W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Tha Artivist: The Revolution Won’t Be Televised But It Will Be Blogged, Podcasted & Broadcasted Online

"The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press." ~Ida B. Wells-Barnett

“Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.”

“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”~Frederick Douglass

“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”~Malcolm X

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."~Dr. Martin Luther King

"But now with the living conditions deteriorating, and with the sure knowledge that we are slated for destruction, we have been transformed into an implacable army of liberation."
~George Jackson

Many people in this age of technology and instant gratification use online resources such as networking websites (Facebook, MySpace, Ning), internet radio, Youtube.com, and blogs to communicate important knowledge/info to their circle of friends, family and relatives as well as to complete strangers. The internet has had a phenomenal impact on grassroots marketing and organizing just take the highly successful campaign of Pres. Barack Obama for example.

My goal is to show the audience how they too can effect progressive change on the worldwide web.

In my three plus years of blogging and podcasting I have demonstrated how one person can make a world of difference by utilizing their resources and talents effectively. My popular weekly internet radio podcast W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe averages almost 2,000 listeners a week. The reason I feel I have such a large audience in only two years of podcasting is because I am always at the forefront covering powerful stories/narratives on the human experience especially as it relates to people of color.

For example, I was one of the first people in the U.S. to interview some of the principles in which became known as the Jena 6 movement. I have also shed light on other cases and topics since then such as resurrecting the memory and legacy of jazz and music education great Jimmie Lunceford (http://www.jimmieluncefordjam.blogspot.com), bringing much needed attention to the continued military murder cover up of Pfc. LaVena Johnson as well as interviewing the leading history makers of our times including such charismatic personalities/icons as Dr. John Hope Franklin, former Congresswoman and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, Civil Rights Legend Charles Evers (the brother of Medgar Evers), award winning investigative civil rights cold case journalist Jerry Mitchell, portrait artist Simmie Knox (the first Black person ever commissioned to do the official U.S. Presidential portrait-Bill Clinton) among others.

These podcasts have inspired many people to not only learn more about the subjects and topics my efforts have sought to cover, but it also inspired them to answer the clarion call for more citizen journalism and many folks are now blogging and podcasting because of my example. I am truly humbled that my efforts have been utilized as a source of empowerment to help people empower themselves through technology. There is so much work to be done because corporate media only reports less than 1% percent of the news actually going on in the world on a daily basis.

We must remember that what made the America Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s a very successful one was the fact the leaders understood the power of the media of their time as well as how to effectively utilize it. Whether it was using photos of a horribly disfigured Chicago youth (Emmett Till) to spark global outrage, a local community radio station DJ sending coded messages in music and commentary to empower the participants of a historic 381 consecutive days bus boycott in Montgomery, a widely published letter from a jail cell in Birmingham, the terrifying TV images of dogs and water hoses being doused on brave men, women and children during a peaceful protest, or a man of color proclaiming that he had a dream for us all from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the media played a prominent role in getting the people’s side of the story out to the masses. Now is the time to renew our commitment to this noteworthy cause and struggle. Yes We Can!!!

Remember The Revolution Won't Be Televised But It Will Be Blogged, Podcasted & Now Broadcasted Online!!!

Artastically, Communally & Revolutionarily Yours,

Tha Artivist
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Founder and Minister of Information
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe
http://www.youtube.com/weallbetv
http://www.weallbe.blogspot.com

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To see or rather "hear" how far W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio has come please listen to the first broadcast, Jan. 7, 2007:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/01/07/tha-artivist-presents

Also check out how good we were in "2008 a.k.a. The Year Of Citizen Radio":
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-all-be-news-radio-made-2008-year-of.html

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*Support W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio!!!*

The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needing Funds Drive For W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Begins...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-all-be-needing-funds-drive-for-we.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Supporting W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio: Buy Art & Gear For 'The Cause' Today!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-all-be-supporting-we-all-be-news.html

It's A Recession: Even Worse For Young Workers...

