Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor

I’ve been thinking lately that the framing of this election needs to change. For one thing I’m weary of hearing about winning and fighting for the nomination. Battleground 2008. That is the old frame that has been rejected by Obama. Its so twentieth century.

This election is not about winning. It’s about leadership.

Winning and losing are a part of the old paradigm. Leadership is new only because we haven’t seen much of it in the last fifty years.

Obama is showing through his example what leadership looks like. It is so unfamiliar that many people see it as his weakness. It is not.

(SistahSpeak con't)

What an extraordinary man he is. He has shown himself unwilling to be baited into combatant status in the blood sport of politics past. Those of us who support him must be willing to recognize the quantum leap this represents in the body politic.

How eagerly some have been to see him strike back at Hillary. Months ago this was the discussion of a NYT article before one of the million debates. The media sharks and sharkettes were salivating at the thought. They were disappointed. I wasn’t. I saw the revolution being telecast.

Make no mistake; whenever you refuse to play by the old rules, you are being revolutionary in every real sense of the word. Obama is a revolutionary. Not fighting is a revolutionary concept in the world of American politics.

We have become so accustomed to violent terms for the political process that it is easy to forget that it is not necessary to speak of elections in terms of fighting and winning and losing. I’ve heard residual anger expressed at John Kerry because he didn’t fight after 2004. Truth is residual anger has become the fuel of the body politic. This anger has morphed into the cancer of our national dialogue. So much talk about fighting and fighting back. Battleground states. Firewalls. There are those who are disappointed in Obama’s refusal to participate.

For the most part many have rationalized his refusal to ‘fight’ back. We have said things like it would only make him appear to be an angry black man and so he can’t. He must appear to be docile in order to gain the trust of white America. This idea supposes somehow that fighting back would be the correct thing to do. This in spite of the fact that the lives and works of King and Gandhi have shown us otherwise.

I have found myself wrestling with the sense of betrayal that none of his surrogates have really stood up to support him. They have not cried foul in unison at the antics and the misbehavior of the so called media as they focused on the idea of derailing this man. I believe it has been his leadership that has restrained those voices. If so, then he has already had an effect on the way business has always been done.

Some people like the idea of continuing the battles that have left our nation bereft of real leadership. I’m not one of them. I want a leader. I want someone who is willing to stand on his principles. I want someone who is willing to speak truth to power and who seeks to hold the reins of power with the help of the people. I want someone who is willing to lead us into self governance. You remember, of ,by and for the people.

I’m tired of the same old same old.

For those asking how he is going to implement the change he talks about I say, watch him. He is already doing it.
Watch him and observe the ways in which politics has already been changed.

Look and learn. We are watching the revolution. It is being televised. Obama is leading.

Obama has more courage and grace in his nail clippings than any other candidate in the last forty years.

Let a leader lead.

Now, run and tell that

The Urban Educational System
Sephius1, Black Kos Editor

Last week we took a look at the people resources that an inner city kid comes in contact with. We also looked at the family dynamics, and school dynamics, pointing to how different links along a child's development, if broken, can cause irreparable harm to a child psyche.

This week we'll take a look at solutions for the 3 areas covered over the past weeks. Just to rehash where we are at:

Safety, Health, and the Environment - this includes drugs and other substances that can be abuse, sexually abuse, bullying, dilapidated housing, school buildings and community infrastructures.

Financial Resources - this includes the poverty levels of the students, surrounding community, and the resources the school has available.

People Resources - this includes the identifying the different learning levels of students early, their socio-economic status, those who play parental roles, inter-personal relationships, self-image. This also includes hiring compotent teachers, having a reward process in place for teachers who do well in the classroom, instead linking a teachers livelyhood to the number of students they pass, getting teachers to think out of the box, and have more robust training for teachers to keep their skill up to date.

Solutions - I will propose solutions in this section to help develop a strategy at the school level.


1.4 Solution

- Safety, Health, and Environment -

In the first installment of this multi-part series we delve into the issue of safety, the welfare of the child, and the physical surroundings of the child. On of the first things we need to do is start with a grounded home. Kids that are in unstable homes, aren't that productive once they get to school. I think there needs to be an onsite psychologist at the school. Someone who can help a child work through the issues so that they don't express themselves in other ways. There is so much a child is exposed to that they can not process it all. Abuse at the home, walking through rundown neigborhoods, teachers abusing student (whether mental, or physical) all have lasting effect on the child psyche.

Another thing that can help with the sense of saftey is having a cop, or two, come to school once a week and meet with the young students. There's such a mistrust of the police in the inner city that crime flourishes because neither side talks to each. The cop may need someone in the community as an eyewitness, but the community won't help because law enforcement will only provide basic security. But at the same time the community wants the cops to be there to protect them. There must be a mutual respect from each side and it begins at young age, when the child is beginning to understand the authority hierarchy and beginning to place different levels of trust within that hierarchy. By allowing a relationship to develop between school kids and law enforcement it will do two things, (1) it establishes a safe zone with cop, and (2) the kid would be more likely to go to the cop with something that they see a disturbance.

On the health side an onsite nutritionist would be essential. Kids each so much chunk food because it is cheaper for their parents to buy. An it doesn't help that corporation you schools as billboards in exchange for giving money to the school -- usually in the form of vending machine with sugary soft drinks and candy. Then the child goes home and the cabinet is filled with chips, soda, and sugary cereals "fortified" with vitamins. In the inner city you, are more likely to see a liquor store than a good grocery. Although some in the community are taking on the task of growing fresh vegatables.

On the environment tip, and actually creating fun teaching moment, you could have the young students help keep the school clean. Have a day once, or twice a month, where the student and teachers go out pick trash around the school. Of course care should be given if the child happens to walk upon a syringe, drugs, or god forbid a condom. But barring that, it will teach the kids responsibilities and get them involved early in caring for the environment.

- Financial Resources and People Resources -

I'm joining these two together since they meld well. Obviously, if everybody made more money alot of problems probably could be solved, but that is a discussion far bigger than this one. The first thing we need to confront is the self image of the child. Since most inner city schools are public, you are going to have children of different socio-economic status attending the same school. And because some may be better off financially than other, the way they dress will reflect that. And if you are the lonely kid who can't afford the trendy shoes, and clothes, you already see your self as unequal. Therefore, I think school uniforms are needed as an image equalizer. You're not focusing on who's the "it" boy/girl. And while I value free speech, the elementary and middle school years should be about learning and absorbing the world around. They are already going to have cliques -- jocks, cool girls, "geeky guys", etc.

Of course, more up to date books and better teacher pay always help, but when you have different graduation statistics across racial lines, and class lines, you soon see that there may be differences in the way some are learning. I going to propose something I'm calling Continuous Academic Verification, Evaluation, and Reporting, or CAVER, Statistics & Best Practices. This would be a document that would track a childs entire educational track from kindergarden to finishing college. Now, when I say document, I mean a database that captures statistical information. And while I'm sure every state has something similiar to this, that, in it self, is part of the problem -- no consistent narrative. So below I breifly break down what a CAVER is, it's methodolgy, how it is compile, and managed, and some areas where a CAVER statistic can be tracked:

• CAVER System
  
  In the simplest of terms, a CAVER statistic is defined as the smallest trackable unit of information. This could be a test question, the test itself, teacher evaluations, overall learning ability, classroom size, information that spans several categories, etc. Along with capturing this information you want to be able to compare and contrast, and produce reports that students, parents, teachers, education administrators, commercial entities, and politician can use these report to provide corrective action early before the child slips through cracks.
  
  The deployment strategy for the CAVER system would be brand-able, web-based, password protected, with user groups and user group administrators. User accounts will be created based on form submission of certain information, since we don't want just anybody seeing student information. However, an area of the CAVER system will be available to the public (the media, researchers, average citizens) to view summary reports since part of the goal is to keep the public informed about the potential workforce.
  
  Some other areas where gathering CAVER statistics could be beneficial are from mentorship programs, after-school programs, from parents at PTA meetings, or tracking those students that will be the first to go through the CAVER system and become teachers themselves. They will add a new dimension because now you will begin developing a knowledgebase within the CAVER system itself.
  

The CAVER system is the best way, in my opinion, to coral people resources as well. You can see how mentors and teachers effect the childs learning. However, as it stands right now, CAVER is still in draft white paper form, but once it is done I will be soliciting feedback. This concludes Part I: Strategy At The School Level

Next week >> Part II: Strategy At The Commercial Level

The Root ≫ Making sense of hip-hop's most recent crime wave.

The recent spate of rap stars making criminal justice news will come as a surprise to no one, especially those of you who equate hip-hop culture with prison culture. Nor will it surprise those of us who have accepted the fact that, in the black public sphere, record sales (or any sales for that matter) are often bolstered by an association with criminality.

Clearly all of hip-hop culture is not about criminality. Most rappers do not have rap sheets. If you consider Akon to be a hip-hop artist, think of the irony inherent in the sensationalism surrounding the recent expose of his criminal career. The fact that he has exaggerated his prison status in order to sell his artistic persona (and millions of records) only begins to hint at the promotional potential of prison sentences in popular culture.

That said, it might be worth revisiting this recent string of cases to understand the issues and what they mean for both the African American community and the Hip-Hop Generation(s)....... More ►

To continue with the Hip-hop theme.

