Wednesday, March 30, 2011

NCAA President Agrees that Athletes Should Get Just a Little Bit More…Oh Really?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Every now and then, some families get to experience “that intervention moment.” This is when the uncle who’s been getting high, drunk and abusive every single day finally admits that he might have a problem. Of course he still minimizes the significance of his issues, but he has at least opened the door to getting the help that he needs.

For the American justice and economic systems, the NCAA is the addicted uncle. But rather than being hooked on drugs, the NCAA is addicted to the highs of capitalism and corporate greed. By being able to skirt the legal and moral parameters of our society, this professional sports league has been able to extract wealth from student athletes and the African American community to the tune of several billion dollars.

The NCAA’s new president, Mark Emmert, shocked the world when he admitted that it might be time for student athletes and their families to share in the massive revenue streams being generated by their kids. Emmert has admitted that he would like to “explore” the issue of modestly increasing the scholarship limits of student athletes in revenue-generating sports, primarily football and basketball. While remaining far from admitting that there should be significant changes, Emmert has confessed to the fact that the financial asymmetries might be a bit uncomfortable.

Click to read.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dr. Boyce - Wiz Khalifa on BET: Promoting Black Male Dysfunctionality?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

As a fan of hip-hop, I couldn’t help but appreciate the talent of the rapper Wiz Khalifa out of Pittsburgh.  Fresh off the release of his new album, “Rolling Papers,” Wiz appears to be on the top of the hip-hop world.  The first thing I thought about when I heard Wiz Khalifa’s style is that he sounded remarkably similar to artists of my generation, namely Snoop Dogg and Too Short.

Click to read.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Dr. Boyce: Two-Thirds of Blacks Do Not Consider Obama to be a Civil Rights Leader

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

I gave a speech at a church in upstate New York shortly after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.  During the service, the choir director took the liberty of changing the words from the song “We shall overcome,” to “We HAVE overcome.”  I also remember hearing a woman outside the speech proudly announce that she had just bought a new picture of President Barack Obama.  The woman said she was going to put the image right next to her pictures of Martin Luther King and Jesus.  Apparently, Obama’s election was a second-coming of Juneteenth for those who seemed to feel that a black president could do no wrong.

But there is a more fundamental question in all of this:  Should President Obama’s image be placed next to those who’ve fought for Civil Rights in the  past?  In recent survey by YourBlackWorld.com, 62.9% of the 734 respondents said they do not consider President Barack Obama to be a true Civil Rights Leader.  Another 28.5% said that they do consider President Obama to be a Civil Rights leader.  The rest claim they aren’t sure.  

According to reference.com, Civil Rights are defined as “rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. constitution and certain Congressional acts, especially as applied to an individual or a minority group.”

Click to read.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux – Demographic Shifts and Black Political Power

BEH_Malveaux

Census data on city populations made headlines this week. Washington, DC can apparently only barely be described as "chocolate city" since the African American population is only a scant majority in the city. According to the Washington Post, even the block on which former mayor Marion Barry cut his teeth, married wife Effie, and ran for mayor in 1976 is now whiter than it has ever been with a Norman Rockwell type white family (two kids, intact family, dog) living in Councilman Barry's old house. Those of us who live in and love DC are amazed, amused, and sometimes apoplectic about the changes. A gay bar where the barbershop used to be? A neighborhood restaurant where the waitress seats whites before African Americans? Ch-ch-ch-ch changes, goes the song. And so it goes.

Click to read more.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

How Farrakhan Could Undermine Obama’s Black Base on the Libyan Issue

Quick Note from Dr. Boyce Watkins 

I noticed a couple of things this weekend:  First, Louis Farrakhan’s attack on President Obama’s decision to bomb Libya became one of the most amazingly viral videos I’ve seen in quite a while.  In just a couple of days, the video had over half a million views, which is rare and powerful for a video of that nature.  Farrakhan is not like, say, Lady Gaga or Kanye West (who might get a lot of views from non-black folks).  He fits into a niche of black leadership, receiving views from only a particular segment of the population.

