The Count Down

There are currently 447 days left in the Bush White House. Until that day lets look at how other nations feel about the Bush spirit.


In March 2006, President Bush made a seven-day, five-nation tour of Latin America. Mayan Indian leaders in Guatemala vowed to "spiritually cleanse" the ancient sacred site of Iximiche after Bush's visit there -- to ride it of any remaining "bad spirits."

Working to make Brooklyn free of discrimination: Be Our Guest

I saw this in the New York Daily News. It comes directly from the New York City Commission on Human Rights office, and was written by Patrica Gatling, who is the commissioner and chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights.

I am proud to head the New York City Commission on Human Rights and to be able to help enforce one of the most comprehensive civil rights laws in the nation. Our law enforcement bureau investigates and prosecutes discrimination complaints alleging violations of the law.
Our community relations bureau cultivates understanding and respect among the city's diverse communities through our five borough-based Community Service Centers and our numerous educational and outreach programs including: immigrant employment rights training; equal access (disability access) investigations, workshops and interventions; school program sessions that teach about the New York City human rights law, sexual harassment and conflict resolution; peer mediation training in high and middle schools; and mortgage counseling and fair housing workshops to raise awareness of predatory lending practices.

The city's human rights law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations - such as stores, offices, theaters, restaurants and stadiums - based on race, color, creed, age, national origin, alien or citizenship status, gender (including gender identity and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, disability, marital status or partnership status. In addition, the law affords protection against discrimination in employment based on arrest or conviction record and status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and sex offenses. In housing, the law affords additional protections based on lawful occupation and family status. The law also prohibits retaliation and bias-related harassment.

Since Mayor Bloomberg appointed me human rights commissioner in January 2002, we have maintained a strong presence throughout Brooklyn. Last year, we focused on Brighton Beach because of its high number of inaccessible multidwelling buildings and large aging immigrant population and successfully negotiated to get ramps and other modifications for 24 buildings containing more than 3,000 units, enabling the elderly and disabled easy access. The commission also assisted the city's Parks and Recreation Department this summer in installing "mobimats" on Brighton Beach to allow easier wheelchair access on the beach.

We are teaching students at high schools in Red Hook and Williamsburg about the human rights law and sexual harassment this fall and have begun training selected high school students in Crown Heights to be peer mediators and help their fellow students resolve conflicts at school before they escalate into violence.

Those are just a few of our Brooklyn highlights. The New York City Commission on Human Rights has been promoting and protecting civil rights for over 50 years. When discrimination appears, it threatens our unity and will not be tolerated. Each case at the commission is treated with equal importance - so if you believe you are a victim of discrimination and that the alleged violation took place within one year and within the five boroughs, or if you are interested in any of the community services and workshops we provide, please call us at 311.

We also invite you to visit our Web site at www.nyc.gov/cchr to learn more about the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

On Nov. 9, the commission is co-sponsoring an important program for employers and business representatives in Brooklyn with New York Immigration Coalition, "Avoiding Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination." It will take place at the Brooklyn Public Business Library, 280 Cadman Plaza West, and run from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. RSVP by calling (212) 306-7560.

Darknesses

A BBC radio anchor are eating her words today after being criticized by her own listeners for comments she made on her morning show.

Sarah Kennedy, a controversial British morning disc jockey, interrupted a discussion on road safety to say she almost ran over a black man who was wearing dark colored clothing because he was too dark for her to see.

"It's lucky he opened his mouth to yawn or do something and I saw him," she said on her show this morning.

Her comments immediately sparked rage in her listeners and provoked an apology from the corporation.

"This is just one in a long line of irresponsible remarks from Sarah Kennedy, but the BBC don't have a problem with her," one listener wrote on the BBC message board.

"OK in 1957 but not PC in 2007," another added.

"If this were the only occasion in which SK has made direct reference to race, you could let it go, but she has something of a chequered history in this respect," a third wrote.

In 2000, Kennedy said blacks made good runners because they were used to being chased by lions.

She also awed listeners when she offered to send panties to troops in Afghanistan to cheer them up.

While many listeners were outraged. some concurred with Kennedy's opinions about blacks and wearing dark clothing.

This is nothing to do with prejudice - it is a fact based on the science of light reflecting off objects," one wrote on one message board.

"Remember the campaign 'Wear Something White at Night'? Maybe a timely reminder of common sense was in order," another added.

Jena Judge steps down

A judge in Jena, La. has recused himself from hearing a request for news media to be allowed in the court of the juvenile case against a black teen charged with beating a white teen at school.

Judge J.P. Mauffray has left the decision of whether cameras and reporters should be allowed in the court room during 17-year-old Mychal Bell's trial to another judge.

Another judge has not been announced to hear the petition filed by the Associated Press and more than two dozen other media outlets.

The news associations are asking to be allowed to hearings in the Bell case and view transcripts from previous hearings and other court documents, and to lift the gag order against participants in the case.

Mauffray recused himself because he has been named as a defendant in the news media litigation. Mauffray is the only judge assigned to the LaSalle Parish where Bell's case is being heard.

While criminal cases against juveniles are typical closed from the public, the charge of aggravated second-degree battery allows a juvenile case to be open to the public.

Bell was previously convicted however his conviction was overturned due to his age. Five others were charged in the beating of the Louisiana teenager.

Bell is set to go to trial on Dec. 6.

The Count Down

There are currently 448 days left until the end of the dark ages a.k.a the Bush White House. Until that day, lets go back to 1999 before the Armageddon.

During the run-up to his first presidential campaign, President Bush told Texas evangelist James Robinson, "I feel like God wants me to run for president. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen. I know it won't be easy for me or my family, but God wants me to do it."

Bringing the Soul Back to Brooklyn

Harlem soul food restaurant Amy Ruth's will be heading downtown to Brooklyn's Fulton Mall.

The restaurant, famous for its fried chicken and waffles meal named for Al Sharpton, will take the spot of Gage and Tollner, which was the oldest restaurant in Brooklyn, and briefly the home of a T.G.I. Friday's.

At the W. 116th St. location almost every item on the menu is named after a Harlem politician, artist, businessman or preacher.

Whether the chicken will be named after Jay-Z or the pie after Denzel Washington, is unknown. representatives from the restaurant have declined to make comments. However a press conference will be held soon.

The 122-year-old Gage and Tollner opened in 1882 with gaslights, mirrored walls, and cherry wood trim. It was renovated in 1995 but closed its doors on Feb. 14, 2004 due to lack of patronage. T.G.I. Friday's only lasted at the location two years.

President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Joe Chan believes the restaurant will succeed in the location.

"It's a real destination for dining, drawing from the Harlem community and the city as a whole," said Chan. "Amy Ruth's has a high rating in terms of food quality and it's very affordable and accessible."

Now I have been to Gage and Tollner's and T.G.I. Friday Downtown Brooklyn. The Gage and Tollner was a classy place, my father took me there for special occasions and what not. I went to the T.G.I. Friday's and it was a hot ghetto mess, I understand why it closed. But I don't know how to feel about the opening of this soul food restaurant. There is a lacking throughout this city for reasonable priced soul food that taste good, especially in Brooklyn. I'll go when this place opens, I don't think it can ever replace Gage and Tollner but it's worth trying.

