Vision Circle

Images, Continued

To continue on Cobb's piece.

Cobb writes:

Black Conservatives don't play the 'Positive Black Images Game'.

I disagree with this one.

I can point to the examples of Black conservatives speaking out against the negative imagery of Black life put forth by rappers. If "Black conservatives" don't play the "positive Black images game," then why worry about the negative images put forth by rappers.

Woodson resigned from AEI over Dinesh D'Souza's, End of Racism. In a response to a press release, the president of AEI responded:

Loury and Woodson not only called the book racist but made the charge the headline of their press release (“Black Conservatives Resign From American Enterprise Institute in Response to ‘Racist’ Book by AEI Resident Scholar Dinesh D’Souza”). Mr. Woodson has several times, and with great relish, called Mr. D’Souza “the Mark Fuhrman of public policy.”

It seems the imagery in the book disturbed Woodson.

But that's on the macro level of Blacks as a whole. After re-reading the piece, and re-reading what I wrote, maybe I addressed what was written at too high of a level.

Maybe I need to go lower.

One day I saw Woodson on Tony Brown's Journal. On the show, along with other things, he addressed the view of many Black conservatives by the Black community. If I remember correctly, he said the negative imagery bothered him some. He then went on to attack "Black leaders". But, if I remember correctly, he did say that some of it is self inflicted. If Woodson is comfortable within himself, as Cobb wrote, then why say he was bothered and then why go on the attack against "Black leaders"?

There are many other "Black conservatives" who attack the negative imagery that they are tarred with. So, I can't agree that "Black conservatives" don't play the "Positive Black Images Game". They are trying to improve their image. They are trying to be seen as positives, not negatives. That's playing the "Positive Black Images Game."

But, then if the comment was intended to say that Black conservatives don't feel the need to point out positive Blacks because of "individualism" issues, then, again, I disagree. For example, Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas are regularly written about as being positive models for Blacks to follow.

The battles are fairly shallow and interminable. They go on and on about the same idiot things. It's a trap that liberals never seem to tire of baiting. Black Republicans take a measure of false pride in their embattled status and do a good deal of sniping back.

I agree that the battles are fairly shallow. I really don't like it, though I engage in it. But many comments being made, initially, from "Black conservatives" are simple minded. That's not to say that many comments initiated from "Black liberals" are not simple minded, because they are simple minded.

At this point, I want to say something about what was quoted. Black Republicans take a measure of false pride in their embattled status.

I'm sorry, I don't see why that is not "victimology" as expoused by "Black conservatives".

And there I go, on a tangent about the shallow "victimology" label thrown around.]

It's late, this is getting long. I've re-written it a number of times and still the thoughts flow. Let me finish this edition. These last paragraphs are intended for "Black conservatives" in general and not Cobb in particular.

If "Black conservatives" are about the business that is claimed, then doing the work that needs to be done will change the image. If there is seriousness in the drive to do it, then why not hook up with people who have the benefit of a doubt? Hence, why I bring up Earl Graves, Sr.

Read the man's bio. Then read about The Black Wealth Initiative. Then read a few issues of Black Enterprise.

There is a real need to get more Black businesses going. Would it be hard for "Black conservatives" to coordinate some activities with Earl Graves, Sr. and/or Black Enterprise to get some real work done?

Or is it really about the "Black conservative" image, just not within the Black community?

Filling Wiley's Shoes?

Wiley isn't coming back. And more times than I care to count, I wish he was around. But a couple of articles by Ric Bucher and Skip Bayless give me hope. For sports journalism, if not for the rest of the world.

Conservatism and Black Images

I'll bite.

Ed Brown has been jabbing me in the ribs every week about why the Black Right hasn't defended Earl Graves when he did right, or why the Black Right didn't defend Kwesi Mfume when he did right. I don't have specific answers to that, just a general one. Black Conservatives don't play the 'Positive Black Images Game'.

Taken from here.

This isn't exactly right. I don't play that game. And while I'm old school, and I am black, and I believe in conserving the best of black life and culture, I'm no black conservative.

Furthermore, though I don't recall the last time Dr. Rice played that game, there are an entire host of black conservatives who do play that game. Many black conservatives, like black nationalists, black feminists, and black radicals, are interested in recruiting more adherents. A project that requires marketing...and marketing requires images of some sort (in mass recruiting efforts anyway).

Now I think it IS accurate to say that Cobb--like me--doesn't give a whit about positive images. Keep that sh*t. We are both interested in putting forth the best face of what it means to be black, but it isn't about having someone look at that and say WOW--unless that someone has my last name and calls me "Dad." Or pays me to speak or write.

Now in as much as conservatism focuses on individual initiative you'd THINK that black conservatives would be the first ones to opt out.

"You hear what happened to Artest in Detroit?"

"Umm yeah. I follow basketball."

"Gives black Americans a black eye don't you think?"

"I don't know that fool. What's he got to do with me?"

Or

"You hear what Jesse said about protesting Skippy Peanut Butter? Turns out they aren't recruiting enough black people."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. What do you think about that?"

"I don't know that fool. And I eat Jif. I'm a choosy mom. Ask me about what I think about black people again, and I'ma slap you in the mouth."

Now I weigh in on these questions because this is what i do for a LIVING. I write on these issues. I teach on these issues. I speak on these issues. I research these issues.

But to the degree that black conservative pundits consistently address racial issues above almost ANYTHING ELSE (check out Jelani's piece in Africana.com where he takes on McWhorter) they've fallen victim to the trick bag they claim they're trying to get out of. If race doesn't matter, why the hell do they talk about it so much?

Now here I'm not talking about the black conservative blogging community. Avery's all up in hip-hop like it was one of his lungs. Nykola and Avery both have written reams about Christianity. They've got a whole lot more to talk about outside of race and racial issues.

But it definitely seems like most of the black conservative pundits--Armstrong Williams, Shelby Steele, John McWhorter (I know Booker, he voted for Kerry...and for Nader before that)--write an awful lot about race for it not to matter.

How to get out of the trickbag? The solution to this is pretty easy. Stop letting fools like Elders, Steele, McWhorter, and Williams speak for you. Cobb is right. The "liberals" won the game. Stop playing. Get back to work.

MFUME STEPPING DOWN

More 2 come.

Images

It's late.
Gotta digest this one by Cobb.

( Baldilocks tracks back to it, so I do the same for her)

I have much to do outside of cyberspace.

Much respect to Cobb. Much respect. I'm not feelin' it though.

