Another View of the NAACP - My Second Take

Freedom is not free

OK, I’m here at the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit. I was invited to attend the summit by Kevin Myles, Branch President of the Wichita Branch of the NAACP, along with Ms. Roslyn McCallister Brock, Vice Chair of the National NAACP National Board.

As you may know, I have written previously about the NAACP being a shadow of it's past, and as a former active member of the Boston Branch of the NAACP back in the 70’s, I've not been feelin the NAACP for many a year.

Yet, I will tell you, a weekend can change even this grown man's thinking. Yes I traveled to the conference, paying for full airfare (over 5 bills) to the NAACP event. No I'm not ready to sing Kumbyya with the NAACP, but I did take out a membership, I've always had big respect for Kevin Myles, and I now have big respect for the youthful, energetic, talented, focused, and highly intelligent V. chair of the NAACP Ms. Roslyn McCallister Brock.

Roslyn McCallister Brock, NAACP V Chair

I had planned to LIVE blog at the event, but because of technology challenges at this meeting location (mountains blocking internet access with some conference areas) I'm not able to LIVE blog. So... for the next 5 days I plan to report on my experience here at the NAACP 500. Stay tuned here on this blog as I report on "the good, the bad, and the ugly" that I witnessed at the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit as the group of men and women from the age of 30-50 shared best practices, new ideas and fresh perspectives on how the NAACP can recruit, train, and retain a new generation of civil rights advocates to address the many critical issues impacting black and other Americans.

Stay tuned... I think you will find it interesting...

P.S. The ugly is not really ugly folks. But I will talk about challenges and opportunities that I see for the NAACP. Hopefully those that read this blog from the NAACP National office will takes some of my thoughts under consideration.

Cross posted on African American Political Pundit

DNC and Black Bloggers Need A Reasonable Resolution

Fellow blogger, Villager is following and reporting on how the Lack of Diversity in DemConvention State Blogger Corps Angers Afrosphere

He writes, "The Democratic Party has a unique opportunity in November to reclaim the White House as well as working majorities in both the US Senate and House of Representatives in the 2008 election cycle." Every imaginable wind is blowing in their direction --> economy, Iraq war, unemployment rate, John Hagee, gas prices, food prices, George W. Bush and so on.

However, instead of rising proudly and confidently towards this new political nirvana ... we see the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot. Displaying a remarkable sense of insensitivity and arrogance, the Democratic Party recently announced state blog credentials to cover the national convention in Denver will be given to 55 white-only state blogs.


Read More HERE

Hillary Clinton is fanning the flames of assassination with hysteria

The controversial front cover of the Roswell Beacon dated May 15, 2008.

AAPP: Not only has the Georgia color aroused bigots come out with their controversial front page cover, now Hillary Clinton is fanning the flames of assassination. To this AAPP Obama should watch out for the Clinton's. Words of advise for Obama, as you begin your running-mate Search don't even think about having her as a running mate, that woman would never protect you, in fact you would have to worry about her everyday of your presidency. OK your kidding me, so Hillary Clinton is staying in the race because Obama might be assassinated like Robert Kennedy?

Check out the Washington Post article by By Anne E. Kornblut, that notes, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked the memory of slain Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy as she explained her persistence in the Democratic race on Friday, saying that although the media and the Barack Obama campaign have been trying to usher her from the race, "historically, that makes no sense."

"We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California," Clinton said in a meeting with the editorial board of the Argus Leader, a newspaper in South Dakota.

Her advisers later said she was using the historical reference to note that campaigns have stretched until the summer before, not to suggest that Obama might be assassinated. In the previous sentence, she had also noted that her husband's campaign in 1992 lasted until June as well.

But in a campaign in which voters have voiced concerns about the safety of the first African American front-runner in history, it was a surprising choice of words by Clinton, whose best hope for seizing the nomination now would be a major setback for Obama. Clinton has already faced harsh criticism for allegedly exacerbating racial divisions in the nominating process.

"Senator Clinton's statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

More HERE: Hillary invokes RFK assassination in editorial board meeting



Pam at Pam's House Blend is having none of this
Pams House Blend.

Read more HERE of the Washington Post article

Check out the post by,Electronic Village, Francis L. Holland, Jack and Jill Politics, The Unapologetic Mexican, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend and Pandagon, My Private Casbah, Ultraviolet Underground, All About Race and many others.

Can this Man Jump start the NAACP?

