The Great Debators - The Best Film of 2007

If Denzel Washington doesn't get nominated for an Oscar after "The Great Debaters", then I will officially become a conspiracy theorist. Those who run to nominate him for awards when he plays a gangster, drug dealer or thug should run just as fast to nominate him when he plays the role of a great black visionary and activist professor. If only all professors had the same guts as Washington.

"The Great Debaters" is another installment in a long line of hit or miss inspirational films made by Harpo Productions, owned by the woman on everyone's refrigerator door. This one hits the mark and strikes it hard, explaining the roots of American racism and inequality, along with the incentives for perseverance and education.

The film features the amazing debate team at Wiley College, an Historically black college in Texas. The team goes through a series of ups and downs, facing racism, heartache and intellectual challenge in order to become one of the greatest debate teams in American history. The film culminates with the team debating Harvard University head to head and whipping them on national radio.

The film was good, damn good. It was also a reminder that Historically black colleges can and are among the very best institutions in the nation. I give it as many thumbs up as I can muster, and I would even give it a toe up if my leg could reach that high.

This film is, without question, the best film of 2007. Just call it the Lord of the Rings for Black folks.

Your Black World Man of the Year: Barack Obama

Barack Obama was the 2007 Your Black World Man of the Year. Obama, the only black presidential candidate and the strongest black presidential candidate ever, has taken the world by storm. He has gone through a year of ups and downs and forced Black America to reconsider what it means to be black in America. He is a form of black power that some consider to be powerless. At the same time, it is a type of black power greater and different from any other black power we've ever had before. He has made the nation into a wild pack of believers, and even has some of his white supporters jumping up and down with excitement.

His wife Michelle stands by his side, both during public appearances and on the covers of magazines. As Black America's first family, the Obamas seem new to the dirt of American politics. Some consider the perceived purity to be refreshing, some consider it a hindrance. It is yet to be seen if Obama can get things done like his competitor, who is a veteran of Washington politics and has alot of friends who owe her favors. At the same time, Obama's detachment from Washington allowed him to have the courage to vote against the war that no one wanted, which Hillary Clington did not have.

History of Jim Crow and Slavery in NYC

DID YOU KNOW?


New York for much of its early history had a huge enslaved population. People of African descent in the city, during the colonial era and for much of the 19th Century, lived under a harsh form of Jim Crow-like segregation. Racist regulations extended even into their houses of worship. Most churches had an area, either in the back, the balcony or separate rooms where Black New Yorkers were housed and located during the religious service. As slavery waned, the City’s newly freed Blacks chafed under New York’s long standing segregationist policies. In spite of this oppression and despite several deadly and destructive race riots, New York’s African American community remained vibrant, dynamic and because of their efforts, the City continued also to be a center of abolitionist, anti-slavery activity.

St. Augustine’s Church at 290 Henry Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which opened in 1828, has as part of its original architecture two rooms, up a small twisting flight of stairs that were and still are called Slave Galleries. These rooms, just above the balcony and mainly out of sight, were intended for African American congregants, servants and perhaps even visitors, and may have been so used for years after slavery ended.

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New York City was an early center of slavery in colonial America--- for much of the period only the city of Charleston, South Carolina had a larger enslaved population. Brought to New York from Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the South, people of African descent were largely commodities to be purchased, traded, measured and sold. For most, New York and its unwinding harbor was a quick stopping off point on the way to somewhere else on the triangulated trade route that led primarily south. Most must have found it an exotic, scary, sometimes cold and fleeting place. Yet, a significant number remained, to undertake the backbreaking work that building this expansive metropolis required.

As decades passed, the city and the African population grew, as did New York’s dependence on the free labor they provided. Special laws were passed to control the enslaved population. To calm the fear of revolt and insurrection, it became illegal for Black New Yorkers to gather in groups of more than three. To justify and maintain a white privileged class, African New Yorkers were denied access to housing, jobs and most public and private institutions, businesses and facilities. We often lose sight of the fact that New York City played a crucial role in both the development of the slave trade in colonial America and the virulent racism that accompanied it and helped codify the culture and concept that later came to be called in the South -- Jim Crow.

Across the street from what is today City Hall in downtown Manhattan, the African Burial Ground, the graveyard of colonial African New Yorkers was rediscovered in the 1990s. It was about five acres wide and used for virtually a hundred years until the end of the Revolutionary War. The history and existence of the African Burial Ground demonstrates that New York Jim Crow reached into the graveyard. Indeed segregation in New York reached into every facet of life for African and African American New Yorkers, including, perhaps especially their religious sanctuaries and institutions.

