Mo’Nique: Black Women Need to Learn to “Submit” to their Men

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World 

Mo’Nique and her guests seem to think that black women work too hard to take control in their relationships.  In the video below, Mo’Nique goes into what women need to do in order to keep a man happy in a relationship.   Her disposition seems to imply that black women have been taught to be too independent and this leads to the breakdown of their relationships.

Click to read.

Republican Leaders Put President Obama’s Face on a Chimp?

 

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World 

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Republican Party does it again. Orange County Republican Committee member Marilyn Davenport is in hot water after distributing an email that features President Obama as the child of a family of chimpanzees.  In the email, which was widely-distributed, the long-standing committee member sent out the picture with the caption, “Now you know why – No birth certificate!”

County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh has called for Davenport’s resignation, saying that the picture was "dripping with racism and is in very poor taste." He also referred the matter to the GOP Ethics Committee.  But in spite of the backlash from many of her fellow Republicans, there are some in the leadership who are standing firm with Davenport.

Ms. Davenport, however, seems to think that the email has nothing to do with racism.  She described the email as a “joke” and wanted to find out who leaked the email, writing “Anyone brave enough to come forward?”  She also had this to say when contacted by reporters:

Dr. Boyce and Al Sharpton Discuss the Images of Black Men in America

Dr. Boyce and Al Sharpton Discuss the Images of Black Men in America

What? Bill Maher Says Republicans Are Scared of Black People Not Named Cosby and Urkel

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

Comedian and TV show host Bill Maher made some interesting remarks the other day on his show about GOP fear and racial tension. During a segment in which he posted a picture of members of the New Black Panther Party, Maher noted that Republicans generally "soil their adult diapers" when confronted by people of color. He did, however, note one exception:

"Every black person scares you (GOP) unless they look like Urkel, talk like Colin Powell and wear Bill Cosby sweaters."
I wish I could say that the remark was funny, but the truth is that it’s funnier in print than it was during the delivery. All the while, I have to give Maher credit for speaking the truth. When it comes to the integration of African Americans into mainstream America, there is a notion of "acceptability" that many of us, especially black males, are forced to constantly deal with.

Click to read.

Opinion: Barack Obama and Black Men: Has He Done His Job?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

I did a recent CNN appearance along with the actor Hill Harper and Dr. Alvin Poussaint at Harvard University. The series was a one-year anniversary segment featuring political issues within the African American community. for the entire week, the primary focus was on the impact that President Barack Obama has had onAfrican American men. Given that I’ve been a black man for quite a while now, I found this conversation topic particularly interesting, so getting to speak to Richelle Carey again wasn’t the only perk of doing the job that day.

It must be made clear that the president should not be expected to save the entire world in one swoop. His job is difficult, and he can’t give everyone what they want all the time. But to the extent that President Obama has been positioned to trump pre-existing black leadership (remember that some say we now live in a post-racial America), one can argue that President Obama’s rantings in black churches come with some degree of accountability from the Oval Office. Obama has spoken at NAACP meetings, telling black men to take responsibility for our families (as if none of us do) and to engage in more personal responsibility (as if we don’t do that already). Such tough talk should be backed by meaningful policy, since structural incentives play a dominant role in the ultimate choice of the individual. For example, when companies get tax incentives to invest in new projects, they almost always do.

Click to read.

Your Black Brothers: Chef Jeff: From Cooking Crack To Cooking Dreams

Food Network star Chef Jeff Henderson inspired hundreds of local high school students to follow his lead and achieve their dreams.

The one time cocaine dealer turned inspirational chef told his incredible life story to those who attended the Inspire Luncheon, sponsored by Cleveland’s West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WSEM).

Chef Jeff graciously spent a good amount of time personally meeting the youngsters, and told them education and a thirst for knowledge are the most powerful keys to achieving their dreams.

He pointed to some of the Cleveland-area people who were helped to their current success by WSEM programs and outreaches, and told the high school students the future they dream of is possible.

