Friday, January 29, 2010

Your Black World Exclusive Music Release - Research and Development by Mark A. Holmes

Your Black World Exclusive Music Release - Research and Development by Mark A. Holmes

Dr, Boyce Watkins Discusses Chris Matthews State of The Union Comments

Dr, Boyce Watkins Discusses Chris Matthews Comments on the Takeaway

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Your Black News: Chris Matthews Says He Forgot Obama was Black

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From the Huffington Post:

Chris Matthews is definitely going to take some heat for exclaiming that he “forgot [Obama] was black tonight for an hour… I said wait a minute, he’s an African American guy in front of a bunch of other white people.” Matthews was analyzing President Obama’s first State of the Union speech when he made the remark.

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Monday, January 25, 2010

African American Politics and News – 1/25/10

Monday, January 18, 2010

Would Dr. Martin Luther King Support Obama

Dr. Boyce Watkins on MSNBC Live discussing if Dr. King would support President Obama's policies

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Haitian earthquake: People questioning Wyclef

Haiti's musician Wyclef Jean, left, arrives at the airport in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010, the day after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit his country. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

(AP)

Groups that vet charities are raising doubts about the organization backed by Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean, questioning its accounting practices and ability to function in earthquake-hit Haiti.

Even as more than $2 million poured into The Wyclef Jean Foundation Inc. via text message after just two days, experts questioned how much of the money would help those in need.

"It's questionable. There's no way to get around that," said Art Taylor, president and chief executive of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, based in Arlington, Va.

Taylor reviewed Internal Revenue Service tax returns for the organization also known as Yele Haiti Foundation from 2005 through 2007. He said the first red flag of poor accounting practices was that three years of returns were filed on the same day — Aug. 10 of last year.

In 2007, the foundation's spending exceeded its revenues by $411,000. It brought in just $79,000 that year.

click to read.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Michael Eric Dyson on Obama

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Michael Eric Dyson, professor of African American studies at Georgetown, addressed the Harry Reid “negro dialect” controversy last night on MSNBC.  He criticized Obama for avoiding racial issue.

You ain’t talking about civil rights, you ain’t talking bout affirmative action, you’re not pressing the issue.”

He also said that Barack Obama does not sound Black.

If Barack Obama was standing forth in America to speak brilliantly and courageously about the issues of race, he’d sound a lot more black too.

Click to read.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks With MSNBC Live

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks With MSNBC Live about the need for a national conversation on race.

The People's Scholar Talks About Race Conversations on CNN American Morning

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks With CNN American Morning about the need for a national conversation on race.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dr Boyce on CNN: Harry Reid’s Racist Remarks

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had to backpedal and apologize very quickly for a private conversation he had with Barack Obama during Obama's presidential campaign. In the discussion, Reid stated that Obama could be a successful candidate because he is "light skinned" and that he speaks with "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
Two journalists, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, made this assertion in a book to be released next Tuesday.
"He [Reid] was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama - a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' as he said privately. Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination," they write.

 

Click to read.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Black Political News: Legal Analyst Comments on Gilbert Arenas Gun Charges

Elliot Millner, Legal Advisor for the YBW Coalition, had this to say about the gun charges for NBA Star, Gilbert Arenas:

“It is still very early in the criminal investigation of Gilbert Arenas, and many facts are still unclear, however Arenas could be in some trouble. First, Arenas has prior gun-related charges, having plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of illegally possessing a concealed weapon while in California in 2003. Also, Arenas not only has D.C. authorities to answer to, but possibly Virginia police as well, given that he transported his guns from Virginia into D.C. It has been mentioned that Arenas may not have had proper registration for the guns in question, and also may have lacked a concealed weapons permit. Virginia accepts concealed weapons permits from certain other states, so that could work in Arenas favor if he had a concealed license permit from another state. In addition, even in regards to registered guns, D.C. prohibits guns deemed to be particularly "unsafe", so if any of Arenas' guns fall in that category, it could lead to other charges. It has been reported that all of Arenas' handguns were unloaded, however we do not know if Arenas stored any bullets in his locker also, which could lead to more charges. Some commentators have discussed the idea of Arenas being charged with assault with a deadly weapon, however given the statements made by most who observed the incidents in question, I see that as highly unlikely. The act of Arenas removing the guns from the locker and placing them out in the open (even if unloaded) could be problematic for him as well.

