Keepingitreal

Malcolm X and Black Women: Struggling For Closure

EXCERPT FROM CLUTCH MAGAZINE.COM ~ Known at his death primarily to the laity as a fastball (fiery) elocutionist with Black Nationalist intentions, Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925) has come to be favored in recent years as a lover of justice and a martyr for human rights. From Chuck D to Spike Lee to the Joe on the street, the rejuvenation of Malcolm as a Black history deity has been propelled to the head of Black freedom fighter lore. In this regard, it turns out that “demagogue” and “race-baiter” were only footnotes in Malcolm’s legacy.Much is known about his peripatetic and felonious past, his recovery in the penitentiary, his autodidactic ways, his conversion to Islam under Elijah Muhammad, and his subsequent re-conversion from a separatist exclusionary to an ecumenical inclusive fighter for human rights. He discovered that the fight for black rights is indeed a human rights fight as well. But perhaps the most understated matter of Malcolm’s legacy was his renunciation of his entrenched sexist attitudes toward women.Sexist attitudes were already pervasive in this era (feminist movement didn’t come until the seventies), but the Nation of Islam was no exception. Despite its claim of deviation from mainstream Christianity practice, the NOI subjugated its women into capes and minimal activity within their sect, with Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm (being the Nation’s most promulgated face) heading the charge. In his book, Message to the Black Man in America, Muhammad wrote that women should be kept off the street because “they are given to evil and sin, while men are noble and given to righteousness.” As to be expected at the time, Malcolm’s notions were not too far behind. CONTINUE READING...

Blacks At Odds Over Scrutiny Of President

Jeff Johnson knows how to make his audiences squirm. The young, black radio and TV political commentator waits for the discussion to turn to the topic being talked about ceaselessly, incessantly, ad nauseam: the meaning of the barrier-breaking election of Barack Obama.  Then, in his laid-back style, he says, "The real issue for me is that history is not enough." That's when the mood becomes tense.  "Black folks, in particular, get irritated," says Johnson, who travels the lecture circuit, hosts a half-hour show on Black Entertainment Television and has a weekly spot for social criticism on a radio program popular with black listeners. Get past "Obama the personality" and see "Obama the president," he says. "Otherwise all you're being is a political-celebrity groupie instead of a citizen. . . . It starts with acknowledging he's my president, and not my homie."  As the nation's first black president settles into the office, a division is deepening between two groups of African Americans: those who want to continue to praise Obama and his historic ascendancy, and those who want to examine him more critically now that the election is over.  Johnson is one of a growing number of black academics, commentators and authors determined to press Obama on issues such as the elimination of racial profiling and the double-digit unemployment rate among blacks. But doing so has put them at odds with others in the black community. Love for the Obamas is thick among African Americans -- 91 percent of whom view the president favorably, compared with 59 percent of the total population, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted last month -- and as a result, the African American punditry finds itself navigating new ground. CONTINUE READING

Black Outside of America

By Natalie Nichols ~ Serena Williams, Oprah, and many other stars have started charities and foundations focused on strengthening Africa. For this, many African-Americans have spit sharp criticism that major celebs would donate their funds to organizations outside of America when there are so many needy children within our nation’s borders. The most common notion is Africa is the richest continent with the poorest people. Nothing could be more true. Most African nations, especially those who fought for liberation from European countries who imposed centuries of colonization, have very unstable governments. Instead of Europeans reaping the benefits of Africa’s mineral rich lands, national governments are capitalizing and refusing to reinvest the profits in education, infrastructure and other modern means of creating safety and economic empowerment for citizens. Darfur is a prime example as the entire conflict began with the support of the Sudanese government, whom to this day continue to support tribal groups purporting attacks on ethnic farmers. It is no secret that women in Darfur are being raped, sometimes having their legs broken so they cannot escape; that this happens to women younger than twelve. In quite a few African societies, women experience many forms of cultural, legal, political, economic, religious and social discrimination. These women have no path toward legal recourse they can exercise; many of them take such secrets to their grave as they risk being disowned by their husbands if the crime is ever made public. According to popline.org, 22% of Kenyan women aged 15-19 years are HIV positive and only six percent of young boys are infected in the same age group. These women are blamed for their disease as a result of sexual promiscuity even though it has been widely established that more than 50 percent of women contract HIV/AIDS from husbands or their only boyfriends. Kenyan women do not have insurance, free clinics, AIDS or HIV education, medication, or basic information on how to manage their disease. Meanwhile this disease eats them alive, as they die alone since most are ostracized from their communities once they become infected.CONTINUE READING...

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Gamma Xi Zeta Chapter, "Celebrating Our Silent Heroes