Henderson is the author of the best-selling book Cooked, which follows his journey “from the streets to the stove,” as Chef Jeff puts it. From a federal prison term, he eventually became one of Las Vegas’ most famous chefs, at the Belaggio and Caesar’s Palace.

He now hosts a Food Network show, The Chef Jeff Project, in which he mentors six young people who have had troubled lives [...]

More At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Brothers: Juan Williams Stands Up To Sean Hannity!

Is Juan Williams leaving the house? Not sure he’s welcome back on the field, but that’s an entirely different discussion. On Thursday, Sean Hannity, the self-proclaimed McCain surrogate and FOX News host, attempted, once again, to smear Palestinian-native and Chicago professor, Rashid Khalidi. Unfortunately for Hannity, even Juan Williams wouldn’t back him up on his erroneous claim that an association with Prof. Khalidi is synonymous to dancing with the devil. Juan Williams, known for his anti-black sensibilities, seemed to express some frustration with his pal, Sean Hannity, whose desperate strategies at helping McCain win appear to hold no barriers. To put it plainly, Juan Williams called him out on his B.S. and unadulterated hypocrisy:

Video At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Power: CNN’s New Hughley Show Reinforces Black Stereotypes

CNN’s new Hughley show reinforces black stereotypes

By: Christopher J. Metzler

In just eight days, America may well elect its first black president. Throughout the long campaign, race has been an omnipresent issue with many asking whether whites and some blacks would reject Senator Obama because of his race.

Most news outlets and commentators have discussed race in a vacuous way for fear of being called racists. In fact, if this election taught us anything about the media and race, it is that most journalists — including white liberals — simply lack the vocabulary to discuss and analyze race, choosing instead to engage in a cacophonous politically correct gab fest.

As the election draws to a close, one major cable news network decided to discuss race in a mephitic way, reminiscent of Amos and Andy, a situation comedy based on reinforcing stereotypes about blacks and widely popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s.

The show’s anchor warned that the election of a President Obama would lead to a health plan with grills for all. Grills are shining metal caps worn on the teeth of blacks while they drink malt liquor from a paper bag. His guest, “Freddie Mack,” attired in the traditional pimp attire complete with hat and bling, described Obama’s fund raising prowess as “Big pimping.” In fact, Freddie Mack went on to say, “Politicians are pimps and the electorate are their hoes.” Thus, he reasoned, “bitch better have my money.” In a response dripping with racism and misogyny, he reminded Americans that the financial crisis was about his sister Fannie May or Fannie may not again, utilizing the hoe moniker for black women [...]

Full Article At Your Black Power

Your Black Brothers: Black Men and “Boyism”: From Politics to Sports

Black Men and Boyism: From Politics to Sports

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

“These weekly insults to Black manhood that we have been programmed to believe are entertainment and not direct racist warfare, further reinforce, perhaps in the unconscious thinking of Black people, a loss of respect for Black manhood while carrying that loss to ever deeper levels.”

- Dr. Frances Cress Welsing in “The Isis Papers.”

Sen. Obama’s astronomical rise to political stardom has been fascinating for any number of reasons, but most especially, helpful in decoding the underlying racist perceptions of Obama, held by neo-liberal, otherwise known as, “well-intentioned” Whites. Renowned poet and activist, Amiri Baraka, once described this group as “little liberals who think Obama is just some trendy new-flavor.” These “little liberals,” are no doubt, fully responsible for the overt commodification of Obama by big-business enterprises. More saddening, however, is the reality that Sen. Obama, a Black man, is increasingly being perceived by this specific class of White liberals, as more a boy than a man [...]

Full Article At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Life: Remembering The Million Man March — 13 Yrs. Later

Thirteen years after African American men from across the country gathered at the U.S. Capitol for the Million Man March, community leaders, neighborhood groups and marching bands paraded through Southeast Washington to keep the spirit of the historic event alive.

