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Valuable Fisk University Art May be Repossessed by the State
1:24 PMSep 13
Source: BV Black Spin
This week, Tennessee state Attorney General Bob Cooper asked a judge to allow the state of Tennessee to take possession of a 101-piece art collection owned by Fisk University. The collection was donated to the university by the late Georgia O'Keefe ... Read More
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John Boyd, President of the National Black Farmers Association: Black Farmers Deserve Justice Now
1:15 PMSep 13
Source: BV Black Spin
When John Boyd steps before a crowd and talks about the indignities and discrimination that black farmers have had to endure from the federal government, he's not just speaking from a script. Boyd, who raises beef cattle, corn, wheat and soybeans in ... Read More
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Nicki Minaj Has Lady Gaga Swag, Laurie Ann Gibson Says
12:32 PMSep 13
Source: BV Black Spin
Could Nicki Minaj be the next Lady Gaga? Laurie Ann Gibson certainly thinks so. Choreographer extraordinaire Gibson worked with Gaga to create the dance chemistry in Gaga's MTV Video Music Award-winning "Bad Romance" video and also put together ... Read More
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10 Ways the NFL Can Punish Reggie Bush Properly
12:00 PMSep 13
Source: theBVX.com
New Orleans Saint Reggie Bush may be stripped of his Heisman Trophy soon for NCAA violations during the 2004 and 2005 seasons while attending University of Southern California. But, is that all? We can think of ten more ways the NFL can punish Bush ... Read More
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Dr. Boyce Video: Meet Bruce George, Creator of Def Poetry Jam
11:48 AMSep 13
Source: BV on Money
PRODUCTION PLAYER! DO NOT DELETE. ... Read More
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Daily SMH: Jennifer Hudson's Brother-In-Law Exploits Tragedy
11:00 AMSep 13
Source: theBVX.com
Some people will say anything to get their rap career off the ground. Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law and the father of her slain nephew is no exception to the rule. ... Read More
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MTV Video Music Awards Red Carpet Rundown
9:00 AMSep 13
Source: BV on Style
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards -- one of the most anticipated awards show of the year -- has come and gone. However, many of the outfits from last nights show are still fresh in our minds. Fun, short and flirty dresses, high platform heels, and ... Read More
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Black Man's HIV Status Leads to Breakthrough in Research
2:21 AMSep 13
Source: BV Black Spin
According to scientists, HIV research is undergoing a "renaissance." Recent developments can lead to a plethora of new drugs to fight a disease that has crippled the black community. The most interesting part of it all is that much of the progress ... Read More
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fisk University May Have Its Art Collection Stolen
Friday, September 10, 2010
Dr. Boyce: Venus, Serena and Tiger Have No Black Successors: What’s the Problem?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
Most of us can appreciate, on one level or another, the tremendous achievements of Tiger Woods, Venus Williams and her little sister, Serena. They have all been, in one way or another, a tremendous source of pride for the African American community. Much of the reason we are so proud of them is because they've dominated like no other in sports that are not typically played by "us." I am personally more impressed with the Williams sisters than with Tiger, in large part because they've made it into a family affair, and seem to more directly embrace the idea of making their success into a "black thing." Tiger, on the other hand, seems to want to make his success into a "Caublinasian thing." I admittedly can't get with that.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Actress Regina King Speaks Up on Racial Inequality in Hollywood
Since the Emmy ceremony, I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should compose this letter. I try hard in my daily life not to engage in uncomfortable situations regarding race. But sometimes it's very difficult to find other reasons that better explain why certain events play out the way they do. It is impossible for me to ignore the published statistics regarding the number of people of color mentioned, celebrated or honored in the history of the televised Emmys. Up to and including this year, there have been only 53 non-white actorsnominated for Emmys out of nearly 1,000 possible nominations in the top four acting categories for drama and comedy.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Boyce Watkins: NFL Announcer Should be Suspended for Offensive Remark about Katrina
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
NFL Hall of Famer Dan Hampton has a great deal to apologize for this week. During a broadcast of an NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, Hampton thought it would be funny to bring up that little thing called Hurricane Katrina. Making reference to the fact that the Vikings needed to show up with their A-game, Hampton said, "The Vikings need to go down there and hit that town like Katrina."
Bad move buddy, bad move.