Slate ≫ What's behind the great rappers lame rock band combos?

Why do rappers whose work I hold in such high regard have such terrible taste in rock? The answer started to become clear when I gave "Birthday Girl," the Roots-Patrick Stump song, a courtesy listen and was greatly disturbed to discover that I liked it. It's catchy; Stump has the right voice for the mellow hook, and the Roots' estimable rhythm section gives a sharp edge to what otherwise would have been a straightforward mid-tempo rock song:

Upon searching my soul, I realized that I had to admit that I in fact liked almost all the songs that I named earlier. "Let Me Blow Your Mind" is an unjustly forgotten club grinder; "Homecoming," "Heard 'Em Say," and "Sacrifice" all get stuck in my head from time to time; "Numb/Encore" is a staple of the various Workout Mega-Jam mixes that I've made over the years. I was a bit taken aback; cultural snobbery is such an integral part of my personality. I'd have to rethink a lot of things if it turned out I liked listening to Fall Out Boy, Maroon 5, and Linkin Park.

Fortunately, a quick zip through the iTunes store reassured me that I don't. Those bands have recorded some memorably hummable singles but don't have much musical range and seem to almost purposefully employ instrumentation and vocal effects indistinguishable from all the other bands working in their already well-trod genres. (Fall Out Boy seems the most promising—I could see them making an album I really liked—and while Linkin Park is never going to be my thing, they're not bad at what they do. Maroon 5 is elevator music from the depths of hell.) But these bands' songwriting and production tendencies, I realized, are beside the point. They're not in the studio to write and record a double album with a rapper; they're stopping by for a day to lay down vocals for a single....... More ►

I still am 50/50 on Cosby. But he is out there trying to do good works. He also has been a major donor for years for many good causes. Therefore He has earned my respect.

The Root ≫ Georgia judge who gave blacks-only lecture teams with Cosby

Bill Cosby says apathy among some black Americans about violence, drugs, profanity and teenage sex has sunk to a level of asking someone to "pass the salt."

The comedian, who has made waves by criticizing the black community in the past, appeared Thursday night with a Georgia judge who kicked whites out of his courtroom while he lectured black defendants.

Cosby and Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington spoke at a forum for at-risk youths from the Atlanta area. Both men are black. "Our children are trying to tell us something," Cosby said to the predominantly black audience at Benjamin Mays High School as he talked about the importance of education and family....... More ►

NYTimes ≫ Seeking the Key to Employment for Ex-Cons

Over the past two years, Peter Santos has hired 40 ex-convicts to help him build and renovate apartments here; 36 did not last, many of them doing unacceptably sloppy work or simply disappearing after a few weeks — or a few days — on the job.

One worker, Ronald O’Reilly, 41, had spent more than half his life in prison, for burglary, drug sales and weapons possession, when Mr. Santos last summer gave him not just a job but a cheap apartment and the furnishings to make the place feel like home. He even paid to repair Mr. O’Reilly’s neglected teeth. “I gave him my all,” Mr. Santos said. “I really thought Ron would be different.”...... More ►

Although you can count me as someone who doesn't put too much into Jeremiah Wright when I decided to support Sen. Obama. But given that fact, why wouldn't a person step aside for a moment if it means advancing many of the goals they say they support? But this continues to be news. (doppero189)

The Root ≫ Is Rev. Jeremiah Wright on the secret payroll of Barack Obama's political opponents?

It's a reasonable question, given the potentially catastrophic damage he wreaked on the Illinois Senator's White House aspirations with his bombastic performance at the National Press Club this morning. At the precise moment when Obama is facing questions about his ability to connect with white working class voters, Wright chose to put himself back into the spotlight, resurrecting the controversy stirred up by widely circulated snippets from his impassioned sermons. At the very least, Obama will now be forced to waste precious time answering questions about his former pastor's absurd views. At worst, Wright's provocative utterances could cost Obama the election....... More ►

I think Sen. Obama had no choice but to do this.

NYTimes ≫ Obama Breaks Forcefully With Ex-Pastor Over Fiery Remarks

Senator Barack Obama broke forcefully on Tuesday with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in an effort to curtail a drama of race, values, patriotism and betrayal that has enveloped his presidential candidacy at a critical juncture.

At a news conference here, Mr. Obama denounced remarks Mr. Wright made in a series of televised appearances over the last several days. In the appearances, Mr. Wright has suggested that the United States was attacked because it engaged in terrorism on other people and that the government was capable of having used the AIDS virus to commit genocide against minorities. His remarks also cast Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, in a positive light....... More ►

NYTimes ≫ Lincoln Journal: An Irascible Firebrand, Finally Quieted by Term Limits

The senior senator of Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature is going out just the way he came in nearly four decades ago: obstinately, and with a whole lot to say in his T-shirt and jeans.

“I have to remind people as they show great sadness that I’m not dying, I’m just getting out of the Legislature,” said the senator, Ernie Chambers, 70. “But a lot of people are going to be very happy when my absolute last day arrives. In fact, there will probably be so much joy in this corner of the world that it will be picked up on the Richter scale. I’m not liked at all.”

Liked or not, Mr. Chambers, a black, divorced, agnostic former barber from Omaha with posters of Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass decorating his office, managed to rise to an ultimate level of power in a mostly rural, white conservative state on little more than sheer determination to do so....... More ►

A word of caution to Democrats from theroot.com

The Root ≫ Don't Think Black Voters Won't Vote for McCain.

Just ask Kathleen Kennedy Townsend about the price Democrats pay for dissing black voters.
So my home state of Pennsylvania handed Hillary Clinton a win and a reason to keep fighting to be the Democratic nominee. As I write, Terry McCauliffe is probably on CNN pleading his candidate's case, facts about her low delegate and popular vote counts be damned.

But before Democratic superdelegates get too itchy to snuff the Obama campaign, they should consider the new animal that move might spawn: the Obama Republican.

I know: the notion of black folks and young folks and progressive white folks abandoning the Democrats en masse if the Wife of Bill is the nominee ain't exactly new; Right here on The Root, the writer William Jelani Cobb espoused a McCain protest vote in November, and has since accepted a ticket to Denver as a Democratic delegate in August. But that makes the threat no less real. Any Democratic honcho needing a lesson in the power of disaffected black voters need only Google "2002 and Clarence Mitchell IV."...... More ►

Imagine if Sen. McCain got to nominate Justice Stephen G. Breyer replacement?

NYTime ≫ Supreme Court Upholds Voter Identification Law in Indiana

The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter-identification law on Monday, declaring that a requirement to produce photo identification is not unconstitutional and that the state has a “valid interest” in improving election procedures as well as deterring fraud.

In a 6-to-3 ruling in one of the most awaited election-law cases in years, the court rejected arguments that Indiana’s law imposes unjustified burdens on people who are old, poor or members of minority groups and less likely to have driver’s licenses or other acceptable forms of identification. Because Indiana’s law is considered the strictest in the country, similar laws in the other 20 or so states that have photo-identification rules would appear to have a good chance of surviving scrutiny....... More ►

Kai Wright at the TheRoot.com doesn't pull any punches with this one.

The Root ≫ If They Are So Scared, How Come We're The Dead Ones?

The cops in the Sean Bell case walked because the judge said it was reasonable for them to be scared of three black men in a car. This paranoia defense has been used to forgive the murders of black people for a long time.

Ida B. Wells, at the turn of the 20th century, called it a "threadbare lie." She was talking about how lynch mobs masquerading as law enforcement justified their actions by claiming black men were raping white women. But Wells was on to a larger delusion, one that not only inspired sexual hysteria 100 years ago, but that continues to legitimize all manner of brutality against black men today. The simple and sadly lasting truth is this: We scare the shit out of America. And that fear excuses just about any reaction it spawns....... More ►

A sad day for Jamaica and the world.

The Root ≫ Mourners pay tribute to Bob Marley's mom

Thousands of mourners paid tribute Sunday to the late mother of reggae superstar Bob Marley, whose renowned music promoting social justice and "one love" made him one of Jamaica's most beloved sons.

Cedella Booker's casket was draped in blue, red, yellow and black cloths, the colors of the Rastafarian faith, and displayed in Kingston's National Stadium.

Booker died earlier this month in her Miami home at age 81. She will be buried Monday alongside her late son in his birthplace, the town of Nine Miles....... More ►

I have grown more callous as I grow older and keep hearing bad news from around the world. But every so often a story still finds a way to break my heart. This one is from Africa's broken heart.

NPR ≫ Rape Used as a Weapon in Congo's Civil War

There are reports that mutinous soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo raped women Bukavu after seizing the city earlier this month. Rape has been a part of earlier conflicts as well. During Congo's civil war, which officially ended in 2002, rape and the fear of rape often kept women from working in the fields. Crops failed as a result, and many children died of malnutrition. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports....... More ►

Ebony / Jet ≫ New Voices of African American Women Playwrights

Last year, I experienced a thought-provoking discussion with playwright/novelist/activist Pearl Cleage. The topic was the new generation of African American playwrights and what direction they were headed. Cleage believes that we are at a turning point in terms of the foundation set by the civil rights generation and the new path that current playwrights are forging.

