Is it right for the BET Show, Tiny and Toya to overromanticize prison life? ;
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
LeBron James' Mother and Her Son's Teammate: Overkill?
Is it right for LeBron James to be so distracted by the rumor that his mother is sleeping with his teammate?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Black News in Black America - 5/18/10
- Crime show taped Detroit raid that led to 7-year-old's death
- Obama administration faces questions on oil spill
- Video: Apartheid's lost generation
- Al Sharpton backs Black entertainment district in Baltimore
- Zimbabwe failing mass eviction victims: Amnesty
- Sprinter Tyson Gay breaks 44-year old record
- Jamaica to extradite drug suspect wanted by US
- Ciara's video banned from BET?
- Black Civil War soldiers victory parade marked
- Barack Obama's aunt wins US plea for asylum
- South Africa rail strike leaves millions stranded
- Master jazz pianist Hank Jones dies at 91
Monday, May 17, 2010
The NAACP and Wells Fargo: What's Wrong with this Partnership?
Faye Anderson
The NAACP is the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. I have known just about every chief executive officer since the 1980s, from the late Ben Hooks to Ben Jealous.
Some longtime Board members are also longtime friends and colleagues.
I attended the NAACP’s Civil Rights School at Harvard Law School in 2007.
Still, I have been called a hater for pointing out that Wells Fargo is a lead sponsor of the NAACP’s 101st annual convention.
Whatever. It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to. And as sports agent Scott Boras famously observed:
If you are really effective at what you do, 95 percent of the things said about you will be negative.
I have been writing about the subprime mortgage crisis for quite a while. I’ve also organized housing symposia and policy sessions for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Study after study after study shows African Americans were targeted by subprime lenders.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Don't Let the Ban Stand on Heritage Teaching - Ban American History - PERIOD
Well, everyone that allows this bill to stand as is, is forgetting that American History classes do the very SAME thing. In fact, they teach us that Europeans were the "blessed" people and that Native Americans were savages. They neglect to mention how so much land was stolen from the Native Americans by these same people. They taught us that the colonists that were slave holders were "building a nation" without stating that the nation was built on the backs of indentured African people. Biased news reporting continues to depict the slaves, negros, blacks, african americans, etc., as well as other "minorities, as people of lesser value, lesser significance, lesser importance., etc. (In fact, the true minority is the white male - and it is high time we get the definition changed to depict this! But - that's for a later blog.)
All people of color should come forward to fight to outlaw ALL history classes - if this Arizonan law stands. History teaching could continue to be an elective. It certainly is critical to your personal development, and we, the people, should develop and maintain an awareness of our history. But, history serves very little value in your professional development, except that history that is critical to your field of study.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
African American Scholars Speaking Up on Elena Kagan
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
I started the day thinking about Elena Kagan, Barack Obama's most recent nominee to the Supreme Court. I was wondering how in the world the president could appoint someone who has no experience on the bench, given the number of highly qualified judges he had to choose from. Then I was informed that this might be a good thing, since the Republicans don't have a judicial record to scrutinize. No problemo.
I then noticed that Kagan has past affiliations with The University of Chicago, The Harvard Law School and Goldman Sachs, and that she was appointed to her position at Harvard by Lawrence Summers, the head of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. I was starting to get uncomfortable at that point, because Kagan's appointment would mean that the entire Supreme Court would be filled with Harvard and Yale grads, which effectively says that every other law school in the country need not apply (so much for having a meritocracy). I also saw a very disturbing pattern of cronyism, elitism and Wall Street loyalty that lets us know that perhaps the President of Hope and Change is not quite what we ordered, making back room deals with his buddies, all for the sake of keeping American power locked into tiny social circles.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Lawrence Taylor Should Only Be Judged After We see the Evidence
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, The Institute for Black Public Policy
Former New York Giant Lawrence Taylor has had a life that has been shameful, exciting, devastating and amazing. He has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, whether you are referring to his physical prowess or his battle with drug addiction. I can’t, for one second, pretend that I know how difficult it is to walk away from crack cocaine, but I believe thatLawrence Taylor had the strength to do it.