You see, "Black conservatives" as well as "white conservatives" say that instead of looking up to Jesse Jackson, et. al., other role models should be followed: Larry Elder, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, etc.

Actually, I'd rather, and do, look up to my mother, my aunts, my cousins, and a few of my friends. I take bits and pieces and build on their strengths. Anyway...

If I'm told to look at American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault as an example, why should I not include Earl Graves, Sr.? Both, to me, are impressive people.

If you take a good look, Graves is in more control of things than is Ken Chenault. Or, at least that's how I look at it. Both control companies, but Graves owns his. Chenault, is "just" the steward. You feel me? It's not a slam, though.

Right is right. Wrong is wrong.

If you point out when people do wrong and then take the time to point out when people do "right" when they agree with you on a certain topic, then be consistent in pointing out when they do right, in general. So, hence my points about Mfume.

And let's be real. What I do, in part, is in no way different from many of the columns that Larry Elder does, when he points out the inconsistancies of "Black leaders" and/or the "left".

I've spent the past 18 years trying to build up the self-image, self-reliance, drive, and confidence of my daughter. I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to pump her up over a rough patch of her first semester in college. It's cool, and rewarding to me, that she's exploring ways to help herself out after getting a little down.

Yeah. We get knocked down. But we g.t.f. up and battle again.

Yeah, let me brag a little more...
She was in the 10th grade, encouraging others in her class to do well. She was in the 11th grade, doing the same, even for the 12th graders. She was in the 12 grade, still encouraging others in her class, and below, to do their best.

EVEN THOSE IN COLLEGE WHO SHE KEPT IN TOUCH.

It's about self image.

And I don't do it out of some liberal self-image blather, I do it because of what I've seen growing up and learning that the people who pumped me up, helped me when people, of all races, tried to knock me down.

<Flashback>

Self image.

I quickly noticed in the 5th and 6th grades, that those who slammed me for trying to do well in school, were those who weren't doing well. They had more issues with themselves than with me. They didn't view themselves as being "good enough."

That's how I looked at it then. I ignored them. In Jr. High, I was put into the "fast track". Everyone in that class tried to do our best. Meanwhile, others in the "regular track" tried to get into our track.

I attended a college prep high school. I was in the "advanced college prep" track, the "A Course". I had friends in the "college prep" track, the "B Course".

The teachers pumped both tracks up.

"Those of you in the A Course will be the leaders of industry, thought, and innovation." Meanwhile the same teachers were telling the B Course, "Look. Most of the A Course are way over their heads. They will get low grades and get into lower level schools. On the other hand, you will get the good grades, get into the top schools, and are still well prepared. You will be the bosses of the A course!"

There was also a vocational-technical track, the "T Course."

I witnessed as teachers said that they just want them to finish high school, with a trade, because that's all they can do. I witnessed as some of them appeared to settle for the lower ring instead of going for the ring hanging off of the stars.

You can't tell me that low expectations had nothing to do with that! And if anyone says I'm biting G. W. Bush, Imma pimp smack you to the womb because "Black leaders" and Blacks of all stripes have been complaining about low expectations for years. Anyway...

Self image.

I tutored in D.C. for a bit. I tutored one on one for kids I knew. It disturbed and continues to disturb me that kids place limitations on themselves because people around them put limitations on them.

"You from the hood and gonna stay here in the hood. That's just how it be."

Bull.

</Flashback>

So, here we have "Black conservatives" who are saying they are positive about Blacks. They are saying that all Blacks can achieve if they follow the basic rules and don't let racism get them down. (I've heard that from "Black liberals" too, but never mind that for now).

But yet some of the more damning self-images of Blacks comes from "Black conservatives" themselves!

I've listened to Jesse Lee Peterson's 'net show. I had to stop because it raised my pressure and at the same time, left me wanting to shoot myself just because I'm Black!

I've listened to Ken Hamblin. Lawd... That's a Black man who said it's right for companies to ignore Black media, no matter what the demographics, because Blacks are undesirable clientile. OK, tell that to the cruise line Tom Joyner uses for his cruise. Tell that to the travel agencies and island businesses that made bucoup money off of Sinbad's old school parties. Or tell that to New Orleans who makes money, during the summer(!), off of the Essence Festival!

I mean, for goodness sake! How can Black conservatives, on one hand, point to the growth of the Black middle class, then on the other hand, say that Blacks aren't achieving?

Or that most Blacks are lock step behind "Black leaders" all of the time, yet it's also pointed out that Blacks diverge from "Black leaders" when it comes to vouchers or homosexual marriage?

And somehow what's being said from "the right" is better than those on "the left" giving the image of all Blacks being poor and down?

For the likes of me, I can't see how!

Really.

From Cobb:

But I believe that even when we say what we are all about and try to exemplify, we're never going to win the images battle. Nevertheless, we have the reality of individuality and truth on our side. That's good enough for me.

I'm in this for the image battle. I have a young relative that I have to help look out for. I have kids of friends and godchildren I have to help look out for.

If the image is rotten and coming from "Black liberals" or if the image is rotten and coming from "Black conservative" or if the image is rotten and coming from whites, or if the image is rotten and coming from rappers, ... I'm going to do my best to fight it with facts and positive imagery.

That's behind my "jabs in the ribs" of Cobb and others.

Cobb, in a previous incarnation, you called me a vanguard of Blacks of sorts. Well, I guess it can fit.

Damn.

I gotta go to sleep.

More later.....
I'm not done.
Nope.
Not. One. Bit.

Done with respect.

Military focuses recruiting efforts on working class

I recall reading something about Greyhound cutting off rural routes. I'm willing to bet the high school populations of those areas are going to be the recruiting grounds for the future military. Given the degree to which the administration is gutting social programs and now gutting college grant programs I think critics of the administration focusing on the draft are looking at the wrong place. With kids in working class schools cut off from all options besides the armed forces, there will be no problem filling slots.

Education to Govern

The four-week "anniversary" (technically that isn't the right word) of homeschooling is this week. It's gone ok, though we've had some life stuff in the middle. Since we jumped into it as a response to structual failures we didn't have time to really think out what the process would look like. We're dealing with those issues now. How long should the day be? What type of currriculum should we use? Should we go the classical education route or should we think about other options? I culled this from Boggs:

Concrete programs which prepare black youth to govern are the logical next step for rebellious black youth who, having reached the stage of Black Power in the sense of Black Pride, Black Consciousness, and total rejection of the present social system, are not sure where to go.  Young people whose self-concept has undergone a fundamental change must be given concrete opportunities to change their actual conditions of life.  Otherwise, they can only exhaust and demoralize themselves in isolated acts of adventurism or in symbolic acts of defiance or escapism.

