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Friday, August 24, 2007

Taking time off

http://www.surferbedding.com/browseproducts/Bahama-Breeze-Tropical-Beach-Scene-Wall-Mural.HTML

I'm taking some time off. I will return in three weeks. Enjoy the close out of summer. I know I will!

I will be back mid September.

AAPP

PS, Don't forget:

Taking to the Streets for the people of New Orleans & The Gulf Coast

As the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the situation in New Orleans remains dire:

  1. Some 250,000 people are yet displaced throughout the nation, unable to return because they have no homes, no jobs nor the financial means to rebuild.
  2. Two years later, 70 schools in Orleans Parish are still closed.
  3. There are no mental health services and no hospitals to serve the uninsured poor. The $1.175 billion in federally appropriated funds for the Katrina rebuild and relief effort are being held up by FEMA.

Enough is enough! Let’s stand up and take action. There must be a national outcry, a day of peaceful protest, prayer and possibility that the media cannot ignore; a day on which we call on our national decision makers to allocate adequate funding to create a regional Marshall Plan that restores New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

More HERE

Also, don't forget to visit some of these great AfroSphere bloggers:

A Brief Flicker
Acting White
Africa Beat
African-American Health Network
African-American Opinion
AfroNetizen
AfroSpear Think Tank
AfroSphere Newspaper
All About Race
American Journal of Color Arousal
Anti-Essentialist Conundrum
Black & Missing But Not Forgotten
Black in Business
Black Looks
Black Perspective
Black Smythe
Black Women in Europe
Bronze Trinity
Charcoal Ink
Conversations
Dallas South Blog
DC Savvy
Democratic Afrosphere
Diary of a PhD Student
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Electronic Village
Elle, Ph.D.
Ensayn Reality
Exodus Mentality
Field Negro
Fige Bornu
Fort Wayne African American Independent Woman
Francis L. Holland Blog
Having Read the Fine Print
Home of the Mandimories
HomelandColors: African American Cultural Revolution
Human Beams
In Pursuit of Perfection
Jack and Jill Politics
Jikomboe
JiveFood Left
Kizzie
Lies Before Breakfast
Maat's Feather
Make It Plain
Mirror on America
Nat Turner's Revenge
Native Son
Nuvision for a Nu Day
Obyno
Omodudu
Pastor Kyev Tatum
plezWorld
Police Brutality
Progress At All Cost
Prometheus 6
Race Wire
Republic of T
Rev. Rose
Ron Pettaway Justice Blog
RSSpect
She's So Fly
Tafari
Temple 3
The Free Slave
The SuperSpade
There... Already
Thin Black Duke
Truth About Kos
Writing is Fighting
Young Black Professional Guide

OBAMA & BLACK POLITICS

Here is another great post from the good folks at BlackPolicy.org. They point out in the post that "Sadly, in 2007, we are still a nation struggling with "firsts." In a perfect and just world, we would be on our second, third or fourth African American/woman/Hispanic candidate. However, Obama's candidacy should be a signal for more disenfranchised groups and individuals to step up to the plate and make a change. In the meantime, we give props to a brother who has the audacity to try and make history."



Read more below:

Blackpolicy.org: Groff/Ellison Report & SUNDAY Nite Talk
Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver

GROFF/ELLISON POLITICAL REPORT (8.23.07)
YOU PROBABLY WON'T GET IT BOTH WAYS
Black folks seem to think that when all is said and done and all the primaries and caucuses are over and Democrats go marching up to Denver for their quadrennial political coronation and the balloons are falling from the ceiling, Senators Hillary Clinton and her Vice Presiential nominee and Senate colleague Barack Obama will be clasping hands smiling and waving to the joyful delegates with the Obama girls, the real Obama girls dancing in the balloons. But the likelihood of that happening we think is slim. Not just because things have become frosty between Senators Clinton and Obama on the campaign trail as the race has narrowed to a contest between the two. History has shown that for the sake of party unity and a chance at a national victory, primary enemies will become general election running mates. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush show that is the case. But a Clinton-Obama ticket may not be feasible for several other reasons.