RELATED: Teen In LT’s Rape Case “Doesn’t Want To Ruin His Reputation”
I was proud to see Taylor rebuild his life after spending quite a few years making one mistake after another. Just like on the football field, I wanted to see him succeed. And he was succeeding, at least for a while. Then came the rape allegations.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Black News: Is it Racist to Portray the Obamas as Sanford and Son?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
Phillip Sciarello, a publisher and part owner of the Smithtown Messenger in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from "Sanford and Son." The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition.
The picture is part of a "before and after" sequence of the last six presidents, showing how much they age once they get into the White House. The "after" photo of the Obamas show Barack Obama as Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and Michelle Obama as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page). The characters are standing ready to fight, as was typical on the 1970s television show.The pictures led the Brookhaven town board to remove one of the company's sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. This means that the paper will no longer publish town government notices.
"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday.
Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Your News: NCAA Gets Another 11 billion off black athletes
The NCAA men's basketball tournament is expanding, starting next season, but not on the large scale once expected.
The sport's signature event will grow to 68 teams from 65 in conjunction with a new 14-year, nearly $11 billion television agreement with CBS and Turner Sports announced Thursday. That gives the NCAA a 41% hike in annual media and marketing rights connected to the tournament — and "financial stability through the first quarter of this century," interim President Jim Isch said — without the controversy of a more dramatic move to a 96-team bracket.
Negotiations with CBS/Turner, ESPN and Fox Sports initially had targeted a 96-team field, drawing concern and criticism from traditionalists and others over the impact on the tournament's aesthetics, effect on college basketball's regular season and conference tournaments and potential for further intrusion on players' time and studies.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins and Ben Jealous Both Give their Takes on Wells Fargo Deal
theGRIO SPEAKS
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Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
Why the NAACP should get off the Wells Fargo bandwagon
7:01 PM on 04/30/2010
OPINION - Imagine my shock when I learned the company accused of squashing the financial security of millions, is now a sponsor of the NAACP's annual convention ...
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NAACP President & CEO
NAACP: Why we partnered with Wells Fargo
6:25 PM on 04/30/2010
OPINION - We understand, Mr. Boyce. We know you're an ally and a friend of the NAACP and our cause of justice. We know some people just don't believe anyone will hold their supporters accountable, even though we have done so for a century...
Thursday, April 29, 2010
News: Dr. Boyce Video on AOL Black Voices - 4/28/10
Dr. Boyce Video: Latino Studies Professor on What You Need to Know About Immigration
- With all the intense scrutiny on Arizona for its harsh anti-immigration legislation, the time has ... Read More
- By Alexis Stodghill on Apr 28th 2010 4:09PM | Comments (4)
Dr. Boyce Video -- Michael Bivins of Bel Biv DeVoe & Alfred Edmond of Black Enterprise on African American Music & Business
- Dr. Boyce Watkins brings you an exciting discussion on the business of media and entertainment with ... Read More
- By Alexis Stodghill on Apr 27th 2010 2:24PM | Comments (1)
Dr. Boyce Video -- Talking Black Finance With Expert Ryan Mack
- Dr. Boyce Watkins is taking his unique perspective beyond the printed page to the video realm on ... Read More
- By Alexis Stodghill on Apr 27th 2010 1:32PM | Comments (2)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
What is the Black Agenda?
by Lola Adesioye, Huffington Post - www.LolaCreative.com
Should there be a "black agenda" in America? And if the answer to that question is 'yes,' what is the black agenda?
These are the questions that black leaders and black people have been discussing more and more since President Obama took office. Last week, Reverend Al Sharpton hosted a leadership summit addressing this very issue. Today a group of black leaders got together on an MSNBC special to talk about this issue in more detail. And many will remember the on-air argument that Tavis Smiley and Rev Sharpton had a few weeks ago about this topic.
Tavis believes that Obama isn't doing enough. Sharpton believes that Obama need not 'ballyhoo' a black agenda. I think most agree, though, that something needs to be done.
With a 16.5% unemployment rate (compared to 9.7% for white Americans), an education system that is under serving black children, higher than average rates of death from diseases like breast cancer, and continued social issues, it is hard to disagree that there is need for some kind of targeted and focused approach to dealing with the issues that affect African-American. But many are divided on whether or not the president is doing enough for black people, whether or not it's incumbent on him to do anything at all, and what should or shouldn't be done.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins on ABC News: Love, Money and Divorce
Watch Dr Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor at Syracuse University on ABC News discussing money and divorce - how to do it the right way.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why Black Men Aren't Graduating from College
Last week, the American Council on Education issued a report on the state of black males in the higher education system. The report reveals some interesting and disturbing trends. It turns out that black men are graduating from college at a rate which lags significantly behind other ethnic groups. When determining graduation probabilities over a six-year period, black males were found to have a graduation rate of 35 percent. This compares with rates of 59 percent, 46 percent and 45 percent for white males, hispanic males and black women, respectively. In other words, black men are a little more than half as likely to finish college when compared to their white male counterparts.
