Friday, April 30, 2010

Dr. Boyce and Ben Jealous Share Points of View on the Deal with Accused Predatory Lender Wells Fargo

theGRIO SPEAKS




Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dr. Boyce Talks With Latino Studies Professor Alan Aja on What You Need to Know About Immigration

Dr. Boyce Talks With Latino Studies Professor Alan Aja on What You Need to Know About Immigration

Monday, April 26, 2010

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Al Sharpton Discuss Henry Louis Gates's NY Times Article About "Slavery Name Game"

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Al Sharpton Discuss Henry Louis Gates' NY Times Article About "Slavery Name Game"

Arizona's Racist Immigration Law: Racial Profiling?

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Lola Adesioye from The Huffington Post discuss Arizona's controversial new immigration law and openly ask - is it racist?

Friday, April 23, 2010

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks About "Getting Financially Naked" on ABC

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks About "Getting Financially Naked" on ABC.

Dr. Boyce Discusses Problems with Henry Louis Gates' Analysis

Henry Louis Gates gets slavery's history all wrong

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. recently wrote an interesting piece for the New York Times called, "Ending the Slavery Blame Game." In the piece, Gates effectively argues that the fight for reparations is convoluted and somewhat mitigated by the fact that African elites participated in the slave trade. While describing complex business deals made between some African leadership and the Europeans who brought Africans to the New World, it almost appears as though Gates is saying that this disturbing relationship somehow undermines the right of African-Americans to hold our government accountable for its involvement in crimes committed against our people.

At very least, I am under the assumption that by "ending the slavery blame game," Gates is arguing that we should stop blaming the United States government and white America for the rape, murder, castration, lynching and beating of our ancestors.

Sorry Dr. Gates, but I must respectfully (or perhaps not so respectfully) disagree. If a young girl is sold into prostitution by her own parents, the pimp must still pay for the suffering he caused the young woman. He can't simply say, "Her parents made a deal with me, so you should stop the blame game."

In other words, the United States, as a broad and powerful industrial entity, benefited from slavery to the tune of several trillion dollars. Much of this wealth was passed down from one white man to another, and was always out of the grasp of the black men, women and children who gave their lives on American soil in order to earn it. As a result, the median net worth of the African-American family is roughly one-tenth that of white American families and we have consistently higher unemployment due to our inability to create jobs, since white Americans own most businesses. These facts hold true without regard to how the African-American holocaust started in the first place. They also hold true because wealth and power are commodities that are passed down inter-generationally, and we missed out on all of this because we were slaves. What occurred after we left Africa can and must be considered independently from what happened while our forefathers were in the mother land.

 

 

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

National Action Network's Measuring the Movement Forum

Dr. Boyce Watkins Participates in National Action Network's Measuring the Movement Forum


Successful Black Women Can't Find a Good Man?

Why do most of us believe that successful black women can't find a good man?

Are the Birthers Racist Against Obama?

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Lola Adesioye ask whether the birthers are racist against President Obama

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses "Measuring the Movement" Forum with Al Sharpton on Keeping It Real

Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses "Measuring the Movement" Forum and other current events with Al Sharpton on Keeping It Real

Dorothy Height Dies: Where are Women in Black Leadership?

Is there going to be another Dorothy Height, and why are women generally excluded from black leadership in America?

Monday, April 19, 2010

Should a White Supremacist Have Freedom of Speech?

Obama has had his life threatened by white supremacists - Should they be able to say whatever they want, even if it leads others to violence?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Black Agenda Part 1: What does it really mean?

Should black America have a black agenda to present to President Barack Obama?

Al Sharpton, NAACP and The Black Agenda: What Does it All Means?

In this second part on our series about The Black Agenda, Dr. Boyce Watkins and Lola Adesioye talk about what black leadership really means and how individuals can be empowered to lead their own communities.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Boyce Watkins Discusses Open Supreme Court Seat with Rev. Al Sharpton

Boyce Watkins Discusses Open Supreme Court Seat with Rev. Al Sharpton

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tiger Woods Cusses Out Himself

Tiger Woods Get Cussed Out By Tiger Woods

Thursday, April 8, 2010

New Nike Commercial Featuring Tiger Woods and voice of deceased Earl Woods

New Nike Commercial Featuring Tiger Woods and voice of deceased Earl Woods

Monday, April 5, 2010

Tiger Woods Press Conference Before the 2010 Masters

Tiger Woods Press Conference Before the 2010 Masters

Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses "Public Housing" on HLN's Jane Valez Mitchell

Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses "Public Housing" on HLN's Jane Valez Mitchell

Bill Cosby, Wyclef, Al Sharpton, Dr Boyce Watkins at The Black Leadership Forum in NYC on 4/17

APRIL 14-17 SHERATON NEW YORK HOTEL & TOWERS, NYC

New York, New York – Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) will host its annual national conference from April 14th - 17th at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City. This four-day event will convene hundreds of delegates and prominent leaders in civil rights, business, politics, labor, entertainment and the religious community from around the country to address key issues impacting people of color. Among some of the confirmed notable participants are United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Housing Shawn Donovan, Michael Steele, Chairman of The Republican National Party, Dr. Bill Cosby, Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Tom Joyner, Roland Martin, Michael Eric Dyson, and many other high profile attendees.

Among the highlights will include the annual Keepers of the Dream Awards on Wednesday, April 15th honoring those who are committed to furthering the ideals and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event will be hosted by Tamron Hall, MSNBC and honorees include Wyclef Jean, humanitarian and world-renown musical artist, Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal, Mariah Carey, Award-Winning Actress and internationally acclaimed Singer, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, President of Morehouse College, Kimberly Davis, President of JPMorgan Chase Foundation and more. There will be a special keynote address by Dr. Bill Cosby.

The National Action Network convention will include discussions about health care policy in the wake of the historic passage of the President’s Health Care Reform Bill, Media and whether the press is covering issues fairly that involve people of color, education as a civil rights issue and combating the racial achievement gap, labor and employment, the state of the Black Church and assessment of the public response to African-American achievement, issues crucial to young professionals, and much more.

A major convention highlight will be leadership forum entitled: Measuring the Movement: Black Leadership’s 12-Month Action Plan featuring Black leaders of constituencies across the country who will assess where we are and what they and their respective organizations will pledge to do over a 12-month time-frame to further critical issues impacting people of color including, but not limited to, education reform, unemployment, health care and more. The event will air on TV One, MSNBC, C-Span and other forums, and the collective will discuss the real problems and how we will not only hold the President and Administration of the United States accountable, but how we will hold ourselves accountable and tangibly measure our movement over a 12-month period to enact change. The event will be hosted by Tom Joyner and Roland Martin and will be co- hosted by Boyce Watkins, Assistant Professor of Finance, Syracuse University and Warren Ballentine from "The Warren Ballentine Show." Among the featured panelists will be Reverend Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network, Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, Congressman James Clyburn, Dr. Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School professor, Dr. Elsie Scott, President and CEO, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), Jeff Johnson, BET Personality, Ben Jealous, President & CEO, NAACP, Michael Eric Dyson, recording artist Chuck D, Angela Sailor, Coalitions Director for the Republican National Committee, and others.

A complete schedule of NAN’s annual national convention is below and updates will be posted regularly on NAN’s website www.Nationalactionnetwork.net. For press credentials please contact Rachel Noerdlinger, President of Noerdlinger Media (646) 981-5903 or rachel@noerdlingermedia.com.

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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Dr. Boyce Fights to Help Felons Vote

Here is a form letter you can use to write your Congressman about the Democracy Restoration Act, an act sponsored by Russ Feingold and John Conyers.  The act would restore voting rights to ex-convicts in federal elections.  In case you are unaware, slavery in the United States was never fully abolished.  Actually, it was only abolished for those who were not convicted of a crime.  Therefore, many hundreds of thousands of African Americans are still victims of slavery and involuntary servitude.  This has got to stop now.  To read more on this issue, please click here.

 

Here is the sample letter you can cut and paste to send to your representative.

 

To whom it may concern,

I am a member of the Your Black World Coalition, as well as a concerned American.  I would like to write to express my support for HR3335 - The Democracy Restoration Act, sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

I strongly believe that when felons have paid their debt to society, they deserve an opportunity and incentive to become a part of that society again.  Voting and participating in federal elections is an important part of being an American, and would serve to reduce recidivism, which hurts us all.  Additionally, it would ensure that these men and women receive the representation they deserve from elected officials, since most of us would agree that taxation without representation is fundamentally unfair and unAmerican.

We will continue to campaign on this matter, and hold our officials accountable.  Please do the right thing and vote "yes" on the Democracy Restoration Act.