The biggest hurdle is America itself. We are already questioning whether America is ready for a women or a black or a Hispanic or a Mormon to be President? Maybe they are for one or the other, but both? It is a tremendous leap to assume that America is ready for a woman and an African American on the same ticket. America has had a woman on the ticket before, lest we forget Geraldine Ferraro - the running mate of Walter Mondale - in 1984. It seems to have come to grips with an African American running thanks to Jesse Jackson's bids. But to combine them even in the 21 century may be a stretch. Senator Clinton would also have to assume that the south - with exception of Florida - is lost to her in a general election, so her gateway back to the White House is winning Pennsylvania, Florida or Ohio and or some combination of western states. Florida and Ohio have let down Democratic nominees in each of the last two presidential elections and there is no reason to color them blue now. In an election where the Vice Presidential pick may actually mean something Mrs. Clinton may have to look west and tap some of the moderate Democratic talent between Kansas and California. Governors Brian Schweitzer of Montana and Bill Ritter of Colorado, U.S. Senators Ken Salazar (Colorado) and freshman Jon Tester (Montana) and even Bill Richardson of New Mexico would have to interest Clinton who may need Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada and or Arizona to cobble together 270 electoral votes.

PROPS: OBAMA & BLACK POLITICS
The fact that several publications question Obama's black "authenticity" and ask if a white man can still be elected to the presidency is proof that there is something different in the water. Regardless of how far Obama goes in this campaign, his standing as a Democratic front-runner means that our world is changing, and hopefully for the better.

We just hope that the enthusiasm for his campaign is not an illusion, that the folks who were crazy enough to brave a freezing Illinois winter day to hear his announcement speech will also be crazy enough to vote a black man into national office. If Obama does not reach the finish line, we only ask that his supporters will turn their attention to the young African Americans and other people of color who are trying to make history in their communities.

Sadly, in 2007, we are still a nation struggling with "firsts." In a perfect and just world, we would be on our second, third or fourth African American/woman/Hispanic candidate. However, Obama's candidacy should be a signal for more disenfranchised groups and individuals to step up to the plate and make a change. In the meantime, we give props to a brother who has the audacity to try and make history. More HERE

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Geoege W.



AAPP Says: Bush is still urging Americans to stay the course in Iraq. The only thing is this guy is lying to the American people again, through his own revionist history. You see the pullout from Vietnam had very little negative impact for the United States and its allies.

The Boston Globe reports, after years of rejecting the comparison, President Bush surprised observers yesterday by invoking the "painful and complex" legacy of Vietnam as an example of why the US military must continue fighting in Iraq, declaring that America must not "abandon" Iraqis who are struggling to build a free society.

AAPP says: Bush's decision to finally compare Iraq to Vietnam shows that he is a "Bush come lately." The fact is even his own advisors told him before the war began that US involvement in Iraq would be like Vietnam, which lasted for more than a decade, was a historic political blunder and a huge military defeat for America. We got our ass kicked.

The White Man's Bruden

WaPo reports Arthur Herman Bremer, the man who attempted to assassinate Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace during his 1972 presidential campaign, will be released later this year, Maryland corrections officials confirmed today.

Wallace, 52-years-old on that May afternoon in Maryland, was surging in his third bid for the nomination, having won three Democratic primaries and expecting to win in Maryland and Michigan.

Surrounded by a boisterous crowd of about 2,000 in the parking lot of the Laurel Shopping Center, Wallace had just concluded his remarks when a young blond-haired man in opaque sunglasses and dressed in red, white and blue shot him at close range, "the little black gun exploding like a birthday-party favor," Time magazine reported. Three persons traveling with the governor also were wounded.

From that day in 1972 when the bullets entered his chest and stomach -- one lodging in the spinal canal -- until the day he died 26 years later, Wallace was paralyzed in both legs, lived in constant pain and suffered a variety of maladies as a result of his injuries.

Bremer, who had been stalking the candidate for weeks, was a 21-year-old loner from Milwaukee. Rejecting his insanity defense, a Prince George's County jury sentenced him to 53 years in prison.


Bremer came up for parole periodically, beginning in 1985; Wallace said he was not opposed to his assailant going free. In 1995, he wrote a letter to Bremer, saying that he had forgiven him and that he hoped the two could meet. Bremer never responded, never talked about why he shot Wallace and never expressed remorse.

Two years later, shortly before Wallace's death, Bremer argued in an appeal for parole that he should be released from prison because Wallace and other southern politicians were "segregationist dinosaurs."

