TNT, Tracy Morgan and Embarrassing Black Men

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

Turner Network Television took the interesting step of apologizing for lewd remarks on the network made by comedian/actor Tracy Morgan.  During an interesting back and forth with Charles Barkley in which they were debating the “hotness” of Sarah Palin, Morgan said the following:

"Now let me tell you something about Sarah Palin man, she’s good masturbation material. The glasses and all that? Great masturbation material."

Of course my own jaw dropped when I heard what Morgan said, and you could see the white guy on the scene, Ernie Johnson, rushing to get Morgan off-camera.  Everyone was clearly nervous after Morgan’s remarks, for good reason.  A lot of jobs were on the line as the words leaked out of his mouth.

Click to read.

Dr. Wilmer Leon: Go Home Sarah Palin

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, Howard University 

With the release of her new book Going Rogue: An American Life, former Alaskan Governor and Republican party VP nominee Sarah Palin is once again being given a spotlight she does not deserve. Under normal circumstances Palin would have drifted into obscurity by now; a political has-been who never was. Instead, a sub-par politician with no substantial constituency; no command of relevant issues, and no solutions to substantive problems, is being given air and face time as though she really matters. The simple reality that few are willing to articulate is, if she were not relatively attractive, of European ancestry and a woman, Sarah Palin would be day old bread.

Former Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) did not select Palin as his running mate because she was a “rogue”, innovator, or had demonstrated intellectual heft. McCain simply pandered to the Conservative Right, tried to siphon off some of the disgruntled Senator Clinton supporters, and gave America more of the same ole’ politics. From that point until now, Sarah Palin has continually tried to reinvent herself, but continues to give Americans more of the same; “all sizzle and no steak”.

Click to read.

Colin Powell: Rush Limbaugh: A Cancer In The Republican Party

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell registers his concerns with the Republican Party — as it stands today. More than anything else, Gen. Powell expresses deep concern with some of the GOP’s “spokespersons,” who have become the litmus test for Republican/Conservative principles. In this interview, Powell is unbridled as he tears apart serial-racist Rush Limbaugh:

Your Black News: Obama Victory Spurs Hundreds Of Hate Crimes

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting “Assassinate Obama.” Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

There have been “hundreds” of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

One was in Snellville, Ga., where Denene Millner said a boy on the school bus told her 9-year-old daughter the day after the election: “I hope Obama gets assassinated.” That night, someone trashed her sister-in-law’s front lawn, mangled the Obama lawn signs, and left two pizza boxes filled with human feces outside the front door, Millner said.

She described her emotions as a combination of anger and fear [...]

More At Your Black News

Your Black News: Secret Service: Sarah Palin Stoked Racial Hate

The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of “palling around with terrorists”, citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling “terrorist” and “kill him” until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin’s attacks.

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: “Why would they try to make people hate us?”

More At Your Black News

Your Black Life: Gov. Palin Didn’t Know Africa Was A Continent?

Wow. Just Wow. And to think that a mere 7 points made the difference in what could have redounded to one of the scariest sights imaginable (A McCain/Palin administration). As the smokes and mirror clear, aides are foaming at the mouth and letting the dogs loose, on just how unprepared, uneducated and uninformed John McCain’s V.P. was/is. One discovery, however, strikes harder than most:

— What did she think it to be. An island? Perhaps in the middle East…

Your Black Hip-Hop: Nas: Election Night

New York Emcee, NaS, who earlier released “Black President,” is back with a new single. His latest, “Election Night,” addresses the emotion many African-Americans are going through, with regard to a potential Obama presidency looming larger than ever:

Your Black Life: Akon To Leave U.S. If McCain Wins

Akon, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling R&B star, has said that he will renounce his US citizenship and leave the country if John McCain wins next week’s presidential election.

[...]

“If he [Obama] doesn’t get into office, I’m gonna change my citizenship,” he said. “I’m moving back to Africa. You can hold me to that. I’m afraid to live there if he [McCain] is President. The decisions he makes scare me: he’s making selfish decisions, he’s doing whatever it takes to get into office.”

Akon cited the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as McCain’s running-mate as one of the decisions that gave him concern. “I don’t think he’s going to last eight years,” he said, referring to McCain, “so she’s definitely going to be president. Oh my goodness – that’s scarier. And who would be her running mate? Joe the Plumber?

“I’m very afraid,” he continued. “If the people don’t see [that life in America will deteriorate under McCain], then that’s a dangerous place to be for the next four years. I can’t even envision how bad it’s gonna be [...]

