or non-democratic liberal blogging. Below is what Francis L. Holland said he learned at MyLeftWing.

What have we all learned?

What I Learned at MyLeftWing

Yesterday, I was banned from participation at the MyLeftWing whitosphere blog. I feel a void now, because I really enjoy writing all of the things that I have always wanted to say to white people and saying it, and then weathering the storm of criticism that inevitably results.

I realize that I might not be a sympathetic plaintiff in a test case about Black free speech in the whitosphere, because the jury would be a white audience and they would find many of my positions outrageous. During the days of American de jure segregation, the concept of integration itself seemed outrageous to many white people. It still does today.

I have realized that I would rather describe things exactly as I see them for a day, at the risk of being rejected, then to describe them mostly as white people see them for a lifetime, at the risk of being perennially accepted.

I have realized that white progressives willingly accept any criticism of Republicans and conservatives, but they ultimately reject all criticism of themselves, often saying that such criticism divides Democrats.

Democratic progressives are already divided and segregated along color lines, in terms of where we live, what we think, what we think about, and where we blog. At white blogs, we can challenge whites to think about what we think about, but if we assert that our white âEUROOEprogressiveâEURO audience is part of the problem, then we will be rejected and banned.

Much of what I learned at MyLeftWing is integrally related to my efforts to discredit Markos Alberto C. Moultisas Zúñiga, the ex-CIA trainee and homophobic white numerically supremacist owner of the DailyKos whitosphere blog, where I was called a monkey.

I have learned that when circulating negative information about a white public figure to whites, it is much more effective to circulate negative information that shocks whites than to circulate only negative information that would shock Blacks.

When I first began circulating my grievances about DailyKos last fall, I focused on a study by Dr. Steve B showing that DailyKos is 96% white (in a Democratic Party has 20% Black delegates at its national convention). But, whites are used to and comfortable with segregation; although that information galvanized Black people against DailyKos, it had little effect on white people.

Then, I began circulating another internal study from DailyKos showing that 69% of DailyKos members are either atheists or agnostics. The publication of that information for the purpose of discrediting the political role of DailyKos tended to anger progressives. For moral reasons, I did not want to add fuel to the fire of conservatives' suspicions of godlessness among Democrats, so I did not circulate that information among the Republicans, conservatives and right-wing religious people who would have found it most interesting.

However, my anti-Kos campaign really began to gain traction when I focused my attention on aspects of Kos' character and history that would interest whites. My âEUROOETruth About KosâEURO blog got little attention from whites when it limited its criticism to the segregation at DailyKos. Whites said, âEURO~Sure DailyKos is all-white, but so what? That doesnâEURO(tm)t shock us.âEURO(tm)

But, when I revealed and proved that KosâEURO(tm)s family represents interests that pollute grey whale spawning grounds; hold leadership in a group implicated in supporting death squads in El Salvador; Kos opposed gays in the military and, above all, Kos was involved in the CIA, that all had gotten whitesâEURO(tm) attention.

Even whites who hate Blacks care are interested that their associates have also associated with the CIA. These issues all transcended uniquely Black concerns, and thatâEURO(tm)s why two-dozen white blogs, including conservative ones, are helping me to spread the message that the owner of an all-white "progressive" blog was once "interviewed" (for SIX MONTHS) at the CIA. Now, the white blogs have adopted my anti-Kos stories and run with them. (See list of white blogs running links to the Truth About Kos articles.) This strategy has turned on its head the problem of white blogs not linking to Black blogs. They WILL link to Black blogs, if we provide surprising new information about white public figures.

I have to admit that I learned this strategy from conservative political action groups and lobbyists. They often have to advocate for causes that are not popular with the public, just like Blacks, as a group, are not popular with the public. So, instead of trying to change the publicâEURO(tm)s mind about their own client, they attack their opposition based on something that IS popular, because they know that ultimately it doesnâEURO(tm)t matter in politics why the public opposes my enemies if that public opposition helps my candidate to get elected and forces politicians to listen to me when I speak.

So, instead of appealing to the public on behalf of more lake pollution (their issue), they attack the public official for wanting to increase taxes (which is a great concern to the general public that would have rejected an appeal in favor of more lake pollution). If the result is that the official who wants to stop lake pollution is rejected by the public, it doesnâEURO(tm)t matter why he is rejected, as long as he loses. That's the principle of the Republican lobbyists.