Black on Black Crime - Race and Violent Crime -- What's the Connection?

Here is some interesting research on Race and Violent Crime. For those of you who have never read this piece, I thought you may find it interesting reading. Please let me know what you think.

AAPP




Race and Violent Crime -- What's the Connection?

Source:
National Institute of Justice

Liberals often blame crime in black ghettos on poverty, while some conservatives point to the high number of single-parent households. A sociologist argues for the more complicated position that poverty leads to broken families, then crime.

In the United States, black urban communities have more of what sociologists term "social dislocations" than do other racial or ethnic communities, says sociologist Robert Sampson. These dislocations include drug addiction, welfare dependency, and violent crime, as well as "family disruptions" like teenage pregnancy, out-of-wedlock births, and female-headed households. The rate of violence is emblematic of the social pathology that plagues the black urban ghetto. Blacks, 11% of the population, comprise 61% of robbery arrests and 55% of homicide arrests. Black males have a 1-in-21 chance of being murdered.

Past Research on Race and Crime

Sampson argues that previous research does not adequately explain the links between race, violent crime, and other social dislocations. Specifically, the relationship between crime and family structure in black urban communities is poorly understood, he says. Why?
  • In part, Sampson argues that this is because sociologists have tended to shy away from studies that might be interpreted as reinforcing racial stereotypes. This fear of be labeled a racist followed the attack on work by scholars such as Rainwater ("Crucible of Identity," 1966) and Moynihan (The Negro Family, 1965).

  • In addition, what research has been done has tended to ignore the role of structural factors -- like the rate of black male joblessness -- in producing both crime and broken families, Sampson says. Studies of the black family concentrate on how liberal welfare policy influences family disruption. Studies of crime look at individual factors or propose that crime in urban ghettos is caused by a black subculture of violence, "a value system that condones and legitimates violence."

  • Sampson says that it also has been difficult to get good comparative data to test how structural factors influence a variety of social dislocations, including crime. Race-specific crime and arrest rates have not been reported by city or by other units that would allow researchers to investigate how crime rates vary along with other structural differences -- like income, rates of drug addiction, the number of female-headed households, etc.
Sampson argues that the problems in past research have placed real limits on our understanding of the links between crime, race, and other social problems. And our ignorance has affected both policy and public opinion, he says. Racial stereotypes persist. Black males are incarcerated at increasing rates, but crime persists.

Sampson's Model

Sampson's own research is designed to assess the structural links between black crime, family disruption, and structural factors like poverty and joblessness. This research offers a critique of existing explanations of the social dislocations in black communities that place blame with individuals or black subculture. Sampson contends that there is much support for William Julius Wilson's theory that structural factors -- poverty, joblessness -- are linked both to family structure and to crime. His analysis shows that the rates at which blacks commit robbery and homicide are strongly influenced by family structure. This is particularly true for juveniles. Furthermore, breakdown in family structure (measured by the percentage of black households headed by a woman) is caused in large part by low income and male unemployment.

Sampson Rejects Subculture of Violence

Sampson concludes that this structural explanation of crime is valid for both black and white populations of urban areas, pointing strongly to a conclusion that black crime cannot be attributed to some unique elements of black culture. He rejects the black "subculture of violence" argument about the causes of black crime. He also argues that his research explains why unemployment and economic deprivation have shown no direct relationship to crime rates in previous studies. These factors operate indirectly by causing black family disruption, and that leads to more crime.

Reduce Crime By Providing Resources for Stronger Families

Based on his research, Sampson suggests that social policies should be designed to retool unskilled workers, provide job supports, and address family policy issues -- such as the hardships faced by single mothers. Such programs "are more likely to reduce family disruption and crime in the long run than are current policies aimed simply at reducing welfare and incarcerating an ever-increasing proportion of the black population," Sampson says.
Research Design:

Sampson designed his study to assess the "overall effect of an area's rate of marital and family disruption on both juvenile and adult crime." He used data from the 1980 census (U.S. Bureau of the Census, data tapes STF3) to create statistical variables for key characteristics of white and black populations of the 171 cities in the United States with populations over 100,000. The variables were

  • male marriage pool index (MMPI), or the number of employed men per 100 women;
  • percentage of households headed solely by a woman; percentage of households with children under 18 headed by a woman;
  • per capita income, or income per person;
  • the average welfare payment to families on welfare; and
  • median age of the population.

