Quote of the Day

@irin @tressiemcphd White Republican politicians think the way Elliot thinks except the use of extreme violence.
— Stephanie Baldwin (@Reynawomyn) May 26, 2014

Bill O'Reilly and Russell Simmons Clash over a Beyoncé Video

Come on people, Bill O'Reilly doesn't really care for Black girls.  

He just using Sistas to score racist right-wing ideological points.

Bill O'Reilly and Russell Simmons Clash over a Beyoncé Video


In the music video for the Beyoncé song "Partition," there's some incredibly raunchy imagery, including car sex and a lyric reference to Monica Lewinsky. Bill O'Reilly was fired up about this Monday night, confronting hip hop mogul Russell Simmons over what kind of message that sends to young black girls when such behavior is glorified by one of their idols.

O'Reilly said the video "glorifies having sex in the back of a limousine," and wondered "why on earth would this woman do that" when unplanned pregnancy is a problem in the black community. Simmons didn't defend Beyoncé specifically, but spoke up in support of artists reflecting the reality people live in.

O'Reilly insisted that Beyoncé has "an obligation to protect children" and not to put out "exploitive garbage." He called the video "inexplicable" and was utterly bemused when Simmons said that the music video is, in fact, a work of art.

North Carolina’s Moral Monday Movement Kicks Off 2014 With a Massive Rally in Raleigh | Activism, Blog | BillMoyers.com

North Carolina’s Moral Monday Movement Kicks Off 2014 With a Massive Rally in Raleigh | Activism, Blog | BillMoyers.com

Oh, yes! The people of NC are taking a stand against oppression and repression by their so-called leaders!

Take that, Hannity, Limbaugh, and the Tea Party!

NC Students & Young People Mobilize | Moral March on Raleigh Promo

North Carolina Students and Young People are under attack in North Carolina when it comes to their education and voting rights. And they are mobilizing for their future.

White Sexual Violence against Enslaved Black Women via Racism Review

From Racism Review, the premiere anti racist website:

White Sexual Violence against Enslaved Black Women

Harriet Jacobs, Author of  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

A scene from 12 Years a Slave Movie (2013)

Fox Nation Calls Obama Birthday Party 'Hip-Hop BBQ' (PHOTO)

Media Matters for America, a non-profit liberal media resource group has been gunning for Fox News over the past few years. With the first African American to be elected as president, Barack Obama and the network have been at odds over issues. And with that, comes the blatant disrespect and subtle racism to him.

The conservative network wasted no time trying to tie the high educated Obama with racial stereotypes of Black culture. Last year, the president stated that his interest in  hip-hop music rappers like Nas and Lil' Wayne, the website Fox Nation post the president's love for gangster rappers. First Lady Michelle Obama host a poetry session at the White House and invites rapper Common. Common becomes a "cop killing" rapper. Three days after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now as the  president celebrates his birthday at the White House and invites Chris Rock and Jay-Z to the event, it's a "Hip-Hop BBQ".

Say what you will—Fox Nation knows how to keep things unique. We also love the url for the item:
http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2011/08/05/obama-parties-chris-rock-jay-z-and-whoopi-while-rome-burn

Towards the end of a recent interview with Rolling Stone, President Obama was asked about his musical preferences, he replied:

My iPod now has about 2,000 songs, and it is a source of great pleasure to me. I am probably still more heavily weighted toward the music of my childhood than I am the new stuff. There's still a lot of Stevie Wonder, a lot of Bob Dylan, a lot of Rolling Stones, a lot of R&B, a lot of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Those are the old standards.

A lot of classical music. I'm not a big opera buff in terms of going to opera, but there are days where Maria Callas is exactly what I need.

Thanks to Reggie [Love, the president's personal aide], my rap palate has greatly improved. Jay-Z used to be sort of what predominated, but now I've got a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne and some other stuff, but I would not claim to be an expert. Malia and Sasha are now getting old enough to where they start hipping me to things. Music is still a great source of joy and occasional solace in the midst of what can be some difficult days.