On the odd occasion, in the hands of a racist priest or a rowdy hate mongering congregation, religious events like marriage, communion or baptism could erupt into embarrassing and even dangerous experiences. In the main, for Black New York, when allowed entrance, church must have been oddly like the devil wrestling with God, as they were closely monitored and set apart. In some, Black New Yorkers had to sit or stand in the back of the parish, in others they were confined to an area in the balcony. In several churches there were rooms for Blacks, often out of view. These rooms, like the two at St. Augustine’s Landmark Church at 290 Henry Street in Lower Manhattan, were called Slave Galleries.


“Once in a while some of the old timers would talk,” says Harold Hayes, long time parishioner and Lower East Sider, “I used to hear little things that the blacks used to sing up there and such things and they were slaves.”


What is now St. Augustine’s landmark church has been standing on Henry Street in Manhattan since 1828. Constructed, legend has it, with rocks gathered from a long gone mountain, locally known as Mount Pitt, once a few blocks away. Originally, the church was called All Saints. A controversial aspect of its design, are two rooms on either side of a more than 150 year old Erben Organ one flight above the balcony. We know from articles and church records that these rooms were referred to as slave galleries and associated with the African American community.


A historical anomaly is that slavery in New York City and State officially ended in 1827. If so, why would a church that opened in 1828 build two slave galleries? This question ignited some intense debate in corners of the New York Historical community.


“Maybe they didn’t believe slavery was going to end.” The Reverend Errol Harvey, Rector of St. Augustine’s Church has said with his wry smile.

Though the vast majority of African American New Yorkers were no longer enslaved by 1827, the last gained freedom in 1841. The emancipation of slavery in New York was complicated and gradual. A law to stop slavery in New York State passed in 1799, starting a process that climaxed in 1827. A great deal is yet to be learned about who sat in the St. Augustine’s slave galleries – were they slaves -- indentured servants ill treated or otherwise -- free blacks encumbered by New York Jim Crow?

Around 1949, after decades spent struggling to survive, a decision was made to move St. Augustine’s Church, located on E. Houston Street into the All Saints Building on Henry Street and merge the institutions. The Christian part of the community had largely become African American and Hispanic. The new Church leaders decided to assertively reach out to them. In the ensuing years ironically, the once rich white All Saints Free Church became the primarily working class African American St. Augustine’s Church. Its first African American Rector was appointed in 1977. Reverend Errol Harvey, who has been at St. Augustine’s for 23 years, is the second. Reverend Harvey has spearheaded and supported renewed interest in the Slave Galleries, embracing the St. Augustine’s Project’s mission to help tell the story of African American New Yorkers and their contributions to the culture and development of the City and the neighborhood.

Rodger Taylor
Management Board member



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author of "The Black Holocaust for Beginners"
Social Activism is not a hobby: it's a Lifestyle lasting a Lifetime
http://blackeducator.blogspot.com
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New Warriorship

The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book entitled, "Its All Gumbo to Me" by Dr. C.M. Ellis.

"...What does it mean to be a warrior? While there are many different connotations that can arise from hearing the word, for sure we think of a fighter. We may think of someone who has a direct responsibility to stand between the aggressors and the tribe.

I spent twenty (20) years in the United States Army. I always saw my role in service to be a warrior for my nation. Perhaps that was more of a romantic notion than anything that mirrors the warriors of tribes inside Africa and other tribal areas, but it was my belief and it served me well.

When I look at those many years, a few things stand out and, in my opinion, what stands out is quite profound. First, to be a warrior for the nation it takes a separation from what you may understand so that you can be trained up in the way of the warrior. In the service it is usually called Basic Training. Second, a good warrior is not made overnight. I made seargent in the Army. It took about 4 years. Along the way there were many "training" and "social" aspects that had to occur so that I would be prepared to assume the responsibilities. I was offered a scholarship to become an Army officer. That took two years. When I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant it began a new degree of warrior training. I made Captain eight years later. Along the way, many, many, many, many (did I say many) things occurred that proved my ability to be a senior leader and warrior for my nation. The third thing, and perhaps the most important, is that I learned the only way this nation can have a sense of safety from the role of the armed forces is because there are many tangible events that occur in the military that make even the most mediocre soldier a capable individual.

Why do I bring this up? It is my contention that we need a revival of what it means to be a warrior for our people in this America. Certainly there are groups, religious and not, doing this everyday. I applaud them and all those who contribute to their efforts. But I am calling for a new approach from the academic community, especially Brothers like me and others who have secured their academic future. I am calling for a New Warriorship that involves the direct intervention into the Kindegarten, elementary, middle/Jr. High, High School and undergraduate collegiate levels of formal education. I am calling for the direct intervention into the communities of our brothers and sisters for the purpose of providing the structure that creates warriors.