Click to read more.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Racist Obama Pictures Found on U. Kentucky Campus

University of Kentucky reports racist Obama signs

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World 

It turns out that pictures were found on the University of Kentucky campus with derogatory language aimed at President Barack Obama.  Police are investigating the incident, and a professor said he found one of the pictures hanging in the College of Law of all places.  If the police find out who put out the signs, they could be charged with third-degree criminal mischief.

As an alum of The University of Kentucky, the incident doesn’t surprise me.  When I was a student there in the 1990s, there were a multitude of racially-charged incidents.  In fact, I feared for my life with all the death threats I would receive after writing articles in the campus newspaper (someone even warned me that they spoke heavily of me at a local klan rally).  The school’s racial hostility was a great training ground for years later, when I would get death threats from Fox News viewers after sparring with Sean Hannity on television.

Click to read.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Dr. Boyce Watkins on the Huffington Post: Sharpton, Jealous and Morial Plan to “Measure the Movement”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University - Huffington Post

A year ago, we thought this date was never going to arrive. It's the one year anniversary of last year's"Measuring the Movement" forum, where Rev. Al Sharpton brought together a list of black public figures to produce constructive solutions for problems being faced by the African American community. The list of invitees was a virtual "who's who" of black leadership that only Sharpton could put together: NAACP President Ben Jealous, Urban League President Marc Morial, radio show host Tom Joyner, CNN's Roland Martin, Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson, Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree and even men like Judge Greg Mathis got together to talk about the direction of black America.

Click to read more.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Dr. Boyce: Bill Cosby Curses Out Russell Simmons? What’s Going On?

image

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

So, Bill Cosby tells Russell Simmons to “Get the fuck out of my face”?   I would like to say that the comment surprises me, but the truth is that someone else told me they had a similar interaction with Cosby in private.  It appears that their divergence of opinions stems from Cosby’s remarks about black youth a few years ago.  In case you don’t know, Cosby seems to think that all young people are headed to hell in a hand basket, and that they all miraculously decided to get together and destroy their own futures.  The problem, obviously, is that there are a host of extraneous factors which led to the urban decay we’ve witnessed over the last 30 years:  A failed educational system, unbelievable amounts of black unemployment and mass incarceration have worked together to destroy the integrity of the black family.  Cosby’s courage in attacking single mothers and black teens is not matched with an equal amount of courage as it pertains to standing up to the powers-that-be who profit from our destruction.  Therefore, his analysis was incomplete at best.

 

Click to read.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Tom Joyner Cruise Sets Sail: How Black People Need to Network

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

This morning, I got a text from my respected colleague, Roland Martin. I can't remember what Roland and I were talking about, but I do remember what he told me at the end of our conversation. Roland mentioned that he couldn't do anything next week because "the cruise is leaving in a couple of days." I immediately became jealous, because I knew he was talking about the Fantastic Voyage, hosted by Tom Joyner.


I'm not always big on black folks looking for another party, but there is something I love about the Tom Joyner Cruise. Anyone who's ever been on a cruise knows that seeing another black person on a cruise ship is like searching for Louis Farrakhan at a Klan rally. While cruises can be fun, comfortable and even exciting, there is a dryness that people of color experience from a lack of cultural diversity.

Click to read.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why Wasn’t Bullying an Issue When it Primarily Affected Black Kids?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Holding its first ever anti-bullying conference last week, we found theWhite House quite concerned with bullying as a public health issue.  Without doubt, the initiative is impressive - far too many children are left with nowhere to turn when cats with bad intentions follow them home, either to incessantly poke fun or to swipe their lunch money … or worse. Most of us will agree that it’s about time adults got involved.

I recall being chased by an older kid on my way home from kindergarten every day.  The boy was eight years old which made him appear massive in the eyes of frightened five-year old. Back then, thePresident of the United States wasn’t going to protect you, you had to protect yourself. So, I did what any reasonable five-year old might consider doing in that situation:  I put a brick upside his head.  Needless to say, the bullying problem ended right then, for I had personally reclaimed domination over that relationship.