Can New Leader Jump Start the NAACP? It was also the topic of discussion for NPR's Bloggers Round Table. Learn who this man is by Listening Now. [12 min 38 sec]

Check out News & Notes , May 19, 2008 · On the bloggers' Roundtable: The NAACP names its youngest president in the group's 99-year history; California repeals a ban on same-sex marriage; and a black father whose son was allegedly gunned down by an illegal immigrant gang member, calls for changes in the nation's immigration policy.

Farai Chideya talks with their panel of bloggers to see how those stories are reverberating online and in communities across America.

Joining in the conversation were Afrospear bloggers Amani Channel of My Urban Report; Shawn Williams of Dallas South; and Shaun King, who blogs at Shaun in the City.

Color Divide - Democratic National Convention and black bloggers

AAPP says: Karen Brooks of The Dallas Morning News is reporting on the problems involving the selection of Democratic National Convention bloggers. Check out the link to her article below. Ms. Brooks provides a great overview on the issues involving the Democratic Party and how they are treating black bloggers. I know Native Americans and the Angry Indian must be wondering why Native Americans seem to be excluded by the DNC as well.

Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized

By Karen Brooks, The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN — Democrats consider affirmative action a cornerstone of their national agenda, but some minority bloggers say the party isn’t practicing what it preaches.

Last week, the national Democratic Party announced that 55 online writers had been chosen for the “State Blogger Corps,” to cover the convention in Denver in September.

But some members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president.

“OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.

Party leaders said the factors in determining state bloggers were readership, Internet ratings and focus on local and state politics, not race. The Texas representative, the Burnt Orange Report, has several writers, including at least one Hispanic contributor.

A second round of blog credentials will be announced before the end of the month, party leaders said, and minority bloggers will be purposely included in that selection.

It’s unclear exactly how many of the state bloggers are white and how many are minorities because the bloggers weren’t required to identify their race when they applied.

But the blogs don’t appear to be self-identified as written or owned by African Americans, as opposed to blogs like the African American Political Pundit or attorney Francis L. Holland’s numerous blogs, which feature his picture. More HERE

We are not the only group concerned about the DNC selection process. another group of of bloggers are protesting the DNC(C) Credential Selections process.

For more on the Dallas news article contact Karen brooks at: kmbrooks@dallasnews.com

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Democrats and Republicans Failing To Recruit Blacks and other Minorities

AAPP: Both the Democratic and the Republican Parties are failing black folks. First it was blogger Francis l. Holland who reported on issues related to the Jim Crow Blogging at the Democratic National Convention now we learn that the GOP is failing to recruit minorities as reported by politico.com Jim Vandehi & Jash Kraushaar

Jim Vandehi & Jash Kraushaar report that the Republican Party launched a highly publicized diversity effort, the GOP is heading into the 2008 election without a single minority candidate with a plausible chance of winning a campaign for the House, the Senate or governor.

At a time when Democrats are poised to knock down a historic racial barrier with their presidential nominee, the GOP is fielding only a handful of minority candidates for Congress or statehouses — none of whom seem to have a prayer of victory.

At the start of the Bush years, the Republican National Committee — in tandem with the White House — vowed to usher in a new era of GOP minority outreach. As George W. Bush winds down his presidency, Republicans are now on the verge of going six — and probably more — years without an African-American governor, senator or House member.

That’s the longest such streak since the 1980s.

Republicans will have only one minority governor, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, an Indian-American, when the dust settles on the ’08 elections. Democrats have three minority governors and 43 African-American members of Congress, including one — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama — who is their likely presidential nominee. Democrats also have several challengers in winnable House races who are either black or Hispanic.

Despite having a Spanish-speaking “compassionate conservative” in the White House, Republicans’ diversity deficit seems to have only widened.

“In 1994, when I first ran, we had 14 African-American Republicans running for Congress. ... I was the only one that won that year, but we had 14, and we had some good candidates,” said former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts, one of the party’s most recognized African-American voices. “I am grateful for what Ken Mehlman did when he was RNC chairman, but I knew that wouldn’t last — that was one person. I’ve never gotten the impression that it was institutionalized.”

So who’s to blame for this diversity deficit? Read More Here



For Francis Holland, well according to his post he says:

"I'm concerned that virtually all of the state blogs selected by the Democratic National Committee to cover Denver are white. Of course, it remains possibly that one of these white blogs will bring a Black person along as a blogger. But, Black bloggers and voters are not willing to wait until we arrive in Denver to find out whether a group of virtually all-white blogs will also send a group of all-white bloggers to Denver. We strongly suspect that we already know the answer, and it is totally unacceptable to us. Do any of these all-white blogs even have any Black bloggers who might participate? That's something we need to know before Denver.