New warriorship is a matter of defining our role as being the protectors of our communities through business, legal, psychological, environmental, cultural, technological, and political savy-just to name a few. New warriorship refers to young African American females and males gaining critical and structural development in all aspects of the American culture so that our collective intellect can be called upon to answer to biased assaults on our people. As this is not something done overnight, it will take the longsuffering love of the committed to plant the seed in our towns and cities and then grow the movement with the likeminded to create a cadre of warriors in every corner of the nation.

New Warriorship is based on the love teaching of King with the intensity of Malcolm. New Warriorship does seek to create an empire to compete with an American empire, rather, New Warriorship seeks to ground African American people, and like minded people, to mother earth and the Great Spirit above to reinforce the point that we do not control that which God has created nor do we seek to enslave as we have been enslaved. We seek to liberate a people, and summarily, a nation from the bondage of our history. This is done by cultivating the character of our warriors to do "intellectual" battle with greater degrees of integrity and fortitude than that of our agressors..."

Peace and Blessings

St. Claire Bourne: Major Black Filmmaker Dies

This was sent to us by Curtis Stephen:

Hello Everyone:

The news of a sudden death always strikes like a thunderbolt. Such was the case when many of us learned of the sad passing of the dynamic documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne over the weekend. His work was nothing short of stellar -- each time out the gate. He was the director of landmark PBS documentaries that probed the life and times of everyone from Paul Robeson to historian John Henrik Clarke. And then there was his fascinating profile of Gordon Parks on HBO just a few years ago.

His work blended the uncompromising stance of Oscar Micheaux and Malcolm X (with the firm belief that people of color should play a vital role in documenting their history) along with Edward R. Murrow (with his equally firm belief in the vast potential of television to serve as a medium that can -- and should -- enlighten and inform). I was fortunate to have met him in late 2005 at an event in which he spoke. He passionately addressed the challenge of fundraising for those filmmakers who sought to tell stories of history. And described the changes in the industry that made it possible (citing the federal cutbacks on public funding of the arts in the '80s that led to more restrictive grants). But for him, the fight in that arena was one worthy of waging and he inspired those filmmakers to go against the tide (as he himself once did in the '70s -- and each time since, for that matter) to make their films.

I was struck by the length of time he remained to talk to the aspiring and diverse group of filmmakers in the reception afterward. In fact, I left him there well after his speech and it appeared that he was in no rush to leave :) He loved his work and was passionate about many subjects. We celebrated the return of the late Henry Hampton's Eyes On The Prize series -- that definitive award-winning documentary on the Civil Rights Movement -- on PBS stations nationwide last year after a long absence. In the last years of his life, he was deeply consumed by his work on scores of documentary projects, including one on the history of the Black Panthers. Hopefully there's enough material on the cutting room floor (he certainly produced a great deal of it already) for it to eventually see the light of day. When I wrote my own retrospective on the Black Panthers for The Crisis last year, we bounced notes back-and-forth (and it was clear to me that what he planned to bring would have been nothing short of career defining -- this one was so important to him).

This past summer, Bourne was in Africa on a project. But upon his return, he shook off any trace of jet lag to proudly attend a Black Male in America townhall meeting / ceremony in Brooklyn this past summer organized by the activist and author Kevin Powell and his team (full disclosure -- I was part of that team). The ceremony honored a dynamic group -- among them: Ted Shaw, head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; veteran journalist Herb Boyd; activist Jitu Weusi, and legendary radio host Bob Law. At a packed Hanson Place United Methodist Church, Bourne beamed alongside his friend and fellow honoree -- film director and producer Warrington Hudlin. Bourne's ready smile was one that revealed the essence of the man, but also his sense of humor. When he saw my automatic camera then, there was that smile again! "Betcha haven't seen that in a while," I remarked. "Got that right!" he returned with a booming laugh.

Finally, he marveled at the arrival of Kiri Davis -- the celebrated director of "A Girl Like Me." It was the enterprise and sheer guts embodied in a teenager to tell such a powerful story about the nature of colorism in her own voice that moved him greatly. In many spaces online now, tributes to Bourne have been pouring in. As prolific a blogger in recent years as he was a filmmaker, Bourne would have appreciated that too. He was 64. What a life and what a legacy. PEACE AND BLESSINGS......Curtis

ST. CLAIR BOURNE OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.chambamedia.com/

NY TIMES OBIT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/arts/18bourne.html

Kevin Blackistone from ESPN Sets the Record Straight

After seeing the letter from one of our writers at YourBlackWorld, my man Kevin Blackistone wanted to set the record straight on his perceptions of the Sean Taylor case. Kevin is a sports guru for AOL and XM Satellite. He is also a regular on the popular ESPN show "Around the Horn".