There isn't much to say about Dan Hampton other than the obvious. It didn't take him long to realize that it might be inappropriate to make jokes about an event that led to the death and displacement of tens of thousands of people. Hurricane Katrina affected real lives in a very real way, and Hampton needs to understand that. Additionally, invoking Katrina into the fantasy world of professional football is only productive to the extent that the success of the Saints has helped to heal the hearts of New Orleans residents who've lost everything. So, if you can't bring Hurricane Katrina up in a positive and uplifting way, please don't bring it up as a joke.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Kodak Pays Millions for Discrimination
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Kodak Set to Pay $21.4 Million in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit
6:40 PMSep 4
Source: BV on Money
I'm not sure if the company's executives would consider this to be a Kodak moment, but it's certainly a moment in racial history. Kodak, the large film company based out of Rochester, New York, just had a racial discrimination suit settled for the ... Read More
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Regina King to the Emmys: Racist as Ever
6:00 AMSep 4
Source: Blackvoices Main
From The Huffington Post: Since the Emmy ceremony, I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should compose this letter. I try hard in my daily life not to engage in uncomfortable situations regarding race. But sometimes it's very ... Read More
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Tom Joyner Helps HBCUs to Start Online Programs
12:35 AMSep 4
Source: BV on Money
Radio show host Tom Joyner has decided to start making investments in the educational arena. Joyner has announced that he will help found a company designed to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in their quest to create ... Read More
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Sean Bell's Fiancee May Run for City Council
8:26 PMSep 3
Source: BV Black Spin
Nicole Paultre-Bell, the young woman who lost her unarmed, would-be husband Sean Bell on the day before their nuptials nearly four years ago in an out-of-control hail of police bullets, is mulling over possibly running for the position of Queens City ... Read More
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Report: NBA is Quite Diverse
To view the entire report card for the NBA on race and gender, Please click here
Highlights from the Report (released by the press representative for the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport):
· In the NBA, 82 percent of the players were people of color, remaining constant from last year’s totals. This ties the highest percentage of players of color since the 1994-95 season. The percentage of African-American players also remained constant from last year’s report at 77 percent. The percentage of Latinos and Asians remained constant, at three and one percent respectively. The percentage of international players stayed steady as well at 18 percent.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010
Obama Needs to Take Charge of this Spill and Use it to Leverage America's Future
by Professor Ron Daniels
Clearly British Petroleum Oil Company (BP) is responsible for the most disastrous oil spill in U.S. history and must be held fully accountable for its negligent behavior. Beyond overseeing the crisis and ensuring that BP is deploying the necessary resources to stop the flow of oil and clean-up the damaged beaches and marshlands, there is precious little President Obama can do to clean up the mess. However, I agree with New York Timescolumnist Thomas Friedman and other commentators that the crisis presents the President with an opportunity to offer bold and visionary leadership in terms of the future direction of the U.S. economy.
Ever the pragmatist and craving “bi-partisan” support for his massive energy bill, prior to the horrific oil spill, Obama caved in to the McCain/Palin “drill baby drill” crowd and ordered more areas opened for off shore drilling. Earlier he threw another plum the Republicans way by placing priority on building new nuclear power plants. I strongly disagree with these decisions but chalk it up to Obama being Obama. It’s his inside the beltway method of trying to drag defiant Republicans to the legislative table at a time when they are out to create a “waterloo” moment by whatever means necessary to defeat him and advance their conservative agenda. However, the oil spill has potentially created a new political calculus.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Julianne Malveaux: Obama Disappoints Black Women with the Kagan Nomination
I was among the many who were disappointed that President Barack Obama did not nominate an African American woman to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After all, there are six white men, two women, one Latina and one white, and a nominal African American man on the Court. Why not an African American woman?
The Black Women's Roundtable, led by Melanie Campbell, was so disappointed that they shared their concerns with the President in a letter that spoke both to the contributions African American women have made and the qualifications of a few good women that President Obama should have considered before nominating Ms. Kagan to the nation's highest court.
I won't even speak on what I perceive as some of the shortcomings of the Kagan nomination. The Solicitor General has earned the support of some colleagues that I fully respect, such as Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree. At the same time, we have to pause at the fact that her definition of diversity is ideological diversity, not racial and ethnic diversity, and that she seemed to make Harvard a more welcome place for conservatives, if not for African American faculty.
Supreme Court Says Sex Offenders Can Be Kept Indefinitely
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
The United State Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the federal government has the right and power to keep sex offenders incarcerated after they've served their sentences. To keep him/her, the government must prove that the the offender may be "sexually dangerous" in the future.
"The federal government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the opinion for the majority.The primary plantiff in the case, Graydon Comstock, was certified to be dangerous six days before his prison term was set to end. Comstock had been arrested for processing child pornography and was filing suit with other inmates at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
Faye Anderson: NAACP Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs
The NAACP is the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. I have known just about every chief executive officer since the 1980s, from the late Ben Hooks to Ben Jealous.
Some longtime Board members are also longtime friends and colleagues.
I attended the NAACP’s Civil Rights School at Harvard Law School in 2007.
Still, I have been called a hater for pointing out that Wells Fargo is a lead sponsor of the NAACP’s 101st annual convention.