“We have to let people know that we can’t forget the work that our ancestors started before the march and the commitments the men made during the march,” said Ron Moton, co-founder of the Peace-a-holics, just before the parade began at the corner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Avenue.

Members of the Ballou High School Band tried to make a musical point to the Dunbar High School band that they own the streets east of the Anacostia River, but in the end both groups and hundreds of high school students enjoyed marching instead of being in class for much of the day.

Tyrone C. Parker, executive director of the Alliance of Concerned Men, said that he was glad to see so many young people, because “The spirit of our youth is the spirit of our community.”

Kwaco Atiba, with the Concerned Parents of Petworth, said he hopes the march will make a difference with young people [...]

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Your Black Brothers: Lost Ones (Revised) – By Yorri Berry

Lost ones (revised)

Dedicated to my former students and young brothers labeled as throwaways

By: Yorri Berry

On his eighth birthday

He doesn’t get a bike

Just a prison cell with his name engraved on the exterior

Because he can’t read as well as his counterparts a little less tan than he is

And his intellectual inability has less to do with his tanness

Rather his lack of in-demandness

Because his blackness means that he doesn’t make the priority cut on their checklist

So instead of buying more books and hiring more qualified and credentialed educators for the underperforming school that never taught him how to read

They add a pair of handcuffs to the inventory list because he’ll never graduate anyway

Check the rates

For little colored boys like him finishing high school makes him the exception

So no need for a college fund

No need for updated books and a college preparatory curriculum

No need to build state of the art computer labs when we can just install more metal detectors

Because his name is no longer little colored boy failed by the system, the schools, the inactive daddies held hostage in the prison cell a few blocks down from the one they’re building for him, and the high and mighty middle class of educated black folk who dare not care long enough to matter

His name is just criminal

Or criminal junior who looks just like his criminal senior pops he never met

So we treat him like one

And when we walk down the street next to him clutching our purse noses in the air we greet him like one

And when we fail to feed him truth that says you better read until you can’t read anymore because by age 18 they expect you to be in prison not college we deceive him like one

Little black boy when I see you I don’t clutch my purse…

Read The Full Poem At Your Black Brothers

Your Black Politics: The Slow-Witted Beast: Mass Media Sings the Devil’s Tune

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

“Unenlightened mass media has served as a covert propaganda machine for white supremacist thought, skillfully manipulating representations to convey to black folks and everyone else the notion, however false, that black life is horrible, that black people are the enemy, dangerous to themselves and others.”

- Acclaimed Scholar, bell hooks, in her highly enriching 2002 book, Rock My Soul : Black People and Self-Esteem.

The “slow-witted beast” is a phrase borrowed from a recent lecture given by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, in which he sat down a few corporate journalists and told the brutal and honest truth to their faces. Calling the mainstream press a “brutish, slow-witted beast,” Stewart chastised them for the “false sense of urgency they create, the sense that everything is breaking news.” The Comedy Central host also seemed to be displeased with the level of adulteration that has become normative within the cable news beltway. He said, “The 24-hour networks are now driving the narratives and everyone else is playing catch-up.” No doubt this cry from the hyper-wealthy, White-Jewish comedian is but a mere reflection of the dissatisfaction and discontent most Black, Brown, Red and Yellow peoples around the world have expressed for decades. Peoples of culture/color around the globe have suffered the sting of unfiltered dishonesty, distortion and deformation by the affluent media empires. At the crossroad of a black man rising to the highest pedestal in political platform, journalists of culture/color still remain underrepresented in Washington. It is as though the corporate press has neither the intellect, nor the moral fortitude, to see how grossly illogical it is to host panels of White men/women over the age of fifty, whose attempt – rather pathetic – to “understand” Barack Obama never exceeds the thinking capacity of a fifth grader.

