America, is it going to hell in a handbasket ?

Could anyone have said how I'm feeling better than myself. Yes, Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report has placed in to words how a majority of Americans are feeling. And we are not feeling good. Candidly, I'd like a majority of the Congress to get a ticket right to hell. but hopefully the American people will see through their madness and vote against every last one of them. Check out A Black Agenda Report radio commentary

by executive editor Glen Ford

Something close to a majority of the people of the United States want Dick Cheney and George Bush to be impeached. Many more would join the bandwagon if the process was begun. But only 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on to impeach Cheney, and the arch-criminal George Bush seems untouchable. Democratic lawmakers refuse to enforce the law. The inability of the U.S. political system to reign in rampaging criminality, is evident. Corporations govern the United States, and their laws are different. From Baghdad to New Orleans, U.S. corporations have been on a stealing- and killing-spree since January, 2001 - and they dare anyone to stop them.

Read more...

Killing an Innocent Black Man? Troy Athony Davis

OK, you Obama and Hillary supporters, why are they (Hillary and Obama so quiet about this case, why are they not writing letters and calling the Governor of Georgia)? oh, it's only a black man.


Hat Tip: Time.com

The pending execution of Troy Anthony Davis, scheduled to take place on July 17, is raising serious questions about his guilt — and about the Newt Gingrich-era federal law that has limited his appeals options and prevented him, say his supporters, from getting a fair shake.


Davis, 38, a former coach in the Savannah Police Athletic League who had signed up for the Marines, was convicted in the 1989 murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, a Savannah, Ga., police officer. MacPhail was off-duty when he was shot dead in a Savannah parking lot while responding to an assault. Davis was at the scene of the crime, and an acquaintance who was there with him accused Davis of being the shooter. Since his conviction in 1991, Davis has seen each of his state and federal appeals fail. But in the court of public opinion, Davis presents a compelling argument. Seven of the nine main witnesses whose testimony led to his conviction have since recanted. The murder weapon has never been found, and there is no physical evidence linking the crime to Davis, who has asserted his innocence throughout. Read More HERE

Gallery of the Exonerated

Ten stories of men who languished in prison for crimes they didn't commit, until the Innocence Project and DNA technology helped win their freedom

Related

Innocence Project Marks 15th Year

Now in its 15th year, the nonprofit has freed more than 200 wrongly convicted people using DNA evidence

The Jena Six

The Case of the Jena Six: Black High School Students Charged with Attempted Murder for Schoolyard Fight After Nooses Are Hung from Tree

Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3
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Source: Democracy Now

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Six black students at Jena High School in Central Louisiana were arrested last December after a school fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises. The six black students were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in prison without parole. The fight took place amid mounting racial tension after a black student sat under a tree in the schoolyard where only white students sat. The next day three nooses were hanging from the tree. [includes rush transcript]

Jena is a small town nestled deep in the heart of Central Louisiana. Until recently, you may well have never heard of it. But this rural town of less than 4,000 people has become a focal point in the debate around issues of race and justice in this country.

Last December, six black students at Jena High School were arrested after a school fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises. The six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in prison without parole. The Jena Six, as they have come to be known, range in age from 15 to 17 years old.

Just over a week ago, an all-white jury took less than two days to convict 17 year-old Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena Six to go on trial. He was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy charges and now faces up to 22 years in prison.

Black residents say that race has always been an issue in Jena, which is 85 percent white, and that the charges against the Jena Six are no exception.

The origins of the story can be traced back to early September when a black high school student requested permission to sit under a tree in the schoolyard where usually only white students sat. The next day three nooses were found hanging from the tree.

Democracy Now! correspondent Jacquie Soohen has more on the story from Jena. More HERE

White House Chicken Hawks - GOP Low Lifes

While White House chicken hawks hold firm on a bogus strategy regarding Bush's Iraq War, other chickens are coming home to roost in fear of voter backlash. They are ditching Bush and his screwed up policy in Iraq. Now GOP Senators are even drafting a bill requiring Bush to narrow mission of U.S. Troops Let's hope the voters can see through these morons, who have caused, thousands of American soldiers to die, countless thousands to be injured, hundreds of thousand of Iraqi deaths, and millions of Iraqi's to flee Iraq.