Dick's Confederate

No hospital visits were made this year after Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting trip, but headlines were still made when he went to a hunting club that furnished a confederate flag.

"It's appalling for the VP to be at a private club displaying the flag of lynching, hate and murder," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. "It's the epitome of an insult."

Sharpton has demanded Cheney distance himself from the hunting club,Clove Valley Gun and Rod Club, located in Union Vale, NY.

"This is an outrage - he ought to leave immediately," Sharpton said. "He ought to apologize to the American people for being there in the first place."

"That flag brings back painful memories of the old, old South," said Elouise Maxey, 59, president of the Northern Dutchess County branch of the NAACP. "I'm disappointed that he would go."

A spokesperson for Cheney said Dick didn't know anything about the flag controversy.

New Orleans D.A. resigns

New Orleans District Attorney, Eddie Jordan, sent in his letter of resignation today, amid a $3.7 million discrimination verdict against his office.

Jordan said he decided to resign, "not because I am a quitter," but because he hoped his decision to step down "would remove the threat of immediate seizure of the assets of the district attorney's office."

Jordan says he plans to return to the private sector.

Keva Landrum-Johnson will take Jordan's place on an interim basis. Landrum is a 14 year veteran of the office who presently serves as First Assistant D.A. She will not seek election to the office when a special election to replace Jordan is called by Governor Kathleen Blanco.

Nas and the N-word

News has been swirling around about the release of veteran rapper Nas' new album Ni**er, while critics claim the album is derogatory and should not be released, Nas believes his album is a commentary on what's happening today.

Concerned with the recent slew of noose hanging around the country, Nas has felt an urgency to speak out. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Nas covers his feelings on his last album, Hip Hop is Dead, and Presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Nas initially planned to name his last album Ni**er but decided against it because the timing was off.

The climate wasn't right, and Hip Hop Is Dead is also what I was feeling," Nas told Rolling Stone. "That went first, and now I've got to get this one off my chest."

Nas went on to discuss the connection between Obama and the noose related hate crimes.

"It's the new act of hate, and probably because of Barack Obama, people's ignorance and fear and jealousy is creating an outrage throughout the country, and people are reacting by putting nooses up," Nas said. "It's been a really serious year."

"It's like talking to your child about sex," he added. "It's hard, but it's important. It's probably going to make people uncomfortable. I don't expect a lot of people to sell a record called Ni**er. Hopefully, people can open their minds up and lose some of their fear and deal with it. It's just an album. It's one piece of the many things I do, and this will be one of my favorite pieces."

The Count Down

There are currently 449 days left in the Bush White House. Until that day lets look back at some of the many blunders G.W.B. has made.

President George W. Bush has made unprecedented claims of executive power. He has asserted, for example, that the president may imprison foreign nationals and American citizens without judicial process and may hold such persons incommunicado. In rejecting these claims in 2004, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the Supreme Court, "History and common sense teach us that an unchecked system of detention carries the potential to become a means for oppression."

Not so Neighborly Neighborhood

When an African American woman saw prime real estate in Spartenburg, S.C., she leaped at the chance to buy it. However, she did not take into consideration her neighbors.

Robin Rankins-White came home Thursday night to find a racial slur painted on her front door.

"I thought the south had changed, and I'm not convinced of that," an angry Rankins-White said, adding that this incident leaves a "bad taste" in her mouth.

"It makes me feel awful. Its makes me feel awful. It's very, very offensive," she says.

Spartenburg public safety Captain Randy Hardy said, "If we can determine who committed this crime. We will be bringing charges against them."

Spartenburg police detectives are checking to see if this incident fits the hate crime criteria.

No MLK Day

A white supremacist group in Mississippi plan to transform Jan. 21 from Martin Luther King day to "Jena Justice Day to Empower the Majority."

The National Movement plans to go to Jena, La. to have a rally on what is known as MLK day. The group plan to have a two mile march, parades, speeches, and petitions geared towards abolishing the MLK holiday and giving a voice to whites that oppose the demands of Rev. Al Sharpton.

Jena Mayor Murphy McMillian says the group have not applied for a rally permit yet.

“Here in Jena, we are very careful to abide by the Constitution of the United States. So we will do the appropriate thing to keep with that document," he said.

School Scandal

TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey wept as she asked the parents of students attending her all girl's school in South Africa for forgiveness.

"I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Oprah told parents at an emergency meeting in a packed marquee tent on the school premises.

Oprah's apology comes amidst a child abuse scandal, alleging a school matron inappropriately fondled a girl and other students were physically abused.

Oprah has visited the school twice in past week. She gave students and parents her home phone number, email address, and home address so they can contact her any time.

The Count Down

There are currently 450 days until Bush is ousted from the White House. Until then lets take time to reflect on his disgraceful incompetence.

On Sept. 1, 2005, two days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, President Bush announced on Good Morning America, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

In fact, on the day before Katrina hit New Orleans, federal disaster officials had warned the president specifically about the levees in a videotaped meeting, later obtained by the Associated Press. In addition, the National Hurricane Center, FEMA, and other federal agencies had been tracking and assessing the gigantic storm during the week before the Louisiana landfall.

Hate Note = Jail Time

A woman who sent her Arab-American boss a threatening note was sentenced to eight months at a federal halfway house Wednesday.

Kia Reid sent her boss a note with cut out letters from magazines, warning "Remember 9/11" and "you and your kids will pay."

Reid's Boss, Nina Timani said she spent months wondering who sent the anonymous note and fearing her two children would be harmed.

"How could you — when you have written that you want to tie my kids to the fence — play with my daughter at a ... picnic?" Timani asked.

Reid said she sent the letter in anger after she was unable to get help with a workplace at the airport Sheraton Suite Hotel where they work.

Reid, of Philadelphia, was arrested in October 2006 after an FBI informant recorded her discussing the note.

She later pleaded guilty to one count of sending a threatening note.

Ghetto Handbook

A Houston school police officer is without a job for creating a "Ghetto Handbook."

The officer handed out the eight page booklet to other security officers during roll call in May, to teach officers how to speak as if they "just came out of the hood."

The booklet was subtitled "Wucha Dun Did Now?"

Gang investigator, Roby Morris, 34, worked at the Houston Independent School District for 11 years before being released on Friday. He had been on paid leave since August.

Morris said he created the handbook to get back at one of his bosses. He also pointed out he is married to a black woman and have three children with her.

Free At Last

The former high school football star imprisoned for having consensual sex with an underage girl has been released from prison.

Genarlow Wilson, 21, was released Friday after the Georgia Supreme Court intervened in his case. In a 4-3 ruling, the court found Wilson's 10 year sentence was cruel and unusual punishment. Wilson has served more than two years of his sentence.

"I'm happy to see that we've got justice now," Wilson said after being released from the Al Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, Ga. "I'm ready to piece back my life."

