Chemi Ism's

Three Strikes Bill, Prison Reform and Crime Reduction in Massachusetts

2011-12-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Three Strikes Bill, Prison Reform and Crime Reduction in Massachusetts

Senate Bill: S.2054 –

“An act relative to habitual offenders, sentencing and improving law enforcement tools.”

The “war on drugs” and “toughness on crime” are twin phrases that capture the sentiments commonly associated with the need to implement adequate public safety policies with regards to crime. Everyone agrees that crime must be prevented or reduced if individuals and communities are to be protected. The process with regards to developing strategic measures varies as much as the implications of the measures implemented. Two strategies have prevailed: the extremely punitive method with less emphasis on rehabilitation characterized as “toughness on crime”, and the restorative method with the emphasis on rehabilitation and wholistic reintegration. Both methods have their disadvantages if taken to the extreme.

Elements of the extremely punitive method include the “3-strikes you are out” law to convey toughness on crime. Elements of the restorative method include the emphasis on restorative justice and rehabilitation of the offender. The best option is a wholistic approach to crime that analyzes both methods and derives the most possible solution that will lead to prevention and reduction in crime while highlighting the need to rehabilitate and adequately reintegrate the prisoner back into society as a viable and contributing citizen, thus reducing the high rate of recidivism. It is in this light that the passage of the 3-Strickes bill: S.2054 in the Massachusetts Senate and House must be analyzed.

On Thursday November 10th, 2011 the Massachusetts Senate voted unanimously to pass S. 2054: “An act relative to habitual offenders, sentencing and improving law enforcement tools.” The bill has passed in the House and is at the moment with the Conference Committee. Prison reform advocates, including The Center for Church and Prison have come to see this bill, in its long-term implications as less benefiting to the State of Massachusetts for the following reasons:

Parole eligibility for lifers, would increase from 15 to 25 years and further crowd our prisons. Increasing parole eligibility from 15 to 25 years will cost nearly a half million dollars per prisoner ($46,000 per prisoner per year + increasing annual costs x 10 years). There is no evidence-based research which has demonstrated that such long sentences prevent crime. Massachusetts prisons are already overcrowded. While other states including New Jersey, New York, Michigan, South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi (and others) have cut prison costs through evidence-based practices, saving hundreds of millions of dollars and reducing crime, Massachusetts taxpayers will be footing the bill for the next twenty or thirty years.

Mandatory post release supervision would be forced upon ALL people incarcerated in Massachusetts prisons, thus increasing the revolving door of recidivism: The proposed mandatory post-release supervision could cost approximately $11.6 million per year just for new parole officers but even greater and uncalculated costs would be incurred through speeding up a former prisoner’s return to prison due to the increased number and kinds of infractions for parole violations under the bill.

Implications of S. 2054 in other States:

· Similar failed policies of other states, such as California, which passed mandatory post-release supervision and “three strikes,” while not reforming mandatory minimum drug sentences.

· The combination of these actions, similar to S.2054, caused a prison building boom of 24 new prisons in 25 years.

· The bankrupting of California’s schools, infrastructure and health care as a result of these misguided policies and sentencing practices.

· California is now under a Federal Court order to “realign” their prison population by 30,000 prisoners this year. Is this what we want for the future of Massachusetts?

The former inmate will be burdened with the weight of mandatory post-release supervision in addition to the weight of CORI. The burdened of CORI is reflected in the difficulty of individuals with conviction record to be employed and to experience some form of appreciable economic mobility especially for men of color who make up the bulk of those incarcerated. This bill does not address the additional implications of mandatory post-release supervision and the likelihood to affect employment possibilities for those already burdened with the implications and consequences of CORI. The Bill does not answer the question as to whether mandatory post-release supervision will appear on the record of the individual with CORI when they go to seek employment. Neither does it answer the question when will mandatory post-release supervision end or set conditions to end mandatory post-release supervision.

S. 2054 has the potential to lead to more over-crowding in Massachusetts prisons with increase in the rate of recidivism. In the absence of a coherent, preventive and rehabilitative provision as fundamental to the implementation of S. 2054 towards public safety and reintegration of former prisoners, this bill, with its emphasis on “toughness on crime” does not take into consideration its multiple implications and the potential for increase in poverty, breakdown of the minority family structure, increase in crime and unemployment and long-term disruption of public safety.

Mandatory Minimum Sentences would HARDLY experience any reforms: The bill relies on a system of harsh and rigid sentences for people convicted of drug offenses. Among other negative consequences, it will mean that prisons will remain packed with prisoners who could be paroled. The bill would not allow anyone convicted of a drug offense who is sentenced to mandatory minimums after the law takes effect to be eligible for parole, work release or earned good conduct credits. This means no progress to the current overly harsh "one size fits all" sentences. As with people convicted of other crimes, those who are convicted of drug offences should have access to work release and earned good conduct credits throughout their sentences.

The bill does not reduce the school zone from 1,000 feet to 100 feet. Instead it proposes reducing zones just to 500 feet which will not do enough to offset the "urban penalty" paid by city residents, and will mainly help only those who live in suburban or rural areas. In order to effectively work to shift drug offenses away from protected places such as schools, the zones need to be relatively small in order to effectively move offenses away from protected areas.

The Center for Church and Prison proposes the following suggestions in light of S. 2054:

· Strategic solution development and intervention leading to prevention and rehabilitation.

· Emphasis on education/training and job readiness programs,

· Job creation for individuals with CORI as a public safety measure.

· Education and employment opportunities for former prisoners to experience some form of economic mobility to reduce the chances for them to engage in illegal means of income generation.

· Higher education and economic mobility has higher potential to reduce recidivism as strategic means to public safety.

The passing of S. 2054 will be extremely grave for minority communities who are the highest amount of those incarcerated in the Massachusetts prison system. Blacks and Hispanic make up more than half of those incarcerated in Massachusetts in stark contrast to their population counts in the state of Massachusetts. In light of the above, The Center for Church and Prison in collaboration with several prison reform advocates and organizations see S. 2054 as detrimental to long-term public safety . While the intentions of S. 2054 is to prevent and reduce crime towards public safety, this enthusiasm towards toughness on crime must be tempered with an understanding of the negative implications of S. 2054 in terms of financial cost, increase in crime, prison overcrowding, a high rate of recidivism, the existential, social and financial implications on families and the community.

Call You Senator or Representative and tell them S. 2054 provides no preventive mechanism but will eventually undermine public safety in the long run.

Main State House Number

617.722.2000

The Center for Church and Prison is a resource and research center working towards community revitalization through prison reform, and strategic solution development and intervention in the high rate of incarceration and recidivism affecting especially men and youth of color in the United States criminal justice system. Visit our website for more information at:

Rev. George Walters-Sleyon

Executive Director: The Center for Church and Prison

Email: churchandprison.org

Website: http://www.churchandprison.org

Part of this Article was published in the Baystate Banner: http://baystatebanner.com/local14-2011-11-17

Link: http://www.realcostofprisons.org

Dr. Bill Cosby of the State of Lower Class Blacks

2011-03-13T17:31:00.003-04:00

Received By E-mail. I agree, it seems fashionable to have a Baby Mama or Baby Daddy, marriage isn't popular anymore.

BILL HAS DONE IT AGAIN.

'They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.

I can't even talk the way these people talk:

Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.

And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.

These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.

$500 sneakers for what?

And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.

Where were you when he was 2?

Where were you when he was 12?

Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?

And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .....

I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.

I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! !

With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap .......... And all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.

We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..

We cannot blame the white people any longer.'
Dr.. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.

WELL SAID, BILL
It's NOT about color...

It's about behavior!!!

Gaddafi Cartoon

2011-02-26T22:33:00.002-05:00

Another Editorial Cartoon, by Tanzanian Cartoonist Godfrey Mwampemba (Gado).

Ethiopia

2011-02-19T11:08:00.004-05:00

Another editiorial cartoon by Tanzanian cartoonist, Godfrey Mwampemba.

Mubarak Editorial Cartoon

2011-02-01T15:02:00.004-05:00

This was done by Tanzanian political cartoonist, Godfrey Mwampemba.

Open Season on America's Black Women

2010-12-21T13:12:00.001-05:00

I was cruising the web and found this article. Even though it was written in 2006, it is still very relevant today.

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OPEN SEASON on AMERICA'S BLACK WOMEN?
Public flogging of Black women must stop

Article By Dr. Melody T. McCloud

Why are Black women so increasingly ignored, abhorred, disrespected and rejected in this country? Who declared "open season" on us, and why?

Increasingly over the past decade the media has projected images that Black women are "public enemy #1" who can be battered about, cast down, kicked aside, ignored, denigrated and disrespected at the will of all who take delight and sport in doing so. I say it is tantamount to a public flogging in the modern-day Town Square—the media, the Internet, TV, movies and music videos.

The latest town square venue? The UGA campus where Chi Phi fraternity pledges distributed images of naked Black women to passers-by. Why? Because they could. It's acceptable sport in the 21st century to do so. They're just Black women; who cares? One student told a reporter he thought it was funny. It's not.

The late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, enjoyed a lifetime of fame and fortune and received many a laugh saying, "That's the story of my life, I don't get no respect." Many of today's Black women may feel Dangerfield's battle cry is one, they too, can claim. But for many Black women, getting "no respect" is not funny and hardly any are laughing.

The public disregard and disrespect of Black women is pervasive. More and more, Black male models and actors are readily cast opposite White and Hispanic women, to the blatant, total exclusion of Black women. Magazine ads frequently engage colorism—favoring light-skinned Blacks over brown-skinned ones. Lighter Black women often get the sexy ads and poses; they're positioned to look soft and desirable while brown-skinned women are posed stern, frowning and even masculine with bald heads. Often African-born models are selected to the exclusion of native-born Black American women.

It also seems to me that the media are ever eager to show the often embarrassing antics of U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, model Naomi Campbell, Omarosa and others, but won't allow for others to be heard or seen. It seems, "well, there's Oprah," so that's all the room they'll allow for "good" Black women of richer hue.

Sadly, too, those Blacks—including Oprah—in position to present Black women in a better light, often fail to do so. Tyler Perry and Martin Lawrence, more so, get rich on the image of the fat, gun-toting, loud Black granny.

Shonda Rhimes, the Black female creator/producer of "Grey's Anatomy," has the Black male character sleeping with Asian Sandra Oh (who brushes her teeth in the kitchen sink!) while Chandra Wilson, the lone Black actress on the show, is "the Nazi," "the bitch."

And MTV—whose president, Christina Norman, is a Black woman—recently aired a cartoon to young Saturday morning viewers entitled "Where My Dogs At," which had Black women squatting on all fours, tethered to leashes. In 2004, U.S. Army reservist Sgt. Lynndie England subjected Iraqi prisoners at Abu Grhaib to the same denigration and she was convicted and sentenced to prison. Where is the justice for Black women?

Mind you, however, the Iraqi prisoners were tethered against their will. Why would the MTV president have such unconscionable racial insensitivity, and why, why would Black women participate in such debasing imagery? I submit many of these sorely misguided Black women are merely seeking acceptance, appreciation and value in a society that affords them none. Everyone wants to be valued; sadly these women choose a disparaging route that leads to shame for themselves and their race.

The effects of these demeaning images and absolute disregard for the Black female demographic in this country send a loud, disturbing message and are detrimental to our society at large. The negative imagery affects not only the psyche of Black men and women, but also that of impressionable boys and girls of all races.

As a physician I'm likewise concerned about the effect such constant societal rejection has on Black women's physical health. I can say with certainty that constant rejection, disrespect and denigration cause stress. Stress increases the release of cortisol and other stress hormones. These high levels lead to high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, central obesity and more, all of which can lead to death. Prolonged stress also severely affects the immune system, diminishing its ability to fight against life-threatening diseases. Black women have a very high incidence and death rate from these killer conditions. Connect the dots.

Someone must give voice to this societal poison. White women aren't going to say anything because they readily benefit from negative images of Black women. Many white men—media executives, and obviously some UGA frat brothers—are having too much fun and cash flow at the expense of Black women's dignity and social value; and sadly, many Black men are inexplicably silent, standing sideline. And people wonder why Black women are "angry" and "tired." Some posters to message boards proclaim that any women addressing this topic are "just darkie black women with self-hatred." No. We don't hate ourselves; we know who we are. Many of us are successful, well-groomed, well-spoken entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers and homeowners, who are also loving, passionate, funny, exciting, devoted and sensual. What we hate is how we're portrayed and disrespected in the media and in real life.

As a Black woman I've tried for years, beginning in 1999, to shed light on this issue with media executives, television producers, literary agents and publishing editors, to no avail. And earlier this year I wrote Marc Cherry, creator of the hit show, "Desperate Housewives."

Normally, to see a Black woman get a recurring role in the number one prime-time network program would be a major coup, a step in the right direction for American media and Black imagery. But alas, once again, the lone Black woman—on a show that mostly deals with sexy, alluring women with kinky trysts and family matters—is portrayed as some psychopath who chains her sons in the basement. How did her storyline even fit the show? Did they just have to cast a Black woman and decided to make her "the evil, demented, crazy one"? These images—often to the exclusion of more positive, loving ones—must stop.

As my cries went unheard/ignored, increasing numbers of disgraceful, disrespectful and demeaning videos, photographs and movie clips with disparaging images of Black women were seen by millions worldwide.

The problem has multiple prongs, and so does the remedy. For starters, I suggest new congressional hearings and laws to effect a tangible change in the depiction of women in music videos. Black women who participate in such videos must stop; there are better, more respectful ways to gain acceptance.

Parents need to stop allowing their children to listen to the despicable lyrics in hip-hop and rap songs and stop buying those recordings; they are poison to the mind. We've gone from "My Cherie Amour" to "bitch, ho, slut and whore." This is unacceptable. This must STOP. Black boys need to don proper attire and learn to speak to girls and women respectfully. And Black girls/women need to stop allowing men to speak to them in any which way and again, stop participating in disrespectful deeds.

Beyonce' and the like need to stop shaking their booty, mimicking orgasmic seizures on stage for young girls to see and later have their children emulate in "Baby Beyonce'" contests. Black men need to step forward: Say and do something. Honor your women. Speak to young boys.

Black film and music producers need to be socially conscious and realize what effect the images they set forth have on the community and the world; you can so better "represent." White media and ad executives must advance past colorism; they also need to cast Black actresses and models of all hues in loving, desirable roles.

White (and all) parents need to stop teaching racist attitudes to their offspring. And UGA students need to find something else to do in the town square. Denigrating and disrespecting Black women is not a sport. It's sad that members of the Chi Phi fraternity think it is.

Copyright 2006 Dr. Melody T. McCloud

Heaven & Hell

2010-10-22T10:19:00.001-04:00

HEAVEN AND HELL

While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator was tragically hit by a car and died.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the Senator..

"Well, I'd like to,

but I have orders from the higher ups. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really?, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to

greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.They played a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven.."

So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone

by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell..

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look

miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says,

"Yesterday we were campaigning, Today, you voted.."

Vote wisely on November 2, 2010

Back Bay Beggar Vs. MBTA Bus

2010-07-29T23:02:00.004-04:00

Around 2:30pm this afternoon, I was shocked to see a beggar I'm used to seeing in a wheelchair, standing up and using his wheelchair to block an MBTA bus from going anywhere.

This happened on Dartmouth St. in the Copley area right in front of the Back Bay T station. The beggar was angry at the driver of the bus plying Route 10. The driver wouldn't let him on with his wheelchair because the attached pole was too high.

First, I didn't know that that beggar was capable of walking. It was the first time I'd seen him standing and walking. Anyway, some ladies came along and pleaded with the man to let the bus go in its way. They told him that he was committing a crime and also hurting other people who might be late for work, medical appointments and other business because of his selfish actions. The beggar eventually removed his chair.

They Promise How Many Virgins?

2010-07-16T14:25:00.003-04:00

This is an editorial cartoon by Tanzanian cartoonist, Godrey Mwampemba. I have to say that his cartoons are getting bolder by the day.

Now that the World Cup in South Africa is Over

2010-07-13T11:43:00.001-04:00

By Tanzanian Editorial Cartoonist, GADO

Bear Sign

2010-06-25T17:05:00.000-04:00

Make sure you read the last part!