Listen to four other lawmakers discuss their views on the Iraq war: Source: The Washington Post.

Excerpt of Rep. Boren's Interview

Excerpt of Rep. Schakowsky's Interview

Excerpt of Sen. Isakson's Interview

Excerpt of Sen. Snowe's Interview

The Politics of Racism: The Genarlow Wilson Case

The U.S. attorney's office said McDade violated federal law when he distributed a videotape from a rape and child molestation case to legislators and journalists.

As the State of Georgia is now involved in child Porn. Now a state lawmaker has asked an ignorant State of Georgia attorney general to investigate a prosecutor's release of an amateur video showing a then teenager having consensual sex with two teenage girls. Some say the tape is child pornography, while others contend the faces of the girls should have been blocked out to protect their privacy. State Sen. Emanuel Jones, a Democrat, called it "an absolute and utter disgrace" that the tape was being distributed and asked Attorney General Thurbert Baker to investigate.

This as several thousand march for Genarlow Wilson today in Douglas, Georgia.

With thunder overhead and rain threatening, about 2,000 marchers took to the streets in Douglas County today in support of Genarlow Wilson's release from state prison.

The group, led by the NAACP, marched from Douglasville High School to the county courthouse, chanting "Free Genarlow Wilson" and singing civil rights songs.

The case of Wilson, serving a 10-year sentence for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, will be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court July 20.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker is appealing a Monroe County Superior Court judge's decision to reduce Wilson's felony conviction to a misdemeanor and free him from prison. Baker said the judge overstepped his authority when he granted Wilson's motion last month. Wilson's attorney is arguing his 10-year prison sentence is cruel and unusual punishment.

The high court also decided to hold an expedited hearing on a Douglas County Superior Court judge's decision to deny bond for Wilson pending Baker's appeal. The judge says Wilson is not eligible for bond during the appeal because of the nature of his crime, aggravated child molestation.

The almost entirely black march Saturday started around 10 a.m. and ended with speeches at the courthouse. Speakers denounced Baker and Douglas County District Attorney David McDade. The U.S. attorney's office said McDade violated federal law when he distributed a videotape from a rape and child molestation case to legislators and journalists.

More HERE

Why is Genarlow Wilson in Prison?
Brotha Genarlow has not been released. Attorney General Thurbert Baker in Georgia is not a brotha. He is just another Clarence Thomas, an ultra conservative white guy, in black face. But hey, that is just my opinion.

What Can You Do?

1) Let District Attorney David McDade and other politicians of the state of Georgia know your outrage with the unjust incarceration of Genarlow Wilson. Sign our online petition demanding his freedom and that he not have to register as a sexual offender.

2) Donate to the Wilson Defense Fund. Monies collected will go to legal expenses and when released, an education fund for Genarlow Wilson.

3) Contact Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker
Phone: 404-656-3300
FAX: 404-657-8733
E-mail: agbaker@law.ga.gov

4) Sign online petition

Master P looking closely at Presidential candidates

Rapper taking a new look at Politics

The Boston Globe is reporting about how Obama and Clinton are in a tight battle for black vote. For Master P, whose given name is Percy Miller, it's a choice purely between the wife of the man once called America's "first black president" and the half-Kenyan, half-Kansan freshman lawmaker from Chicago who's inspiring African-American voters with his strong candidacy.

Source: The Boston Globe:

"Those are two great candidates for our community and our people," said Miller, one of more than 3,000 people who gathered here yesterday for a presidential candidates' forum sponsored by the NAACP. "I like what they talk about, I like what they stand for."