Wilson, 17 at the time, was convicted of aggravated child molestation following a 2003 New Years party where he was seen on tape receiving oral sex for a 15-year-old.

Wilson was acquitted of raping a 17-year-old that was intoxicated.

Wilson was imprisoned under a 1995 law that made it illegal to have oral sex with a minor. The law was amended in 2006 to make oral sex between teens close in age a misdemeanor.

However the Supreme Court ruled the 2006 law could not be retroactive.

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the majority opinion that the changes in the law "represent a seismic shift in the legislature’s view of the gravity of oral sex between two willing teenage participants."

Sears wrote that the severe punishment makes "no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment" and that Wilson's crime did not rise to the "level of adults who prey on children."

The Count Down

There are 451 days left in the Bush administration, until that day here's some Bush logic.


"In my judgement, when the United States says there will be serious consequences, and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
- George W. Bush, defending his decision to invade Iraq, Feb. 8,2004

The Count Down

There are currently 452 days left until Bush and his Vice President Dick is out of office. Until then here is an answer from the Dick himself.

"Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."

- Dick Cheney, Oct. 26, 2002, in response to a radio interviewer's question, "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"

Waterboarding, in which a prisoner is secured with his feet above his head and has water poured on a cloth over his face, is a method of simulating drowning that dates to the Spanish Inquisition. It has been specifically prohibited by the U.S. Army and widely condemned as torture by human rights groups and international courts.

The Count Down

There are currently 453 days until Bush's last day. Until then here's something only him and Dave Letterman can understand.

"Bush admitted to making mistakes in Iraq and says he has learned from these mistakes and will do better in Iran."

- David Letterman, Jan. 2007

Sagging Billboard

The Anti-saggy pants campaign kicked off Monday in Houston, TX with billboards encouraging people to tighten their belts.

The larger than life advertisements will have three slogans, "Don't Be Lame Elevate Your Game," "Represent Yourself Like You Present Yourself," and "That's Not Hip-Hop That's Flip Flop."

While the campaign does acknowledge that saggy pants are not exclusive to those that listen to hip-hop music, it contends that hip hop music has a large stake in the saggy pants arena.

Some rappers have a lot to say about the saggy baggy pants ban.

"You know you like to let it sag low, 'cause you like your pockets to be down by your knees and your belt to be right up under your @$$, but don't have your bootie hangin out," Atlanta rapper Yung Joc said.

Other rappers along with attorney's question the legal validity of the campaign. Attorney's believe their could be challenges in enforcing a law that dictates how ones clothes should fit.

It's gonna be hard to enforce," Rapper Chamillionaire said. "How do you know how far is too much? That sounds crazy to me. What's next?"

The Count Down

There are currently 454 days left until the cessation of the Bush dynasty. Until then here's a classic Bushism, specifically for the ladies.

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."

- George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

Just Because ...

High School Racism Survey

Copies of an Iowa high school newspaper were removed after several complaints about a survey about racism in the paper.

City High School principal Mark Hanson removed copies of the Little Hawk Oct. 19 edition from the school. The paper included a survey that concluded 13 percent of students found blacks unfavorable and two percent found whites unfavorable.

The paper polled 350 students. The paper also published an editorial in the same issue "pleading for racism at City High to be addressed."

The survey along with the editorial caused three near-fights, according to the school principal.

"Each one was spawned after they had read these articles," Hanson said. "If I think there is something endangering student safety, I'm going to do something about it."

DSU student Dies

One of the Delaware State University freshmen shot last month died Tuesday. She was 17.

Shalita Middleton, a biology major from Washington, D.C., was shot along in the abdomen along with freshman Nathaniel Pugh, 17, on Sept. 21. Pugh suffered an ankle wound.

"She struggled valiantly over the last several weeks and she was an inspiration," Middleton's family said. "Ultimately, however, the internal injuries that she suffered were in the end too critical to overcome."

Campus officials plan to hold a memorial for her.

Investigators were never able to interview Middleton about the circumstances around the shooting.

The alleged 18-year-old shooter, Loyer Braden, a freshman at DSU from East Orange, N.J., is being held on $92,000 bail on charges of attempted murder, assault, and other offenses. The charges will probably rise to murder.

Noose hung on Tupac Statue

Atlanta police apprehended a man they believe was involved in vandalizing the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Performing Arts in Atlanta over the weekend.

Police allege the man, along with accomplices, defaced the performing arts center by "plastering the building with handbills of garbled rants about 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, rappers and various record companies."

The vandals also hung a noose around the neck of the Tupac Shakur statue located in the Center's Peace Garden.

The Dekalb County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident as a hate crime.

"We thank everyone for their prayers and support. Although our hearts are temporarily in pain, our spirits have already forgiven the perpetrators," said Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, via a statement. "Hate comes in all colors and genders therefore we will use this act of hate and ignorance to bring our community together and to pray for the healing of those who harbor such feelings. With God's guidance, the work of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts and Peace Garden will continue to positively impact and transform our community."

Activist portest in Tallahassee

Fifty-five busloads of activist from all over Florida converged on the small town courthouse of Tallahassee to protest the beating death of a black boy in boot camp.

The protesters, organized by the Florida NAACP, gathered at the steps of the federal courthouse to ask the Justice Department to investigate whether Martin Lee Anderson's civil rights were violated when he was beat to death by prison guards.

Seven guards were caught on tape beating Anderson in the presence of a nurse for collapsing during a run. All seven guards were acquitted by an all white jury.

The nurse was also acquitted.

Protesters also want an investigation into Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell, who attempted to withhold the video from the public.

We are putting word out that we are together in wanting something to be done, and we are asking that higher powers come in and look at this case," Pat Spencer of the NAACP said.

The Florida State legislature agreed to pay Anderson's family $5 million to settle the civil claim. The case resulted in the boot camp style juvenile facility being closed down.

The Count Down

There are currently 455 days left until the Bush regime is brought to an end. Until that day here is what other countries think of our fearless leadership.

"Bush: One of the Worst Disasters to Hit the U.S."

- British Sky News banner over footage of Bush answering questions in wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005

Race Wars

Ponder the question: Which city is more racially charged Jena, La., where six black youths are on trial for jumping a white boy, or Staten Island, N.Y, site of recent beating of a black youth?

According to Rev. Al Sharpton race issues are greater in Staten Island.

Sharpton made these comments after Staten Island district attorney decided not to charge the white men who beat a black man in Staten Island as a hate crime.

Skylar McCormick, 20, was beaten by Daniel Avissato, 24, and Mark Maleto, 21 (both White) after he sat on the hood of parked Cadillac last Tuesday, police said.

McCormick received a broken jaw. His three white friends were unharmed.

District attorney Daniel Donovan refused to charge the men with a hate crime because he could not prove the crime was not racially motivated. The two men were charged with gang assault.

"New York is becoming worse than Louisiana," Sharpton said. "We're going to Staten Island, Jena [La.], Washington – and we're going to bring out numbers like you've never seen before. If using 'ni**er' and only beating the Black out of three people isn't a hate crime, then what is a hate crime?"

