For the past few days I have been haunted by the memory of Hurricane Katrina. August 28th marks the fifth anniversary of the storm that destroyed most of New Orleams and displaced one of the poorest sections of this country- the 9th Ward. I have never been to New Orleans but what happened in 2005 changed my life. Continue reading What Hurricane Katrina Taught Me
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August 24, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Accountability, African-American, Business, Commentary, Community, Economics, Environment, History, Minorities, Morality, Native American, Recovery, Social Classes, Social Issues
 2 comments August 24, 2010
Posted by Carla René in: Accountability, Advice, African-American, Attitude, Biography & Memoir, Book Marketing Online, Book Review, Books, Business, Business Management, Cancer, Cap and Trade, Children, China, Climate Change, Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Communications, Communism, Community, Computers, Congress, Contributor's Audio/Video, Creative Writing, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Diet, Economic Crisis, Economics, Education, Energy, Entertainment, Environment, Environmental Issues, Faith, Family, Fiction, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Freedom, Freelance Author, General Topics, Geopolitical Events, Global Warming, Governance, Habit Change, Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Heroes, History, Homeland Security, Humor, Inspiration & Motivation, Internet, Internet Advice, Interview, Islam, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Life Experiences, Lifestyle, Literature, Marketing, Marriage, Medical, Men's Issues, Mental Health, Mexico, Military, Minorities, Morality, Motivation, Music, Native American, Nature/Wildlife, Non-Fiction, Nutrition, Opinion, Personal Experiences, Philosophical Genres, Poetry, Politics, Publishing, Question of the Day, Recovery, Relationships, Religion, Republican, Rhyme, Satire, Self-Help, Sex, Short Stories, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology, Spirituality, Sports, Technology, Television, Terrorism, The Economy, The Media, The Pundit's Corner, The Writer's Corner, Travel, Uncategorized, Website Instructions, Weight loss, Wellness, Women's Perspective, Women's Rights, Working Women, Workplace, World Issues, Writing Essentials
Leave a comment Begun back sometime in 2001, this book was originally a fluke of an idea… [...] August 23, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: Accountability, African-American, Attitude, Children, Commentary, Democracy, Faith, Family, Freedom, Healthcare, History, Islam, Latino & Hispanic, Minorities, Morality, Music, Poetry, Religion, Social Classes, Social Issues, Uncategorized
6 comments The revival of South Pacific was broadcast live on PBS On August 18, PBS live Lincoln Center. The musical which originally opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949 is one of my favorite musicals but then, I love just about everything Rogers and Hammerstein did from Carousel to Porgy and Bess to Oklahoma to Flower Drum Song. As I sat mesmerized in front to my television sometimes singing aloud and other times mouthing the lyrics to songs I consider to be some of the most beautiful songs ever written it slowly began to dawn on me that this musical was not so much about American troops at war on an island in the south pacific as much as it was a story about racism. Continue reading Strange Fruit Living Just Enough For The City August 21, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Accountability, African-American, Commentary, Community, Education
One comment It was the week before Christmas, I have forgotten what year, and I was searching as was my habit for my presents. Perhaps I was 8, no more than 9, at the time and had asked for more things then my parents would ever consider giving to me. It was a Saturday afternoon and my younger siblings were taking a nap. So was the sitter, a teen girl who had partied too much with the boyfriend her mother did not know she had the night before. In the quiet I was supposed to be reading my book. Instead I slipped into my parents’ room to hunt for gifts. Damn the surprise, I wanted to see what I was getting. Continue reading Finding Your History in a Box Under a Bed July 22, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Children, Commentary, Education, Family, Minorities, Motivation, Personal Experiences, Social Issues, Uncategorized
2 comments Each summer I volunteer to work with young journalists, teens actually, on how to behave in professional settings. Many of them are gifted writers and photographers. Some are just in the group to have something to do for the summer. At the end of each session we do a mock reception or party so we can practice what was learned. One of the things I ask them to write down at the beginning of the workshop is what job title they want at the age of 25. For the mock party they wear name tags with the job title on it and pretend they hold this position. The jobs these young African American and Latino students pick often surprises me. But sometimes they sadden me because they reveal that somewhere in their life someone has given them a set of limitations to deal with that they can’t escape for a minute, even to dream. Continue reading Limitations July 19, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: Accountability, African-American, Children, Commentary, Faith, Family, Opinion, Social Classes, Social Issues
7 comments Last night I learned that my friends lost their only son. He was shot and killed by an undercover police officer in Newark, New Jersey last Friday. He was shot in the heart on a warm sunny evening. His name was DeFarra Gaymon, he was 48 years old, he was the father of two girls and two boys all under the age of 12. We called him Dean, everybody did. He was the President and CEO of a credit union in Atlanta. His father is a pastor, he has a sister and three nieces. He was the apple of his mother’s eye and he had a loving wife. He was a soft and gentle man. The news media accounts say that he was in a park and that a complaint was made. The cop that shot Dean is reported to be so distraught that he is under sedation and unable to give a statement some 3 days later. He hospitalized in the very same hospital that Dean died in 3 hours after he was fatally shot. People are speculating that Dean was engaged some unsavory activity and that when the undercover” cop arrived something went awry. I don’t know why Dean was shot and murdered but what I do know is that Dean Gaymon was a loving family man. I do know that he doted on his mother and he loved his family. I do know that he not only cared about his children he also cared for his children and his sister’s children as well. Continue reading A Soft and Gentle Man July 7, 2010
I didn’t plan to write here today. I planned to spend my free time researching my next novel. But in my research I ran across a poem that brought tears to my eyes. It was written by the esteemed African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance Countee Cullen. When you get a chance look it up on Google. It is entitled Simon the Cyrenian Speaks and it spoke to me about race. Continue reading Why We Must Forget About Race July 6, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Attitude, Business, Commentary, Current Events, Economics, Habit Change, Lifestyle, Marketing, Women's Perspective
7 comments My hair is not my shining glory. Saying that as a black woman conjures up a lot of feelings, jokes and anger. But not for me. Once a young friend chastised me for cutting my hair. She told me everyone was trying to grow some and here I destroying mine. My response was “It’s only hair and it will grow back”. It was something she didn’t understand because for ages black women have wanted the hair they claim God didn’t give them. I know why, I understand why but I think now is the time to get over it. It is time for a major hair change in this country. Continue reading The (Black) Hair Thing July 5, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: African-American, Attitude, Commentary, Democracy, Freedom, History, Military, Native American, Personal Experiences, Politics, Social Issues, Uncategorized, Women's Rights
2 comments Back in June my friend Minnette Coleman wrote a piece entitled General McChrystal Should Go. As with most of Minnette’s posts it garnered several comments some of which focused on the morale of our troops. My comment, which said that I was not concerned with troop morale, raised the ire of Prentiss Gray.I promised to respond to Prentiss and so, after a bit of a wait, here is my reply. Continue reading Answering Mr. Gray June 14, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: African-American, Commentary, Education, Freedom, History, Morality, Opinion
3 comments On June 19th I’d like you to do me a favor. It is a small one and it won’t take must effort or time. Some time during your busy day maybe when you first wake or during a meal or while having a glass of wine just whisper the word “Freedom”. 1865, June 19th, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the War Between the State had ended and that all slaves were now free, two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. There are conflicting stories as to why it took two years for black men, women and children to learn of their freedom. One stories says the message of freedom was delayed because the messenger was murdered on his way to Texas. Another is that federal troops waited for the slave owners to use free labor for one last cotton harvest before they went into Texas to enforce the new law. Then there is the story that says that the news of freedom was deliberately withheld by the plantation owners so that they could maintain the free labor force at least for awhile. Continue reading Whispering Freedom – Juneteenth June 14, 2010