I have been a black man for my entire life now, and I’ve taught at the college level for the past 17 years. So, perhaps I can shed some light on the nature of these problems and how we might work to solve them. Some of the factors are institutional and some are cultural, so prepare to be offended by at least one of the things I have to say:
RELATED: Why Aren’t Minorities Graduating From College?
1) Most American universities refuse to hire or retain African American professors, including many HBCUs: If your professors look like you, you are more likely to relate to that individual and enjoy the class. When I went to The University of Kentucky, Indiana University and The Ohio State University (where I earned my PhD), I didn’t see one single professor who looked like me (and I took A LOT of classes). This made for an incredibly awkward and damn near traumatic educational experience. When I first noticed institutions like Morehouse College presenting images of black males in the front of the classroom, I was envious after realizing what I’d been missing. Rather than finding excuses for firing or not hiring black professors, most universities would be well-advised to stop lying to themselves and become serious about diversity. Yes, black professors are out there to hire if you are looking for them, but many academic departments find a reason to believe that they are not qualified. Just look at the experiences of myself, Cornell West and Michael Eric Dyson as cases in point. Each of us has received significant resistance in our careers because our work is connected to the black community. Our stories are just the tip of the iceberg, since there are thousands of black professors who’ve gone through the exact same experience when dealing with the entrenched racism of academia. Many HBCUs are not immune to this trend, as most of them don’t have very many African American professors (Don’t believe me? Go to the Computer Science Department or Business School at any random HBCU and count the number of African American professors).
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Black News from TheGrio - 3/24/10
Republicans in final drive to stall health reconciliation
By theGrio
6:47 PM on 03/24/2010
VIDEO - Voting was expected to start late Wednesday on a full list of GOP amendments to a "sidecar" bill making changes Democrats agreed to in the main legislation already signed by Obama...
Three arrested as NC school board reverses busing plan
By theGrio
6:03 PM on 03/24/2010
VIDEO - The school board in North Carolina's capital city narrowly agreed Tuesday to roll back a policy that buses students to achieve diversity...
House passes bill to fund infrastructure, tax cuts
By theGrio
5:40 PM on 03/24/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - Local governments would receive billions of dollars for construction projects and welfare programs in the latest in a series of election-year jobs bills Democrats are pushing in Congress...
Rev. Jackson: Health reform a boon for blacks
By theGrio
4:44 PM on 03/24/2010
VIDEO - Jesse Jackson reacts to the National Urban League's the State of Black America report that was released today...
Fight over black trustee spills onto SC gridiron
By theGrio
4:08 PM on 03/24/2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Black lawmakers are urging black football recruits to reconsider playing for the University of South Carolina because the school could lose its lone black trustee...
Banks on verge of losing student lending business
By theGrio
4:05 PM on 03/24/2010
WASHINGTON (AP) - Industry lobbyists have watched helplessly as Democrats and the Obama administration this week appear on the verge of shifting student lending from private banks to the federal government....
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Black News - 3/16/10
Obama woos wavering Dems on health vote
By theGrio
9:28 AM on 03/16/2010
VIDEO - Days away from a make-or-break vote on his fiercely contested health care overhaul, President Obama is turning up the pressure on wavering Democrats...
Heavyweight to featherweight: Tyson races pigeons
By theGrio
9:09 AM on 03/16/2010
NEW YORK (AP) - Former world heavyweight champ Mike Tyson will take flight on Animal Planet with a new sport -- pigeon racing...
Obama seeks to reassure seniors on health care
By theGrio
5:20 PM on 03/15/2010
VIDEO - With a fresh sense of urgency, President Obama sought to reassure seniors Monday about health care legislation approaching a final vote in Congress...
Appeals court upholds conviction in KKK killings
By theGrio
4:24 PM on 03/15/2010
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the 2007 conviction of a reputed member of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan in the kidnapping...