Sampson also used census data to obtain the following information about each city: region, racial composition, population size, and housing density (measured by the percentage of rental housing units located in buildings with five or more units).

Sampson obtained data from the FBI on arrest counts for each police jurisdiction of the 171 cities for the years 1980-1982. These data were merged with the census files. From these data he obtained offending rates, or age- and race-specific rates of robberies and homicides.

The sample size for homicide was reduced to 153 cities because some data were missing in the FBI database. Sampson emphasizes that there is no reason to think that the data are racially biased.

This research was funded by the National Institute of Justice.


Citation: This Keytext reports some of the ideas and findings from the following source:
Sampson, R. J. (1987). Urban black violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 348-382. Pp. 348-82

To see other key texts that originated from this same citation, click here.

Authors:

Robert J. Sampson

International Struggle for Human Rights

Why is it that black people in America seem not to care about politics in other countries? I guess even African American bloggers are not interested in Human Rights issues in other countries. Well it seems so. Take for instance the issue of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a Haitian human rights activist and the head of Fondasyon Trant Septanm.




ACTION ALERT


Haitian Human Rights Activist Abducted


The Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN) has reason to fear for the safety of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a Haitian human rights activist and the head of Fondasyon Trant Septanm, missing since August 12, 2007 after meeting with a U.S. delegation that was visiting Haiti. Pierre-Antoine is in imminent danger of human rights abuse. According to an August 15, 2007 Associated Press report, police and supporters say Pierre-Antoine may have been kidnapped. Pierre-Antoine has received numerous death threats from the coup d'etat foreign intervention death squads, paramilitaries and their civil arm factions in Haiti throughout the years from 1991 to the present.

George W Bush

Just so you know

Source: border gateway protocol

•I attacked and took over 2 countries.

•I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

•I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!).

•I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

•I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

•In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did).

•After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

•I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history.

•In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

•I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history.

•I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period.

•I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV.

•I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

•I cut health care benefits for war veterans.

•I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

•I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

•I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

•Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her for a while.)

•I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.

•I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.

•I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.

•I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security

•I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!).

•I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

•I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.

•I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

•I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

•I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

•I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.

•I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

•The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

•I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

•I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.

Read More HERE

I'm George W. Bush




FOX/CBC Debate Postponed

Sept. 23 Detroit presidential debate postponed, no new date set

DETROIT News -- Fox News and a black political group say they will not hold a Sept. 23 Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, which the leading candidates already were planning to skip.

A new date had not yet been set, Fox News spokesman Michael Murphy said Thursday.

The campaigns of U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards had said they would not participate in the debate. Opponents have criticized Fox as biased against Democrats.

The debate, co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, was to have been held at the Fox Theatre.

Institute chairman U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement Friday on the group's Web site that the "overwhelming number of party presidential debates has created a scheduling challenge." More HERE

AAPP: Whatever!


Blacks and Latinos

Blacks and Latinos Majority in Many U.S. Counties - What difference does it really make?

News Source: Amsterdam News.com

Back in the early 1960s, R&B singer-songwriter Sam Cooke informed us that ‘a change is gonna come'. He was right, ethnically speaking: In counties such as Los Angeles, less than 50 percent of the population identifies itself as white.

Los Angeles, Chicago and New York may remain among the fastest growing centers for Latinos and Blacks, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, America's minority groups are leaving big inner cities in rapid numbers, settling in rural and suburban communities. Read more HERE

AAPP: All of this, while three African American college students in Newark, N.J., were forced to kneel and shot in the head. By what police alleged was an illegal alien from Peru who was out on bail for the serial rape of a 5-year-old. What!

The arrest of Jose Carranza in that Newark massacre, amid reports he had Hispanic accomplices and the murders may has elevated the issue of the black-brown war raging in U.S. big cities. Is this what we struggled for in the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Is this (Black) America's Dream?




Connecticut

Did you know New Haven residents voted to kill a proposed "Negro College," planned by Yale graduate Simeon Jocelyn in 1831? Read more.