Kev and I were on CNN together a few months ago trying to figure out why the NFL still has work to do when it comes to hiring black coaches. At the same time, I would argue that it is the NCAA that refuses to let go of it's racist traditions.

Without further ado, here is the article that Kevin wrote on Sean Taylor:


Sean Taylor and Timothy Spicer lived and worked in metropolitan D.C., Taylor as star safety for Washington’s famous pro football team and Spicer as a short-order cook for a famous Washington eatery, Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Eric Rivera, Jr., 17, shown in the preliminary court hearing, was identified by the grand jury as the gunman in the murder of NFL star Sean Taylor.

Both were young; Taylor 24 and Spicer 25. Both enjoyed nice cars that young men often do; Taylor had a Yukon Denali and Spicer drove a shiny ‘94 Caprice on big silvery rims. Both young men were black.

And both are dead now, murdered.

Taylor died in the wee hours Tuesday morning in Miami from a gunshot wound he suffered early Monday from what authorities said was an intruder in Taylor's Miami-area home.

Spicer died two Saturdays ago in Washington after he was found shot multiple times as the victim of a carjacking of his Caprice.

The only reason the country learned of Taylor's death is his celebrity. Spicer's death remained local news, the 169th murder in D.C. this year, or as many as occurred here last year.

But Taylor and Spicer are as linked in tragedy as they were as young black men working in D.C. trying to make it to another day. Gun violence is the No. 1 killer of black men like Taylor and Spicer.

According to most recent disseminated data by the Center for Disease Control, Taylor and Spicer will be two of roughly 4,000 black homicide victims in the country this year killed by guns. Most, of course, won't be a pro athlete like Taylor but an everyman like Spicer.

It didn't matter if they were rich or working-class, went to college or dropped out of high school, lived in a near million dollar home with a remote control gate or in mom's apartment in a tough quarter of town. It didn’t matter if one was strapping, strong and fast as the wind and the other was more like everyone else.

It didn't matter if they were famous or known to only a few. It didn't matter if they were living their dreams or still chasing them. They didn't escape the pathology.

On the face of it, as news of Taylor being shot rolled through the 24-hour news cycle, it sounded as if Taylor shouldn't have succumbed to such a menace. His father worked in law enforcement. Taylor went to a prep high school and a private college, Miami. He was a multi-million-dollar athlete and even his dalliance with lawbreaking and gun brandishing was said to be something of his recent past. He was a father now too. He had someone to live for forever besides himself. But what do we know?

"Sometimes we assume that because one is raised a certain way one is going to come out a certain way," the recently retired NFL star receiver Keyshawn Johnson, now ESPN football analyst, told me by phone on Tuesday. "Look at Andy Reid's kids. He's coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and they're (sons) selling drugs out of the house. You can't assume that because Sean's dad was a police chief that his life…would be different. It depends on how you approach it." Johnson knows all too well. He was reared in the toughest section of South Los Angeles. He survived being shot twice. He was stuck up outside of his favorite barbershop with his kids in tow.

"You just become an easy target," Johnson said of being an athlete or any well-known person of means.
Darrent Williams was a Denver Broncos' defensive back doing a responsible thing while out last New Year’s enjoying the night. He was in a limousine. A wrong word or misunderstanding in a club turned into bullets fired into his ride. He was killed. He was Taylor's age and another statistic in the deadly demographic.

In the wake of Williams' death, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed alarm at the senseless gun death of a league player and of run-ins with the law involving guns that other players were going through. Not long after came defensive back Pacman Jones' incident at a Las Vegas club that left one man shot and paralyzed.

But this isn't, unfortunately, just a problem of professional athletics, Johnson pointed out. It is bigger than one genre of livelihood.

"You have to be very cautious…about your surroundings and about the company you do keep. You can’t worry about feeling like people are going to look at you and say, 'He's made it now so he doesn't come around.' Well, isn't that the whole point? Secure your life and secure your family and move on? The point is to be able to be successful and make it."

Taylor appeared to have reached that point. Spicer was still working at it with a budding clothing business and dreams of – what else? – producing rap music.
Now both are in the same sad statistical pool. A Miami black neighborhood was planning this week to protest three recent fatal police shootings of young black men. It may want to protest the shooting of young black men by other young black men, which is far more prevalent, when it is through.


There was a lot of outpouring of support almost immediately for Taylor. A candlelight vigil was held. A funeral that will be covered by the national media is probably being planned.