Read More

Your Black Life: Michelle Obama & Chris Rock On ‘The Tonight Show’

On Monday, Michelle Obama payed a visit to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Mrs. Obama talked, amongst many other things, about the road to victory, fashion, Gov. Palin, and her dad — who passed away in 1991 after a long bout with multiple sclerosis. Immediately following her appearance, Chris Rock was available to shake things up. Rock, known for his comedic ingenuity, cracked on everything from the Obamas, to the difference between Black and White kids, to the economy, and his new animated movie: “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.”

Watch Video At Your Black Life

Your Black News: Ashley Todd: A Counter-Argument to “Post-Racialism”

Ashley Todd: A Counter-Argument to “Post-Racialism”

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of the 2008 Presidential race is the constant assertion of the notion of a “post-racial” period, while juxtaposed with an endless torrent of refuting occurrences. Last week, Ashley Todd, a Pittsburgh McCain worker, reported a compelling story of being “robbed at an ATM at the corner of Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street in the Bloomfield area around 9 p.m. Wednesday after leaving a Republican phone bank.” To avoid misleading the local police station, Todd was quick to comment that her purported attacker was a “dark-skinned African-American man about 6’4″,” who “stole $60 from her and became enraged after seeing a bumper sticker supporting Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain on her car.”

The bizarre story took an unusual twist when Ashley Todd told Pittsburgh police that her “dark-skinned” bandit made sure to carve “a ‘B’ in her cheek,” when he noticed the McCain sticker on her car. From the onset, this mystery was suspicious at best. Nevertheless, John McCain and Sarah Palin swiftly conducted personal phone calls with the victim: Ashley Todd. Even Sen. Obama’s camp would not risk being charged with condoning this reported act of bestiality. In a released statement, the campaign stated: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.” Damn. Tawana Brawley must be feeling pretty disgusted at this point [...]

More At Your Black News

Your Black Scholar: Why Wright Happens — By Debra Dickerson

Why Wright Happens

By: Debra Dickerson

How come white folks can consort with racists but blacks can’t? Not that I’m conceding that Rev. Wright is a racist. But let’s stick to the point.

Jonathan Stein’s post gives me the perfect opportunity to kvetch about something that’s been driving me crazy about the attacks on Obama via Wright.

Stein’s right that vicious ads like this one will give a great many cover to vote against Obama. But here’s the thing: What about the racists and loonies who helped raise most of us? My father was bitter beyond belief about white racism, even though he had white friends and volunteered to fight in WWII. I can separate his horrific life experiences (Jim Crow sharecropper) out from my own (post-Civil Rights Movement) world view, as do most other Americans. When the elders got together and ranted and raved about the white man, I didn’t go upstairs, write a formal denunciation, and secede from my family. I considered the source and was grateful to have been born later. How dare you demand that we have no complaints? Church, and to a lesser and more troubling extent, certain forms of rap ‘music’, are places we go for catharsis. And catharsis ain’t usually a pretty sight [...]

Full Article At Your Black Scholar

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop Emcee/Journalist, Jasiri X, returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. This week’s current events include: Gov. Palin’s incompetence, the “Ashley Todd hoax,” Robocalls, Jennifer Hudson’s tragedy, Black-on-Black violence,” lynching in Texas and more:

For the week of October 19 – October 25:

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 Politics: Reports Of Voting Irregularities Receive Minimal Media Play

FROM YOUR BLACK POLITICS:

In several key states, voters are reporting of irregularities at the polling booth. Most voters are expressing concern with the electronic voting machine system. Worries of ballot-tampering are sweeping the progressive world, as early-voters share stories of machine malfunctioning. In Tennessee, a filmmaker-couple reported of pushing a button to vote for Sen. Obama, but having the screen instead highlight Green Party Presidential nominee, Cynthia McKinney’s name. McKinney, on Friday, condemned these occurrences and is asking for thorough investigations into the scathing reports. Could this be the Republican strategy: Blame Cynthia McKinney for Sen. Obama’s loss?

Democracy Now! filed a report on these incidents:

PART 1:

PART 2:

Your Black Scholar: Economic Equality and The Myth of “Free Markets”

F*** Joe the Plumber: Economic Equality and The Myth of “Free Markets”
By: Tre Baker
dangerousNEGRO.com

Now I’m no expert economist, so like Levar Burton used to say on Reading Rainbow, “You don’t have to take my word for it…” However, there are some commentators in the media, who claim to be experts, telling outright lies. Maybe it’s intentional or maybe they’re just ignorant, but let me tell you what I think about so-called “free” markets.