Under my parents’ bed, where I should not have been, I found a box. I was barely 7 and searching for my Christmas presents trying to make sure that I got what I wanted. The box looked big enough to hold a doll or some books and it wasn’t dusty so I figured it was something new. I checked to see if the baby-sitter was still sleep and my little sister playing her dolls. I checked to make sure my parents had not returned and I opened the box. Photos, nothing but photos. But strange ones the likes of which I had never seen. Black people hanging and burning and white people laughing. I knew these were not for my young eyes but I looked at every one before I closed the box and wondered would God punish me for seeing such evil. Years later when I heard Billy Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit” the pictures came to mind as a young woman said to me that she was tired of talking about race. “A lot of the things they talk about probably didn’t even happen.” Had I not seen those photos I would not have been able to say lynchings were document. Documented so that down the line no one could say it didn’t happen. Continue reading Documenting History to Prove It Happened June 13, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Advice, African-American, Children, Commentary, Education
One comment In the late 1960′s my husband entered a predominately white high school in Moultrie, Ga, as a junior. In history class one day while discussing the building of the United States capitol he raised his hand asking a question that sent his all white classmates into laughter. “Why doesn’t the text book mention who laid out the capitol and that he was a black man?” Continue reading A Solution to the Prejudiced Text Book Problem June 11, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Comments & Discussion, Freedom, History
One comment As a writer in the United States I am always glad that we have freedom of speech in the United States. Or do we? While doing some research recently I discovered something that happens to oftenin our society and in other countries. Freedom of speech is often only tolerated as far as those in power allow you to be free. Continue reading Wanting to be Creative as a Crime June 7, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Attitude, Cancer, Commentary, Habit Change, Health & Fitness
9 comments In the early summer of 1970 while still a freshman in college, I participated in a racial/cultural experiment of my own making. Our dorm had the highest roof on campus and therefore a safe haven for young women who wanted to sunbathe in the underwear. It was before the advent of cute and colorful bras and panties so everyone sported underwear in immaculate cotton white. Black lingerie was for sluts and seduction, not always in that order. The problem was the rood was not that big and every girl on campus wanted to come there leaving little space for the residents of our dorm. One pesky group in particular came onto the roof in droves taking over the place as if their own. I had never sunbathed in my life or seen the need to. I was black and had been raised to walk in the sun without sunscreen, using an umbrella to shade me from the heat only on the hottest of days. But my sister freshmen and I decided that there was one way to get rid of those unwanted on our roof. I would start sunbathing with them and we would see what happened. Less than ten minutes after I stripped to my lily white undies the crowd started to thin out. When I pulled back the platinum band of the diamond wristwatch my grandfather had given me four years earlier and said: “Oh look. I’m browner already,” and a pale white friend said “You are so lucky” more girls left. They never returned and I never cared. I did this more for my dorm than myself, but I after doing it I understood race and color much better. I wasn’t supposed to have diamonds and I wasn’t supposed to sit in the sun. Continue reading Sun, Summer and Color May 30, 2010
Posted by Jose Antonio Ponce in: African-American, Family, Freedom, Heroes, History, Men's Issues, Military
Leave a comment As we celebrate our veterans in the middle of yet another war, I have a story told to me by a friend who rarely talks about his Vietnam expierience. It is with his permission I pass this on. PINK ELEPHANT Henry was sixteen when left home in for no particular reason 1963. It was just what impatient young men did. Henry was black, very black. He was thick and muscular, with a penetrating stare and hair with a mind of its own. His gait and demeanor suggested menace, but he was always delightfully cheerful and easygoing. He was what, mythically, white folks feared; a confidant Black man. His restlessness and the belief that he needed to expand his horizons sent him to South Carolina, near his mother’s relatives. After finishing high school and drifting for a while, He enlisted in the Army and never went home again. Continue reading For Veterans May 27, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Biography & Memoir, Family, Nutrition, Personal Experiences, Uncategorized
5 comments A few times a week our house smells like the kitchens ’down home’. That’s one of those old southern expressions that takes you back to the South and back to your roots. It’s funny that I use the word ‘roots’ here because the smell the emanates from our kitchen is from a storage root vegetable, sweet potatoes. They are an important source of vitamins but also an important part of my history. Continue reading Sweet Potatoes May 20, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Biography & Memoir, Creative Writing, Education, Family, Freedom, Heroes, Journalism, Uncategorized
One comment
May 18, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Advice, African-American, Attitude, Commentary, Current Events, Legal, Life Experiences, Lifestyle, Minorities, Morality
Leave a comment It used to be that New York was open 24/7/365. But the years have worn the Big Apple to the core and somethings that were once popular to do have changed and gone the way of the dodo. You can still find someplace to find a bite to eat at 4am but the pickings are getting slimmer. Doors at clubs and eateries are watched to keep out undesirables. Some places are so afraid of problems they close early. And while the city boosts a rich cultural diversity there is always the problem that big brother is watching you. We still live in an age of profiling those who are different. Continue reading Somebody’s Watching You May 14, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Advice, African-American, Attitude, Children, Commentary, Communications, Current Events, Entertainment, Family, History, Internet, Life Experiences, Uncategorized
3 comments I am about to be practical, historical and honest. All in the same post. I am really sick of hearing about the 8 and 9 year old girls clad in skimpy costumes dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. It has made the news, the polls, Youtube and things that make you go umm. Let’s be honest, it is just dancing and good dancing at that. But if it wasn’t for the advances we have in communications, law enforcement, the study of the mind and racism we wouldn’t be so concerned about little girls dancing in something a bit more than bathing suits. Continue reading It’s Just Little Girls Dancing- But There’s the Rub May 14, 2010
Posted by seamus in: Accountability, Advice, African-American, Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Communications, Congress, Creative Writing, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Economics, Entertainment, Freedom, Governance, Homeland Security, Inspiration & Motivation, Islam, Journalism, Life Experiences, Minorities, Morality, Motivation, Opinion, Personal Experiences, Politics, Republican, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues, Terrorism, The Economy, The Media, The Pundit's Corner, World Issues
2 comments Amazing how many high government officals (including the Attorney General), political pundits, politicians, school officials and religious leaders comment so harshly on the immigration law in Arizona and publicly admit they haven’t read the ten page document. The document basically states that when being stopped for a traffic violation or questioned concerning a crime that [...] May 10, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: Accountability, African-American, Commentary, Entertainment, Faith, Heroes, Opinion, Politics
2 comments I woke this morning, like we all did, to the news of the death of Lena Horne. While my heart now grieves at her passing I am comforted in knowing that Lean Hone lived a long, productive and successful life. So what does one say about an iconic woman such as Ms. Horne? We can praise her talent, her tenacity, her strength and we can declare her beauty and her grace. Almost everyone recalls her rendition of Stormy Weather and proclaims it their favorite. I recall her renditions of Believe In Yourself, As I Believe In You and The Lady is A Trap. I proclaim them my favorites, these songs are my anthems. If you believe Believe what you feel May 10, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Commentary, Entertainment, Uncategorized, Working Women