Some athletes interviewed about Taylor's demise served up the trite words we're accustomed to after such a horrific event. They said it reminded that they just played a game and that other things were much more important. It put things in perspective, the choir sang. It shouldn’t have, of course. These things in sports never should. Other things are always more important.

Sports are not a separate thread in the fabric of society. They are no more than another spec of alloy in the mirror that reflects it all.

Sean Taylor as well as Timothy Spicer were the latest victims in what is a near epidemic among young black men. If anything good can come from Taylor's demise it will be that more of us pay as much attention to, and express as much outrage and sadness for, the Spicers where we live too.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, an XM Satellite Radio host and a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets like National Public Radio and The Politico. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Hyattsville, Md.

America Has Lost a Generation of Black Boys

Written by Phillip Jackson, Director of the Black Star Project

There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.



Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.



Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.



The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global black community.



Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.



Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economics of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black Boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and inexpensive, but they are not easy or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society.



Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:



Short term

1) Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education.

2) Provide positive role models for Black boys.

3) Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers.

4) Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base.

5) Control the negative media influences on Black boys.

6) Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women.



Long term

1) Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men.

2) Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future.

3) Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations.

4) Build a positive peer culture for Black boys.

5) Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history.

6) Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning.

Haters Beware: Now You Can't Just Look at Barry

Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report, which blows the roof off steroid use, has as much scandal and intrigue as a novel by Karrine “Superhead” Stephens. For the non-geto fab inclined, Stephens wrote a book called “Confessions of a Video Vixen”, which exposed the dirty little secrets of many entertainers and celebrities with whom she’d “become acquainted”.

Apparently, “Superhead” has been “one-upped” by the Mitchell Report. Rather than the secret and forbidden pleasure being a sexy woman with brown skin, it is a slender syringe with clear fluid. The dirty little secret, otherwise known as steroids, is nothing short of a deal with the Devil, promising fame, riches, power and prominence in the halls of Major League Baseball. No sexual hormones, just human growth hormones. With both hormones being equally seductive.
Barry Bonds was, until today, one of the few individuals proven to have spent time with the mistress. But as I’ve mentioned all along, he wasn’t the only one hanging out in the brothel of performance enhancement. As a former coach, I saw many athletes exhibiting symptoms of “extra juice”: 40 year olds playing as if they were teenagers, former 90 pound weaklings showing up to camp looking like Sylvester Stallone, and guys hitting more homeruns in a season than they’d hit their entire career.

Of course, if you were to ask any of the 50 year old sports writers in America, all of whom were on the war path to paint Barry Bonds as the “unethical little black man” (something they do to at least 3 black athletes every single year), they would attribute the performances of Roger Clements and others as being the product of hard work and commitment. But not Barry Bonds, who was considered by some to be the only cheater in the entire sport, and thus deserved to have his records tainted with an asterisk.

Sorry homeboy, now it’s time to look in the mirror. Your heroes are every bit as fraudulent as the hair piece you wear to Sports Center interviews. Your noble commissioner is every bit as compliant as the Bishop who doesn’t report the horny Priest. All of baseball was guilty during the “Era of the Asterisk”, and your efforts to write off and villify whistle-blower Jose Conseco have been muted forever. Jose might be the only honest person in the entire sport.

Of course there won’t be any deep reflection or remorse on the part of the self-righteous sports writer. He will continue to pass judgment on black athletes and question our character. I recall hearing a disgusting display on Monday Night Football about Michael Vick being a criminal and Reggie Bush needing to be taught hard work by Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I remember Randy Moss and Terrell Owens being treated worse than criminals when the public decided they were not “good boys”. I recall one conversation after another on CNN where I was being asked why black athletes display such poor ethics.

It turns out that when it comes to values and ethics, many black athletes should be teaching the lessons, not taking them. Go ask yourselves about THAT.

Haters Beware: Now You Can't Just Look at Barry

Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report, which blows the roof off steroid use, has as much scandal and intrigue as a novel by Karrine “Superhead” Stephens. For the non-geto fab inclined, Stephens wrote a book called “Confessions of a Video Vixen”, which exposed the dirty little secrets of many entertainers and celebrities with whom she’d “become acquainted”.

Apparently, “Superhead” has been “one-upped” by the Mitchell Report. Rather than the secret and forbidden pleasure being a sexy woman with brown skin, it is a slender syringe with clear fluid. The dirty little secret, otherwise known as steroids, is nothing short of a deal with the Devil, promising fame, riches, power and prominence in the halls of Major League Baseball. No sexual hormones, just human growth hormones. With both hormones being equally seductive.
Barry Bonds was, until today, one of the few individuals proven to have spent time with the mistress. But as I’ve mentioned all along, he wasn’t the only one hanging out in the brothel of performance enhancement. As a former coach, I saw many athletes exhibiting symptoms of “extra juice”: 40 year olds playing as if they were teenagers, former 90 pound weaklings showing up to camp looking like Sylvester Stallone, and guys hitting more homeruns in a season than they’d hit their entire career.