Westchester County, NY (BlackNews.com) - Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Gamma Xi Zeta Chapter invites you to join us in celebrating our silent heroes and the chapter's 46th Annual Finer Womanhood Scholarship Brunch on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at the V.I.P Country Club, New Rochelle, New York.This year's theme, "Celebrating Our Silent Heroes" speaks to those who have gone ahead of us after paving the way for a future filled with possibility and hope. Their now silent voices are heard through spirit and provide strength to those who believe in the power of unity that can affect real lasting change. We also celebrate those silent heroes who remain with us, but whom have chosen to have a gentle and quiet, yet powerful impact on the world. Gamma Xi Zeta will recognize honorees Mr. Samuel Granby Jr. and Mrs. Ayris Evans Granby of Granby's Funeral Service, Inc., in recognition of their outstanding and continued community service. This year's Zeta of the Year is Ms. Jacqueline Beverly, immediate Past President of the Westchester Pan-Hellenic Council. Gamma Xi Zeta will award over $4,000 for various scholarships, including the Elise Crawford Scholarship and the Mae D. Granby Scholarships, as well as Book Awards to high school graduating students in Westchester County. These students are the future of this world and have worked tirelessly to attain success through their academic and personal achievements. Our goal is to assist them in their journey. Live DJ entertainment adds to the ambiance of the afternoon by celebrating the great shoulders we've stood on and continue to stand on. Prizes and raffles will close an afternoon of good food, good fun and celebration of those we hold dear--past, present and future. The Luncheon will begin at 11:30 AM with a cocktail hour and brunch commencing promptly at 12:30 PM. The V.I.P Country Club is located at 600 Davenport Avenue in New Rochelle. For further information, contact chapter president, Ms. Nadia Matthie at nmatthie@optonline.net or Ms. Pittershawn Palmer at ppalmer@zphibgammaxizeta.org.

Racism comes out of the shadows in Texas town

Ten days into a new American era, 100 white and black citizens of this polarized east Texas town tried their hand at the kind of racial reconciliation heralded by the inauguration of President Obama, gathering for a frank community talk on the long-taboo topic of race.Things didn't go so well.The black speakers at last week's meeting, led by two conciliation specialists from the Justice Department, mostly talked about incidents of discrimination, prejudice and unfairness they said they routinely suffered in Paris.Their white listeners mostly glared back, their arms crossed.The four-hour session ended with some participants screaming about the presence of three police cars outside the meeting hall and who had ordered them and why."We are not going to end on a note like that!" said Carmelita Pope-Freeman, the regional director of the Justice Department's community relations service. "I'm getting tired of it!"
Yet the mayor of the town, which became a national focus after the Chicago Tribune revealed several cases of alleged racial injustice in recent years, pronounced himself optimistic.At least, he said, black and white citizens were talking to each other -- something that rarely happened before."Every city should have a dialogue like this," said Mayor Jesse James Freelen, whose town of 26,000 is 68% white and 22% black. "We didn't like all the negative publicity about our town. . . . But if the end result is that our community grows together, then it will all have been worth it."First, the community had to vent, which was the purpose of the meeting. It was an early stage of a mediation program that the Justice Department has offered to other troubled towns -- in an echo of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- to help close deep racial fissures."I'm here to talk about racism. I don't see any sense in playing games, pretending it doesn't exist," said Brenda Cherry, the African American leader of a local civil rights group. "When you go in the schools and see mostly black kids sitting in detention, it's racism. In court, we get high bonds, we get longer sentences. If that's not racism, what is it?"Jason Rogers, the youth pastor of a local black church, reminded the audience of the monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers that sits on the front lawn of the county courthouse."When I take my 5-year-old son up to the courthouse and he says, 'Daddy, what's that?' the history I'm going to tell him is that those people fought to keep me a slave," Rogers said, as black members of the audience nodded in agreement. "It bothers my family that there's a large Confederate soldier outside the courthouse. I don't see the difference between a Confederate soldier and a Nazi soldier."Paris' bloody racial history hung over the meeting like a toxic cloud. The gathering was held in a hall at the Paris Fairgrounds, the precise spot where, a century ago, thousands of white citizens gathered to cheer the ritualized lynchings of blacks, chaining them to a flagpole or lashing them to a scaffold before tearing them to pieces and setting them on fire.But memories of more recent black victims also filled the room as Paris resident Jacqueline McClelland approached the microphone. CONTINUE READING...

Will Obama have to be better because he's black?

(CNN) -- Just days before he was sworn in, President Obama was giving his daughters a tour of the Lincoln Memorial when one of them pointed to a copy of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address carved into the wall. Obama's 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, told her father that Lincoln's speech was really long. Would he have to give a speech as long? Obama's answer was completed by his older daughter, 10-year-old Malia. "I said, 'Actually, that one is pretty short. Mine may even be a little longer,' " Obama told CNN recently. "At which point, Malia turns to me and says, 'First African-American president, better be good.' "The story is light-hearted, but it touches on a delicate question: Will people hold Obama to a different standard because he is the first African-American president? Americans appear split by race on that answer. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, 53 percent of blacks say the American public will hold Obama to a higher standard than past presidents because he is black. Most whites -- 61 percent -- say Obama's race will not matter in how he will be judged. The question divided several people who were racial pioneers themselves. Alexander Jefferson was one of the first blacks allowed to become a fighter pilot. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who escorted bombers in World War II. "We had to be twice as good to be average," he says. Obama won't face the same pressures he did because his presidential predecessor was so inept, Jefferson says. "No, the world is ready for him," he says. "The [George W.] Bush debacle was so depressing." Jefferson was shot down by ground fire on his 19th mission and spent a year in German prison camps. He wrote about his POW experiences in "Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW." Jefferson says he dealt with the pressures of being a racial pioneer by drawing on the strength of black leaders who opened doors for him. CONTINUE READING...