Violet Evangeline Roberts With Her Mother

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS on the new Citizens All website include this photograph, "Violet Evangeline Roberts with her mother, Ida, circa 1908." The interactive, educational website was set up by the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery Resistance and Abolition. (COURTESY OF DIANE ROBINSON


AAPP
says: There is a great article in the Hartford Courant - Courant.com regarding the politics of race in Connecticut - before and after slavery. Racism ran crazy during those days, as it does today (even though some blacks and most whites deny it). It's interesting to note some of the comments of those days regarding public education and blacks. Here is one of the many racist and ignorant ones:

"The colored people can never rise from their menial position in our country," wrote Andrew Judson, a federal judge and the school's next-door neighbor. "They are an inferior race of beings, and never can or ought to be recognized as the equals of whites."

It would be interesting today to take a look at Andrew Judson's grand children to see how many black woman have dated or marriaged a member of Andrew Judson family. OK I digress, check out the article.

------

From Slaves To Citizens

By 1808, the United States officially rejected slavery, banning slave trading. As some forward-thinking whites and freed blacks would soon find out, it would take the country much longer to discard the notion of racial inequality.

Nowhere was that struggle more evident than in Connecticut. The incidents, at times, seem unthinkable in the state where the American abolitionist movement took hold: New Haven residents voting to kill a proposed "Negro College," planned by Yale graduate Simeon Jocelyn in 1831; the preaching of pastors - even Lyman Beecher - advocating to send blacks back to Africa; an 1834 mob attack on Prudence Crandall's integrated school for young women in Canterbury.

"The colored people can never rise from their menial position in our country," wrote Andrew Judson, a federal judge and the school's next-door neighbor. "They are an inferior race of beings, and never can or ought to be recognized as the equals of whites." More HERE and HERE

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Black Hawk Down

Since the conflict began 63 helicopters have gone down, including 36 struck by enemy fire

No mode of transportation safe in Iraq



14 U.S. Troops Die in Helicopter Crash in Iraq

Mechanical failure suspected in crash of UH-60 Blackhawk in northern Iraq during a nighttime exercise; suicide bomber strikes police station.

DENIAL

WaPo reports A statement from the U.S. military said initial evidence indicates the UH-60 Blackhawk experienced mechanical failure and that it did not come under enemy fire. However, the cause of the crash is under investigation, the military said.

According to the military statement, two helicopters were conducting a night operation when one went down. The aircraft had been carrying four crewmembers and 10 passengers from Task Force Lightning, an American operation whose area of command includes the cities of Tikrit, Kirkuk, Samarra and Mosul.

Military travel in Iraq is often conducted on helicopters to avoid threats from roadside bombs.

Since the conflict began 63 helicopters have gone down, including 36 struck by enemy fire. Over January and February of this year seven military helicopters and one carrying private security contractors were taken down by insurgent fire, killing a total of 28 people. The incidents prompted the military to reevaluate flight plans and tactics used to prevent anti-aircraft fire. More

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Protesting The War

Taking protest of the war to the next level. The internet.



Bullet Proof BackPack

It’s back-to-school time for children across America. Black children are ready to load up with those pencils, notebooks and rulers. Well how about a bullet-deflecting backpack? Maybe black parents should be asking their local school districts to supply their children with bullet proof backpacks.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is A Bulletproof Backpack A

Update: Before I asks you what do you think - Read this:


The Daily Reflector

It's unclear why a 13-year-old girl was shot several times while near her house Tuesday night, said a Greenville Police Department spokesman.

At about 11:45 p.m., Brittany Teel was shot in the back while she was in the area near South Greene Street, according to the Greenville Police Department.


TEEL

Shaking her head in disbelief, Teel on Wednesday recalled how shocked she was after a second bullet entered her body.

"I just knew I wasn't shot," she said. "I didn't feel it when it went in the first time. When I turned around to see who did it, I was shot again," Teel said.

Teel's cousin, Erica Phillips, was with her at the time and had a bullet graze her knee. No one else was with them when the shots were fired, Teel's mother, Michelle Thomas, said.

The two girls went outside to get a chair for Teel's grandmother, Thomas said.

Thomas said she heard about five shots and a lot of commotion while she was in the house. She said she didn't expect to find her daughter with two bullet wounds.

More HERE


Boy, 17, fatally shot; second teen wounded
Baltimore Sun, United States
One boy, 17, was shot in the back and died about a half hour later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The second victim was wounded in his right leg, ...