Of course, if you were to ask any of the 50 year old sports writers in America, all of whom were on the war path to paint Barry Bonds as the “unethical little black man” (something they do to at least 3 black athletes every single year), they would attribute the performances of Roger Clements and others as being the product of hard work and commitment. But not Barry Bonds, who was considered by some to be the only cheater in the entire sport, and thus deserved to have his records tainted with an asterisk.

Sorry homeboy, now it’s time to look in the mirror. Your heroes are every bit as fraudulent as the hair piece you wear to Sports Center interviews. Your noble commissioner is every bit as compliant as the Bishop who doesn’t report the horny Priest. All of baseball was guilty during the “Era of the Asterisk”, and your efforts to write off and villify whistle-blower Jose Conseco have been muted forever. Jose might be the only honest person in the entire sport.

Of course there won’t be any deep reflection or remorse on the part of the self-righteous sports writer. He will continue to pass judgment on black athletes and question our character. I recall hearing a disgusting display on Monday Night Football about Michael Vick being a criminal and Reggie Bush needing to be taught hard work by Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I remember Randy Moss and Terrell Owens being treated worse than criminals when the public decided they were not “good boys”. I recall one conversation after another on CNN where I was being asked why black athletes display such poor ethics.

It turns out that when it comes to values and ethics, many black athletes should be teaching the lessons, not taking them. Go ask yourselves about THAT.

Why I Hate BET - Daunte Henderson

I remember when BET Uncut used to be the thing to watch at 3am. Me and my friends would have endless conversations about videos like “Tipdrill”, “What Thang Smell Like” and “Pussy Poppin”. For a broke male like myself that doesn’t have interest in strip clubs or paying for pleasure, BET Uncut was perfect. I could stay at the crib and look at all the booty for free. It was like going to the club minus the social interaction. BET Uncut was the most hardcore thing on cable TV besides the Real Sex series on HBO. The videos on Uncut showcased the raunchiest of the raunchiest. Strippers gyrating, half naked models, hardcore rap music all in a one hour segment. Misogynistic, YES, sexist, Yes, entertaining, yeah, wrong, yeah. BET has since decided to pull BET Uncut from the lineup after much criticism from the African American community and rightfully so. As the media voice for the African American community, BET has let a lot of my people down. African Americans have enough negativity on television without the programs like BET Uncut, We Got to Do Better, College Hill and any other remake of MTV that they can produce. In my opinion the damage is still being done to the African American community by our market leader in African American entertainment. BET sucks! I’ll stand on it and won’t budge.

Robert Johnson, founder of BET and also a Black man, sold the company for 3 billion to media giant Viacom. I’m not mad at the brother. I might change a few morals for a cool billion, BUT the quality of programming at BET has changed for the worse since this change in ownership. Viacom owns Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Spike TV, The N, TV Land, Nick at Nite Children's Entertainment: Nickelodeon, Noggin Music: MTV, VH1, MTV2, and many more companies. They own basically everything as you can see. I’ve noticed one disturbing thing about BET. They always seem to counterattack anything MTV does. MTV has “The Real World”, BET has “College Hill”. MTV has “Making the Video”, BET has “Access Granted”. MTV has “Punk’d”, BET has “Hell Date”, MTV has “The Hills”, BET has “Baldwin Hills”. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I didn’t even name everything. Are you that hard up for originality that you have to copycat everything MTV does? If you’re going to copy off something at least let it be good. If you look at the programs on BET they don’t even have good picture quality. Look at MTV and you will see the difference. The pictures have great clarity and they look professional. Besides a few shows like “106 & Park” and the various church programs on BET, the picture quality sucks. The picture quality is terrible. Keep in mind that BET and MTV are owned by the same company. Is Viacom not giving you enough money?

BET has added shows like “Keep the Faith”, “Cousin Jeff Chronicles” and a few other enlightening shows but there still is a lot of work to be done. We can start with the trashy commercials that air after 10 p.m. If you have ever watched BET you’ll notice the ringtone commercials that dominate BET. These commercials feature voluptuous women and scantily clad women selling their ringtones and cellphone wallpapers. BET also airs phone sex and dating commercials after hours. WHY? It seems BET is more concerned with remaking MTV and commercials than making quality programming. BET on the weekends is unbearable. They are heavily flooded with redundant Top 25 music countdowns, Jamie Foxx reruns and the infamous infomercials. It’s terrible. I might sound like the biggest hater of BET but it disgusts me to call this the voice of our people. I know I’m not the only who sees this.