“I’m a child of the 60s, I think in terms of the Black community and I don’t think we have that anymore,” she said of the current generation’s perspective. “I miss it but I understand it as part of our development as a people. We have been able to knock aside racism and sexism and we have dissipated our sense of community. Our sense of danger is lessened.”

With the international fame of playwrights such as Suzan -Lori Parks, the first African American playwright to win a Pulitzer Prize and Lynn Nottage, considered among the best of contemporary playwrights, the role of African American woman playwrights in particular, appears to be crucial. Both Parks and Nottage earned MacArthur “genius” grants for their productions that examine class and racism through unexpected perspectives....... More ►

Diaries by babeuf (dopper0189)
┗ Time to Rethink the Role of the Church in Black (and American) Politics......More ►
┗ America's Racial Porn Addiction......More ►




I love StromBear
Diaries by StormBear (dopper0189)
┗ Black History: Southerners Contemplate Manual Labor......More ►
┗ Black History: First Shots of the Civil War......More ►




So (black) people, do we have his back or what?......More ►
┗ by jazmen8 (dopper0189)



One black man's reaction to Obama yesterday......More ►
┗ by ella-h (dopper0189)



On Black-Blacks, and NotBlack-Blacks, and me......More ►
┗ by risingtide (dopper0189)



(DIARIES OF NOTE ON THE WEB)

There is quite an interesting discussion on the web with regards to how having a "black sounding name" effects a person life.



On Having a Black Name......More ►(Terrypinder)

Growing up White with a Black name......More ►(Terrypinder)

What If My Parents Had Named Me Tawana?......More ►(Terrypinder)

How do babies with super-black names fare?......More ►(Terrypinder)

Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor


I’ve been looking into my heart to find my real feelings about Jeremiah Wright and the events of the last few days.

As I write this, Obama has packed up the baggage left by Rev. Wright and the media. Make no mistake, the media is the thing.

Obama has been taking hits from every direction. Hillary, McLame, Bill, scarred burrow, damnity, Tweety et.al. The miracle is that he has weathered it with more grace than the situation deserved. During these last few weeks, Obama has been grace it’s own self.

They’ve been waiting to see if they could pick a fight and fit him into the angry black male mode. They couldn’t. Only Jeremiah Wright was able finally to wound. Wound him he did. I’m feeling Obama’s hurt. It is not unfamiliar to me, the territory of betrayal. For a moment the light seems to get sucked from the room. Obama had that look. My heart goes out to him.

I keep wondering if in his actions, Wright wasn’t giving Obama what he needed to move forward. Jeremiah is not a stupid man. I do not believe he is jealous of Obama. I do not believe he is a narcissist. The narcissists get the million dollar home as soon as the church can afford it. They don’t put the church’s money into programs.

I’m sure I saw something in Jeremiah’s eyes.

I do not believe for one moment he needs attention. When you have a church for as long as he, attention is something you get plenty of. One day I’ll tell you how I know.

No, what I believe he intended to do was take the attention and shape it to Obama’s need. This he did. He said over a year ago that Obama would need to distance himself from him. Since Obama couldn’t bring himself to do it, Wright did it for him.

I know I heard a message in there. On Sunday, I heard him say that if he was going to promote a candidate at the non-partisan NAACP function he would say “Yes we can!”

He made a point of saying that he was not Obama’s spiritual advisor. And chided Obama for not listening to the whole sermon. Took that one off Obama’s back. I’m sure it pissed Buchanan off. He’s been trying to hang Obama with this spiritual advisor label since the beginning of this farce. Also apparently everyone else goes to church every Sunday and because Wright said Obama hadn’t heard the whole sermon, he took that weapon right out of the punditz hands.

Wright signaled that he was up on things by mentioning the Huffington Post. Then there were the messages that I heard in other things he said.

He said that what God has ordained in terms of the presidency could not be stopped. I heard words of encouragement to Obama. Wright was doing his part.

Finally he parodied the black street brother... Bipping and bopping. He did everything but slap a high five with one of his boys. This man who has known presidents and been in the White House as a guest of Bill Clinton has to go all south side of Chicago? Not feeling that vibe as authentic.

I believe he knew that by giving what even Obama called a performance; he was doing all he could do to put this away.

I know I would have done the same thing. I would show my behind to ten thousand strangers if it would help my sons. I would make a complete fool of myself if it would help bring their dreams into being.

Anyone who thinks that Jeremiah Wright would consciously sabotage Obama does not understand anything about the man.

In my heart I believe I’ve seen Br’er Rabbit getting thrown into the briar patch.

Nothing else makes sense.

Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor

This primary season has served to rip the band-aides off of some of the deepest wounds in our nation. Hillary seems to me to be defiant. Angry. Intentional in her disrespect for Barack.

From where I’m standing her campaign illustrates the anger carried in the hearts of so many older women in this country. It is the bitter that goes unspoken as the punditz look at numbers and try to divine the real nature of the body politic which is apparently having an anger seizure. Some things are obvious.



Women are mad as hell. White women that is. Women of a certain age. Maybe Obama needs to speak to them. Let them know he understands their anger and that he is not the enemy. He cannot,must not stand in proxy for the anger, fear and frustration many of these women feel. If whites can proclaim that they had nothing to do with slavery and can’t be tarred with it by blacks, surely Obama can say I did you no wrong. I didn’t leave you for a younger woman; I didn’t hit you or hurt you. I have neither polished the glass ceiling nor did I erect it. I have not oppressed you. I’m dealing with the same oppressor as you.


This has been a primary in the most illuminating sense of the word. We are looking at the primer of our emotions. Much of what we are seeing pains the eye and pings the heart.

Some are lined up watching with horror as the threads of racism are being subtly woven into the fabric of this primary.


Those of us who are children of the Diaspora flinch as we watch the buzzwords of racism shift while millions are blissfully unaware. For months the feelings that are held by some of our citizens have raged under the radar. Race. We don’t want to talk about it. Not really. Obama tried. No one wanted to respond. Hillary could have. She could have stood up after Obama’s speech and said “Good on you Barack Obama. This is a conversation we need to have.” She could have promised that as president she would issue a presidential proclamation apologizing after all this time, to the descendents of slaves for centuries of slavery. She could have said that she wanted to acknowledge that slavery provided the foundation of this nation’s prosperity. She could have. She didn’t even try.

Instead we have women who are claiming that now it is time for those of us with vaginas to stand together. We are supposed to hold this black man accountable for all the sins of misogyny. How ironic.

A few of these white women actually seem to think that I should see myself first in terms of my gender even as they call me a black woman.( Note that black precedes woman.) Apparently there are those who think I am voting for Obama just because he is black like me. And you know what? They can kiss my black ass. Even if I was, it seems to me to be as fair as voting for white men, year after year after year.

I can give you all the policy reasons I’m voting for Barack Obama. Or I can simply say this... I would never vote for Condi Rice or Colin Powell. I said hell no to Clarence Thomas and find no pride in Bob Johnson. And if someone wants to accuse me of voting for Barack Obama simply because he and I are both black, I don’t give a flying phuque.

These people do not see me as someone capable of making a decision beyond the narrow definitions and parameters of their own bigotry.

Hillary goes around claiming that it took one Clinton to clean up after the first Bush and that she is the Clinton to clean up after this Bush. Bullshit. Let’s look at this another way. Historically, black folks cleaned up after white folk for generation after generation. We been cleaning y’alls messes for centuries. I think it’s gonna take a black man,Barack Obama, to clean up after all these white men. Yeah, I said it. And as Lou Palmer used to say, now run and tell that.

SPECIAL COMMENT
Terrypinder, Black Kos Editor


As a 26 year old man living in our “post-racial” society I'm often struck at just how far we still have to go.

I realize I started my last piece with this opening but hear me out. Today, I'm talking about BET.

Before I continue---I don't want people to think I'm some type of moralizing John McWhorter. I have read some of his work, and find that while our life stories sort of match (we're both from middle class, college-educated suburbanites), we diverge greatly in pretty much everything else. I'm a liberal. He more or less is not. So while it'll sound like I'm channeling McWhorter in my critique of BET, to some, it's all me. 100%.

I watch BET and note, that there aren't people like me on there. Outside of the few news programs they have, there's a lot of incredibly vapid programming, rap videos that do little to lift up the community, and Christian televangelist programs that have bought into the Prosperity Gospel (another issue I have, but we can save that for another day.)

It all just looks like a modern-day minstrel show to me. I clearly am over thinking it, but I think the point stands. I can't be the only one.

Oh, I'm not!

Aaron McGruder, of the Boondocks fame, has made digs at BET for quite some time now, even to the point where two recent episodes of The Boondocks were pulled at threat of lawsuit. You can view these episodes on YouTube and elsewhere on the web. They're NSFW, and they're quite possibly the most offensive episodes of the series yet. I won't spoil it for you—you can go and watch them yourself. I felt they made his point about BET well, but they took the most offensive way possible to do it. The Boondocks satire hits the mark though, even when it's like “damn, did I just see that on The Cartoon Network?!”

http://www.enoughisenoughcampaign.com/

They're right. Enough IS enough!