Now, What do you think?


Black Athletes - Forty Million Dollar Slaves

The Politics of Sports

A book review



Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

By Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States)

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete
by journalist William C. Rhoden gives a no-holds barred, unadulterated low-down about highly paid black athletes and the juxtaposition of slavery. How did Rhoden come to the conclusion that most Black athletes are highly paid slaves? He starts off methodically detailing the history of African Americans sports dating back to the plantation when slaves were a commodity; property to be used for entertainment as well as labor. Plantation owners would stage fights between slaves from different plantations as weekend amusement. Slaves also became jockeys to plantation owners who owned horses. This became a lucrative business and Black jockeys earned huge payoffs for their owners as well as for themselves on into Reconstruction and into the early 1900s. Blacks dominated horse racing but they were literally squeezed out of the market by greed, jealousy and blatant racism.

Rhoden also details the rise and fall of the Negro Leagues and the tragedy of Arthur "Rube" Foster, who sacrificed everything in the 1930s to organize Black ownership of baseball teams and to give due respect to black baseball players who were unable to play in the major leagues. Ironically, integration saw the end of the Negro Leagues when prime players such as Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige went to the majors. Rhoden goes on to chronicle the early days of football and basketball. He recounts pioneers in both fields, including Paul Robeson of Rutgers and Raymond Chester of Morgan State and then the Oakland Raiders. It was not until the early 1970s that Southern colleges began recruiting Black football players; at one time the NBA was almost all-white.

Rhoden contends that our young Black athletes, high school, college and professional, lack knowledge of their history in general, and the history of African Americans in sports, in particular. He cites this disconnect for not only the negative, destructive behavior that many of them indulge in but the apathy and lack of political noninvolvement and racial pride. Where are the young Muhammad Alis? But it is the Benjamins that are the prize at the end of the day. Poor inner-city or southern rural Black kids who show exceptional athletic talent become a victim of the "Conveyor Belt." A system, by which they are prepped, coddled and many times exploited at early ages on into high school and college with the main goal to snag the million dollar contracts and lucrative endorsement deals. Who would not want this? But at what cost? Even with all the money Black athletes command, there is still a lacking in coaching, those in top management and almost nil in Black team ownership with the exception of Robert Johnson of the Charlotte Bobcats. Also notable are the few African American sports journalists working to shape and control our image and the lack of exposure to Black agents, attorneys and other specialists to these new multimillionaires.

Kellen Winslow Sr., now an attorney, was a former college football star and played pro for several years and is now in the Hall of Fame. Because he went through the Conveyor Belt, he was able to advocate for his son, Kellen Jr. when the college scouts came courting. He speaks candidly about how college scouts will try to divide the child and parents. He refused to let this happen, often butting heads with his son over where he would go to college. Winslow maintains though that most Black kids do not have a parent, most specifically a father, who will run interference in these matters.

One of the most profound chapters is "The River Jordan: The Dilemma of Neutrality."
Rhoden shows disappointment, hurt, an almost aversion to the beloved Michael Jordan. Jordan's apathy towards Black causes and his neutral stance was a topic of debate when Marcus Book Club met to discuss this book. The members however, came to the agreement that to whom much is given, much is expected and cited Magic Johnson and Dikembe Mutombo as excellent examples of those giving back to their communities. This book is a must-read, especially for young people, both young men and young women and their parents. The history is invaluable and the subject is timely. This is a keeper in one's African American library.

Troops not coming home anytime soon

AAPP: I guess we always knew that George W. Bush would defy the wishes of American people and keep American troops on the ground until the end of his administration. In other words "let the Democrats handle the mess he made." Based on the past 8 Months I have my doubts about the Democrats who are now praising the surge progress.

Report: White House plans to propose gradual troop cuts in Iraq

F04e057d4b5b45129f1586fc739ee1b1pobThe New York Times and USA Today are reporting The White House plans to counter calls for a large-scale withdrawal from Iraq by proposing a gradual decrease in U.S. troop levels that would keep forces on the ground until the end of the Bush administration, according to a report in this morning's edition of The New York Times.

"The officials said the White House would portray its approach as a new strategy for Iraq, a message aimed primarily at the growing numbers of Congressional Republicans who have criticized President Bush’s handling of the war," the paper says. "Many Republicans have urged Mr. Bush to unveil a new strategy, and even to propose a gradual reduction of American troops to the levels before this year’s troop increase — about 130,000 — or even lower to head off Democratic-led efforts to force the withdrawal of all combat forces by early next year."