I don't think the book has been written yet about the opportunity that was lost when we had a chance in cities like Detroit and Gary to remake the school system for our kids. If it was written it needs to be reprinted.

Just Because

Paul Craig Roberts:

There was a time when I could rant about the "liberal media" with the best of them. But in recent years I have puzzled over the precise location of the "liberal media."

In the ranks of the new conservatives, however, I see and experience much hate. It comes to me in violently worded, ignorant and irrational emails from self-professed conservatives who literally worship George Bush. Even Christians have fallen into idolatry. There appears to be a large number of Americans who are prepared to kill anyone for George Bush.

An Open Letter to Cathy Hughes from Bob Davis of The Soul Patrol website.

There are some people who think that Soul-Patrol should be a big supporter of Cathy Hughes. After all, she is the owner of the nation's largest Black owned radio network (with 69 stations in 22 cities). That network is growing larger each day and she is to be commended for having accomplished that.

However we can't in good conscience support her radio operations as currently configured. It is my personal belief that her current programming policies have actually set the freedom movement of Black Americans back by about 40 years.

I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that perhaps she may not even realize that the overall net effect of what she has been doing in pursuit of more profits, has been to set back most if not all of the advances that our people have made over the past 50 years. It is in that spirit that I would like to propose a few concrete suggestions for Cathy Hughes that could help to reverse this trend. My belief is that the pursuit of these ideas could well postion Cathy Hughes to become one of the heroes of OUR freedom movement.

Dell does Plasma?

But according to this, it isn't href="http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Dell_W4200HD/4505-6482_16-31138026-2.html" target="review">digital cable ready out of the box.

Vouchers

The blog entry by Scott about the final straw, has me asking, again, questions that seem to not get answered or are hand waved away when vouchers are mentioned.

If conservatives really want vouchers to succeed, they need to do more to at least address the concerns of people who are anti-voucher.

One, does public school funding get cut for those students who remain in public schools? If so, is that a "fair" outcome?

Two for those who stay, now what? People who say that it will force the government schools to improve are either fooling themselves or are straight out lying.

How often does a big government entity actually improve when competition is introduced? Exhibit A is the post office.

Three, let's assume that the competition model works, and competition comes about. What about the rural areas where the less dense population means that there is less of a chance for other opportunitites to be created?

And, for the record, I'm reluctantly pro-voucher. I'm pro-voucher because I believe it's an emergency situation in some public schools. At this point, however, triage is needed.

But I think these are valid questions that need to be addressed.

Drug sentencing disparities

We all are familiar with the figures that Prometheus presents. White prison populations are significantly decreasing while black and Latino populations are skyrocketing--Latinos for what appears to be immigration related violations, blacks for drug-related problems.

Now pundits on the left have argued clearly that black and white drug consumption patterns are similar. If anything blacks use drugs less than their white counterparts--and it isn't simply a matter that blacks are poor and don't have the loot to get high. What is going on--and the research here (conducted by John Wallace now at Pittsburgh among others) is that blacks have a number of community oriented checks against drug use, while whites don't have those checks.

BUT.

Blacks aren't put in jail because of drug use--they are put in jail because of drug SALES. I am fairly positive that the same type of gap exists between black and white drug sellers--with whites selling more than their black counterparts. These are the questions I don't have definite answers to:

*What percentage of DEA and local police enforcement resources are spent towards dealing with drugs in urban areas as opposed to suburban or rural areas?

*What percentage of drug sales in urban spaces are public, as opposed to drug sales in rural and suburban areas?

*What percentage of LOW LEVEL drug sales are in urban spaces as opposed to rural and suburban areas?

The reason blacks are put in prison on drug related crimes is not simply "racism." We have to interrogate what that term means in this specific space and time. It is more likely that the same forces which have led to hypersegregation have led to a dynamic in which drug sales in places like Detroit are more likely to be low level, highly visible and easy to prosecute...whereas drug sales in places like Southfield or in Podunk, Iowa are more likely to be either low level and have low levels of visibility, high level and have low levels of visibility or have the active aid of the police department.

Slept On CD

George Clinton's, Hey Man, Smell My Finger!

What in the world was I thinking?

My Turn On Artest

OK, it's my turn concerning the basketbrawl.

Artest is a knucklehead. He should have never gone into the stands over a thrown beer. However, I am NOT one of the... what's the phrase? ... class warfare IDJIOTS who say that as a person making that sort of money, Artest should have just taken it.

HELL NO!!!!

I earn a decent living, but let some fool throw a beer in my face and we are battling. And, believe me, I'm going to do my best to bring a beat down as a statement.

Period.

And to hear folks who normally speak out against class warfare actually take part in it,...

The man should be thrown out of the league. The same with Sprewell.

Adios. Bye. Gone.

Here, LKS weighs in on the matter. We are in line with the punishment aspect of it.

So, as I catch up from my Thanksgiving with the sister-in-laws in Florida, I'm scanning blog country and it seems like brother Cobb hits it in a similar fashion.

Of course, race plays a factor.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh and he metioned the "Hip Hop" culture as being to blame.

Yet, he lists similiar out of control actions of fans and sports players in soccer, baseball, and hockey. I seem to remember a tennis player mooning the audience or a line judge.

And then there are rioting fans and "fans" in a Europen country who killed a coach in a pub.

But Limbaugh went so far as to say that the NFL is incorporating GANG COLORS in their uniforms.

What the huh?

Someone explain that one to me.

Still, Artest needs to be gone. If I were the owner of the team, he would have received a season suspension on g.p. of wanting time off to promote a CD. For me, it doesn't matter the genre of the CD. Wanting time off for that?

No.

See you next season.

Oh well.
I'm done.

Being light to ourselves.

Got this column from Prometheus who himself cribbed it from George. This is one of those columns that resonates on a few different levels and should cause a number of political minded black bloggers to give pause.

Scholars like Adolph Reed, Harold Cruse, and Cathy Cohen on the left, and Thomas Sowell on the right have long argued against the brokerage model of black political leadership. Sharpton, Jackson, and even someone like Bond are no more than brokers, cutting deals with "the man" supposedly on our behalf. And while Bond at least has a visible constituency that can vote him up or down, neither Jackson nor Sharpton have anything of the sort.