Click to read.

The Fab Five Documentary on ESPN: What I Thought About It

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

I lived through the Fab Five era within college basketball, literally breathing the same air and vicariously identifying with the brothers who brought power and style to the sport. I was approximately the same age as the five freshmen who took their team to the NCAA championship, and I even wore black socks on the court (yes, I am ashamed to admit that). An ESPN special recently took my mind back down memory lane by replaying the experience of the Fab Five and how they changed college basketball forever. To this day, there has been nothing like them, and I wouldn't be surprised if their feat is never replicated again.
The most intriguing aspect of the Fab Five special on ESPN was not their exploits on the basketball court (which were amazing), it was the conversation about money. When these five young men stepped onto the court for the University of Michigan, they instantly became cash cows for their universities. Sales of University of Michigan merchandise went from $1.5 million per year to over $10 million per year shortly after their first season. Jalen Rose, one of the members of the Fab Five, mentioned seeing that Nike had released a sneaker named after the group, and they regularly found their academic schedules being interrupted with trips around the world to promote a brand that was making everyone rich except for their own families.

 

Click to read.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Majority of African Americans Feel NAACP Image Awards Should Not Reward Negative Hip-Hop Artists

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

In a recent survey taken at YourBlackWorld.com, over 83 percent of the black respondents said that the NAACP is off-base by nominating hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj, both of whom have used the N-word and lyrics that are derogatory toward women. In the survey, participants were asked the following question:
"The NAACP Image Awards recently nominated artists like Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj, both of whom have used the N-word and lyrics which degrade women. Does this make the NAACP hypocritical?"
In response to this question, 83 percent of the 335 respondents said "Yes, these nominations are a contradiction to the message and image of the NAACP." Another 5.8% of the African American respondents said that the NAACP might be a bit hypocritical in their approach, but that giving awards to these artists helps to keep them relevant. Another 10 percent of the respondents said that the NAACP was not being hypocritical by nominating these artists.

 

Click to read.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Dr. Boyce: If your Child Isn’t Making the Grade, Then He Should Not Be on the Field

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Today I took my afternoon nap thinking about the days when I was captain of my high school track team in the 12th grade.  I wasn’t the star of the team and I also wasn’t an academic star (my grades were terrible).  Like many other black boys across America, I’d come to identify myself as an athletic commodity rather than an intellectual one. 

I remember that one of the fastest boys on our team was also like a lot of other black males:  He was in special education and had horrible grades.  On his report card, he’d gotten two Fs, three Ds and a C.  My coach was concerned about his grades, but not because he cared about the young man.  He was only worried about his grades because he thought that the kid might not be eligible for the big track meet we had coming up.

 

Click to read.

Professor Rodney K. Washington: Taking Black Scholarship to the Streets

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

I recently heard Rodney K. Washington speak at the Critical Conversations Summit at Jackson State University. I was instantly impressed with Dr. Washington's keen understanding of the experience of the black male in America and his willingness to attack the issue head-on. Skills like those of Dr. Washington are critical in a nation where black males have been placed into a cage that leads them to kill one another and commit homicide to their own futures every single day. We also need more black male educators put in front of the classrooms of public schools and universities who have yet to embrace the difference between true diversity and cosmetic window-dressing. It is for his decision to dedicate his scholarship to helping his community that Dr. Rodney K. Washington is today's Dr. Boyce Watkins Spotlight on AOL Black Voices:

 

Click to read.

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Nigeria Has Two More Billionaires on the Forbes List

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Two Nigerian men, Mike Adenuga and Aliko Dangote, represented their home country of Nigeria by placing themselves among the wealthiest men in the world. Both men made the Forbes billionaires list, with Adenuga ranking as number 595, while Dangote skyrocketed up to number 51. Dangote's fortune grew five fold last year, as he consolidated his holdings and went public on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. His company now has a market cap of $13 Billion, representing over one-fourth of the total market cap of the entire Nigerian stock market.