In the competition for black primary voters among Democratic presidential contenders, Miller's sentiments reflect what the polls and interviews with African-Americans suggest: that Obama and Clinton are locked in a fierce battle for black support, which could prove more pivotal than ever given next year's front-loaded primary calendar.

Black voters say they like Clinton for her work on issues important to minorities, such as universal healthcare, and out of a sense of loyalty to President Clinton. But they say they are also moved by Obama's uplifting message, his life experience, and the prospect of seeing the first African-American president in the White House.

"I've listened to her over the years; he caught me with his first speech," said Janet Hightower, a 62-year-old retired state liquor store manager from Seattle who was at yesterday's forum. "It is hard."

Polls underline the divided loyalties. In a Gallup survey last month, 43 percent of black Democrats said they preferred Clinton, while 42 percent said they liked Obama. The next-highest vote-getter was John Edwards, former North Carolina senator, at 6 percent.

"It's pretty clear that the black vote is being split up, or at least what's been decided, between Obama and Clinton," said David Bositis, a specialist on politics and African-American voters at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Read MORE HERE

Maybe it's time for black political bloggers and/or the AfroSpear Think Tank to collectively come together and take a look at the presidential candidates as well. We need to get them (presidential candidates) to commit to issues and plans important to our communities. Our communities are being taken over every day. Time is of the essence.

The new urban strategy - stealing our land through eminent domain

Stealing our Land through Eminent Domain

Are governments repeating the urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1960 that uprooted hundreds of thousands of minority and low-income communities? Is there an attack on us again? Or is it something that never stopped? Check out the post below and let us know what you think. Is this another Mirror on America? Read this report

Hat Tip: Institute for Justice

Arlington, Va.—The poor, less educated and minorities are disproportionately targets of eminent domain abuse.

Those are the findings of a first-of-its-kind national study released today by the Institute for Justice that systematically examined U.S. Census data to determine the profile of people subject to eminent domain abuse in 184 projects across the country.

The study, “Victimizing the Vulnerable: The Demographics of Eminent Domain Abuse,” found that 58 percent of those targeted with the threat of eminent domain were minority residents (compared to only 45 percent in surrounding neighborhoods that were not targeted with takings), and those targeted had an annual median income of less than $19,000 (compared to $23,000 in surrounding neighborhoods). Moreover, a greater percentage of people living in areas targeted for eminent domain for private development have less than a high school diploma and smaller percentages have various levels of college education compared to surrounding communities.

“Eminent domain abuse is essentially Robin Hood in reverse: taking from the poor to give to wealthy, politically connected developers,” said Dr. Dick M. Carpenter II, director of strategic research at the Institute for Justice, who directed the study. The report is available at http://www.ij.org/publications/other/demographic_study.html.

The study vindicates the warning offered by former-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who wrote in her dissent in the infamous Kelo case that eminent domain would be used “to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more.” Saturday, June 23, 2007, marks the second anniversary of the Kelo ruling in which the Supreme Court ruled that governments may seize non-blighted homes and turn them over to another private party based on little more than the mere promise that the new owners could use the land in a way that might create more jobs and pay higher taxes.

“The only real solution is ending eminent domain for private development,” said Chip Mellor, president and general counsel of the Institute for Justice. “Those with the least means most need robust protection of constitutional rights. This is especially important in the context of eminent domain because eminent domain doesn’t just kick people out of their homes, it uproots entire communities and social networks, which is especially devastating for those of lower-income, predominantly minority communities.”

Mellor said, “It appears that governments are repeating the same tragic mistakes made in the failed urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1960s that uprooted thousands of minority and low-income communities.” More HERE

Note:

In a dissenting opinion opposing the majority on Kelo, former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted that lower income property owners would be the ones most often victimized by government seizure of their property. She wrote, "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."

Justice Clarence Thomas also opposed the majority's decision. In his dissent, he wrote, "Allowing the government to take property solely for public purposes is bad enough, but extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities." Source: MontgomeryAdvertiser.com

Opinion polls and self hating blacks

Here is a great post by John Ridley. I forgot to link to the post previously. He provides an interesting view on black folks in his post Opinion Polls and Self Hating Blacks. After you finish reading the post come back and let me know what you think.