Whatever. It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to. And as sports agent Scott Boras famously observed:
If you are really effective at what you do, 95 percent of the things said about you will be negative.
I have been writing about the subprime mortgage crisis for quite a while. I’ve also organized housing symposia and policy sessions for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Study after study after study shows African Americans were targeted by subprime lenders.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Dr. Boyce: April Unemployment Remains High for Blacks
by Dr. Boyce Watkins - The Institute for Black Public Policy
Persistently high black unemployment remains a problem here in the United States, as the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that African Americans have an unemployment rate of 16.5 percent, compared to 9 percent for white Americans. This rate remains the same as last month, even though the economy created 290,000 jobs during the month of April.
White unemployment rose slightly from last month's rate of 8.8 percent, but black unemployment is still over 80 percent higher than that of White Americans.
Black women saw their unemployment number rise to 13.7 percent from 12.4 percent last month. This number is 85 percent higher than the unemployment rate for white women, which is at 7.4 percent. Black males are at the bottom of the barrel, with an unemployment rate of 18 percent, which is 95 percent higher than that for white men.
Black teen unemployment also continues to be a problem. African American teenagers saw their unemployment rate drop from 41.1 percent to 37.3 percent. But this number is 58 percent higher than a white teen unemployment rate of 23.5 percent.
Some argue that President Obama and Congress must do something to help with the black unemployment situation. The Congressional Black Caucus is urging the passage of a $1.5 billion dollar jobs bill to reduce black teen unemployment in order to curb youth violence. Violence among teens tends to increase during the summer months, when kids are out of school.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Dr. Boyce: Obama Family Portrayed as Sanford and Son in Newspaper
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
Phillip Sciarello, a publisher and part owner of the Smithtown Messenger in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from "Sanford and Son." The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition.
The picture is part of a "before and after" sequence of the last six presidents, showing how much they age once they get into the White House. The "after" photo of the Obamas show Barack Obama as Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and Michelle Obama as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page). The characters are standing ready to fight, as was typical on the 1970s television show.The pictures led the Brookhaven town board to remove one of the company's sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. This means that the paper will no longer publish town government notices.
"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday.
Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Ben Jealous, Marc Morial, Al Sharpton, Boyce Watkins and other Gathers to discuss black leadership
The event is set to take place in New York at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers from April 14 - 17. The list of panelists is as follows:
Host: Tom Joyner- Host, "Tom Joyner Morning Show"
Moderator: Roland Martin, CNN/TV One analyst
Rev. Al Sharpton- President, National Action Network
Marc Morial- CEO, National Urban League
Ben Jealous- President & CEO, NAACP
Dr. Elsie Scott- President and CEO, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) in Washington, D.C.
Angela Sailor- Coalitions Director, Republican National Committee
Lezli Baskerville- - President & CEO, NAFEO- America's Black Colleges and Universities
Warren Ballentine- Host, "The Warren Ballentine Show"
Dr. Boyce Watkins- Assistant Professor, Finance- Syracuse University
Dr. Charles Ogletree- Professor, Harvard Law School
Jeff Johnson- BET Personality
Judge Greg Mathis - Television Show host
Chuck D - Recording artist
Friday, March 19, 2010
Black Scholar News: Dr. Boyce on TheGrio.com - 3/19/10
11-year-old caught in the middle of health reform mudslinging
3:00 PM on 03/19/2010
OPINION - Marcelas Owens' story can bring realism and relevance to a debate that has been about posturing, bickering and mid-term elections...
Presidential disrespect goes prime-time in Obama's Fox interview
11:22 AM on 03/18/2010
OPINION - Republicans should realize that when they disrespect the presidency, they are disrespecting themselves...
Clarence Thomas' wife's Tea Party ties are supremely disturbing
9:20 AM on 03/16/2010
OPINION - When you sleep next to someone who openly states they want to undermine the president's "hard left agenda" you can hardly call yourself impartial...
Democrats' crack-cocaine compromise is still 'racist'
9:00 AM on 03/15/2010
OPINION - While some might call this political pragmatism, others might describe this outcome as the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Dr. Boyce: Crack Disparity Law Should Have Been Changed More Effectively
Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
When I was a teenager, a police officer explained to me how the "War on Drugs" took place in his hometown. The officer candidly described how every policeman in the city knew what boats contained drugs and when those boats would arrive in the city's major port. But he also knew that officers were not expected to show up on these boats to make arrests, and that they were not to deter the progress of the product when it hit the port. Instead, they were instructed to allow the drugs to get to the inner city, where they were given authorization to make as many arrests as necessary. In other words, his job was to arrest the small fish, not the big ones.