From King to Obama: Words of the past set the stage for the present

The U.S. presidential inauguration has been held at noon Eastern Time on Jan. 20 since 1937. So it's a mere calendar-related coincidence that Martin Luther King Jr. Day, observed the third Monday in January, directly precedes the historic induction into office of the nation's first black president. Yet some consider the juxtaposition much more than chance, rather viewing it as an auspicious convergence — the message from the past at least partially manifested in 21st-century reality. "Without a Martin Luther King, I don't believe we would have a Barack Obama," said Bob Jackson, bishop of Acts Full Gospel Church in East Oakland. "From (King's) message of nonviolent protest and speaking out against injustice, to the message of Obama as being able to accomplish something many of us thought was impossible — it's all connected, and now Obama is taking it further down the road." "It's an extremely happy coincidence that these days fall together," said Robert Brem, professor of politics and psychology at the College of Alameda, where a special daylong event called, "From 'I Have a Dream' to 'Yes We Can,' " will be held Tuesday, with viewing screens set up on campus for the inauguration. "It represents, regardless of what kind of presidency Obama has — after all, he is just a man — that his election really is the punctuation point of King's dream, of his words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when he spoke of the "It's a completion of what I consider to be stage two of the dream — moving into the cosmopolitan era. What's really interesting about Obama is that he's not only a person of color, but of multiple ethnicities. The entire world sees him as their president. Most previous presidents have run on that classic Americana position of 'us and them.' But with Obama, it's just 'us.' His election represents a moment when the American dream itself can be rebooted."As to what we do from here remains to be seen," Brem said.Indeed, many say the dream is far from realized, and that activists should not rest on Obama's laurels."My concern is that, yes, Obama was elected — which is a landmark, of course — but it's not a time to stop," said Cristina Azocar, director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State."I'm worried that people will see an African-American as president and they'll say, 'Oh, there's no more racism now. We don't need programs like affirmative action anymore. We have achieved diversity, and we can just stop the work.'Declaration of Independence as being a promissory note which had yet to be made," Brem said. CONTINUE READING...

Death, drugs tarnish Motown's legacy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Some time during the 1970s, Marvin Gaye reflected on his turbulent career in an obscure tune called "Dream of a Lifetime.""I thank God for my wonderful life," sang the Motown Records enfant terrible. "I've had my ups and downs, but I thank God."Gaye's life ended violently in 1984. His father, a former preacher, shot him dead during a domestic dispute the day before the singer turned 45.As Motown celebrates its 50th anniversary throughout 2009, the record label and music fans will no doubt focus on the upbeat songs and fresh-faced performers who brought joy to millions of people around the world.Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder have become legends in their own lifetimes, but fortune was not as kind to other artists and composers who toiled in the spartan studio at "Hitsville U.S.A." near downtown Detroit.Drugs, poverty, suicide and murder claimed many Motown figures. Gaye, a tortured soul whose stardom was marked by drugs, divorce, label disputes and bankruptcy, is probably the highest-profile casualty.A year before Gaye was killed, virtuoso bass player James Jamerson died in obscurity. A raging alcoholic who played on Gaye's landmark 1971 album "What's Going On," Jamerson has since been deified by aficionados.SUICIDE IN CAR:Others remain less well known. Roger Penzabene, the co-writer of the Temptations' mournful masterpiece "I Wish It Would Rain," committed suicide in 1967. Hard-partying drummer Benny Benjamin, the backbeat of the Motown sound, was silenced by a stroke in 1969 after battling drugs and alcohol. Temptations co-founder Paul Williams, the heart of the group and lead singer on "Don't Look Back," turned to alcohol and was eventually unable to perform. Two years after quitting, he shot himself dead in 1973, while sitting in a car parked two blocks from Motown. Another troubled former Temptation David Ruffin, who sang lead on "My Girl," died of a drug overdose in 1991. Early Motown star Mary Wells of "My Guy" fame died the following year of throat cancer. She endured poverty in her dying days, as did former Supreme Florence Ballard, who succumbed to a coronary thrombosis in 1976. Of course, most labels have a lengthy list of casualties, and creative people do have their frailties. But Motown, initially at least, treated its artists like family, taking care of all their personal and professional needs. Yet it also was run like an auto assembly line, with heavy pressure on everyone to keep churning out hits and to tour relentlessly. "Those who drank or did drugs became alcoholics and addicts because of the stress of the road," said Billy J. Wilson, head of the Detroit-based Motown Alumni Association. "They become depressed, and the depression was based around the environment of the entertainment business." Some evidently thrived, like the Four Tops, whose lineup remained unchanged until 1997. But others had existing conditions exacerbated by the demands of stardom. CONTINUE READING....

New Data Exposes Racial Discrimination in Advertising Industry

In exhaustive new study of America’s advertising industry released today has found dramatic levels of racial discrimination throughout the industry. Bias against African-American professionals was found in pay, hiring, promotions, assignments, and other areas. The study was initiated by a coalition of legal, civil rights, and industry leaders who created the Madison Avenue Project. The Project was created in 2008 to address advertising’s deep-rooted racial bias and today, Cyrus Mehri, Project leader and prominent civil rights lawyer, called the findings “absolutely astonishing in this day and age.” Angela Ciccolo of the NAACP, another Project partner, commented that “the time has come to stand up to change this industry.” Overall, the findings reveal that racial discrimination is 38% worse in the advertising industry than in the overall U.S. labor market, and that the “discrimination divide” between advertising and other U.S. industries is more than twice as bad now as it was 30 years ago.