Opinion Polls and Self Hating Blacks

by John Ridley

The headline over at CNN.com was dire: IS BLACK AMERICA READY TO EMBRACE OBAMA? Despite the fact that a Washington Post poll has Hillary Clinton leading Obama by a mere eleven points - a twenty four point swing in a matter of weeks with only, mmm, a year and a half until the election! - CNN is beating its favorite drum: black America doesn't like Obama (for comparison, the headline at the Post read: BLACKS SHIFT TO OBAMA, POLL FINDS). To justify this stance CNN continually taps into some of the most oddly self-hating rhetoric that can be found in black America.

From CNN: "Blacks, in part, may be slow to warm to the candidacy of Obama because, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll suggests, they are less likely than whites to believe that America is ready for a black president."

Also from CNN: "George Wilson, the host of XM Radio's 'GW on the Hill,' hears doubts about Obama all the time from his black audience. 'There is this doubt: but is America ready for a black president?' Wilson told CNN. 'And the overall consensus from my callers is that America is not ready for an African-American president.'"

So, if I've got this right; segments of black American don't want to elect a black man president because they think other segments of America aren't ready.

Really?

If we check history real carefully I'm pretty sure America wasn't ready when we as a people wanted to quit slavery and be free, when we wanted a full and complete Reconstruction. They weren't ready when we were tired of Jim Crow or when my parents, among millions of others, spilled out into the streets demanding civil rights.

They weren't ready for Jack Johnson or Fritz Pollard or Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali or Dr. King, Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm, Oprah, Tiger, Kenneth Chenault and I'm sure they weren't ready for Dick Parsons to be head of the world's largest media organization, which makes CNN's constant and beguiling racial stance so very odd.

The very fact that blacks aren't going to automatically vote for a black is not news. Beyond the fact that we are intelligent individuals rather than a monolithic voting block should be obvious. But recent history alone is evidence of our singularity. In 2004, presidential candidate Al Sharpton ran second to Howard Dean in the Washington, DC primary. A district that is 70 percent minority and 60 percent black. In South Carolina only one in five blacks voted for Sharpton and he won just one of the state's 55 eligible delegates.

But nobody took Al seriously, not even other blacks, so his dismissal passed with little notice.

Obama, however, is for real. And he has a real chance, which is why it's so painful to see other blacks turning on him for reasons other than pure politics. South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford recently said that if Obama won his party's nomination, then "every
Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose - because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything."

Read More HERE

Republicans, Democrats, Black Voters and the AfroSphere

Hat Tip: Pam's House Blend who writes:

A picture speaks a thousand words. Take a look at all of the GOP candidates who participated in the NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum yesterday:

Tom Tancredo.

All of the Dem candidates attended their NAACP forum.

Also a Hat Tip to Jeffrey Feldman at Frameshop, who said this:

The resulting photo of Tancredo--standing on a stage of empty podiums--sums up the Republican party's commitment to civil rights in America: the only Republican interested is the guy running to deny immigrant workers their rights.

Check out more of Pam's thoughts HERE

Black voters are a core party constituency, and the candidates are in a fierce struggle to capture our support, refusing to cede it to Obama.

Democrats on the other hand, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the other Democratic candidates for president lobbied for the African-American vote on Thursday with vows to make sure black votes are fully counted in the 2008 election. More HERE and HERE.

Should the AfroSpear Think Tank and the AfroSphere get directly involved in the conversation to add our voice into the national agenda for our nation's future?

Obama as Putney Swope

Have you ever viewed the movie Putney Swope? The satire in which the token black man on the executive board of an advertising firm is accidentally put in charge?

Well Clarence page of the Chicago Tribune thinks there are some comparsions between Obama Obama and Putney Swope. You know what - I do too.



Check out his article.

