In late September during a Sunday afternoon speech at the Edward Kennedy Institute in Boston, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demonstrated that not all elected White lawmakers are deaf, dumb and blind to what Black folk have been trying to say to them before and especially since the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo.
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Music Center accepting arts education scholarship applications
Southern California high school students interested in the performing arts can apply to be part of the 28th annual Spotlight arts education and scholarship program. The deadline to submit an application is Oct. 19.
Posted inPractical Politics
The politics of copyright infringement redux
Ever wonder what ultimately happened in the “Blurred Lines” copyright infringement lawsuit after the eight-person jury unanimously voted that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke infringed on the Gaye family’s copyright for Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit, “Got to Give it Up?” Well, plenty.
Posted inPractical Politics
Practical Politics
The Black Lives Matter Movement has most recently been in the news confronting 2016 presidential candidates about their political stances and on whether these candidates can understand what the phrase “Black Lives Matter” even means. The movement has been media-savvy so far.
Posted inCounting the Cost
No due process for ‘standing while Black’
Is Patrick Lynch, president of the New York Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, (PBA), obliged to defend his members even when they are wrong? The open letter posted on the PBA website and printed in the New York Daily News lacks credibility and contributes to the fractured state of police-community relations. He has cautioned the media, and others, about rushing to judgment of James Frascatore, the walking assault machine that tackled former tennis star James Blake, put his knee to Blake’s back, and then cuffed him. This was captured by a security camera; the footage is ubiquitous online. Lynch says, “No one should ever jump to an uninformed conclusion based on a few seconds of video.”
Posted inPractical Politics
The politics of Pan African education in the 21st century
Colonial education in Africa was fundamentally aimed at teaching Africans that Europeans were superior in everything, and that the purpose of African life was to follow whatever Europeans said and go wherever they led. Africans were to stay divided and quarreling among themselves, and the only unity they were to achieve was in their agreement to allow Europeans to do whatever they wanted in Africa and to Africans. Colonial education was aimed at teaching Africans to stay dependent on White outsiders.
Posted inCounting the Cost
Another government shutdown?
Congress must approve a budget by Oct. 1, or our government will shut down. That means that people will not be paid and technically, government departments will cease to operate. Social Security payments, veterans’ benefits, and more will cease to be paid. Literally, government will shut down.
Posted inPractical Politics
The politics of early evaluation
Okay, President Barack Obama has committed himself to do an adventure episode with Bear Grylls. Hmmm. It will certainly show the strength he still has left in his presidency after the kitchen sink has been thrown at him these last seven-plus years.
Posted inCounting the Cost
‘Angry Black’ gunmen
Alison Parker, a rookie news reporter at WDJB, the Roanoke, Va., CBS affiliate, had turned 24 just days before she was murdered on Aug. 26. Her work partner, cameraman Adam Ward, was about to move to Charlotte, N.C., because his fiancé, a producer at WDJB, had a new job.
Posted inPractical Politics
Practical Politics
At first glance, the Iran nuclear deal appears to be another “other people’s problem” issue that does not relate to the everyday “bread-and-butter” concerns of the nationwide Black community. It’s not about another negative police relationship in which the police-as-warriors conflicts with the police-as-guardians. It’s not even about Cuba, or immigration (which both affect the Black community) or Obamacare. No, it doesn’t at first appear to be all that important to the Black community.