Even Worse For Young Workers

By BOB HERBERT
NY TIMES

The employment situation in the U.S. is, if anything, worse than most people realize. And huge numbers of young people, ages 16 to 30, are being beaten down in ways that could leave scars for a lifetime.

Much of the attention in this economic downturn has focused on the growing legions of men and women who are officially counted as unemployed. There are now more than 11 million of them.

But a better picture of the economic distress related to employment emerges when the number of jobless Americans is combined with two other categories of workers: the underemployed (those who are working part time, for example, because they can’t find full-time work) and the so-called labor force reserve, workers who have abandoned their job searches but who would work if employment became available.

This total pool of underutilized labor has now risen above 24 million, according to researchers at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. That total will only grow in the coming months.

The Obama administration has more than enough on its plate at the moment, but before long it will likely have to consider a range of additional strategies, beyond the recently passed stimulus package, for putting jobless Americans to work.

A comparison of the number of people being thrown out of work in this recession with that of the severe recession of 1981-82 will indicate why. The peak unemployment rate was higher in that earlier recession than today’s 7.6 percent, largely because the last big wave of the baby-boom generation was entering the job market in the early ’80s. Those boomers who couldn’t find work were officially counted as unemployed.

What is different and more frightening about the current downturn is the number of people actually losing their jobs — being laid off or fired. That number is dramatically, dangerously higher.

The government uses two different surveys to gauge employment data. The household survey, based on telephone interviews, showed that job losses in the 13 months that followed the beginning of the 1981-82 recession reached 1.53 million. In the first 13 months of this recession, the number of jobs lost, according to the household survey, has been a staggering 4 million.

The payroll survey, which is based on employment records, showed job losses of 1.7 million in the first 13 months of the earlier downturn compared with 3.5 million in the current recession.

Pick your poison. This is not the kind of downturn Americans are used to.

The ones who are being hit the hardest and will have the most difficult time recovering are America’s young workers. Nearly 2.2 million young people, ages 16 through 29, have already lost their jobs in this recession. This follows an already steep decline in employment opportunities for young workers over the past several years.

Good jobs were hard to find for most categories of workers during that period. One of the results has been that older men and women have been taking and holding onto jobs that in prior eras would have gone to young people.

“What we’ve seen over the past eight years, for young people under 30, is the largest age reversal with regard to jobs that we’ve ever had in our history,” said Andrew Sum, the director of the Center for Labor Market Studies. “The younger you are, the more you got pushed out of this labor market.”

There were not enough jobs to go around before the recession took hold. So the young, the poor and the poorly educated were already suffering. Now that pool of suffering is rapidly expanding.

This has ominous long-term implications for the country. The economy cannot perform well with such a large cohort of young people condemned to marginal economic status.

Young men and women who remain unemployed for substantial periods of time find it very difficult to make up that ground. They lose the experience and training they would have gained by working. Even if they eventually find employment, they tend to lag behind their peers when it comes to wages, promotions and job security.

Moreover, as the economy worsens, even the college educated are feeling the crunch.

According to a report by researchers working with Mr. Sum: “While young college graduates have fared the best in maintaining some type of employment, a growing fraction of them are becoming mal-employed, holding jobs in occupations that do not require much schooling beyond high school, often displacing their less-educated peers.”

Employment problems have festered in the United States for decades. The economy will never be brought to a state of health until those problems are more thoughtfully and more directly engaged. This will become more and more clear with each passing month of this hideous recession.

Words Of Wisdom From 2008 W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Artivist Of The Year Sis. Callie Herd: It's Never Too Late.

Video: Sis. Callie Herd Accepting 2008 W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Artivist Of The Year Award

It's Never Too Late
by Sis. Callie Herd
2008 W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Artivist Of The Year

I wanted to send out a note to the "Class of 2009" and past classes or anyone that need to know that it is never too late to go for your goal(s) in life. Many times we have our eyes toward getting the students graduated, but not looking beyond at those who felt that they can't go to college or get a decent job, or those who didn't make the requirements to graduate, but just dropped out.

