Lady Bird Johnson, R.I.P.

Former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson died Wednesday at age 94 from natural causes. She's known for her beautification programs in the 1960s and beyond as well as a passionate environmentalist. Her legacy lives on. May she rests in peace.

Link:

Thousands See Former First Lady's Casket

Cyber-Apartheid: White apathy and the literary children of James Baldwin

This is my first op-ed piece for Stephanie's Journal and I sincerely thank her for the opportunity.
- The Angryindian
-------------------------------------
I was at first glance quite pleased with myself when I scanned my morning newsfeeds to discover that an American African entertainment blog took note of how blogs of colour are reaching readers and helping shape opinions on issues that affect the African community as a whole. I even experienced a brief rush of accomplishment and righteous vindication amongst my peers in cyberspace for my efforts as an autonomous and non-partisan newsblogger and Indigenist activist.

But it was short-lived. Reality set in after my second sip of honeyed fennel tea that while the author of the post was quite correct in his estimation of the growing power of “Black” bloggers, the fact that such an article needed to be written at all shows just how segregated the Internet really is.

On the whole, cyberspace is just as “White” as the physical day-to-day world we are all guided to accept as the only empirical reality. The culture and direction of the Internet without question operates solely within the paradigms of European-centred control and management. Created initially by the U.S. Military and used chiefly by scientists for rapid transmission of peer data, the Internet has since the mid-80’s grown-up into a gigantic sensory-overload capitalist’s dream universe that reflects more about people and society than many of us care to admit.

Take an hour and rift through the user-uploaded clips on YouTube or the ever expanding myriad of forums, blogs and websites and you are likely to come across something we are told young Euroamericans have supposedly learned to overcome: racism. YouTube and Craigslist in particular have been cited for their overwhelming White racist commentary in response to videos and current news and social events. Openly racist sites such as Jewwatch.com garner more than 1 million hits a month. Neo-Nazi sites abound the web and don’t seem to be receding. In fact, interest in such material has increased according to some sources as much as 400% since 2000 and the first Bush coup d'état in Florida that illegally removed thousands of American African male voters from their state elections register.

Not to say that their isn’t loads of questionable material available on the Internet, (such as pornography accounting for more than 80% of web traffic which says a lot more about people than it does about the genre) but the Internet simply reflects those that created it, maintained it, expanded it and currently control all the means of production and utilisation of the technology.

Even in the 21st century, most non-European homes in the First, Second and Third worlds still do not have PC’s let alone ISP service. It simply remains out of the financial reach of many minorities due to the usual culprits, economic marginalisation and under-education to the use and benefits of the technology. Amongst those that do have access, far too many of them spend more time downloading entertainment than pursuing political, educational or cultural knowledge. And again, even this highly generalised deconstruction I have offered still only amounts to less than 20% of all Internet usage globally.

This explains why the Daily Kos can enjoy such high ratings and acclaim among activists of various stripes while non-European political commentary blogs such as my own (Intelligentaindigena Novajoservo) are not read by much more than those uniquely concerned with very specific issues. My blog focuses on matters that concern worldwide Aboriginal genocide, political power and racial issues that impact everybody. But if discussing race and First Nations subjects in America candidly is just about impossible in the general public discourse, it is for all practical purposes a deliberate drag through the valley of indifference in cyberspace.

White people simply aren’t interested enough in Brown folks to engage us as anything other than entertainment fodder or the hyper-sexualised fantasies of historical White racist guilt. Their apathetic readership and support for Black/Brown bloggers proves this and arguments as to the legitimacy of this argument ca be verified by the Internet logs of no-European bloggers that do good work, yet are ignored by those who comprise the bulk of the Internet reading audience. In a world where print media is on a downward slide to oblivion, this is a very important issue.

Like my ancestral mentor James Baldwin, I believe everybody has a story. We all have something to say from a perspective all our own. African people are no less human than any other man, woman or child on this planet, yet we are constantly placed into positions where our humanity is challenged for no other reason than our otherness. And like Baldwin, many of us who have the ability to upload our observations of the Europocentric empire from the inside do so with one foot in the White world while tip-toeing in the territories where we really come from. Our commentary is biting, accurate and damming of what has been euphorically described as the wide, wonderful world of Europeanization brought to us by way of a necessary and on-going genocide and the institution of a racial/ethnic hierarchy that favours the fair of skin and cultural vanity. We are the faces of colonialism and genocide and we articulate the angst and antagonism of our endurance with an accent of “otherness,” in a vernacular that burns Euro-supremacist eyes and ears to a cinder.

Hence the delicate yet consistently applied apathy of White weblog readers towards bloggers of colour despite the qualitative content of their websites.

Who wants to read about socio-political issues that they might feel responsible for addressing when they could be reading about scandalous professional socialite- harlot Paris Hilton’s brush with the reality of the L.A. County lockup? Poor White and minority women go to prison and go missing everyday but it’s always more disturbing when it happens to someone they regard as representative of the “Master race”. The other paradigms of humanity simply do not calculate interest, compassion or respect.

Still doubt my assessment? Ask your nearest Palestinian, Iraqi or Afro-refugee from Katrina bashed Louisiana. Darfurians could tell you themselves, but many of them are dying from preventable conditions made worse by European and Euro-colonial unresponsiveness to human suffering. And they said it would never happen again.

Without the axiomatic “free exchange of ideas” mantra of the free-market PR gangsters applied to the Internet, the only ideas that will germinate will be White ideas in a world overwhelmingly populated by those or various hues and convictions other than White, or Eurocentric. Are those that control the levers of socio-political power fearful of letting “The market decide” in cyberspace, or are we just afraid to call a spade a spade and admit that the Internet is just the new Apartheid, Jetsons style.

- The Angryindian

Most and Least Segregated Cities for Blacks

At Rachel's Tavern, Rachel compiled a list of most and least segregated cities/counties for Black Americans. This is a very important read for it affects all aspects of Black life, from access to health and jobs as well as to decent stores for shopping, the whole quality of life in general. Some people may not like what she reported, but it reflects my reality, for I live in a very segregated city in Southern Ohio(Dayton). Not only the metro area where I live is polarized racially, but economically and socially as well.

Supreme Court makes it tough for most of us -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Supreme Court makes it tough for most of us -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY: "On George Bush's Supreme Court, the big guys win, you lose -- unless, of course, you are one of the big guys, in which case, congratulations!