Obama tiptoes through nation's racial minefield
By Clarence Page

Polls about Sen. Barack Obama's presidential chances remind me of "Putney Swope," the brazenly irreverent 1969 comedy about the first black man to be elected the head of a major advertising agency's board.

Swope was not elected because he was the favorite candidate. Quite the opposite, all of the board's other members voted for him because each was convinced that none of the others members would vote for him.

That lampoon of liberal gestures came to mind as I read a Newsweek poll that accompanies a cover story on Obama this week. It asks whether the respondent would vote for a woman, a Hispanic, a Mormon or an African-American for president. It also asks, "Do you think the rest of America would?"

In each case a healthy majority say they'd do it, compared with a smaller percentage who believe their fellow Americans would. An overwhelming 85 percent, for example, say they'd vote for a woman, compared with only 58 percent who think the rest of the country would.

An even larger 92 percent say they'd vote for an African-American while 59 percent thought other Americans would.

Of course some people do lie to pollsters, especially about race. We don't want to sound too narrow-minded, even to a pollster, which also means we must read into the polls even as we read about them. More HERE

Down Low Hughley is stupid

Down Low (DL) Hughley loves attacking. First he attacks the women of Rutgers, now he attacks blacks who demonstrate against his ignorance. Down Low, is just a bama, shut up, I'm going to say it damn it, if you like it or not.

PS, Down Low (DL) Hughley is ignorant. That is my freedom of speech.

Whitefare - It impacts YOU and ME everyday

There have been discussions regarding the meaning of many issues and words related to "RACE" on the AfroSphere. We have discussed the Fear of “Dark Skin”">Fear of “Dark Skin”Fear of “Dark Skin”">, The Crisis of the African-American Male, Racism and Extreme Color Arousal to name a few. Yet, it appears we may have forgotten about one issue that impacts on all of the issues mentioned above, and that is the issue of "WhiteFare."

You know what I'm talking about, not "Welfare" in which most Americans are taught that black folks are on, but a majority of the people on the welfare rolls are white. Not Corporate Welfare, in which a majority of major corporations in America are on.

Yes, I'm talking about WhiteFare. You know, the issue that will impact on whether America will have a black President, or whether major American core urban areas, like Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Harlem, NY (of all places) will turn from black to white. WhiteFare, it impacts on US everyday.

OK, some of us need an explanation. (some of us don't) Well here it is. Let me know what you think.

Source: Reparations the cure.org

WHITEFARE

What is Whitefare? I use the word to describe a system that permeates the daily lives of everyone living in the United States of America. It is an economic and political system, and it is a set of beliefs and a set of rules of behavior as well. It is most commonly known as institutional racism. But I think it deserves the name Whitefare.

This name takes the attention off of the sickness of a few bigots -- what most of us think of when we see the word "racism". Because that sickness is only one small facet of the problem. The real problem is the complacency and ignorance expected from the majority of so-called white people, and the distortion of our society that complacency and ignorance allow to continue.

We have been taught to resist the idea that we are racists, whatever we actually do in our lives, short of burning crosses and wearing hoods. Having talked to hundreds of white people about this issue, I know that. But the idea that we are dependent on a system of Whitefare might just be different enough to be thinkable.

The word "Whitefare" is intended to be a response to the myths around "welfare" being used to attack African-Americans and others. Welfare or relief programs, have, for about half a century, shifted a measly amount of our society's resources to some of the poorest among us. A majority of those recipients have always been, and still are, white.

Meanwhile, for several centuries, institutional racism, or Whitefare, has ensured the best jobs, housing, infrastructure, security from crime, medical care, tax breaks, and other benefits to one part of the society, and mostly to a small leadership group. It has led to incredible government and business waste, not through minuscule relief programs, but built into the major government programs and social expenditures of this nation -- for military weapons, highway and infrastructure construction, mortgage and business lending, and every other major economic area. A 1994 study found that $104 billion of the federal budget (including tax loopholes) consisted of corporate welfare, that is, fairly narrowly defined direct benefits to business. Welfare for the poor in the same year was $75 billion.