Their goals are

1. We want media and music companies to develop universal creative standards for the music and videos they produce, market and distribute. These standards should include prohibitions against lyrical and visual content that (a) objectifies, degrades, or promotes violence against women; (b) promotes illegal activity; (c) portrays Black and Latino men as "gangsters, pimps, thugs, and players," and (d) celebrates the usage of the word "nigga" (and it's derivatives), "hoe" (and it's derivatives), and "bitch" (in reference to women),
2. We want companies that advertise on television and radio stations to develop the same universal standards for the networks on which they place advertising,
3. We want the Federal Communications Commission to enforce its congressional mandate to regulate indecency on the public airwaves (television, radio, cable, satellite, etc...) between 6AM-10PM,
4. We want the Federal Communications Commission to investigate allegations of "payola" in the entertainment industry,
5. We want Congress to pass legislation in support of consumer choice in the cable industry; i.e. "a la carte" cable. This would enable consumers to not choose undesirable networks as a part of their cable packages. According to a recent FCC study, "a la carte" cable would also reduce customer cable bills up to 13%,
6. We want local, state, and federal governments to divest public tax dollars and contracts from corporations that refuse to end their sponsorship of offensive lyrical content. (We have examples of such contracts and government relationships with such corporations.), and
7. We want mutual fund and pension fund managers to divest funds from investments in publicly traded companies that promote, sponsor, and market material that does not conform to the universal creative standards referenced above.

Perhaps their goals are a little lofty, especially 6. But don't you think #1 is fair? I do.

I mean I do like hiphop and all that, but not the stuff that I see on BET on a regular basis. And frankly, I am tired of the stereotypes.


Enough is enough!


And Bob Johnson (not OUR Bob Johnson, BET's Bob Johnson) needs to go away!

But I don't know, what do you all think?

In regards to the series The Urban Educational System: Part I - A Stategy At the School Level.

Section 1.4 was to be published in this issue of Week In Review, but will not be because my computer has decided to "rebel" against me in the final hour. I think the file is corrupted because it won't let me open it. And I can't find my Flash stick that contains a partial copy. So I'm having to re-type everything from my notes. As such it will be published next week. Deepest apologies. - Sephius1

The Economist ≫ One of America's most violent cities has suddenly become less so—thanks to smarter policing.

Baltimore's police chief, Frederick Bealefeld, prefers not to rely on divine intervention. With 282 murders last year among a population of 630,000, Baltimore was one of the most violent cities in America. But since last summer, the killing has slowed. The six months to March this year saw an impressive 28% fewer murders than the same period a year earlier. Mr Bealefeld credits smarter policing, and says he is cautiously optimistic that the trend will continue.

Television dramas such as “The Wire” may give the impression that Baltimore is a hellhole. It is not. Most of the city is calm and pleasant. Only a couple of areas are crime-ridden. And even in these areas, relatively few young men commit—and are the victims of—the most serious crimes. Last year, 89% of those murdered in Baltimore had a criminal record.

Mr Bealefeld thinks the murder rate has fallen because the police are paying more attention to the most violent offenders. One helpful new tool is a registry for gun offenders which the mayor, Sheila Dixon, announced last year. Like sex criminals, anyone who commits a crime using a gun must register his whereabouts with the police as soon as he is convicted or once released from jail. Failure to do so can get him imprisoned again for up to a year.

The logic is simple. Of the 135 people arrested for murder in Baltimore last year, nearly half had a prior conviction for a gun offence. So it makes sense for police and parole officers to keep close tabs on former gun criminals....... More ►

Ebony the nations oldest and largest black news magazine has published its list of the "150 Most Influential Black Americans."

Ebony / Jet ≫ "The Most Influential Black Americans"

Since 1963, the section has been one of the magazine's most talked about features, highlighting talented individuals whose influence shapes America.

This year, the "Ebony Power 150" kicks off with a look at 20 young rising stars who are emerging as part of the next wave of Black leaders in America. The complete list focuses on eight categories: Politics & Law, Business, Religion, Arts, En tertainment & Media, Education, Military and Public Service. The list was compiled by the editors of Ebony in consultation with national experts and leaders in the field, the two criteria being:

1) In the past year, did the individual transcent his or her position and exhibit widespread national influence?
2) In the past year, did the individual affect in a decisive and positive way the lives, thinking and actions of large segments of the African-American population, either by his/her position in a key group, or by his/her personal reach and influence.

Although our list is populated by dynamic individuals with extensive resumes, only one accomplishment per individual was allowed....... More ►

Call me an elitist but this next story should be under lack of culture . Black people and white people are sometimes too much alike! We both seem facinated by the same type of dumb stuff on TV.

The Root ≫ Good Luck Finding The Reality in Black Reality TV

The only thing missing from black family reality television is the reality.

The simple formula—high-profile black celebrity and family live a scripted and sometimes not-so-scripted life in front of the camera—has proven to be a ratings winner. This combination of pseudo-reality and celebrity—for which TV audiences seem to clamor, follows a pattern in which mainstream viewers seem extraordinarily willing to buy into a patently false lifestyle portrayals (The Hills, The Kardashians) in which the fantasy of effortlessly acquired wealth and material excess yields a loyal following on TV, turning nobodies into red carpet somebodies, while reviving sagging celebrity careers.

Add black folks to the mix of reality/celebrity/fantasy shows, and you've got the perfect antidote to HBO's The Wire, arguably just as much a reality show as anything else on TV.

Deion & Pilar follows the success, if not buzz, of Snoop Dogg's Father Hood on E!, in which the rapper tries to instill discipline in his brood, against the backdrop of his own history of decadence.

In one episode, Snoop's wife tries to introduce a healthier diet by banning him from fried chicken. In another episode, Snoop takes a yoga lesson, and in a third, soccer star David Beckham gives Snoop's kid's soccer lessons. Ah, the life of a gangsta-rapper-turned-doting-dad....... More ►

This is an interesting story. It also give a chance to plug a new blog the Black and Green Blog. which hopes to mobilize more environmental awareness in urban areas.

The Root ≫ Stay Black (and Green)

Similar to most kids, I liked new things. Especially when they were shiny. I remember how quickly I lost interest in playing with my C-3PO figurine after it started to dull. So you can imagine that I was a little put off by the fact that Paw Paw, my paternal grandfather, would always wash and reuse aluminum foil. Why would we use a scraggly wrinkled sheet when there was a damn-near-full roll of crisp and clean foil available? In addition to foil, Paw Paw reused anything that could be reused until it was on its last leg. Why? "Because it's wasteful to throw it away," as he used to tell me.

If you need to purchase aluminum foil, buy it recycled since up to 95% less energy is used to produce recycled foil than foil made from virgin aluminum. After using it, you can wash it, dry it, fold it, and reuse it at a later date. And when you're tired of looking at a scraggly wrinkled sheet, put it in your blue bin to be recycled again. 'Cause it's wasteful to throw it away. If your city doesn't recycle aluminum yet, first clown them, then raise some hell and take matters into your own hands until they do.

Recognizing that people of color have been protectors of the earth for millennia, a few of my brilliant friends and I took matters into our own hands and started the Black and Green Blog. This blog provides readers with practical tips and tools (like the one above) for living in a way that honors the earth and leaves it intact for our children and grandchildren. Check us out....... More ►

A conversation with environmental activist Majora Carter about integrating the movement, how to stop dumping on our communities, and why planting trees won't kill hip-hop

The Root ≫ How the Bronx Turned Green

It's not surprising that many African Americans give Earth Day a pass. When you live poorer and die younger in the land of plenty, it can be hard to get excited about protecting the planet at large.

The oppression of black people covers centuries of troubled terrain from forced agricultural labor, to contemporary land loss, to racialized proximity, to polluting industries. For African Americans, nature's bounty has always stood in stark contrast to human suffering.

It's not that black Americans don't care about the environment. In fact, public opinion data show that there is no clear "green gap" between black and white Americans. But blacks are more likely to care about green issues that most directly affect their lives. While whites express more concern about climate change, wilderness preservation and endangered species, African Americans express more concern about pollution, locally undesirable land uses and human health outcomes. Asthmatic children are far more likely to turn African Americans into environmental activists than disappearing polar bears...... More ►

This was the best story I have read in a while. It shows what people, and civic organizations like unions can do when their government decideds to sit on it's hands.

NYTimes ≫ Zimbabwe-Bound Ship Heads Back to China

A Chinese ship carrying armaments made by a Chinese state-owned company and bound for Zimbabwe has headed back to China without unloading its cargo of bullets and mortar bombs, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry confirmed at a briefing Thursday.

The Chinese company has already decided to send the military goods back to China in the same vessel, the An Yue Jiang,” said the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu.

The ship had sailed into Durban harbor in South Africa last week. The South African government had already issued a permit to allow the arms to be trucked across South Africa to landlocked Zimbabwe when dock workers declared they would not unload the weapons and an Anglican archbishop convinced a judge to temporarily bar the arms delivery across South African soil.

The campaign has since pressed other countries in the region to reject the shipment, a call that had gained important backing from Zambia’s president, Levy Mwanawasa, who heads a bloc of 14 southern African nations...... More ►

As a Caribbean-American let me tell you we love dominos like laomost nothing else. In times of suffering people often turn to simple pleasures. But as my wife would say "being men they have to do this....."

NYTimes ≫ For Haiti’s Jobless, No Cost to Play. But Losers Pay

There was pain in Jean François’s eyes, real suffering, an awful look of woe. It might have been that he had little to eat that day, or his lack of a job or any real hope of securing one. Perhaps it stemmed from the squalor in his neighborhood, a sprawling and rather depressing slum of tin-roofed houses. Looking on, one wanted to help this desperate 29-year-old man, console him, somehow help him break out of what was clearly a deep funk.