The Swahili Language

2010-06-22T10:44:00.003-04:00

I found an interesting site with facts about the Swahili language. It's everything that we heard of growing up in Tanzania. http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html

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Origin

The Swahili language, is basically of Bantu (African) origin. It has borrowed words from other languages such as Arabic probably as a result of the Swahili people using the Quran written in Arabic for spiritual guidance as Muslims.

As regards the formation of the Swahili culture and language, some scholars attribute these phenomena to the intercourse of African and Asiatic people on the coast of East Africa. The word "Swahili" was used by early Arab visitors to the coast and it means "the coast". Ultimately it came to be applied to the people and the language.

Regarding the history of the Swahili language, the older view linked to the colonial time asserts that the Swahili language originates from Arabs and Persians who moved to the East African coast. Given the fact that only the vocabulary can be associated with these groups but the syntax or grammar of the language is Bantu, this argument has been almost forgotten. It is well known that any language that has to grow and expand its territories ought to absorb some vocabulary from other languages in its way.

A suggestion has been made that Swahili is an old language. The earliest known document recounting the past situation on the East African coast written in the 2nd century AD (in Greek language by anonymous author at Alexandria in Egypt and it is called the Periplus of Erythrean Sea) says that merchants visiting the East African coast at that time from Southern Arabia, used to speak with the natives in their local language and they intermarried with them. Those that suggest that Swahili is an old language point to this early source for the possible antiquity of the Swahili language.

Words from Other Languages

It is an undeniable truth that Arab and Persian cultures had the greatest influence on the Swahili culture and the Swahili language. To demonstrate the contribution of each culture into the Swahili language, take an example of the numbers as they are spoken in Swahili. "moja" = one, "mbili" = two, "tatu" = three, "nne" = four, "tano" = five, "nane" = eight, "kumi" = ten, are all of Bantu origin. On the other hand there is "sita" = six, "saba" = seven and "tisa" = nine, that are borrowed from Arabic. The Arabic word "tisa" actually replaced the Bantu word "kenda" for "nine". In some cases the word "kenda" is still used. The Swahili words, "chai" = tea, "achari" = pickle, "serikali" = government, "diwani" = councillor, "sheha" = village councillor, are some of the words borrowed from Persian bearing testimony to the older connections with Persian merchants.

The Swahili language also absorbed words from the Portuguese who controlled the Swahili coastal towns (c. 1500-1700AD). Some of the words that the Swahili language absorbed from the Portuguese include "leso" (handkerchief), "meza" (table), "gereza" (prison), "pesa" ('peso', money), etc. Swahili bull-fighting, still popular on the Pemba island, is also a Portuguese legacy from that period. The Swahili language also borrowed some words from languages of the later colonial powers on the East African coast - English (British) and German. Swahilized English words include "baiskeli" (bicycle), "basi" (bus), "penseli" (pencil), "mashine" (machine), "koti" (coat), etc. The Swahilized German words include "shule" for school and "hela" for a German coin.

Spread into the Hinterland

For centuries, Swahili remained as the language for the people of the East African coast. Long-time interactions with other people bordering the Indian Ocean spread the Swahili language to distant places such as on the islands of Comoro and Madagascar and even far beyond to South Africa, Oman and United Arab Emirates. Trade and migration from the Swahili coast during the nineteenth-century helped spread the language to the interior of particularly Tanzania. It also reached Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Central African Rebublic, and Mozambique.

Christian missionaries learnt Swahili as the language of communication to spread the Gospel in Eastern Africa. So, the missionaries also helped to spread the language. As a matter of fact the first Swahili-English dictionary was prepared by a missionary. During the colonial time, Swahili was used for communication with the local inhabitants. Hence the colonial administrators pioneered the effort of standardizing the Swahili language. Zanzibar was the epicenter of culture and commerce, therefore colonial administrators selected the dialect of the Zanzibar (Unguja) town as the standard Swahili. The Unguja dialect (Kiunguja) was then used for all formal communication such as in schools, in mass media (newspapers and radio), in books and other publications.

Now Swahili is spoken in many countries of Eastern Africa. For Tanzania, deliberate efforts were made by the independent nation to promote the language (thanks to the efforts of the former head of state, Julius K. Nyerere). Tanzania's special relations with countries of southern Africa was the chief reason behind the spread of Swahili to Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, and other neighbouring countries to the south. Swahili is the national as well as the official language in Tanzania - almost all Tanzanians speak Swahili proficiently and are unified by it. In Kenya, it is the national language, but official correspondence is still conducted in English. In Uganda, the national language is English but Swahili enjoys a large number of speakers especially in the military. As a matter of fact, during the Iddi Amin's rule Swahili was declared the national language of Uganda. However, the declaration has never been seriously observed nor repealed by the successive governments.

International Presence

Thus, Swahili is the most widely spoken language of eastern Africa and many world institutions have responded to its diaspora. It is one of the languages that feature in some world radio stations such as, the BBC, Radio Cairo (Egypt), the Voice of America (U.S.A.), Radio Deutschewelle (Germany), Radio Moscow International (Russia), Radio Japan International, Radio China International, Radio Sudan, and Radio South Africa. The Swahili language is also making its presence in the art world - in songs, theatres, movies and television programs. For example, the lyrics for the song titled "Liberian girl" by Michael Jackson has Swahili phrases: "Nakupenda pia, nakutaka pia, mpenzi we!" (I love you, and I want you, my dear!). The well-celebrated Disney movie, "The Lion King" features several Swahili words, for example "simba" (lion), "rafiki" (friend), as the names of the characters. The Swahili phrase "hakuna matata" (No troubles or no problems) was also used in that movie.

The promotion of the Swahili language is not only in its use but also deliberate efforts are made throughout the world to include it in education curriculum for higher institutions of learning. It is taught in many parts of the world.

Authors: Hassan O. Ali; revised by; Abdurahman Juma

For MORE ON THE SWAHILI LANGUAGE PLEASE VISIT:

http://www.glcom.com/hassan/swahili_history.html

Pirates of the Mediterrean

2010-06-03T21:51:00.003-04:00

This is an editorial cartoon by Tanzanian Cartoonist Godfrey Mwampemba.

President Obama at Dorothy Height's Funeral

2010-05-03T20:51:00.004-04:00

Received via e-mail:

Late Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Height

29th April 2010

Tears streaming down his cheeks, grief overcame Barack Obama today as he attended the funeral of the woman he called the 'Godmother' of the American civil rights movement.

The U.S. president was weeping openly as he watched the service for Dorothy Height in Washington today.

He delivered the eulogy for Dr Height, whose activism stretched from the New Deal right up until Mr Obama's election as the first African American president of the United States.

Dr Height died last week at 98 after a long illness. She was a pioneering voice of the civil rights movement who remained active and outspoken well into her 90s.

She often received rousing ovations at events around Washington, where she was easily recognizable in the bright, colourful hats she almost always wore.

Dr Height led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.

She was honoured by Mr Obama during the service at Washington National Cathedral for her leadership on the front lines fighting for equality, education and to ease racial tension.

Keepers

2010-04-08T12:16:00.000-04:00

Keepers
***************
I grew up with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away..

I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things.. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy.. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.. So... while we have it..... it's best we love it.... and care for it... and fix it when it's broken......... and heal it when it's sick.

This is true. for marriage....... and old cars..... and children with bad report cards..... and dogs with bad hips.... and aging parents..... and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special........ and so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there. Keep them close!

TEN THINGS GOD WON'T ASK ON THAT DAY.

1.... God won't ask what kind of car you drove. He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation..

2.... God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3.... God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4.... God won't ask what your highest salary was. He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5.... God won't ask what your job title was. He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6.... God won't ask how many friends you had. He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7.... God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8.... God won't ask about the color of your skin, He'll ask about the content of your character.

9.... God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation. He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

10.... God won't have to ask how many people you forwarded this to, He already knows your decision.

I'm Not Giving My Black Back

2010-01-25T18:23:00.003-05:00

I'M NOT GIVING MY BLACK BACK

I'm Not Giving My Black Back! I'm not giving up my greens or my grits or
saying "girl" and putting my hands on my hips. You see...Life for me ain't
been no crystal stair and I'm not giving up Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hammer,
Mary McCleod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Madame C J. Walker, Toni Morrison
or Dr. Maya Angelou, 'cause you see, I am a phenomenal woman and I'm not
giving my black back.

I'm not giving up my crown, waves, braids, curls, locks, kinks, scarves
or Muslim garb. I'm not giving up sitting in Ma's kitchen eating peach
cobbler or sweet potato pie and hearing her ask me, "How you doing baby"?

I'm not giving up going to "You Buy, We Fry" on Fridays, or barbeques on
Saturday playing bid whist, spades and slammin' those dominoes.
I'm not giving back Harriet Tubman's train, Soul Train, Coltrane or the
midnight train to Georgia. Now, you can meet me at the function at the
junction but I still won't give up B.B. King, the Whispers, Fancy Ms.
Nancy, Lena Horne, the Philadelphia Sound, Motown or the Temptations.

Cause you see, it's the way we do the things we do, like building the
pyramids that still stand made by our forefathers' hands where the
diamonds, oil, silver and gold are buried in our rich dark land.

I'm not giving my black back! I'm happy being happy with my wide hips and
my wide nose and the rich melanin in my skin. I love putting lotion on my
ashy legs.

Oh, I'm happy being nappy and being in the skin that I'm in. I won't deny
or forget my ancestors who lay in a wet grave at the bottom of the sea in
the Middle Passage from slave trade.

And I won't give up on our youth of today who still need a way made. I
won't give back Miles even though he didn't smile. I won't give back
Marvin Gaye, Richard Pryor, Phyllis Hyman, Billie Holiday or Billy
Eckstein, Jackie Robinson or Jackie Wilson.

I won't give back the electric slide, Alvin Ailey, Bojangles or Debbie
Allen. You think I'd give up reading my Jet, Ebony, Essence, Emerge, Black
Enterprise, Heart and Soul or Upscale magazines? For we are a colorful
people.

Like Curtis Mayfield sang, we are a people that are "darker than blue." We
are honey, cinnamon, mahogany and chocolate. We are REDD Fox, James BROWN,
Barry WHITE, The Mothers of the Church dressed in WHITE, The Color PURPLE,
the Lady Who Sings the BLUES and we are Al GREEN with love and happiness.
Oh, NO... I'm not giving my black back!

I'm not giving back Maxine (Waters), Martin, Medgar, Malcolm, Mandela,
Marley, Marcus, Muhammad Ali, Michael (Jordan) or the Million Man March.
I'm not giving my black back.

Join me in lifting up the black woman's spirit. Find a black woman and
send this to her. Enjoy.

The first duty of love is to listen.

Rest in Peace Rev. Douglas G. Whitlow

2010-01-22T18:15:00.003-05:00

My husband, Rev. Douglas G. Whitlow was laid to rest today in Cambridge Cemetery. He died Monday January 18, 2010 from kidney failure. He had been on dialysis for seven years.

Thank you to all who came out to support me and my family.

May He Rest in Eternal Peace

**************************************************************

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Che-Mponda Kadete family and the Whitlow family wishes to express their deepest appreciation and sincere thanks for all acts of kindness shown to them in their time of sorrow. Special thanks to the Tanzanian Community & Diaspora, Warren St. Baptist Church and The International Gospel Church. A very special thanks to Ezekiel Luhigo, Charles Jackson, Muhidin Michuzi, Laura Moloney & Pastor Jared Mlongecha.

The family also wishes to thank Cambridge 9-11, EMT’s, Fire and Police Departments. Fallon, Cataldo and PRO Ambulance Services. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Cambridge Hospital, Radius Specialty Hospital in Boston, MA. The Veterans Hospital, Jamaica Plain, MA, Embassy Rehabilitation and Health Center, Brockton, MA, Emerson Village, Watertown, MA and Haborside Healthcare in Wakefield, MA and the various Visiting Nurses who assisted Reverend Whitlow during his illness.

Rev. Al Sharpton Attacks Tiger Woods - Joke

2009-12-15T12:32:00.003-05:00

This is a joke going around the web. I am deeply saddened to see Tiger Woods disgraced this way. I feel bad for his wife and kids as they have been humiliated even more. At the same time, even though this is a joke, I ask why is it that many sucessful black men have to go fo white women? And I can say vice versa, a lot of successful black women go for white men? What is behind this? Are they thinking, a white woman/man completes my success? We'll see how the Tiger Woods soap opera plays out.

Meanwhile, Tiger's mistress count is 14 and counting! LOL! But geez, Tiger needs to find a better calibre of woman to mess around with. I mean seriously the women he has had affairs with have NO SHAME at all! Are exploits with a married man really something to boast about?

*****************************************************

The Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference today to blast Tiger Woods for the lack of diversity among his mistresses. Sharpton claims that the lack of African-American women among Woods' harem will have a negative affect on the black community, specifically young black girls.
"Why is it that a man who calls himself black can't bring himself to cheat on his wife with a black woman?" said Sharpton, speaking to a group of supporters in Harlem .
"What does it say to young black girls everywhere when you pass them over? Shame on you, Tiger Woods. What would your daddy say?"Sharpton, who has long championed taking black women as mistresses, said that today's black athletes need to stop neglecting black women when it comes to extramarital affairs, and should follow the examples of positive black role models such as Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King, Jr., both of whom cheated on their wives with black women.
Sharpton also stressed that cheating with African-American women would help the black community financially by giving black girls the chance to sell their stories to tabloids and gossip magazines.
Added Sharpton, "I'm not asking you to not cheat on your wives, I'm just asking you to give back to your own community."

Spitting Canada Diplomat Recalled!

2009-12-14T10:51:00.005-05:00

Lucky, this guy had diplomatic immunity otherwise he would certainly have spent time in poor conditions at a Tanzanian prison!

********************************************************
Click for source:
Canadian diplomat recalled from Africa after arrest

Last Updated: Monday, December 14, 2009

A Canadian diplomat arrested in Tanzania last week on accusations he spat at a police officer and a TV journalist has been recalled home.

"In the best interest of all involved parties, the Canadian official will be leaving Tanzania at the earliest possible time and will return to Canada," the Canadian high commissioner in Tanzania said in a statement.

"We regret the incident that took place on Wednesday, Dec. 9, involving one of our officials," said Robert Orr.

The diplomat has been identified by Tanzanian media as Jean Touchette, the first secretary at the Canadian High Commission in the East African country.

Touchette was arrested by police in Dar es Salaam after he allegedly spat at a senior police officer during an argument over a traffic jam on the outskirts of the city.

Touchette is also alleged to have spat in the face of Jerry Muro, a TV journalist with the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, when Muro went to the police station to interview and film the diplomat.

Touchette, who had diplomatic immunity, was not charged.

Canadian Diplomat Spits on Tanzanian Policeman

2009-12-14T10:32:00.006-05:00

Having just come back from Tanzania and seeing the high standard or living that 'wazungu' expatriates live, I'm really offended at this matter. Okay, the guy has diplomatic immunity so they can't charge him. But, I am offended that whites go and live so luxuriously in the land of the black man and then have the nerve to feel superior and do degrading things to blacks. Some wazungu have forced even black women to have sex with dogs, or rape African children. I also blame black Tanzanians for worshipping wazungu! Like I said on Michuzi Blog, come to the USA and you will see poor white folks even begging in the streets. They aren't all rich and commit crimes too. Wazungu are humans not mini Gods.

It will be interesting to see what Canada does about it's spitting diplomat.

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Canadian diplomat arrested in Tanzania

High commission staffer allegedly spat at police officer and TV journalist

Last Updated: Friday, December 11, 2009

Tanzanian police arrested a Canadian diplomat Wednesday on accusations he spat at a police officer and a TV journalist.

Jean Touchette, first secretary at the Canadian High Commission in the African country, was arrested by police in Dar es Salaam, the country's largest city and commercial capital, after he allegedly spat at a senior police officer during an argument over a traffic jam on the outskirts of the city, according to Tanzanian newspaper the Daily News.

Touchette is also alleged to have spat in the face of Jerry Muro, a TV journalist with the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, when Muro went to the police station to interview and film the diplomat.

"And I asked him why was he doing it to me," Muro told CBC News. "And he said, 'I'm doing it because you are taking my pictures … and it's my privacy.' "

Muro said the diplomat insulted him, calling him "stupid" and "an idiot."

Touchette has diplomatic immunity and was not charged.