"Enough is enough. We've got to stop hate in this town. We’re not fighting conservatives. We're fighting Confederates," he said.

News from a Different Source

Recently there has been an outcry for a change in how women are perceived in the media. However its often people like Al Sharpton, and other older generation people questioning how our ladies are being shown. Now a group of young educated women, black women, have come together to speak up for themselves, here is what they have to say:


NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - The Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) kicked off its official launch of the organization in style, converting trendy SoHo furniture store, Bo Concept, into a passionate and informative celebration dedicated to the positive portrayal of women in entertainment.


The standing room only crowd of stars and entertainment industry executives joined the growing chorus of support for this cause, and organizers issued an industry wide call to action for others to become involved.


WEEN, an umbrella organization of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, is a coalition of powerful women and men of all races and ages, founded by women in the entertainment industry, committed to supporting, promoting and defending the positive, balanced portrayal of women in entertainment and in society.


WEEN’s four founding members and Senior Advisory Board is comprised of HSAN Executive Director Valeisha Butterfield; Court TV’s Lauren Lake; publicist Kristi Henderson; and high school teacher/jewelry designer Sabrina Thompson.


R&B star Mya and Sylvia Rhone, president of Motown Records/executive vice president of Universal Records were also on hand to help announce WEEN’s missions, goals and vision. Lauren Lake passionately stated WEEN’s call to action: “Do your part by logging onto weenonline.org and enrolling as a member of WEEN!” The launch event marked the official 12-month countdown to enroll one million women and those who support women into the organization.


Also present was HSAN Chairman Russell Simmons, HSAN President/CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Warner Music Group Executive Vice President Kevin Liles, Radio One founder Cathy Hughes, former RIAA head Hilary Rosen, and Virtue Today Magazine Editor Audrey Muhammad.


The recent dialogue surrounding the portrayal of women of color in entertainment, specifically in Hip-Hop music, has propelled women in the entertainment industry to take a proactive stand. WEEN’s mission will target three core areas: 1) corporate social responsibility, 2) media/artist responsibility and 3) community programs/outreach.


In addition to WEEN’s goal to be One Million Strong in one year, WEEN will also publish to action a “Pink List” to spotlight artist, albums, songs, publications, radio and TV programming and films that support women and ask that WEEN members support them in return. In 2008, WEEN will take their message to the streets nationally in the first ever Women’s Empowerment Tour.


The Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN), a program of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, is a coalition of women committed to supporting, promoting and defending the positive portrayal of women of color in entertainment and in society. WEEN is led by women executives in music, television, film, radio and other forms of entertainment and supports the First Amendment rights of Hip-Hop artists united in the belief that artistic expression can be commercially marketable and socially responsible.


(For more information on the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network or Hip-Hop Summit Action Network visit www.weenonline.org and www.hsan.org)

Another Noose

The principal of Canarsie High School in Brooklyn was recently the target of racist threats.

Tyona Washington received a letter and a string tied into a noose at the High School yesterday. Police said the package contained a single-page document with "anti-black" remarks and a string that resembled a hang mans noose.

This is the most recent racial attack to hit this city and the nation. In the past month a black professor at the prestigious Columbia University found a noose hanging on her office door and a black man in Staten Island was attacked by four white men. In the Staten Island case, police officials determined the incident was not racially motivated and was not going to be tried as a hate crime.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he will announce a major national march that will likely he held on Nov. 16 to demand federal intervention in the outbreak of hate crimes around the country.

The Count Down

There are currently 456 days left until the end of the Bush regime. Until that day, we should reflect on the sage wisdom of a mentally disabled man.

"The truth of the matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off."

- George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo, Oct. 8, 2004

News Break

Bathroom Blunder

Trying to Make a Dollar out of 15 Cent

"I've Never Been A Racist"

L.A. Reid backs NAS

Protesting murders

Thousands of black men in Philadelphia gathered yesterday to protest the growing rate of murders in the city.

The organization launched a campaign to deter crimes, especially murder, in the city by sending 10,000 volunteers to patrol neighborhoods that are high in crime. Volunteers will be unarmed and have no authority to arrest but will be trained in conflict resolution and mentoring.

The organization is endorsed by 80 community groups, businesses, churches, and government agencies.

The homicide rate in what is known in the media as "Kiladelphia," rose to a nine year high of 406 in 2006.

The Count Down

There are currently 457 days left until Pres. Bush is told to hit the road. Until that day, here's what some of his White House staffers have to say about working with a borderline retarded man.

"This meeting was like many of the meetings I would go to over the course of two years. The only way I can describe it is that, well, the president is like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no discernible connection."

- Paul O'Neill, former secretary of the treasury, describing what it was like to work with President Bush.

News Break

Nobel Laureate returns home after racist comments

Smoking while Black

Master P's management company released from debt

Dorm matron at Oprah's South African school suspended

She said what?!?!?!

So I was on the phone the other night with my friend who is pregnant. We were talking about movies and she told me she went to see the new Tyler Perry movie. I said I was thinking about going to see it because I heard it was really good.

She then said to me, "why wouldn't the movie be good."

I replied, "I don't know because sometimes movies aren't really good."

She then went on to tell me that I don't support black movies enough and I only like things that are white. I ignored her even though her comments did piss me off a bit. Seeing as how I don't see watching BET and watching Brown Sugar fifty times as supporting black people. I think voting for people that actually do things that help the black community as supporting black people. But whatever.

So she went on to say the baby really enjoyed the movie. She said he was moving around a lot.

So I said, "Maybe the baby was restless, he is crammed in a little space."

She said, "No, I could tell he was watching the movie."

I said, "That's not possible because he can't see. He is inside your stomach."

She said, "No he was trying to see out my belly button."

Now I believe that the baby can feel the vibration of the sound from the movie, I know that's a reason why woman play music for babies. But babies cannot see out of your stomach. I am not a OB-GYN, but I don't even think that at five months the baby can see (I don't know, don't quote me on that). What I do know for a fact is that a baby that is in the womb cannot comprehend English so the baby could not be enjoying the movie. It can't see what your watching and cannot understand what is being said. Plain and simple.

So I said, "She said what?!?!?!"

If you borne witness to occurrences of stupidity like this, send it in. Your stupid act can be a part of the weekly "S/he said what?!?!?!"

The Count Down

There are currently 458 days left until Pres. George W. Bush is ousted from the White House. Until that day, or until the man shuts me down, I will give you some of the dumb things Bush says or does to entertain and/or shock you.

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."

- George W. Bush, Gulfport, Miss., Sept. 20, 2005

The Count Down

There are currently 459 days left until the Bush administration is ousted from the white house, barring some heaven sent action like impeachment. But until Jan. 20, 2009 or my wildest fantasy comes true, here is another Bushism to contemplate.

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."

- George W. Bush, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Sept. 6, 2006

News from a different source

Recently there has been a referendum on all that is black youth culture. From dissecting hip-hop music to analyzing the way young black males dress, society has been watching everything they do and have comments about it. However these measures to make a better society is also alienating a group of people that already feel like outsiders looking in. Here is an article, written by Karin Zeitvogel, on the affects of dress codes on black youths today.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Bans on low-hanging trousers that display parts of underwear are hitting already alienated black US teens below the belt, African-American experts say as more US cities lined up to ban "saggy pants".