Would you send your child to this Church?

AAPP: I believe in forgiveness, but should this guy be allowed to be a pastor of another church? Would you send your child to this church?

Source: usa today.com
Church puts sex offender in the pulpit

E01a04941 Jeff Hannah spent five years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing four teenage girls while he was working as a minister at a Southern Baptist church in Illinois. Not long after he was paroled in 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times says another congregation hired the sex offender despite repeated warnings from his successor at Crossroads Church.

"In our church, we believe in forgiveness," says Del Kirkpatrick, a deacon who was one of the people who decided to hire Hannah as a temporary pastor at the First Baptist Church of Romeoville, Ill.

Read More HERE

Iraq

Now the leadership of the United States Senate wants to over-through the puppet U/S. Government in Iraq. Yes, a U.S. Senator is urging the over through of leadership in Iraq

Wapo reports Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) is urging the Iraq Parliament to oust Prime Minister al-Maliki, cabinet if unable to forge political compromise, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman says.

Declaring the government of Iraq "non-functional," the influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said yesterday that Iraq's parliament should oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his cabinet if they are unable to forge a political compromise with rival factions in a matter of days.

"I hope the parliament will vote the Maliki government out of office and will have the wisdom to replace it with a less sectarian and more unifying prime minister and government," Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said after a three-day trip to Iraq and Jordan. More HERE


Black Hair - Weaves

Aron Ranen
Aron Ranen

Black Hair Care operated by Koreans

The Politics of Black Hair Products

eurweb.com has a great story and interview about The white guy who uncovered the Korean domination of the black hair industry.

AAPP says: Why do black women spend billions of dollars on hair care products and give their hard earned money over to Koreans so they can become millionaires? Living large in nice homes, spending money in their own communities, as our urban black communities die from violence. Most Korean shop owners give nothing back, except fake smile, saying thank you -sucker.

How did Koreans start operating hair and nail salons in black communities across America. Almost overnight? Why did we allow Koreans to rake over a business that was historically a business operated with the black community and mostly by black women.

How did all this happen? Who was asleep at the wheel? Is it not time to take our business back one neighborhood, one community at a time? Check out this video by Aron Ranen. Tell us what you think. Why is the Congressional Black Caucus not creating legislation that would provide seed money for black women to re-establish black hair care businesses? If Aron Ranen film is true, this is an robust economic opportunity lost by black folks and in the hands of others who basically rip the black community 24/7. Ok, Black woman reading this post, where did your weave come from? Ok black man reading this article, how much did you wife, lady, or significant other pay in the last month for hair care products?

Think About it! Then pass this post on to 5 other people.

Hat Tip: Aron Ranen and eurweb.comd

Sunday, August 19, 2007

National Shame - Dunbar Village

“Nobody came for us,” the woman, 35, said in the interview with WPTV. “Nobody even called the police for us.”

Victim of the Dunbar Village gang rape. Describing her neighbors' response immediately following the attack. (SOURCE)

Source: What About our Daughters

I explained in Friday's post why I didn't post about Dunbar Village, how do you articulate the horror in words? Quite frankly it depressed the hell out of me. In another post about some foolishness in Georgia, we started addressing the gang rape in Dunbar Village of a woman by 10 African American teens who in addition to repeatedly raping the woman ( FOR OVER THREE HOURS) while beating her 12 year old son made them lie naked in the bath tub together and forced the woman to perform oral sex on her own child before burning her skin and blinding her son by pouring cleaning solution on their skin and eyes. More HERE

Now the question is, as The Free Slave has noted, why don’t we black men deal with this!

Blacks as Environmentalists.

There is a great article about people of color as The New Environmentalists.


Source: ColorLines

People of color have much at stake in the greening of America.

In response to mounting ecological crises, the United States is going through its most important economic transformation since the New Deal. Unfortunately, the vital process of change along more eco-friendly lines is moving ahead with practically zero participation from people of color.