Ultimately, we will know more about what charges Arenas may face in the next few weeks. It is a sad and ridiculous situation, that was completely avoidable with even a little bit of forethought."

News: Black Leaders Fight for Census Funds

The nation’s black newspaper executives are asking for $10 million from the U.S. Census Bureau to advertise for the 2010 Census, but the government is reportedly only offering $2.5 million.
NNPA officials told Richard Prince - who writes a diversity column for The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education - that the NNPA would use the $10 million in advertising to encourage African Americans across the country to participate in the 2010 Census.  
Commerce officials said the Census Bureau would take a second look at its $300 million communications campaign to determine if there are ways to make it better. The bureau kicks off its ad campaign next month and will conduct its head count via mail and door-to-door canvassing next spring.
Last month, a coalition of civil rights leaders met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in an effort to prevent an undercount of African-Americans in the upcoming 2010 Census. In 2000, the Census Bureau said about 4.5 million people were mistakenly overlooked - mostly African Americans and Hispanics.

 

click to read.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Dr. Julianne Malveaux Speaks on Dr. King

by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President – Bennett College For Women

Had Dr. Martin Luther King lived until his birthday, January 15, he would be 81. It is interesting to speculate how the octogenarian might spend his time. If he is anything like some of his peers - Ambassador Andrew Young or Rev. Joseph Lowery - he'd still be involved in some form of activism, perhaps combining religious service with involvement in domestic and international affairs, perhaps with dimensions that included some involvement in commerce (such as Mr. Young's consulting company Good Works). What might Dr. King think or say about the state we find ourselves in today? A year since the inauguration of President Barack Obama, would he embrace the concept of post-racialism that some bandy about? Would he reflect on his words during the March on Washington and conclude that the dream he so brilliantly articulated had been realized? Or would he be forced to conclude that the check is still marked "insufficient funds".

Click to read.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

News: Al Sharpton Calls for Us to Fix Our Prisons

by Rev. Al Sharpton 

As the battle lines for health care reform are being drawn – and redrawn – a silent segment of the population is strategically left out of the conversation.  A group of individuals who have been deemed enemies of society, and cast away behind iron bars to fend for themselves.  In California, health care in the state’s 33 prisons is so inadequate that one unnecessary death takes place per week, as inmates are often stacked in triple bunk beds in hallways and gymnasiums.  With nearly twice the number of prisoners than it was designed to hold, California prisons will have to be cut by about 40,000 in the next two years – and it’s about time.

Federal judges just released a 184-page order demanding that California’s inmate population be reduced by 27%, and gave the state 45 days to come up with a plan.   In what they termed an ‘unconstitutional prison health care system’, the three-judge panel concluded that disease was spreading rampantly and prisoner-on-prisoner violence was all but unavoidable.  Forced to close a $26 billion dollar budget gap, California will now have to look at mechanisms to reducing its extensive prison spending, which in 2007 topped out at nearly $10 billion (approximately $49,000 for each inmate).

Whether it’s for pure economic reasons or for an actual concern over the well being of prisoners, California will hopefully serve as an example for a reversal of the ever-growing prison industrial complex.  A system that unfairly profiles and detains minorities, American jails produce a vicious cycle of recidivism and community breakdown.  Last year, the Pew Center on the States released a scathing report stating that one in every 100 American adults was in jail, and that an astonishing one in 15 Black adults was behind bars.  According to government reports in 2007, there were three times as many Blacks in jail than in college dorms, with Latinos not far behind at 2.7 times more behind bars than in secondary schooling.

Click to read.