One comment When I was a little girl I wanted to grow up and look like my mother who I always thought of as beautiful. I was lucky enough to see her through the eyes of my father and his family that loved her. My father was light skinned, his mother and her sisters could pass for white but never wanted to. My mother was and is a chocolate beauty. I am the darkest of all her children and look a lot like her. So I can say I got my wish- to look like my mother and write like my father. But if I hadn’t been able to be the beauty my mother was I would have desired to look like Lena Horne. When I heard she died last night I thought now that was another beauty. Continue reading Lena Horne and Being a Beauty April 30, 2010
Back in the early 60s when I was in grade school I was given a treat on many Saturdays of going to The Atlanta Daily World, the paper where my father was City Editor, and spending the day with him as he put the Sunday edition ‘to bed’. I learned all the lingo for his profession because I knew that was what I wanted to be: a journalist. My favorite thing to do at the paper was read what came across the Associted Press wire. I could get a sampling of everything going on around the world before it came out in any of Atlanta’s papers the next day. It was an inside practice that I loved for years and inserted in my novel “No Death by Unknown Hands” which is about a 14 year old girl who wants to be a writer like her dad in Atlanta in 1952. (You can read the first chapter of this novel on Tim Roux’s site http://nightreading.ning.com/). It never occurred to me as I longed for the chance to be a newspaper woman that most women were never be allowed to handle real news. Then there was Evelyn Cunningham who died at the age of 94 and worked for for than 20 years for The Pittsburgh Courier. Continue reading When a Woman Wants to Be a Writer April 26, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Commentary, Creative Writing, Inspiration & Motivation, Literature, Uncategorized
One comment This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. It is one of my favorite books and is something I watch whenever they show it on television. I learn something new about the story each time I watch it. But most important to me is I learn about strength of character from Atticus Finch. Continue reading Celebrating Atticus Finch April 23, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Biography & Memoir, Family, Habit Change, Lifestyle, Working Women
3 comments My birthday present from my mom arrived yesterday, several days early. Of course I had to open it, there would be no waiting until next week. Mama had been telling me in our daily conversation that she had been creating something for me, and also a gift for my youngest who graduated early from college. Like a five year old I ripped into the box and pulled out a small notebook that had been turned into a book of sayings my mother had found. She had handwritten fifty of them for my daughter, decorated the cover with a beautiful fabric and opposite each saying was a tiny pastel envelope with a dollar bill inside. Then it was my turn to look at my gift and my heart stopped. My very creative mother had taken a painting that I had done when I was sixteen and trying to emulate the art of my father and that hung in the hallway of their home, a hallway that was like an art gallery, and had it made into note cards. On the back was a sticker that said: Artwork by Minnette Coleman. What a lovely, personal gift, I thought. Then something else came to mind. My mother didn’t do things like this when we were little. My mother never let her star shine while my father was alive. It was the way of her generation. Continue reading A Gift from My Mother- Lessons from Her Generation April 9, 2010
Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell has declared April Confederate History Month in that state. While I don’t understand the need to have such a thing, it is the right of the governor to do such things. However he has decided to omit slavery from anything that has to do with the history of the Confederacy. Anyone who knows anything about the history of the south knows that you cannot tell the story without relating to part of United States that most people would like to forget. Continue reading The Omission of Slavery from Confederate History Month March 26, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Accountability, Advice, African-American, Attitude, Children, Commentary, Diet, Family, Habit Change, Health & Fitness, Uncategorized
3 comments Twenty dollars to feed a family of four dinner for a week. Steak is out, maybe one chicken if you’re lucky. Rice will be at every meal, if the price doesn’t go up again. And there won’t be any fruit when bananas, the only fruit your 3 year old will eat costs 79cents a pound. What can you give your family but what is affordable? Canned beans, boxed mac and cheese, spam, hot dogs, iceberg lettuce to suffice for the $2 a pound string beans. For breakfast you give the kids a treat of generic brand bright colored cereal that costs $2 a bag, since boxed cereal is unaffordable. Some days they have it without milk- look how much that costs. But they seem happy with the food they are getting and you are happy that you can put food on the table until the school sends home a notification that your child is overweight and is having trouble breathing while playing. You know you need to stop supplementing his diet with inexpensive treats whenever he gets an A or whenever he can’t get to go to special places like his friends. You use food to make him happy but that happiness is killing him. March 17, 2010
Posted by Tyree Harris in: Accountability, African-American, Commentary, Creative Writing, Current Events, Personal Experiences, Social Issues, The Writer's Corner
15 comments Don’t be colorblind–be aware. by Tyree Harris In a nation that drowns itself in political correctness and shudders in fear of any racial discussion, the notion of “colorblindness” has been our sure-fire way of not seeming racist or to disregard the racial and class tensions that mean so much to our society. People who identify as “colorblind” claim that they don’t “see color,” that race doesn’t matter to them, and worst of all, that race isn’t a problem anymore. Colorblindness is a form of ignorance and yet, most of us consider colorblind a positive term. I cringe every time I hear it: How could you not see something so real? Continue reading Don’t be colorblind–be aware. March 9, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: African-American, Attitude, Commentary, Comments & Discussion, History, Music, Opinion, Social Issues
5 comments Anyone who has ever set foot on a historically black college or university campus knows that there is something called stepping, the form of percussive dance where the entire body is used to produce intricate rhythms and sounds comprised of a mixture of rapid footsteps, spoken word, rhyme, hand claps, syncopation and synchronization. Stepping is generally performed in groups or teams and finds its origins in African foot dance. African American Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities across the nation have always taken pride in their step performances and often organized fierce competitions Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΆΚΆ), Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta (Deltas), Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi (Kappas), Omega Psi Phi I (Que Dogs or the /Ques), Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta (Zetas), and Sigma Gamma Rho comprise what is known in the Black community as the “Divine Nine” and are celebrated for their innovative and sometime provocative step routines. Continue reading The Culture of Step March 6, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: African-American, Commentary, Creative Writing, Current Events, Heroes, History, Minorities, The Writer's Corner
4 comments Celebrating a People One Month a Year Now that February has come and, won’t come back for another year, I find myself reflecting on “Black History Month”. We all know the reason for and the meaning of celebrating the accomplishment of African Americans during the month of February. We all should know, by now, that Black History Month was originally established as Negro History Week by the late Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950). Dr. Woodson was the son of former slaves. He began his formal education at the age of 20 and subsequently received his PH.D from Harvard University. In 1926 Woodson initiated the annual February observance of Negro History Week. He chose February because Abraham Lincoln’s and the accepted birthday of Frederick Douglass were both during the moth of February. In 1976, some fifty years later, Negro History week became Black History Month going from 7 days to 28 (29) days. Why some 84 years later are we still singling out a group of Americans to note their accomplishments, contributions and heritage? Continue reading Celebrating a People One Month a Year March 4, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: Accountability, African-American, Attitude, Children, Commentary, Education, Family, Freedom