"This affects a certain population that always gets picked on," said Wilhelmina Leigh, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think-tank that focuses on African American issues.

"Even if they weren't wearing saggy pants, the same group of African American males standing around would be subject to more scrutiny than any other group of young people," she said.

"Tattoos, body-piercing and punk hairstyles are part of the youth culture, too, but no one is legislating against them. Singling out baggy pants is clearly singling out a group that people have issues with anyway."

Half a dozen towns in Louisiana have passed local laws against falling-down trousers, on the grounds they are indecent, and a dozen more towns and cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Opa Locka in Florida, and Yonkers in New York, are mulling bans.

Councilwoman Patricia McDow drafted the resolution that would ban saggy pants in Yonkers, but said she was motivated by issues other than decency.

"I drafted the resolution at the request of a community anti-gang coalition ... and because we want young adults to understand the history of this attire," McDow told AFP.

"Saggy pants came from the prison system. We want to teach our children to shun that culture and be proud of the rich history that they have," McDow said.

Oversized trousers were added to many a US teen's wardrobe -- especially young blacks' -- in the 1990s when hip-hop "gangsta" music surged in popularity.

The fashion comes from the US prison system, where inmates have their belts taken away for security reasons.

"Young black men walking around with these pants emulating what is a prison fashion trend is wrong," said former Miss Louisiana Faith Jenkins, who is now a lawyer at an international legal firm in New York.

"There are a staggering number of young black men in prison in this country and it's become almost a self-fulfilling prophecy that a lot of young black men end up in prison after emulating a prison culture every day of their lives by the way they dress, talk and act," she said.

Recent data released by the US Census Bureau showed that blacks made up 41 percent of US prison inmates in 2006, but only account for around 12 percent of the population.

With punishment for those who breach a saggy pants ban ranging from fines that go up each time the pants go down in the Louisiana town of Alexandria, to a possible stint in prison in Delcambre, Louisiana, critics of the local laws worry they will heap more woes on black youths.

"I'm concerned that we would be creating more arrest records for young black men and exposing even more of them to the criminal justice system," said Jenkins.

University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Chad Dion Lassiter said legislating against the fashion "pushes the already rebellious youths further away."

"Black males scare some white people, and sometimes even black people, whether they have their pants hanging off or a shirt and tie on," Lassiter said.

"I've seen it in my personal life, as an Ivy League-educated black man ... I can walk by some people, black or white, with a three-piece suit on, and they'll clutch their purses," Lassiter said.

He urged those wearing droopy trousers to pull them up to help themselves.

"But I don't want the young people to change their apparel so that they can be accepted and people won't be fearful of who they are. I want their apparel to change because it would improve how they see themselves. There's an image problem at the heart of this."

Jenkins agreed, and urged young black men to stand up for themselves without needing a law.

"Pulling up our pants is something we need to do by ourselves without someone telling us to do it," she said.

Apologizing for Slavery

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain said congress should apologize for slavery and segregation, calling them "dark chapters in our history," yesterday.

McCain said he will support a planned resolution to apologize for racist laws.

"I would support it, because I think it's appropriate," he said. "I certainly would support any recognition of the dark chapters in our history."

McCain emphasized that words alone cannot make amends for the actions of the country. He said the U.S. should "continue our efforts to make sure that all Americans have equal opportunity to take part in this great, great free-enterprise system of ours."

The Arizona Republican pledged to "address the issues of poverty and lack of education in parts of America, including parts of South Carolina, parts of my state, that some of our Hispanic students are not getting the same quality of education we want them to."

Nobel Prize winner apologizes

Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson apologized yesterday for making comments that blacks are not as intelligent as whites.

"I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said," Watson said during an appearance at the Royal Society in London.

"I can certainly understand why people, reading those words, have reacted in the ways that they have."

"To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologize unreservedly. That is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief," he said.

Watson told the Sunday Times, he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really."

He also asserted there was no reason to believe different races separated by geography should have evolved identically, and he said that while he hoped everyone was equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true."

Watson has proven to be extremely opinionated, even claiming his opinions have scientific basis. In 1997, Watson claimed if a homosexual gene were ever isolated, pregnant women who find out their child possesses this gene should be able to have an abortion.

Later in a 2000 lecture, Watson proposed there is a correlation between a person weight and ambition and skin color and sex drive.

In a 2003 documentary, Watson claimed stupidity was a genetic disease that should be treated.

The Count Down

There are currently 460 days left until the end of the treacherous Bush reign. Here is another Bushism, that will make you laugh instead of crying at the fact that this man is our "leader."

"I have a record in office, as well. And all Americans have seen that record. September the 4th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget."
- George W. Bush, Marlton, N.J., Oct. 18, 2004

Hate in the High School

Hate has entered hallways of a prominent high school in New York. Twenty-two swastikas were found sprawled throughout the walkways of Murry Bergtrum High School yesterday.

The swastikas were written in green chalk on several walls and doors in the basement, second, and third floor of the public high school.

The word, "Hitler is back" was written on a door next to a swastika.

The swastikas were found by a librarian and school secretary at approximately 1:45 p.m. at the Lower East Side school, which is conveniently located next to Police Headquarters.

The Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident. This is the most recent in a series of hate crimes hitting the city, and the nation.

Last week a noose was hung on the door of a black college professor at Columbia University. Then a swastika scribbled underneath a cartoon of a man wearing a yarmulke was discovered on a toilet stall in a bathroom at Columbia. Last month swastikas were found painted around Brooklyn Heights and anti-Semitic messages were placed in car windows.

Controversial Halloween landscape

Neighbors of a Greenfield family are questioning whether an outdoor landscape is Halloween fun or a racist decoration.

A dark mannequin figure was hanging from a tree in front of the Greenfield home. Blacks living in the community has taken offense to the mannequin saying it is insensitive and has racial overtones.

The owner of the home has taken the mannequin down, however neighbors didn't see the mannequin racist.

"It didn’t really strike me as anything unusual. It just looked like part of the graveyard scene," neighbor Julie Salmeron said.

The owner claims she did not intend to offend anyone. She said the family hung the same mannequin last year for six weeks and received no complaints.

Attack on Staten Island

Police are searching for a man who allegedly hurled racial slurs at a black man on Staten Island before beating him with a baseball bat.

The 20-year-old victim was hanging out with friends Tuesday night in S.I. While sitting on a parked car when an unidentified white male pulled up in a silver Cadillac and yelled out, "Why are you sitting on my car, n- - - - r?"

The man got off the hood of the car and began to walk away as the white male drove off. Minutes later, the man drove back to the same street with four men.

The driver got out the car and began to swing the bat at the black man, striking him in the face.

The men then fled.

The victim was taken to Staten Island University Hospital where he was listed in stable condition. He suffered a broken jaw.