But there was nothing to be done. It turns out that Mr. François’s life was not the immediate source of his desperation. It was his losing streak — and the dozens of clothespins clipped onto his face, arms and belly.

In marked contrast to Mr. François’s glum look, the other men crowding around a raucous domino game under way in Port-au-Prince’s Cité Soleil neighborhood on a recent afternoon were smiling with glee. They doubled over in laughter every time they looked at Mr. François. A chorus of roars rang out each time he lost another game and more of the clips were attached to his ears, cheeks, chin, forearms and midriff.
...... More ►

I always read these diaries

Diaries by StormBear (dopper0189)
┗ Black History: The Causes of the Civil War......More ►
┗ Black History: The Underground Railroad......More ►



Arizona: The Black Student Association Disparages American Values And Western Civilization......More ►
┗ by The Rollback Campaign (dopper0189)



PA and the Persistence of the Race Chasm......More ►
┗ by davidsirota (dopper0189)

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUY THE CBC?

You would think the CBC would take heed from their base and stop this madness. But they are pressing forward with the Fox Debate anyways, but as the New York Times reports in, For Democrats, Debate on Fox Reveals Divide

The caucus is bent on salvaging what remains of the debate, and of a relationship that has produced other benefits. Not only has Fox given over precious air time for the debate, but an examination shows that its parent company, News Corporation, has also taken other steps to reach out to the group’s constituency, including making campaign donations to the caucus and its members and creating internship programs at predominantly black colleges.

As I wrote a few day ago I was going to research the financial link between FOX News (News Corp) and the CBC. I didn't have any hard evidence of one at the time I made that statement. But I have found over the years that when politician make a move that seems counter to their normal political behavior money is usually involved. So I will answer the question: How much does it cost to Buy off the CBC?

First price quote:

...News Corporation also gained currency among black and Hispanic leaders by helping orchestrate a campaign to increase the participation of minority viewers in the television ratings system, a task it entrusted to a consulting firm with strong ties to Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, in turn, has established a relationship with Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, who, for example, held a fund-raiser for her last year during her Senate re-election campaign.

It seems that wasn't enough as Bill is very popular amongst Blacks but isn't a member of the CBC.
Second price quote:

Despite a fierce debate within the 43-member caucus over whether to sever ties with Fox News, those representing the caucus in its dealings with Fox have thus far held firm. The network itself has apparently urged the caucus to do just that. There was, for example, a meeting for caucus press secretaries attended by representatives of News Corporation and Fox News, where talk turned to how to publicly present the merits of the debate. (Also working in Fox’s favor is that the debate is to be held in Detroit, the home city of Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, the caucus chairwoman.)

Find a Congresswoman who is so desperate to hold event in her city she will "sell out"
Third price quote:

The partnership between Fox News and the caucus began in earnest in 2003, when the news channel responded to the caucus’s request for a broadcast partner for its debates for the 2004 presidential election. (Technically, the caucus was sponsoring the debate through an affiliate group, the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute; the use of the institute gives the caucus itself some distance, even though several prominent caucus members are on the institute board.)

Fox’s proposal included broadcasting the debates in prime time, giving the caucus a say in selecting moderators and covering much of the production cost, said one former caucus staff member close to the negotiations.

Make a reasonable sounding proposal to your intended -victim- partner, and hope they don't notice that you will cut the debate short, and call it the "Democrat Party Debate".
Forth Price quote:

Months after joining forces with the caucus, Fox News created internships for students at Morgan State University, a black college in Baltimore, in the Congressional district of Representative Elijah E. Cummings, who was then chairman of the caucus.

In June 2003, its political action committee, known as News America-Fox, made a $1,000 contribution to Mr. Cummings’s political committee.

The Fox group later made contributions of at least $1,000 each to other caucus members, including Representatives Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas, and Gregory W. Meeks and Edolphus Towns of New York. The political arm of the caucus itself received a $5,000 contribution from the Fox group, in May 2006. And on the Web site of its foundation, the caucus lists News Corporation among several dozen corporate sponsors.

For a total of $4,000 in direct contributions, $5,000 to the CBC PAC, and a few -indoctrination studies- internships that were jobs that needed to be filled anyways. You can buy the CBC.

Well the strong negative reaction to the CBC debate is finally starting to leak through to the some of the members.

James Rucker, executive director of a group that has tried to mobilize opposition to the partnership between Fox News and the caucus, said that the news channel was using its association with the caucus to inoculate itself against criticism that its coverage of Democrats in general and blacks in particular was biased.

“This is Fox’s brilliance,” said Mr. Rucker, whose group is known as the Color of Change. “In ’03, they made a brilliant investment. On the one hand, they got to be aligned with the brand of the Congressional Black Caucus. On the other hand, they got to proceed with business as usual.”

Mr. Meeks acknowledged that Fox, in partnering with the caucus on the debates, seemed to be trying to do a little image-building. But he said at least Fox was willing to sponsor the debate, when no other network would.

Mr. Meeks was further quoted as saying:

Mr. Meeks said that he had yet to decide whether to advocate canceling the debate. Fox’s supporters within the caucus have moved quickly to close ranks, even taking the unusual step of sending a letter to candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, urging them to participate in the debate and noting “the importance to African-Americans and others to hear from you.”

While 26 members of the caucus signed the letter, it is also notable who did not, including Representative Maxine Waters of California, a prominent and powerful member of the group.

Asked about the debate in a brief telephone interview, Ms. Waters said only, “I’m opposed to it.”

Thank you Ms. Waters, and hopefully Mr. Meeks comes around.
In the mean time hopefully the CBC members find a spoke person who is "clean, neat, and articulate enough because":

For now, at least, the caucus and Fox News can count on having at least one participant, Mr. Biden. Luis Navarro, Mr. Biden’s spokesman, said in an interview that Mr. Biden would be there because the caucus represented “an important base” and Fox offered an unparalleled forum for a candidate “to hold the Bush administration’s feet to the fire on their handling of Iraq.”

With thanks to dnA for the diary List Of CBC Members Who Signed The Letter Urging Candidates To Reconsider On Fox Debate (and Britain33 )

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick
Bennie Thompson
James Clyburn
Sanford Bishop
Gwen Moore (?)
G.K. Butterfield
Mel Watt
Danny Davis
Bobby Rush (?)
John Lewis
Keith Ellison
Charles Rangel
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Sheila Jackson Lee
Donna Christian-Christensen
Diane Watson
Al Wynn
Elijah Cummings
David Scott
Yvette Clarke
John Conyers
Hank Johnson
Al Green
Corrine Brown

A list of at least some of the members who did not sign the letter.

Julia Carson (Indianapolis)
William Lacy Clay, Jr. (St. Louis)
Emmanuel Cleaver (Kansas City)
Artur Davis (Birmingham, Alabama)
Chaka Fattah (W. Philadelphia)
Alcee Hastings (Ft. Lauderdale)
Kendrick Meek (Miami)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (South Side Chicago)
William L. Jefferson (New Orleans)
Barbara Lee (Oakland)
Gregory Meeks (Queens)
Donald Payne (Newark)
Bobby Scott (Richmond)
Ed Towns (Brooklyn)
Maxine Waters (Compton)

WEEK IN REVIEW, MAY 25th 2007

There are 26 clueless Black People in America. If they were members of a civics club it would be no big deal. The problem is they are elected officials, they are members of the CBC.
26 members of the CBC have signed letters to Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards urging them to reconsider their decisions to skip a debate cosponsored by the CBC Institute and Fox News. Will they never learn? I am going to look into these 26 and see if they have recieved contributions from FOX executives.

Black Caucus leaders sent the letter to the entire field of Democratic presidential candidates, but the primary targets were Obama, Clinton and Edwards.

The caucus has 43 members from 22 states, who together represent about 40 million Americans, an official with the group said. Seventeen members of the Black Caucus represent districts that are less than 50 percent African-American, said caucus Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), who argued that the issues at the debate will also be of interest to other minority constituencies, such as Hispanics.

“It’s not just a black thing,” Kilpatrick said.

Thompson said presidential debates often ignore issues that are important to minority voters.

“Nobody is talking about the disproportionate statistics that we have in this country as it relates to minority population,” Thompson said. “You can look at healthcare, you can look at education, you can look at employment, you can look at housing, you can look at lending. All those [statistics] show a very bad picture for many constituents we represent.

“So we think Democratic and Republican candidates alike should have an opportunity to say what they plan to [do to] level the playing field,” he added.

By framing their decision to skip the debate as a missed opportunity to communicate to an important Democratic constituency, caucus leaders are ratcheting up the political pressure on the Democratic front-runners.

Thompson said that the CBC Institute, not Fox, would set the debate format and select the questions to be asked. He said Fox merely will broadcast the event.

So far, liberal opinion leaders have praised the Democrats’ decision to snub Fox.

Left-leaning columnist E.J. Dionne wrote last month that Democrats were well within their rights.