19 comments My youngest sister does not remember her first taste of prejudice but I do. It was an incident that shaped my understanding of race for many years to come. She was barely three years old so I must have been about 10, my other sister 7. My mother had taken her three girls to Rich’s Department Store in downtown Atlanta. We were all dressed alike in pink dresses and matching hair bows, something she often did for us. My baby sister toddled about while my mother looked at clothes until she came across another child her age, a little white girl with bouncy blonde curls. The two babies smiled to see each other, looked at each other for a long time and then hugged. The mothers, separated by color and the still evident prejudices of the south, smiled. Then the girls decided to kiss each other on the lips and the mothers, high heels clicking across the tiled floor of the department store, rushed to pull them apart. They did not say ‘don’t do that’. They just smiled at their little daughters and took them a safe distance from each other. Enough was said by that action in 1962 Georgia. Holding the little ones’ hands and keeping them apart they were teaching the children prejudice. Continue reading The Truth About Prejudice-You’ve got to be Taught March 2, 2010
Posted by Tyree Harris in: African-American, Commentary, Creative Writing, Current Events, Freelance Author, Journalism, Life Experiences, Minorities, The Writer's Corner
15 comments Western perspective is not culture by Tyree Harris Sitting in my race, class and ethnic groups course, twiddling my thumbs and trying to follow my professor, I couldn’t help but feel disconnected. There he went, speaking of tolerance, what it means to be prejudiced and how it’s easy to stereotype other races — but this is probably the 300th time I’ve heard this lecture from a cultural class, and it seems to be the only message they have to offer. At times, I feel more like a subject of discussion than a student acquiring knowledge — everything seems to be directed toward accepting people like myself and becoming “tolerant,” but nothing goes toward the problems facing people of color and how they can fix them, because our structure only identifies with a Caucasian, Western perspective. At the University and many colleges, the overemphasis of this perspective is a disservice to students of color. There are a lot of things in the majority perspective in which an ethnic minority cannot identify with, thus creating a totally different and unfair expectation of them: They are to identify with Caucasians and learn to walk in their shoes, while Caucasian students enjoy the safety and comfort of their own perspective while battling through their social problems. Continue reading Western perspective is not culture March 1, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Attitude, Education, Faith, Family, Freedom, History
3 comments I am the descendant of slaves and white slave owners. I did not melt into the pot that is America. The pot melted into me. Back in the later 50s and early 60s no one I knew wanted to admit to that. To be a descendant of a slave meant you were less than a second class citizen, it meant being someone uncivilized from the jungles of Africa. It often meant being told by white people that you looked like monkeys and apes. Of course none of this is true but back then black baby boomers were taught that our history contained one thing- slavery. We didn’t want it to mean that our lives led no where because of this ancestry. For most of us to move on it meant pretending we had no history. Continue reading Being Black and Proud February 25, 2010
Posted by Tyree Harris in: Accountability, African-American, Attitude, Commentary, Creative Writing, Current Events, Freelance Author, Journalism, Minorities
3 comments A Call For Help Goes Unanswered. by Tyree Harris When Portland State student Brenda Johnson, who asked that her real name be withheld, traded in her old BlackBerry for a new BlackBerry Storm from a man named Robert she met on Craigslist, she was thrilled. After she made the trade, she called a friend to see if it worked, but she couldn’t hear her friend through the speaker. Brenda tested it a few more times, but she still couldn’t hear a word. She sent Robert a text complaining about the phone. She had been scammed. Later, Brenda received a message questioning her about the phone. She asked if it was Robert texting her, and the sender replied yes. They then agreed to meet up at the mall to trade back. She arrived about 40 minutes later. A girl approached her and asked her if she was looking for Robert. Brenda replied yes, and the girl explained to her that the person she was texting was actually her, and that Robert stole that phone from her. Shocked, Brenda asked her to identify the phone, but she couldn’t. The girl told Brenda that she reported the phone stolen and that a detective was investigating the case. Brenda told her to call the police so they could clarify the situation and verify that the phone was stolen. But the girl refused to call them, stating that they wouldn’t do anything. Continue reading A Call For Help Goes Unanswered. February 10, 2010
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment First of all it would be very difficult to elect an African American President in America today. There would have to be some sort of cataclysmic event like a massive meltdown of or economic system that would cause people to lurch violently left. But let’s just say that happened and an African American were elected. The election itself would spawn ultra right candidates who would appeal to white America with calls of country and God and a new sort of Nascar beer drinking rural constituency would form in reaction. The opposing party would probably come up with an opposing candidate who might be a minority or a woman who would probably be violently right and try to appeal to white American with visions of the country in a 1950′s world. After the election the President would have to have increased protection because a lot of the country would simply not accept a black man as President. The election might be contested or they might even say he wasn’t a citizen and not eligible to be President. Gun sales would skyrocket in the South and the threat level against him would probably go up four hundred percent. A whole new campaign would immediately be launched to slowly destroy his credibility. Far right commentators would make it their job to bring him down. In effect, the election campaign against him would continue. Continue reading What if an African American were elected President? February 2, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Faith, Family, Foreign Affairs, Freedom, Religion
4 comments They said God sent them to Haiti to save the children. Even behind bars after being stopped at the border of neighboring Dominican Republic with 33 children and no permission to take them they claimed they were doing the right thing. At this time Haiti is flooded with people helping from all over the world. But with those of good intent come those of ill repute. Trafficking in children is something the struggling government will not allow. Those so called missionaries out to save the children of Haiti kidnapped them, something they would not do in the United States. (Can you imagine the outrage if they went to some of the poorer parts of Mississippi and Louisiana and just took children because God told them to?) They are in jail because what they did was not only wrong but insulting to a country that is trying to survive its worse natural disaster. Did these 10 zealots from Idaho Baptist churches actually think that Haiti was in such dire straits they could take children whenever they pleased? Continue reading Suffer the Little Children- Stealing the Young from Haiti February 1, 2010
Posted by stuartaken in: African-American, Book Review, Books, Creative Writing, Fiction, Foreign Affairs, Humor
Leave a comment Kachi A. Ozumba’s story of corruption, judicial incompetence and prevailing injustice in Nigeria is lightened by the humour he mixes with the pathos. Zuba, the naive and honest victim, moves from initial complacent trust in the legal system through amazement, disbelief and despair to a realisation that he cannot expect the judicial authorities to treat his situation seriously or with fairness. The police and prison authorities are shown as corrupt but perhaps no more so than the rest of this society. Against the background of incarceration and hierarchical prison ethics, he paints a picture of a country still at war with a major portion of its citizens. The conflict with Biafra is a constant strand running through the novel and displays the underlying tribal nature of the Dark Continent, showing, with subtle insights, why prejudice is both harmful and pointless, wherever it may manifest itself. Kachi paints his characters as real people undergoing real events. The details of daily life, education and the prison system in Nigeria suggest he has experienced all three; if not, his research methods are extraordinary. He also raises questions about the nature and value of religious faith, perhaps hinting that it is of greater value to the desperate and ignorant than to the hopeful and educated. Continue reading Stuart Aken Reviews The Shadow of a Smile by Kachi A Ozumba February 1, 2010