The point of this article is to make you aware of the tactics that are being used to distract people from the fight for economic, political, and social equality for all human beings. As soon as the government steps in to do something, you get these self-proclaimed capitalists bitching and raising hell. Now this is not in defense of the bailout, which is an example of when the government goes too far, but it’s more in reference to “Joe the Plumber.” He’s upset because after he buys his business and starts making over a quarter-million dollars a year, he’s going to have to pay more taxes. Poor f’ing Joe. Even when the government taxes half his money, he’ll still be making over 3 times more than the average working American. So while the media is distracting you by worrying about Joe the Rich Plumber, you need to be worrying about the countless other people (plumbers included) barely making it paycheck to paycheck. F*#& Joe the Plumber and McCain’s tricky ass for distracting people from the real issues [...]

Full Article At Your Black Scholar

Your Black Politics: Shame On John Lewis… For Backing Down

Shame on John Lewis… for Backing down: Black Leadership in Peril
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

Why would a seasoned boxer back down from a fight he’s most familiar with? And why would a Civil Rights Icon apologize for condemning unarmed bigotry: INTIMIDATION! Late last week, Georgia Congressman, Rep. John Lewis, attacked the McCain camp for its unabashed authorization of the pejorative rants at McCain/Palin rallies against Democratic rival, Sen. Obama. Rep. Lewis was unfettered in characterizing the McCain campaign’s response to its supporters’ rants as, “shocking and beyond the pale.” Brief reminder: The McCain/Palin rallies had contained crowd-screams of “treason,” “terrorist,” “off with his head,” “bomb Obama,” “kill him,” “traitor,” etc. In reaction to the toxic level of racial hostility being stoked, Rep. Lewis spoke out candidly about the eerie similarity between McCain/Palin rallies and the racial atmosphere of the Jim-Crow Sixties:

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.” Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

This sobering caution by the Civil Rights Icon was meant to temper the rising heights of vitriol being spewed at Sen. McCain’s Klan rallies. Unfortunately, Rep. Lewis would, soon after, demonstrate why most self-appointed Black leaders have a deficit of – what The Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan once called – “testicular fortitude.”

Full Article At Your Black Politics

Your Black Politics: Barack Obama Channels Inner Chris Rock (Mays Gilliam): “That Ain’t Right”

In a rally yesterday, Sen. Obama criticized Sen. McCain’s Health Care plan. Most intriguing, however, was Sen. Obama’s choice of words. In his speech, Obama utilized a catch-phrase popularized by Chris Rock’s “Head Of State” character, Mays Gilliam. “That ain’t right,” Sen. Obama remarked, as he tore apart McCain’s unremarkable Health Care tax proposals.

Watch the eerie similarity between Barack Obama and Mays Gilliam from “Head Of State”:

Reposted From Your Black Politics

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Weekly Newscast — Hip-Hop Style!

The fire-breathing Hip-Hop Emcee, Jasiri X, returns with his weekly Hip-Hop newscasts. This week’s current events include, the financial meltdown, Sarah Palin’s abuse of power, John McCain’s “erratic” behavior, and much more.

For the week of October 5 – October 12:

Your Black Politics: The Flames Of Hatred

The Flames Of Hatred
By: Tolu Olorunda
Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

We’ve heard it all: the chants, rants, gestures, signs and vitriol-imbued remarks at recent McCain/Palin rallies. As Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, prepares to make a landfall appearance in Indianapolis on Friday, how will Hoosiers conduct themselves? It would be a shame if the reported chants of “terrorist,” “traitor,” “off with his head,” “bomb Obama,” “kill him,” — all vocalized at McCain/Palin rallies within the last week and a half — are repeated, or worse, built upon.

It is no secret that Sen. McCain, his campaign, and Gov. Palin have, within the past couple of weeks, helped stoke the flames of racial-hostility with their unethical swipes at Sen. Obama. “Negative” ads are fair game in a contested election, but charges of terrorism-enabling is beyond the pale — especially when baseless. The politics of smearing one’s opponent clearly outdates the political rise of both presidential candidates, but never in history has a presidential contender accused his opponent of aiding and abetting domestic terrorism. It is inexplicable and morally reprehensible [...]

Read Full Article At Your Black Politics

Your Black Sports: Sarah Palin’s Extreme Sports – By Dave Zirin

Sarah Palin’s Extreme Sports

By: Dave Zirin

Ever since Andrew Johnson welcomed the New York Mutuals to the White House in 1867, presidential politics has exploited professional sports. It’s a foolproof way for politicians to show voters they enjoy competition, fair play and are salt-of-the-turf Americans.

Sports signifies different things to different voters. Football (JFK) and baseball (George H.W. Bush) are good. Windsurfing (John Kerry) and hunting “varmints” (Mitt Romney)–not always so good. And no candidate should ever bowl in a necktie, unless he can seriously roll.

Barack Obama’s game is basketball. He shot three-point baskets with the troops in Iraq and his high school b-ball videos have become a YouTube sensation.