“Tell me again: Why do Democrats have an obligation to participate in debates on Fox?” Dionne wrote. “I am an avid reader of conservative magazines such as National Review and the Weekly Standard. But if these two publications teamed up to sponsor a Democratic debate, would anyone accuse Edwards, Obama and Clinton of ‘blacklisting’ if the candidates said, ‘no thanks’?”
The pressure may be particularly acute for Obama, who is a member of the Black Caucus. Obama has irked fellow CBC members by failing to respond to a request made early last year that he host a fundraiser for the Black Caucus’s political action committee (PAC). Clinton received a similar invitation and quickly followed through by headlining a CBC PAC fundraiser in March of 2006.

Once again this is clear evidence why I am such a HUGE E.J. Dionne fan.
.
.
POLITICS
.
.
Last year, Marcus Mason and a handful of other black lobbyists, many of them former congressional chiefs of staff, began working in earnest to boost the number of black aides on Capitol Hill.

Marcus Mason, a top transportation lobbyist, has always had an itch to get places fast.

At 20, he started his own photography business. At 21, he was tapped to run the congressional campaign of Walter Tucker, a Democrat then serving as mayor of Compton, Calif. After Tucker won, the 22-year-old Mason became the youngest chief of staff on Capitol Hill. By his early 30s, he was the No. 2 lobbyist at Amtrak.

Now 36, Mason is a newly minted contract lobbyist with the Madison Group, where he is busy representing the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. He is also pouring his energy into helping other blacks experience the sort of rapid rise that he has had in Washington.

“There’s a lot of great talent out there that just needs to be given a great opportunity to show what they can do,” Mason explained. “Somebody took a chance on me at 21, a real gamble.”

Last year, Mason and a handful of other black lobbyists, many of them former congressional chiefs of staff, began working in earnest to boost the number of black aides on Capitol Hill.

Seizing on the hot demand for staffers after the Democratic takeover, the group established a vetting committee and began collecting résumés from promising candidates. Mason created a résumé bank to streamline the effort, which is already bearing fruit. So far, the group has placed 36 blacks in congressional offices.

.
.
CULTURE
.
.
Trumpeting Diversity A Rare Majority-Black Orchestra Tries to Build Cultural and Racial Bridges

What strikes you first are the musicians -- most are African American, and on this night, they are decked out in, to use street parlance, "high-low" -- blazers over T-shirts and jeans instead of penguin suits and long black skirts.

There is Denna Purdie of Upper Marlboro, a former cellist with "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band. On violin, Wayman McCoy III, a marketing and sales executive from Germantown. And California resident John Wineglass, an Emmy-winning daytime television music composer, helps on viola.

They number 75 in all -- classically or church trained musicians who come together to play their own brand of music under the banner of the Soulful Symphony, led by native Washingtonian and award-winning musician Darin Atwater, 36. The charismatic Atwater, who lives in Baltimore, oversees music programs at Celebration Church in Columbia. He said he created the symphony in 2000 as a way to present African American cultural expression to a wider audience and to bring more minorities to symphonic music.

.
.
an exhibit at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center that examines the black experience in Vietnam in the context of the era's domestic social fabric.

A pair of combat boots. A wristband woven from boot laces with several bullets dangling. A photo of black servicemen standing outside a makeshift African temple.

The items are part of "Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era," an exhibit at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center that examines the black experience in Vietnam in the context of the era's domestic social fabric.

Samuel Black, curator of the center's African American Collections, conceived the exhibit, in part because his older brother, Jimmy McNeil, served two years in Vietnam.

Black was 4 years old when his brother was sent to Vietnam. He died in 1971, unrelated to the conflict, and Black said he really never knew what his brother's experience was.

Black found that much had been written about the role of blacks in other wars, particularly the Civil War and World War II, but there was little about blacks in Vietnam.

As he researched, he found the black experience in Vietnam was linked to social changes on U.S. soil. The civil rights movement was in full swing. The Black Power movement was growing.

.
.
Being of 100% Jamaican decent I am always biased to these stories.
In the cool environs of 10A West King's House Road, Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah announced to a buzzing gathering on Thursday night that her acclaimed novel Joseph: A Rasta Reggae Fable is to be made into a feature film.

The novel, Joseph, now published in paperback, was also re-displayed alongside Blake-Hannah's newest book: Rastafari: The New Creation (December 2006). Both her books have been published by her own media company, Jamaica Media Productions, but more significantly, Blake Hannah secured a publishing deal with Macmillan Caribbean, one of the premier book publishers in the world, through Novelty Trading. The film Joseph is to be produced by Jamaica Media Productions with Grange as executive producer.

.
.
Here is a profile of a man of many first.Wilder's career dotted with firsts

Lawrence Douglas Wilder made history by becoming governor of Virginia, a state where his grandparents had been slaves.

His victory in that 1989 election made him the first black person to be elected a governor in the United States.

Born in Richmond on Jan. 17, 1931, Wilder was raised during the Great Depression in what he called "gentle poverty." During this time, black people and white people were segregated by race and black people were treated as second-class citizens.

.
.
INTERNATIONAL
.
.
The truth about reconciling. We, as South Africans, are not honest about our attitudes to race - and racism, for that matter

So now we have to talk about race, right. We need, according to some, a "TRC process" to deal with the issue of race in South Africa. The big question that has been asked is: "Does race matter?"

Of course not. Racism does. But, okay, maybe I'm just being pedantic about a simple matter of semantics. So one assumes that when people say we should talk about race, they mean we should talk about racism, and that we need a TRC process to deal with racism.

Forgive me for being cynical, but I don't think that a "truth and reconciliation process" will work when we talk about racism.

For one thing, there will be no truth.

.
.
Toronto Star: Almost two years into the redevelopment of Regent Park, relocated residents insist their community bonds are being bulldozed in the name of gentrification.

Almost two years into the redevelopment of Regent Park, relocated residents insist their community bonds are being bulldozed in the name of gentrification.

The $1 billion project has stressed out most of the 1,160 people displaced so far in the redevelopment of the subsidized housing project.

Residents initially thought they had the right to return to an apartment in the area. But they're now realizing the city-owned landlord, Toronto Community Housing, is counting on many not coming back. "People are worried that it will only be for the rich," says relocated resident Sureya Ibrahim, 29.

.
.
HEALTH
.
.
Public Health Predominately Black Communities in Boston Have Higher Rates of Lupus; Exposure to Petroleum Products Examined as Cause

Residents of two predominately black communities in Boston -- Roxbury and Mattapan -- have higher rates of lupus compared with other neighborhoods, according to a report conducted by the state Department of Public Health, the Boston Globe reports.

Concerns about the rise of lupus diagnoses among black women from three Boston neighborhoods prompted the department to conduct a comparative study based on neighborhoods. For the study, researchers examined local care providers' medical records from 1999 to 2004 from all of the city's 17 neighborhoods.

Researchers found 178 cases of definite or probable lupus diagnoses between 1999 and 2004, and 37 of those cases were among people from Roxbury. According to the public health department, five out of every 100,000 Boston residents are diagnosed with lupus annually; the rate in Roxbury is 10.4 lupus diagnoses per 100,000 residents and the rate in Mattapan is 7.9 diagnoses per 100,000 people.

.
.
LAW
.
.
Justice Dept. Sues New York City, Citing Bias in Hiring Firefighters

The United States Department of Justice filed a civil rights suit against New York City yesterday over the Fire Department’s written entrance exam, which black and Hispanic candidates fail at much higher rates than whites. The suit claims that the city has never proved a link between test scores and performance as a firefighter.

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
A group of black firefighters gathered at City Hall for the announcement of a suit against the city.
The suit is the latest in a series of legal attempts going back decades to diversify the Fire Department, which is more than 90 percent white. Three percent of the department’s 11,000 firefighters are black and 4.5 percent are Hispanic, a tiny proportion in a city where more than half the population is black or Hispanic.

The city’s testing practices “do not select the firefighter applicants who will best perform their important public safety mission, while disproportionately screening out large numbers of qualified black and Hispanic applicants,” Wan J. Kim, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

.
.
Maybe some one should have informed a manager that Black Woman have been wearing braids for thousand of years.
Hairstyle Leads to Unemployment and Allegations of Racism

What is trendy? What is inappropriate? Those are the questions at the center of a personal dispute at one Virginia correctional facility, which has now left one woman without a job and another woman in fear of getting fired.

The NAACP of Virginia says the way one warden is interpreting a department of corrections grooming guideline is nothing short of racist and they are now taking their fight to the state Capitol.

"They fired me on May 16th...and said that I had an extreme hairdo...I am now not allowed back on the compound," said Donna Alison.

Alison is now jobless after her superiors fired her for having braids in her hair. The issue is a February 2007 grooming guideline that leaves some interpretation up to a supervisor.

"'Supervisors will judge the appropriateness of a particular hairstyle by the appearance of headgear when worn'...and here's the kicker...'Extreme or eccentric or trendy haircuts or hairstyles are not authorized,'" stated King Salim Khalfani with the NAACP of Virginia, quoting the guidelines.

For Alison, and her former colleague Juanita Hudson, they say their braided hairstyles are not eccentric or trendy.

.
.
Milloy: Seeking to Close the Book on a Bad Law. No other drug law makes such a peculiar distinction between different forms of the same drug. Blacks comprisie 80 % of those charged and convicted of crack-related offenses.