Where I think they go wrong though is in their focus on post-traumatic stress disorder and slavery. I think this argument is absolute bunk. Physiological changes that are somehow transferable INTER-GENERATIONALLY? You've got to be kidding me. They are (as Prometheus points out) also mistaken in their assumption that this phenomenon is only happening to black constituencies. It isn't.

Now their solution naturally emanates from their assessment of the problem...I'm of a mind to toss this out too. If they believe that black people have a unique problem that emanates from some type of psychological trauma that began during slavery and somehow CONTINUES, then they've got some unlearning to do. If they believe that black people don't already have a history of self-determination that has been in some real ways BEATEN into them, they have some unlearning to do.

BUT.

In order to engage in the type of local organizing that I feel needs to be done, we have to rebuild bonds of trust and communication. And I cannot say at this point that "healing" isn't part of that struggle.

Getting Religion

My recent edition of The Black Slate came out on Tuesday and I'm looking at race, religion, and the dnc. I wrote this piece a while back, right after the election I think...and did a little bit of editing the day before. Reads like it too incidentally, there's a paragraph near the end there that had me scratching my own head...and I WROTE it.

Anyway, while I'm not an atheist by any stretch of the imagination, I am highly skeptical of democratic party elites always coming to black people through churches. Makes me sick to my stomach. In fact, the more I think about it, the more hypocritical it is for the Dems to go to churches whenever they want black people, and then say WE need to get religion. Whatever.

Check out Jelani's piece on John McWhorter while you're at it. I've been wanting to take McWhorter on for a while now. He's one of the few conservative scholars--the only one as far as I am aware of--with a credible record of publishing in peer reviewed academic journals in his area of expertise. You'll NEVER find Shelby Steele in an English Lit journal though that is what he received his PhD in. Similarly I don't think you'll find Thomas Sowell in an economics journal either--he writes the hell out of some books, but Economists treasure books about as much as they treasure toilet paper when they don't have to go.

But McWhorter? A nice publication record. Which makes his intellectual laziness when it comes to race even that much harder to take. Jelani handles him though.

What Bearden Taught Me

I need to start buying CD's again. And I need to use some of my research money to get me some Bearden retrospectives. Branford Marsalis on Bearden:

Albert Murray said Bearden's work was the visual equivalent of the blues. Do you agree?

I don't think so. Bearden's paintings are the visual equivalent of a combination of things, and once you start talking about Bearden's work being the equivalent of the blues you start pigeonholing him as a black painter, and I don't accept that. When I first saw the show at the National Gallery, a woman came up to me and said, "Don't you think it's time the National Gallery gave some space to black artists? Isn't this overdue?" And I said no, because this show isn't about Bearden's blackness, which I find ironic in the first place because he was damned near white in his appearance, although he wasn't in his persona. Bearden belongs here because of his work as an artist. This is not the National Gallery's version of affirmative action. He was a student of painting, period. He wasn't just a Negro historian, he was a student of the world. And so the blues was captured in his work, but so was the experience of European art. He was a polyglot and absorbed everything around him and didn't limit himself, and that makes him exceptional in a world that too often prizes limitation.

I needed this.

Why Conservatives Won't Defend Ron Artest

My man Mike jumped into the metaphorical fray noting that Artest's fine was wayy too harsh, and conservatives should defend him. I believe that Stern's judgment was appropriate. If it is overturned and replaced with something far more lenient, I'll be ok with that too. Cobb's central argument is correct. If the fan(atic) doesn't throw the beer, NOTHING HAPPENS.

But of course conservatives will not only sit idly by, they will be on the other side.

The first reason is the obvious one. There's this sticky issue of white privilege going on here. Of COURSE black people who make millions of dollars by performing for white audiences should simply take whatever derision is laid upon them. What? Did I say something wrong? Drunk? So what. What Ron Artest should do in that situation is to TAKE IT. He should be happy to be there. Lucky they don't throw his ass out.

This is the obvious one. One that folks like Mike who emphasize blackness in their conservatism have to recognize.

But the second reason? This incident represents the further coarsening of American culture writ large. In as much as conservatives really do want to stem the tide of uncivilized behavior, I don't see how they can make a call for more civilized discourse and behavior and at the same time defend Ron Artest and protect him from sanction.

This is actually why I actually support punishment, but at the same time support Ron Artest's right to contest the ruling. Because at some point we have to begin to act humanely...and reclaim those Old School Values that make us different and unique.

A Dirty Rotten Shame

So we now know the punishments. Artest? Gone for the season. O'Neal? 25 games. Jackson? 25 games. Wallace? 6 games.

I believe that Artest acted as we all would have, and that O'Neal did as well. Jackson? I am not too sure. But even though Artest acted in an understandably human fashion Stern was correct in punishing him like he did.

What about the fans though?

I don't hear any calls to limit beer sales, and I don't know how in the hell you can mouth off about the culture of disrespect without also talking about the culture of liquid courage.

I believe the best way to deal with the fans (short for "fanatics") in this case is not simply to ban them for life, but to take their photographs and purchase a full page ad in Sports Illustrated outing them for what they are. The person who threw the cup, Ben Wallace's brother--the one that drilled Fred Jones, the person that threw a chair off camera, take public pictures of all of them.

Shaming works.

Updated: Here is the chief culprit. The front page of today's Free Press has a mug shot. A self-employed contractor with long criminal record. He has been banned from the palace. I don't think that is enough.

Your Papers Please!

Some one defend this.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday that "accountability will be carried out" against whoever slipped a provision into an omnibus spending bill that would have allowed two committee chairmen to view the tax returns of any American.

Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the episode points up the problems created when Congress passes gigantic spending bills at the end of a session, before anyone has time to read them.

Drudge says Istook, R-OK is responsible for it.

Real Cut in Grants

This was in the NY Times.

Bill Clears Way for Government to Cut Back College Loans

The government moved to change its formula for college aid last year, but was blocked by Congress. Now, however, no such language appears in the appropriations bill lawmakers are considering, clearing the way for the government to scale back college grants for hundreds of thousands of low-income students.

The cutback stems from a revision to the formula governing virtually all of the nation's financial aid. Last year, the Department of Education changed the formula on its own, angering members of Congress who contended that it was a backdoor way of cutting education spending without facing the public. The department retorted that it was merely following the law.

Thanks to P6 for this.

The Ownership Society at Work

Nearly 100,000 more students may lose their federal grants entirely, as Congress considers legislation that could place more of the financial burden for college on students and their families.