[...]

A month earlier, John McCain made his own ESPN appearance. He’s also known to work the crowds at NASCAR events. But no one in this election uses sports like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. At times on the campaign trail, sports is her primary form of communication with voters outside of her narrow, Christian fundamentalist base. Communication is critical for Palin, since she mangles the English language so consistently that she’s become the subject of ridicule. Talking sports–whether as a mom on the sidelines of her kids’ hockey games or a as an outdoorswoman who loves to hunt and fish–gives her the opportunity to seem genuine, friendly and accessible.

Palin’s politics may be beyond the fringe, but her sporting interests are effortlessly mainstream. In this sense, she resembles the current occupant of the White House [...]

Read Full Article At Your Black Sports

Your Black Politics: The Law Of The Jungle – By Fidel Castro

The Law of the Jungle

By: FIDEL CASTRO

Trade, within a society and between countries, is the exchange of goods and services produced by human beings. The owners of the means of production appropriate the profits. As a class, they are the leaders of the capitalist state and they boast of fostering development and social wellbeing through market. This they worship as an infallible God [...]

Racism is deeply-rooted in the United States where the mind of millions of people can hardly reconcile with the notion that a black man, with his wife and children could live in the White House, which is precisely called White.

It´s a miracle that the Democratic candidate has not met the same destiny as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and others who only a few decades ago dreamed of justice and equality. He is in the habit of looking at his adversary with serenity and of smiling at the dialectic predicament of an opponent gazing into space.

The Republican candidate, on the other hand, who likes to enhance his reputation as a belligerent man, was one of the worst students in his class at West Point. He has confessed that he did not know any Mathematics; it can thus be assumed that he knew less of the complicated economic science.

The truth is his adversary surpasses him in cleverness and composure.

Something McCain has aplenty is age, and his health condition is not safe.

I am bringing up these data to indicate that eventually -if anything went wrong with the candidate´s health, in case he is elected- the lady of the riffle, the inexperienced former governor of Alaska could become President of the United States. It can be noticed that she does not know a thing [...]

More At Your Black Politics

Sen. Obama Partly Repudiates John Lewis’ Characterization Of McCain Camp

Sen. Obama has responded to the McCain camp’s demand that he denounce the words of Civil Rights’ Icon, John Lewis, in which Lewis condemned the recent occurrences of invective-filled rants at McCain/Palin rallies, as reminiscent of the climate fostered by 60s’ Alabama Governor, George Wallace. Rep. John Lewis, earlier today, remarked that:

“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.” Lewis added that “because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Source

In an attempt to ‘play safe,’ while acknowledging the verity of Lewis’ sentiments, the Obama campaign released a statement this evening. It is clear that the Obama camp is nether in direct repudiation, nor embracement, of Rep. John Lewis’ comparison:

“Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies.  But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’  As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together.”

Source

In addition to acknowledged rants of “terrorist,” “traitor,” “off with his head,” “kill him,” and “bomb obama,” at McCain/Palin rallies, News Blaze is reproting that, at a Sarah Pallin rally today, an ‘Obama Monkey Doll’ was proudly showcased by an audience member. From the report:

As the crowd cheered at a Sarah Palin rally this morning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a man in the audience grinned as he held up a stuffed monkey doll with a Barack Obama bumper sticker wrapped across its forehead.

Source

Your Black Politics: McCain Campaign Hopes To Paint Obama As Extremist, Street Thug, Drug User

At what point does the McCain Campaign come out forthrightly and acknowledge the degree to which they loathe the concept of a Black Man/Woman in the White House. In an appearance on the hard-right radio show of Laura Ingraham, Gov. Palin did not mince words in characterizing Sen. Obama as the epitome of a Black terrorist sympathizer:

“Barack Obama hasn’t told the American people the total truth about that, about his association with Ayers. Doggonit he fails to tell the American people with candor and with truthfulness what his associations are and we have to know… You know there are only, what, 26 days to go…”

She added that “Barack Obama is so far out of mainstream America,” and would diminish the prestige of the United States presidency:

“What does it say when Barack Obama says he would sit down unconditionally with Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il and others, unconditionally, and I guess sort of hand over some of the prestige of the United States presidency and validate, I think validate, some of the positions that these dictators have taken.”

Source

This comes on the heels of a McCain Co-Chair accusing Barack Obama of being a extremist, who is both a drug user and a street thug. He suggested that Sen. Obama ought to admit:

“‘You know, I’ve got to be honest with you. I was a guy of the street. I was way to the left. I used cocaine. I voted liberally, but I’m back at the center.’”

Source

Your Black Hip-Hop: Jasiri X Gives Weekly Round Up — Hip-Hop Style!