News from a different source

Tyler Perry, creator of the Madea character of movie/play series, found a way for him to express his talent and culture. While his method is unconventional, his ingenuity has made a name for him, and according to MSNBC entertainment news section, he is making a name for black audience entertainment in Hollywood. See what Reuters hollywood reporter Steven Zeitchik has to say about Perry, his recent film "Why did I get Married?", and the future of Black Entertainment.

NEW YORK - Tyler Perry’s triumph at the box office with “Why Did I Get Married?” has heartened the growing number of studios looking to crack the market for black films.

But those studios also could face an unlikely problem: Tyler Perry.

The number of distributors and producers making movies that star and target blacks is climbing at an unprecedented clip. They’re reversing a pattern of studio indifference that for years allowed smaller players like Lionsgate, which has seen a box office gross of about $145 million from the three previous Perry films it has distributed, to enjoy a windfall.

“There’s probably not one new story to tell that hasn’t been told about white people,” said Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper. “But there are so many stories that haven’t been told yet about people with brown and black faces.”

Screen Gems, the Sony-owned mid-budget label, is opening two black-targeted comedies in the next three months: the holiday picture “This Christmas” and the Ice Cube vehicle “First Sunday.”

For all the carping about how Hollywood doesn’t give Perry respect — though of course he often gets respect in articles about how he doesn’t get respect — it’s also a fertile time for black movies.

At Our Stories Films, the Weinstein Co.’s co-venture with BET founder Robert Johnson, several projects are in development, while sister unit Dimension is prepping “Comeback,” a sports comedy drama with Ice Cube.

Even specialty divisions are getting in on the act. Fox Searchlight may have had a disappointing result with Chris Rock’s “I Think I Love My Wife,” but it’s still casting in New York for a potential Notorious B.I.G. biopic and is readying a sequel to the Cedric the Entertainer vehicle “Johnson Family Vacation.”

The evidence of the growing clout of the black audience? A minority filmmaking summit last week, where bigwigs such as Warner Bros.’ Barry Meyer and Peter Roth turned out to address filmmakers.

More than male comediesOf course, Hollywood has shown notable, if erratic, interest in black audiences in the past decade. Franchises including “Barbershop” and Ice Cube’s “Friday” films delivered box office returns well higher than their budgets. But where those movies were limited to male comedies, the Perry renaissance has given hope for a future paved with everything from romantic dramas to art house fare.

“I think what we’re going to start to see is black projects that in a way aren’t really about race,” said Intl. Creative management agent Andrea Nelson-Meigs. “People didn’t go see ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ because it was Greek. They went to see it because it was about how a family comes together.”

And Perry’s aura will continue to radiate to other films. ”With every new success that Tyler has, I see two or three other projects that might not have been made before,” said Keith Robinson, who’s starring in “This Christmas.”

But the Perry phenomenon also could create a set of issues — the film industry’s equivalent, perhaps, of the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”

The success enjoyed by Perry has raised the box office bar. If Perry is regularly pulling down $20 million on opening weekends, investors and executives might be disappointed when black movies open smaller, especially as budgets for these movies begin to rise. This summer, Our Stories was forced to change its tune on debut release “Who’s Your Caddy?” after the Don Michael Paul film earned just $6 million at the box office, saying the release was meant mainly to prime the pump for home video.

And for all the new ground Perry has blazed, he’s still an anomaly who will be hard to replicate. He didn’t spring up from whole cloth but spent years building his brand by working what’s known as the Chitlin’ Circuit — a string of venues popularized during the country’s segregation era as being welcoming for black entertainers — taking his plays to small and midsize cities.

Marketers will attempt the tough feat of doing that again — literally, in the case of “First Sunday,” which sources say will be positioned as a Perry-esque release because it comes from David Talbert, another black playwright who has a built-in audience (and who once directed a play on the Chitlin’ Circuit in which Perry starred).

And executives, while careful to emphasize that they want to produce more fare for black audiences, say that the business picture is more complicated than it would appear on the surface. Advantages like new audiences for lower-budget product are offset by certain disadvantages, like limited international potential. And the media also could tire of the Perry peg if it’s used too much.

Supporters of the category, however, say Perry and company will continue to force more and more studio heads to take notice. “Every time Tyler Perry has a success, Hollywood acts all surprised,” said Matt Alvarez, Ice Cube’s production partner. “But they really shouldn’t be surprised anymore.”

Race remarks by Nobel Prize winner

A London Museum canceled a lecture by Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson because of comments he made about African and European intelligence.

Watson was published in the Sunday Times, saying, he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really."

He also told the paper he hoped everyone was equal, but "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."

This comment is not the first shock statement from the 79-year-old American. In 2000, Watson awed an audience at the University of California, Berkeley, when he advanced a theory the correlation between skin color and sex drive.

The lecture, which included images of women wearing bikinis, argued that extracts of melanin - which gives skin its color - has been shown to boost sex drive.

That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."

Watson co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material."

Watson, who serves as chancellor of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., was to deliver a sold-out lecture at the Science Museum, but on Wednesday night the institution said Watson's comments had gone too far and the event had been canceled.

The Count Down Begins

There are 461 days left until the Bush administration is out of office. Now I know that seems like a hell of a long time, especially since we never know what this man might do next. But to keep you counting down with me, here's something stupid he has said. Trust me I have 460 more stupid things he has said and done to keep you entertained.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Mar. 13, 2002

News from a Different Source

This week commemorates the 12th anniversary of the Million Man March. Leader of the Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan celebrated it at the Atlanta convention center. Here's BET's recap:

Gliding through such diversified topics as global warming, the war in Iraq, the power of hip-hop music and the Michael Vick saga, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan rocked a jam-packed Atlanta Convention Center Tuesday in a rare public appearance to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Million Man March.

As usual, the main theme of the Nation of Islam leader was responsibility – the responsibility that all people have toward maintaining a peaceful the world; the responsibility that African Americans have to give back to their communities; the responsibility that Black men have to strengthen their families; and even the responsibility that humans have to be kind to animals.

"Politics and the racial environment [are] threatening the human family," said Farrakhan, 74, who has made few public appearances since being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000 and said to be in failing health. "But Black males, in particular, are endangered. Our attitudes, our ignorance, our savagery are all lending to a plan — a conspiracy to make the Black man, not endangered, but extinct. ... If God doesn't intervene, we will be extinct."

He said that Black men were created by God to take a stand. "The masses of our people are in terrible condition and are suffering and are becoming extinct; we have to find a better way of addressing the problems of our people," Farrakhan said during his two-hour-plus speech. Oprah Winfrey may be one of the richest women in the world, he said, but 37 million people are living in poverty, one in three of whom is Black.

"Diddy might have his own clothing line and a Manhattan address, but Blacks are moving into prison at four times the rate of Blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era," Farrakhan said. "Tiger Woods' face might be on every billboard, but 340,000 Blacks are homeless in America on any given night."

He said that rapper T.I., who was arrested on federal gun charges shortly before he was to appear at the BET Awards to receive honors for the Best CD of the Year, was jailed mainly because his music is influencing White kids, who buy the lion’s share of rap and hip-hop music.