More here (login is probably required).

The Rice Conundrum

Cobb notes Dr. Rice's impressive resume and slyly critiques those who would mock her as a parrot.

I disagree strongly with both of my Vision Circle colleagues here. Dr. Rice does have an impressive resume--but so does every other person privileged to serve as the Secretary of State. You aren't going to find many people who cut their chops at McDonalds. The critiques of her are on point and she should be pilloried.

However there is a trick bag that we can't get out of. That Rice can't get out of.

Plainly put, she's black.

What this means is that every single editorial cartoon she appears in is going to look like a racist lampoon.

And that every attempt to praise/condemn her is going to fall victim to one of two stereotypes:

1. The Superwoman stereotype--look at this strong black woman who can do everything AND lift weights too!

2. The Black Aid stereotype--made famous by Thomas Jefferson's behind the back comments about Benjamin Banneker. Everything black people do cannot possibly be a product of their own agency--particularly if they go against the black grain. She's GOT to be somebody's agent.

Hell. I think Rice has a smile that lights up the room. But I think she's going to be the worst Secretary of State the modern world has seen. Her work up to this point engenders the very opposite of trust in me.

This is easy enough to say here. But how do you convey this in an editorial cartoon without playing into the long history of racial stereotypes? I don't know.

Detroit: I Do Mind Dying pt. 2

"Perhaps those who wonder whether the dynamics of European style soccer brawls would ever hit the US have their answer. Either the NBA is going to end up installing draconian mechanisms of fan regulation, or I think something like this is going to happen again."

This was yesterday.

Today, the SC-Clemson game ended in a brawl with less than 5 minutes to go. Benches cleared, and fans moved in from the stands.

I expect more events like this, particularly during rivalry games in whatever sport. Football's come to the US.

(edited to add)
I know I'm tired, but damn if a doh! moment didn't just hit me.

Nationalist sentiment typically increases during times of conflict. This takes two forms usually--strong knee jerk state support, and strong anti-"other" intra state resentment (think Japanese internment camps, and general anti-black racism). In this case where we have at least two conflicts going on--the War on Iraq, and the Culture War within the states--we can expect to see a rise of three forms of nationalism.

One state based. One based on xenophobia. One based on local attachments.

Local like crip-blood. Local like Michigan vs. Ohio State. Like SC vs. Clemson. Like Detroit vs. Indiana.

If this is right, then I expect to see an increase in inter-athlete violence (player on player, team on team), an increase in violence between players and fans.

And while I expect to see security increase as a result, I do NOT expect to see a decrease in beer availability.

Detroit: I Do Mind Dying

Just saw the tape of the Detroit Pistons-Indiana Pacers game. 45.9 seconds left, Ben Wallace goes to the hole and is fouled hard by Ron Artest. Wallace mushes him in the face, the benches clear. Artest moves away from the melee and reclines on top of the scorers table.

He is struck in the head by an object from the stands....and it's on.

Artest goes into the stands after the fan. Takes the wrong fan out. Another fan attacks him, Stephen Jackson rushes to his aid, as do other Pacers.

Over to the left (from the standpoint of the television viewer) a larger fan coldcocks Fred Jones, twice. Almost levelling him. And then back to the right a chair comes from off camera and hits someone in the head.

Artest gets away and is on the court trying to compose himself...when a fan walks up on him. Hands moving to form fists. Ron Artest mushes him, socks his boy, then an injured Jermaine O'Neal comes running and clocking the fan.

Larry Brown picks up the mike to calm the crowd down. But what the hell is HE going to say? He drops the mic in disgust.

As the Pacers leave with security covering them, fans through everything but the kitchen sink at them as they exit.

A few thoughts come to mind.

I've been in brawls like this. Not as a participant...usually I'm the voice of reason. The last one off the top of my head was in 1997...the year Michigan went undefeated to win a share of the National Championship.

Only they didn't REALLY go undefeated that year. They took a loss at the hands of my fraternity. My younger chapter brothers still have the tape.

Something like that has a trigger, but the trigger while being the catalyst doesn't quite explain everything. This isn't at all like what happened in LA--there were no gang rivalries bubbling close enough to the surface that knowledgeable folks should've known what was going on. And the Palace doesn't have a history of violence. Hell, I might have to go back twenty years or so to the last major act of violence at some type of entertainment event.

But once the contagion spreads, you've really got no choice. You have to either throw hands yourself, or move back. You protect those that cannot protect themselves--move those unconnected out of the way, as well as women and children in general. Once I knew I couldn't prevent Charles Woodson, and the rest of the squad from taking a loss, I took a seat. The only time I got up was to tell the person taping the scene from above to stop the damn tape, because I figured folks could get kicked out of school if the tape got out.

Artest will probably get the brunt of the punishment, but he was protecting himself.

I have to think about this some more--I just saw the tape fifteen minutes ago.

Perhaps those who wonder whether the dynamics of European style soccer brawls would ever hit the US have their answer. Either the NBA is going to end up installing draconian mechanisms of fan regulation, or I think something like this is going to happen again.

Jiffy Mix

Someone in another place in the internet wilderness reminded me of past comments about Jiffy Mix.

See, I see nothing wrong with it. While I appreciate the home made stuff, I'll still throw down with the Jiffy.

So, if you want to read some of me clowning around, keep on reading.

DarkStar's Jiffy Mix Rap

Key:

[ No Jiffy No Peace! ] - background rappin'

*szz szz szzz szzzzzzzzz* - turntable scratchin'

===================

Yo!

Are you readay?

[ Hit MEH! ]

Chorus:

[ Jiffayyyyyyy!!!!

Jah jah jah

Jiffayyyyyyy!!!! ]

Yeah boyeeee!

[ Jiffayyyyyyy!!!!

Jah jah jah

Jiffayyyyyyy!!!!

No Jiffy No Peace!]

Verse1:

Kick up your heals

juz chill to da beat

kick on back

take a load off da feet

DarkStar's bout tah do ya

double time

DarkStar's breakin' yah

off a new Jiffay rhyme!

Verse2:

Ain't dis a trip?

Don't it just figgah?

When your numba 1,

somebody gotta try ta be bigga?

Sellin' tickets

sayin Jiffay ain't all dat

What dey know?

Jiffay gottem all on dey back

Well let me tell yah a story

Juz let DarkStar flow

let me tell yah a story

juz to let you playah haters know!

Verse 3:

Walkin' down da street

checkin the new WooTang beat

Juz gettin my thrills

yo! the Woo got skillz

And then an image!