This is the strategy that unpopular conservatives employ, but the strategy can be successful for unpopular Blacks as well. If you have to choose between attacking someone because he is unkind to Blacks and attacking him because heâEURO(tm)s unkind to puppies, the latter strategy is more effective politically because the public finds that issue more compelling. If you are the one originating the attack, your really issue will be noticed regardless of the issue that you make most prominent in your public campaign.

So, as I told friends recently, I don't need for white to like me MORE. I just need for whites to like Markos Moulitsas LESS.

No matter what I say, some people will believe that I miss the whites at MyLeftWing. In fact, I will miss challenging the whites at MyLeftWing. I will miss the adrenalin rush that I get when I publish something I know they wonâEURO(tm)t like, and then wait for them to become furious about it. They say, âEUROOEHow can you hurt our feelings so, Mr. Holland?âEURO And I respond, âEURO~I live outside the United States precisely so that my feelings, my liberty and my life will not be subject to the whims of whites. White policemen, white politicians, white bankers, white polluters . . .

Not all white people are bad. But, because whites are the overwhelming majority of the United States population, most bad people in the United States are white. I couldnâEURO(tm)t say that at MyLeftWing, could I?

I have learned that most Black bloggers couldnâEURO(tm)t care less about blogging at white blogs. This reminds me of a discussion with friends my A.M.E church back in 1993, when participating in college fellowship there. In discussing white people, it turned out that most of the members of our college fellowship went to segregated schools as children, did not have any white friends and did not want to have any.

This being so, why should Black bloggers want to blog in the midst of whites? The only answer I can offer is, âEUROOEArenâEURO(tm)t there some things that you have always wanted to say to white people âEURO" to the police, to a boss or co-worker or manager of a store âEURO" and didnâEURO(tm)t because power relationships prevented you from doing so? You can say those things to whites at their white blogs.âEURO

Unfortunately, my case shows that Blacks CANNOT say those things to whites at white blogs, because the same power relationships that obtain in the larger society obtain at white blogs, regardless of whether they are ostensibly âEUROOEprogressiveâEURO or âEUROOEconservative.âEURO Whenever a white majority determines what Blacks people will be allowed to say, that circumstance is inherently oppressive to Black people. Knowing this to be true, most Black bloggers simply refuse to invest themselves in such a rigged election in the first place.

I, on the other hand, would prefer to say all that I believe to white people for a day, than to avoid their forums completely and never tell them what I really think.

I will always remember my time at MyLeftWing as the epoch in my writing where I exposed Markos Alberto C. Moultisas Zúñiga for the right-wing Republican CIA-applicant homophobic fraud that he really is. And that makes my efforts valuable, regardless of what I write and where I publish it in the future.

Along the way, I have found some real white collaborators, like Stu Piddy at MyLeftWing, who first published the news that MAMZ had applied to be a CIA agent. During this period, I have also collaborated effectively with Tom of the Automatic Preference Blog. Most surprisingly and pleasantly, by researching and publishing the Truth About Kos, I have found more than two dozen white blogs who find these truth shocking as I do, and have taken up the cause of publishing the truth far and wide.

No one promised us that Black revolutionary thinkers and political activists would we welcomed by whites with open arms. History tells us that the opposite is true, that they only deify Black change advocates when we are dead and no longer present the risk of change.

Francis L. Holland, Esq.
francislholland@yahoo.com

Black blogger Francis Holland Banned from My Left Wing

Upheaval at MLW

by: Maryscott O'Connor

"I have banned Francis L. Holland. Despite his persistent attempts to paint this as my caving to pressure from various nefarious sources, I have banned him of my own accord because I am sick to fucking death of him and his bullshit -- period." More HERE

Africa

HYPROCRITES

Hat Tip: Fige Bornu

It is hypocritical to now see mostly white people and organizations trying to "save" Africa after they have worked 24/7 for years to destroy it.Until the racist and imperialistic policies of the USA and UK are changed, there is no amount of money that will help to restore the devastated countries of Africa. More HERE

The Esteban Carpio case - was he railroaded?

Source: Police Brutality Blog

Police brutality - Rhode Island Style

Trooper testifies he punched murder suspect Carpio

PROVIDENCE -- A white plastic mask obscuring his severely bruised face, Esteban Carpio, the man accused of fatally shooting a Providence detective inside police headquarters early Sunday, was arraigned yesterday on murder charges and ordered held without bail.

Carpio, 26, was charged in Providence District Court with killing Detective James L. Allen with the officer's gun around 12 a.m. Sunday as the veteran officer questioned him about the stabbing of an 84-year-old woman.