Hip-Hop artist, Jasiri X, ‘raps up’ the September 28 – October 4 week — Hip-Hop Style!:

Reposted From Your Black Hip-Hop

Your Black World Headlines: 10/08/2008

UN: At Least 5,000 Flee Violence In Congo

Poor Blacks Being Blamed For The Mortgage Meltdown

Black Voters Experiencing Stumbling Blocks In Indiana

Black Congressmen Accuse Gov. Palin Of Racist Sentiments

Thabo Mbeki Loyalists Disgruntled With Former Party

Your Black World Headlines: 10/07/2008

Slavery In/Through Kenya Now Reaches Alarming Rate

Black Activists Seek Reparations For 1898 Riots

Black Leaders Challenge Trooper’s Acquittal

Gov. Palin Lied About Divesting Of Holdings To Protest Darfur

Oprah Sued For Defamation By Ex-Headmistress Of SA School

Your Black Politics: Obama Insists Race Not A Factor In ’08 Election

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is pointing to the success of his presidential campaign as a sign that voters won’t reject him based on race.

“The fact of the matter is people have been continually looking for how race will impact this campaign,” Obama said in a satellite interview Friday with Washington’s WJLA ABC 7. “And yet, I’m here, 30 days out, competitive in Virginia.”

The former Confederate state looked safe for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but Obama is now pressuring him or beating him in polls of commonwealth voters…

Obama told WJLA’s Leon Harris and Rebecca Cooper that he’ll be able to win over even more undecided voters in Virginia: “I think that it’s just a matter of people getting more familiar with me and knowing what my track record is.”

Obama added that he will do more than big rallies to make the sale. “If you don’t do some retail politics and people can see up close and lift the hood and kick the tires, a lot of times, they’re not going to trust you,” he said…

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Your Black Politics: Who Won Vice Presidential Debate?

In a 90-minute V.P. debate devoid of any mention – despite the Black moderator – on issues afflicting Black people around the globe, who won? The loquacious Senator from Delaware, or the gun-toting puerile-minded Governor from Alaska?

Your Black News: In Less Than 24 Hrs. McCain Changes Mind On Gwen Ifill

John McCain, who less than 24 hrs. ago, expressed complete confidence in Gwen Ifill’s ability to be “totally objective,” now wants to recant his statements. What prompted this erratic move? Only time can tell. In an interview this morning on the laughable FOX News Comedy show, FOX & Friends, John McCain betrayed his previous statement, and embraced the fascistic right-wing attack on Ifill. Sen. McCain remarked that he only wished “they had picked a moderator that isn’t writing a book favorable to Barack Obama.” Adding that, “Life isn’t fair.” Oh, what’s a mega-wealthy 13-cars-and-9-houses-having White male to do (Read: Sarcasm). Well, Senator, you and I both agree on one thing. Life isn’t fair. But before you self-congratulate, think of the billions of Black, Brown, Red and Yellow peoples of the world, and the everyday horror they are subdued by. An horror simply called, reality. Now think of how your overpriviledged status so glaringly contrasts their underprivileged plight. As for whom is both suitable and competent to replace Gwen Ifill on such short notice, I’m not sure, but in the words of a famed Gov. from Alaska, “I’ll try to find you some and I’ll bring them to you.”

From Your Black News

Your Black Life: FOX News & Greta Van Susteren Attack Gwen Ifill

FOX News’s Greta Van Susteren, who last week compared Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright to reputed Klansman David Duke, took a curious look, last night, at the folly-induced controversy brewing over legendary journalist/moderator Gwen Ifill’s status as the moderator for tonight’s V.P. debate. In a segment titled, “Fair and Balanced?” the FOX News tabloid queen went to unbelievable lengths in attacking the character, integrity and dignity of Ms. Ifill — all the while claiming to be doing otherwise. As most YBW readers are aware, FOX News is neither fair nor balanced to begin with, and when journalistic ethics are mentioned, FOX is nowhere to be found. This intentional chauvinistic and racist assault upon Gwen Ifill’s character confirms two things. First, that Black women are still subjugated to the consideration, analysis, preference and dictate of White men — a la Michelle Obama. Secondly, that the GOP is so fretful over the expectable disastrous performance by their V.P. selection tonight – Gov. Palin – and a preemptive strike against the moderator was strategically formulated to make an excuse for why Palin might not be able to answer questions in a coherent and decipherable format. Gwen Ifill, being the brilliant and elegant journalist that she is, responded in an AP interview yesterday, questioning her detractors if “they made the same assumptions about Lou Cannon (who is white) when he wrote his book about Reagan?” As one might suspect, the silence was deafening. So I say more power to Gwen Ifill, for she is the embodiment of the great legacies of fierce Black Women such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Callie House. As for FOX News and Greta Van Susteren, they only furthermore proved to be the goose which lays a thousand retarded eggs:

From Your Black Life

Your Black Politics: GOP Hating On Gwen Ifill Because She’s Black?