However, Touchette's case has been handed over to the country's director of criminal investigation for further action, the Daily News reported.

The Tanzanian government is reportedly considering whether to expel Touchette.

Robert Orr, Canada's high commissioner in Dar es Salaam, said members of his staff are investigating the case.

"I think we want to make sure we have all the facts before we reach conclusions about what exactly occurred and the full nature of the incident," Orr said.

"I think it's important to ensure that people understand that Canada holds its public servants and its diplomats to a very high standard of behaviour."

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dana Cryderman said the department is aware of the situation and is gathering further information

*****************************************

From a Tanzanian newspaper:

Katibu muhtasi wa ubalozi wa Canada mbaroni kwa kumtemea mate trafiki

Polisi jijini Dar wamemtia mbaroni Katibu Muhtasi wa Ubalozi wa Canada, Jean Touchatte(48) kwa tuhuma za kuwatemea mate askari wa Usalama barabarani na Mwandishi wa Habari wa Shirika la Utangazaji Tanzania (TBC)

Touchatte anatuhumiwa kumshambulia askari wa usalama barabarani aliyekuwa akiongoza magari katika eneo la Banana wilaya ya Ilala.

Kaimu kamanda wa kanda hiyo, Charles Kenyela, amesema, mtumishi huyo wa ubalozi anadaiwa kufanya makosa hayo Desemba 9 saa 8.45 mchana wakati askari huyo namba E 1653, Koplo Samson akiwa kazini maeneo hayo.

Kwa mujibu wa Kenyela, wakati akiendelea kuyaruhusu magari yanayotokea Ukonga kwenda Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Julius Nyerere, Touchatte alifika eneo hilo akiwa anaendesha gari lenye namba za usajili T 17 CD 178 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado mali ya Ubalozi wa Canada.

Amesema, mtuhumiwa huyo alikuwa anatoka Ukonga kwenda uwanja wa ndege, ghafla alipunguza mwendo, akafungua kioo cha gari lake na kumtemea mate askari huyo.

Kenyela amedai kuwa,kitendo hicho kiliwashangaza wengi walioshuhudia,na kwamba sababu ya kufanya hivyo haikufahamika, hivyo polisi wa doria walipewa taarifa ili kulifuatilia gari hilo.

“Askari wetu walianza kufuatilia kwa nyuma gari hilo na walipofika barabara ya Nyerere karibu na Kamata gari hilo lilikamatwa na kupelekwa moja kwa moja hadi makao makuu ya polisi Trafic Kanda Maalum ya Dar es Salaam na kuwekwa chini ya ulinzi” amesema.

Kwa mujibu wa Kenyela, wakati mtuhumiwa anaendelea kuhojiwa,waandishi wa habari akiwemo Jerry Muro(29) wa TBC walifika kituoni hapo, wakitaka kufahamu nini kilichotokea ndipo mtuhumiwa huyo akamtemea mate sehemu ya chini ya kidevu chake na kusambaa katika flana aliyokuwa amevaa.

Muro alifungua jalada la shambulio CD/IR/4818/2009, na kwa mujibu wa Kenyela, mtuhumiw alipohojiwa hakuwa tayari kujibu wala kutoa maelezo yake kwa madai kwamba mpaka balozi wake awepo.

Vielelezo vya tukio hilo vimehifadhiwa polisi Kati na kwamba maelezo mengine zaidi juuu ya tukio hilo yatatolewa na Inspekta Jenerali wa Polisi.

Casting Director Fights Open Call Fees

2009-12-02T16:15:00.003-05:00

I have to applaud local casting director, Kevin Fennessy on this one! Unfortunately people are too willing to pay because they believe if they do, they will become A list actors tomorrow.

********************************************************************

Local casting agent/actor fights open-call fee
By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein
Globe Staff / November 25, 2009

It may be a while before Bay State actors and extras get back to work. A spate of high-profile films - including “The Town,’’ “The Zookeeper,’’ and “Knight & Day’’ - have all wrapped in recent weeks, and there are no new projects on the horizon.

But just as upsetting to some local actors is the arrival of a new casting firm that charges wannabe screen stars to attend open calls. Mullen/Kalivoda Casting, which is based in Florida, charges $25 for an open call, a practice frowned on by other local casting agents.

“I took it upon myself to make a stand,’’ said Kevin Fennessy, a local casting agent and actor. Fennessy has started a Facebook group, “Kevin Fennessy’s Plea: Stop the Madness (Unnecessary/Excessive Actor Expenses),’’ which has so far attracted 434 members.

He objects to M/K Casting’s practice of charging a fee for open calls, something established local casting agents Angela Peri of Boston Casting and Carolyn Pickman of CP Casting have never done. “Twenty-five dollars just to show up and register in their database?’’ says Fennessy, who cast local actors in “The Perfect Storm,’’ “Mona Lisa Smile,’’ and “Stuck on You,’’ among other films. “Do you have to pay to fill out an application at McDonald’s?’’

M/K Casting did not return our calls or e-mails yesterday. Although no movies are shooting here in the near future, M/K held open calls in Lowell and Natick in recent weeks

Turned Away from Precious

2009-11-18T13:21:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I was one of the over 1,000 people who got turned away from Loews AMC Boston Common for an Advance Screening of the new hit film, Precious. I was disappointed and so were so many others. The screening was to start at 7:00pm, I got there at 5:45pm and there were already hundreds waiting. Turns out, the folks who arrived at 3:00pm were the lucky ones to get in!

I'm betting that this week the film breaks some Box Office Records with its wide release. The film is based on a 16 year old, overweight dark skinned teenage girl, who is also mother of two children fathered by her own father.

The film is getting some amazing reviews and even Oscar buzz. The film stars my idol, Mo'nique and newcomer Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe.

2009-10-12T05:48:00.003-04:00

I received this via e-mail and can't agree more. Racism is alive and well in the USA. White people get annoyed when blacks complain about racism. Yet, they continue to judge people by the color or their skin. Right now, there is such an increase of negative rhetoric against President Barack Obama, it's scary. Those children calling for the assasination of our President are definitely getting that idea from theire parents and other grown-ups that they are around. READ ON....
And yes, Andrew M. Manis is white.
**********************************************************************************

Andrew M. Manis is associate professor of history at Macon State College in
Georgia and wrote this for an editorial in the Macon Telegraph.

Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race
problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have
been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their
difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans
finally going to get over it? Now I want to ask: "When are we White
Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?
Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes"
should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in
"Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of
comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to
John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may
recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."

Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once
again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.
We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and
United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have
been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years,
conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the
right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that
anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan,
or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment,
perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone
did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case
who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties
again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven
what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is
possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear
that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to
"assassinate Obama."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before
we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world,
look like us? How long until we white people can - once and for all - get
over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we
white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us
superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments
about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head
of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people
end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist
jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making
racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long
until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal
responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the
Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United
States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds,
both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that
"red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect
an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long
enough to see us white people get over our racism problem.

But here's my three-point plan:

First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House
that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service)
will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying,
in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President
Obama.

Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise
the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of
our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."
**************************************
It takes a Village to protect our President.

Tanzania's Radar Scandal

2009-10-02T13:51:00.002-04:00

The money eaten in this scandal could have used to improve Tanzania's School, Hospitals and Water Supply! SAD!

***************************************************
BAE: The Tanzanian connection
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Europe's biggest defence company, manufactures the Typhoon fighter By Andrew Hosken The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) says it will begin what promises to be the biggest corporate corruption prosecution in British legal history.

It is asking the Attorney General for the go-ahead to prosecute BAE for bribery under the 2001 Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act.

One of the four countries involved in the alleged corrupt deals is Tanzania. Though far from the largest deal, it looks certain to cause the biggest heartache in Downing Street.

In 2001, Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, decided to purchase a military air traffic control system from BAE.

Clare Short, then secretary of state for international development, says she was horrified by the move and was convinced it was a corrupt deal. "I was really shocked by the behaviour of British Aerospace and the collusion of all these government departments in such a gross and disgraceful project," she told me.

"Even when I got all the information and took it to the highest levels of the government, I still couldn't stop it."
'Grubby'Ms Short says that a number of factors convinced her that this was a corrupt deal. She says that the deal had been proposed 10 years earlier but had been blocked by intervention by the World Bank and the UK's Overseas Development Administration, the precursor to the Department for International Development.

"Then it came back as half a project. The thing was so grubby from beginning to end and, of course, it was so old that the technology was overtaken. Tanzania didn't have military aircraft. It needed civil air traffic control improvement in order to improve its tourist industry."
But Clare Short was far from alone in expressing deep concern about the BAE-Tanzania deal. In October 2001, a report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a part of the United Nations, said:

"The system as contracted is primarily a military system and can provide limited support to civil air traffic control purposes. The purchase of additional equipment… would be required to render it useful for civil air traffic control.

However, if it is to be used primarily for civil air traffic control purposes, the proposed system is not adequate and too expensive."
Clare Short says tha Tanzanian deal was "a disgraceful project" At the same time in 2001, Clare Short had agreed a £35m aid package for Tanzania to help provide more children with education but saw virtually the whole sum being effectively gobbled up in the air traffic control system deal.

She opposed the deal in cabinet, a row which soon became public, but claims that in December 2001 one person above all insisted the necessary export licence be given: Tony Blair. "Tony was absolutely dedicated to all arms sales proposals," she says.

"Whenever British Aerospace wanted anything, he supported them 100%. He didn't seem to understand that there are matters of principle concerned. He had also been duped and bought the argument that it's always good for the British economy, which is absolutely not so."
In 2006 Tony Blair made one of the most controversial decisions of his premiership, helping to force the closure of an inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations that British Aerospace had paid bribes to win a lucrative arms contract with Saudi Arabia.

"I stick by that," he said six months later, "and the idea frankly that such an investigation could be conducted without doing damage to our relationship is cloud cuckoo land."

Cow on a Motorcycle

2009-09-29T10:28:00.005-04:00

Cow riding motorcyles! Now I've seen everything. This photo was taken in Tanzania, East Africa.

Maasai Warriors in 1918

2009-09-28T11:08:00.003-04:00

Found this interesting photo of Maasai Warriors taken in 1918, in German East Africa (now Tanzania). Look at what is on those ears. (Photo by Walther Dobbertin)

How to Talk About Race

2009-09-26T10:25:00.003-04:00

Many white people would like to believe that race is not an issue in 2009. After Gatesgate, its pretty obvious that it still is even though we have a black President. President Barack Obama was even reminded that he was still an n-word even though he is President (Gatesgate backlash). A white congressman, Joe Wilson was rude to him in an act unheard of in U.S. history! And more..... Couldn't help but post this article as it speaks the truth.

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Analysis: Wrestling with how to talk about race

By LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON (AP) - For a while, it almost seemed as if President Barack Obama had soothed the angst over race in this country simply by taking office. The focus was on big issues facing a new president - one who just happened to be black.

If only it were so simple. This summer, Obama stepped into the dustup between a black college professor and a white police officer, and the race debate erupted anew. Then vitriolic attacks on Obama over his health care proposals spawned rippling allegations that his critics were motivated by racism.

And now passions over skin color are flaring red-hot again.
Obama's election nearly a year ago - a monumental stride toward bridging the racial divide - turned the politics of race on its head.
But it didn't end the matter by any means.

It turns out that Obama was right when he said in his much-watched race speech in March 2008 that there are "complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect."

Americans still are figuring out how to hold that conversation as the country navigates uncharted territory under its first nonwhite president.

One conundrum is how to hold Obama accountable for his words and actions - or even talk about his policies - without risk of being called racist.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain both wrestled with that question during the presidential campaign. Both found it tricky to maneuver. Both were frustrated by it. Each handled it differently.

In the Democratic primary, Clinton acted so cautiously that some insiders questioned whether she was afraid to throw a punch.
Come the general election, McCain early on accused Obama of playing the race card, hoping to send a message that he would not brook being called a racist.

Obama had triggered the reaction with a warning that Republicans would try to scare voters by saying he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

A year later and now as president, Obama is the one working to tamp down race in the political dialogue.

"Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are," Obama says matter-of-factly. But he rejects the notion that racism is even partly behind his critics' attacks, as a growing chorus of Democrats have claimed.

Trying to turn down the heat, Obama adds: "We can have a strong disagreement, passionate disagreements about issues without resorting to name-calling."

But the "racist" label is as old as the country itself. And, in a nation founded by slaveholders, people aren't about to stop using it just because a black president is pleading for civility.
Certainly, Obama's election healed some racial wounds. But change takes time, and understanding the ramifications of change takes even longer.

"What we're dealing with is the foundational racial problems that we have had and still have. We're making progress, but we haven't come as far as people would like to believe we have," says Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., the senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and an outspoken conservative who is black. He says society is going through "a learning curve" on how to criticize Obama - and how to criticize the president's critics.

It's an issue that goes to the very heart of democracy. Free speech, including holding leaders accountable, is at this country's core.
Could the risk of being called a racist end up muzzling healthy debate if people don't dare voice their concerns?

Perhaps for some. But on the whole, criticism hasn't stopped.
Animosity toward the president and his policies has boiled over in recent weeks, most notably with South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" retort to the president.
Democrats from Jimmy Carter on down have blamed the increasingly harsh criticism of Obama on racism.
House Republican leader John Boehner countered that "the outrage that we see in America has nothing to do with race."

Reality likely falls somewhere in the middle.

"I hear it as anger, but anger masking fear," says Robin Lakoff, a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley whose books include "The Language War." She says people are afraid of just about everything these days - the economy, the government, private business included. And she says: "There's this racial element. It isn't exactly racism but otherness."
Obama, for his part, has tried to shift the subject from the powder keg of race. It's been a distraction from his agenda, from his efforts to overhaul the health care system.

"It's important to realize that I was actually black before the election," the president said this week.

It was a gentle joke from the leader of a country still wrestling with the new dynamics that came when the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas took charge of the White House.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Liz Sidoti has covered national politics for The Associated Press since 2003.

President Obama Disrespected by Rep. Joe Wilson

2009-09-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

56 Graymoor Lane
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
September 10, 2009

Joe Wilson, Member
United States Congress
212 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D. C 20515-4002

903 Port Republic Street
Beaufort, South Carolina 29902

Mr. Wilson:
I am an 80 year old mother and my older child is 51 years old; but, if ever I were to hear him call anyone a liar or rudely and obstreperously tell someone they were telling a lie, I would slap his face. My two children, 41 and 51 respectively, are very well reared as was I. I can remember as a little innocent child calling someone a liar. I only did it one time because the lecture in the form of a lesson in proper decorum sank in, and to this day, I have never called anyone a liar. My mother considered this the ultimate in rudeness and disrespect, not only for the person I called a liar, but for me, myself.

Having learned that lesson at such an early age, it made me cringe when you, at age 62, and a former military man, yelled to the President of the United States of America, “You lie.” As a military man, you know the chain of command; and, you were addressing the Commander in Chief of the United States of America. Of course, President Obama who is a very refined gentleman did not respond and he kept right on target delivering the most brilliant speech I have ever heard. I can say this with a degree of authority because I have been witness to every presidency since Herbert Hoover. Never in the hallowed halls of Congress have I witnessed such coarse, gross, despicable behavior.

I don’t know if your mother is alive or not, but if she is, I’m certain that she hung her head in shame knowing that all over the world you have disgraced her, yourself, your wife, your four sons, your office, your constituency and your country. Children of good breeding, who are properly reared carry the teachings of their parents throughout their lives. At 80 everything I do is tested against, “what would my mother think of that?” I would never defame her precious memory by demonstrating lack of self control and a knowledge of the social graces that separate women from ladies and men from gentlemen.

My mother was a proper Southern genteel lady who commanded respect because of the way she carried herself. I would think that your being from the South, you would have gotten some of that good ole Southern hospitality and gentility that seems to be characteristic of intelligent people of the South.

I do so hope you will listen to the foreign media as I did late last night. You are an international disgrace because from Ireland to China and England, your crudity was the main topic of conversation.

I note that you have a law degree. I wonder how proud your alma mater, University of South Carolina Law School , was of you tonight as you showed to the world that education without character is vacuous and meaningless. There is a popular expression of people with degrees who lack common sense, they are referred to as “educated fools.”

If you were playing to the media and to the camera for attention, you succeeded because your worldwide legacy will be that you were the ill-suited and ill-placed person who demeaned himself in the halls of Congress for the first time in U S history.