The NAACP, another Project partner, commented that "the time has come to stand up to change this industry."Overall, the findings reveal that racial discrimination is 38% worse in the advertising industry than in the overall U.S. labor market, and that the "discrimination divide" between advertising and other U.S. industries is more than twice as bad now as it was 30 years ago.

Specific findings include:

• Black college graduates working in advertising earn $80  for every dollar earned by their equally-qualified White counterparts; Based on national demographic data, 9.6% of advertising managers and professionals should be African-Americans. The actual percentage in 2008 is 5.3%,  representing a difference of 7,200 executive-level jobs;
• About 16% of large advertising firms employ no black managers or professionals, a rate 60% higher than in the overall labor market;
• Black managers and professionals in the industry are only one-tenth as likely as their White counterparts to earn $100,000 a year
• Blacks are only 62% as likely as their White counterparts to work in the powerful "creative" and "client contact" functions in advertising agencies;
• Eliminating the industry's current Black-White employment gap would require tripling its Black managers and professionals.

Though employment discrimination has sharply diminished in America in the last 40 years, systemic barriers to equality in the $31 billion a year advertising industry have not budged. In 1978, for example, the New York City Human Rights Commission found that limited minority employment "was not simply the result of neutral forces, but emanated directly from discriminatory practices." Those practices continue today. The study found the primary source of discrimination to be agencies' implicit assumption that the cause of Black under-representation is a shortage of "qualified" Black job seekers. In reality, the problem is not a shortage but a "persistent unwillingness by mainstream advertising agencies to hire, assign, advance, and retain already-available Black talent." Moreover, the study found, the industry's response to long-running charges of discrimination has consisted of "token efforts. The industry's primary response has been extremely modest expansions in training and entry-level hiring." At today's rate of progress, Black numbers among advertising managers and professionals will not reach their expected level for another 71 years. An appropriate response, the study concluded, "will require fundamentally transforming the workplace culture of general market advertising agencies." Specifically, agencies must root out the stereotypes that make race, not ability, determine employment potential; halt the "buddy system," in which personal relationships and social comfort often count for more than job performance; and eliminate the assumptions that racial minorities can't succeed in non-ethnic markets. The Madison Avenue Project is led by the NAACP and attorney Cyrus Mehri , of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC, who has won several multi-million dollar discrimination settlements against such corporations as The Coca-Cola Company, Morgan Stanley and Texaco Inc.; with the cooperation of Sanford Moore , a former advertising executive, current New York City  talk radio co-host, and longtime advocate for racial parity in advertising. "Today we are sending a message to the advertising industry: this conduct is unacceptable and must change," Mehri said today. "I have witnessed first-hand the mendacity and machinations that have kept African-Americans invisible on and to Madison Avenue for over four decades," Moore said. "Madison Avenue has created and perpetuated a 'separate and unequal' marketing paradigm which is reflected in their advertising, their workforce and among their executive ranks. Even though our dollars provide the profits, the industry is still afraid of the dark." Angela Ciccolo announced, on behalf of the NAACP, that "we are going to circulate the report not just to our units to inform our members, but also to Fortune 100 companies to urge them to stop aiding and abetting widespread discrimination by this industry." The study, entitled "Research Perspectives on Race and Employment in the Advertising Industry," was conducted by a leading research firm, Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants. The complete study can be found at www.findjustice.com (Mehri & Skalet), www.naacp.org (NAACP), and www.bendickegan.com (Bendick and Egan).

Obama Makes Call For Service On MLK Day

FROM BLACK VOICES.COM -- President-elect Barack Obama is encouraging all of his supporters and all Americans to celebrate the inauguration by getting involved in a community service project on January 19th, Martin Luther King Day. And the Obama transition team is reaching into its digital bag of tricks to get the word out:

While presidents past have used Jan. 19 to show by example how helping the poor is good for the country, Obama is using the eve of his inauguration to rally millions of Americans to community service as an antidote to the recession.

In the coming days, Obama's inaugural committee will launch a Web site to link volunteers with service projects in their neighborhoods. The new Web site will incorporate similar work already begun by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency overseeing 7,000 service programs - including AmeriCorps, given the directive by Congress in 1994 to turn Martin Luther King Day into a national day of service.

"President-elect Obama hopes to summon a new spirit of service and call on Americans to make a more enduring and active commitment to our communities throughout the year, because it is a critical time for America to come together to tackle the common challenges we face," said inaugural spokeswoman Shannon Gilson. Source

To be honest, I didn't know that congress had designated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a day of service. One visit to the MLKday.gov page will give you the resources you'll need to get involved in projects in your community. From the site:

How to Serve: There are many ways to find service opportunities in your community on the King holiday and throughout the year.
Volunteer on the Day of Service

If you're looking for opportunities to serve on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, click here to browse a list of MLK Day service projects that have registered with us.