The misleading, ill-conceived and terribly racist set of drug policies which defined the Reagan era has been absolutely devastating for the African-American community. The existence of gang warfare in South Central Los Angeles has left hundreds of thousands of youth with post-traumatic stress disorder, as the CIA was oblivious to the fact that drugs and guns were being openly delivered to a community that no one cares about. The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was the product of America's broad-stroke reaction to increased drug use of the 1980s. The law gave a sentence 100 times greater for possession of crack cocaine (more likely to be possessed by blacks) than the one given for powder cocaine (possessed in greater proportion by whites), creating a black incarceration rate of holocaust proportions.
After sitting on the books for decades, the law was finally modified this year. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Jeff Sessions did black people the "favor" of agreeing to reduce the sentencing disparity from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. So, instead of getting a prison sentence that is 100 times longer for the same crime, we only get one that is 18 times longer. Gee thanks. I'm supposed to be happy about that one, huh? So, we're not good enough to demand true equality, and are instead forced to accept dysfunctional compromises with Republicans from Alabama? While some might call this political pragmatism, others might describe this outcome as the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Your Black News from TheGrio.com - 3/14/10
Lesbian sgt. discharged after police outed her to Air Force
By theGrio
8:04 AM on 03/14/2010
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) - Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian...
African-American named nation's only female HS football coach
By theGrio
7:28 AM on 03/13/2010
VIDEO - A petite, unassuming young science teacher made history when she became what's believed to be the only female high school head football coach in the country ...
Democrats look to resurrect ambitious college aid plan
By theGrio
6:49 PM on 03/12/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional Democrats want a stalled overhaul of college aid programs to get strapped onto a fast-track health care bill ...
Yemen terror suspect worked at five US nuke sites
By theGrio
3:15 PM on 03/12/2010
HADDONFIELD, NJ (AP) - Before he was rounded up in a sweep of suspected al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen, Sharif Mobley was a laborer at five nuclear plant complexes...
Abandoned 6-year-old escapes locked school bus
By theGrio
12:50 PM on 03/12/2010
VIDEO - First-grader Tevin Smith said he fell asleep during the ride home from Estabrook Elementary in Ypsilanti, Michigan and woke up to find the bus parked in a bus yard...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Your Black News: Kansas City To Close Half Its Schools
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Facing potential bankruptcy, the board that governs the once flush-with-cash Kansas City school district is taking the unusual and contentious step of shuttering almost half its schools.
Administrators say the closures are necessary to keep the district from plowing through what little is left of the $2 billion it received as part of a groundbreaking desegregation case. The Kansas City school board narrowly approved the plan to close 29 out of 61 schools Wednesday night at a meeting packed with angry parents. The schools will close at the end of the school year.
Although other districts nationwide are considering closures as the recession ravages their budgets, Kansas City's plan is striking. In rapidly shrinking Detroit, 29 schools closed before classes began this fall, but that still left the district with 172 schools. Most other districts are closing just one or two schools.
Emotional board member Duane Kelly told the crowd of more than 200 people Wednesday night, "This is the most painful vote I have ever cast" in 10 years on the board. Some chanted for the removal of the superintendent, while one woman asked the crowd, "Is anyone else ready to homeschool their children?"
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Dr. Boyce Asks Stanford University: Should College Athletes Be Paid?
Dr. Boyce Watkins, faculty affiliate at The College Sport Research Institute, is going to speak to the Stanford NAACP on Wednesday, March 3. The topic of the conversation will be “Does the NCAA Represent an Opportunity or Exploitation?”
Dr. Watkins is one of the leading authorities on the NCAA and Black Male Athletes. He has advocated for college athletes to be paid, and founded the group ALARM: The Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement. He is also the founder of the Your Black World Coalition, with 60,000 members nation-wide and a regular contributor to MSNBC, CNN and other networks. Finally, he is the resident Scholar for AOL Black Voices, the largest black news website in the country.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Shortage of Primary Care Doctors Threatens Our Nation
I did an appearance last night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss the issue of Health care reform. This has been heavy on the mind of our president for his entire first year in office and has led to quite a few political battles on Capitol Hill. Health care is in serious jeopardy, as the cost of entitlement programs such as Medicaid/Medicare and Social Security threaten our nation's economic security. Our national debt has risen to unprecedented and frightening levels, and our politicians have little incentive to do anything about it.
One additional problem that we are running into on the issue of health care is the fact that our nation doesn't have enough Primary Care physicians. These doctors are incredibly important, since they are the first line of defense against illness in America.
Over the next 10 years, our nation is expected to have a shortfall of 40,000 Primary Care doctors. By 2025, that number is expected to balloon to over 120,000. To make matters worse, our population is aging, implying that there will be a greater demand for these doctors in the future.