Soul, folk, rock, R&B, jazz, "A lot of classical", and some rap; sounds like a fairly diverse musical palate. This represents the musical tastes of a number of Americans of the president's generation, especially those with school age children. Diversity is good, unless you are reading the Fox Nation website. According to Huffington Post, Fox Nation took this description and briefly posted the headline, "President of the United States Loves Gansta Rap" with photos of tattoo laden Nas and Lil' Wayne thrown in for "flava".

How does the president's acknowledgment of an appreciation for rap music become a love for "gangsta rap"?

This is not too subtle code language from conservative media that the "de-racialized" President Obama has an affinity for some element of African-American culture and this is something to fear. Here is another example in a long list of examples of how some elements in the media and politics continue to play to the fears of too many in America by fanning the flames of prejudice and racism.

Since his days as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois Barack Obama has talked about equality and one America. During his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention he said that the greatness of this nation can be summed up in the declaration, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America." In his famous "race speech" in 2008 Senator Obama talked about continuing the long march, "of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America."

For too many in this country, this de-racialized race-neutral politics coming from a man of African decent is something to fear. Former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo opened the Tea Party convention by calling for a reinstatement of Jim Crow type literacy tests for voters and saying, "This is our country...Let's take it back." Who's country is it and Tancredo wants to take it back from whom?

Recently in an interview with National Review's Robert Costa former House speaker Newt Gingrich said,

"What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? ...This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president." Again, not so subtle code language playing to the fear of President Obama's Kenyan heritage and to the unfounded rhetoric of the "birther" movement. Actually, anti-colonial behavior is a good thing if you are a victim of colonialism.

According to Rep. Pete King (R-NY), President Barack Obama is "probably the most threatened president ever." Most of these threats are not because of health care reform, the stimulus bill, or the problems with Israel. There are still too many people in America that refuse to allow him to govern as the president; they will oppose him at every turn because he's an African-American who is the president
 .
Numerous cartoons have featured President Obama and/or first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, terrorists, or Muslim suicide bombers. What are they afraid of? President Obama has called for change not Mau Mau revolution. He is working within the established structure, not working to overthrow it. The president loves gansta' rap? During the Henry Louis Gates arrest in Cambridge, President Obama said that the arresting officers "acted stupidly" not as NWA said, "F**k the Police".

The Fox Nation claim that the "President of the United States Loves Gansta' Rap" is a bit far fetched and nothing but a scare tactic. It's the latest example in a long line of contradictions that are grounded in a fear of the African-American influence in a fictitious "post-racial" America. Or as Public Enemy would say, "Fear of a Black Planet".

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "Inside the Issues With Wilmer Leon," and a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com.

Fox News and The Drudge Report caters to the worst of society. Subtle racism and misinformation creates the toxic environment that spawns in the conservatives who support the Tea Party let alone the entire Republican Party.

Controversy Over White House Invite Has Hip Hop Artist Common Feuding With Fox News Host Sean Hannity!

Rapper Common has gotten an invite to the White House. Sean Hannity and conservatives are whining about it.

A "Vile" rapper by the name of Common is attending the White House at the discretion of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. You know the two radicals who are destroying our nation with their "socialist" policies, their lack of judgment, their lavish parties while everyone else is living paycheck to paycheck!

Common who's radical ties to Trinity United Church, you know the church with racist Jeremiah Wright saying "God Damn America" and "America's Chicken's Coming Home To Roost!"

The conservatives will flutter down the comments page defending their actions to go after First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama and rapper Common.

Sean Hannity in particular, is not backing down from the controversy. The talker devoted a segment of his radio show and television program to complain about the decision to allow Common to perform at the White House.

He once again goes on and on about the same old narratives that helped Barack Obama win the election.

Conservatives are trying their best to avoid mentioning the recovering economy, the decline in fuel and oil prices, the steady growth in jobs and the killing of Osama bin Laden. They have a pretty weak field of candidates for the Republican nomination. And what's left....

Classic race-baiting.