When I was in high school, a million years ago according to my children, we had Negro History Week. A speaker would come to our school to reflect on the progress of the black race. Often they would talk about people we knew from the limited black history allowed in schools. Most of the time they were encouraging us to further our education. There were no city wide events in Atlanta to ring in Negro History Week. Events took place at churches or clubs. Black History, even in its most limited form, was celebrated only by black people. Unfortunately nothing seemed to be learned by either race over the course of the years that would incorporate neglected history into text books. We need Black History Month now more than ever. Continue reading Why We Need Black History Month January 12, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Race and Politics in America By Alan Caruba Politics in America has always been about race. It began with the writing of the Constitution and the compromises made by the Founding Fathers in order to keep the southern states in the fold. It can be found in the very first Article that makes reference to the “respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of ten years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons.” Those “other persons” were black slaves. On June 21, 1788, the Constitution became effective when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it. In 1861, seventy-three years later, the Civil War began and lasted until 1865. Despite amendments passed after the war to enfranchise the freed slaves, it was not until 1964 that a comprehensive Civil Rights Bill was passed that ensured the enforcement of measures to bring about a measure of actual equality. Continue reading Race and Politics in America January 11, 2010
Senator Harry Reid’s words that have eclipsed the news of late are not so much racism as how most of America feels about race. His stating that Barack Obama would not have been considered electable for president had he not been light skin and void of Negro dialect is something African Americans have dealt with since slavery. It is still a matter of white is right and Reid was only voicing what we see every day. Continue reading The Color Thing January 7, 2010
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Latino & Hispanic, Women's Rights
3 comments When the report came out that blacks were now a minority in Harlem I couldn’t deny it. Everyday the area I live in becomes more integrated and international. When we moved in over 25 years ago no one gave a damn about the neighborhood. Unfortunately the more whites that moved uptown to Harlem the better the services became and the more concern about safety. That is evident in the way rapes are handled these days. It is also evident in the way they are reported. Continue reading Another Harlem Rape, Another Racial Problem December 31, 2009
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Faith, Family, Freedom, History, Religion
One comment This evening while most of us are preparing to ring in the New Year with a glass of bubbly some in the African American community will spend the hours before the change of years in church. Although people of many faiths spend the last night of the old year praying in the new Night Watch is the historical way to celebrate the new year and new freedom. Continue reading Night Watch November 25, 2009
Our First Lady Michelle Obama looked like new world glamour at the first state dinner of her husband’s administration. While there will be some to detract from the moment or those who will find fault with her wardrobe choice let me tell you how an African American girl from Georgia feels being able to witness this part of this country’s history. I am talking about the acceptance of black really being beautiful. Continue reading Beauty and Ethnic Pride November 16, 2009
As a college student eager to explore the world outside the South I spent many winter breaks in New York City. My first was with my roommate Kaye who lived in Queens. I got to see a few of the sights and only visited Harlem once when we went to dinner at Copeland’s Restaurant on 145th St. The winters after that were more about expanding my horizons in the great city and making trips to Harlem, a place ravaged by poverty and violence of the turbulent ‘60s. Over the years things have changed but even with the explosion called gentrification something about Harlem remains the same. Continue reading The Truth About Harlem November 8, 2009
Posted by Tim Roux in: African-American, China, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, History, Homeland Security, Islam, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Military, Morality, Politics, Religion, Republican, Sociology, Terrorism, Women's Rights
6 comments In Britain it is now a criminal offence to make any statement which might incite racial hatred. So, if you go around saying that all Irishmen are stupid or all Welshmen are thieves, then you may well find yourself helping the police with their enquiries and facing a sharp fine or even a term of imprisonment. Some commentators consider this law to be draconian but it does take a clear political stance and one thing I have learnt over my lifetime is that nearly all racism is neither random nor ‘naturally’ grassroots-derived but rather politically or economically motivated, indeed directed. Once upon a time, not so long ago, black Africans were slaves or treated as slaves. They were shackled, they died in transit under inhuman conditions, they were worked to death, they were unpaid. How do you justify treating a fellow human being this way? How can it be possible even legally to rape and execute black Africans at whim? There was a simple answer. Black Africans were not human, they were sub-human. Indeed, they hailed from another, lesser, branch of the human family altogether. And there was no shortage of commentators and pseudo-scientists who popped up to argue that black Africans were so bestial that they were really no different from a cow or a horse, that they were incapable of moral understanding (probably the most obscene argument in history), that they were beyond civilisation and, yes, if you measured their brains they were smaller and lighter than a white man’s. Continue reading Should there be a law against it? November 6, 2009
The invitation came via the Internet as most things do these days and I almost choked when I saw that it was for the 40th year reunion of my high school graduating class. I hadn’t felt old before I opened that I email but once reading it I felt like an aged troll sitting at my desk, glasses sliding down my nose, streaks of gray hair reflecting the extra light that I needed to see any damn thing. The class of 1969 of Charles Lincoln Harper High in Atlanta, GA was being called to account for itself for a December 18, 2009 class reunion. Continue reading Memory from the Class of Harper High 1969 November 3, 2009
Word started to seep into the crevices of the Internet last month about a young woman of color going to jail for 15 years for cutting line at a Missouri Wal Mart.. For a while it was hush hush but there are still some people in the United States who have heard of justice and even more who no longer are frightened by the cards left by the Ku Klux Klan. Brown cards with red writing that read: “You’ve just been paid a social visit by the Ku Klux Klan. The next visit will not be social.” Those cards will not stop those trying to find justice for Heather Ellis from Kennet, Missouri. Continue reading Shopping While Different Could Send You to Jail October 14, 2009
Posted by Minnette Coleman in: African-American, Family, Heroes, Inspiration & Motivation
One comment She is the fourth of seven children of a single mother who prided herself on being able to get any man she wanted and wanted to pass that singular ability on to her daughters. This daughter says she grew up troubled- one year she and her older siblings were all in jail at the same time. And yet last night the young woman I met was completely changed. Not because she had to, she could have followed her mother’s path of living off society and having numerous children by as many men. The young woman I met last night changed because she wanted to. She told me she had things to do with her life. Continue reading Moving On Up October 13, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: African-American, Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Current Events, Politics, Sports
2 comments The St. Louis Rams. Ok. Rush wants them. Why not? He’s got the bucks. He wants to do what rich men do Actions have consequences. We all learn this early on. If you take the money then you have to suffer the consequences. Life. Work. Business. Call it what you want. Rush makes a tone of money by being divisive. He makes a lot of money spouting off about the left and blasting his right wing ideology into the airwaves. He has become a celebrity. He has become part of culture. He enjoys the strange position of being the spokesman of the ultra right. Ok. But now he might suffer the consequences. Race is a big topic for Rush. The President. Mcnabb. The NAACP. He has spouted off on a few occasions. He is not known as being a man who promotes racial harmony. He doesn’t believe in that really. He believes in Rush and Rush’s opinions. Rush does not set a tone the NFL wants to embrace. In fact they want to run from that. The NFL sees itself as representative of America and America does not want men like Rush Limbaugh in their living room on Sundays. Continue reading Race and the NFL–Rush Limbaugh wants a team October 9, 2009
When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States Maya Angelo said American had finally grown up. A nation that couldn’t accept people of color in schools, in the workplace, in prestigious jobs finally understood that one’s skin had nothing to do with one’s ability. Two weeks after he took the oath of office our new President was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Today it was announced that he won. As the old people used to say when I was growing up more good news in the kingdom. Continue reading Good News in The Kingdom October 6, 2009