Yo whadda I see!

Lovely

Beautiful

A baby boo brown walkin' ta me

She had on a mini

Fellahs, she was wearin' it well

I am droolin'

I know that she could tell

She gets next to meh

I say

"Yo slim, how yah doin?"

She juz iggs meh

her gum she keeps on chewin'

I say, "Excuse meh ladaaaaay...

May I speak with thee?"

She stops and looks, and those

browns juz stare at me.

I say, "Baby boo, you fine, you all dat"

She smacks her lips and says,

"That line is whack!

If you wanna know me,

you gotta come stronger than that!"

"Okay boo, let me just speak my mind.

You're lookin good... Screw that,

baby you're PHAT!"

"I wanna know, just how it could be

a baby boo gets tah look so healtheeee!"

Verse 4:

"Let me tell yah

yah look like a country girl!

let me tell yah

yah makin the menz head's swirl"

"what cha' mamma feed yeah?!?!

I gotta know her trix"

She just said,

"Chicken, greens, and Jiffy Mix!"

Hold up baby!!!!! Whatcha' sayin to a fellah?

Yah know now yah soundin' like some

Fuzzy Zeeeellllllaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

Verse 5:

"Fuzzy?

Me?

No. Not the T. Traaayceeeeeeee.

Juz come on

home with me

and babeeeeeeeee

you will see"

Now I'm walkin' with Traaaayceeeeeee

How more soupped can I beeeee?

Let me tell you

this ladeee is so fly

10 car wreck cuz she's walkin' by!

We gets to her mom's place

just in time for the

blessin' grace

the table is real packed

and all of the ladees are stacked

stacked with cornbread so high

fellahs to you I would not

could not

won't tell no lie

cornbread all over dah place

some plain, some flavored,

I just can't belieeeeeeeeve this space

[ Hit meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!

Ja Ja Ja

Jifaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!! ]

I just can't believe this scene yo!

Blueberry, raspberry, green chile

[ Jalepenyooooooooooooooooooooooooo ]

They be dunkinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn'

dunkin' it like doughnutzzzzzz!!!!

They be sopinnnnnnnnnnnnn'

Like maids be mopppppppiiiiinnnnnnn'

They looked like junkies!

Junkies gettin' there fix!!!

And then I seened it!

[ JIFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY MIX!!!!! ]

Then it all came together

Like that ying and that yang...

It was all about that taste

That Jiffy Mix Thang!!!!!!!

DarkStar broke you off a new one

and I'm keepin' it real

Just say no to the corn bread bigots

And do what yah feel

'cuz I know you be feelin' me

[ JIFFFFFAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY ]

'cuz you know it's real

[ JIFFFFFAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY ]

'cuz I know you be feelin' me

[ JIFFFFFAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY ]

'cuz you know it's real

[ JIFFFFFAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY ]

Tom Delay and Debt

Does anyone remember the House checking scandel?

The short version goes like this: Members of the House, controlled by Democrats, had the ability to write checks for whatever purpose they deemed fit. Many members of the House, bounced checks on a regular basis.

Newt Gingrich used this to beat ruling Democrats over the head. In short, he said it was proof that power corrupts.

Now, we have Tom Delay, facing indictment, being protected by the controlling party of the House; Republicans.

And this just in! Congress has raised the deficit ceiling by 800 billion dollars.

Sure, can't pay your bills because you are spending like a drunken sailor trying to lay a pretty woman, so raise your credit limit!

The Vibe Awards--when will "we" ever learn?

Got that question on an email list I'm on.

In as much as I don't know Young Buck from Adam, he isn't from Detroit, isn't related to me, isn't related to anyone who IS related to me, and I've already got sense....I don't know who the "we" is in the above question. WE have already learned.

But I have another question. You've got a long history of gang warfare in the LA Corridor. A lot of that warfare has bled into hiphop, particularly on the West Coast. The epicenter is Knight. Over the last several years, Knight has lost both Dre and Snoop to competitors, and is left in the position of making money off of Tupac's vault.

How are you going to have an award show an hour south of LA, have Knight, Dre, and Snoop there...and have Dre get a Lifetime Achievement Award for service in front of Knight and his entourage, without having precautions in place?

Partisan Garbage

Oliphant has done an editorial cartoon of Condi Rice that is out of bounds. Some on "the right" have been asking why groups like that NAACP have not come out against the cartoon.

Why should they? After all, unfortunately, the NAACP has become a partisan organization. Has the "Black right" defended those on the "Black left" when slurs, slanders, and lies have been directed towards the "Black left"?

Of course not.

[Update at the end of the entry]

When Mfume had a chance of having a national talk show, did the "Black right" defend the man's right to have such a show? No. Instead, "the right" got into gear and shut down the floating idea of Mfume having a national talk show. But, "the right" had a cow when local people in Los Angeles attempted to have Larry Elder taken off of the air.

When Mfume had a local show in Baltimore, the show addressed problems in urban areas, and show cased people and groups that attempted to solve the problems. But did the "Black right" say anything about that?

After Ron Brown was killed in an airplane crash, many on "the right" went after integrity of the man. At one point, they were claiming he had a marijuana habit. Ron Brown's family, in mourning, had to deal with that garbage. In fact, Ron Brown's doctor was given permission by the family to discuss Brown's health. Evidently, he had a lung condition that made it hard for him to be in smoke filled areas in general. If he smoked, anything, he would have probably landed in the hospital. So, where was the "Black right" then?

In fact, Armstrong Williams disliked the man so much that he defended the attacks on Ron Brown.

The "Black right" will talk about Blacks building businesses and how Blacks need to do more. They are right about that. Then, why is it that the "Black right" won't mention the long standing effort done by Black Enterprise? Could it be the fact that Earl Graves, Sr. is a Democrat?

The "Black right" has said nothing about how Cathy Hughes brought one AM station in Washington, D.C., slept in it, backed down drug dealers who suspected her intentions at the radio station, and turned it into a decent radio enterprise. Could it be because she got the foundation of radio stations by taking advantage of race based tax incentives that gave big tax breaks to companies that sold radio stations to minority owners? Has the "Black right" said anything about Radio One teaming with COMCAST to make TV One?

The "Black right" says that Blacks need to take more personal responsibilty. But, why do they overlook Judge Mathis who went from doing petty crime as a teenager to going to college and, in time, becoming a real judge? Could this oversight come from Mathis being a Democrat?