* Click here to find a MLK Day opportunity

Bearing witness to the inaugural of a lifetime

(11-19) 16:58 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- When Barack Obama becomes the 44th president in January, millions will watch the swearing-in of the first African American, the first tail-end Baby Boomer and the first candidate too young to have served in Vietnam take the oath of office.To say it will be historic is putting it mildly, at least where Charles Ward is concerned.For many African Americans, like Ward, Obama's victory is possibly the most important event of their lives."It's comparable to the abolition of slavery, the right of women to vote, the various occurrences during the modern-day civil rights movement and landing on the moon," said Ward, 62, director of development at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.His is one perspective among Bay Area residents, from high-profile Democratic Party donors to Gen X hipsters and high school students, who will attend the inauguration in person, crowds be damned. Travelers have contacted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Bay Area and East Coast offices to have their names placed on her list and have done the same at the offices of red state congressional representatives. There's no guarantee they will get tickets, but even if they don't, they say they intend to take to the streets for the patriotic Mardi Gras sure to ensue."If you'd asked a black person back in the 1960s what would be the greater possibility, landing on the moon or an African American being president, landing on the moon would have won by a mile," Ward said. "If you had asked them today, are we going to fly to Mars and settle the planet or have an African American president, everybody would have gone to Mars and be living there. That's how remote a possibility it seemed to African Americans."Ward's wife, Cheryl, and their son, Che Hashim, also will attend. Hashim, 28, a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco, had never been involved in politics before Obama. Obama, he said, inspired participation with his message and his use of social networking in the campaign. Hashim is part owner of a San Francisco nightclub and hosted fundraisers there for Obama and Kevin Johnson, the former UC Berkeley and NBA basketball star and new mayor of Sacramento. Hashim used Facebook to invite people. Hashim's emotions are running high. "The only way I can explain it is this way: It's as if every city I've ever wanted to be in, or play for a sports team in, won the Super Bowl and the NBA finals at the same time," he said. "It's like the exuberance of a championship celebration. Usually, you root but the team plays and you don't have an effect on the outcome. This is a game we all played together, and we all hugged as we came off the court." Burlingame attorney Joe Cotchett, one of the nation's leading trial lawyers and a top Democratic fundraiser, will attend with five friends. His firm, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, sent 20 paralegals and young lawyers to canvass for Obama in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. "This is truly a transformational year not only for this administration but for the country, and you want to be part of it," said Cotchett, 69. "It's similar to the air when Kennedy became president. Teddy Kennedy summed it up when he endorsed Obama by saying 'The dream lives on and will continue forever.' I think the dream died when John Kennedy was shot, and one of the reasons that Obama was elected was because he radiated to many people the dream that there could be a country that was fair to everyone." Kate Goldstein-Breyer, a 29-year-old freelance publicist, had never been involved in a presidential campaign but volunteered to canvass for Obama in the rural town of Espanola, an hour outside Santa Fe, N.M., with her boyfriend. "I felt so good about Obama and so bad about this country that it was like I couldn't help but to get involved," said Goldstein-Breyer, who is going to the inaugural with her boyfriend. "With that victory, I actually feel like I'm part of America. The idea of going to this huge celebration with people who feel that way, too, feels right to me."Obama's star quality is a draw for her and other Gen Xers. Obama was on the cover of Ebony's August issue in suit and sunglasses, with the headline, "The 25 Coolest Brothers of all Time - Black Cool." Goldstein-Breyer and her friends still like to pore over the Flickr Web site photo album of election night in Obama's hotel suite as the votes came in. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Going Beyond Skin-Deep With the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’

Most people know Hill Harper as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, the prodigious and contemplative chief medical examiner on the popular television drama CSI: NY.

What most people don’t know is that the 38-year-old actor, deemed one of People magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2004, is something of a prodigy himself.

Born in Iowa, raised in Northern California and now living in Laurel Canyon, Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown University. He went on to simultaneously earn a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a graduate degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Still, from college on he was engaged in acting as a member of the Boston Black Folk’s Theatre Co., one the nation’s oldest and most respected African American traveling theatre troupes. And he is an accomplished actor with an impressive list of credits in film and television shows such as He Got Game, Lackawanna Blues, ER, NYPD Blue and Married…With Children, No matter how busy his career, Harper makes time for another profound passion: service to organizations that encourage the education of young people and foster their development. In 2006 Harper published his first book, Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny, modeled after Rilke’s classic Letters to a Young Poet. A motivational book designed to inspire and mentor young African American men, Harper’s Letters debuted at No. 6 on the New York Times best-seller list in the self-help/miscellaneous category, rose to No. 7 on the Washington Post’s best-seller list and remains a top selling title on Amazon.com. In conjunction with the publication of Letters, Harper established MANifest Your Destiny, a foundation whose aim is to provide young African American men with the support, community and resources needed to rise to their fullest potential. Recently, Harper, who is single, spoke to RealTALK LA about his life, work and why he believes that giving back should not be seen as a responsibility, but rather as a privilege and a priority. CONTINUE READING..

