Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Backpack bomb found at MLK event rattles Spokane

Why is this not a national story?
Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. – Investigators pursued what they described as promising leads Wednesday in a chilling bombing attempt at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in which someone left a backpack filled with sophisticated explosives on a bench. Read More

Mis-Education: Still Relevant


When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary. Carter G. Woodson

Written in 1933, the timelessness of this book is staggering. Our people have made tremendous strides in this country, yet there is much work left to be completed. The crime, poverty, violence and under-education is unacceptable. Much of the self-inflicted woes are rooted in the mentality of inferiority.

We are bombarded with numerous negative images and stereotypes that subtly and overtly project black inferiority (even from black media). Our children, especially in poor urban and rural communities, have to learn their options for success are not limited to entertainment and sports.

This book, written by the father of African-American history, Carter G. Woodson, should be a staple in all African-American households because it holds the key to breaking the yoke of mental slavery.

His central point is that an emancipated mind/community is not self-destructive. The manifestations of a free mind are self-empowerment, self-sufficiency and a community that invests in their children.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Nation's Second Most Dangerous City Lays Off Half Pollice Force


Camden, New Jersey, already ranked the second most dangerous city in the USA, is laying off half the police force due to budget cuts by New Jersey state...read more

Monday, January 17, 2011

My Bookshelf: Decoded by Sean Carter


“When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first was to make the case that hip-hop lyrics—not just my lyrics, but those of every great MC—are poetry if you look at them closely enough. The second was I wanted the book to tell a little bit of the story of my generation, to show the context for the choices we made at a violent and chaotic crossroads in recent history. And the third piece was that I wanted the book to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story that everyone in the world could feel and relate to.” – JAY-Z


Upon finishing Decoded by Sean Carter, aka Jay-Z, I thought like a master lawyer (think Johnny Cochran) he did an excellent job of defending his client - Hip Hop. And it is clear that Jay has an passionate bond with the music genre.

The book provided insight to what was going on in his world and how it influenced his lyrics. He accomplishes this feat by bringing the reader to the "crossroads" of his generation - hip-hop meets crack; and urban decay meets Reaganism. From this vantage point, hip-hip and Jay provide the gritty narrative of what unfolded.

Far too often, urban black males are presented as one dimensional tragic figures - they are drug dealing violent thugs we have to lock up and throw away the key. In Decoded, Mr. Carter brings us behind the caricature. A must read.