I guess I shouldn't even bring up the fact that when he was a teenager, Mfume, then Drizel Gray, was running the streets and creating children. One day, he claims, he recognized that he was living the wrong kind of life and he then decided to turn his life around.

He started taking care of his kids. He got his education. He won a seat on the Baltimore city council. He then won a seat in the House of Representative. He is now the head of the NAACP. I guess it's foolish of me to even point this out. Of course the "Black right" doesn't want to show how Mfume turned his life around.

I've written, and will continue to write, that Blacks can't afford to get involved in the "left vs. right" garbage. The limited examples I gave are why.

Why is it not hypocrisy when those who have a complaint about the "Black left" not giving the full view of the Black community, also does not give a full view because of partisanship?

In fact, I damn them MORE because they note wrong doing, and then do the same type of wrong doing.

[Update]

Well, it looks like the NAACP and Urban League have weighed in and spoken out against the comments of the radio talk host.

Additionally, molotov has corrected me for trackbacking to the Booker Rising blog but not pointing to the stories. I did it in response to the comment section of some blog entries. It was bad form, as I have been told, so I apologize.

So, some links are in order Condi as Aunt Jemimah

Racist Rice Bashing

But I still think my comments are valid.

Slate on Welfare

Slate's been running a series of email discussions between Mickey Kaus, Jonah Edelman, and some nimnal I forget. The subject is welfare. And it is readily apparent that Jonah talking to Mickey Kaus is kind of like Jordan playing one-on-one with the sixth man of my alma mater's squad...with real life stakes.

I remember talking to a sister at a Michigan State conference on race. The subject was D'Nesh D'Souza. Thank God we didn't talk about him long. The sister was trying to make an argument for going after folks like D'Souza on the lecture circuit. I didn't have a problem with the idea. Sure we need more voices out there, and given that D'Souza is still giving tired lectures on a book that I'm pretty sure is over ten years old...if someone can make money doing it more power to them.

But having a PhD from a real school do it? That's like a waste of resources. Merit matters...and most conservative pundits simply don't have it. (I actually think that Kaus would probably call himself a liberal, but he's definitely a racial conservative.)

The ethics of revolution

Again, from Grace Boggs...only this time a more recent piece. One of the many ideas that struck me:

We need to be very conscious, as radicals rarely are, that those with whom we disagree will not disappear off the face of the earth but will continue to be our neighbors, fellow workers,
classmates, etc.

My Color Is

I don't agree with the "go-getter" part. Asking others, they don't agree either. But here it is:

Ward Connerly

This is why I don't like Ward Connerly.

This was brought to you by Booker Rising.

We ain't Connerly fans, and he reminded us why. The libertarian argued that (1) there should not be any predominantly black universities but (2) since they exist, they should not get tax dollars. We disagree on both counts. Schools shouldn't discriminate, yet there is theoretically nothing illegal about a predominantly black college. Ahem, choice and freedom of association? He completely ignored that many HBCUs are private schools. Also, that virtually every public college takes federal funds (Pell grants, loans). Either one must oppose federal funds for all schools, or support them for all schools. Yet Mr. Connerly singled out HBCUs.

Once again, HBCUs eat it in the shorts.

Since when did HBCUs discriminate against whites?

Never.

Since when has the funding of public HBCUs been equal to that of white schools?

Never.

Most Blacks with advanced degrees got their undergraduate degree from an HBCU.

Since most universities are majority white, take funding from those schools as well.

You can't tell me that there's no level of self hate involved in this.

You also can't tell me that this isn't a warning shot of things to come for HBCUs.

What is a Revolution

I've been rereading CONVERSATIONS IN MAINE.

"Revolutionists have been able to think of a revolution in every sphere except man's concept of himself. Revolutionary struggle consists of a series of illuminations--not simply plodding or leaping from peak to peak. Revolution should be to discover and create where we should be tomorrow, not merely to correct past injustices or put to rights past grievances. Mankind is obviously at a threshold, a border, a frontier. Precisely because of the growing counter-revolutionary danger, it is necessary to utilize the wealth of human resources in this country, including ethnic diversity. The conflicts are not just between rich and poor, or between generations, but between two different concepts of what a human being is."

(p. 14)

Damn

I got the word about ODB earlier today. And that hit me pretty hard. Not because I was a fan or even a supporter. I support the Wu's business model. But it dawned on me that as hip hop gets older and the artists get older we are going to hear less and less about folks dying in a hail of bullets, and more and more about people dying while chilling in the studio. I'm betting that for all the talk about folks taking over businesses and what not, that people like Puff or Russell still aren't dealing with health care. I happen to KNOW the hip-hop dentist of the stars, so I imagine their teeth are taken care of. but still....

Iris Chang's suicide, for some reason hit me harder. Is this how it ends after fighting the good fight?

Tech Convention Thoughts

I went to a technical convention in San Diego last week. Even though I knew there wouldn't be many Black people there, after seeing myself as the only Black person in the rooms, I started doing the number count.

In all, there were about 10-12 of "us". Overall, the number of attendees of the convention was about 1300. The "head nod" acknowledgement then became the "thing to do" when we saw each other.

Another convention in the area, a banking convention, had a much larger number of Blacks attending. From listening to the side discussions, Check 21 seemed to be the big deal.

One of the issues being talked about amongst the attendees at the tech convention was the H1-B visa stuff. (Meanwhile, there were more "Indians" present than Asians).

There was also discussion of outsourcing. The main vendor addressed managers by saying their software enables outsourcing strategies. And there were outsourcing vendors manning booths.

Black Enterprise

Black Enterprise is a great magazine.

During my flight back from San Diego, I read the November 2004 issue. It had articles concerning your FICO score, health concerns, savings, and the misuse of credit.

I scanned the last mentioned article and emailed it to my kid in college.

I seriously wonder why "Black conservatives" don't give this magazine the respect that it has earned.

NCLB, Unintended Consequences

This appeared in The Washington Post.

High Achievers Leaving Schools Behind
Transfers in Fairfax and Elsewhere Were Meant for Struggling Students

"I thought, this is an opportunity, why shouldn't I try it out?" said Qureshi. "I just felt like maybe something was lacking there."

Well, why wouldn't you expect that the parents that care would remove their kids, leaving the rest behind?

Farting Around

I'm going to write this again. I believe that the U.S. invaded Iraq because Saadam started paying the families of terrorists who blew themselves up in Israel. The U.S. invaded Iraq to support Israel. I have no problem with invading Iraq for that reason. I do have a problem with Bush not telling the people of the U.S. the truth.