A few weeks ago, there was a story (a rather silly story, actually) about whether African-American journalists could cover Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and maintain their impartiality. Now there’s a growing stink (from some conservatives) about whether PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, who’s black, can moderate Thursday’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin because Ifill has a book coming out on Obama…

Ifill’s detractors say that the book is pro-Obama and that the author of such a tome couldn’t possibly sit as an impartial moderator.

They’ve got to be kidding. I’ve not read the book—-I’m certain Ifill’s detractors have not read it—-so what exactly can one glean from the publisher’s description that allows one to believe she can’t do her job? I think conservatives are nervous about Palin’s upcoming performance and are running scared…

More

UPDATE:

Gwen Ifill has just shot back at her detractors, and apparently the veteran journalist is not even sweating the corporate hacks and powerless operatives of the GOP who seek to use her race as a legitimate point of disqualification for the moderation of the V.P. debate tomorrow. In an interview with the Associated Press today, she replied saying, “I’ve got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I’m not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation. The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I’ve done my job.”

Source

Your Black Celebrities: Chris Rock ‘Brings The Pain’ In ‘Kill The Messenger’

Chris Rock is smoking-hot. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world last spring. During his ongoing “The No Apologies Tour,” he set a Guinness world record by playing to 15,900 people, the largest stand-up comedy performance in British history.

And his fifth HBO special, “Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger,” premieres tonight, featuring footage from performances in South Africa, London and New York. Talking from his home in an exclusive New Jersey town, while he finds “Franklin” on TV for one of his daughters, Rock, 43, reflects on this special, politics and his career.

Q. Do you do the same act for every show?

A. I definitely vary it and try to figure out something with where you are at. If I was in Detroit, I’d figure out a Kwame Kilpatrick (who recently resigned as mayor of Detroit) angle. As soon as I check into the hotel, I make sure they have all the papers. And I watch the local news. It is kind of the same show; it’s like a singer changing a line in the song.

Q. Why tape the HBO show over three nights in three places?

A. If you close your eyes, it will play like one show; you will never know the difference. My stuff works all over the world – it’s not just me. People laugh at the same things all over the world.

Q. Overseas they know who our political leaders are and seem more tuned in to American news than we are with other parts of the world. Is this your experience?

A. They know who Dick Cheney is. We don’t know who replaced Tony Blair. Forget the second guy; we don’t know who the first guy is – those of us who even know who Tony Blair is.

Q. As an early Obama supporter, do you think he’s a definite?

A. This could be like the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots should be a lesson to all about being overconfident…

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Your Black World: Wanda Sykes Comes Swinging In Jay Leno Appearance

Wanda Sykes brings the house down in this appearance on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.’ The Comedienne riffs on everything from Barack Obama, to uncommitted voters, to Sarah Palin and the question of media-enabled sexism. Wanda Sykes shows once again, how valuable and critical of a voice she is:

From Your Black Politics

Your Black World Headlines: 09/24/2008

Gov Palin Told NAACP Officials She Wouldn’t Hire Blacks????!!!!

South Africa Struggles For Political Stability

Hip-Hop Caucus Aims To Register 50K Voters In 24 Hrs.

African-American Patients At Higher Risk For Colon Polyps

Howard Students On Alert Following 14 Crimes In One Month

DMX Rushed To Hospital For Stroke?

Your Black Brothers: Chris Rock Compares Palin To Vick, Says “Dollar Is Worthless”

Chris Rock, whose 5th HBO special “Kill The Messenger” premiers Sept. 27 at 9:00 PM, payed a visit to the Late Night Studios of David Letterman. In the short visit, Chris Rock cracked on topics including – but not limited to – Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, the New England Patriots, Sarah Palin, and the dilapidating U.S. economy. At one point, the grand-intellectual comedian quipped that Sarah Palin shooting a moose, and being rewarded with a V.P. nomination, is a double standard when juxtaposed with the punishment Michael Vick was awarded for a similar act. Chris Rock further took a shot at the failing U.S. economy, calling it “worthless” in the context of the global market. Chris Rock, as many are aware, is a Barack Obama supporter:

From Your Black Brothers

Your Black Scholars: “Reflections On White Anti-Intellectualism” – Tim Wise

Reflections on White Anti-Intellectualism
(Or, What’cha Want With all That Book Learnin’?)
By Tim Wise
September 14, 2008

To hear an awful lot of white folks tell it, the problem with black people is that they just don’t want to work hard enough in school. They act up and refuse to study or get good grades, because they don’t want to be put down for “acting white.” In other words, the African American community is beset by a culture of anti-intellectualism, contrasted, one supposes with our own white culture of studiousness and academic achievement.