Written with embarrassment for my country,

Helen L. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration

Caribbean Carnival Cambridge

2009-09-13T17:09:00.004-04:00

Every year we look forward to watching the Caribbean Festival parade go down River St. here in Cambridge, MA. Usually its in August, but this year they held it in September. The weather was great as it was warm and not hot.

You can also see more photos on my Swahili language blog:

http://swahilitime.blogspot.com/

Remember Idi Amin Dada, former Dictator of Uganda

2009-08-18T11:43:00.003-04:00

I was a high school student in Tanzania, when Idi Amin terrorized Uganda and East Africa. I remember the day when our President, Julius Nyerere declared war on Uganda after Amin invaded Bukoba and declared it part of Uganda. This was the Kagera War which ended Amin's rule.
******************

What you are about to read is REAL! Its not meant to serve as a ridicule. Below is an extract of one of dictator Iddi Amin's infamous speeches he used to deliver during the national celebrations. This particular speech was delivered in the U.K at the Conference of the U.N General Assembly.
------------------------
Ladies and women, my beloved husbands and men in this assembly, I am thank you very difficult for you hand to forgive me this hour to stalk of you Africa and my country which is Uganda. As I am a field marshall Dr. Or Haj Amin the Life President of my country, I am apologised because I have not deaded Archbishop Haemeni Kuvum. When many people tell me so many questions about him. His death on my behalf has happened with accident which was in the car when he yalked with it. So I am not a mistake you see.
Another words if or the order in my country in Uganda. The pressnewsmen which you can look them there will wanted to know the law orders of my country. They have inquiring me many questions in because my policemen don't catch people in court while they lost them on the way. No this is not right, yet all them who are catched by my policement are removed for court. When the court does not find them good enough and tie them all with mistakes begining from one month through to ten years with even above.
So we attempt people in the court before we tie them to prisons and those you understand about they dead are with if they travel dead themselves. Man invent their death. Uganda is peace loving brother country when people enjoy as if they are in another country. That is true about the country.
Dr. Kurt Waldeheim, you are beautiful in one of these husbands. I think you are this beauty to look what is going on in South Africa with Rhodesia, I am sending two hours to whites as if they can choose freedom to Africa, brothers or you will not blame me as I take wondering action to blow them. Israel is another enemy, they deaded sleeping soldiers of Uganda when they find them at night in Intebbe.
I walked one morning and I invented bodies of my soldiers sleeping in the airport and Israel had deaded people there. They must see or because I pay them of this bad news. Last of that I am thank your lunch which smelled good I am again fed up with it and have admitted revenge when both of you are invited by Uganda.
Thank you very hard and we shall collide everywhere in internal matter like assembly.
Thank you very hard. --
Field Marshall Dr. V.C. DSO M.C. Amin, Conquerer of the British Empire
------------------------
The pressmen, when asked by the Queen as to what President Amin has said, replied: "Your Majesty, That was President Amin of Uganda speaking a language similar to English."

Say Cheese!

2009-08-13T13:58:00.001-04:00

Ashanti Munir at Slades

2009-08-12T11:26:00.002-04:00

Click on image for bigger view.

African Growth & Opportunity Act

2009-08-07T09:54:00.001-04:00

Being Colored

2009-08-06T13:45:00.002-04:00

Being Colored
(Author Unknown)

When I was born...I was BLACK.

When I grew up...I was BLACK.

When I am sick...I am BLACK.

When I go out in the sun...I am BLACK.

When I go out in the cold...I am BLACK.

When I die...I am BLACK.

BUT YOU WHITE FOLK :

When you are born...You are PINK.

When you grow up...You are PEACH.

When you are sick...You are GREEN.
When you go out in the cold...You are BLUE.

When you are scared... You are WHITE.

When you go out in the sun...You are RED.

When you die...You turn PURPLE.

And you have the nerve to call me "COLORED"!

The Sack Lunches

2009-08-03T22:35:00.002-04:00

Received this via e-mail:

Today’s thought is brought to us by Brenda Oller.

She is the proud mother of Army Soldier Phillip Smith who is currently serving in Afghanistan.

Thanks to Brenda for sharing…And thanks to Phillip for serving…

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage
compartment and sat down in my
assigned seat. It was going to be a
long flight. 'I'm glad I have a
good book to read. Perhaps I will get
a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of
soldiers came down the aisle and
filled all the vacant seats, totally
surrounding me. I decided to
start a conversation.
'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then
we're being deployed toAfghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an
announcement was made that sack
lunches were available for five
dollars. It would be several hours
before we reached the east, and I
quickly decided a lunch would help
pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I
overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he
planned to buy lunch.
'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch Probably
wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other
soldiers. None were buying lunch I
walked to the back of the plane and
handed the flight attendant a
fifty dollar bill.
'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed
tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a
soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up
the aisle to where the soldiers
were seated. She stopped at my seat
and asked, 'Which do you like
best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why
she asked. She turned and went to
the front of plane, returning a
minute later with a dinner plate from
first class. 'This is your thanks..'

After we finished eating, I went
again to the back of the plane,
heading for the rest room.
A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it.
Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I
saw the Flight Captain coming down
the aisle, looking at the aisle
numbers as he walked, I hoped he was
not looking for me, but noticed he
was looking at the numbers only on
my side of the plane.
When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said,
'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I
stood and took the Captain's hand.
With a booming voice he said, 'I was
a soldier and I was a military pilot.
Once, someone bought me a lunch.
It was an act of kindness I
never forgot.' I was embarrassed
when applause was heard from all of
the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the
plane so I could stretch my legs.
A man who was seated about six rows
in front of me reached out his
hand, wanting to shake mine. He left
another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my
belongings and started to deplane.
Waiting just inside the airplane door
was a man who stopped me, put
something in my shirt pocket, turned,
and walked away without saying a
word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the
soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them
and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to
reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich.
God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight
feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked
briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.
These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only
give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one
point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of
America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too
many people in this country who
no longer understand it.'

May God give you the strength and
courage to pass this along to
everyone on your email buddy list....

I JUST DID

Reflections - Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrest

2009-08-03T11:04:00.006-04:00

With Gatesgate behind us (hopefully) it's time to reflect on what happened. A world renowned scholar of African American history who is also African American, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is arrested at his own home in prestigious Cambridge, Massachusetts by a white police officer, Sergeant James Crowley) because the Prof. yelled at him. The Prof. is charged under a strange law which his said offence doesn't even fall under. Charges are dropped, but that doesn't stop the commotion and chaos that is about to unfold.

Suddenly, the ugly in people comes out. The racist/biased views in both whites and blacks suddenly start to come out. Some white folks throughout the nation start yelling and screaming, "America has a black president, Massachusetts has a black Governor, Cambridge has a black Mayor...what more do those people (blacks) want?!"

Suddenly, the n-word in its deragatory sense is being used freely towards blacks, people who thought they were once true friends now question that as they realize they see the issue differently.

You need to have experienced being discriminated against first hand to know how some black people felt. Ask someone who lived through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, seeing 'Colored Only' signs, how they feel about a black man being arrested in his own home.

Once again, I have to say that I am sorry for calling Lucia Whalen a bigot for her role in this matter but it was based totally on Sgt. Crowley's police report which we now know is innacurate. (Now we know why officials delayed releasing it to the media). And many of the white folks who spewed the n-word based their views on the same report. Her 911 call to the police was made with good intentions and I'm sure that when she made that call, she had no clue that she would go down in the history books for sparking what followed. I also think Ms. Whalen should have been invited for a beer. I also still think the FBI should investigate the discrepancies in the police report.

Now, Prof. Gates says that he is receiving death threats, even after the Beer Summit and Harvard University has even suggested that he move. Well, if he leaves Cambridge, MA it will be another notch in the belt for the whites in Cambridge who want to eradicate the city of its black population. .They have made strides indeed! Please stay put Prof. Gates.

Officer Uncle Tom

2009-07-31T12:28:00.007-04:00

Truth said, when I saw the photo of Prof. Henry Louis Gates arrest and Sergeant Leon Lashley in it with his back turned, I thought he was going to claim that he saw nothing. Yes, he did stand up for his colleague and friend, Sgt. James Crowley. That's what friends are for....right? But why is it that there is a rumor that Officer Lashley was told to say what he did or else lose his job and pension? There's also that now questionable police report on the arrest. The questions being about the quoted witness, Lucia Whalen, denying that she told Sgt. Crowley about seeing black men with backpacks.

Having seen some racist incidents in Cambridge, MA in which black city employees were forced to say things they really did not want to in order to keep their jobs I can believe it. I just hope it's not true and that's not the case in this instance.

'Uncle Tom' is a term used to characterize a black person who will do anything to stay in favor with a white person. The female equivalen is , 'Aunt Jemima'. It's based on the story, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriett Beecher Stowe. Unfortunately, as soon as that photo of the esteemed Professor's arrest surfaced Sgt. Lashley was labelled, 'Uncle Tom.'

An while I am sorry for having called Ms. Whalen a bigot based on the police report...this is just another notch for the July 16th, 9-11 call made by Lucia Whalen:

1. Esteemed scholar of African American history, Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. gets an arrest record.
2. Officer with stellar record now called 'Sgt. Jim Crow'.
3. Black officer with stellar record now called 'Uncle Tom'.
4. Black President of the United States reminded that even though he is President he is still an n-word.
5. Boston Police officer, Justin Barrett about to lose job because of racism comments on the incident
6. Incident becomes major setback to race relations in the USA.
7. World shakes head at USA and it's continues race problems.

Saw this at the bottom of the BEER SUMMIT Article on CNN.com:

Meanwhile, a black Cambridge police sergeant on the scene the day of Gates' arrest wrote a letter to Crowley, asking him to mention to Gates and Obama that he is now known as the "black sergeant" and to some others as an "uncle Tom."

"I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage," Sgt. Leon Lashley wrote. "Please convey my concerns to the president that Mr. Gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world."

Lashley wrote in the letter he would like Gates to reflect on the incident and ask himself what responsibility he bears, what he can do to heal the rift and what he can do to mitigate the damage done to the officers' reputations.

Statement by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis Re: Officer Justin Barrett

2009-07-30T15:49:00.001-04:00

July 30, 2009

Statement given by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis at today's (9/30/09) news conference.

Thank you all for being here today. We are also joined by several guests and I would like to thank them for their continued support and participation. Joining us here is Minister Don Muhammad, Karen Payne from the NAACP, Michael Kozu from Project Right, and Detective Larry Ellison from MAMLEO.

On Tuesday July 28th the Boston Police Department placed Officer Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending the outcome of a termination hearing. On that day I was made aware that this officer admitted to being the author of correspondence which included repulsive racial slurs.

At that time and after a meeting with command staff, I moved immediately to take action and the officer was stripped of his gun and badge.

I was presented with a set of facts and believed that the appropriate and only response was to place the officer on administrative leave and set the wheels in motion for a full investigation. The officer is entitled to his due process and we will see that process through. There will be a thorough internal affairs investigation and hearing process which will lead to a termination hearing scheduled in the next week to ten days.

The Boston Police Department has a top to bottom commitment to community policing. Community Policing is based on trust. This type of venomous rhetoric is severely damaging. Maintaining our community relationships is paramount to our mission to serve the citizens of Boston.

We all work with the community and have made great strides to earn their trust. We must not allow this action to affect those relationships that have been forged and the progress we have made over the years.

The Boston Police Department is committed to a standard of excellence. Our community rightly has high expectations for us. It is a standard that the community deserves and we are required to meet. Officer Barrett’s actions do not comply with those expectations.

Barrett’s e-mail was racist and inflammatory. These racist opinions and feelings have no place in this department or in our society and will not be tolerated.

Barrett’s comments were directed at Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. I regret the direct insult toward professor Gates and have personally reached out to him to apologize for this offense and inform him of the department’s immediate efforts to make this officer accountable.

I have also asked that in the coming days, members of the department reach out to those in the community that we serve, and extend ourselves to others, to reiterate our commitment to them, our citizens, and to improving relations at all levels.

As I have stated in the past, I am very proud of the officers and civilians of this department who carry out their duties in the finest traditions of the BPD. We will not allow the unacceptable actions of one member to define who we are as a police organization. This department has over 2,000 uniformed officers and 700 civilians who conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism. I applaud your integrity and continued hard work.

As a department, we must learn from this most unfortunate incident and move forward.

Officer Justin Barrett's Racist E-mail

2009-07-30T12:48:00.004-04:00

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I note that Officer Barrett has apologized for the e-mail. You can see his apology here. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=justin+barrett+apology&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

However, it's scary to think that someone who wrote such a thing is a policeman who is supposed to protect everyone regardless of color, race or creed.

Another Racist Cop in Boston

2009-07-30T11:21:00.003-04:00

Officer Justin Barrett (Photo from Boston.com)

Racism in Boston, what’s new? Today we are hearing that a Boston police officer Justin Barrett (36) is about to be fired for writing and sending a mass e-mail which had racially charged language. In the e-mail Barrett is alleged to have called Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana eating jungle monkey”! On top of that Barrett says that he would not have tolerated Prof. Gates behavior and would have sprayed him in the face with pepper spray! Barrett has been suspended by the Boston police and will probably be fired. He's also been suspended by the National Guard.

Lord help us black folks! A black person dare not speak back to a white cop for fear of getting beat up, pepper sprayed, shot, even shot in the back! When I say that racism is alive and well, a lot of white folks laugh, shrug it off. The truth of the matter is, they really don’t want to admit that the racism still exists in America today.

Wake up! The sooner we all admit and agree that there is still a racial problem in America, the sooner we can resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, attention all black folks…continue to remember the lessons your Momma taught you. Never talk back to a white cop if you want to live!

You can read more about the Justin Barrett issue at the following links:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/30/boston_police_officer_suspended_after_racially_charged_e_mail/
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/gatesgate-stretches-from-cambridge-mass-to-boston.html

Cambridge Police Need to Apologize to Lucia Whalen

2009-07-29T12:24:00.006-04:00

(Lucia Whalen at Press Conference Today)

Well, it's evident that Sgt. James Crowley added salt to his police report and tried to throw the blame on Lucia Whalen who made the initial 911 that started Gatesgate.

Cambridge police need to apologize to Ms. Whalen, she has been defamed. It's that police report that caused her to be villified. I wish she had spoken up sooner, then again we really don't know what kind of intimidation she was facing.

I live in Cambridge, MA. I know a lot of Cambridge cops and most are stellar, polite and caring. I have also made a 911 call regarding a B & E. In that case I was asked to describe the culprit and yes, it was a black man with a crowbar who was nabbed redhanded. I like Cambridge police because in most cases they respond promptly. But, I'm disappointed at the handling of this issue and especially now, that police Gatesgate report. I guess we now will haveto wonder about the accuracy of future reports written by the said officer.

Meanwhile, I think the FBI needs to get to the bottom of this. A race riot almost started because of this incident. I'm wondering if tomorrow's Beerplomacy at the White House should even go on now that we know the report is innacurate.

Watch the whole Press Conference here:

http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extra/2009/07/29/911-caller-in-Henry-Gates-case/1248885044.html

Question - Who is the mystery elderly woman who stopped Ms. Whalen?

Sgt. Crowley Has Some Explaining To Do!

2009-07-28T09:54:00.004-04:00

Hmmm! Now we have heard the controversial 911 tapes in the arrest of esteemed Harvard scholar and world renowned expert of African American studies, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley police report now seems to have some inconsistencies. More like he wrote some stuff in there to cover his tracks. The 911 caller, Lucia Whalen, clearly does not say anything about two black men with backpacks. Through her attorney, she also denies ever speaking with Sgt. Crowley.

From Sgt Crowley's police report regarding a conversation with Ms Whaley:

She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street," the report says. "She told me that her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry." http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/27/gates.arrest/index.html

Sadly, Sgt. Crowley's police report which is innacurate was taken as Bible. The racists who think they are God commentators like O'Reilly, Hannity and Rush Limbaugh ran with the report to paint Prof. Gates as a black man who got out of line. In fact, the truth is looking more like Prof. Gates was arrested for being 'uppity' to a white man. Listen to the tapes, Sgt. Crowley clearly says that he has ID that the man in the house if Henry Louis Gates, and he is told over the radio that the house belongs to the Prof. Yet, he is not satisfied and calls for Harvard police and more cars. Clearly Sgt. Crowley did not expect a black man to live in that house on Ware St. We also don't hear Prof. Gates screaming at the officer.