Dangote is able to make money hand-over-fist primarily because there are so few Nigerian cement suppliers to meet the country's increasing demand for construction. He is now wealthier than South African billionaires Nicky Oppenheimer from Debeers and John Rupert, both of whom are white. During my trip to Nigeria in 2009, I noticed that there was a tremendous amount of construction being done in the country, as well as a hunger to understand the principles of entrepreneurship and building a business. I expect the country to continue to grow, assuming that it can deal with itswell-documented corruption problems (for example, I was asked to give an agent money in order to get my bags through airport security).

Click to read.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Our World with Black Enterprise: Dr. Marc Lamont Hill Discusses the Black Male Incarceration Crisis

 

One of my very good friends, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, speaks to a panel about the mass incarceration crisis that is affecting black males.  Take a look.

What Allen Iverson’s Foreclosure Says About the State of the Black Athlete

Allen Iverson

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

It appears that life just got more complicated for former NBA star Allen Iverson. It is being reported that Iverson's 6,848 square-foot home in Cherry Hills, Colorado is now in foreclosure. Iverson is an 11-time NBA All-Star and former MVP. He purchased the home in 2008 for $3.88 million and now owes $2.5 million to Wells Fargo.

 

I am not sure if this foreclosure is part of a broader financial trend in Iverson's life, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised. For some odd reason, the last five years have produced one of the fastest slides of any player in recent memory. Just a few years ago, Iverson was an NBA beast; slashing, leaping and sprinting his way to magical performances. As the years went by, we saw more and more reports that Iverson's personal life was starting to unravel. Stories about alcoholism and gambling problems were accompanied by an embarrassing drop in his on-court statistics, leading America to conclude that Iverson was becoming an aging also-ran.

Click to read.

New Research Finds that Those with Strong Racial Identity Tend to be Happier

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Researchers at Michigan State University have just found that those who identify with their race more strongly than others tend to be happier. The study, which is set to appear in the journal Cultural Diversity and Ethic Minority Psychology, is the first empirical study to document such a relationship.


"This is the first empirical study we know of that shows a relationship between racial identity and happiness," said Stevie C.Y. Yap, who is the lead researcher on the project.
While there have been studies linking racial identity to higher self-esteem, none have actually connected it to happiness. The study surveyed black adults in the state of Michigan. They found that the more the subject identified with being black, or the more important their blackness was to them, the happier they were with life in general.

Click to read.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Watch This Great New Film Made by Takia Thompson

 

takia_thompson

Click here to watch this film, “It’s a fact and it might be true,” by Takia Thompson.  It’s hilarious! 

City of Memphis Engaged in Fight Over School Funding

Click here to hear an interview between Roland Martin and Pastor Kenneth Whalum about the pending merger of Memphis City Schools with those of Shelby County.

 

Click here to see the other point of view.

This is Dr. Boyce wrote on the issue on AOL Black Voices:

Memphis, Tennessee is a city that is rich with culture, history and opportunity. I've visited the city on several occasions and found the city and its people to be quite enjoyable on all levels. What's also interesting about Memphis, however, is that it's city schools are failing and it continues to be a town that is plagued with racism: The city itself is mostly black, while wealthier whites live on the outskirts, hoping that the black folks don't come and rain on their parade. The city is not nearly as disconnected from it's legacy of blatant racism as it might want to believe.


Voters in the city of Memphis are being sent to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not to transfer control of the Memphis City Schools to Shelby County, which surrounds Memphis. The Memphis City School Board voted on December 20 to surrender its charter and relinquish control of Memphis City Schools to Shelby County, leading to tomorrow's showdown. The referendum effectively allows voters to validate the decision by the school board, overriding Shelby County's legal challenge to the Memphis City School Board decision.

Click to read more.