The 2008 Presidential race, particularly with the emergence of Barack Obama, has exposed many, otherwise hidden, insightful details about the media’s laziness and self-obsession. NPR co-host, Brooke Gladstone, affirmed this notion in a recent appearance on PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal…

Click To Read Full Article

Your Black News: Execution Of Troy Davis Postponed For At Least, A Week

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis less than two hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection.

Davis’ family and supporters, who for years have pressed for a new trial on claims Davis is innocent, broke into tears and song when they learned the high court had at least temporarily postponed the execution.

“I’ve been praying for this moment forever,” said Davis’s sister and most outspoken proponent, Martina Correia. Davis’ mother, Virginia Davis, said God had answered their prayers.

Just a few hours earlier, the mother and sister had given Davis what they thought could be their final good-byes at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson…

The U.S. Supreme Court’s justices are scheduled to meet Monday to decide whether to hear Davis’ appeal of a ruling issued by the Georgia Supreme Court in March. In that 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court rejected Davis’ bid for a new trial or a court hearing to present new evidence.

In its order, the U.S. Supreme Court said if the justices decline to hear Davis’ case, “this stay shall terminate automatically.” If the court agrees to hear the case, the stay will remain in force until the high court issues its ultimate ruling, the order said.

The high court did not say when it would announce its decision whether to hear or deny Davis’ appeal.

Davis disclosed the news of his stay in a phone call to his sister and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton.

“I truly feel blessed and I know we still have work to do,” Davis said, according to Sharpton. “With God, all things are possible.”

According to Sharpton, Davis said he had already recorded his last statement, as is customary for death-row inmates before they are to be executed…

More At The Atlanta Journal Constitution

NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.

Your Black **Breaking News**: Troy Davis Granted Stay Of Execution By Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has given a last-minute reprieve to a Georgia man less than two hours before he was to be executed for the 1989 slaying of an off-duty police officer.

Supporters of 39-year-old Troy Davis have called for a new trial as several witnesses have recanted their testimony. Protesters had arrived by the busload to protest the execution, carrying signs with slogans like “Justice for Troy Davis” and wearing blue T-shirts emblazoned with “I am Troy Davis.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton had accompanied members of Davis’ family to the protest, including Davis’ mother, Virginia.

Prosecutors have labeled the witness statements “suspect,” and courts had previously refused requests for a new trial.

The execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT.

Source

NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.

Your Black News: Rep. John Lewis: “Race Is Everything” In Troy Davis Case

From Democracy Now!

Death row prisoner Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed tonight at 7:00 p.m. despite widespread concern Davis is an innocent man. In 1991, Davis was convicted for murdering a white police officer. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony. There is no direct physical evidence tying Davis to the crime scene. We speak to Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Troy’s sister, Martina Correia:

REP. JOHN LEWIS: This is a very sad and grave day in the state of Georgia, in our nation and in the world. A man that could really be innocent—and all of the evidence tends to dramatize and quantify that this man may go to his death later today as an innocent human being. And when you commit that final decision and later discover that he is truly, truly innocent of the crime that he’s been accused of committing, there is not any way to bring him back. I just think it’s wrong and it’s unfair, and it will be the greatest miscarriage of justice.

The majority of the people that testified in this case have now recanted their testimony and their position. And I don’t quite understand how the system of justice in America and in the state of Georgia can come any way close to being fair to this one human being. For the state of Georgia and for our judicial system in America to stand by and see this man executed would be a barbaric act, as far as I’m concerned.

AMY GOODMAN: You are a civil rights leader. How does race play in here?

REP. JOHN LEWIS: Race is everything in this case. This is a case involving a young African American male and a white—young white male police officer. And the cards are stacked against this young black man. This has a long history. This is not something that just happened in the past few years, but have been a long history in the state of Georgia, and especially in the American South, of being so quick and so apt to electrocute or provide capital punishment for low-income people and for people of color.

NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.

Your Black Politics: Troy Davis Still Set For Execution

Despite thousands of letters and phone calls and international outrage, Troy’s execution is set for 7:00 p.m. today.