Simply Beautiful

By Wil Haygood Reporting from Washington -- For more than three decades, Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land. He trekked home every night to his wife, Helene, who kept him out of her kitchen. At the White House, he worked closer to the dirty dishes than to the Oval Office. Helene didn't care; she just beamed with pride. President Truman called him Gene. President Ford liked to talk golf with him. He saw eight presidential administrations come and go, often working six days a week."I never missed a day of work," Allen said. He was there while racial history was made: Brown vs. Board of Education, the Little Rock school crisis, the 1963 March on Washington,  the cities burning, the civil rights bills, the assassinations. When he started at the White House in 1952, he couldn't even use the public restrooms when he ventured back to his native Virginia.  "We had never had anything," Allen, 89, recalled of black America at the time. "I was always hoping things would get better." In its long history, the White House -- note the name -- has had a complex and vexing relationship with black Americans. "The history is not so uneven at the lower level, in the kitchen," said Ted Sorensen, who served as counselor to President Kennedy. "In the kitchen, the folks have always been black. Even the folks at the door -- black." Before Gene Allen landed his White House job, he worked as a waiter at a resort in Hot Springs , Va. , and then at a country club in Washington. He and wife Helene, 86, were sitting in the living room of their Washington home. Her voice was musical, in a Lena Horne kind of way. She called him "Honey." They met at a birthday party in 1942. He was too shy to ask for her number, so she tracked his down. They married a year later. In 1952, a lady told him of a job opening in the White House. "I wasn't even looking for a job," he said. "I was happy where I was working, but she told me to go on over there and meet with a guy by the name of Alonzo Fields."Fields was a maitre d', and he immediately liked Allen. Allen was offered a job as a "pantry man." He washed dishes, stocked cabinets and shined silverware. He started at $2,400 a year. There was, in time, a promotion to butler. "Shook the hand of all the presidents I ever worked for," he said. "I was there, honey," Helene said. "In the back maybe. But I shook their hands too." She was referring to White House holiday parties, Easter egg hunts. They have one son, Charles, who works as an investigator with the State Department."President Ford's birthday and my birthday were on the same day," he said. "He'd have a birthday party at the White House. Everybody would be there. And Mrs. Ford would say, 'It's Gene's birthday too!' " And so they'd sing a little ditty to the butler.  And the butler, who wore a tuxedo to work every day, would blush."Jack Kennedy was very nice," he went on. "And so was Mrs. Kennedy."He was in the White House kitchen the day Kennedy was slain. He got an invitation to the funeral. But he volunteered for other duty:"Somebody had to be at the White House to serve everyone after they came from the funeral."The whole family of President Carter made Helene chuckle: "They were country. And I'm talking Lillian and Rosalynn both." It came out as the highest compliment. First Lady Nancy Reagan came looking for him in the kitchen one day. She wanted to remind him about the upcoming state  dinner for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. She told him he would not be working that night. "She said, 'You and Helene are coming to the state dinner as guests of President Reagan and myself. ' I'm telling you! I believe I'm the only butler to get invited to a state dinner."Husbands and wives don't sit together at these events, and Helene was nervous about trying to make small talk with world leaders. "And my son said, 'Momma, just talk about your high school. They won't know the difference.' "The senators were all talking about the colleges and universities that they went to," she said. "I was doing as much talking as they were."Had champagne that night," she said, looking over at her husband.He just grinned: He was the man who stacked the champagne at the White House. Colin L. Powell would become the highest ranking black of any White House to that point when he was named Reagan's national security advisor in 1987. Condoleezza Rice would have that position under President George W. Bush.Gene Allen was promoted to maitre d' in 1980. He left the White House in 1986, after 34 years. President Reagan wrote him a sweet note. Nancy Reagan hugged him tight. Interviewed at their home last week, Gene and Helene speculated about what it would mean if a black man were elected president. "Just imagine," she said. "It'd be really something," he said. "We're pretty much past the going-out stage," she said. "But you never know. If he gets in there, it'd sure be nice to go over there again." They talked about praying to help Barack Obama get to the White House. They'd go vote together. She'd lean on her cane with one hand, and him with the other, while walking down to the precinct. And she'd get supper going afterward. They went over their election day plans more than once."Imagine," she said. "That's right," he said. On Monday, Helene had a doctor's appointment. Gene woke and nudged her once, then again. He shuffled around to her side of the bed. He nudged Helene again. He was all alone. "I woke up and my wife didn't," he said later. Some friends and family members rushed over. He wanted to make coffee. They had to shoo the butler out of the kitchen. The lady he married 65 years ago will be buried today. The butler cast his vote for Obama on Tuesday. He so missed telling his Helene about the black man bound for the Oval Office.

Black Children With Single Parents, Who's To Blame?

BY Lenny McAllister -- There is a contingency within the political ranks that, when asked the question "What's to blame for the high incidence of Black children being raised in single parent households?", will point to the Great Society initiatives as the poison that endangered the Black family.  I will not. Government should never be in a position to dictate to its citizens how to live their lives when concerning the constitution of their families, especially in a representative government such as ours. In my view, the movement away from the cohesion of the Black family stemmed from a combination of issues, not just one factor such as the Great Society.I think that to examine this issue, we have to work inside out. ...For starters, we have go to the old saying of "when you point one finger, there are four others pointing right back at you." Upon the success on several key legal battlegrounds concerning issues such as hiring practices and school integration, the Civil Rights Movement did not successfully adapt to the current issues before it throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The focus impacting Black families never moved away from gaining racial acceptance that guaranteed equal access to voting, public facilities, and public institutions (e.g., schools and universities.) Once incorporated, Civil Rights leaders should have looked to take the movement to stage two: full inclusion. While working on full inclusion, the Movement should have looked into the issues impacting the Black community at that time. Those issues included educational gaps in the Black community (when compared to other Americans) and Black on Black crime.In regards to the issue of full inclusion...I have discussed on Black Voices and in other outlets the need for African-American to gain political diversity in order to strengthen their positions from Town Hall to Capitol Hill. If we were able to complete the task - say, twenty years ago - that I am enduring now, the fears of election stealing, lack of representation, and the failure to respond to community concerns in Black America would not be as prevalent as they are now.  Further, we would have more of a chance to have all levels of government remain engaged and responsive to our needs, in large part because one party would not feel demonized and irrelevant to the Black community while the other party continued to take Black voters for granted year after year. This is just in the political arena. If we are still stagnated in the realm of politics (and, more critically, policy-making) because of our failure to fully incorporate ourselves, where else have we been stymied? Education? (Where are our Black teachers?) Higher Education? (How come many of our HBCUs have hit a state of crisis over the past decades?) Economics? (Why haven't we re-created Black Wall Street, an entity that existed during Jim Crow's ?) Some of these problems have sprouted up because of our choices. CONTINUE READING...