And like I said in a previous blog, because of this incident even our President, was reminded that even though he is the President he is still an n-word! Oh yeah, white America was mad at our black President for speaking out against racial profiling. It would be easy to sweep racism under the carpet expect white folks constantly remind black folks of their place in society...the bottom. The legacy of slavery lingers.

I am also disgusted when I read that Prof. Gates 'behaved badly' , should have been more civil, and subservient and docile. In other words, Black folks aren't supposed to act like they have brains in front of white people. How dare you a black man, speak up to a white man, in your own home!

As to Lucia Whalen, her name goes down in history even though she was well intentioned. Too bad she did not come forward sooner so that everyone could see the truth about Sgt. Crowley's police report.

Cambridge has established a panel to investigate the incident. Cambridge police internal affairs also needs to investigate. There is a lot of subtle racism in Cambridge, this issue has exposed the city to the world for what it really is.

Meanwhile, President Obama is expected to host Sgt. Crowley and Prof. Gates at the White for beers on Thursday, July 30, 2009. That will be an interesting event indeed.

Gatesgate 911 Tapes

2009-07-27T14:19:00.004-04:00

Well, finally Cambridge officials have released the 911 tapes that Lucia Whalen made to Cambridge police on July 16, 2009. That's the call which started a racial tsunami of emotions in the US and around the world as world reknowned scholar Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested in his own home for disorderly conduct.

Turns out, Ms. Whalen never said that she saw two black men with backpacks. She saw two men with suitcases and she wasn;t sure if they lived in the house or not. After being questioned by the dispatcher, she says that they were bother 'larger' and one looked 'hispanic'.

But, Sgt. Crowley says in his report clearly, 'two black men with backpacks'. So where did he get that from or was it just his assumption that all people breaking into houses are black?

I am seriously laughing at Ms. Whalen's claim through her attorney that she is olive skinned and of Portuguese decent. Portugal is in Europe and its people are classified as 'caucausian'.

Am waiting to hear the ones with Sgt. Crowley and Prof. Gates.

Lucia Whalen Where Are You?

2009-07-25T08:28:00.006-04:00

Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. mugshot (Cambridge, MA police)

“There are 1 million black men in the prison system, and on Thursday I became one of them.” ....Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Where is Lucia Whalen hiding? She's the woman who on Thursday, July 16, 2009 around 12:30pm called Cambridge, Massachusetts police to say that, "two large black men with backpacks" were breaking into a house on Ware St. Ware St. is not far from Harvard Square, and anyone living in that vicinity is usually affiliated with Harvard University or very wealthy.

Turns out the person she saw breaking in was esteemed scholar of African American history, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. trying to get into his own home! Turns out he and his chaffeuer were wearing suits, there were three pieces of luggage on the porch and a Town Car parked outside. Prof. Gates had just returned from a trip to China. Prof. Gates is an older gentleman, small and walks with a cane. As you've heard in the news, Prof. Gates was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after asking Sgt. Jim Crowley to produce ID. The charges were later dropped.

At first I thought the incident happened at night. Turns out it happened in broad daylight. So, from what I can conclude about Ms. Whalen is that she is a BIGOT! Yes, she may have been well intentioned calling in a potential B&E (Breaking & Entering), but her description of the two men was way off. What did she want...the police to shoot the two black men with backpacks? If Prof. Gates was a younger, stronger looking black man he probably would have been shot in his own home! Did she want to be declared a hero for nabbing two black men. Obviously she didn't expect to see black people living in a nice house on Ware St.

Lucia Whalen goes down in history as the woman who showed the world that racism is alive in America today. Lucia Whalen goes down in history as the woman who almost started a race riot, and international incident. She goes down as the woman who led President Obama to be reminded by bigoted white folks that even though he is President he is still an n-word! Thanks to Lucia Whalen, a stellar police sergeant is now labelled, Sgt. Jim Crow, while Prof. gates is labelled Prof. Uppity! Now there's a new saying, "Being home while black!" Yes, it was her actions that started the tsunami of emotion and polarization.

What was Lucia Whalen doing on Ware St. in Cambridge and she lives in Malden, MA? Well, she is the Fundraising and Circulation manager for Harvard magazine which has its offices on the same Ware St....just a few doors down from Prof. Gates home.

Why is she hiding? And what does Harvard magazine have to say about this? They should be ashamed to have someone who does not know Prof. Gates on their staff. The magazine has done many articles on him and his work. He is one of the prides of Harvard University.
I would ask Harvard magazine to make Lucia Whalen watch films like ROOTS, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, & Prof. Gates PBS series on African American history. She needs to be sensitized that black people are human beings too!

Come out from hiding Lucia Whalen and explain your side!

What Prof. Gates was Charged With

2009-07-25T05:54:00.003-04:00

Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. was charged on July 16th 2009, with violating Chapter 272, Section 53 of Massachusetts’ state code, which reads in full:

"Common night walkers, common street walkers, both male and female, common railers and brawlers, persons who with offensive and disorderly acts or language accost or annoy persons of the opposite sex, lewd, wanton and lascivious persons in speech or behavior, idle and disorderly persons, disturbers of the peace, keepers of noisy and disorderly houses, and persons guilty of indecent exposure may be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than six months, or by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment."

What a joke! Did Prof. Gates do any of this? No wonder the charges were dropped! But seriously if you or I had been arrested that day, we'd probably still be languishing in the Cambridge jail!

The Curious Case of Prof. Gates

2009-07-24T13:09:00.008-04:00

ON THE LEFT: Cambridge Police Sergeant and racial profiling instructor, Jim Crowley. On the right, Esteemed scholar of African American History, Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr.

*****************

By Chemi Che-Mponda

By now many people throughout the world have heard of the case of renowned Harvard University Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., getting arrested in his own home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prof. Gates had just returned home from a trip to China.

The whole thing started on Thursday, July 16, 2009 when one Lucia Whalen, who works down the block on Ware St. where Prof. Gates lives made a 911 call to police. Whalen said that two large black men with backpacks were breaking into the posh Ware St. home. Turns out both were wearing suits and there were three pieces of luggage on the porch. Prof. Gates is small and walks with a cane. Turns out Prof. Gates was the homeowner trying to get into his own home, but had problems because the door was damaged due to a break-in attempt while he was away. Where’ve you been hiding Lucia? Can’t wait to hear the 911 tape of your call! Oh, she's probably away on one of those 'Need to Getaway' Southwest Airlines flights.

So, Sergeant James Crowley of Cambridge police shows up to investigate the break-in at 12:30pm. He sees Prof. Gates and is not satisfied that the older black gentleman is the homeowner. He calls Harvard University police even after Prof. Gates has presented him with an ID with his address on it. Sgt. Crowley didn’t believe that a black man lived in a nice home on ware St.? By now, anyone would be mad too about being disrespected in my own home. According to the officer, Professor Gates started yelling at him that he was a racist ands that’s why he arrested him. Why didn’t Sergeant Crowley just say there had been a misunderstanding and leave? Was he really looking for a confrontation with the Prof.?

Could it really be, that Sergeant Crowley being a Sergeant arrested Prof. Gates, so as not to look bad in the eyes of his junior officers. They say there were ten other officers there.I say this, when I was a kid I was taught, “Sticks and Stones may Break my bones, but words may never harm me!” In this case words obviously harmed the officer’s pride and he decided to show a force of power.While Sergeant Crowley may be a teacher of racial profiling, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t practice what he teaches. I have seen white people who have had children with black people, being more negative towards blacks than other racist whites. Sergeant Crowley, has now been nicknamed, ‘Sergeant Jim Crow’ for his actions towards Prof. Gates.

During his arrest, Prof. Gates allegedly told Sergeant Crowley, that “He didn’t know who he was messing with!” Prof. Gates was right indeed, the Sergeant didn’t know. I also find it hard to believe that after 11 years of working Cambridge, Sgt. Crowley didn’t know Prof. Gates by sight. Cambridge isn’t that big and it’s a common sight to see Prof. Gates, walking or driving.

Prof. Gates is a world renowned scholar. He's the preeminent scholar of African American history in the USA and the world. He is highly esteemed and respected. He has done a lot of research on African American history. He has also done a lot to bridge the divide between Africans and Africans in the diaspora. A lot of white people won’t appreciate the magnitude of Prof. Gates works because it was their white ancestors who did their best to erase the African heritage of African Americans. He has uncovered a lot of lost African American history. I bow down in thanks to Prof. Gates for his research. So someone like the bigot Lucia Whalen wouldn’t care to know who her neighbor was, even though I’m sure Harvard magazine has run a lot of articles about him.

The legacy of slavery still haunts America even though we now have the country has it’s first African American President. I have to agree that police acted ‘stupidly’ for arresting a mad inside his own home, even after he had proved that he lived there. And yes, I do think that if Prof. Gates had been Prof. O’Gates/Gatesky (a white man) he would have been treated differently. And I can’t help but ask that if Prof. Gates was really a criminal, wouldn’t he have tried to flee when he saw the police?And to those taking the police report as bible, what did we expect the guy to write,“Suspect (Prof. Gates) was polite and cooperative. He showed us valid ID proving that he was in his own home but we arrested him anyway.”? How many times have we heard of falsified police reports so that officers can cover up their blunders. And since when is shouting at anyone in your own home a crime or does it become a crime when an ‘uppity’ black is shouting at a white person? Sorry, but in reality this looks more and more like some kind of power play. “I’m white and you’re black, you better know your place!”

Lastly, let me say that the disrespect shown to President Obama over his comments about the Prof. Gates issue at the press conference last Tuesday are appalling. The comments that some whites have been uttering have been sheer racist. President Obama is the President, yet some white folks have been speaking against him as if he is beneath them. In other words, they are saying in code, “You may be President, but you are still an N-word! How dare you, an N-word, speak against a good old All American White boy! ”.

Remember President Obama is a black man and knows first hand the racism that black men have to endure. He has also lived in Cambridge, MA and has probably dealt with some nasty white cops.I live in Cambridge, MA. I don’t dare leave my house to go to the corner store without my ID. God forbid, something should happen to white person in the vicinity, you will be rounded up. And if you don’t have your ID on you, you get bundled into the paddy wagon, booked, and end up calling someone to please go get your purse with ID in it.

Cambridge has this ‘Liberal’ label, yes. At the same time it is a very racist city, the racism exists subtly. The Klan is here but they don’t wear sheets and pointy hats.To all the angry white folks out there, I say this, paint yourself black for a week and follow your same routine. Then see if you feel the same about this incident. And to those who say black folks need to ‘get over it’, we’ll get over it when racism ceases to exist and we are treated as equals.

You can contact me at chemiche2@yahoo.com

Thank You President Obama for Speaking Out on Racial Profiling!

2009-07-22T22:58:00.006-04:00

I was really thrilled to hear President Barack Obama speak out on the arrest of Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., which happened here in Cambridge, MA recently. The President made his comments during a nationally televised press conference.

“There’s a long history in this country of African-Americans being stopped disproportionately by the police,” President Obama said. “It’s a sign of how race remains a factor in this society.”

I want to thank Pres. Obama, for speaking out against racial profiling in the USA. It does exist, even though many white people want to pretend it doesn't exist. They say, Get Over It! We'll "Get Over It" when whites start treating us as equal human beings! Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh. It's difficult for someone who has not experienced racism to know how a victimized person feels. Even President Obama has said that he had trouble hailing a cab in some cities, this when he was a Senator! He knows what racism is.

I have seen incidents racism here in Cambridge, the home of MIT & Harvard. It's disgusting and this city is supposed to be so liberal. If you are black do not walk around without your ID! Be warned! Can't even go to the corner store without it! The Klan exists in Cambridge as well, they just don't wear sheets!

Prof. Gates was lured out of his house and arrested after proving that he was the home owner of the residence where someone had called in a B & E. (Breaking and Entering). But wait, it get's even more interesting, a white woman, Lucia Whalen (40) called police saying that two black men with backpacks were breaking into the house on posh Ware St. Turns out they had suits, luggage, and a Town Car was parked out front. But hey, in a bigot's eyes any black person must be up to no good.

Read my other blogs on the Prof. Gates issue.

Meanwhile, once again I want to thank our President for admitting that racial profiling is still an issue in our nation, even though we have a black president. And yes, racism is alive and well in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lucia Whalen Should Apologize Too!

2009-07-22T14:45:00.006-04:00

The story about Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. being arrested at his home in Cambridge, MA is complicated. Liberal Cambridge is racist and black folks who live there know it well. I am one of them.

Well, one Lucia Whalen (40) said that she saw two black males with backpacks attempting to break into the house. And supposedly she also said that as far as she knew no black people lived in that house. She even waited for the police to show up, I guess expecting to be labelled some kind of hero. Ware St. is posh and expensive indeed, as well as most of Cambridge.

Well, let me just say this, I appreciate people looking out for their neighbor's houses, but her description of the two black males is just so so bigoted. Not only, that it could have led to people getting shot unnecessarily.

Turns out, Prof. Gates, had just returned from a trip to China. It was 12:30pm. He was wearing a blue blazer, his chaffeur was wearing a black suit. Neither had a back pack. There was a Lincoln Town car parked out front and three pieces of luggage on the porch. HELLO Lucia!

This reminds me of the image they show people for two seconds. Someone stabbing someone else. The bulk of the time, white folks will say that it was a black man stabbing a white man. In reality it is a black man getting stabbed by the white man. Whites like Lucia have bigotry programmed into them.

Let's see what that Harvard alumni magazine that Lucia works for needs says about this incident. People offended should not send in any donations as protest.

And to the white folks who keep telling us black folks to 'get over it', I say, try living as a black person for a week. Then see if you feel the same. We'll get over it, when white folks see us a ordinary human beings!

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Read an interview with Prof. Gates HERE:

Excerpt from THE ROOT:

My driver is a large black man. But from afar you and I would not have seen he was black. He has black hair and was dressed in a two-piece black suit, and I was dressed in a navy blue blazer with gray trousers and, you know, my shoes. And I love that the 911 report said that two big black men were trying to break in with backpacks on. Now that is the worst racial profiling I’ve ever heard of in my life. (Laughs.) I’m not exactly a big black man. I thought that was hilarious when I found that out, which was yesterday.

Charges Dropped Against Prof. Gates

2009-07-21T13:08:00.003-04:00

Prof. Gates Being Arrested at his house last Thurday

YEAH THEY DROPPED THE CHARGE, BUT CAMBRIDGE HAS BEEN EXPOSED FOR IT'S RACIST SELF!

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Harvard’s Gates Disorderly Charge to be Dropped by Police

By Kurt Heine

July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard University’s top expert on black history annd culture, won’t be prosecuted on a disorderly conduct charge that resulted from a confrontation with police on his front porch.

Gates’s lawyer, police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Middlesex County district attorney agreed the July 16 arrest was “regrettable and unfortunate,” according to a joint statement sent today in an e-mail.

Prof. Gates Arrest is Racist!

2009-07-21T10:03:00.008-04:00

As a long time Cambridge resident, I can vouch for Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (pictured) that racism is alive and well in the city of Cambridge! I know white people hate it when a black person speaks the truth, but yes racism exists in Cambridge. I've seen many incidents over the years in the home of the city that houses the prestigious schools of Harvard and MIT. Cambridge is not the liberal city it claims to be. May the world see!

What's worse, is the campaign to eradicate the city of its black population. The blacks that remain in Cambridge are either wealthy or living in the projects. The few remaining black homeowners are being enticed to sell off their properties in order to make the neighorhoods white. If you don't agree to sell, ugly things start happening.

If you are black in Cambridge always walk with ID and be careful walking down some of those streets. You might get stopped. Walking while black is the term we use! Worse if a crime happens the first suspects to round up are the first black folks they see! Black folks come in all shapes sizes and colors, so its funny to see who gets rounded up and who actually committed the crime. A dark skinned black man gets picked up, when the crime was committed by a light skinned male etc.