NCAA graduation rates between blacks and whites widening
By theGrio
3:37 PM on 03/15/2010
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The disparity in graduation rates for white and black players on NCAA tournament-bound men's basketball teams grew this year...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
African American Bloggers on Newsone.com - 3/11/10
Rev. Al Sharpton
Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), Rev Sharpton is one of most-renowned civil rights leaders in the country. Pres Obama called him “the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden."
Dr. Boyce Watkins
The Bottom Line
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.
RK Byers
Rich's Rant
Novelist, screenwriter and edtor RK Byers has spent a career speaking his mind on all topics from sports to news. His work has appeared in consumer publications including The Source and GIANT.
Elon James White
This Week In Blackness
"This Week in Blackness" is a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America.
Warren Ballentine
Radio host Warren Ballentine, "The People's Attorney," will provide you with all the legal and financial advice you need to keep up in today’s fast-paced world. Visit his website at www.thetruthfighters.com.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins: Scholarship in Action at an All Black Male Academy in Chicago
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
There is one public, all-male, all-African American high school in the city of Chicago. That school is called The Urban Prep Academy for Young men, located in Englewood. The school recently got the attention of Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools Chief Ron Huberman when they were able to get all of their 107 seniors accepted into 72 different colleges across the country.
Huberman had this to say:
"All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream."
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Latest from Dr. Wilmer Leon on TheGrio.com – 3/2/10
Obama's health care reform efforts stymied by politics of prejudice
9:01 AM on 03/03/2010
OPINION - At the heart of this debate is partisan politics, inept leadership and racial prejudice...
CPAC reveals Republican identity crisis
9:02 AM on 02/22/2010
OPINION - After watching the videos and reading the speeches one can clearly see a GOP that is at war with itself in terms of ideology and imagery...
'The dream' is still a dream
12:06 PM on 01/18/2010
OPINION - What many fail to realize is that Dr. King was no dreamer. He was a prophet and a true revolutionary...
Friday, February 12, 2010
Black News: University of Alabama Huntsville Shooting
U. Alabama Huntsville is confirming that three people were killed in a campus shooting. The suspect was a female. Another student was injured, and the woman is in custody. Another student was injured as well. The shooting took place in the science building.
Young Girl Beaten Badly As Security Watched the Fight
A 15-year-old girl who was badly beaten and robbed in a Seattle bus tunnel as three unarmed security guards looked on told investigators that she thought the men would protect her.
The statements were revealed in court papers filed Wednesday against the teen girl accused of attacking her and the three young men accused of stealing her purse, phone and iPod. The four were all charged with first-degree robbery.
The victim told a King County sheriff's detective that the group followed her from a nearby department store into the bus tunnel at Westlake Station on Jan. 28, and she deliberately stood next to the three guards.
The guards didn't intervene, though. They have standing orders to "observe and report," so they called police but did nothing else as another 15-year-old girl punched and repeatedly kicked the victim in the head.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Obama as a Pimp? That’s what the Tea Partiers Think
From Hip Hop Wired.
A tea party group in Houston has been passing around a picture of President Obama as a pimp. TeaParty.org, founded by Dale Robertson sent out an email with the subject line: “Obama Pimpin Obama-Care, One Last Time!.” Robertson was also shown holding up a sign calling taxpayers “Niggars.”
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Why Black Women Are Not Getting Married
Dr. Boyce Watkins and S. Tia Brown discuss some of the reasons that Black women are deciding not to get married.
Why Black Women Are Not Getting Married
Dr. Boyce Watkins and S. Tia Brown discuss some of the reasons that Black women are deciding not to get married.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Your Black News, The Latest – 1/3/10
- Study: Africans left out of stem cell research
- Fragile calm holds in Darfur after years of mass killings
- Report: NBA players armed in locker room standoff
- Pirate cash suspected cause of Kenya property boom
- Despite Black princess, Disney's race record mixed
- Nigerian government admits energy failure
- $2.5M for family of unarmed woman slain by officer
- Beverly Johnson sued by her former boyfriend
- Celebration of emancipation proclamation remembers history
- Florida detention officer fired over his membership in the KKK
- Diddy's clothing line sues over NYC store scaffold
- Jamaicans urged to pull together in 2010
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