Autumn has finally come to New York. The mornings are chilly and the nights are colder. It is the season when one pulls out a warm top to cover that cotton shirt. For the older fashionista it may be something leather, and of course being New York, it will be black. Sometimes I believe New Yorkers are afraid of being caught in colors. But for those who are younger, those on the way to the gym, those who are not doing a dress up 9 to 5 it is the season of the black hoodie. Continue reading The Season of Black Hoodies September 16, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, African-American, Business, Cap and Trade, Congress, Current Events, Democracy, Economic Crisis, Energy, Environmental Issues, Global Warming, Governance, Healthcare, Opinion, The Economy
2 comments “Technically” We’re Out of a Recession By Alan Caruba
I cannot tell you how relieved I was to hear Ben Bernake, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, announce that the United States is “technically” out of the recession. I spent much of the day waiting for my phone to ring with offers of work. Chairman Bernake did add that jobs would lag, but all the experts say that jobs always lag and, if that’s the case, I am thinking this time around jobs are not only going to lag, they are going to disappear, run away, and leave much of the work force unable to live the “American dream.” There was a time when the American dream included the opportunity for everyone to own their own home. That dream was based on having a steady job and a decent wage. It was dependent on people saving some of their income for a down payment. It was not dependent on federal government programs that put pressure on banks and mortgage lenders to make loans to people that ACORN had dragged in off the street. I would feel a lot better about Bernake’s announcement if Congress wasn’t right now getting ready to pass a piece of legislation that every single poll says the MAJORITY of Americans do not like and do not want. I speak of course of Obamacare. The same polls also suggest that the more Obama shows up on television giving speeches, being interviewed, and otherwise sucking all the air out of the room, the more a MAJORITY of Americans distrust and dislike him. Continue reading “Technically” We’re Out of a Recession September 16, 2009
On the evening of September 15, 2009, following a meeting at New York’s 30th Precinct, members of a community group hoping to work with the police to create Neighborhood Watches were stopped by two women as they handed out flyers about the Hamilton Heights rapist and informed that they knew the suspect and where he lived. Days before the police claimed they had DNA and a possible suspect in hand, these women went to the precinct to give this information to the authorities only to be sent away. They were trying to do their civic duty and the police ignored them. This is one reason some people in Harlem are hesitant to deal with the police. Continue reading The Hamilton Heights Rapist- A Test for Police and Community September 11, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: African-American, Democracy, Freedom, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Minorities, Social Classes, Social Issues
Leave a comment 2nd e-mail from the person that filed the complaint. As parents it is our responsibility to make sure our son is safe and doesn’t do thinks like pull down blinds. As responsible tenants it is our job to make sure that nothing in the apartment is damaged and if something becomes damaged during our tenancy, we of course know we will be financially responsible for all damages we incur. As the landlord of this property I’m sure you would write this financial responsibility in the lease. If you feel that the only reason you would not rent to us, is because of our young child, and the slight possibility that he might pull down your blinds I assure you there are plenty of ways of resolving this issue. One being that we would remove the blinds as we have done at our current residence and will put them back when we vacate the unit. If after reading this email you still feel that you can not risk the liability, I would appreciate and email letting me know that we are denied. Thank you. Excerpt from wife’s response to May 18, 2009 letter from “2nd Consultant of Fair Employment & Housing”. As (1st Consultant ) I talked to suggested, I attended and completed the Fair Housing training class (5/18). I was glad that I went. I learned that I don’t have to be afraid of coming forward with the truth regarding why I considered renting to other applicants. While I was showing (complainant) the unit, they allowed their son to play with the dials of the stove, turning on the gas, turning on the dish-washer and pulling on the nine foot-long blinds (not the cord as you wrote in your letter). I witnessed that the ( parents) didn’t discipline their child. (The father) played ball with his son. The ball was either a child-sized basketball, or a football. They threw the ball back and forth over the kitchen counter and the hanging light. I had a hard time keeping my smile up. I couldnt’ help but conclude that the (parents) were not responsible … Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 4 September 11, 2009
During the 19th century and (in some cases) for a few centuries before, the Great Powers (as they were known then) raped Africa – seized the land, seized the mineral wealth, seized the people, and had a fair go with any women left standing as well. Can we agree on that? No? It was all subject to the Law of Contract? Well, my history book tells me that the Law of Contract came with gunboats, administrators and hangings attached. What does yours say? I think we can call that ‘force majeure’. Let bygones by bygones? Yeah, well I tried that with Amex last week. “Mr. Hewtson le Roux, you have borrowed £6,000 from us and we want it back with 23% APR interest now!” “That’s all history,” I declared. “You cannot delve into the past forever.” Continue reading Reparations – let’s buy shares in Africa September 10, 2009
I have finally had enough of the bashing of our new president. Everyone has a right to like or dislike him protocol dictates that if you don’t respect the man respect the office. And you do not shout out in the middle of a Presidential speech “You’re a liar” no matter how much you dislike or distrust him. Continue reading Respect- He is the President September 4, 2009
Posted by dacipha in: Accountability, African-American, Attitude, Cancer, Diet, General Topics, Habit Change, Health & Fitness, Medical, Opinion, Uncategorized, Weight loss, Wellness
Leave a comment You must have heard the song, “Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down in a most delightful way!” I can clearly hear Julie Andrews sing this as ‘Mary Poppins’. But I want to tell you about something else that might not go down so delightful but it will act as a medicine going down! Do you know that a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar can help you live a longer life? In the age of plastic surgery this may be difficult to grasp. How can something so insignificant have an awesome effect on your life? Well give me the chance to explain. I was told a story by my fiancée that changed my entire belief about apple cider vinegar forever! One day my fiancée went to see his Ophthalmologist to purchase another pair of glasses. After his eye examination, the eye doctor asked him a question. He asked, “How old do you think I am?” My significant other replied, “You must be around 65.” The Ophthalmologist responded, “No, I am 80 years old. The secret is to have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar once a day.” My husband came home and told me the news immediately. He did his research and concluded that we should purchase some right away! Continue reading Just a Spoon full of……..Apple Cider Vinegar September 4, 2009
When you have been black as long as I have you work extremely hard at not looking at everything through “are they being racist” colored glasses. I could complain that previous First Lady’s were always addressed in the press by the formal title “Mrs.” while the current first lady is usually called Michelle Obama. I could say that insult has been added to over 400 years of injury just talking about her bare arms, her sweaters and her decision to wear shorts in public. Did anyone other First Lady get such scrutiny involving her wardrobe? But I twist my glasses to reflect a brighter future where things that are said are not meant to harm- racially. I say this because I am not not going to talk about Mrs. Obama’s hair. Continue reading Not About Mrs. Obama’s Hair September 3, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: African-American, Current Events, Democracy, Latino & Hispanic, Legal, Minorities, Politics, Social Aspects, Social Classes, Social Issues
Leave a comment The first e-mail that my wife wrote:
______________________________________________ The follow up letter to the phone conversation that was posted with PCGW #2 May 18, 2009 Dear Ms. (my wife): Pursuant to our conversation today I attempted to review with you the complainant and conciliating process. You informed me that because English is your second language you need to have our communications in writing. I am sending you this letter to (address). Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 3 August 28, 2009
Posted by dacipha in: African-American, Attitude, Habit Change, Inspiration & Motivation, Motivation, Opinion, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized
5 comments “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” – Claude M. Bristol Smooches, Ladies and Gentlemen! Today I would like to discuss affirmations. Just the fact that you are on this website means that you are seeking to improve your physical appearance. The truth, in fact is, in order to alter your physical form, a change must occur in your mind. I consider that a person’s appearance is merely a reflection of the true inner thoughts and feelings that one holds about himself. Therefore in reality, you are actually seeking to improve your complete person. Affirmations will be very important in your journey toward self development. These petite yet powerful statements are small in stature but mighty in battle. When I say battle, I refer to the mental conflict that we all experience. There may be times that you have a specific goal in mind but this does not mean that you truly believe that you can attain it. Affirmations serve as tools to speak perfect life into your mind. They can be the difference between living a life of fear and stagnancy or a life of promise and abundance. When affirmations are performed in repetition, these positive words begin to control the mind and replace the pessimistic thoughts. The more you utter affirmations in confidence of faith; you will actually begin to believe what you are declaring. And belief is the building block behind manifesting your dreams into your reality. Continue reading Talk To Yourself August 25, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: Accountability, African-American, China, Democracy, Freedom, Legal, Minorities, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, Uncategorized
One comment My wife grew up in China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution (it is estimated that thirty-eight million died because of Mao’s policies). When she was a teenager, she was sent to a labor camp. She arrived in the United States in 1984 at twenty-eight. At the time, she did not speak English. She learned enough to survive after several months. Her first language is Mandarin. If someone speaks English fast, she gets lost. Under pressure, her ability to translate breaks down. She translates (in her head) every word she hears. While attending college in Chicago and working several jobs over the years, she saved enough to invest for her retirement and bought one four-unit apartment building and one condominium. Today, she is an American citizen and she loved capitalism until recently. Now she has a bitter taste in her memory. Soon after escrow closed on the condominium, an incident took place when my wife first listed the unit so she could rent it. An African American couple came along with many other couples to see the condominium. When my wife didn’t rent to the African American couple, they sent her an e-mail wanting to know the reason why. Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 2 August 22, 2009
If there is honor among thieves then there is hubris among criminals of color in the community where I live. The distrust of ‘the man’ has created a situation for those more upwardly mobile of any color living in this racial and economically diverse area. It has come to light that those who know about criminal activity refuse to tell. Snitching, it seems, is worse than murder and is considered the ultimate betrayal of the black community, even when the community is asking for justice. A black comedian once commented that Martha Stewart and Lil Kim both went to jail because they refused to snitch. Of course it is more complicated than that but snitching is something that we all were told not to do when we were children. It was considered poor judgement to tattle as well as a character flaw. No one could trust a tattle tale with the intricate secrets of childhood. You know those important secrets that were part of growing up from how many cookies you stole from the jar to where you disappeared to when you should have been studying. Tattle tales were our least favorite people since most of them sucked up to the teachers and tried to get ahead of everyone else by flaunting their ability to know everyone’s business. Continue reading Snitching to Save a Community August 21, 2009
Posted by dacipha in: African-American, Attitude, Education, Family, Health & Fitness, Inspiration & Motivation, Latino & Hispanic, Mental Health, Nutrition, Uncategorized, Weight loss, Wellness, Women's Perspective, Working Women
Leave a comment Smooches, my beautiful ladies! Please understand that I am not the fitness connoisseur. I speak as a concerned woman. This article is to encourage you to be the beautiful woman that God has called you to be. My desire is for you to be emotionally, mentally, spiritually, socially, physically and financially whole. It is very important for women to focus on their health. I am exasperated with the obesity issue that is sweeping the nation. It sickens me. I honestly do not want my fabulous sisters facing high risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension and strokes. I would have it that you all will prosper as your soul prospers. To be quite frank with you, your physical appearance is a reflection of your mental condition. Please do not misunderstand this statement. I am not saying that you must wear a size two! I am not proclaiming that being skinny is superior and that being an awesome size ten is sub standard or second rate. You can be marvelous regardless of your body form or figure. The essential detail is that you are a healthy size two, eight or even fourteen. My main focus is that we learn how to take care of ourselves just as well as our children, husbands and families. We are very important too. I have learned that if I am ‘no good’, my children and significant other is at a total disadvantage as well. Your well being is more important than a job, business or situation. You are the most important being in your life and your health should be top priority. Continue reading Get In Shape, Girl August 18, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: African-American, Democracy, Education, Freedom, Governance, Latino & Hispanic, Minorities, Morality, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues
Leave a comment Each post will be less than 700 words. During America’s Civil Rights era, laws were enacted with the intent to correct wrongs in America. I strongly agree that it was wrong to segregate schools and provide an education for people of color inferior to the education offered to whites. It was wrong to make people walk in the gutters because the sidewalks were reserved for whites. It was wrong to have one bathroom for people of color and another for whites. It was wrong to deny someone the right to a job due to color or religion. It was wrong to deny someone the right to rent or buy a house or apartment because of race or religion. It is still wrong for violent, racist groups like the KKK and white supremacists to terrorize and victimize anyone they do not approve of. To fix those wrongs, government organizations were created to enforce these new laws. Today, most people are terrified to publicly express honest opinions about topics that fall under political correctness and what has gone wrong with the complex system designed to correct those inequalities. Since this column is going to cross that line, there is a strong chance I will be criticized for what I write. There may be incidences where what I write will be taken out of context. Because I am white, I may be the wrong person to write this column. After all, to many, I’m already guilty due to my skin color. It doesn’t matter that my father was a second generation American and my grandfather was born on the boat inside the three-mile limit. It does not matter that my mother’s ancestors arrived with the Pilgrims and started out in the New England states as indentured servants. Continue reading Political Correctness Gone Wrong # 1 August 14, 2009
Posted by D. Alexander Holiday in: African-American, Creative Writing, Minorities, Poetry, Social Issues
Leave a comment This is my personal take on the incident involving a certain professor Henry Louis Gates and officer James Crowley (et. al.) and whether this was truly a racial profiling incident. Personaly, I think Gates was looking for some attention and he got just that, with even the President weighing in on this, and then the Beer Summit…. [...] August 2, 2009
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: African-American, Attitude, Communications, Current Events, Democracy, Freedom, Journalism, Morality, Motivation, Opinion, Politics, Republican