When making this argument, and knowing that it might sound a bit disparaging, even racist, we white folks love to refer to the high-profile black folks who agree with us. So we point to Bill Cosby, for instance, who said this same thing a few years ago and hasn’t stopped saying it yet. The fact that a dozen or so studies have found that there actually is no unique peer pressure or ostracism that black kids experience for doing well in school (over and above that which all kids who are viewed as brainy often face) fails to move them. The fact that longitudinal data actually shows that black students are the most likely to believe in the importance of getting a good education, the least likely to cheat and the least likely to skip class appears to matter not.

But what I have always found interesting about the anti-intellectualism charge coming from whites and pointed at persons in the black community, is how readily it emanates from a group of people (white adults) who seem to actually revel in anti-intellectualism, as evidenced by our voting behavior and political sensibilities, made especially clear during the current political campaign.

What else but a deep contempt for education (or book learnin’ as we sometimes jokingly refer to it in the South) could explain why Barack Obama’s Harvard Law School education can be mocked as elitist and out of touch, while John McCain’s bottom-feeder academic record and Sarah Palin’s four colleges in six years…

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Your Black Life: FOX News Host Sean Hannity Abuses Guest — Has History

Strangely, FOX News’ postal boy, Sean Hannity, has a detailed history of abusing his guests — especially those who don’t see the world through the narrow keyhole with which he analyzes reality. The radio/television host, who has rarely used his bully-pulpit for the good of society, shows why a college degree goes a long way in preventing mental decrepitude. Watch as he screams-down his guest, Robert Kuttner, on the pitiful FOX “News” show, Hannity & Colmes:

Also, check out a 2007 interview with Dr. Boyce Watkins, in which the same arrogant disposition of Hannity is displayed:

Your Black Politics: Organizing the Community: Understanding The GOP’s Fear

By: Tolu Olorunda

Staff Writer – YourBlackWorld.com

“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.”

- Republican V.P. Nominee, Sarah Palin, in her acceptance speech at the RNC.

“On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked – I said – I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume. He worked as a community organizer.“

- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani giving Keynote Address at the RNC.

When the enemy of the state is community organizing, it is sufficient to acknowledge that the world as we know it is, indeed, coming to an end. To arrive at such a conclusion, one would have to deliberately skip over the Public Enemies of the 21st century – corrupt government, predatory mortgage lenders, failing schools, poverty, imperialism, neo-colonialism, drug-trafficking, inequality – and claim that the oppositional forces of good are the Taliban equivalent in the war against “domestic terrorism.” Terrorism, described as “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes,” is clearly more in sync with the two big-name political parties’ attempt to cage dissent (at their pricy conventions), than the very factors which try to make the world safer for the most vulnerable. The unadulterated buffoonery of the GOP was unmasked last week, as their effort to give community-organizing a bad rep fell flat on its face – just as their lame attempt to be re-branded as the party of “change…”

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Your Black Politics: McCain Camp Employs Hypocrisy To Criticize Obama

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama told an audience Tuesday that GOP presidential nominee John McCain says he’ll change Washington, but he’s just like President Bush.

“You can put lipstick on a pig,” he said to an outbreak of laughter, shouts and raucous applause from his audience, clearly drawing a connection to Palin’s joke. “It’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It’s still going to stink after eight years.”

McCain’s campaign immediately organized a telephone conference call in response and called on Obama to apologize for calling Palin a pig. Obama’s campaign said he wasn’t referring to Palin; he had been talking about McCain immediately before the lipstick comment.

Obama followed up by saying Palin is an interesting story, drawing boos at the mention of her name that he tried to cut off.

“Look, she’s new, she hasn’t been on the scene, she’s got five kids. And my hat goes off to anybody whose looking after five. I’ve got two and they tire Michelle and me out,” he said.

McCain has used the lipstick phrase, too.