The more and more I look at BET the more I see the reason why people stereotype our people. I mean if this is the source of BLACK ENTERTAINMENT then I’d rather watch MTV. I’d rather sit through two hours of the likes of Avril Lavigne (which I don’t like) than watch a half an hour “We Got to Do Better”. It’s a crying shame that I have to look for positive depictions of African American in other media outlets. Maybe they need to change their acronym to BET (Black Exploitation Television) Maybe it won’t be so misleading.

Is Jason Whitlock Just Another Sellout? - A Black Reader Responds

Dear Sir,
Your article on the above subject was very informative and inciteful. I am from Washington, D.C. and I am an avid reader of the Washington Post. This is paper that the guy who is the subject matter of your essay writes for. One must understand that when African Americans reach a lofty status in these "United States of America", they somehow must reaffirm their not like the rest of blacks syndrome. In this sports writer's case, he must write in his column what mainstream America wants to read, think and believe about black America.
Back in 2002, this same writer wrote in his Washington Post column about the upcoming NBA draft, and I quote, "For his money, Casey Jacobsen was the best college basketball player in America." He simply blew my mind. I was wondering from what planet did this guy just get here? Here are just a few outstanding African-American and Oriental players that were drafted in 2002:

Pick
Player
NBA Team
School/Club Team
1
Yao Ming (C)
Houston Rockets
Shanghai Sharks (China)
2
Jay Williams (PG)
Chicago Bulls
Duke
4
Drew Gooden (F)
Memphis Grizzlies
Kansas
8
Chris Wilcox (F/C)
Los Angeles Clippers (from Atlanta)
Maryland
9
Amare Stoudemire (F/C)
Phoenix Suns
Cypress Creek HS (Orlando, Florida)
10
Caron Butler (SF)
Miami Heat
UConn
11
Jared Jeffries (F)
Washington Wizards
Indiana
17
Juan Dixon (G)
Washington Wizards (from New Orleans)
Maryland
22
Casey Jacobsen (SG)
Phoenix Suns (from Boston)
Stanford
23
Tayshaun Prince (SF)
Detroit Pistons
Kentucky
34
Carlos Boozer (PF)
Cleveland Cavaliers
Duke

Just so your readers will know, Casey Jacobsen averaged 5.9 points per game for the four years he played for the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Hornets from 2002 - 2005. He in Europe 2005 - 2007. He recently signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. The point is how could Mr. from the Midwest, Chicago specifically, could guess so wrongly and tell the world that this Caucasian player from Stanford University, in his mind, WAS NOT only the best shooting guard, but the best player in the U.S.?

Many African-Americans in the media seem to have to justify their lofty status in the Caucasian mainstream by giving them fodder to reaffirm their bias thoughts about black Americans whom they think are not like thier equal in humility and humanity. This allows white America to justify their guiltlessness for the less than equal way of life that they dole out to those whom they have learned or have been taught to believe are of a lesser station in mundane life and also, the evolutionary chain of life.

I had a conversation with one of my Caucasian co-workers about this very article the day it was in print in 2002. He thought it was a great article and well-written. In fact, he told he really liked reading MW. I told him that not only didn't I think he could write very well, but in fact, he was just another sellout from his race who is trying hard to be accepted by his mainstream employer and readers. This guy lost his soul and self-awareness a long time ago. He is enjoying his elitist status not only writing in newspapers, but on television, too.

The bottom line for me is that Mr. MW seems to think he is one of a few educated black men (Northwestern University I believe) in America. It seems to think that it gives license to communicate for Caucasians about black America. If takes slandering other black men in order to be accepted by the mainstream and get paid mega bucks while you take potshots at your own people, then Mr. MW, you can have it all. I recall your writing and saying you grew up as a poor, black kid in Chicago. You are not a credit to your race. What have you done lately to stem some of the black violence with powerful pen?

So you see, Mr. MW has a long history of putting his brethren. It did not start with Sean Taylor. Please be aware that Mr. MW's media pal, Mr. Kevin I. Blackistone of ESPN, made very similar statements that he wasn't surprise at all about Sean Taylor's death because of the crowd he grew up and hung out with. This he stated to his Caucasian brethren at ESPN repeatedly the day of Mr. Taylor's death. Obviously, there is some kind of disconnect with obtaining a college education and basic common sense and decency.