Hundreds of mayors and several governors are bucking the Bush administration and committing themselves to the carbon-cutting principles of the Kyoto treaty on climate change. The U.S. Congress is debating an energy bill this year that could be a watershed for alternative energy sources. What’s more, regular people are way ahead of these leaders. U.S polls show super-majorities want strong action on the climate crisis and other environmental perils. And consumers are reshaping markets by demanding hybrid cars, bio-fuels, solar panels, organic food and more. As a result, the “lifestyles of health and sustainability” sector of the U.S. economy has ballooned into a $240 billion gold mine. And total sales are growing on a near-vertical axis.

The Economist magazine calls it “The Greening of America.” Indeed, we are witnessing the slow death of the Earth-devouring, suicidal version of capitalism. We’re even seeing the birth of some form of “eco-capitalism.” To be sure, a more “ecologically sound” market system will not be a utopia. But at least it will buy our species a few extra decades or centuries on this planet.

That’s the good news. Here is the bad news. More HERE

The Lost War - where have all the true liberals gone

The Washington Post article on The Lost War along with comments by Ross I was reminded of Gary Webb. You may have remembered the story of Gary Webb, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who wrote a series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine trafficking in Los Angeles. He was a true liberal and liberal who was murdered. Let's be clear Markos C. A.Moulitsas is no Gary Webb. So lets take a look back at Gary Webb.

As reported by Democracy Now, Gary Webb's 1996 series in the San Jose Mercury News titled "Dark Alliance" revealed that for the better part of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to Los Angeles street gangs and funneled millions in drug profits to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras.

It provoked a fierce reaction from the media establishment, which denounced the series. Following the controversy, San Jose Mercury News executive editor demoted Webb within the paper. He resigned and pushed his investigation even further in his book "Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion."

  • Robert Parry, veteran investigative journalist and author of the new book "Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." For years he worked as an investigative reporter for both the Associated Press and Newsweek magazine. His reporting led to the exposure of what is now known as the "Iran-Contra" scandal.
    - Read Robert Parry's article: "America's Debt to Journalist Gary Webb"

Past Democracy Now Coverage:


AMY GOODMAN: we're joined on the telephone now by Bob Parry, veteran investigative journalist, wrote for AP and Newsweek. His reporting led to the exposure of what's now called the Iran-Contra scandal. His latest book is called Secrecy and Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty to Watergate and Iraq. Welcome to Democracy Now!

More HERE


Democrats: Don't Ask me for money

In the last presidential elections I contributed big time to the democrats. The maximum allowable amount. This year I won't be. Why? Because “Terror War” Terrorizes Spineless Democrats

I agree with BAR Managing Editor Bruce Dixon who writes:

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When Democrats compete to adopt the phony “global war on terror” as their own, and promise they can do it “better” or “smarter” than Republicans, they erase what little difference remains between the parties. “Terror Democrats” have abandoned the politics of hope for the politics of fear, and turn the political process into one that threatens to elect the candidates who frighten us the most.

Read more…

The World is a Ghetto



Well it appears that the inner-city poor in ghettos throughout America and other countries, who are addicted to heroin are impacting on Bush's war on Afghanistan's turbulent Helmand province.

Wapo reports "Thirty-six years and hundreds of billions of dollars after President Richard M. Nixon launched the war on drugs, consumers worldwide are taking more narcotics and criminals are making fatter profits than ever before. The syndicates that control narcotics production and distribution reap the profits from an annual turnover of $400 billion to $500 billion. And terrorist organizations such as the Taliban are using this money to expand their operations and buy ever more sophisticated weapons, threatening Western security."

The Wapo article goes on to report, "Despite the presence of 35,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, the drug trade there is going gangbusters. According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghan opium production in 2006 rose a staggering 57 percent over the previous year. Next month, the United Nations is expected to release a report showing an additional 15 percent jump in opium production this year while highlighting the sobering fact that Afghanistan now accounts for 95 percent of the world's poppy crop. But the success of the illegal narcotics industry isn't confined to Afghanistan. Business is booming in South America, the Middle East, Africa and across the United States." More HERE

Remember the old school joint, by the group WAR - The World is a Ghetto?

Walkin' down the street, smoggy-eyed
Looking at the sky, starry-eyed
Searchin' for the place, weary-eyed
Crying in the night, teary-eyed

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Wonder when I'll find paradise
Somewhere there's a home sweet and nice
Wonder if I'll find happiness
Never give it up now I guess

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