Problems with the Acronym, MLK: "Misinformed, Libelous, Know-Nothing"

No, this isn't about anything Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did or did not do in his lifetime. He's not the historical giant I most related to, but that's mostly because I'm more of an Ella Barker fan. Suffice it to say, though, I do admire him, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

That's his name, right? So then, who, or what, is MLK?

What Really Matters

In honor of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, I decided to post on issues the Movement would be concerned about:

Poverty in the United States

• Over 37 million people in the United States lived in poverty in 2007
• The number of people living in poverty has increased by almost 6 million since 2000. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• Over 15.5 million people lived below half of the poverty line in 2007. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• 37 percent of households headed by women with children present lived in poverty in 2007. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• In 2007, the poverty threshold for a family of four was $21,203. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• Children in the United States have the highest poverty rate of all age groups
• Over 13 million children (age 18 and younger) lived in poverty in 2007. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• The poverty rate for children was 18 percent in 2007—much higher than the poverty rates for adults 18-64 (10.9 percent) and for the elderly (9.7 percent). U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• A family of four generally needs to earn twice the poverty threshold to provide children with basic necessities. National Center for Children in Poverty, 2008
• Employment alone is not always sufficient to provide a family’s basic needs
• 55 percent of children in low-income families have at least one parent who works full-time, year-round. National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), 2008
• 36 percent of households receiving emergency food assistance had at least one employed adult. Feeding America, 2007 (Formerly America’s Second Harvest)
• In 2005, 25 percent of all workers earned a poverty level hourly wage.Economic Policy Institute, 2008
• Minorities and immigrants are disproportionately affected by poverty
• 24.5 percent of black and 21.5 percent of Hispanic people live in poverty, compared to 8.2 percent of white people. 34.5 percent of black and 28.6 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty, compared to 15 percent of white children. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
• 16.5 percent of foreign born US residents experience poverty versus 11.9 percent of native born residents. This number is particularly high among immigrants who have not naturalized, at 21.3 percent.U.S. Census Bureau, 2008
  

For Ethanol, Now This?!

And I'm talking sugarcane not corn. For Brazil to lead the world in sugarcane ethanol production, much better for the environment than either corn ethanol or oil and gasoline, is one thing. They have sugarcane, we don't. They apparently don't have a strong oil and gasoline industry, we do. Even the little sugarcane industry we do have is blocking.

But for them to beat us out in terms of ensuring equality for all citizens regardless of race, that's just inexcusable.

When Reporting Goes Wrong

Okay. For the record, I wasn't at the City Grill shootings or the Roxy's Bar attacks. But I do agree that residents of Buffalo, NY protesting the characterization of the City Grill shootings as gang violence have a point. You wanna make the point that a certain lifestyle involves risks? Okay, I guess. But do you really have to list the criminal records of shooting victims to make that point? Mmm . . . . probably, not. Especially when it seems your conclusions may be wrong. Especially since no one, least of all me, is suggesting that being gay may be a bad idea because you could die violently. And no one is suggesting that being gay may cause people to become violent, not even the defendant who's saying she was the victim of assault.

Nevertheless, I agree that something needs to be done to address violence in inner-city densely populated enclaves of high concentrations of poverty, and the media can help. First off,  since crime is down and you're giving a false impression of reality and a false and negative impression black people,

The State Against Black Men

As posted by Dr. Terence Fitzgerald over at racismreview, I really like the 4th paragraph and my comments are posted after the essay:

Yes We Can, But Who Cares? Implications of the Schott Report on Black Males in Public Education
By Dr. Terence Fitzgerald

The Schott Foundation for Public Education is an organization whose mission is “To develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced, quality pre-K-12 public education,” recently published some heart-rending findings on the state of Black males in public education. The report, Yes We Can: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males 2010 reveals states, districts, and public schools that are statistically making academic gains toward closing the achievement gap (i.e., graduation rates and scores on state standardized examinations) between Black males and their counterparts. For example, the report affirms that the top ten best performing states in regard to decreasing the graduation gap between Black and White males are Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, Montana, Utah, South Dakota, New Jersey, and Iowa respectively. The ten best performing districts in this regard are Newark (NJ), Fort Bend (IN), Baltimore County (MD), Montgomery County (MD), Gwinnett County (GA), Prince George’s County (MD), Cumberland County (NC), East Baton Rouge Parish (LA), and Guilford County (NC). In my opinion, the report would make a stronger argument and cause readers to give a heavy pause when looking at the data when it was combined with an explanation as to why these states and districts are showing an improvement in the graduation rates.

"We Are Denied the Right to Be Human"

She Quit!

Yep, Dr. Laura is ending her show!!

But let's just stipulate that the 1st amendment doesn't give anyone the right to a talk-radio show. And it's not the government that's ending her show. She's ending it voluntarily. Eh, duh.

Only because Don Lemon Does a Good Job

Important Notice about Comments

Something went wrong. Don't ask me what. Possibly when I tried blogger's new designs.

But anyway, if you haven't been able to comment, please comment here. All future posts should be open to comments. But if there was a post you wanted to comment on and couldn't, please let me know. If it's one of the last 5 or 6, I've already opened those back up to comments. Farther than that, please let me know.

Thanks and sorry.

Black Men, Never Consent to Being Searched!