And about Michael Vick: "I know our brother broke the law. God himself is displeased, because he has given us dominion over his creatures and he doesn't want us to abuse them for sport … but they didn't have to come down on the brother like that. He is young, Black and super rich. And all of those White children were wearing his jersey. White people were losing control of their children to Black sports and entertainment figures, and they can't take it."

There are things much worse than dog-fighting, Farrakhan said. "What is worse?" he asked, "to send a recruiter into Black and Hispanic neighborhoods to offer you money to come into the armed forces to go to Iraq and Afghanistan for political reasons to kill people?"

Kissing Cousins

Guess which 2008 presidential candidate and United States Vice President are related?

No it's not Dennis Kucinich (U.S. Representative from Ohio's 10th congressional district) and former Vice President George M. Dallas (VP for James Polk 1845-49).

Give up?

It's Barack Obama and current Vice President Richard Cheney.

According to Cheney's wife, Lynne, Cheney and Obama are eighth cousins. Lynn stumbled upon this information after researching Cheney's bloodline for his new book.

A spokesman for Lynne Cheney says Obama is also distantly related to Maureen Duvall, whose son Samuel married the granddaughter of Dick Cheney's ancestors, also named Richard Cheney.

"This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor... could be responsible down the family line for lives that have taken such different and varied paths," said Lynne Cheney.

When the Obama camp was asked to comment, Obama's spokesman said, "Every family has a black sheep."

STEPHEN COLBERT FOR PRESIDENT

Funny man Stephen Colbert announced yesterday he is throwing his hat in the 2008 presidential ring.

He announced his candidacy during his half hour show at 11:30 pm. He has yet to decide whether to run as democrat or republican. He is also unsure whether he could take the scrutiny that doomed Pat Paulsen and others that have gone before him.

Note that he says he's entering the primary in his native South Carolina, where he expects to be the "favorite son" candidate. No mention of campaigning anywhere else.

The Facebook

After a push from the New York State prosecutors office, the social networking phenomena Facebook has agreed to post sterner warnings about the dangers of children using the site.

Facebook, which previously advertised itself as a safe online environment, was investigated by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo for falsely promoting itself as an place minors can met socially that is free of sexual predators.

Mr. Cuomo said the settlement would serve as a "new model" under which law enforcement and Internet companies could work together to protect children and recognize that they share responsibility to police illegal activity online.

"Any site where you are attracting young people, you must assume you are simultaneously attracting those who would prey on young people," Mr. Cuomo said. "Whether you are a shoe company or you’re an Internet company, consumer protection laws apply."

Facebook has agreed to hire an independent company to track complaints, which they claim can range from thousands to ten thousand per day.

"To the extent that the competitors of Facebook say, 'We have to do this now so we can be competitive with Facebook,' that’s a good thing," Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference yesterday. He added that his office was talking to other companies with similar social networking sites, but declined to name them.

So I have been on the Facebook since 2004. I loved it when I first got on because it was only for college students, and only students attending schools that were a part of the network could be on Facebook. Then they let high school students on, now everybody and there momma can be on Facebook. Not only that but Facebook lets you stalk someone from a distance. That news feed that lets everyone know when you update your status, make a new friend, attend an event, your online status, and just about every other thing you do online, is a stalker or sexual predators wet dream. Not only that but when you sign up for the Facebook did you know that they sell your email address. Didn't you notice you started getting more spam after you signed up.

In conjunction with the extra personal information people put on Facebook and the pictures that are borderline pornographic, this good idea to have college students connect has snowballed into a nightmare that our government is trying to clean up. Hopefully no 14-year-old kid gets molested online and then in person while the powers that be are trying to figure things out.

Boot Camp death verdict

An all white jury cleared eight officers charged with beating a 14-year-old boy to death at a boot camp in Florida.

The defense asserted that Martin lee Anderson died because of a sickle cell trait and not because of the beating and the ammonia capsule shoved up his nose while a nurse watched.

"You kill a dog, you go to jail," an angry Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the family, said on the courtroom steps following the verdict. "You kill a little Black boy, nothing happens."

Crump asserts that claiming the death was due to sickle cell adds insult to injury. Crump also believes the lack of blacks on the jury worsened the situation, because blacks are more familiar with the disorder.

Sickle cell occurs in one out of every 10 blacks, according to the Illinois department of Public safety.

"Usually, people with sickle-cell trait do not have any medical problems and they can lead normal lives," according to its Web site. "They do not develop sickle cell disease."

The initial autopsy implicated sickle cell as the cause of death, however a second autopsy said the death was caused by the severe beating and because the victim was forced to breathe the ammonia while officers covered his mouth.

During the week long trial, the jury repeatedly watched the graphic videotape of the ordeal, which triggered outrage from Black leaders, children’s advocates and human rights activists nationwide and led to the end of Florida’s boot camps. Said Robert Anderson, Martin’s father: “There was enough evidence. It was there in Black and white. What do you need, a rocket science? I'm sick of this crap."

Desert Bayou

Rap Mogul Percy "Master P" Miller is expanding his business while educating the masses with a new documentary about Post Katrina New Orleans.

The film, entitled Desert Bayou, focused on a New Orleans family that was displaced to Salt Lake City, Utah after Katrina.

This movie is growing quickly and it should be in all theaters for everyone to see,” Miller said. “This is the most passionate I’ve ever been about a film. I’m also going to reach out to my good friend Mark Cuban to get this film into all his Landmark Theatres as well as my friend Magic Johnson to get the film into all of his theatres, too.”

The documentary recently received proclamation from the City of New York. The city declared Oct. 5 "Desert Bayou Day" in recognition of the humanitarian cause the film takes on for the people of New Orleans.

Proceeds from Desert Bayou will go towards rebuilding minority housing in the city of New Orleans.

For more information on the documentary, which is distributed through Cinema Libre Studio, visit, www.desertbayoumovie.com

Racist Postcard

A postcard former President Bill Clinton sent to his grandmother in 1966 is coming back to bite him in the butt.

Under the title, “Hope, Arkansas – Home of the World’s Largest Watermelon,” there’s a grinning Black young’n buffing a huge melon, the kind of image that riles many African Americans.

According to the New York Post's Page Six, while Clinton was a sophomore at Georgetown University, he wrote, "Dear Mammaw, Thought I would send you one of your cards just to prove I'm using them! My tests are over and I'm just starting the second term. Hope you are well and happy . . . Love, Bill."

Online auction house rrauction.com will be selling the postcard Wednesday. The auction house calls it "a throwback to the outrageously broad portrayals of African-Americans of a century earlier."

Stray bullet kills Brooklyn teen

The gang banging killer of a Brooklyn high school freshman was taken into custody by the New York Police Department yesterday.

Sean Gordon, 30, is accused of shooting 16-year-old Tavin Alvas on Oct. 9 with a stray bullet. Alvas died some days later.

Gordon, a Bloods gang member, has been a career felon with charges including drug possession, attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and assault. He was on probation when he was picked up on a drug warrant Jan. 10.

Instead of being sentenced to a possible five to 15 years for parole violation, Gordon was released on June 27 and credited with five months served.