For Arthur Burnett, a senior D.C. Superior Court judge, few drug cases have tested his judicial temperament like those involving crack cocaine. What infuriates Burnett most is not the users but the law itself: a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for possessing five grams of crack cocaine -- about as much as two packets of sugar.

No other drug law metes out so much punishment for such a small offense, Burnett points out.

No other drug law makes such a peculiar distinction between different forms of the same drug: If a person has powdered cocaine, it takes 100 grams to get five years -- even though crack is nothing more than a heated mixture of powdered cocaine and baking soda.

Worse yet, with blacks comprising 80 percent of those charged and convicted of crack-related offenses, the law is widely perceived as being unjustly applied.

And "mandatory" means there's no case-by-case consideration.

.

WEEK IN REVIEW, MAY 18th 2007

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post once again proves why he is one of best progressive editorialist A Question Of Race Vs. Class. Affirmative Action For the Obama Girls?

Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.

He seemed to side with those who think class predominates when he said, "I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed."

It's hard to disagree with that proposition, especially as economic inequality worsens in this country. Harvard University (where Obama went to law school) has taken the lead in guaranteeing that money will not be an obstacle for qualified low-income students.

But Obama seemed to agree with those who point to the lingering effects of racism when he noted that "there are a lot of African American kids who are still struggling, that even those who are in the middle class may be first-generation as opposed to fifth- or sixth-generation college attendees, and that we all have an interest in bringing as many people together to help build this country."

That observation points to circumstances that have to be taken into account. Diversity, in my view, is very much in the national interest. But diversity is a process, not a destination. We have to keep working at it. And since a college degree has become the great divider between those who make it in this society and those who don't, affirmative action in college admissions is one of the most powerful tools we have to increase diversity.

This is my personal oppinion. I am very much a believer in the fact that Class matter more then race. But hat doesn't mean race isn't important. I think part of learning is having to live and learn next to people who are different then you.

As for Obama's assessment of his daughters' privileged status, that's just a statement of the obvious. With such Type A, high-wattage parents, those girls probably will have the grades and test scores to get into any college. And if they don't, they will benefit from a different affirmative action program -- one that for many generations has ushered the academically undistinguished scions of prominent families into the nation's most selective colleges and universities.

Let's not pretend that college admissions has ever been a level playing field. Obama graduated from Columbia; his wife, Michelle, from Princeton. This means that at those two Ivy League schools, their daughters will be "legacy" applicants, just like George W. Bush was at Yale and legions of Kennedys have been at Harvard. Given the Obamas' power and fame, admissions officers at the schools they attended -- and probably at other elite schools, too -- are going to find a way to let the Obama girls in.

.
.
POLITICS
.
.
When to play ethnic politics? Tread carefully when competing for the late Juanita Millender-McDonald's seat.

AS CANDIDATES LINE UP to run for the congressional seat of the late Juanita Millender-McDonald, it is tempting — inevitable, perhaps — to identify them by ethnic group. The Long Beach/South Los Angeles district is the stand-in for much of a region that once was characterized by an African American voting majority and political establishment but has become increasingly Latino. Every vacant seat raises the question: Is Latino power beginning to eclipse the black political structure?

So there is Latina state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, African American Assemblywoman Laura Richardson and other candidates who, like it or not, will be depicted as champions of their respective ethnic communities. The election may presage other district transitions. Will county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke be succeeded by another African American or by a Latino? What about Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry? If growth or shrinkage in the roster of black elected officials is the only indicator of political power, it is easy to understand the fervor with which African Americans try to retain a seat.

Ignoring the ethnic factor verges on dishonesty. Racial and ethnic identity among historically marginalized minorities has a long and obvious history in the democratic process. Elected officials naturally group together to promote common interests. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) was being naive or disingenuous when he wrote Millender-McDonald earlier this year asking to abolish her Congressional Black Caucus and similar groups, such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on grounds that race has no place in politics. We don't live in that ideal world just yet.

But that doesn't mean those caucuses are doing right by focusing on power consolidation at the expense of constituent service. Millender-McDonald's multiracial district remains plagued by large pockets of poverty and gang violence that affects all of its people. Any good candidate should be embraced by any ethnic caucus.

Also see Gay Leaders Continue to Label Black Politicians Homophobic Until Proven Friendly
.
.
Sunday Shutout: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows. Guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.

Not only are the Sunday morning talk shows on the broadcast networks dominated by conservative opinion and commentary, the four programs -- NBC's Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday -- feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.

And the top-rated Sunday show -- Meet the Press -- shows the least diversity of all. The NBC program is the most male and nearly the most white (Face the Nation beats it out by 1 percentage point), and it has the highest proportion of white males to all other guests.

A breakdown of the guests who appeared on the Sunday shows in 2005 and 2006 shows that men dominate these shows. In fact, men outnumber women by a 4-to-1 ratio on average.

.
.

In Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, a reformist candidate given no shot has captured the Democratic mayoral nomination.

"Philadelphia's next mayor must run this city differently than John Street has," Nutter's first campaign commercial intoned. "Michael Nutter will."

There is, of course, much more to the man than his history with Street.

He is a former financial adviser and disco deejay, a husband and father. He is a Baptist who was born a Catholic, an African American politician without much of an African American political base. He is a political reformer who has been a ward leader since 1990, a charisma-challenged policy wonk whose dry wit has been the prime source of humor in this year's mayoral forums.

"No candidate is more informed," said supporter Leslie Anne Miller, the former general counsel to Gov. Rendell. "No one has better articulated positions on a variety of issues, because he's actually taken the time to think about the issues."

Before resigning his Council seat last summer to run for mayor, Nutter had solidified his reputation as the body's most independent and arguably its most accomplished member.

He played a key role on such issues as banning smoking in public places, writing new ethics rules to address the pay-to-play system, enacting campaign finance reform, keeping the wage- and business-tax cuts in place, and hiring 100 more police.

.
.
CULTURE
.
.
The growing divide between poor and middle-class blacks

The May Essence magazine examines the growing divisiveness between poor blacks and the black middle class today. Of course there is a divide: Those of us who've "made it" have been taught to despise those who didn't. However, we've also been taught that if we turn our backs on poor blacks, we're no better than racist whites.

The article begs for discussion and debate. As an educated black woman, am I my brother's keeper? Do I have a responsibility to my community?

It always amazed me how whites were fearless about drawing distinctions between their middle and poorer classes. White college friends and later co-workers didn't flinch in mixed company when describing someone as "trailer trash or poor white trash."

But for us, referring to someone as "ghetto" to describe another black person to a white person was the ultimate betrayal.

Not anymore. Over the past 10 or 15 years, the mythic unity among blacks has crumbled.

In a scorching and highly acclaimed standup routine in the late '90s, Chris Rock wielded the "n" word like a burning cross. To paraphrase, he said he loves black people. "But I hate n------!"

.
.
: A survey exploring life, love, work, motherhood, money, sex, religion and relationships has found life differs for black and white U.S. wome

More than 90 percent of African-American and white women reported that racism remains a prevalent force in U.S. society, according to the survey for Women in Black & White.

Fifty-six percent of African-American women reported feeling marginalized due to their race, compared to 5 percent of white women; however, white women feel that gender is the more defining factor.

Fourteen percent of black mothers worry -- compared with 1.5 percent of white women -- that their daughters will be viewed as sexually available due to their race.

Although white women live in households with higher annual incomes, black women are more financially independent, with a higher percentage having checking accounts solely in their own name -- 95 percent compared to 83 percent of white women. Ninety percent of African-American women had a savings account, compared with 80 percent of white women.

Ninety percent of black women worked outside the home, compared with 78 percent of white women.

.
.
It's open season on hip hop's thug

Geoffrey Canada smacked the problem right in the face.

As a Harlem community worker with 20 years of experience dealing with and nurturing young people, Canada said that the message coming out of hip hop was deadly and irresponsible. The lyrics imply that cooperating with the police is being an Uncle Tom. Canada found this reprehensible and said that it amounted to saying to criminals that the community was theirs to have.

Prof. Douglas Thompkins began the discussion by pointing out that, no matter what the history of police community relations had been, he saw that the black community needed to change its attitudes because losing the rule of law means that black people live in subhuman conditions in their own communities and those inhuman conditions were created by violent criminals.

There were many of the usual explanations for crime, such as slavery, poverty and police harassment that came from the audience of students and from some John Jay professors, but the panelists - with one exception - did not give in to the regular line of excuses. Almost everyone rejected the idea that black or Latino criminals were helpless victims buffeted around by external influences. They made choices; they had to be accountable.

Thompkins has credibility. He served 18 years in prison and was the leader of a Chicago street gang. He understands that police overreaction or excessive force is something that must be factored in and protested against. Thompkins said that when refusing to cooperate with police became synonymous with minority identity, that attitude brought a kind of hell to the black and Latino lower-class communities. In summarizing, John Jay Prof. David Kennedy felt that we are on the verge of a new kind of civil rights movement in which the people oppressed by crime move to liberate themselves by reprimanding the police whenever they resort to excessive force.

.
.
bringing baseball back to African-Americans. Seaford grad, former major leaguer on tour to renew interest in sport

DeShields, 38, describes his role in the venture as that of a "businessman." Unlike Boyd, a 47-year-old right-hander who fancies himself a reincarnation of ageless pitcher Satchel Paige, DeShields harbors no illusions of making a comeback as a player. He's perfectly content to watch his 14-year-old son play on a traveling team. He just wishes more young African-Americans were as interested.