Assistant Attorney General Paul Daly said in court that Carpio grabbed Allen's pistol in a third-story interview room, shot him twice, blew out a window with another gunshot, and jumped 60 feet to a grassy mound. He was captured after what police described as a violent struggle several blocks away, about 45 minutes later.

Carpio's relatives gasped when court officers led in the shackled man, his eyes red, swollen slits.

''Oh, my God, look what they did to him," one of Carpio's relatives wailed, adding a vulgarity about the police officers.

Carpio's weeping mother, Yvonne Carpio, a teacher at Hennigan Elementary School in Jamaica Plain who lives in Roslindale, shouted, ''Steve, tell him not guilty," referring to Chief District Court Judge Albert E. DeRobbio. Esteban Carpio is called Steve by his family.

Court officers quickly grabbed several of the relatives by the arms, including Carpio's mother, and led them out of the courtroom as family members accused police of brutality. Carpio could be heard saying, ''I love you, Mom," but his words were muffled by the mask, which court officials said was a ''spit shield" intended to protect others from blood and other fluids.

The back wall of the crowded courtroom was lined with police officers, including several detectives who glared at Carpio, a tattoo of a dragon on his left wrist.

Outside the courtroom, Carpio's uncle, Edward Thimas, expressed sorrow over the slaying of Allen, a 27-year veteran of the department. But Thimas said he was disgusted by the physical condition of his nephew. ''He's obviously been beaten very badly," Thimas said. He added that the family had tried repeatedly in recent days to get psychiatric care for Carpio, to no avail. Court documents said Carpio was a barber.

During a midafternoon news conference at police headquarters, Providence Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said Carpio was injured jumping out the window and in the struggle with law enforcement, near the AS220 art space downtown. Two State Police troopers, an FBI agent, and a Providence officer were the first to apprehend Carpio, and more police responded.

''When I saw him, he was pretty cut up," said Esserman, who said he saw Carpio soon after his arrest. Esserman said he had no evidence that officers used excessive force, although he promised to review the matter after Allen's funeral, slated for Thursday. More HERE

Esteban Carpio, has been convicted of the murder of Providence Police Detective Sgt. James Allen on April 17, 2006 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Carpio was being questioned by the Providence Police for the stabbing of an 85 year old woman. One of the detectives left the third floor interview room, leaving him alone with Allen. Carpio then took Allen's gun away and proceeded to shoot Allen twice, killing him. He then shot out and jumped from the window, but was apprehended 45 minutes later. Carpio was thought to have been physically abused by police after his capture, due to the obvious signs of trauma to his face. An investigation into the matter concluded that Carpio was not abused and that the damages to his face were likely caused by his landing from his jump from the third story window. His trial began June 8th, 2006.

On June 27, 2006, a jury found Esteban Carpio guilty of the murder of Detective Sgt. James L. Allen and the stabbing of Madeline Gatta. The jury rejected Carpio's insanity defense, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Police Brutality - New Orleans Style

Crime and Police Brutality - New Orleans Style

Mayor Ray Nagin said he worries that slayings in the city make it seem dangerous, but news of such crimes "keeps the New Orleans Brand out there! This after A police officer fired from the New Orleans Police Department for the post-Katrina beating of a retired school teacher was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, declared "not guilty" of battery and false imprisonment by Judge Frank Marullo.

The incident (below) on Bourbon Street five weeks after the storm received international attention, as parts of the altercation between several law enforcement officers and Robert Davis, 66, was captured by two cameramen and broadcast around the world. The tape was often referred to as the prime exhibit of the post-Katrina struggles of a police department with a long history of police brutality. More HERE

Cross posted on Police BrutalityBlog

What is the mayor thinking?

"Keeping New Orleans Brand Out There"

49 Percent Of U.S. Murder Victims Are Black

- Black Americans account for only 13 percent of the US population

Study: 93 Percent Of Black Murder Victims Killed By Other Blacks

File this under stupid statements by black mayor

Enter, Mayor Ray Nagin who worries that slayings in his city make it seem dangerous, but news of such crimes "keeps the New Orleans brand out there."

In a city where the tourism industry is the lifeblood of a fragile economy, the wave of violence threatens to derail efforts to bring visitors—and former residents—back. Yet Nagin, at a bricklaying ceremony Thursday, told reporters it's a "two-edged sword."

"It's not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back," he said. "Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working every day to make the city better."

AAPP: OK, Mr. Mayor! That was a stupid comment.

Murder rate for black men on rise, study finds