On the morning of Oct. 9, Gordon allegedly fired his weapon into the air when fighting with his girlfriend, hitting Alvas when he peeked out his window.

Straight from the Daily News

Story taken from the Monday, Oct. 15 New Yorlk Daily News:

Holding hands in prayer, a Brooklyn family demanded an end to stray-bullet shootings yesterday as outrage grew over a citywide spike in random violence.

"You're not safe anywhere anymore," said Navet Valentine, grandmother of slain teen Tavin Alves. "If you can be shot in your own bedroom, where can you be safe?"

Tavin, 16, was looking out the window of his Bushwick bedroom last week when he was struck and killed by a stray bullet, allegedly fired by a trigger-happy career criminal with 17 prior arrests.

As Tavin's grieving family mourned yesterday, 3-year-old Jayla Taylor played in a nearby hospital room after being grazed by a stray bullet near her grandmother's apartment.
Ironically, she and her family had just left a "stop the violence" rally minutes earlier.

"We need people to speak up," said Tianna Green, 27, Jayla's aunt. "I don't think the streets are safe for our kids."

The two families' anger and anguish came as New York grapples with gun violence, and Mayor Bloomberg demands federal action to get guns off the streets. At least six children have been hit by stray bullets in the past six months in the city.

The NYPD does not release statistics on the number of bystanders caught in the crossfire, but community leaders say the violence must end now.

"This guy had 17 arrests," said state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn). "How many more did he need before we get him off the street?"

The problem extends across neighborhoods and boroughs.

Bronx honor student Kirsys Rodriguez, 12, was critically wounded May 6 when she was struck in the back by a stray slug as rival groups battled outside a house party in the Fordham area. When the fighting spilled onto the street, the gunman started shooting as Kirsys and dozens of others ran for cover, cops said.

"If I hear a weird kind of sound, I get scared," Kirsys said yesterday. "That didn't happen before."

The girl had four surgeries, missed two months of school and lost 23 pounds during her effort to recover physically, but her psychological wounds have lingered.

Kirsys no longer plays tag with friends or jumps double dutch. Whenever she hears her favorite song from before the shooting, she cries.

"I feel like I've changed from what I used to be," she said. "I feel different. I feel older."

On Staten Island, little Victoria Evans, 4, was jumping rope when she was struck in the left leg by a stray bullet during a Labor Day weekend party. After the shooting, doctors warned her mother, Shannon Davis, 25, to be prepared for "changes" and "mood swings" - but she had no idea how bad it would be.

"She could be running around playing and all of a sudden she starts crying," said Davis. "She used to be just a happy little girl. She would hug people and talk to people. Now she's a totally different person."

Davis had to quit her Parks Department job to care for her daughter, who suffers from sleepless nights, panic attacks and a painful fear of strangers.

In Crown Heights, seventh-grader Kimberly Desvignes says she finally overcame the nightmares about the day a stray bullet tore into her side as she tried to escape a spray of gunfire in her neighborhood.

Shot in the side, Kimberly, 12, still managed to shepherd her 7-year-old brother to safety inside a bodega on Aug. 27.

But every new shooting brings back the wrenching feeling that another child could die, she told the Daily News: "I just want the world to be safe with no violence, period," Kimberly said.

Her aunt, Linda Arthur, 55, is angry that a child could be struck by a stray bullet.

"It doesn't sound right in this day and age that kids get shot like that," she said.

In the most recent incident, cops are hunting 6-foot, 250-pound Devon Baker, 25 - the suspect they believe fired the shot that hurt Jayla Taylor as she walked with her aunt near the Kingsborough Houses in Weeksville on Saturday.

"I'm scared to go there," said mom Nekisha MClain, 29. "But I have to, because my grandmother lives there."

Cops say Tavin was a good kid who did nothing more than peek out his window when a shot fired by alleged Bloods member Sean Gordon, 29, killed him.

John Feinblatt, Mayor Bloomberg's criminal justice coordinator, said the federal government needed to do more to keep illegal guns off the street.

"Far too many New Yorkers become the victims of violence inflicted by illegal guns trafficked into our city," he said.

Racial Slur at Football Game

Police are investigating an anti-black racial slur written on the bench of a Harlem football team at a Staten Island game Saturday.

The Harlem Hellfighters game against the McKee- Staten Island Tech Seagulls was postponed when the graffiti was found.

The Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.

The Harlem Hellfighters, which draw players from a dozen uptown high schools, starred in a documentary shown at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. The team is coached by Duke Fergerson, a former wide receiver in the NFL.

Lupe Fiasco sues Vibe for defamation

Found this articles on Str8hiphop.com:

After making some controversial statements about A Tribe Called Quest to media outlets last week and apparently being cited out of context for statements made to The Vibe Magazine last month; Lupe Fiasco is going to sue The Vibe for defamation of character.

During a radio interview with Kay Slay on his satellite radio show, Lupe called in to explain how The Vibe interview was done last month and how his statements he made in context to a question asked to him about the elitist(ism) in Hip Hop.

Furthermore, he cited that The Vibe never made it clear that the statement was made from an old interview and that he has sent a cease and desist to the publication to stop further spreading of the false information.

Lupe continued on and stands by the fact that he did not grow up listening A Tribe Called Quest, but does have an understanding for their relevance and place in Hip Hop history.

Rapper Federal Gun Charges

ATLANTA - Federal agents arrested Grammy-winning rapper T.I. on Saturday on charges of buying illegal machine guns, hours before he was due to star at a major hip hop awards ceremony. Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they arrested the rapper at his home in southwest Atlanta as he took delivery of three machine guns and two silencers. "This convicted felon allegedly was trying to add several machine guns to an already large and entirely illegal arsenal of guns," David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement. "Thanks to the good and quick work of ATF, he is now in custody and his firearms have been seized," Nahmias said. T.I. was convicted of a violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act in 1998 and given seven years probation, the Department of Justice said. It is a federal offense for a convicted felon to purchase firearms on their behalf, Justice said. T.I., born Clifford Harris, was arrested at 2.30 p.m. EDT , the day he was due to perform at the BET Networks awards ceremony in Atlanta.

Placing the blame, Again

On the October 10 broadcast of his nationally syndicated Fox News Radio show, while discussing 14-year-old Asa H. Coon, who earlier that day shot four people at his Cleveland high school before killing himself, Fox News host John Gibson asserted that "because the school is very heavily African-American, I did leap to a conclusion" that "the shooter might have been African-American." Gibson went on to say that he "knew this was not a classic hip-hop shooting" once he learned Coon killed himself. Gibson continued: "Hip-hoppers do not kill themselves. They walk away. Now, I didn't need to hear the kid was white with blond hair. Once he'd shot himself in the head, no hip-hopper." Gibson later stated, "I know the shooter was white. I knew it as soon as he shot himself. Hip-hoppers don't do that. They shoot and move on to shoot again." Gibson added: "I know there's a few of you who want to call me racist. But when you do, remind -- let me remind you, African-Americans are dying in major cities because people won't face this problem."

News Break

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