ATL: The International Black DocuFest (IBDF) September 18th–20th

The International Black DocuFest™ will take place September 18th–20th, 2008 at Atlanta’s celebrated High Museum of Art. To register for free documentary screenings, please click the “RSVP” links here.

The International Black DocuFest (IBDF) Mission:
The International Black DocuFest (IBDF) is brought to you by the Society for the Promotion of Arts & Culture’s (SPAC), an Atlanta-based 501(c)(3) arts organization. IBDF’s mission is to showcase the most innovative and compelling documentary films on the lives of people of African descent. Through a series of screenings, workshops and facilitated panel discussions, the International Black DocuFest explores the creative ways in which documentaries capture and chronicle the diverse experiences of black life from around the globe.

For more info about The International Black DocuFest please visit www.internationalblackdocufest.com.

At Harvard, blacks perceive culture of prejudice

It was the quintessential college scene: dozens of students from the Harvard Black Men's Forum and the Association of Black Harvard Women picnicking on the Radcliffe Quad, playing capture-the-flag and running relay races at their end-of-the-year field day. But just an hour into the festivities on the sunny afternoon in May 2007, the fun screeched to a halt. Two campus police officers rode up on motorcycles. Were they students, the officers asked. Did they have permission to be there? The young men and women, dressed in Harvard T-shirts, would discover that a fellow student in a nearby dorm had mistaken them for trespassers, according to students who were there and whose account was confirmed by Harvard officials. The incident, which ignited criticism from black students and faculty, highlighted the prejudices that many black students say they continue to face at Harvard, not only from police, but from classmates, as well. Leaders of black student and faculty groups say they hope that Harvard's review of campus Police Department practices will help spark a wide-ranging conversation about the racial climate on campus and lead to other concrete steps by the university to improve it. The review, announced Tuesday, follows long-standing complaints of racial profiling by police. "The alarming thing is that this happens in one of the most progressive towns, the most progressive university, and there's this reluctance on behalf of students to even acknowledge that there is some covert racism going on," said Bryan Barnhill, a Harvard senior and former president of the Black Men's Forum. Barnhill said he would like to see Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust deliver a speech that makes it clear Har vard will acknowledge and address racial misunderstandings and biases. "Rather than just focusing on the Police Department, it would be a brave step if the president would ignite a broader and more honest discussion about race," he said. Leaders of Harvard's Association of Black Faculty, Administrators, and Fellows, who met with Faust last fall to discuss their concerns, also want her to go further as she enters her second year at the helm. They are calling for Harvard to create a campus climate committee and a police community board, among other initiatives, to foster cross-racial understanding among students, as well as with the predominantly white Police Department, a private force overseen by the school. SOURCE:BOSTONGLOBE.COM

WHOSE TUBE?

Doing For Self or The Cyberground Railroad By Vetalle Fusilier -- The Whose Tube?-- column examines the global Black presence in digital media. Viral video sites, the most popular being YouTube,  are functioning as a backbone for the network generation.  We are using it to champion causes, show the world our lives and loves, and in some cases create an audience that catapults us to more mainstream media attention.   Music, film, comedy, journalistic interviews are all posted for us to see, experience and reference, not just for passive viewing. Everyday people are building message art today with images and music. The networks are personal and prolific, which makes this cyberground railroad meaningful in these moments of a new generation. While what it means to be Black is of major interest everywhere - on CNN, at the barber shop, and around the water cooler -- we are starting to use video as a tool of self-definition, without regard to education or income status. Have video recorder,/computer, will post. And we post up on the regular. When you set up YouTube access, you in effect launch your own channel, aggregating what you’ve seen and listing your postings for others to follow. Your channel and its content is determined by your interests, and that is why so much of what we post is special to us. While black people live, dream and work in locales across the world, the cyberground railroad has given us a common path laden with expressions, much of which is, at minimum, not of interest or market value to the mainstream media. So we use this viral network to put ourselves out there for each other and the world to see. The hundreds of “crank dat postings” embodies our version of us, starring us, choreographed by us in our homes, yards, and driveways. It is also the anthropologic documentation of our culture for anyone who logs on and searches, the number of postings a testament to its social relevance. SOURCE: EBONYJET.COM

The Wait is Almost Over for the Fourth Annual Virginia Black Expo Presented By McCants Communications Group, Inc. in Partnership with the Port of Virginia on August 23 in Hampton

  Hampton, VA (BlackNews.com) - For the fourth consecutive year, the Virginia Black Expo--the largest event of its kind directly targeting the African-American community--will return to Hampton Roads. New technology, film and music will be the focus of the event which will be held Saturday, August 23, 2008, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton. Presented by McCants Communications Group, Inc., Black Pages USA and The Port of Virginia, this year's Expo will feature appearances by Hollywood actors Nia Long and Lamman Rucker; a musical performance by Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers; a keynote address by Nike Executive Howard "H" White; a book signing by best-selling author Omar Tyree; a special coaching workshop led by New York City acting coach Tracey Moore; and collaborative activities with the Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival.