Yet this minimal welfare system, which never reached most African-American families, is being stigmatized as having undermined the work ethic and community morality, and created an African-American underclass. And nobody even thinks about the moral or social impact of Whitefare. Like gravity, it just exists.

Whitefare is invisible. It is most invisible to those who benefit from it, and who also suffer from it in ways that are hidden from them. This book seeks to change that.

Here, I define Whitefare primarily in terms of privileges over African-Americans. The fact is that the modern system of racism gives whites advantages over all people of color, though the privileges take different forms. I focus on black and white people because the system of Whitefare was formed in relation to, and still revolves around, the relations between European-Americans and African-Americans.

White privilege is most sharply defined against African-Americans, in most parts of the United States. This is not to say that African-Americans suffer more than any other group. Oppression is not an Olympic event. No group needs to take a gold medal as the one that suffered the most. Certainly the native nations that were here when Columbus arrived have gone through, and continue to go through, devastation at the hands of whites. More HERE

Source: Reparations the cure.org

Newark lesbian conviction - A homophobic and misogynist attack - on the streets and in the courts

Blogger $3.60 has a following up on “Hey… Shorty,” A link to The Primary Contradiction, via Slant Truth. It concerns action for four young African American lesbians recently sentenced to preposterous jail times for defending themselves against a homophobic and misogynist street attack (3 others took plea deals). Read More HERE

Mini Tet Offensive in Iraq

AP reports Sunni extremists may try a series of high-profile attacks ahead of a September report to Congress on progress in Iraq, the top U.S. commander said Saturday, recalling the Tet offensive that torpedoed support for the Vietnam War. ``We expect they will try this - pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a `mini-Tet,''' Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press. The 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive failed to achieve most of its tactical goal but it shattered political support for the Vietnam War among the U.S. public. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to present a report to Congress by Sept. 15 on the situation in Iraq. Several Republicans say if progress is not made by then, they may call for a new strategy in Iraq.
The general would not say what he and Crocker plan to tell Congress in the report. But he added that the two top American officials in Iraq ``have a responsibility to produce our assessment of the implications'' of ``different options.''

There is more from the Houston chronicle

Political paralysis, surging violence frustrate hopes for progress in Iraq.

U.S. troop strength in Iraq only recently reached the level envisioned by President Bush's surge strategy, so it is too early to judge its chance of success. However, if this weekend's wave of violence is a prelude to progress, Americans must shudder to think what impending failure would look like.

Over the weekend, suicide bombers and other insurgents killed 220 Iraqis. The attacks demonstrated the inability of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers to ensure widespread, uniform security and the insurgents' ability to seek out vulnerable targets in unsecured areas.

The weekend attacks corresponded to a prediction by the U.S. commander in Iraq, David Petraeus. He said Sunni insurgents would try to "pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a mini-Tet." While the Viet Cong's Tet offensive in 1968 failed militarily, it succeeded in its goal of persuading many Americans that the war in Vietnam was unwinnable.

Petraeus notes accurately that political and military progress in Iraq must accompany and will bolster one another. However, the apparent paralysis of the Iraqi government, combined with the surge in violent attacks, is having the opposite effect.

Several prominent Republican senators have called for a change of strategy — one leading to the withdrawal or repositioning of U.S. troops in Iraq. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled his departure on a tour of four Latin American nations and will remain in Washington to meet on Iraq. More Here

Less war, less hate, less anger

OK, I decided to switch it up a bit. This post is not about politics it's about music. At least for a minute. This is what music is all about. I wish Minnie was with us today... Hey wait a minute she is with us through her music, through her songs. I remember the day Minnie Ripperton left us, "it hit me like a ton of bricks." I've never been impacted by any entertainer dying like Minnie. I miss her I miss her music.

I miss her songs, and her inner peace. So, on this Monday or whenever you read this post. Enjoy...