And does anyone remember the case of the black principal, at the Agassiz (now Baldwin) school? Peggy Avarette was run out of town by Klan members who didn't wear sheets in 1998. The final straw was when they tried to set fire to her car right outside her home near Harvard Square! Yes, I say those white folks who perpetrated such hate were Klan members who did not wear sheets. They know who they are. The sad thing was the kids kept asking, WHY? Why were people being racist? The kids got along fine, it was the grown-ups acting and teaching their kids to be racist! The issue the white parents didn't want a black principal. They harassed Peggy Avarette constantly, standing outside her office window, making threatening calls to her home etc. After Ms. Avarette left another black principal was hired, then I remember hearing some of those racists saying "Be careful what you wish for".

I can recall so many incidents of racism in Cambridge, whites trying to kick black children out of a school in order to take the building over for their own kids, etc. ...that's the Cambridgeport/Maynard School issue!

In a way, I'm glad that this happened to Prof. Gates. If it had happened to anyone else less prominent it would not have been news. Now, the world can see how racist the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts really is.

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Harvard Professor Gates Arrested

Tue July 21, 2009

From Deb Brunswick
CNN

(CNN) -- African-American scholar and Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested last week on a charge of disorderly conduct after a confrontation with an officer at his home, according to a Cambridge, Massachusetts, police report.

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested last week on a charge of disorderly conduct.

According to the report, officers responded to a call Thursday from a woman who said she saw "a man wedging his shoulder into the front door" at Gates' house near the university. The report, obtained by CNN affiliate WCVB-TV, indicates Gates refused to identify himself to a police officer, claiming the officer was a racist.

Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department stated in the report that he told Gates he was investigating a report of a break-in at the residence. According to the report, Gates "opened the front door and exclaimed, 'Why, because I'm a black man in America?' "

Crowley wrote in the report that he warned Gates two times he was becoming disorderly. After Gates continued to yell and accuse him of racial bias, Crowley wrote he arrested Gates for "loud and tumultuous behavior in a public space."

A statement by Gates' lawyer and fellow Harvard professor Charles Ogletree said that the incident occurred when Gates returned to his home after a trip to China.

Gates, accompanied by a driver, found the front door damaged.

He entered the house with his key through the rear door. Then, he and and driver were able to force the front door open, Ogletree said in his statement.

Don't Miss
WCVB: Police report of incident
The statement was published on the Web site The Root, of which Gates is editor-in-chief.

An officer arrived and told Gates he was investigating a call about a breaking-and-entering at the residence, Ogletree wrote.

Gates identified himself at the officer's request, according to Ogletree.

"He [Gates] turned to walk into the kitchen where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver's license to the officer," Ogletree wrote on The Root.

Ogletree's statement also said that Gates asked Crowley for his name and badge number several times without success.

Then, when Gates followed Crowley to the front door, Crowley said, "Thank you for accommodating my earlier request, and then placed him [Gates] under arrest," Ogletree said.

The Cambridge Police Department would not release any information regarding the incident.

Gates has one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at Harvard University, according to WCVB, and joined the faculty in 1991. He is considered one of the nation's pre-eminent scholars of African-American studies. In 1997, Time magazine placed him on its list of the 25 most influential Americans .

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The person who made the call which started the chain of events is identified as one Lucia Whalen (40) of Malden, MA.

http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2009/07/21/racism-in-cambridge-harvard-prof-gates-arrested/

Drugged by Parents

2009-06-23T22:43:00.003-04:00

If a Man Wants You

2009-06-18T16:46:00.005-04:00

I got this via e-mail:

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IF A MAN WANTS YOU

This was/is good.... and very true!

If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.
Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior. Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
Stop trying to change yourselves for a relationship that's not meant to be. Slower is better.

Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy. If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends." A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend. Don't settle.

If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is. Don't stay because you think "it will get better." You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better. The only person you can control in a relationship is you.

Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women. He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently?

Always have your own set of friends separate from his.

Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up.

Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.

You cannot change a man's behavior. Change comes from within.

Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are... even if he has more education or in a better job.

Do not make him into a quasi-god.He is a man, nothing more nothing less.

Never let a man define who you are.

Never borrow someone else's man. If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.

A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.

All men are NOT dogs.

You should not be the one doing all the bending...compromise is a two way street. You need time to heal between relationships...there is nothing cute about baggage... deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship. You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...a relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals...look for someone complimentary...not supplementary.

Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right. Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always know where you are, and your always readily available to him- he takes it for granted.

Never move into his mother's house.

Never co-sign for a man. Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!

Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need. Keep him in your radar but get to know others.

Share this with other ladies..... You'll make someone SMILE, another RETHINK her choices, and another woman PREPARE. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them.

While on Safari in Africa!

2009-06-09T13:27:00.002-04:00

The Harlem Renaissance Revisted Play 2009

2009-06-05T14:46:00.005-04:00

The play ran from May 7-9 at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot school in Dorchester, MA.

Me (Ms. Thelma), Charles Jackson (Joe the Bartender) & Ruby Hill (Director) during a break from dress rehearsal.
The paperboy talks to Langston Hughes

Weldon Johnson talks to Langston Hughes
Billie Holiday belts a number

Steve Lucky explains how he made it

Billie Holiday offers some words of enouragement to Ethel Waters and Aaron Douglas

Ms. Thelma just heard her horoscope.

Ms. Thelma needs a man in her life

Dancers

Life every Voice and Sing

Goat Ride

2009-05-28T10:37:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A man transports a goat on his back while riding a bicycle. I don't think he smelled too good afterwards.

Open Call - Gospel Singers and Groups

2009-05-18T10:07:00.000-04:00

OPEN AUDITIONS:

The Oscar Micheaux Family Theater Program
2009-2010

Producers of:
The Annual Harlem Renaissance Revisited With a Gospel Flavor
From Gospel to Hip-Hop and All in Between, Featuring Dance A Lot, A Lot of Dance

SERIOUS ONLY…

Gospel Singers
Gospel Groups

AT:
Blackstone Community Center
50 West Brookline Street
Boston, MA. 02118

May 30th, June 6th and June 13th 2009

From 12:30PM until 2:30PM

Call for audition appointment: (617) 238-2460

Program Sponsored By: Tri-Ad Veterans League, Inc.

Joe Thomas & Chico DeBarge at Berklee College

2009-05-12T10:09:00.001-04:00

Africans are Genetically Unique

2009-04-30T16:50:00.002-04:00

I just could not resist posting this!

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Africans have world's greatest genetic variation

WASHINGTON – Africans have more genetic variation than anyone else on Earth, according to a new study that helps narrow the location where humans first evolved, probably near the South Africa-Namibia border.

The largest study of African genetics ever undertaken also found that nearly three-fourths of African-Americans can trace their ancestry to West Africa. The new analysis published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science.

"Given the fact that modern humans arose in Africa, they have had time to accumulate dramatic changes" in their genes, explained lead researcher Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.

People have been adapting to very diverse environmental niches in Africa, she explained in a briefing.

Over 10 years, Tishkoff and an international team of researchers trekked across Africa collecting samples to compare the genes of various peoples. Often working in primitive conditions, the researchers sometimes had to resort to using a car battery to power their equipment, Tishkoff explained.

The reason for their work? Very little was known about the genetic variation in Africans, knowledge that is vital to understanding why diseases have a greater impact in some groups than others and in designing ways to counter those illnesses.

Scott M. Williams of Vanderbilt University noted that constructing patterns of disease variations can help determine which genes predispose a group to a particular illness.

This study "provides a critical piece in the puzzle," he said. For example, there are clear differences in prevalence of diseases such as hypertension and prostate cancer across populations, Williams said.

"The human genome describes the complexity of our species," added Muntaser Ibrahim of the department of molecular biology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. "Now we have spectacular insight into the history of the African population ... the oldest history of mankind.

"Everybody's history is part of African history because everybody came out of Africa," Ibrahim said.

Christopher Ehret of the department of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, compared genetic variation among people to variations in language.

There are an estimated 2,000 distinct language groups in Africa broken into a few broad categories, often but not always following gene flow.

Movement of a language usually involves arrival of new people, Ehret noted, bringing along their genes. But sometimes language is brought by a small "but advantaged" group which can impose their language without significant gene flow.

Overall, the researchers were able to study and compare the genetics of 121 African groups, 60 non-African populations and four African-American groups.

The so-called "Cape-colored" population of South Africa has highest levels of mixed ancestry on the globe, a blend of African, European, East Asian and South Indian, Tishkoff said.

"This will be a great population for study of diseases" that are more common in one group than another, she said.

The study also found that about 71 percent of African-Americans can trace their ancestry to western African origins. They also have between 13 percent and 15 percent European ancestry and a smaller amount of other African origins. There was "very little" evidence for American Indian genes among African-Americans, Tishkoff said.

Ehret added that only about 20 percent of the Africans brought to North America made the trip directly, while most of the rest went first to the West Indies.

And, he added, some local African-American populations, such as the residents of the sea islands off Georgia and South Carolina, can trace their origins to specific regions such as Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education at Vanderbilt University, the L.S.B. Leakey and Wenner Gren Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard and Burroughs Wellcome foundations.

___

On the Net:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

Save Chez Vous Boston

2009-04-13T21:39:00.001-04:00

Subject: PRESS CONFERENCE AT CHEZ VOUS ROLLER SKATING RINK ON APRIL 14, 2009 @ 6pm.
Dear friends, concerned members of the community and esteemed colleagues,

On Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 6pm an official press conference will be held at the Chez Vous Roller Skating Rink regarding the impending closure of the iconic venue. Currently owned by community activist Greer Toney, the Dorchester landmark has been an important area landmark since 1932. The city's only roller skating and entertainment center not only provides an alternative to the violence that plagues the surrounding neighborhoods it has been an external family to its loyal patrons for decades.

Chez Vous has hosted several anti-violence functions over the years, notably last year's "P.E.A.C.E. Night @ Chez Vous" which received positive reviews from The Boston Herald (Chris Faraone), and The Banner (Tierney McAfee). The event featured a video shoot by recording artist Blue Chip and focused on alternatives to gang violence and drug peddling through community empowerment. P.E.A.C.E. Night attracted the attention of many community leaders such as Cindy Diggs of PeaceBoston and Tina Cherry of the Louis D. Brown Institute for Peace.

The success of that event provided the foundation for "Another P.E.A.C.E Night @ Chez Vous" which was planned to expand on the positive theme of the original P.E.A.C.E. Night. Recording artist/actor Bow Wow, who was scheduled to appear as the event's celebrity guest and speaker, arrived at Chez Vous but left without making a public appearance at the direction of his road manager who, despite the presence of three hired security teams, both the City and State police and in-house security staff, deemed the venue "unsafe" for the artist's entry. Hundreds of fans, many who had waited hours to see their beloved star shine, left Chez Vous with tears and a general feeling of having been let down by their idol.

Greer Toney, in her commitment to bringing the Atlanta-based star to Boston to speak about the importance of education and unity, used the skating rink's mortgage allotment to secure Bow Wow's appearance. As a result of his absence Ms Toney was forced to refund the patron's fees, ultimately resulting in Chez Vous' fate. The 77-year old venue will be auctioned off on April 15, 2009 and Boston will lose one of its finest resources.

A day prior and the day after the event, in unrelated instances, two young men were killed on Boston 's streets. One of the dead, an aspiring NBA star, was a Chez Vous regular before relocating to California to pursue his dreams. He was, ironically, in the city briefly to assist his family with moving out west. The potential for increased violence on Boston 's troubled streets if Chez Vous' doors are closed are great. The skating rink not only provides a safe environment for its patrons who have few alternatives, its staff are active mentors and mediators in the gang infested Roxbury, Dorchester , and Mattapan neighborhoods.

I encourage you to come out to the planned press conference and voice your concerns. Your attendance is welcomed and needed. Frankly, this issue is larger than keeping a business open. It is about the future of the community and its children. Your voice ushered in the presidency of this nation's first Black Commander In Chief. Your voice elected the state's first Black governor. Your voice is powerful and, once again, must be heard. Your community MUST be protected! I look forward to seeing you at this very important forum.

For additional information, please call; (617) 825-6877

Chez Vous Roller Skating Rink
11 Rhoades Street
Dorchester , MA 02124

2009-04-13T04:45:00.003-04:00

The 11th Annual 'Harlem Renaissance Revisited With a Gospel Flavor' Play

Dates: May 7th-9th 2009

Time: 7:15PM

Place:Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, 260 Columbia Road, Dorchester, MA.

Tickets: Adults $15, Youth 12 and under $10, Elders $10.

For Group Rates call: 617-238-2460.

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This play written by Haywood Fennell Sr., features characters from the Harlem Renaissance era like Paul Robeson, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and Josephine Baker. It talks about the hardhsips they faced and their triumps.

God's Bridge

2009-04-06T16:29:00.003-04:00

Photos courtesy of Haidar Chamshama

This natural bridge is called Daraja la Mungu (God's Bridge). The bridge is located in Kiwira area, Rungwe District, Mbeya region in Tanzania.

Special Request - Prof. Ken Edwards (Joshua Mkhululi)

2009-04-02T16:54:00.004-04:00

The late Prof. Ken Edwards (Joshua Mkhululi)

1945-2009

SPECIAL REQUEST

The family of the late Prof. Ken Edwards (Prof. Joshua Mkhululi) residing in Canada and Jamaica would like people to share their stories and memories of the deceased. If anyone has photos, they are also asked to share them.

Prof. Edwards mother is 84 years old and desparately wants to hear as much as she can about her son's life in Africa. He also has brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews who want to hear about their uncle.

Anyone who would like to share can e-mail his nephew, Michael Gardner at michaelsgardner@hotmail.com or they can e-mail me at chemiche3@yahoo.com.

Please let's share with the family the tales of their beloved who died ocean's away in a land that he loved

Berklee College of Music Scholarships for African Students

2009-03-31T12:25:00.002-04:00

Music Scholarships for African Students
Africa Scholars Program - Berklee College of Music

The Africa Scholars Program is designed to create opportunities for gifted African musicians who lack the financial means to study at Berklee.

In addition, the program is intended to enhance Berklee's presence in Africa, including holding more auditions there; increasing awareness of Berklee among African musicians; and encouraging the already impressive roster of Berklee alumni from Africa to actively support this scholarship and Berklee.

Through the Africa Scholars Program, Berklee seeks to provide educational opportunities by awarding scholarships to talented musicians who are citizens of any African country and who meet the admissions requirements.
Eligibility:

Qualified candidates must be citizens of an African country. Candidates living or studying abroad are also eligible and may apply for this program.

Scholarship Candidates must have at minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent certification, and meet all admissions requirements.
All eligible candidates for scholarship and fellowship consideration must participate in a live audition and interview (A&I)

A limited number of full-tuition awards are available to exceptionally gifted musicians who participate in a live audition. Partial-tuition awards are also available.

Fellowship and Scholarship Details

Eligibility: Qualified candidates must be citizens of an African country. Candidates living or studying abroad are also eligible and may apply for this program.
Candidates may prove citizenship in one of the following ways:
If you reside in your country of origin, you may prove citizenship with a valid passport, birth certificate, or government ID.
If you reside outside of your country of origin, you may prove citizenship with a valid passport and visa.
Scholarship Candidates must have at minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent certification, and meet all admissions requirements for Berklee College of Music.

Auditions In Africa

All eligible candidates for scholarship and fellowship consideration must participate in a live audition and interview (A&I). Berklee will offer an African A&I event in Nairobi, Kenya during the month of June 2009. The following dates are subject to change:

Nairobi, Kenya - June 2 and 3, 2009

To apply for an opportunity to audition in Nairobi eligible candidates must complete an Africa Scholars Application form. Berklee will review all applications and send official invitations to selected candidates. For questions regarding the A&I events in Nairobi,
email
auditions@berklee.edu
or call
617 747-2579.

How To Apply…

Auditions Outside of Africa

Qualified candidates residing in locations abroad may apply for an A&I opportunity at one of Berklee's many international locations as part of the World Scholarship Tour (WST).

Candidates applying for these A&I opportunities will need to complete an online application form. Berklee will review all applications and send official invitations to selected candidates.

The 2009/2010 audition schedule will be updated by September 1, 2009, after which candidates may submit an application. Those candidates seeking to apply for an audition and interview through Berklee's WST may do so once the new schedule has been published to Berklee's website. We encourage candidates to bookmark the WST page and revisit it for further updates.

How To Apply For Auditions in Nairobi, Kenya

Berklee College of Music will be conducting live audition and interview events in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of this program is to continue an annual process of visiting locations in Africa to provide opportunities for talented musicians to apply for the chance to study at Berklee College of Music.