This isn't the first time this issue has been addressed. When Bill Clinton met in Harlem with an all-white group of bloggers, Black bloggers were furious and Clinton's campaign never recovered. The Clinton campaign had insulted and alienated the very Black bloggers corps that it most needed to reach out and round up support from voters in Black communities." More HERE

AAPP: in many ways Francis is right regarding the DNC. He is also right to ask the question, Can Virtually All-White "State Blogs" Reach Diverse State Constituencies?

Can anyone answer that question? Can the state DNC bloggers (listed below) answer that question? Should the DNC answer that question? I think they all should. What about you?

The DemConvention State Blogger Corps is listed below.

STATE - BLOG NAME - BLOG URL

ALASKA - Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com

ALABAMA- Doc's Political Parlor - http://www.politicalparlor.net

ARKANSAS- Under The Dome.com - http://www.underthedome.com

ARIZONA - Ted Prezelski - Rum, Romanism and Rebellion - http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net

CALIFORNIA - Calitics- http://Calitics.com

COLORADO -SquareState.net - http://squarestate.net

CONNECTICUT -My Left Nutmeg - http://myleftnutmeg.com

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA- DCist.com - http://dcist.com

DELAWARE – TommyWonk - http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/

DEMOCRATS Abroad - Democrats Abroad Argentina - http://www.yanquimike.com.ar

FLORIDA - Florida Progressive Coalition - http://flaprogressives.org

GEORGIA- Tondee's Tavern - http://www.tondeestavern.com

GUAM - No Rest for the Awake - Minagahet Chamorro - http://minagahet.blogspot.com

HAWAII - iLind.net: Ian Lind Online - http://www.ilind.net

IOWA - The Iowa Independent - http://iowaindependent.com

IDAHO - 43rdStateBlues.com - http://www.43rdstateblues.com

ILLINOIS- Prairie State Blue - http://www.PrairieStateBlue.com

INDIANA- Blue Indiana - http://www.blueindiana.net

KANSAS - EverydayCitizen.com - http://everydaycitizen.com

KENTUCKY – BlueGrassRoots - http://www.bluegrassroots.org

LOUISIANA - Daily Kingfish - http://www.dailykingfish.com

MASSACHUSETTS - Blue Mass. Group - http://www.bluemassgroup.com

MARYLAND - The Center for Emerging Media - http://www.centerforemergingmedia.com

MAINE - Turn Maine Blue - http://www.turnmaineblue.com

MICHIGAN - Blogging For Michigan - http://bloggingformichigan.com

MINNESOTA - Minnesota Monitor - http://minnesotamonitor.com

MISSISSIPPI - The Natchez Blog - http://natchezms.blogspot.com

MISSOURI - Fired Up! LLC - http://www.firedupmissouri.com

MONTANA - Left in the West - http://www.leftinthewest.com

NORTH CAROLINA - BlueNC.com - http://bluenc.com

NORTH DAKOTA - NorthDecoder.com - http://www.northdecoder.com

NEBRASKA - New Nebraska Network - http://www.NewNebraska.net

NEW HAMPSHIRE - Blue Hampshire - http://www.bluehampshire.com

NEW JERSEY - PolitickerNJ.com - http://www.politickernj.com

NEW MEXICO - Democracy for New Mexico - http://www.DemocracyForNewMexico.com

NEVADA - Las Vegas Gleaner - http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com

NEW YORK - Room 8 - http://www.r8ny.com

OHIO - Ohio Daily Blog - http://www.ohiodailyblog.com

OKLAHOMA - DemoOkie - http://www.DemoOkie.com

OREGON - BlueOregon (blog) - http://www.blueoregon.com

PENNSYLVANIA - Keystone Politics - http://www.keystonepolitics.com

PUERTO RICO - Jusiper - http://jusiper.blogspot.com

RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island's Future - http://www.rifuture.org

SOUTH CAROLINA - CracktheBell.com - http://www.crackthebell.com

SOUTH DAKOTA - Badlands Blue - http://www.badlandsblue.com

TENNESSEE - KnoxViews/TennViews - http://www.knoxviews.com

TEXAS - Burnt Orange Report - http://www.BurntOrangeReport.com

UTAH - The Utah Amicus - http://utahamicus.com

VIRGINIA - Raising Kaine - http://www.raisingkaine.com

VIRGIN ISLANDS - Democratic Party of the US Virgin Islands - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democratvi

VERMONT - Green Mountain Daily - http://greenmountaindaily.com

WASHINGTON - HorsesAss.org - http://www.horsesass.org

WISCONSIN - Uppity Wisconsin - http://www.uppitywis.org

WEST VIRGINIA - West Virginia Blue - http://www.wvablue.com

WYOMING - Hummingbirdminds blog - http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com