He is totally innocent of any crime.

On Monday, Sept. 22, advocates for Troy Davis kept up the fight to stop his pending execution set for 7pm, Tuesday, Sept. 23.  This case has garnered national and international attention.

A morning press conference called on the warden, prison guards, nurses and other medical personnel who will play a role in Troy’s death to refuse to take the life of an innocent man.

People occupied the Governor’s Office for most of the day, demanding a meeting with Governor Sonny Perdue. Two men, Rev. Marvin Morgan and Steve Woodhall were arrested when they refused to leave without seeing him.

Another delegation attempted to deliver a letter to State Attorney General Thurbert Baker, detailing the numerous witness statements of police coercion and intimidation committed by members of the Savannah police department and demanding an investigation. His staff not only refused to accept the letter, the group’s members were”banished” from coming onto the Capitol grounds for two weeks.

Shortly after the news conference, the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board re-issued a statement saying it would not grant clemency to Davis…

More At Op-Ed News

NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.

Your Black News: Your Black World Speaks With Martina Correia, Older Sister Of Troy Davis

Interview with older sister of Death Row Inmate, Troy Davis, by Tolu Olorunda.

If it was up to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, Troy Davis would, at this moment, be an after-thought. As a matter of fact, he would have been executed as early as July 17, 2007. But due to the effervescent work of the international coalition of supporters, family and friends, who insist his innocence, Troy Davis is still believed to have a fighting chance at not only clemency, but exoneration. Since his conviction in 1991, Davis has remained on Georgia’s Death Row. The case of Troy Davis is one which has rallied international support and garnered national attention. None other than President Jimmy Carter and former Sen. Bob Barr are among that diverse group of supporters who seek clemency for Troy Davis. As Carter and Barr see it, “proper level of fairness and accuracy required for the ultimate punishment has not been met in Davis’ case.” Troy Davis is also fortunate to have a sister such as Martina Correia. Martina, a cancer survivor, has worked tirelessly, night and day, for the opportunity to witness, someday, her brother walk free again. I had the honor of speaking with Martina on the case of her brother, which, as she describes it, “is transcending across continent-lines.”

Thanks for being with us, Martina. Can you start by telling us – what you can – about Troy Davis — before the incident in 1989?

Before the incident, Troy was a young junior coach for the police athletic league; he did things in the community, always helping out little kids and people that had problems. If there was any problem, he would try to solve it. He used to line up the kids in his league, and buy them Ice-Cream and other snacks. But Troy spent most of his time at home, because I had a sister who was paralyzed from the neck-down, and Troy went to night school and worked. When my mother was working during the day, Troy took care of my sister. When he worked, he pretty much gave my mom his entire paycheck – eating hotdogs and soda for lunch. That’s the kind of person that he was.

What was it that took place on that fateful day in 1989?

Click here to find out

Your Black News: Black Unemployment Soars

It’s been eight months and Isaiah Washington, 18, is getting frustrated. He’s pounded the pavement knocking on doors and he’s faxed resumes all to no avail.

“It’s tough especially for young Black men” said Washington. “I need a job with benefits, but nothing is out there. I’ve had a few interviews, but they don’t result in nothing.”

Washington has no skills and he’s a high school dropout.

But James Price is frustrated, too. He’s got a college degree and the skills to go along with it. He’s mostly worked in the media and ran his own business for a decade before his cash flow ran dry.

“There is a media crisis,” he said. “Newspapers aren’t hiring and televisions stations are only hiring if you have a good inside contact and you are young and white. Mature, skilled Black people like me need not apply. I’m at the point where I’ll take almost any job that pays me what I’m worth and provides health insurance.”

These are the easy tales of woe found in almost any African-American community in Philadelphia. But these anecdotes and the government’s recently released national unemployment statistics don’t tell the true story about the depth of joblessness in the Black community…

Continued