Like so many current and former black players, DeShields is passionate about the subject. He alleges that Major League Baseball, while spending time and resources promoting the game in Latin America, has neglected inner-city communities and alienated young blacks.

Most major league teams, including the Phillies, have created academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Foreign-born players aren't subject to the amateur draft, so teams have concentrated their scouting efforts outside the U.S. According to the Central Florida report, a record 29.4 percent of major leaguers last season were of Latino descent.

Sixty years after Robinson's debut, DeShields believes blacks are being left behind.

"It's sort of a mirror image of American business," he said. "Take jobs out of the country, outsource them, and Americans don't have jobs. That's what it comes down to. Major League Baseball has set up facilities in other countries. They're getting these kids for cheap because there's no world draft. It's really unfair to our kids.

"Major League Baseball isn't really interested in developing our kids, so we have to do it ourselves. That's basically what we're trying to do. Every day, all day, we have to put that same type of effort with our kids."

Boyd, the tour's ringleader, has roots in New England from his time with the Boston Red Sox and in the independent Can-Am League when he pitched for the Brockton Rox. DeShields said many of the initial stops will be in that region, with the barnstormers facing Can-Am League teams this week in Brockton, Nashua, N.H., New Haven, Conn., and Quebec City.

.
.
LAW
.
.
Patricia J. Williams writes that fifty-three years after Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court is poised to rule on two cases, in Seattle and St. Louis, which put the future of school integration at risk.

May 17 is the fifty-third anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the iconic case we celebrate for having ended the notion that racially separate education could be considered "equal." Yet the meaning of that case has always been the subject of dispute. I grew up in a household where we learned that segregation was bad because it was premised on the stigma of inferiority. Segregation licensed the isolation of African-Americans from the benefits of citizenship; it limited access to a full range of public spaces, not just schools. I took it for granted that such provincialism ultimately hobbled both whites and blacks as well as the anxious "in between" groups, such as recent immigrants and Asian-Americans. We cannot be full participants in a democracy if we have built impermeable walls around our various identity groups.

From the beginning, of course, there was an alternative narrative, voiced mostly by apologists for Jim Crow: that freedom of association should allow us to live in ghettos if we choose. The most interesting exposition of this view--interesting because it's from a refugee from Hitler's Germany--is probably Hannah Arendt's controversial 1959 essay "Reflections on Little Rock." "It has been said," she asserts, "that enforced integration is no better than enforced segregation, and this is perfectly true."

.
.
Today, Reggie Henderson will vote. It's a right most Americans take for granted. Not him. Not if you're an ex-felon like Henderson. Not if you've been locked up.

Today, Reggie Henderson will vote. It's a right most Americans take for granted. Not him.
Not if you're an ex-felon like Henderson. Not if you've been locked up.

You see, in the United States, if you've committed a felony, voting is an iffy proposition. Henderson, 34, is lucky he lives in Pennsylvania, where ex-felons and those on parole and probation are eligible to vote. In New Jersey, ex-felons can vote, too. Not so simple in Delaware. There, ex-felons have to wait five years before they can have their voting rights reinstated.

And it's a good thing that Henderson, who rebuilt his life and now operates three barbershops, doesn't live in Florida. The Sunshine State, land of hanging chads, bans ex-felons from voting - for life.

Can you say disenfranchisement? Prohibitive voting laws in 35 states mean that at any given time, 5.3 million American citizens - a disproportionate number of them African American men like Henderson - get no political say in their lives. Not only have they been locked up, they are locked out of the democratic process.

Forty years after passage of the National Voting Rights

.
.
HEALTH
.
.

Hartford Courant: Autism And Race. Parents, Advocates Seek More Prompt Diagnoses Of Minority Children

When Ronnie Bonner Jr. was 21/2, his mother, Corendis Dawson-Bonner, was convinced that he had autism. While her pediatrician said not to worry, Dawson-Bonner was sure that his lack of language development, eye contact and social interests were symptoms of the disease.

"We would have a roomful of kids, and he would be off in his own little corner of the world," Dawson-Bonner remembers. "He didn't engage."

In the next few years, doctors and other professionals would pin a wide array of labels on Ronnie - including developmental delay, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity and a social and emotional disorder. Even obsessive-compulsive disorder and oppositional defiant disorder were mentioned.

.
.
INTERNATIONAL
Income inequality between races in Brazil has narrowed over the past decade but a black woman still earns only half what a white man makes, a United Nations report showed.

Income inequality between races in Brazil has narrowed over the past decade but a black woman still earns only half what a white man makes, a United Nations report showed on Thursday.

The difference in income between blacks and whites in Brazil narrowed by 31 percent between 1995 and 2005, according to an International Labor Organization study of global workplace discrimination.

The income gap narrowed because of successive minimum wage hikes, lower inflation and declining real wages for white men, the report said.

Brazil also made progress in advancing policies to reduce race inequality, said Lais Abramo, ILO director for Brazil.

"There are many countries that don't even want to recognize race discrimination," she said.

.
.
A young girl fast for peace in Jamaica,

"We have the power to be successful in anything as long as it's positive!"

Today and tomorrow, she will continue to spread this message during her 12-hour-a-day fasting and reading for peace and purity at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library.

It all began at 6:00 a.m. yesterday and already, there has been an overwhelming response to what Choc'late calls her 100 per cent crime-free initiative.

"A lot of times as youths, what we may hear especially from adults are negative things - we don't have self respect, we don't have discipline we don't have a sense of direction - however my motive is to tell the youths what we have. We have the power of making the right choices! We have the power of accepting responsibility for our action! We have the power of doing anything!" she said.

.
.
.
MONEY
.
.
Black Expo heads to S. Africa

An Indiana Black Expo delegation is leaving Thursday for South Africa, the first of two trips to Africa aimed at humanitarian exchanges, economic development and forging an international presence for the organization.

Joyce Rogers, Expo's president and chief executive officer, and Alpha Garrett, communications director of the organization, will travel with state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, for the 11-day trip.
And next month, Rogers, Garrett and representatives of a local consulting firm will travel to the West African nation of Senegal.

.
.
Black Men Can't Coach? While The Ncaa Considers Changing Its Game Plan, Many Black Football Head-Coaching Candidates Remain On The Bench

In early may, the University of Alabama had an opportunity to make history by hiring the first African American head football coach ever in the Southeastern Conference -- and fumbled the ball. After firing football head coach Mike Price over an incident involving a stripper, the university -- upon the urging of the Rev. Jesse Jackson -- began interviewing Sylvester Croom, an African American running backs coach for the NFL's Green Bay Packers. But in the end, Miami Dolphins assistant coach Mike Shula, a white man, got the job even though Croom was equally (and some say more) qualified.

This is but the latest incident in which qualified African Americans have been turned down for head-coaching jobs within Division 1-A football, collegiate sports' elite.

In fact, attend one of the 50 or so Division 1-A college football games played on any given Saturday this autumn and you'll see that nearly half the players battling it out on the field are African American. Also, a good portion of the officiating team is black. Many of the fans cheering and jeering are African American as well. But take a look at the sidelines to the fellows wearing the headsets and you'd be hard-pressed to find a coach who isn't white.

The stats paint a grim picture: of the 117 Division 1-A football teams, only 3.4% of them have black head coaches. They can literally be counted on one hand: Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame, San Jose State's Fitzgerald Hill, Tony Samuel at New Mexico State, and Karl Dorrell at UCLA, who was hired following last season.

By comparison, more than 20% of the coaches in Division 1-A college basketball, the second most popular -- and profitable -- sport on many campuses, are black. It's difficult to find worse stats for black coaches even among the ranks of major professional sports. During the 2001—2002 season, the NBA boasted the highest percentage (48%) of African American head coaches, with 14 counted among its 29 franchises. Though the NFL's statistics are abysmal, NCAA football still lags behind its pro counterpart, which had two African American head coaches (6%) among its 32 franchises during the 2002 season (Marvin Lewis has since been hired by the Cincinnati Bengals, bringing that rate up to 9%). Even Hispanic-dominated Major League Baseball had eight African Americans (26%) calling the shots.

.
.
Tavis Smiley will headline a two-day conference aimed at maximizing the economic power of the black community.

Renee Reed had a problem.

The Miami resident wanted to refinance her home, but felt that the bank wasn't giving her a good deal.

Her financial advisor suggested she work through her church, New Birth Cathedral of Faith, 2300 NW 135th St. in Opa-locka.

New Birth is part of the Collective Banking Group, a coalition of 60 African-American churches in South Broward and Miami-Dade whose mission is to maximize the combined financial power of church members and use it for their benefit.

It worked for Reed, who said she saved about $5,000 in interest and fees once she had the weight of CBG behind her. She was treated better, she said, and got a lower interest rate.

''I've never had such a good relationship with a bank before, and the difference is because of CBG,'' Reed said.

Starting Friday, CBG is sponsoring a two-day Empowerment Conference in Hallandale Beach, at which church members and others can learn about managing credit, home ownership and financial practices for faith-based organizations. One featured speaker will be Tavis Smiley, the African-American author, radio personality and motivational speaker.

.
.
RIP
Yolanda King, Daughter of Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 51