I don't care who you are. A well-known NBA player or some regular cat hanging out on the corner. DO NOT CONSENT TO BEING SEARCHED! I mean, the Udonis Haslem's car multiple time!

Multiple times! All because, "according to a statement released by the Florida Highway Patrol, a trooper ``smelled an odor of marijuana from within the vehicle.''" And apparently,

officers searched the car three times for drugs — an initial search and then a search with drug dogs yielded nothing.We’re told when officers searched the car a third time, they discovered less than 20 grams of marijuana.

I repeat, "officers searched the car three times for drugs — an initial search and then a search with drug dogs yielded nothing. We’re told when officers searched the car a third time, they discovered less than 20 grams of marijuana (emphasis mine)."

Haslem's attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said the marijuana found in Haslem's 2008 Mercedes sedan was inside the duffel bag of the passenger, Antwain Fleming, and that Fleming admitted to police that it was his. Still, it was Haslem, who according to the police report signed a consent form to allow for a search of the vehicle, who was charged with felony possession, and Fleming faces a misdemeanor charge of possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana.

What Does God Do for You: Continuing My Series, "A Conflict of Faiths"

I can't quite grab the question I want to ask, but it's something like this: how do white Christians engage their faith?

See, I know that throughout history through today, the black Church has been a source of strength to the black community. Not just our faith in God, but the strength found in community. Individually, our faith and trust in God gets us through . . . everything. Craziness where you work? Call on Jesus. Craziness at home? Call on Jesus. Craziness at church? Call on Jesus. We don't wait for a catastrophe before turning to God. And the music and excitement on Sunday? That's our praise and thanksgiving for what God's done, what God's doing, and what's yet to come.

Now, don't misunderstand me. Not every black person is religious or Christian. But the vast majority of us are.

Now, white Christians. How do you engage your faith? Setting aside that for white Christians, religiosity equals racism, how do you use your faith? Is it a source of strength? How does it inform your identity if it does? Or, is it a source of social status?

Okay. Let's Talk. But I Get to Go First.

This is an interesting article. Food for thought. My only quibble is the suggestion that the racial grievances of working and middle-class white be heard. Most of their complaints, ie affirmative action and the safety of integrated neighborhoods, I find baseless. I mean, if they're willing to accept the facts, I guess it's a reasonable request, to be heard.

On the other hand, maybe they just want to be heard but not necessarily heard first - in which case, all right. Let's talk.

The Ice Tea Pots

"[T]he [new federal agency recently created by law], by reason of its extraordinary powers, was clearly unconstitutional..., destined to irritate [some] and paurerize [others], at a final cost of possibly hundreds of millions. ...[These] extraordinary powers...threaten the civil rights of all citizens."

Yep, change a few nouns here and there and WEB DuBois's description of the argument used by opponents to the Federal Bureau of Freedmen suddenly becomes the same arguments used by opponents of . . . well, anything Obama tries to accomplish. Cause of course, the expansion of federal powers with W Bush's creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the expansion of local police powers with Arizona's SB 1070. Well, that's just plain ole common sense "national security."

That Was So White!: White Parents Passed Prop 8

A recent and more thorough "analysis sheds new light on what fueled the Proposition 8 victory."

We all remember how black folks in Cali were blamed for the passage of prop 8 (which has now been overturned by a Reagan-appointed federal judge), right? Here's my initial rant about the easy and condescending admonishing of the black community. And now, I got some numbers to back me up! I'm just really tired of the black community being talked down to. We're not the problem.

Republicans Aren't "Hypocrits" After All!

No, I'm not deviating from the script. I still very much plan to continue my series "A Conflict of Faiths." It just so happened that I can across this op-ed I thought was really cool.

Stop calling Republicans 'hypocrites'

Posted: Sunday, August 8, 2010 10:27 pm


Tina Dupuy, guest commentary

It's not that Republicans aren't hypocrites - it's more the label just isn't an effective dig. First, hypocrite is a fancy foreign Greek word like amnesty, ethics or Europe - how is that going to appeal to Republicans? Second, espousing virtues you don't personally have to live up to is basically the point of being a Republican.

White America Got Nothing to Whine About

If you're not aware of the "Obama doesn't care about white people's voting rights" paranoia, google it. Until then, here's why I get incensed about accusations of anti-white voter intimidation:

h/t Dr. Joe Feagin of racismreview.com
from theRoot (which has become in some respects too conservative for my tastes, btw):

Voting Rights Act at 45: What's to Celebrate?

Despite the defeat of Jim Crow and the key role African-American voters had in electing the first black U.S. president in 2008, many blacks still face barriers to voting.

Here’s What’s Been Bothering Me: a Conflict of Faiths

For weeks I’ve been bothered by this question: in what way is the black Church and the white Church united to form something of a multiracial, multicultural American Church?

New in the "What the Hell?" Department: the Tea Pots Bring Out Their Black Kettles

You know me. I've been around. I've had lots of thoughts about lots of things, but I'm just struggling to get to a point of clarity. And every time I do, I get wrapped up in . . .

Oh, never mind.

So anyway, just in case you didn't know, they're actually more than 5 black tea pots. Apparently a lot more. Go figure. And they are pissed about the NAACP and the general left's continual accusations of conservative racism.

They complain that their white friends can't greet them as "my nigger" without being called a racist.