If you are a customer, tough. Manufacturers may go back to barring retailers from underselling the price a manufacturer wants. If you are a mere taypayer, tough again. You are barred from challenging government expenditures on faith-based programs as possible violations of church-state separation.

If you are convicted of a crime and your lawyer files your appeal three days late, too bad -- even though the lawyer filed on the date the judge (mistakenly) directed. Justice David Souter, in dissent, put it plainly: 'It is intolerable for the judicial system to treat people this way.'

If you suffer a troubled pregnancy, sorry. Lawmakers may bar you from the medically safest abortion. Women's health no longer governs abortion issues. Expect a festival of harassing legislation next year in the manner of the ban on 'partial-birth abortion' -- a term made up for political purposes -- which the court endorsed."

informationliberation - Independence Day?

informationliberation - Independence Day?

Every year on The Fourth, I wonder what people are celebrating. That is, the ones who give it any thought at all beyond its being a day off. The celebrants have no sense of irony.

If it's all about freedom, then oughtn't we at least have more respect for the word than to associate it with the condition to which we've been reduced? Let's face it, the average American just accepts the following: "We are Americans, ergo we are free." End of discussion. He contemplates how bad things are around the world, and that is sufficient for him to conclude that things are just fine here in America. Contradict him at your peril.

What the rest of the world prefers to tolerate is a pretty poor standard by which to gauge our liberty, and I'd like to propose a better one. It is this: Are our rights respected? Are we allowed to own ourselves and our justly acquired property? Ask this of our theoretical free American and he's likely to insist his rights are just fine, thank you. He'll often invite us to love it or leave it.

Given the sorry state of government schooling, I can't say I'm surprised. But is it asking too much that people should understand the meaning of words thrown around so casually?

A right is something one may do without getting anyone's permission, and if government has any legitimate purpose at all, it is protecting our rights. It has no other legitimate reason for existing. When governments go beyond that, they become as much a criminal as the mugger who takes your watch, or the trespasser who invades your property. Nothing about this is rocket science.

But this is way too much theorizing for most folks. Their eyes glaze over. Enjoying their barbecue and ball game tells them all they need to know, and that it just couldn't be better here.

In fact, Americans are so thoroughly policed, monitored, and regulated they can scarcely conceive it being otherwise. No aspect of their lives escapes the government's attention and control, and they have no rights at all, only privileges. By a stupendous act of doublethink they believe they are free.

A short list should suffice to raise serious questions in the mind of our theoretically free American.

Ecuador Carving out New Democracy - Prensa Latina

Ecuador Carving out New Democracy - Prensa Latina: "Quito, Jul 5 (Prensa Latina) Political and economic reforms are the main proposals boosted by the Ecuadorian government in the future Constituent Assembly, to be established on October 30.
# Correa Denounces Destabilization Plan

Those proposals were made by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to the National Higher Education Council, which is in charge of drawing up a draft for the new Constitution.

Correa considers the Assembly important and historical for the country, and its success 'will depend on the people s support to achieve significant changes.' 'If citizens elect the same politicians as on September 30, the nation will remain in the same situation it was before January 15 last year, with rising prices of electricity, water, privatizations, and the handing over of sovereignty to foreign powers,' said Correa.

He said the country has to go from a pseudo representative democracy to a participatory democracy, to elect legislators by district, so that each region of the country has its own representatives."

The Fourth of July and Hypocrisy

Ann's post:

What's the 4th of July To Me? captures all the sentiments I had regarding America's hypocrisy towards the least of all citizens. Please read the article at:

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/what-is-the-4th-of-july-to-me/

Your view of America won't be the same after reading this searing essay. At Rachel's Tavern, she discusses racial segregation in housing that is still with us today and is not going away soon. Please read that article as well.

Michelle Obama Under Attacked by Pearl Jr.

Michelle Obama Comes Under Attack? By Pearl JR

Many of us are noticing that there is really and truly an attack on the value, worth, and importance of Black women in the lives of prominent men. It has gotten so bold that Angelina Jolie is playing a Black woman, 70 percent of Black women are living without spouses, the vast majority of our children are growing up in a single mother household, sixty percent of Black men who earn over $100,000 annually are married to non-Black women, and now a group of White people have created, produced, and distributed a music video that insults Presidential hopeful's Black wife, Michelle Obama; who is now the newest Black women to come under attack to soon be unmated.

Before anyone writes me to tell me the ever-popular notion that supports a cowardly and ignorant point of view that "it doesn't matter", I'm here to tell you that it better matter quick because the attack on Black women or shall I say, "Nappy Headed Hos" is moving full speed ahead.

Yesterday, while watching Fox News, there was a story about a group of college White students who are posing as Barack Obama supporters that produced a music video called "I Got a Crush on Obama" featuring a sexy White chick lip singing because she was recruited from Craiglist.com to act in a music video.

Apparently, the Jewish looking female vocalist just wasn't sexy enough to persuade a response from the public or to get Barack Obama's attention they had to use a dummy to pull off this mind-twisting insult.

This video hails Mr. Obama as some type of sex symbol Mandingo that is swooning White women and White people with his sexiness and not his intellect nor his integrity. Forget that Mr. Obama is running for the most powerful job in the world, the Presidency of the United States of America, and put aside that he has a Law Degree from Harvard University and was the only Black President of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, plus voted in as the ONLY Black Senator in the United States Senate among many other notable accomplishments has now been reduced down to being the object of White women's sexual desire.

The scantily dressed White woman with the name of "Obama" on her butt must be to let Barack-ster recognize that she and the producers are aware that Black men like asses, or just in case, he's a tits man, her blouse is tight, especially around the breast area. Furthermore, there is zero mention of Michelle Obama nor his two Black daughters as if they don't even exists, or soon won't, because he is now on White women's radar.

You see, I've been watching Barack Obama and I was very interested in how he was going to handle the Don Imus incident; he came to Black woman's calling by saying "Don Imus should be fired" and then his ranking fell about 10 percentage points. I guess he was suppose to appease Whites by not taking offense that an old White man called a group of innocent Black female college students playing in a championship tournament, "hard-core hos" and "nappy headed hos". I never once heard Anna Nicole Smith or Paris Hilton being called "hos" of any type, especially "stringy headed hos", even though it is widely known that those White women have been very public exhibiting "whorish" behavior.

Of course, any President, despite his race or gender, must be a President for all American citizens, it's nice to know that a Black man running for President has enough sense and pride to realize that to insult innocent Black women on the purity that they are simply Black females is a slap and insult to all Black women, young, old, rich, poor, educated or uneducated. And to think some Whites have stopped supporting him due to him taking a stand that protects the image of his wife and his children is somehow less American, lets me know that racism is alive, growing, and inevitable hungry to keep Black inferiority THE status quo.

And to add insult to injury, the group of 4 White people appearing on Fox News who produced this raunchy, insulting, and belittling video had the nerve to act like the video was made out of love for Mr. Obama and would actually help him win the office of Presidency. I guess the diminishing of Black female worth is so low that during the interview not one of them mentioned Michele Obama at all, just a scroll across the screen as an after thought wondered how she would feel.

Maybe Fox News received my many emails complaining about the insult to Mrs. Obama. Then, there was the question asked if Hillary Clinton was behind this video to discredit Mr. Obama, and one of the producers responded with a slippery and shady "no comment" paraphrase.

Now sistahs of the Black Woman's Movement, (if you haven't signed up, please do so today because we are in phase one of gathering up the troops-tell all your friends), we must not get upset with Barack Obama over yet another White woman chasing after a Black man of prominence, he had absolutely nothing to do with the creation and distribution of this degrading video. As a matter of fact, Mr. Obama's camp has made no comment, but was urged to contact the producers and praise them for insulting his wife and his prestige. What the heck? You see, there are trick bags all over the place and this is just some bait to see if Barack-ster would be weak and dumb enough to insult his family by being flattered with such filth and attention diverting plots that he would praise a fake singing sex-pot that was hired to perform a duty. I'm not even sure the actress hired is a real Obama supporter.

Lastly, check out this comment that I received from youtube, "if Obama is a true black man he would dump his colored girl wife and shack up with a blonde lady".

Black men are getting clowned all the time due to their continual abandonment of Black women, because you know only a TRUE racist would use the word "colored" to describe today's Black woman.

Black women must be on the same page with understanding what is feeding our epidemic singleness. Furthermore, I'm receiving comments after comments about non-Black women stealing Black men from Black women-it has truly gotten way out of hand.

If you don't' believe me, then visit my website: www.BlackWomenNeedLoveToo.com and watch a clip from the movie Jungle Fever from 1991 and tell me that we have NOT participated in the "it doesn't matter" syndrome for far too long. It's past time for us to stand up for our rights to be loved, honored, and cherished just as much as any other woman.

Learn what we can do about it in my book, Black Women Need Love, Too! available on amazon.com and if a bookstore near you doesn't have any copies on their shelves, ask them to order it-Black Women Need Love, Too! is not only a book, but an important message that needs to be spread worldwide.

ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK, BLACK WOMEN NEED LOVE, TOO! AND TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME BECAUSE NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNTIL WE CHANGE IT.

Please visit Pearl JR at www.BlackWomenNeedLoveToo.com

News for June 24, 2007

Here are several news clippings for the week of June 24, 2007:

LATIN AMERICA: Black Women on the Bottom RungBy Diego Cevallos- MEXICO CITY, Jun 19 (IPS) -

There are at least 75 million black women in Latin America and the Caribbean, but those who occupy high-level political or public administration posts number less than 50. As activists pointed out to IPS this week, black women are at the very bottom of the social ladder in this region.

More about this sad plight of Latin American Black Women, Click here.
The body of Jessie Davis Found.

This is sad news to the week-long search for Ms. Davis, who was nine-months pregnant and a mother of a two-year old son. Click here and here. My prayers and sympathy are with her family. As Ms. Davis is being mourned, let's also remember Latoyia Figueroa and Reyna Marroquin whose lives ended in tragedy as Jessie Davis. May they all rest in peace.

This Week's Links for 6-9-2007

To all my readers,

Here are several article I have for your reading pleasure:

"Diversity Is Still An Issue at TV Networks"- LA Times. How about more diverse viewpoints in newsrooms as well? It's still not diverse despite the growing population of people of Color in the U.S. C'mon, y'all can do better than that. Hat tip to Racialicious.com for the link.

Fox News Bundles Race Reporting. No Brainer here.

This article is from The Gimp Parade via Rachel's Tavern. It's about the Long Island Couple suing the fertility clinic for the "wrong" in-vitro that resulted in having a child darker than her parents. This is not new, for in the 1990s when a white woman was given the wrong in-vitro that resulted in her having a biracial Black girl(now a teenager). She sued the clinic for damages and was generously compensated. What if such thing happened to a Black expectant mother? Would she be generously compensated for giving her the wrong treatment? Would the public be sympathetic to her plight? What you say?

More petitions against hateful racist/sexist stereotyping by corporations. Please sign them. Thank you Ann for bringing this to the forefront.

News for 5-29-2007

News for 5-29-2007:

Here's an interesting article from Utne reader regarding racism in the blogosphere:

Bigotry and the Blogs

Related link:

The Segregated Blogosphere

Tell me what you think of the above articles.

More news later. Have a nice day!

She Was More Than King's Daughter by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

She Was More Than King’s Daughter
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

The applause was loud and sustained virtually every moment that Yolanda King was on stage performing her one-woman theatrical performance. The audience beamed with love, joy and most importantly appreciation for her. This writer did too as I sat spellbound in the first row of the Los Angeles church where King performed. The occasion was the annual King Day celebration last year held at a popular Los Angeles church. The audience didn’t embrace and idolize King solely because she was the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of those in the audience weren’t even born when King was alive. And the applause for her wasn’t solely out of a misty nostalgia for the civil rights movement.


Most there had no first hand knowledge or involvement in the civil rights battles four decades. No, their applause and respect was for her, and her moving on stage recapture of the pain, suffering, and sacrifice as well as the triumphs of the civil rights movement. Their sustained applause was also given out of deep appreciation for her impassioned crusade to keep Dr. King’s dream alive by actively opposing Bush’s wasteful and ruinous Iraq war, championing women and gay rights, and fighting for economic justice for the poor. In between her theatrical skits, she would pause take a deep breath, and in measured but passionate tones remind the audience that King’s dream still was unfulfilled. She in turn prodded, cajoled, and implored the audience that the best way to keep her father’s dream alive was to be active fighters for peace and social justice.


Yolanda King understood that decades after the great civil rights battles of the 1960s blacks are still two and three times more likely to be unemployed than whites, trapped in segregated neighborhoods, and that their kids will attend disgracefully failing, mostly segregated public schools. It ignores the reality that young black males and females are far more likely to be murdered, suffer HIV/AIDS affliction, to be racially-profiled by police, imprisoned, placed on probation or parole, permanently barred in many states from voting because of felony convictions, are much more likely to receive the death penalty especially if their victims are white, and are more likely to be victims of racially motivated violence than whites.
She well knew that middle-class blacks that reaped the biggest gains from the civil rights struggles often find the new suburban neighborhoods they move to are re-segregated and soon look like the old neighborhoods they fled. They are ignored by cab drivers, followed by clerks in stores, left fuming at restaurants because of poor or no service, find that more and more of their sons and daughters are cut out of scholarships and student support programs at universities because of the demolition of affirmative action, and denied bank loans for their businesses and homes. Then there are the fierce battles over affirmative action, police violence, the segregation laws still on the books in some Southern states, and the nightmarish scenes of thousands of poor blacks fleeing for their lives from the Katrina floodwaters in New Orleans, and the big fight over what if anything should be done about the plight of the black poor. These are further bitter reminders of the gaping economic and racial chasm in America. Yolanda knew that as well, and was a resolute fighter for the poor.


In the decades after King's murder, Yolanda stormed the barricades against racial injustice, economic inequality, military adventurism, and against hate crimes and violence. She wrote countless letters, gave speeches, and participated in direct action campaigns. She continued to fiercely protect King's legacy from the opportunists that twisted and sullied his words and name.The civil rights struggle has now become the stuff of nostalgia, history books, and the memoirs of aging former civil rights leaders. Yet, millions remain trapped in poverty, and racial discrimination still pervades much of American society. Dr. King’s dream was to free them from that plight. Yolanda King and her father shared that same dream. And like her father she did more than dream. She brought her relentless passion and vision for peace and social justice to that battle. Her and her father’s vision of what America still can be continues to challenge us to do our part to make that vision a reality for millions of Americans of all races. We’ll deeply miss Yolanda King. But it can be truly be said that she was more than just King's daughter.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press and Hispanic Economics New York) in English and Spanish will be out in October.

My Favorite Uncle Has Passed Away

Phillip Whatley (1955-2007)

I lost someone close to me last night. He's my uncle Phillip Whatley. He died last night at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton Ohio at 11:30. He was 52 years old. In fact, he just turned 52 a month ago. I remembered his as not just my favorite uncle. He had a lot of wisdom and sense of humor as well. It was he who encouraged my intellectual talent. I remember when I was 10 years old, he gave me the entire set of encyclopedias, therefore encourage my love for learning. He will be sorely missed by me and my family members. My mother and Phillip's wife and kids took his death the hardest, for he was the heart and soul of the family.

May God be with my family and may he rest in peace until we meet again in paradise Earth.

Boycott Aunt Jemima!

Ann has a well written article discussing the vicious racist/sexist stereotype of Aunt Jemima and its impact upon the status of Black women in America then and today. Here's the article:



Towards the End of Aunt Jemima



Also read:



The Mammy Caricature


The Cultural Image of African American Women



After reading the article, I want people to sign the petition denoucing the mammy/Aunt Jemima stereotyping of all Black women in America at:



http://www.petitiononline.com/aj461153/petition.html

Yolanda Denise King and Jerry Falwell, R.I.P.

First news, the death of Martin Luther King's eldest daughter Yolanda Denise King. She died yesterday in California. She was 51 years old.

Andrew Young, a lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights movement who remained close to the family after the civil rights icon's death, said Yolanda King had just spoken at an event for the American Heart Association. Last year, Yolanda King became a spokeswoman for the organization, and promoted a campaign to raise awareness, especially among blacks, about stroke.

For more on the untimely passing of Yolanda King, please go to:

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/martin-luther-king-jrs-daughter-dies-at/20070516061809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Also, in the news, the Rev. Jerry Falwell died yesterday at home in Virginia. He was 73 years old.

For more, click on:

Falwell's Legacy: Faith, Hate, and Teletubbies

May they rest in peace!

Consuelo Yznaga's Twin Daugthers Depicted In Stained Glass Window

Chapel stained glass window depicting Consuelo Yznaga's twin daughters receiving blessings from Mary. Her daughters died in their teens, leaving her distraught and alone, for her son proved to be just as immoral like his late father. Her daughters meant the world to her.

Here's a link where I found this neat photo at:

http://www.standrew-kimbolton.org.uk/Guide.htm

What's your opinion on this?

yznaga

just wondering if there is anything new on consuelo yznaga, duchess of manchester??

Commentary on Barack Obama and Racism

A COMMENTARY ON OBAMA AND RACE

Obama's protection reveals ugly 'secret'
Leonard Pitts, a syndicated columnist in Washington:
McClatchy-Tribune NewspapersPublished May 8, 2007

Not Rudy Giuliani, who is a supporter of abortion rights.

Not Tom Tancredo, who is a hard-liner on immigration.

Not John Edwards, who is a critic of the war in Iraq.

Only Barack Obama, who is black.

No other presidential candidate, no matter his or her polarizing positions, has felt it necessary to seek protection from the Secret Service. But last week we learned that Obama has sought and will receive that protection, the only candidate ever to do so this early in the process. Only one other candidate even has a Secret Service detail: Hillary Rodham Clinton. And that's because she's a former first lady.You know who else required early protection? Jesse Jackson, when he ran for president in 1984 and '88.Neither Obama's campaign nor the Secret Service will comment on precisely what went into the decision to assign a detail to the senator, beyond saying it was based on no specific threat. But one need not be a seer to divine the reason. Put it this way: The darker the candidate's skin and the more serious his candidacy, the earlier he seems to need protecting.All of which adds a telling dimension to the ongoing debate about Obama and blackness that has percolated for months beneath the surface of his candidacy.On the one side, you have earnest white people insisting that, because his mother was white, Obama is not really black, but "biracial."On the other side, you have earnest black people insisting that, because his heritage does not trace to slavery, Obama is not really black enough -- that is, not black in a cultural sense.Apparently, however, he is both black and black enough for whatever individual or individuals unnerved his handlers enough to seek Secret Service protection.That's a truth that cuts the clutter.In a sense, the fact that we have the luxury of debating "what" Obama is testifies to the racial progress this nation has made.

Once upon a time, nobody had to debate. Back before Colin and Cosby and Condoleezza, before Air Jordan took wing and Johnson made Magic, before Oprah was America's favorite sister girl and Martin spoke of dreams, back when a Southern restaurant caused an international incident by refusing service to an African diplomat -- back in the day, there was no need of abstract rhetoric on what black is.You knew. The world made sure of it.If we have moved beyond that day, if we are proud to think ourselves more enlightened now, it is nevertheless naive to believe the naked meanness of that day has wholly disappeared.It is fashionable now to speak of systemic racism and the need for black folk to take a greater hand in their own salvation. Those discussions are valid. But it is also occasionally instructive to remember that old-fashioned mean-as-a-snake, thick-as-a-brick hatred is still alive and well and living in the U.S.A.

Sometimes, it lolls in the shade of the intellectual cover provided it by the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

Sometimes, it is dressed in suit and tie and sounds reasonable when told by the likes of David Duke.

Sometimes, it is sung in wobbly adolescent voices by the likes of Prussian Blue.

And sometimes, it just rears up on its hind legs and brays that it will commit violence rather than accept a black man as its president.

We like to pretend this bile is not still in us. We like to pretend we are beyond it. Then the man who could be our next president must ask to be protected from those who think him too dark for the job. Something to remember next time you are tempted to debate what black is. The world still has ways of making you know.

And people have a nerve to say that we're colorblind. Colorblind my foot! Racialism is alive and well and it's not going away as long as bigots in high places promote, reproduce, and tolerate antiblack racism as a means to maintain the status quo.

News for 5-10-2007

Here are several stories for this week:

NYT article concerning the lack of Black ballerinas. Click here

Ex-trooper surrenders in 1965 Ala. death Click here

That's all I have so far.

"The Apotheosis of Shawna" (2007)

I made the sketch over a two-week period. Isn't she lovely? What say you?

News for 4-27-2007

Here's a very disturbing report on the plight of Native American women. The Native American women are far more likely to be assaulted than other women. It's due to lack of police and tribal funding as well as lack of societal concern for such women and girls. Here's the link below:

Native American Women Face Higher Rape Rate

Policewomen in NYC are suing NYPD seargent for making insensitive racist/sexist remarks. Click here for story.

Imus producer upbraided Al Sharpton. Click here. Can't the producer accept critcism for once!

Black and beautiful: African-American women haven't had an easy time in the fashion world

Related article:

Are black men dressed as women just a drag? By LaMont Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


It's sad and it's wrong for Black women to be shortchanged in this manner by the Black community and society at large. If you don't like what I'm saying in connection to the plight of Black women in America, that's too bad because it's the truth and truth hurts.

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California, R.I.P.

The Honorable Juanita Millender-McDonald
of California

Congresswoman Millender-McDonald Dies

More on the Virginia Tech Shooting

Students held a vigil for the victims of the
horrendous massacre at VT on Monday


Window Photo of the professor shot at VT on Monday

Here are several newslinks to the Virginia Tech shooting. This is the most senseless shooting in recent times. It could have been prevented by warning the students and faculty in advance after receving threats from the student there. Again, here are the links below:

Names of Victims at Virginia Tech

Brief Security Alert at VT

Police Questioned Cho in 2005 After Student Complained

Opinion: Massacre at VT Renews the Search for Answers

May God watch us all and the family members of the victims and may the victims rest in peace, amen.

Tragedy in Virginia

Today, a gunman went to Virginia Tech, killing 33 people.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and get the warning out to students.


This is the worst college shooting in U.S. history. Here are the links to this horrible tragedy:

Senseless Shooting in Virginia by Ann

News coverage of the shooting from ABC News

More coverage at Yahoo.com

Another Detestable Video

Here's another example of the hateful spiel:

"I Detest Black Women"

Imus isn't the only person in the world saying such things. There are millions of foot soldiers who thought the same thing as Mr. Imus.

What say you?

Don Imus Hateful Remarks

Right-wing talk show host Don Imus is embarrassed by his own racist/sexist remarks on the Rutgers Basketball team. Here's the story. However, his apology came too insufficent and not sincere in my opinion. Last week, he compared Rutgers team to the Tennessee Team and called Rutgers team in racially charged terms. He felt free to say such things because he has no respect for people different from himself.

Rev. Al Sharpton and the organization of Black Journalists are still calling for his resignation. After all, Mr. Imus has a track record of bashing Blacks and women on his radio/TV show. It's time for him to retire.

USA Today article on Imus
Critics Demand Imus to Be Fired

Blogger Ann has a well-written editorial on the Imus and societal stereotyping of Black women in America. Mr. Imus is part of the problem. He's in the long line of nonblacks who say or write hateful sterotypes and who insult Black women and got away with it because of racialized sexism that deems Black women as the least worthy of all Americans. People like Steve Sailer, Eminem, Rod Dreher who wrote a mean-spirited article on Aaliyah, Rush Limbaugh, David Yeagley, rappers, Hollywood, Madison Avenue, politicians in general who use race as a way to consolidate white supremacy, VDARE, George Will, the whole media conglomorate, Howard Stern, among many others.

It's high time to hold the organizations and people accountable for the racist/sexist devaluation of Black women.

Shaquanda is Freed!

From Rachel's Tavern: Shaquanda Cotton Released

Also, from Ann's website: Shaquandra is Freed!

A shout-out to Sharon Cullurs for keepin her plight in the forefront.

Complete Coverage of the Tynesia Stewart Murder

Ann has the complete coverage of the Tynesia Stewart Murder case on her website at:

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/a-timeline-in-the-murder-of-a-young-black-woman/#comment-43

Thank you so much Ann for keeping me informed of this heinous, gruesome crime and the callous insensitivity of the sheriff in handling her case.

Tynesha Stewart, R.I.P.

Another young promising college student's life being taken away in brutality. More on Tynesha Stewart, click here.

Olamide Adeyooye's Page Is In

Newsflash 3/19/2007:

A newly created Olamide Adeyooye's memorial page is here.

What are your thoughts about her memorial? More will be added later.

Alert: Vicious Hate Crime on an IR couple in Texas

Let's Pray for Chris Wright and his girlfriend

This makes me angry. These people who done this heinous deed should be locked up for life. There's no place in society for intolerance and hatred.

Man hospitalized after possible racially motivated assault
11:12 AM CST on Thursday, March 8, 2007
Associated Press

SULPHUR SPRINGS, Texas -- A 26-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition with injuries from an altercation authorities say might have been racially motivated and the suspect in the case surrendered Wednesday night.

Chris Wright's father said his "son's face is ruined" after he was dragged by a truck.
Christopher Wright, 26, of Sulphur Springs, was being treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler for facial injuries, bruised lungs and a fractured spine.
“We have done an initial surgery and we will just have to wait and see how he progresses before we know what if any other surgeries are needed,” trauma surgeon Dr. John Berne told the Tyler Morning Telegraph for its online edition Wednesday.
Authorities issued a warrant for Judson Weaver, 24, of Sulphur Springs, on a charge of aggravated assualt with a deadly weapon. A call to the offices of Weaver’s attorney was not immediately returned to The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
Weaver turned himself in Wednesday night and was arraigned but had not spoken with investigators. Bond was set at $50,000, said Hopkins County District Attorney Martin Braddy.
Investigators say Wright, who is black, and Weaver, who is white, became involved in a verbal dispute inside the Days Inn lounge late Tuesday. Wright had been waiting to take home his girlfriend, a bartender at the lounge who is white, Braddy said.
Authorities say Weaver was asked to leave but returned and approached Wright and his girlfriend as they left. As Wright leaned into the driver’s side of the man’s vehicle, the man sped away, Braddy said.
“His arm was stuck somehow in the truck and the driver just sped off. He knew Chris was trapped, but he didn’t care,” Wright’s girlfriend, Sarah Ashley, told the newspaper. “Chris didn’t get free until the driver hit the median and Chris went face first into the curb.”
Investigators are still interviewing witnesses and looking at the motive for the altercation.
“There’s some evidence that could potentially lead to the conclusion that race was a motivating factor,” Braddy said. “However, we are far from making that determination. It’s still in the early stages.”
Wright’s family said the incident was the culmination of racial taunts Wright and his girlfriend have endured for months. Ashley said they had even been threatened with violence.
After Wright was hurt, Ashley said she drove him to a hospital in Sulphur Springs.
“He kept telling me it was going to be all right and I kept telling him he would be OK,” she said. “I just keep seeing him being dragged and that’s all I see.”
Texas authorities can use a hate crime enhancement on penalties. The James Byrd Hate Crime Act raises the punishment for crimes motivated by the victim’s race, religion, color, sex, disability, sexual preference, age or national origin. It is named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck by three white men in 1998.

Black Cherokees Are Being Excluded From the Rolls

This is sad that one American Indian tribe is excluding Blacks of Cherokee descent from the rolls. Here are several stories on the controversy and how Cherokees of partial African descent is challenging the decision:

Black Cherokees to Challenge the Exclusion

Cherokee Vote Revokes Citizenship of 2,800

Putting the Vote the Question "Who is Cherokee?"

Also check out Indianz.com on this development. Click here. This website has tons of news regarding the controversy and how it affect people of Black and American Indian descent.

This move is motivated by greed and racism. It stinks and it's so wrong. They are going about it in the wrong direction. David The Hater Yeagley is probably having a party over it, given his past racist views on Black Indians. This is a classic divide-and-conquer tactic by conservatives and the powers that be to divide people according to ancestry. I hope American Indians, Blacks, and Whites resist such exclusion and divisiveness.


Link of the Day: BlackIndians.com

Link of the Day: badeagale.org: Counteracting the hatred of David Yeagley

Good job Mr. Brent Michael Davis. We need people like you who expose the lies and hate of sellouts such as Mr. Yeagley.

Links for 3-4-07

This article is taken from Ask The Black Woman.com regarding Asia Week's writers haterade against Blacks.

Also, Ann Coulter's slur against John Edwards. Click here. When does she ever keep her mouth shut?

Al Sharpton's Link to Strom Thurmond?

I read an article in today's paper highlighting Al Sharpton's ancestors were once owned by the Thurmond family. Check this out at:

Sharpton wants DNA Testing
Sharpton's link to the Thurmonds

None of this surprise me as a Black woman, given that the Thurmonds were slaveowners, landowners, and segregationists. We cannot escape our past no matter what people say. We are tied in more ways than one. It's time for America to acknowledge the past connection so that we can move forward.

Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles on Covers of Major Magazines

Beyonce Knowles made history by being the first non-model on the cover of this year's Sports' Illustrated swimsuit issue. Jennifer Hudson is on the cover of the March issues of Essence and Vogue magazines. Way to go ladies!

Outrage over Connecticut College "Student" Article

Women across the nation are outraged and rightfully so over an opinion piece written by a Conneticut college student defending violence against women. It's disgusting read but it's so typical of unprincipled conservative men with a "boys will be boys" mentality. I was angry when I first read the article on Wednesday and still is. Rape is a crime of power, not sex. It's not consensual period. Don't these people ever get it? Click article from Feministe here. Rachel's Tavern has the whole scoop regarding that creep's perverted view here.

Links for 2-7-2007

Huffington Report expose on the racist/sexist Washington Times. Mr. Coombs, the nortorious neo-Confederate, racist, sexist, and an avocate of birth control and abortion for People of Color is exposed for all to see. His views are a danger to America and the world at large. Click here.
Also read, "Hell of a Times" at The Nation magazine. I regret that I didn't post this piece earlier. The people who run that paper are evil and are a danger to America and the world.

Also disturbing are the blackface and "ghetto themed" parties by white students at colleges around the nation. Rachel has a lot of info. regarding such evil parties at her website. Click here, here, and here.

What Steve Sailer Would Never Say

Steve Sailer has a post at his blogspot which discusses human mating/dating/marriages habits in today's society. He contends that people tend to choose long-term mates of similar backgrouds while sowing wild oats with those who doesn't. What he doesn't write is that society has long regulate matings of the opposite class, race, culture, ethnicity, religion, educational background. Society usedthe eugenics movement, residential/educational segregation, intermarriage laws, old-boys/old-girls network, immigration laws, segregation of unpopular racial/ethnic groups, anti-gay/lesbian laws, inheritance laws, etc., in order to keep random mating/dating/marriage between various peoples in check.

Faith Evans is Pregnant

It's official, Faith and Todd Russaw are expecting another child sometime this year. It's Faith's fourth and Todd's second. Faith has two children from two previous marriages. Chyna is 12 years old. Christopher Wallace is 10 years old. More on this later.

Faith Cancelled Her Gospel Tour Due To Her Pregnancy

Brazoria Proposes a Ban on the Hateful Word

It's about time!

Brazoria proposes a ban on the 'N word'
02:56 PM CST on Tuesday, January 23, 2007
By Rucks Russell / 11 News

Click to watch video

Brazoria's mayor Ken Corley

The city of Brazoria is proposing an ordinance outlawing the “N word,” but not everyone in town is on board with idea.
N word ban
Mayor Ken Corley hopes the usage of the notorious racial slur will soon be a thing of the past in his city of 2,800, a relic as distant as the old Jim Crow laws that once ruled the day here.
“Obviously, I’m not black, but if I was and the word was used at me, it would offend me seriously,” Corley said.
Under his proposed ordinance, a person would be committing an offense if he or she intentionally uses the N word in an “abusive, indecent, hurtful, degrading or insulting way” in public. Violators could face fines of up to $500.

And if the ordinance passes, it won’t be the first time Brazoria has been a leader in passing high-profile restrictions – they were the first city in Texas to pass a law prohibiting sex offenders from living near children.
The mayor’s plan has already won the backing of some on the city council, as well as a group of prominent local black ministers.
“I applaud him for having the courage to bring this to the forefront,” ******* said.
Opinions on the ordinance differ with many in the population, but the mayor insists that the ordinance will make his city a better place to live.
“This is no doubt a quality of life issue,” he said.
A quality that could cost some people a lot to maintain.

Similarities between Teena Marie and Isabella's portraits

Teena Marie and Isabella Stewart Gardner.

I know some want to know what the two have in common but there are similarities between the two pictures executed by two different artists 100 years apart:

The Attacks On Barack Obama Continues

Extreme right-wingers can't take a break from bashing Barack Obama. This time, racialist Steve Sailer puts his foot in the mouth when he use racial language when discussing Mr. Obama's multiracial heritage. He just cannot keep his pen to himself when talking about other peoples and cultures. Here's the link to his stupid article:

White Guilt, Obamania, And The Reality Of Race

Is he attacking him for his multiracial ancestry? Black ancestry? Or the fact that he socially and politically identify himself as African American and proud of it? I believe it's all three. What are your thoughts?

Links for 1-6-2007

Links for 1-6-2007:

From Rachel's Tavern, there's a question for readers article regarding comments made by people with regard to hair texture of African Americans.

Also, read the latest posts by Ann on her website Reinventing Themselves:

ALL MONEY A'INT GOOD MONEY

HOLD ON TO YOUR FAITH

THE ORIGINS OF BLACK FEMINISM

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL WHITE MEN

WHAT CAN A WHITE MAN SAY TO A BLACK WOMAN?

Michelle Shining Elk's Rebuttal To Yeagley

This Sistagirl has it going on!

Michelle Shining Elk's eloquent rebuttal to intolerant bigot David "The Hater" Yeagley. This time Yeagley's gone to far with his bigotry against People of Color and non-Christians. He supports sell-outs such as Rev. O'Neal Dozier who doesn't want a mosque in his neighborhood, citing that Blacks are too angry and poor and are targets by Muslims who want to recruit them for terrorism. That's a loony and bigoted statement coming from a preacher who claims to be a minister of Christ. He should have known better than that.

All Money Ain't Good Money- The Continued Devaluation of Black Women in Pop Culture and Society

ALL MONEY AIN'T GOOD MONEY!ALL MONEY AIN'T GOOD MONEY, I GUESS?
by Pearl Jr.

We all know what a sensation Dreamgirls is. Even though the story doesn't have the ever-lacking promotion of long lasting Black love, it is still a well-delivered theatrical play that transitioned into a major motion picture just a mere 25 years after it's Broadway launch in 1981.The proverbial "we" isn't the "we" that usually applies. Did "you" realize that the launching of this movie that features an Oscar winning Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), a veteran box office leading man (Eddie Murphy), a world renowned superstar that many consider the most beautiful woman in the world (Beyonce Knowles), a finalist in the number 1 rated TV show American Idol (Jennifer Hudson), and was a successful Broadway musical, winning over 13 major awards that tells the story of the number 1 successful independent record company in the history of music, doesn't have nationwide big screen saturation? Seems ridiculous and counter-productive, right?Well Dreamgirls, the movie, first launched to a few screens on December 15, 2006 and then was again minimally released on Christmas Day to only 852 theaters. All movies of this caliber are released in no less than 3,700 theaters, but Dreamgirls can only been seen by 25 percent of the American public. Furthermore, why do the promotional posters display these fabulous women's backsides and not their beautiful faces along with their figures?Now to add to this dysfunctional marketing campaign, the confusion continues. Since Dreamgirls has smashed the per audience average take of around $7,000 per screening with a whooping $20,000 average per screening revenue's bonanza, Paramount is now releasing it in less than 50 percent of the country on January 12, 2007, totaling around 1900 theaters nearly a full month after it's official launch date. Furthermore, due to it's limited release, Dreamgirls couldn't attain the coveted NUMBER 1 MOVIE IN AMERICA title even if it sold every seat in every theater, plus the soundtrack, too, was destined not to attain the other number 1 spot on soundscan (currently number 3) that it would have surely reached if the movie had full distribution.I'm totally NOT understanding the thinking of the movie executives here. I guess, just like in the game of dominos, "all money ain't good money", if there is another strategy in play. Why else would they cut their own profits? Why are they holding back on saturating the entire U.S. of A with such a blockbuster film? Aren't "we" always hearing that racism is a thing of the past? If racism is really gone, then it couldn't possibly be due to this movie being a "BLACK" movie, because Pursuit of Happyness (featuring just one proven Black star, Will Smith) was released in nearly 3,000 theaters? It's because it's a "Black female" movie in which Black men are assisting Black women in a traditional sense.Let's be frank here, Black women are under attack everywhere in the media to being unloved and single. The Black woman is a target to being completely devoid of any attribute that is redeeming or the Black woman is virtually missing, especially in the life of a Black man on the big screen or the little screen in our own homes. Then check out the trailers for Cedric the Entertainer's new movie, "The Cleaner" that features ALL non-Black women as his co-stars. I wonder how many theaters this movie will be in?The media saturation of calling Black women bi-atches, hos, and the most ridiculous gold diggers (65 percent of Black men who earn over $100,000 per year marry non-Black women) has gotten to be just a fallacy that intends to destroy the value of Black females in general. It has even gotten so bad that Black men who don't have any gold are labeling so-called desirable Black women, who may suggest a measly paid for meal on a first date (for Christ's sake), gold diggers.Ladies, the writing is on the wall and the process for our demise is truly underway. Just this morning, I read (TMZ.com) that Tyrese has allegedly punched his pregnant Black girlfriend (not wife, just like with Kim Porter, Diddy's long time girlfriend and mother of his son and twin daughters isn't good enough to marry either) TWICE. I guess baby's daddy is no longer a ghetto welfare momma thing—it's now widespread abuse (and abandonment) for a Black man to diss Black women, especially when she is in her weakest condition?To put the writing on the wall in big-ass neon lights; the children of famed, fortuned, and deceased celebrities like Richard Pryor's, Lou Rawls', and James Brown's children are having to go to court against White women (not their mothers) for their own father's inheritance is screaming and signaling an all out assault on the Black race's prosperity in general.
Racism is growing fast and quick, picking up steam at every turn. If you just scratch the surface and look to see how filthy your nails are.Coming soon, Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry and Martin Lawrence will all be doubling as big fat loud angry Black women in their next films for everyone to laugh at. Damn, a real life hefty Black actress can't even get a job in today's world. It seems the mindset of the few that decide what movies get produced is really getting Black actors at a serious discount, making them play several characters for a similar fee.We, Black Women, must unite and boycott every single media image that is NOT in our BEST INTEREST and that includes ALL celebrities who have lost any type of respect or eyesight for us or don't care about our upward mobility as a whole.
I mean, Jermaine Dupree hasn't married Janet Jackson.Jay-Z apparently told Beyonce he needed more time before they wed. Reportedly, they were supposed to get married in November.Kelly Rowlands got embarrassed when her fiancée, just out of the blue, stopped the wedding plans after she was scheduled to be on the cover of a bridal magazine.I, also, was personally told by a Ciara insider that Bow Wow dawgged the beautiful and talented Ciara, and she didn't deserve it.

I could go on and on.
The reason why I bring up these high-profile celebrities is to prove that life is hard for Black women all around. If these successful, hard-working, rich, beautiful, great bodied Black women can't catch a break and have Black men love, honor, and cherish them, then we are all in a very challenging position.

Oh yea, even Oprah can't get Stedman to marry her, and she is the richest Black person in the world and generous too!

We are the ONLY us who are obligated to stop these half-positive, half-evil, half-man, half-parented, and temporarily loved media images that promote our own half-satisfied lives that are present IN EVERY BLACK MOVIE. We must no longer look the other way, we must no longer pretend it doesn't exist, we must no longer suffer from the it doesn't matter syndrome, we must no longer make excuses for Black men's deplorable behavior, and we must no longer say, it's just entertainment.
We must rise up together and stop this form of mental and emotional racial cruelty.I'm NOT suggesting that all Black men are deplorable. I'm rather asking for the men who always preach, "THERE ARE STILL GOOD BLACK MEN OUT THERE" to join in to help stop the complete destruction of the Black race family. WE do not have another minute to waste thinking this problem will be fixed by others, or it will just magically one day disappear. Our children are failing (over a million of them are living in 12 x 9 feet cages). Black people are poorer than any other race. We are simply not doing well as a race and our degradation must not be allowed to grow any more widespread with the media leading the charge.I'm doing my share to research valuable information for you. In return, all I'm asking is for you to circulate this information (and purchase my book), so that we can stop paying for our own demise and begin to appreciate those who take the risk to say the hard to expose realities of being Black American citizens.
WE, Black people, don't have to participate in a public march, confront the system, or put our jobs in jeopardy to make a difference. All we have to do is think about our BEST INTEREST before we spend our dollars, and then chose to support those of us who have dedicated their lives towards our upward mobility, SO WE CAN AFFORD TO DO THE HARD TO DO WORK.
It's called voting with our dollars, and today that's the ONLY vote that really counts.God Save Us because "Black Women Need Love, too!" The book is available on amazon.com. Order your copy today, so that I can continue to deliver to you the information that many of us are too busy to find.I'm going to love my people, even when a few people hate me for it!
BLACK WOMEN NEED LOVE TOO! AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM~ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY~PLEASE SPREAD THIS INFORMATION ALL OVER THE INTERNET, VIA YOUR ONLINE MAGAZINES, PERSONAL DATABASES, YOUR WEBSITES, YOUR WEBGROUPS, AND NEWSLETTERS.
Talk to your friends and tell them that we must stop financing our own pain and suffering like we did with rap crap!
If you repost this article, please be sure to link it to my website: http://www.blackwomenneedlovetoo.com/To hear a court played recording of a message from Lou Rawls' widow to his daughter, visit my website to listen to it in its entirety. Please be warned this is shocking and not suitable for everyone's state of mind.

A New Year

Newslinks for 1-5-2007:

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said that this year is going to be a good year for the Democratic congress. Click here.

Current Color Q Pet Sins issue discusses cross-cultural interests and how those translate into respect for diversity and cultures. Click here.

Donna Britt wrote an article on coolness. Click here.

This is all I have for this week.

Gerald Ford, R.I.P.

Former president Gerald Ford dies at 93.

Former president Gerald R. Ford, who inherited the daunting task of calming a divided nation when he assumed the presidency at the height of the Watergate scandal, died Tuesday at the age of 93

More on the late Gerald Ford, please go to:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-26-ford-obit_x.htm

Bush Remembers Ford's Integrity
Ford pardon sealed Watergate shut
Important Dates in Ford's Life

USA Today's Tribute To James Brown

Here are several more James Brown tributes:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/2006/12/james_brown_a_2.html

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061227/NEWS01/312270003

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-12-25-brown-obit_x.htm?csp=34