Does Education Always Lead to a Better Job? No, It Does Not

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

An economist for whom I have tremendous respect, Paul Krugman, recently wrote a New York Times article which put the debate over education into context. I found the article interesting as I prepare to speak at the National Black Law Students Association Convention with my colleague, Charles Ogletree at Harvard University.
I've been thinking a great deal about how to help our community understand the meaning and value of a good education (here are some of my thoughts on the matter if you're interested). I've preached relentlessly that being well-educated is incredibly important for all of us, and that we should be willing to fight to the end to make sure our kids get what they need from our woefully inadequate school systems. At the same time, my recent appearance at the Black Achievers Banquet in Louisville, Ky led me to conclude that further discussion is necessary. I saw quite a few young people doing amazing things, but it's my hope to help us all understand that an education is not simply a path to getting a job with some corporation that will have you doing meaningless work for your entire life. Sure, that can be part of the plan, but it can't be the entire plan altogether.

 

Click to read more.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Did the CIA Play a Role in the Spread of Drugs and Gangs in America?

From Dr. Boyce Watkins – Scholarship in Action 

“For the better part of a decade, a San Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a Mercury News investigation has found.

This drug network opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the "crack" capital of the world. The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America . . . and provided the cash and connections needed for L.A.'s gangs to buy automatic weapons.” – San Jose Mercury News, 1996

Click to read.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Does Rahm Emanuel Have White Privilege that President Obama Can’t Get?

 

White House Photo

A reader on the Black Agenda Report said this about Rahm Emanuel as Mayor of Chicago, comparing him to President Barack Obama.  What do you think?

While I cannot predict exactly what Rahm will do in while he holds office, I can predict what he will NOT do. He will NOT appear in front of a Black audience and brag about how much he upset some members of the Jewish community by paying too much attention to "Black" interests. He will NOT repeat over and over and over again that he is not the "Jewish" or "White" mayor of Chicago. He will NOT make a grand show of avoiding being seen around or with Jewish people or with other White people.

Click to read more.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Black Hollywood Should Abandon the Oscars to Find Something More Meaningful

Halle Berry

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

I don't watch the Oscars, the Academy Awards, or whatever you like to call it. But then again, I never have. While I spent years thinking that perhaps I was the only person not sophisticated enough to appreciate what I deemed to be the most boring night of the year, I then saw data showing that viewership fell again this year, implying that perhaps I am not alone in my disdain. While there are some who watch the show religiously, the truth is that many Americans (especially black folks), would rather watch old MC Hammer videos at the dentist's office than endure the psychological tragedy of being both insulted and bored senseless, all at the same time.

Click to read.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Should Parents Encourage Their Kids to Play Football? The Rocky Clark Story

Rocky Clark

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

When I read about the case of Rocky Clark, the former high school football player who is now paralyzed from the neck down, part of me cries on the inside.  His accident makes me think about my own uncle (who was like an older brother and very close to me), who was paralyzed after a car accident two years ago.  I also think about the countless young men who hit the football field every year, rolling the dice in hopes that they don’t end up like Rocky.

 

Click to read.

Dr. Boyce: How NFL Players Can Avoid Going Broke During the Lockout

5 ways NFL stars can survive the looming lockout

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

The pending lockout of NFL players is expected by some to be a matter of history repeating itself. Team owners, hungry to earn an even larger profit from their business ventures, are going to keep the players off the field until they get what they want. Some might naively believe that the NFL Players Association has the bulk of the negotiating power in this battle of egos. After all, they represent our favorite athletes and the famous guys that we all want to see on Sundays, right? Sorry, that's just not the case.

The truth is that the players are going to take a financial beating unlike any other. Team owners can go years without income, so although they stand to lose money when the league shuts down, they are not sitting around wondering how they will pay their car notes. Players, on the other hand, are notoriously under-educated and horrifically bad at managing their money (some of us have been misled into believing that athletic success is a replacement for academic achievement). If history tells us anything about how the lockout is going to go, I expect players will give in after about three weeks.

Click to read.

Alexis Marie: Former Stuyvesant HS Student Posts Video in Response to Racist Rappers

alexis_marie

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Alexis Marie, the girl who posted the video of the white students at Stuyvesant HS who rapped about their disdain for black people, issued a statement regarding why she posted the video. 

In her remarks, Alexis states clearly that she was seeking to use the video to encourage “elite” high schools to have conversations about race relations.  Her statement is very intelligent and effectively delivered, especially for a young woman her age.  I personally applaud Alexis for having the courage to speak up and take a stand on issues like this one. 

 

Click to read.

Racist Rap Video from Stuyvesant HS Students Leads Us to Question What Kids are Learning in School

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

A group of white students, who some believe are from Stuyvesant High School in New York, has gotten the Internet up in arms. Laying out admittedly solid freestyle skills over a smooth beat, the students continuously spew out the kind of racism that would make David Duke blush. To the surprise of some, Stuyvesant High School is considered one of the top high schools in the nation, but many are wondering what in the world they are teaching.
Apparently frustrated with their black classmates, the rappers use lyrics like "You so wack, b--, chilling in the projects. ....You black and you so f-– grimy. ... What'cha gonna do? Call your black squad n--?"
For over five minutes, the young artists continue to squeak out demeaning language toward people of color. The video is seemingly endless. The men also seem to be under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.

Click to read.

Black Scholars Give Their Take on the Obama State of the Union Address

 

Preface


The principal mission of the Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission is to continuously monitor and evaluate the policy priorities and legislative proposals of presidential administrations in relationship to the needs, issues, vital interests  and aspirations of people of African descent in the U.S. and globally.  Drawing from policy priorities of various constituencies, organizations and agencies within the Black community, the objective of the Commission is to assess how presidential administrations respond to or implement a Black Agenda.  The Commission asserts its prerogative to perform this function within the context of an American body politic where a wide range of interest groups mobilize, organize and lobby to advance their goals. This function is particularly important given the long history of the “color line,” prejudice, bigotry and structural/institutional racism, as a major impediment to  social, economic and political progress of Black people in the country. The Commission certainly acknowledges the significance of the election of the first African American President as a milestone in the history of the United States.  However, the virulent, negative reaction to President Obama by segments of our society is symptomatic of a racial subtext to some of the fierce policy debates raging in Washington.  In this regard, the “State of Emergency” afflicting millions of Black poor and working people, strongly indicates the urgent need for vigilance in monitoring how this and future administrations devise policies designed to  achieve justice and full equality for people of African descent in America.

Click to read.

Hip-Hop on Trial: Lil Wayne Confronted by 10-Year Old Black Girl in Open Letter

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

The rapper Lil Wayne may be ready to take on all haters in the club (since he regularly reminds us that he stays strapped). He may be ready to have sex with every girl in the world (the title of one of his songs), and he might have more money than King Tut. But there is one attack that Lil Wayne was probably not ready for, and that came from a 10-year old girl.


While I am still searching to find the little girl's name (her management team didn't put her name on the video), this child lays out a song that even Weezy himself will have to acknowledge at some point. Referring to herself as a "little queen," she questions why Lil Wayne has decided to make a career out of degrading black women and chasing corporate greed over creating music that is socially-responsible and capable of uplifting a community that is dying by the second.

 

Click to read.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Some Trying to Say that the Oprah Winfrey Network is a Failure

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

I’m not sure if this is the right time to pass judgment on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), since it just began.  But Alexis Stodghill at AOL Black Voices, the New York Times and others are beginning to wonder if the magic is going to last.   According to the Times:

OWN, her two-month-old channel, is attracting fewer viewers than the obscure channel it replaced, Discovery Health. At any given time this month, there have been about 135,000 people watching OWN, according to the Nielsen Company, and only about 45,000 of those people are women ages 25 to 54, the demographic that the channel is focusing on.

Those ratings levels, down about 10 percent from Discovery Health’s levels last year, are being carefully watched by people who would like to rebuild cable channels around other celebrities, and by investors who worry that OWN is a drag on Discovery’s stock.

 

Click to read.