Through this event, Berklee seeks to identify qualified candidates for the Roger Brown and Linda Mason Presidential Scholarship. Finalists for this award will be required to submit additional material for consideration.

All candidates seeking to study at Berklee College of Music in our degree or diploma programs will be required to complete the Admissions application process.

In addition to this primary award, Berklee seeks to identify candidates for admissions consideration and other partial-tuition scholarships to assist them with the cost of attending to the college.

All candidates are required to submit an application no later than April 21, 2009 through our web site. Those candidates not able to submit an application through our website may download and print an application form.

Please fax your completed application form to
617-747-8680.

All questions regarding your application for an audition may be directed to auditions@berklee.edu or you may call 617-747-2579.

Balancing Act

2009-03-24T12:12:00.003-04:00

This lady is balancing a heavy load of bananas and talking on a cellphone at the same time. What a balancing act! The photo was taken my by good friend Michuzi in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania today.

President Obama and Siblings

2009-03-02T15:52:00.003-05:00

US President Barack Obama greets members of his British and African-based family at the White House following his inauguration, including half-brother Abongo, far left, and stepmother Kezia, in yellow. The two on the right are his brothers by another white woman.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1158473/From-Bracknell-Kenya-Washington-First-picture-Obama-British-stepmother-inside-White-House.html

The Pruple Iris

2009-02-24T12:10:00.002-05:00

THE PURPLE IRIS

There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will..
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Give these flowers to everyone you don't want to lose in 2009,
including me, if that's what is in your heart.
Try to collect 12; it's not easy!

Be kinder than necessary
Because everyone you meet
is fighting some kind of battle.

I Will Raise My Hand - Poem

2009-01-17T08:42:00.001-05:00

I Will Raise My Hand

As I stand near the radio or TV, repeating the words
That some said we as a people would never say
The Oath of Office of the President of the U.S.A.
With each word spoken, a thought of those not here
Will come to mind with visions of struggles and lives lost
Over the centuries, face and places never to be forgotten
My raised hand will be for them too and the words
For those not yet here who will find their place
Maybe a little better in a world where finally, yes finally
We can say not in vain, for change has arrived….

In “my swearing in” as I hope others will also do
as a reminder that our work in rebuilding a country
that out Ancestors built with sweat, blood and tears over years
will be a different work, a work of making decisions that
We long knew we could do. It is now our time
to redirect the Dream and make it a reality as we work
together as one Nation, yes we can, yes we will and yes we must,
I do solemnly swear…

Written by Haywood Fennell, Sr.
January 17th 2009
Boston, MA.

Mrs. Obama's Warning!

2009-01-14T09:56:00.002-05:00

Cassava Leaves

2009-01-09T14:04:00.004-05:00

Cassava Leaves are a delicacy in Tanzania, East Africa. Here these men are buying Cassava leaves which they will take home for their wives to prepare for their families. It was goes well with Ugali (stiff corn meal) ! I like it cooked with ground peanuts or milk from a fresh grated coconut! (photo from Jiachie Blog)

Prayer for the Descendants of Harlem Renaissance

2009-01-05T10:56:00.002-05:00

A Prayer for the Descendants of the Harlem Renaissance

Oh Mighty GOD, WE turn our hopes to YOU for YOU
Are ALL things good. WE, call upon YOU as our Ancestors did
When THEY were bought to this hemisphere in chains to become slaves
Thought many times WE felt deserted, but YOU turned YOUR face
And heard our cries. From the cotton fields and the tobacco fields
WE came out hoping and praying that FREEDOM would be OURS.

The talents that YOU had loaned us once hidden began to manifest
WE would write, sing, dance, act, but not without struggle. WE know
That when WE struggle together with YOU in our midst that we will achieve
For WE believe. YOU have taken US and placed our talents for others to emulate
Because our talents do not belong to US, but to YOU. The talents were loaned
To build a better world for ALL. WE accept the challenges laid down long ago.

WE shall not give up nor give in. OURS is a mission of honor, to bring to the
World that which will bring about greater understanding that WE too are your
Children, once enslaved, but never slaves, for WE are the Descendants of the
Harlem Renaissance….

Written through GODLY Inspiration by:
Haywood Fennell, Sr.
“A Descendant of the Harlem Renaissance”

Elephant Meat Barbecue

2008-12-01T13:18:00.005-05:00

Mr. John Mnamba was visiting a village in Tanzania where he stumbled upon some elephant meat being smoked. Some tourists shot the elephant and donated the meat to the local villagers.
Mr. Mnamba took the photos with his cell phone.

50 Facts about President Elect Barack Obama

2008-11-19T10:22:00.001-05:00

Barack Obama: The 50 Facts You Might Not Know

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball
• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili
• His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed
• He has read every Harry Potter book
• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali
• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream
• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars
• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper whi le living in Indonesia
2 He can speak Spanish
• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea
• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't
• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia
• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs
• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name
• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived
• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy
• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books
• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck
• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.
• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees
• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date
• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker
• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol
• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician
• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine
• His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)
• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal
• His house in Chicago has four fire places
• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita
• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry
• He uses an Apple Mac laptop
• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300
• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits
• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)
• His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire
• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers
• He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother
• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds
• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso
• His speciality as a cook is chilli
• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"
• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life
• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

Miriam Makeba dies in Italy

2008-11-10T11:48:00.003-05:00

Miriam Makeba 1932-2008

It's with great sadness that we receive the news of South African songstress, Miriam Makeba. She died following a concert in Italy last night. She was 76 years old.

Some of her most famous songs were Pata Pata, Jikele Maweni and Malaika.

REST IN PEACE

America has Changed!

2008-11-05T13:17:00.002-05:00

Wow! I am still almost speechless. When Barack Obama was pronounced the winner of Election 2008, I cried tears of joy. America is truly a changed place.

America has changed for the better. I credit movies and TV shows for helping lead to Obama's success. There was a time in Hollywood when blacks were protrayed as idiots, servants, slaves, and other menial things. Then they started being portrayed positively as doctors, teachers, lawyers, heroes, superheroes and even President of the United States. These images are subtly entrenched in our minds. Take this example, ask the older generations about Africa and the first thing that pops in their mind is Tarzan!

What I am really saying if that a new generation has grown up without the racism of the past. These kids have grown up in a diverse society where they see each other as equals. They don't mind living in a neighborhood with people who aren't the same color as they are. They don't mind being in the same classroom or attending sporting events together.

It's hard for a person who has not experienced racism to understand what the election of Barack Obama means. It's also painful for those who have experienced racism to hear white people saying, "get over it". Or people saying slavery happened 200 years ago. Well it may have ended but the repercussions are still felt in the treatment of blacks and other minorities in America today. So, yes it's tough to "get over it".

Most black people, including myself never imagined that a black man could or would be elected President of the United States of America in our lifetime. I have experienced racism, been called the n-word, been terrorized by the Klan. It was most profound when I lived in a small predominantly white town, in the midwest. I was privileged in the early 70's to get a decent education at a white school in which there were only 7 black kids out of 980. The teachers and the principal especially were openly racist. When I think back on that, I can only imagine how it must have been for Obama and his mom.

During the camapign pockets of racism emerged. People used the n-word liberally to describe Obama and declared that they could never live in a country led by an n-word. The internet was filled with racists hiding behind anonymity spewing hate. At one point people were saying that America was descending back to the Civil Rights era because of all the hate that was emerging. Old wounds were reopened and people asked would change really ever be possible in America. Would people attitudes towards race really change?

When I watched the results last night and saw tears in the eyes of Oprah, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Roland Martin and others, it was a momentus moment. History was made and a change has come. What will the people who have condemned America as a racist country now say. I say change is possible, change has happened. This is a new diverse America. I hope our ancestors are watching from the heavens to see that a change has taken place in America.

Now that Obama has been elected, I am sure that in the future we will see Presidents of Latino and Asian descent as well. This is the work of the melting pot. There may even come a day when one day Americans don't see themselves by the color of their skin but just as 'AMERICANS'.

Call Center Workers Protest about McCain

2008-10-28T11:26:00.002-04:00

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/dozens_of_call_center_workers.php

Dozens Of Call Center Workers Walk Off Job In Protest Rather Than Read McCain Script Attacking Obama

By Greg Sargent - October 27, 2008, 5:18PM

Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.

Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN.

"They walked out," Williams says of her daughter and her co-workers, adding that they weren't fired but willingly sacrificed pay rather than read the lines. "They were told [by supervisors], `If you all leave, you're not gonna get paid for the rest of the day."

The daughter, who wanted her name withheld fearing retribution from her employer, confirmed the story to us. "It was like at least 40 people," the daughter said. "People thought the script was nasty and they didn't wanna read it."

A second worker at the call center confirmed the episode, saying that "at least 30" workers had walked out after refusing to read the script.

"We were asked to read something saying [Obama and Democrats] were against protecting children from danger," this worker said. "I wouldn't do it. A lot of people left. They thought it was disgusting."

This worker, too, confirmed sacrificing pay to walk out, saying her supervisor told her: "If you don't wanna phone it you can just go home for the day."

The script coincided with this robo-slime call running in other states, but because robocalling is illegal in Indiana it was being read by call center workers.

Representatives at Americall in Indiana, and at the company's corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois, didn't return calls for comment.

Mixed Race

2008-10-23T10:58:00.001-04:00

Just what do you call a mix between an donkey and a zebra?

A Message to America from Queen Elizabeth II

2008-10-18T07:46:00.003-04:00

Message from the Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and th us to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded*.

*A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
(You may need to look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary. Also look up aluminum, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at j us t how wrongly you have been pronouncing it).

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adj us ted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without us ing guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be us ed for shooting gro us e. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot gro us e.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangero us than a vegetable peeler, although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

7. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get us ed to it.

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

10. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further conf us ion.

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us .

13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits ( not referred to as cookies) and cakes; pl us strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Indian School Bus

2008-10-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

This is a school bus in India.

AFRICA KABISA -- WMBR 88.1 FM

2008-10-13T10:19:00.000-04:00

AFRICA KABISA -- WMBR 88.1 FM

Africa Kabisa! is a weekly African music radio program that broadcasts SUNDAYS 4-6:00pm EST on WMBR 88.1 FM. We also stream live on the Web and have digital archives at http://www.wmbr.org .

Since 1992, we have been sharing the vibrant sounds of contemporary and classic African music with the Boston area and beyond. Africa Kabisa is hosted and produced by DJ Julia Goldrosen.

We endeavor to present an array of the best in music from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Afro-Caribbean world with the sounds of rumba, soukous, ndombolo, makossa, couper decaler, son montuno, mbalax, kompa, zouk, kwaito, mbaqanga, paranda, benga, salsa, highlife, afrobeat and more. We also feature a weekly calendar of African cultural events.

Our weekly playlists are located in the Database link. African events for the Boston area are in the Calendar section. (This website is established through Yahoo Groups so you have to click on "join this group" (top right) to access some of the information.) Join the Africa Kabisa group and discover more about African music!

Please send CDs for airplay consideration or local event information to:

WMBR 88.1 FM
Att: Africa Kabisa
3 Ames Street
Cambridge, MA 02142 (USA)
africakabisa@hotmail.com

Lizombe Traditional Dance

2008-10-10T17:28:00.004-04:00

This is the famous Lizombe Tradional Dance done in the Southern Region on Tanzania. You have to be in great shape to do it. It involves a lot of Butt shaking and waist movements. I used to do this one when I was in the Masange JKT National Service Dance Group in Tanzania back in the 80's. (photo from Lukwangule Blog)

Tanzanian Groom

2008-10-10T12:36:00.003-04:00

photo from Michuzi Blog

Why spend money on an expensive limosine ride when you can get their more cheaply via Tricycle. This Tanzanian groom (with Arab headdress) decided he'd rather spend his money on his wife than on fancy frills.

Swahili song for Obama

2008-10-08T22:32:00.003-04:00

You can listen to a Swahili Song, "Obama Be Blessed" here:

http://nukta77.com/matangazo.aspx

It is by famous East African musician Samba Mapangala na his band Orchestra Virunga.

***********************************************

Umekisikia kibao cha Samba Mapangala (Orchestra Virunga) kwa jina "Obama Ubarikiwe"? 'That one'.... "my frienchs....." sikiliza: http://nukta77.com/matangazo.aspx

- Subi

Tanzanian Editorial Cartoon

2008-10-08T13:29:00.002-04:00

How Tanzanian Editorial Cartoonist, Gado, sees the 2008 Election Campain.

Jeffrey Brace Memorial - Former Slave

2008-10-04T06:39:00.007-04:00

Shawn Henry, left, and Prof. John Nassivera hold a historical marker at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008. On Oct. 12, the historical marker will be placed in Poultney to honor the life of Jeffrey Brace, a former slave, who won his freedom by fighting in the Revolutionary War and later settled in Vermont, the first state to abolish slavery. Henry, president of the African American Club at Green Mountain College and Nassivera, a professor and adviser to the group, helped to get the marker made. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

I am proud to say that my son, Elechi Kadete, was part of the student effort to get, the marker placed in Poultney, Vermont.

********************************************

Vermont town honors slave's life

By LISA RATHKE
POULTNEY, Vt. (AP) -- A former slave whose memoir is among the only ones known to describe abduction from Africa is about to get a historical marker in the small Vermont town where he ended up settling.

Descendants of Jeffrey Brace -- who fought in the Revolutionary War eventually earning his freedom -- will gather Oct. 12 for the erection of the memorial on a town green.

"The importance of Brace's story is not just that he's a remarkable individual but it's part of Vermont's history and American history that had disappeared," said Kari Winter, who edited the memoir "The Blind African Slave; Or, Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace."

The book and now the roadside marker will ensure that Brace's story will never be forgotten.
His memoir traces his abduction in 1758 at age 16 and the wretched trans-Atlantic voyage that ensued, in which he was starved, shackled and whipped and watched others die of starvation and beatings.

"Over the course of about 350 years, something on the order of 12 million people were shipped across the Atlantic and yet we could count on our hands the number of surviving first-person written accounts of people who made that journey," said James Campbell, a Stanford University history professor.

"So to have an account like this be discovered and made available to students describing the experience of capture in Africa, the experience of the middle passage and a life in slavery right up until the early 19th-century New England, that's an extraordinary find," said Campbell, who specializes in slavery history.

Brace ended up in Connecticut after being enslaved on an English trade ship in Barbados that engaged in skirmishes during the Seven Years' War. He was sold to a New England ship captain, and then auctioned off several other times, the final time to widow Mary Stiles in Woodbury, Conn., who sent him to school and taught him to read.

He later enlisted in the Revolutionary War with her sons and fought for five years, eventually earning his freedom in 1783 and moving to Vermont.
"Hearing flattering accounts of the new state of Vermont; I left Woodbury. ... I enjoyed the pleasures of a freeman; my food was sweet, my labor pleasure: and one bright gleam of life seemed to shine upon me."

He worked for a tavern keeper in Dorset, where he met his wife, Susannah Dublin, a widow and former slave. But their life in Vermont was a constant challenge, Winter said.

They lived in Manchester for a time, but the town indentured his wife's two children to work in different households. It was a common practice for poor people who could not support their children, but in this case: "The complaint amounted to this: that I was a black man," Brace said.
The family returned to land Brace had bought in Poultney.

He cleared fields and grew crops but endured constant confrontations with a neighbor over land, crops and livestock. Fearing his children could be indentured again, he moved the family to Sheldon and then to Georgia, Vt., where he bought 60 acres with his son-in-law.

Brace became blind in his old age but says he felt it was his duty to publish his memoirs
-- "that all may see how poor Africans have been and perhaps now are abused by a christian and enlightened people."

He was helped by a white abolitionist lawyer, Benjamin Prentiss, who wrote down his story, adding his own research and interpretations.

Winter, a professor at the University of Buffalo, found one of the original copies published in 1810 in the special collections library at the University of Vermont, where she used to teach.
In Poultney, John Nassivera, a Green Mountain College professor took a special interest in Brace after Winter gave a talk on him.

He wrote a play based on the book and urged the school's African-American Club to take up the cause. They worked with the Poultney Historical Society and Vermont Division of Historic Preservation to have a marker made honoring Brace's life.

For Brace's descendants, who didn't know of their ancestor until the memoir was published or they were contacted by Winter, their heritage is something to be proud of.

James Brace, who's white and lives in St. Albans, calls his ancestor a hero.

Rhonda Brace, whose grandfather and an uncle are named Jeffrey, realizes they're one of few African-American families who can trace their ancestry to a particular slave.

It gives new meaning to being African-American, she said.

She says she still pinches herself that something of this magnitude -- the memoir -- was found. The interest in it in Vermont has been phenomenal, she said.

"I've always felt that Jeffrey Brace would really come to life when a lot of people would participate in reclaiming his memory," Winter said.

*****************************************************************

For More information on Jeffrey Brace visit:

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2005/takenabackinvermo.html

Lions enjoying Tires

2008-09-29T15:03:00.008-04:00

"Oh look two cute lions are coming!"

It seems these lions in a South African wildlife preserve love the taste of rubber. Or is it that they love hearing the air hiss out the rubber tires after they've burst them?

I've had a few encounters with lions in Africa but this is the first time I've seen some that enjoy playing with tires.

WaTanzania wauliwa Afrika Kusini

2008-09-15T13:13:00.001-04:00

Kweli binadamu hawana shukurani. Yaani Tanzania ilikuwa mstari wa mbele katikakupigania uhuru watu wa Afrika Kusini. Lakini sasa wanaua wageni kutoka nchi za Afrika wanaoishi kule.

Nimesikitika sana kusoma leo kuwa waTanzania wawili kutoka Zanzibar waliuliwa huko kwa kupigwa risasi. Kisa eti ni waTanzania.

Mola alaze roho zao mahala pema peponi. Amin.

************************************************************************
Kutoka ippmedia.com

Zanzibaris killed in SA foreigner attacks

2008-09-15

By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar

Two Zanzibaris were reportedly killed in Port Elizabeth, South Africa last week in attacks linked to a spate of `xenophobic` incidents against foreigners, police here confirmed yesterday.

The Regional Police Commander for Mjini Magharibi Bakari Khatibu Shabani named those who were killed as Mzee Mussa Makungu (24) and Rajab Suleiman Mrisho (27) all from Jan?gombe in Unguja.

The late Makungu went to South Africa to look for employment, while Mrisho had already been working in the oil industry there for over eight years.

The two were buried in Unguja yesterday, Makungu at Shakani village and Mrisho at Kiboje.

Makungu`s uncle Ali Othman Ali said in an interview yesterday that they received reports about his death from Tanzanians living in South Africa.

``Makungu left Zanzibar six months ago to join his friend Mrisho, who has been in South Africa for eight years,`` he said.

Ali said they were informed that their relative was shot twice in head, while Mrisho was shot in his neck by unidentified people on September 4, this year.

Rajab Suleiman Mrisho, a brother of Mrisho, said they received reports about his death through Tanzanians living in Cape Town.

Some months ago, groups of South Africans, particularly youths, went on the rampage, attacking foreigners working in South Africa, and blaming them for taking up jobs meant for them.

SOURCE: Guardian

White Privilege - 2008 Election

2008-09-14T21:52:00.001-04:00

I have to agree that there are definitely double standards in America. If the Palin's were black their wrongs would not be idolized.

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White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin’ redneck," like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Is Sarah Palin Racist and Vindictive?

2008-09-11T14:43:00.007-04:00

Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska)

I got this article via e-mail. Wow! If this is true then God help America should she be elected VP. Alaska has a tiny minority population and other than the fact that a black woman (Maryline Blackburn) beat her for the Miss Alaska title, does she really care about minority populations? I had read since the day that she was elected that she was vindictive and the scandal about her wanting her brother in law fired is noted in court documents.

I hope that these claims are being investigated.

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http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/09/05/alaskans-speak-in-a-frightened-whisper-palin-is-âracist-sexist-vindictive-and-meanâ/

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”September 5, 2008

by Charley James –

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.

Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”

Racial and ethnic slurs may be “just Alaska” and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.

Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N’-Fetch-It, “darkie musical” swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska’s Aboriginal people as “Arctic Arabs” – how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description – as well as the more colourful “mukluks” along with the totally unimaginative “f**king Eskimo’s,” according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.

But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We’re talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.

No wonder the vast sea of white, cheering faces at the Republican Convention went wild for Sarah: They adore the type, it’s in their genetic code. So much for McCain’s pledge of a “high road” campaign; Palin is incapable of being part of one.

Tough Getting People Who Know Her to Talk

It’s not easy getting people in the 49th state to speak critically about Palin – especially people in Wasilla, where she was mayor. For one thing, with every journalist in the world calling, phone lines into Alaska have been mostly jammed since Friday; as often as not, a recording told me that “all circuits are busy” or numbers just wouldn’t ring. I should think a state that’s been made richer than God by oil could afford telephone lines and cell towers for everyone.

On a more practical level, many people in Alaska, and particularly Wasilla, are reluctant to speak or be quoted by name because they’re afraid of her as well as the state Republican Party machine. Apparently, the power elite are as mean as the winters.

“The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here,” an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. “It’s corrupt and arrogant. They’re all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to.”

“Once Palin became mayor,” he continued, “She became part of that inner circle.”

Like most other people interviewed, he didn’t want his name used out of fear of retribution. Maybe it’s the long winter nights where you don’t see the sun for months that makes people feel as if they’re under constant danger from “the authorities.” As I interviewed residents it began sounding as if living in Alaska controlled by the state Republican Party is like living in the old Soviet Union: See nothing that’s happening, say nothing offensive, and the political commissars leave you alone. But speak out and you get disappeared into a gulag north of the Arctic Circle for who-knows-how-long.

Alright, that’s an exaggeration brought on by my getting too little sleep and building too much anger as I worked this article. But there’s ample evidence of Palin’s vindictive willingness to destroy people she sees as opponents. Just ask the Wasilla town administrator she hired before firing him because he rebelled against the way Palin demanded he do his job, or the town librarian who refused to hold the book burning Walpurgisnach Mayor Palin demanded.

Ironically, Palin was pushed into hiring the administrator by the party poobahs who helped get her elected after she got herself into trouble over a number of precipitous firings which gave rise to a recall campaign.

“People who fought her attempt to oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day,” states Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident and one of the few Alaskans willing to speak on-the-record, for attribution, about Palin. In fact, Kilkenny actually circulated an e-mail letter about Palin that was verified and printed by The Nation.

For good measure, Palin booted the Wasilla police chief from office because, she told a local newspaper, he “intimidated” her.

Running on Extreme Fringe Evangelical Views

Sarah Palin drew early attention from state GOP apparatchiks when, during her first mayoral campaign, she ran on an anti-abortion platform. Normally, political parties do not get involved in Alaskan municipal elections because they are nonpartisan. But once word of her extreme fringe evangelical views made its way to Juneau, the state capitol, state Republicans tossed some money behind her campaign.

Once in office, Palin set out to build a machine that chewed up anyone who got in her way. The good, Godly Christian turns out to be anything but.

“She’s doesn’t like different opinions and she refuses to compromise,” Kilkenny notes. “When she was mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t hers. Worse, ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them.”

Sound familiar? Palin may well be Dick Cheney’s reincarnate.

Something else has a familiar Republican ring to it: Her tax policies, and a “refund surpluses but borrow for the future” attitude.

According to Kilkenny and others in Wasilla as well as Juneau, Palin reduced progressive property taxes for businesses while mayor and increased a regressive sales tax which even hits necessities such as food. The tax cuts she promoted in her St. Paul speech actually benefited large corporate property owners far more than they benefited residents. Indeed, Kilkenny insists that many Wasilla home owners actually saw their tax bill skyrocket to make up for the shortfall. Two other Wasillian’s with whom I spoke said property taxes on their modest, three bedroom homes rose during the Palin regime.

To an outsider, it would seem hard to do, but an oil-rich town with zero debt on the day she was inaugurated mayor was left saddled with $22 million of debt by the time she moved away to become governor – especially since nothing was spent on things such as improving the city’s infrastructure or building a much-needed sewage treatment plant. So what did Mayor Palin spend the taxpayer’s money on, if not fixing streets and scrubbing sewage?

For starters, she remodelled her office. Several times over, as a matter of fact.

Then Palin spent $1 million on an unnecessary, new park that no one other than the contractors and Palin seemed to want. Next, Sarah doled out more than $15 million of taxpayer money for a sports complex that she shoved through even though the city did not own clear title to the land; now, seven years later, the matter is still in litigation and lawyer fees are said to be close to at least half of the original estimated price of the facility.

She also worked hard to get voters approval of a $5.5 million bond proposal for roads that could have been built without borrowing. Anchorage may not be the center of the financial universe but, like good Republicans everywhere, Sarah Palin knows how to please Alaskan bankers and bond dealers.

For good measure, she turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots.

Sarah Barracuda

En route to the governor’s igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings. She took the job despite having no background in energy issues and, as it turned out, not liking the work.

“She hated the job,” an OGCC staff member who is not authorized to speak with the news media told me. “She hated the hours and she hated what little work there was to do. But she couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the thing without offending Gov. Murkowski” and the state Republican Party regulars, some of whom were pissed off they didn’t get appointed.

But ever the opportunist, Palin quickly concocted a way. First, she waged a campaign with the local news media claiming that the position was overpaid and should be abolished – despite the fact that she lobbied Murkowski hard to get it. Then, mounting what she saw as a white horse, Palin raised a cloud of dust by resigning from the OGCC and riding away with an undeserved reputation as a “reformer.”

But when a local reporter dared to suggest that the reformer Empress has no clothes, Palin tried to get her fired.

“She came at me like I was trying to steal her kids,” said the targeted reporter, who now works for an oil company in Anchorage. “I heard she had a wild temper and vicious mean streak but it’s nothing like you can imagine until she turns it on you.”

Not surprising since some of her high school classmates still openly call her “Sarah Barracuda,” Kilkenny insists.

Still, as a Republican Party hack Palin managed to get herself elected running under the false flag of a “reformer.”

And what did she bring to the job? No legislative experience other than a city council of a village of 5,000 people, which is smaller than some high schools in Chicago. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; after all, she needed to hire a city administrator to run Wasilla. No executive experience, except for almost being recalled as mayor. A philosophy of setting public policy based on one word: No.

And what has she done since winning the job?

According to Kilkenny, nothing. Well, nothing other than suggesting the state’s multi-multi-million dollar, oil-generated surplus be distributed to residents and finance future state needs by borrowing money. Gee, doesn’t that sound precisely what George Bush did with the surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton in 2001 and we all know in what great shape Bush’s economic policies left the nation.

It may explain why, when asked by reporters, including me, what she thought about Palin being picked to be McCain’s running mate, her mother-in-law replied with a sardonic, “What has Sarah done to qualify her to be vice president?” Of course, when the woman – said by many I spoke with to be well-respected in Wasilla – was running to succeed Palin as mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her, so that may explain the family tension.

As Governor, Palin gave the legislature no direction and budget guidelines, according to the chair of a legislative committee. But then she staged a huge grandstand play of line-item vetoing countless projects, calling them pork. “They were restored because of public outcry and legislative action,” the aide said. “She vetoed them mostly because she had no idea what they were or why they were important.”

But it was enough to get the McCain, who is mostly unobservant of the world around him anyway, to think Palin has a reputation as being “anti-pork”.

In fact, Juneau observers note that Palin kept her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork ladled out by indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be politically unwise to keep supporting it, these same insiders assert. Then, Palin fell back on her old habits and publicly humiliated him for pork-barrel politics.

As for being “ready on day one” to be commander in chief, despite the repeated public claims she’s made, the Alaska National Guard commander said that, “she has made no command decisions, other than sending some troops to help fight a few brush fires and march in parades at county fairs.”

“Sambo Beat the Bitch”

“Palin is a conniving, manipulative, a**hole,” someone who thinks these are positive traits in a governor told me, summing up Palin’s tenure in Alaska state and local politics.

“She’s a bigot, a racist, and a liar,” is the more blunt assessment of Arnold Gerstheimer who lived in Alaska until two years ago and is now a businessman in Idaho.

“Juneau is a small town; everybody knows everyone else,” he adds. “These stories about what she calls blacks and Eskimos, well, anyone not white and good looking actually, were around long before she became a glint in John McCain’s rheumy eyes. Why do I know they’re true? Because everyone who isn’t aboriginal or Indian in Alaska talks that way.”

“Sambo beat the bitch” may be everyday language up in the bush. Whether it – and the outlook, politics and worldview Palin reflects when she says such things in public – should be part of a presidential campaign is another thing altogether. The comment says as much about McCain as it does about Palin, and it says a lot of things about Americans who overlook such statements (as well as her record) and vote anyway for McCain.

by Charley James

Voting with "YOUR TRIBE"

2008-09-10T15:13:00.002-04:00

This is a commentary by Roland Martin. I agree with every he is saying here.

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Commentary: Race, age, gender are taboo in electionStory

By Roland S. Martin
CNN Contributor

Roland Martin says Americans need to rise above issues of race, age and gender when they vote.

(CNN) -- One of the most intriguing conversations I had at either the Democratic or Republican convention was with a white labor leader from Ohio.

I can't remember his name, but he made it clear that he is going all around the Rust Belt state looking his white union brothers and sisters in the eye and essentially shaming them into supporting Sen. Barack Obama for president.

No, he's not saying vote for the black man for president because he's black.

He said he's telling them that it's shameful that as Democrats, they agree with him on various political issues, but because of his skin color, they are refusing to cast ballots for him.

"We have gone to our black brothers and sisters for years to support our [white] candidates, and it's wrong for us to stand here and not support one of their own, even though we're Democrats," he barked.

There is nothing more in-your-face than to hear someone speak truthfully to the inherent racism that is at play in this election.

For all the talk about inclusion and the historic nature of this campaign, the true tribal feelings of so many people will come into play, whether we want to admit it or not.

We are seeing remarkable bias playing strongly in this election. Exit-polling data in the primaries showed some evidence of bias when it came to age, race and gender, but the great concern is whether people are as honest in talking to pollsters as they are in the voting booth.

Because Sen. John McCain is 72 and would be the oldest person to be sworn in as president, there is a lot of dialogue about how old this white guy is, and how wrong it is that he's running. Age questions also have been raised about the 47-year-old black guy from Chicago and whether he is too young and inexperienced to lead.

While there is a lot of talk and excitement surrounding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin being named as the first woman on a Republican ticket, and what that may mean in terms of widespread female support coming the way of McCain-Palin, there are some voices who refuse to vote for a woman.

We've also seen a number of prominent women -- including Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn and radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger -- who have questioned whether the 44-year-old white mother of five children should be vice president, considering she has five children, including a special needs child.

It's wonderful to talk about the economy, immigration, the war in Iraq, health care and education, but we can't be naïve to the reality that when voters go into that voting booth, they will, as one person told me during an interview, "vote with their tribe."

That was one of the arguments we heard during the Democratic primaries when Obama enjoyed overwhelming support from African-Americans -- to the tune of 90-plus percent -- while Sen. Hillary Clinton had major female support, largely white, in the range of 65 to 70 percent.

So what do we do when it comes to our tendency to follow group identification?

1. Stop dancing around the topic. When you watch TV and hear folks talk about Wal-Mart moms or small, rural towns, they are talking about white Americans. These catch phrases never include African-Americans or Hispanics

2. Confront bias where it is. Ask your friends, neighbors, co-workers and church members who they are voting for. When they give you the "I really can't put my finger on it" line, then press them. Hard. You know the real answer, so don't beat around the bush. The best folks to challenge Americans on their hang-ups regarding age, race and gender aren't the AARP, NAACP or NOW. It's Y-O-U. Don't give in to the "That's the way I was raised" mantra. When someone suggests that flags and faith show that a candidate isn't one of us, drill down.

3. Accept the fact that some people will not change. We all think that we have been gifted to the degree that our sane and logical arguments can get folks off their biased stumps. Some people just won't give in. Fine, move on. The goal is to rid our society of as much bias as possible. If someone is so hard-headed, then you have to go on to the next person and try to change them.

It's critical that we be as honest as possible about the impact of race, age and gender in campaigns. A lot of people love to toss around the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s quote that he hoped one day people would be judged by "the content of their character." But it's still a reality that skin tone, gender and our birth date means more than character to a lot of Americans.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

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