Tuesday, March 30, 2010
High flyer: RNC Chairman Steele suggested buying private jet with GOP funds |
Sofia Madonaldo's Controversial Mural at Times Square
This mural has been the subject of heated debates and controversy because it depicted Black and Afro-Latina women as being "immoral" and "loose". Black and Latina organizations had already protested against this mural, for they said it's disrepectful to women of Color in NYC. What say you? I'd like to hear from you.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Reflections of a “Racist” Father « Jewamongyou's Blog
Reflections of a “Racist” Father « Jewamongyou's Blog: "REFLECTIONS OF A “RACIST”
FATHER
By J.A.Y.
So I’ve earned the reputation of being “racist” and the enmity of those dearest to me. Why? Because I dared tell my daughter that I disapprove of her dating black men. Now, for 90% of you out there, this would seem to be a cut-and-dry case."
The Multiracial Activist - www.multiracial.com - Jill Scott
When Scott launched into ''Do You Remember'' she squeezed every ounce of emotion out of the words. But she had some clarifications to make about this song, too.
No, it's not about seeing some old flame and reminiscing about love lost. Scott called it a pointed condemnation of ''brothers who have women and wives who look nothing like their mama.''
Not that Scott is against interracial romance, she went on to explain. She just suspects African-Americans may be doing it for the wrong reasons. ''You can't forget where you come from,'' she told the audience. ''Your skin will dictate how people treat you. Sorry.''"
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Artist Sofia Maldonaldo's Controversial Murals
LOOSEWORLD X Sofia Maldonado Part 2 from LOOSEWORLD on Vimeo.
I'm curious to see what the fuss is about regarding Ms. Maldonado's Times Square murals.
What say you? Any questions?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Michelle’s Got Data on Her Side: Food Deserts are Vast | RaceWire
As Michelle Obama turns up the heat on food manufacturers, PolicyLink and The Food Trust have released a report that maps America’s “food deserts” and looks at their lasting effects in rural areas and low-income communities of color.
The report culls research from"
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The blackness of Mariah Carey « Abagond
This obsessive madness with classifying multiracials by race has to stop. I’m sick of people saying that is Black people who put her in a box while letting white people slide. The mainstream media has a habit of placing multiracial people as “Black” instead of multiracial. They’re the ones who are making a big deal out of her race.
Like I said, American society has long been obsessive with multiracials of partial African ancestry. They made a big deal over Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Lani Guinier, Barack Obama, Halle Berry, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, the OJ trial, Tiger Woods scandal, etc.
Oh, and that comment about “what about the children” is code for black/noblack mixed people and the “threat” to mainstream America.
Friday, March 19, 2010
No Effigy Left Behind. Rhode Island Teachers hang Obama Effigy in Classrooms
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – A teacher at a failing school where he and all his colleagues are being fired hung an effigy of President Barack Obama in his classroom, apparently in reaction to Obama's support of extreme measures to ensure accountability in schools.
The teachers union on Thursday condemned the effigy, discovered Monday in the teacher's third-floor classroom at Central Falls High School, saying it was wrong and cannot be condoned under any circumstances.
The effigy was found in the teacher's classroom by Superintendent Frances Gallo, Rhode Island Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Shaffer told The Associated Press. Shaffer said the department would not have any further comment.
Gallo told the AP on Thursday evening that the foot-tall Obama doll that she saw Monday was hung from its feet from a white board and was holding a sign that said, "Fire Central Falls teachers."
"I was deeply saddened," Gallo said. "It's a horrific — a startling — kind of picture when you walk in and see that."
She said that the teacher had been issued a "strong letter of reprimand" and that she considered it an internal matter.
Obama had called the firings in Central Falls an example of holding failing schools accountable. The White House declined to comment Thursday. U.S. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said the agency was aware of the doll but declined to comment further.
The president of the Central Falls Teachers Union, Jane Sessums, said in a written statement that the teacher, whose name wasn't disclosed, hung the doll "as part of what he described as a lesson plan."
A spokesman for the union said he could not immediately explain what that meant. He said he did not know how long the effigy had been in the classroom.
The union has been fighting the firings at Central Falls High School, one of the state's worst-performing schools.
All the school's teachers, administrators and support staff will lose their jobs after the end of the school year. Under a plan approved by the state to improve the school, fewer than half could be rehired next year.
Sessums said the teacher who hung the effigy verbally apologized to his students and asked Gallo if he could also apologize in writing.
"He understands that his actions affect not just his students but all of us," she wrote. "There is no excuse for what he did."
Several students and recent graduates interviewed by the AP on Thursday said they hadn't heard about the effigy, which was hung in an area of the school that's used for the English as a second language program. Those interviewed said they hadn't heard anyone expressing anger about Obama's comments, but many were disappointed.
"A lot of teachers supported Obama," said Karen Zuniga, who graduated last year and started a Facebook group to protest the firings.
"He hasn't even been here," said Jonathan Beltran, another 2009 graduate who opposes the firings. "He doesn't know what's going on."
Senior Valerie Florez said emotions have been running high among the school's teachers, with some telling students the firings are unfair and at least one breaking down in tears during class.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Hate speech infiltrates social-networking sites, report says
- Internet's unregulated nature has aided proliferation of cyber-hate, report says
- Number of hate-affiliated Web pages jumped 20 percent in past year
- Personal blogs, mainstream social-networking sites are affected, authors say
New York (CNN) -- The unregulated nature of the Web has aided a proliferation of cyber-hate, according to a report the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance released Monday.
The report, Digital Terrorism and Hate 2010, notes that there are about 11,500 hate-affiliated Web pages, a 20 percent jump from last year's study.
According to the Wiesenthal Center, personal blogs as well as mainstream social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter are easily flooded with racist and terrorist-related content.
"The spike is not in traditional Web sites in the United States," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "It's more global and almost all in the social-networking area."
Mark Weitzman, director of government affairs for the Wiesenthal Center and a co-author of the report, said home-grown terrorism suspects have an active online presence. He cited the case of a Pennsylvania woman who officials say called herself "Jihad Jane."
The woman, Colleen LaRose, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country. She had been on the radar of the Wiesenthal Center for the past year, Weitzman said.
"We ask, 'Are they just coming out of the woodwork?' and the answer in every single case is the Internet link," Cooper said.
Although these sites are monitored, the report's authors said, they have become increasingly alarmed by the "lone wolf" effect, making it difficult for law enforcement to discern which threats are legitimate and which are simply talk.
For example, the late James W. Von Brunn, the 88-year-old who was charged in the fatal shooting of a security guard at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington in June, kept a Web site called the Holy Western Empire. On it, he blamed a "Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys" and "a Jew judge" for a six-year prison term he served in the 1980s.
However, "there's no equation that says someone who posts a rant ... is going to go on a shooting rampage," said Weitzman, who has testified in front of Congress and the United Nations on the issue of digital hate.
Perhaps even more chilling are the growing numbers of "how to" Web sites in which terror groups routinely post instructional manuals and videos on bombmaking and computer hacking.
The study also explored e-commerce and how it can be used to market hate. In February, an eBay merchant offered "an original Holocaust ring," claiming that it came from his uncle who was posted at the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. EBay pulled the Web page before a sale was made.
Founded in 1977, the Simon Wiesenthal Center was named after a Jew who survived the Holocaust and became famous for his career as a Nazi hunter.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Congressional Black Caucus member discusses meeting with President Obama.
Congressional Black Caucus member discusses meeting with President Obama.
At President Obama's invitation the CBC meet with him on March 11. Hear a statement for CBC chair Barbara Lee and from Yvette Clarke a CBC member that was at the meeting by using the link below: