How Scores of Black Men Were Tortured Into False Confessions
More than 20 years after being tortured into giving confessions by Chicago police officers, dozens of black men remain behind bars.
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Color of Change: Vote Today! Help get Van Jones on the Tom Joyner Show
After 12 years, Tavis Smiley is turning over the mic on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and they’ve put the choice for his replacement in your hands. What’s more, our own Van Jones, co-founder of ColorOfChange, is one of the seven finalists for the prestigious spot.
Van just finished delivering a great live commentary, followed by a rave review by Joyner’s celebrity judge. We’re encouraging everyone we know to check it out and then rank his performance online. It takes only a moment; just click here:
http://tomjoyner.com/commentator/contenders/commentator_van.html
This week they’ll cut the seven finalists to four, so your vote really counts. If he makes it through, we know Van will elevate the issues we care about–improving our schools, fighting for healthcare, creating good, green jobs and fixing our broken justice system–on one of the most listened-to shows in America.
If you want to vote for Van, it’s easy, but you have to do it before voting closes tonight. Follow this link, then click on “Listen Now” to hear the commentary and “Vote Now” to cast your ballot:
http://tomjoyner.com/commentator/contenders/commentator_van.html
Once you’re there, you can also find out more about Van’s work and life through the series of links to his articles and appearances.
Thank You and Peace,
– James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 22nd, 2008
First All-Women-of-Color Presidential Ticket in US History
The Green Party made history last week when it nominated the first all-women-of-color presidential ticket in US history. Former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was the first African American woman elected to Congress in Georgia, won the Green Party’s nomination last Monday. She named longtime community organizer, journalist and former director of the Hip Hop Caucus, Rosa Clemente, as her running mate earlier this month. They both join us for a wide-ranging discussion on the 2008 race, the media, the impact of the hip hop generation and more. [includes rush transcript]
Paterson, at N.A.A.C.P., Warns of Racism’s Power
CINCINNATI — David A. Paterson, in his first major speech to a national audience since becoming governor of New York, said on Thursday that even as black Americans rejoice about the possibility that Senator Barack Obama could become president, they cannot lose sight of the serious social and economic ills that plague their community and should remain mindful of the racism that still exists.
A voice of reason.
WSJ.com - The End of White Flight
In Washington, a historically black church is trying to attract white members to survive. Atlanta’s next mayoral race is expected to feature the first competitive white candidate since the 1980s. San Francisco has lost so many African-Americans that Mayor Gavin Newsom created an “African-American Out-Migration Task Force and Advisory Committee” to help retain black residents.
“The city is experiencing growth, yet we’re losing African-American families disproportionately,” Mr. Newsom says. When that happens, “we lose part of our soul.”
In Defense of Sherri Shepherd, yes Sherri Shepherd
Letter to Huffington Post.
Your running line of commentary on Sherri Shepherd (Sherri Shepherd Moment Of The Day) suggesting she is ignorant and unintelligent is racist and you should stop. You have no appreciation for Black humor or a Black world view so you are not in a position to judge her intelligence. I assure you that Black women do not achieve their positions by accident or some fortunate twist of fate. It takes a certain amount of intelligence for any Black woman to navigate her way to success in white corporate America (which our media is a product of), and to endure racist and sexists stereotyping that you have stooped to. So I assure you she is not stupid. She’s a comedian, she’s a real person (and funny as hell, when you getting your sitcom girl?). This running joke about Sherri is insulting and should stop.
Wild Roots
Any Sista who has worked long enough in corporate America knows what I’m talkin bout too. Wish politicians, or anyone in the corporate media for that matter, had the guts to be themselves on TV everyday the way Sherri does. Maybe we’d start to see some real changes. (Not calling no names).
They haven’t responded to their email yet, but in my experience, calling the Huffingtonpost, so-called “progressive media” out on their bullshit gets no more response than mainstream corporate media.
Feel free to copy and paste and edit into your own email. info@huffingtonpost.com (There’s no email on their site to contact the editors. Get it together HuffPo.)
Black in America, the Revolution will NOT be on CNN
I’ve seen it all now. Black folks talking about the state of the Black nation in the Corporate media. If I hear “personal responsibility” one more time I’m liable to go postal on that ass. So when predatory lenders go after Black first time homeowners trying to grab their little piece of the American pie, who will call out mortgage bankers on their personal responsibility, i.e. stop being so damn greedy. Every facet of American life is still stained with racism, from inconsistent health care, disproportionate incarceration rates, failing public schools, etc. Oh but “Black folks, look within and stop whining and walk in the light of the American Dream,” is all we seem to be hearing these days. I’m all for self reflection, but CNN is not forum for that. If CNN can call us out on our lack of personal responsibility, then they should equally call white folks out on their white priviledge and ingrained racism. Couple of ideas for CNN’s next forum:
1. Hold a forum for the financial community and ask them how they, in their professional opinions, contributed to the economy to going down the drain because of subprime loans that unfairly targeted Black home buyers and home owners.
2. Hold a forum for healthcare professionals to explain the article that came out recently that reveals the disparity in deaths from cancer between Black and whites in the same urban centers.
3. Hold a forum for the education and law enforcement communities discussing an end to the Cradle to Prision pipeline. How about that?
But that would be too much like right. Didn’t Dr. King say racism is a disease that afflicts us all? Black folks for a false sense of inferiority and white folks for a false sense of superiority. There always comes a time when white folks in the media think they know us and racism seems like a distant memory (usually after a creative breakthrough on our part, like jazz, Motown or this time, hip hop). They think they get us now and it’s all good. The last time I remember it was just before the Rodney King verdict and the Rebellion that followed. Didn’t hear a peep about racism in the media until Chuck D and KRS and NWA strong armed the mic. (Note to self: Re-read James Baldwin “The Fire Next Time”) And I just love the promos, “after watching this America will know what it’s like to be Black in America.” We will explain 400 years of Black suffering and struggling and overcoming in two hours.
And what happened to Umoja? Essence, if you are going to bring advertising dollars to a network so that white America can try and fill in the blanks that hip-hop left, at least do it on BET. Essence and the Black thinkers that contributed their time to the program, I ain’t mad at you. You tried to bring light to our issues, and add a nice little entry to your personal bios and resumes, and clock dollars at the same time. But we are in a precarious time right now y’all. We’re being told that racism is all in the past and if we talk about it we’re living in the past. Eight years of Bush did shift the boogyman focus from us to the “terrorists.” But all that shit can shift right back on a dime.
Trust.
Mandela’s B-Day message: Rich should help poor
QUNU, South Africa (AP) — Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday Friday by urging the wealthy to share their prosperity with the less fortunate and by saying he wished he had been able to spend more time with his family during the anti-apartheid struggle.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Outsider’s Road Within
Mumia breaks down his take on Barack’s campaign and raises questions about its future.
It should surprise no one the candidacy of Illinois senator Barack Obama has evoked fascination, not least because of his presumed outsider status as a man at least partial African descent. It is this racial inheritance that accounts, to a considerable degree, for the fascination among both Blacks and whites posed by his candidacy. But as ever in America, race often hides as much as it reveals. For if Barack is an outsider to the American body politic because of his Blackness, he is too an outsider to much of Black America precisely because of his direct East African heritage, one unleavened and unmitigated by the 500 years of Black bondage, resistance, repression and rebellion that is at the heart of the African American experience and identity. In this sense Obama is a double outsider and has had to work out his own way into what being Black in America means.
Listen to the full commentary here.
More from Mumia
Natalie Cole reveals liver disease
The Grammy Award-winning singer said: “I’ve been so fortunate to have learned so much from my past experiences. I am embraced by the love and support of my family and friends.
“I am committed to my belief in myself and in my abiding faith to meet this challenge with a heartfelt optimism and determination.”
Obama to Bernie Mac: ‘Clean up your act!’
Bernie Mac made a surprise appearance at a Barack Obama fundraising event Friday evening — but given heckling from the crowd and a rebuke from the Illinois senator’s campaign for an off-color joke, the comedian may wish he’d just stayed home. Obama told Mac: “Bernie, you’ve got to clean up your act next time,” he said. “This is a family affair.”
Is it just me, or can Black men say anything that the Obama campaign won’t call inappropriate, unfortunate, Old School, etc, etc….?? I guess Obama, although being his good friend never knew Bernie Mac was so “hood”. This is getting a little ridiculous. He’s a comedian!! And a damn funny one.
The Subprime Swindle: Economic War on Black America
Nation magazine contributing writer Kai Wright, discusses his July 14 article about the mortgage crisis and its affect on the Black middle class.
For his story, Wright traveled to Atlanta, Georgia where he met George Mitchell and many others like him who had fallen victim to lending scams.
What Tupac Told Kevin Powell
At his Wednesday night fund-raiser, Kevin Powell ”explained that drawing celebrities into his campaign is not just about self-promotion. It’s also his way of generating excitement about the race and driving voters, particularly young people, to the polls and into the political process.
Powell says he was inspired to reach young people by Tupac.
Thousands Walk for Native American Rights
Interview with Dennis Banks: Thirty years ago, some 40,000 Native Americans and their supporters participated in a historic cross-country march called the Longest Walk to protest Congressional legislation that would have abrogated treaties protecting Native American Sovereignty.
For more information: www.longestwalk.org
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It’s Jackson vs. Jackson on ‘Ugly’ and ‘Demeaning’ Obama
“I’m deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson’s reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama. His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee — and I believe the next president of the United States — contradict his inspiring and courageous career,” wrote Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.).
Jackson further explained his remarks, saying, “My appeal was for the moral content of his message to not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.” — Word!