Last year while criticizing health proposals from the Democratic presidential candidates, he said Hillary Rodham Clinton’s resembled the failed plan she offered as first lady during the 1990s. “I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” McCain of her proposal…

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Your Black Politics: FOX News Host, Sean Hannity Says “Colored People” Repeatedly

FOX News postal Boy, Sean Hannity, used the derogatory term, “Colored People” profusely — as a descriptor for Black Politicians. In an argument with National Action Network founder, Al Sharpton, Hannity is relegated to anger, and inadvertently repeats the term one can only assume he uses at will — when the camera and mic are turned off. Pls. call FOX News, or send an email, to let them know that you do not wish to be categorized as “Colored” in 2008:

Your Black News: Sarah Palin’s Pastor Says God “Is Gonna Strike Out His Hand Against” America

On July 20, 2008, the pastor of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s home church, Larry Kroon, delivered a sermon called “Sin Is Personal To God.” Kroon, the senior pastor of the non-denominational Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla, Alaska, used the book of Zephanaiah as his reference point for discussing “that great day of the Lord when God will finally bring closure to human history… a day of wrath.” According to Kroon, “all things and all people” are going to bear the brunt of God’s “intense anger.” “There’s anger with God,” he proclaimed. “He takes sin personal.”

Kroon placed Zephaniah in a modern context, warning that the sinful habits of Americans would invite the wrath of God. “And if Zephaniah were here today,” Kroon bellowed, “he’d be saying, ‘Listen, [God] is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here — there’s none. It’s all.’”

Read More And Listen

Your Black Politics: Report Says Gov. Palin Has No Record On Race Issues

There’s no record that Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin uttered anything more than the obligatory complimentary congratulations to the woman that beat her out for the Miss Alaska title in 1984. The winner was Maryline Blackburn, an African American. A ritual congratulatory wish from Palin would have been about the only public acknowledgment to date from her in an instance, in this case a beauty contest, where Palin was confronted with the issue of diversity in the person of a competitor.

Since then, Palin’s record on race and diversity has been the blankest of blank sheets. The probes into Palin’s record on diversity and civil rights have almost exclusively focused on her views on gay rights, same-sex marriage and equal pay. These are crucial civil rights issues. But so are racial diversity and civil rights.

The Web site OntheIssues.org gives a comprehensive look at the positions of elected officials on the major issues based on their statements, speeches, campaign materials and policy-position papers. Palin has taken no position on immigration, affirmative action, job and housing discrimination, school re-segregation, police-minority community relations and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

The site did list two terse positions Palin took on hate crimes legislation and cultural diversity. Both give a tiny window into the would-be vice president’s thinking on diversity and civil rights. During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, she told the Eagle Forum that she opposed expanded hate crime legislation…

Continued

Your Black News: Barack Obama Claims The “Surge Has Succeeded”

OBAMA: ….There is no doubt that the violence is down and that is a testament to the troops that were sent and General Patraeus and Ambassador Crocker. I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated, by the way, including President Bush and the other supporters….

O’REILLY: But if it had been up to you there would not have been a surge. You and Joe Biden, no surge.

OBAMA: Hold on, if you look at the the debate that was taking place. We had gone through five years of mismanagement of this war, which I thought was disastrous, and the president wanted to double down and continue and open-ended policy that did not create the kind of pressure on the Iraqis to take responsibility and reconcile.

O’REILLY: But it worked, come on.

OBAMA: Bill, look – I already said it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

O’REILLY: Why can you not say, ‘I was right in the beginning, but I was wrong on the surge?’

OBAMA: Because there is an underlying problem with what we have done. We have reduced the violence. But the Iraqis have still not taken responsibility. And we still do not have the kind of political reconciliation — we are still spending, Bill, $10 billion or $12 billion a month

O’REILLY: And if you’re president, I hope you can get them to kick in on that.

OBAMA: They’ve got $79 billion dollars in the dirt

O’REILLY: I’ll go with you.

OBAMA: Let’s go!

Click to watch video

Your Black Politics: Sen. Lynn Westmoreland Calls The Obamas “Uppity”

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who was born and raised in the South, said Thursday that he’s never heard the word “uppity” used in a racially loaded fashion — and meant nothing more than “elitist” when he applied it to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

“If anyone read more into it, no undercurrent was intended,” Westmoreland spokesman Brian Robinson said this evening.

In a Washington D.C. conversation with reporters today, the two-term Sharpsburg congressman was discussing the speech of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin when he was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

According to The Hill, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill:

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

The quote quickly zipped around the Internet, causing Westmoreland’s office phones to ring off the hook.

Efforts to obtain comment from the Obama campaign in Georgia have been unsuccessful.

Though raised by a struggling, single mother, Obama studied at both Columbia University in New York and Harvard University. This spring, he apologized for his “poor word choices” at a California fund-raiser in which he described small-town Americans as “bitter” over the souring economy and clinging to religion and guns in response.

Hillary Clinton seized upon the “elitist” label in the primary, and Republicans have done so during their national convention in Minnesota — vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, among them.

But Obama supporters say the “elitist” title has sometimes served as cultural code for “uppity” — a word that for decades in the segregated South was applied to African-Americans who attempted to rise above servile positions…

Continued