  CELEBRITY GUESTS
The stunningly beautiful movie and television actress Nia Long will make an appearance from 3 - 4 p.m. where the public will be able to meet and greet her up close and personal. Voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine, Long has mesmerized audiences throughout the world. With movie hits such as "Premonition", "Big Momma's House" (1 & 2), "Love Jones", "Are We There Yet?" and "Are We Done Yet?" and television credits such as "Boston Legal", "Everwood" and "Third Watch", Long has been recognized and honored as a superb actress. She has won numerous Image Awards & BET Comedy Awards. Lamman Rucker has not only good looks but also brains and athleticism to make him the newest heart throb on the Hollywood scene. His diverse resume' includes movie credits such as "Meet the Browns" and "Why Did I Get Married?" and television credits such as "House of Payne" and "Half & Half." He also has a graduate degree in Education and Curriculum Development and he played basketball in college and semipro ball. Rucker will make an appearance at the Black Expo from 4 - 5:30 p.m.

  KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Expo's keynote speaker will be Howard "H" White, Vice President of Jordan Brand for NIKE. White is also the founder of "Believe to Achieve" national NIKE youth movement. A native of Hampton, Virginia, White played basketball with the University of Maryland and was selected in the 14th Round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets (now Wizards).

White has recently written a book entitled, "Believe to Achieve: See the Invisible, Do the Impossible," which is available through Beyond Words Publishing. This is a handbook for all people who have a goal they don't know how to reach or who want to help others discover their gifts. White's appearance will be on the main stage from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., followed by a book signing from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. SOURCE:BLACKNEWS.COM  

 

House poised to apologize for slavery, Jim Crow

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives was poised Tuesday to pass a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow.The nonbinding resolution, which is expected to pass, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee.While many states have apologized for slavery, it will be first time a branch of the federal government will apologize for slavery if the resolution passes, an aide to Cohen said. By passing the resolution, the House would also acknowledge the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow." "Jim Crow," or Jim Crow laws, were state and local laws enacted mostly in the Southern and border states of the United States between the 1870s and 1965, when African-Americans were denied the right to vote and other civil liberties and were legally segregated from whites. The name "Jim Crow" came from a character played by T.D. "Daddy" Rice who portrayed a slave while in blackface during the mid-1800s.The resolution states that "the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day.""African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity," the resolution states.The House would also commit itself to stopping "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future," if it passes the resolution.The resolution does not address the controversial issue of reparations. Some members of the African-American community have called on lawmakers to give cash payments or other financial benefits to descendents of slaves as compensation for the suffering caused by slavery.The resolution will not be the first time lawmakers have apologized to an ethnic group for past injustices.In April, the Senate passed a resolution sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, that apologized to Native Americans for "the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect."In 1993, the Senate also passed a resolution apologizing for the "illegal overthrow" of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. SOURCE:CNN.COM

Bench of Memory at Slavery’s Gateway

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. —  Toni Morrison has said that her acclaimed novel “Beloved,” which features the ghost of a baby killed by her enslaved black mother, came out of the need for a literature to commemorate slaves and their history. “There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath or wall, or park or skyscraper lobby,” Ms. Morrison said in a 1989 magazine interview. “There’s no 300-foot tower, there’s no small bench by the road.”This weekend, on Sullivan’s Island, off the South Carolina coast, Ms. Morrison, the Nobel laureate, and some 300 people held a memorial ceremony to dedicate her long-awaited “bench by the road.” The crowd included members of the Toni Morrison Society, National  Park Service rangers, Ms. Morrison’s friends and family, and people from Charleston and nearby areas. They gathered Saturday afternoon under a blazing sun, accompanied by the rhythms of African drums, for a service that included the pouring of libations and a daisy wreath cast into the water to remember their ancestors.“It’s never too late to honor the dead,” said Ms. Morrison, 77, the author of eight novels, as she sat down on the 6-foot-long, 26-inch-deep black steel bench facing the Intracoastal Waterway. “It’s never too late to applaud the living who do them honor,” she said. “This is extremely moving to me.”Sullivan’s Island, home to Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, was a point of entry into North America for about 40 percent of the millions of Africans who were enslaved in this country. Carlin Timmons, a park ranger, said that all the estimates were rough, but that historians believe 12 million to 15 million Africans came to the Americas and the Caribbean. Of those 4 to 10 percent were brought to North America.The bench was secured by the National Park Service, which laid the foundation that included a bronze plaque explaining its significance. It was the first entry in the “Bench by the Road” project, created by the Toni Morrison Society, a nonprofit group of scholars and readers dedicated to examining Ms. Morrison’s work. The society, which was also holding a conference in nearby Charleston, plans in the next five years to call on individuals, corporations and community groups to help them place benches at 10 sites.The spots under consideration have significance in Ms. Morrison’s novels and in black history. They include Fifth Avenue in Harlem, where the Silent Parade protesting the East St. Louis, Ill., riots was held in 1917 (featured in the novel “Jazz”) and the site of Emmett Till’s 1955 murder in Mississippi, which helped galvanize the civil rights movement. SOURCE:NYT.COM