3 comments Last Friday, I drove to the airport and on that drive, I listened to a discussion on this topic. After I heard all the “facts” in detail, clearly, this issue is racial and driven by a political agenda from the idealistic, far right that cannot stand anybody that does not believe as they do. It was mentioned that Obama provided a copy of his birth certificate to CNN before the election, and experts verified it was real. Another search found birth notices in the archives of two newspapers in Hawaii. In addition, the governor of Hawaii, a Republican, said that there is no doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii. Yet, this issue will not die just like the “Swift boat Veterans for Truth”, or whatever they called themselves, didn’t die as they took facts about Kerry’s life and smeared them all over the place casting doubt on his honesty and courage. Just because Kerry received minor flesh wounds does not make him a coward. It sounds like I have changed topic, but both are related because both show how political agendas turn lies into truth in the public arena of misinformation designed to influence opinions and votes. Even if Obama printed a hundred million copies of the original birth certificate and mailed them out, those that want to believe he is not a citizen and shouldn’t be in the White House will still believe. Nothing will change their minds. Even if someone took those people by the ear and led them to the evidence, they would claim it was forged. Even if nonbiased experts said they examined the birth notices in newspapers, the records in the hospital and the birth certificates and found all to be valid (which they have), there would be doubts because that is the goal as another election looms. There are racist, far right conservative idealists out there that would not admit the truth if they were in that operating room the day Obama was born. In addition, even if Obama was born in another country, his mother was an American citizen and at that time, that automatically made him an American citizen because that was the law. Continue reading Where’s Obama’s Birth Certificate August 2, 2009
There are still people out there who do not beleive that racism still exists. I have lots to say to them but not today. Today perhaps they should watch HBO’s Prom Night in Mississippi.This is a special about a town in Mississippi where the actor Morgan Freeman resides and their sigular high school’s duel prom system. Since blacks were allowed to attend the high school in the 1970s there were always two proms- one for black students and one for whites. The school and the board of education apparently had nothing to do with the decision for the separate but equal socializing. Freeman thought this was stupid and went to the school and said he would pay for an integrated prom. This is the story in the documentary. Continue reading This Will Be Short July 29, 2009
Yes, I am a fan of Michael Jackson! And yes, I know that Michael was very controversial. But why can’t the world just let him rest in peace. The King of Pop has been gone for over a month and the news concerning his private endeavors has not decreased! I understand that the authorities are July 24, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Accountability, African-American, Current Events, Minorities, Opinion, Social Issues
Leave a comment President Obama and the “stupid” police by William Hazelgrove Police are in an uproar. The President called them stupid. Was it stupid for the cop to arrest the black I was pulled over for a broken headlight one night. I told the cop he was wasting his time because it had a short and no matter how many times I fixed the light it went out. He pulled me out of the car and accused me of drinking. He made me take a sobriety test. I was a sober as s judge but I knew that because I was driving an old car in an upscale neighborhood and had dared to talk back that I was at his mercy. He could make a DUI stick to the point where I would be out thousands of dollars. Ok. Was he stupid? No. He just went down the old car and guy who talks back must be a bad guy road. Continue reading President Obama and the “stupid” police July 24, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: African-American, Current Events, Minorities, Opinion, Social Issues
Leave a comment Guilty Until Proven Innocent–Our Police State Innocent until proven guilty is the way the system was set up. It was a direct reaction against the British who assumed the colonials were all guilty of something; sedition, treason, bad judgement in being a colonial, bad taste, not being of the upper class. So we created a judicial system that was designed to protect the citizen against an unfair ruling power that could just clap people in jail with the assumption of guilt. The courts know this very well, the problem in this country is someone forgot to tell the police.
So now we have Professor Gates. I couldn’t even imagine what being black is like in this country, but it is no surprise the cop arrested him with the suspicion he was up to no good. He was investigating a breaking and entering and knocked on the Professors door and demanded to see identification. “Why, because I’m a black man,” Gates responded. Now I can tell you now he was doomed. He had talked back to the almighty police. Once you do that you are done. We have all been there. They will find something to pin on you. Continue reading Guilty Until Proven Innocent–Our Police State
July 21, 2009
One of the reasons I take pleasure in writing here is the title: speak without interruption. You as the reader/viewer have the right not to read this, not to like this, and not to post a response. But I can write about a myriad of things that mean a great deal to me and at the top of the list is the black experience, what some like to call the African American experience. This is one of those posts where I remind you how far we have to go in making that experience something we all share with pride. And by all of us I mean everyone man woman and child of every color. Continue reading The Color of Race July 19, 2009
Most people do not think of Harlem, New York City, as a center of literary promise. Even those familiar with the Harlem Renaissance can not usually fathom it as a present day place rich in culture that contains any kind of literature. But Saturday was the street fair portion of the annual Harlem Book and for two long blocks the main theme was books. It was my second year sitting at the table with fellow members of the Harlem Writers Guild, the oldest black literary organization in the country. While we sold books written by members of the Guild we got to view and visit other tables to see the latest in what is affectionately called urban literature as well as books by up and coming poets, playwrights and authors. There were several tables that catered to children books some pure fiction, some on black history, each with phenomal art work. There were self help books- everything from how to get rid of him to how to eat correctly. And there were art books big and small. Almost everything by African American authors. Continue reading Harlem as Book Country July 3, 2009
There are things I remember about United States history because my parents pointed them out to me when I was old enough to notice there was something lacking in the experience of being an American for people of my hue. While politicians of color were few and far between when I was in high school in the 1960′s there was enough history of African Americans proudly doing for this country to make celebrating the Fourth of July worthwhile. This will be our first fourth with a president of color in the Oval Office. It will be another piece of history to add to my independence. I am not about to extol the African Americans who came before me, this is not that kind of history lesson. From Cripus Attachs to Dorie Miller, from Sojourner Truth to the mother of Emmett Till the road to freedom has been laid by more greats of color than these few. If you know a fraction of the history of this country you should know these names. I want to speak from where I sit.as an African American woman. And I sit proudly. Continue reading Independence Day from Where I Sit June 26, 2009
He’s not there. Thats all we know. Rehearsing for the 50 shows he was going to do in London he worked himself probably to death. Cardiac arrest took away the self proclaimed King of Pop. You want to cry because he’s gone but you also want to cry because his life was so sad and so strange. We don’t expect our icons to die so young, and 50 is young. We don’t know what caused it but he’s gone and forever at peace. He left us behind. But then he left us the music. Continue reading Remembering the Music of Michael Jackson |
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when they become very rich–they buy professional sport teams. So he has the right. Absolutely. As Bill O’Reilly said on his show last night, he has right to buy any team he wants and it is unAmerican to tell him he can’t. Ok. But the NFL also has the right to say no.
professor from Harvard in his home.? Probably not stupid just more of the same old same old. The police say this officer is stellar. He is fair. Maybe he is. Maybe he is a very good cop. But he went down the same old road of a black man is probably up to no good…even in his own home. This is what the President was saying…this is what the cops can’t admit.
The Great March
Tomorrow is the 47th Anniversary of the March on Washington. It is a significant date in the history of this country, August 28, 1963. Never before had so many American people, 300,000 or more, gathered in one place to lift in one voice of shared concern for “jobs, and freedom”, and equality for all Americans. Others have tried to duplicate the event and its success but this political rally organized by civil rights, labor, and religious organizations calling on all Americans in support of civil and economic rights for African-Americans, that took place in Washington, D.C, were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial would come to be known as “The Great March on Washington“.
At 6:30 the morning of August 28, 1963 my grandfather in Pennsylvania and my parents in New York City boarded two buses both bound for Washington in the District of Columbia. All three of them were journalist; all three were Americans of African decent; all three held great expectation, pride and there was a jubilant hope in their hearts. Continue reading The Great March