Then, for some insane reason, the military took it easy on the opposition in Fallujah. But now, after the election, the military is allowed to do what it is supposed to do: kill people and destroy sh*t.

What is happening in Fallujah now is something that should have happened some time ago. Farting around in Iraq has cost American and Iraqi lives.

Ed-ucating U

This past silly season, as in has been the norm, Blacks have been blasted for giving their votes to Democrats. While I recognize that it is not politically sound to "have all of your eggs in one basket," I refuse to let the criticism go by when it's based on false premises.

In doing so, I'm placed into the "Democrat plantation" camp by people who don't have a clue. So for these people, I present "Ed on Ed". These come from the USENET Google archives.

Ed on registering as an independent in March, 1999:

When I first registered to vote, I put down "non-aligned" because i didn't know enough about either party. When the next national election rolled around, it was Reagan against Mondale. I read in the newspapers that the Black politicans were complaining the Mondale was not going to the Black areas to ask for votes. In an interview he was quoted as saying there was no need to go to Blacks because Blacks had no choice but to vote for him. I refused to re-register as a Democrat because my vote will not be taken for granted.

Ed on Jesse Jackson, Feb. 1999

Jesse Jackson let Clinton punk him. Clinton went in front of a national
audience and berated Jackson over the attendence of Sista Souljah, a
"rapper" who was not widely known. Jesse Jackson did not appreciate it,
and withheld his support of Clinton until the '92 presidential race
heated up. Clinton *PUNKED* Jesse Jackson. Between '92 and '96, there
were newspaper accounts of the discord between the two, including
Jackson saying that Clinton was immoral. Jackson complained about
Clinton ignoring issues of importance to Blacks and he complained about
Clinton signing welfare reform. He publically stated he was thinking
about running against Clinton to highlight the political issues. He
decided not to do it. If those issues were that important, as he claimed
they were, he would have run against Clinton ON PRINCIPLE.

On Bill Clinton, Aug 1996

I understand, but my point is this: Clinton ain't a savior, he's another "cracka in a suit" if/when his political ass is on the line.

On Democrats and Blacks, Apr 1999

Since I first started posting, I've said that Democrats take the Black vote for granted and that Blacks need to get the Democrats attention. If that means voting Republican, so be it. If it means that a Black Democrat leaves the party, becomes a Republican, and then runs against a Democrat candidate, then so be it.

Clinton treated Jesse Jackson like a punk and, later, Jackson comes
back and helps him. That helped Clinton but it hurt Black political
power in the Democratic party.

More Ed on Democrats, April 1998.

Look, Black people need to stop the "Democrats are our friends" garbage, and start looking at what they are doing and what they are not doing.

Then ask the same question I was posting: Where were the Democrats at
during the anti-Prop. 209 campaign?

Finally, what I wrote recently:

So, now what do you have to say?

Can you wrap your mind around the fact that I don't have to be in the Democrat camp to blast Republicans? Can you get your mind around the fact that I don't have to be a Republican to blast Democrats?

So to those who think I'm on somebody's plantation, if I am, it's my own plantation. Take a look at what YOU are defending.

Get A Grip

People looking into emmigrating to Canada all because of the election?

Somone going to New York and committing suicide?

Some people need to get a grip!

Vision

When I read this article,
A Future For Enterprising Black Students , this is what I see:

I found the kids thoroughly engaged in a smaller session with energetic alumnus Derwin Corria, whose Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries franchise is a favorite hangout for the Howard community. And while it's a fabulous idea to break the entire freshman class into 54 groups that compete for scholarships by coming up with a business plan for a new enterprise, it's obvious from the couple of working sessions I attended that real-life entrepreneurs are needed to guide students through the process.

...

But a recent study, also funded by Kauffman, puts the lie to the notion that blacks don't even think of starting their own businesses. At any given time, a significantly greater percentage of blacks than either whites or Hispanics is attempting to start a business. And this difference widens further among those in middle age, in upper-income brackets or with advanced degrees. Among black males with graduate degrees, for example, the "nascent entrepreneur" rate was 25 percent, compared with 11 percent for whites.

Howard University has now taken up the challenge of understanding this gap between entrepreneurial impulses and entrepreneurial success among black Americans, and coming up with strategies for closing it

That's a positive vision. But how many would read the information about Blacks lacking in owning businesses and take it from there?

Whose vision is positive? Whose vision is negative?

And what does it mean?

Who do you want filling the airwaves toward your community?

Howard University Enterprising Black Students

From The Washington Post (Registration required):

Over the years, there have been lots of explanations for this relative lack of entrepreneurial success -- a shortage of capital within the black community, outright discrimination by banks and franchisers, finding more models of success in government, the professions and sports. Others point to the fact that other minority groups are made up largely of immigrants who, by definition, are a self-selected group of risk-takers.

But a recent study, also funded by Kauffman, puts the lie to the notion that blacks don't even think of starting their own businesses. At any given time, a significantly greater percentage of blacks than either whites or Hispanics is attempting to start a business. And this difference widens further among those in middle age, in upper-income brackets or with advanced degrees. Among black males with graduate degrees, for example, the "nascent entrepreneur" rate was 25 percent, compared with 11 percent for whites.

Political Punks, Again

The CBC punked out again.

Instead of challenging Kerry to lay out initiatives that addresses "Black issues," they gave him a pass because they were silly enough to think that to get rid of Bush, they shouldn't push their issues.

Well, Blacks came out, but if polls are correct which is a big question, in key states Bush picked off just enough Black voters.

As a body, the CBC doesn't understand, nor do they use, the power that they have to further a "Black agenda".

And the Black media remained largely silent about the lack of a "Black agenda" from Kerry.

Again, another lack of understanding power in politics.

Enough of the whining and pity party.

I'm still going to sling code. My kid is still going to do her best in college. My wife is still going to keep hunting for a job. I'm still going to continue to provide for the family.

My worry is about court appointments. But I think I understand politics enough to know that when appointments are being made that I don't like, I'm going to complain and lobby my congressional critters. And even if I'm not in his district, Rep. Cummings is going to catch hell from me.

Gametime

The most important Presidential election in our lifetime. And the person we fought against won. Legitimately.

What the hell do we do now?

I’ve been spending the bulk of my organizing time (what little time I have) with members of the League of Pissed Off Voters. I was talking with one of the Leaguers after we’d spent time at the polls and he said to