Finally, if this short essay ever gets to Mr. MW or Mr. KB, I attended and graduated from a predominant white college, too, The George Washington University did not make me forget where I came from. It did not change me one iota. Have fun talking to Tony, I am sure he would never dare write or say the things you carelessly dribbled out about your fellow African-Americans person about a of Jewish persuasion. Just mention something negatively about the holocaust one time and see the wrath you will endure. You even had the audacity to come on television on the George Michael Redskin Show and say you stand by what you wrote. Every now and then you run across a person that thinks he or she is bright who in reality is quite dull.

My Ambitionz as a Writer - Daunte Henderson

I was listening to 2 Pac’s “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” and I thought rappers have one of the best professions in America. I wish I knew what it was like to party with Puff Daddy at the Hamptons. As a child I would look at rappers and dream about all the riches that they seemed to be living well off because of their craft. The luxurious cars, expensive jewelry, exotic women and money by the boatloads all appealed to my pre-pubescent mind. I wished that I could rap so I could afford all of those luxuries. I never wanted to rap to escape poverty because I lived fairly well already. When I became of mature age to understand the message behind the lyrics I wanted to rap because it motivated people and ultimately kept a lot of my sisters and brethren from snatching a fool up by the collar. As you can see I’m not a rapper. I figured out a long time ago that I didn’t have the persona or swagger to be a KRS-One or even a KRS-Two. My passion for the pen has led me to be a writer. I’m heavily entrenched in the hip-hop culture. While rappers get to spit bars into a microphone, I’m formulating homophones and using active voice in paragraphs. I always dreamed of making the same impact on someone just like a rapper. I’m living this dream as you read and as I write.

I admire rappers because in a lot of cases they speak for the voices that can’t be heard or overlooked. These urban poets have ways of crafting their stories through their bars and hooks. You can learn a lot about the dark side of our society if you listen to these artists. In one whole verse you can see a lot of the ills in our society. A lot of these artists get criticized for their graphic content and lack of social responsibility, yet these same people won’t help clean up these rappers environments. Artists in general depict their realities and portray them via whatever medium they choose. Why is it so different when a rapper voices his reality? Al Pacino is an artist because he’s an actor. He’s killed people ruthlessly in his movies and they call his work a masterpiece. Ice-T releases a cd entitled “Cop Killer” and they ban it from stores. Critics seem to have no problem with the Tarantinos or Scorsese’s depicting their versions of art but as soon as a rapper who happens to be African American does something it’s controversial and wrong.

Analysts and everybody else with an opinion always talk about how hip-hop is the cause of so much wrong in our society, yet they won’t acknowledge the wrong in other mass media. If we lived in a fair society we would accuse Bill O’Reilly of being a bigot just like we say Ice-T’s a cop killer. I’m a communications major so I understand that some clowns like Bill O’Reilly are only there for shock value and have no real worth besides an extreme opinion and media credibility. I know that there are some problems with rap. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that a phrase like “bitch I’ll slap the fuck out you” should be erased from the music BUT I’m also a fan of free speech. I won’t pick on any form of entertainment or artistic expression because I believe the messages speaks volumes about the state of our communities. If I’m an artist and my living situation is decrepit and of a sub-standard nature; I’m not using an Oxford Dictionary and rapping “I come from a low socio-economic background”. NO…I’m rapping something to the tune of “Shits fucked up in my hood”. Why? It’s the language of my surroundings. I would be accurately painting a picture of my environment and its diction by saying such. If you want artists to change their lyrics, change their surroundings.

I loved Nelly’s Tip Drill and have no qualms about liking it. Not because I’m a pervert but because this form of entertainment kept another one of my fellow African American males off the streets. I agree it’s not the most positive thing to portray on television but look at the total package. Nelly does A LOT for his community. I’m also a fan of “if you don’t like it then don’t buy it”. Of course it’s readily available and out there in the open for kids, but if you WATCH YOUR KIDS THAT SHIT WONT HAPPEN. Maybe my mother has a super gene for supervision skills but in my household her word was law. If she didn’t want me to do something it wouldn’t go down. Watch your kids. I know you can’t be there 24/7 but hopefully you’re there 20/7. I don’t like apples, Doritos, Queer as Folk, Seinfeld or country music, but I’m not going to boycott any of those. I won’t support it. Easy! Why waste money and time on talking about some things that I don’t like that I feel you shouldn’t like as well. The easiest way to phase anything out is to not support it. If Gucci Mane’s fans didn’t buy his next cd he wouldn’t rap anymore. Hit em in the pockets and keep it moving.

I’m a writer. I try my best to keep the spirit of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur alive through my writing. Rappers reflect the good, bad and ugly of our society. They’re just like any other artist who portrays their craft. Society needs to respect their vision as rappers but first they need to respect us as a people. We all know they can’t possibly be mad over some four letter words that show up in just about every movie. Maybe it’s our skin that causes the controversy and not the content?