I am told that life doesn't end after high school graduation, but it is the beginning of you starting your future to adulthood. Question: If we are given 3 scores and 10 years, what happens to the other 52 years after high school graduation? High schools students only use up less than one third of the years at graduation, but we acted as if it is completely over for that student or child that didn't graduate or who didn't decide to go to college until after graduation.

We must wake up and stop making the students that didn't go to college feel hopeless. Many times we may fall down, but we can still get back up and go for our dreams in life. Just because a student may have been a slow performer in high school doesn't mean he can't make it in life. There are many variables that may have allowed the student not to perform his or her best, but having a less than 2.0 GPA doesn't mean he or she doesn't have the ability to do something meaningful with his or her life.

Guys, as you read my thoughts today, I was driven to write this particular note because God was continually bringing to my attention parents, students and friends that wanted to help save these particular child(ren)/students. Some of them were very afraid that they wouldn't be able to make it in life, but it seemed (but they didn't say) that they too were feeling that the child or student current circumstances dictated that their life choices would be very slim, limited or maybe none.

I say "hog wash" because you control your destiny and must believe in you even when "Man may say "NO!"; you must say "YES!"". Life doesn't end because you make a mistake, but rather when you learn and do better from it, it manifests.

When I hear the cries from parents and students throughout the country, I too say "Yes You Can" and "Keep Hope Alive". We must began embracing these students and letting them know that they too have a future, if they really want it. It is ironic when I think about it because, as we go through life that these students will become many of our "Traditional College Students" because no one told them it was alright to go ahead and try to attend college and if it meant that they should take remedial or pre-courses that is okay. Many of these students believe this is a sign of being dumb when you take pre-courses. But I say remedial courses makes them stronger students so that they can be successful in their career choices.

Some of these students will go to college or trade-school because the welfare system will have it as one of the requirements to attend college, but still they didn't know they still had a choice to go without being forced.

I ask that we gain true knowledge and let the students and parents know that it is not too late and that they should seek an answer and not assume that life is over at 18 years old.

If all of us took the time to learn the true meaning of Community Service, what an awesome world we would live in. Community Service doesn't have a face or color, but rather it goes out to help his fellowman and doesn't wonder if that person may succeed him or her in life, but rather will still help in making the world a better place.

Below is a link that I wrote on Community Service and an essay that my daughter, Molisa wrote on her vision of how she would like to contribute her life to helping others.

Why Community Service?

As I come to a close, I ask that you take the time to help those that are lost and in search of life happiness. They too can keep their heads up and know that "life challenges goes to the man who thinks he or she can." They must also have faith and trust in knowing that their dreams will manifest.

As always visit and share the blog, Planning and Preparing for Colleges (Scholarships, Internships, Etc) located at http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com/ with others. I did and it does work.

See Also On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio...

New Article On Sis. Callie Herd a.k.a. Tha Artivist's Mom...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-article-on-sis-callie-herd-aka-tha.html

Gift To Class Of 2009 & Others:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/06/gift-to-class-of-2009-and-others-please.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Profiles Sis. Herd In "Mothers With Courage Special" (Sis. Herd's Interview Is In The First Hour):

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/05/11/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Mumia Speaks: Inheriting An Empire.

[col. writ. 2/21/09] (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

Of all the myriad things to inherit, perhaps the worst is an empire, for such a transmission brings with it the duty of defense, which, in time, invariably becomes defending the indefensible.

For empires are constructed of crimes, and similarly so maintained.

They are birthed in invasion, nursed on occupation and raised on the cruel gruel of repression, torture and brutality.

That is their intrinsic nature as shown by the abundant examples of history. This was shown best by Rome, which ravaged the then-known world to enrich the 'eternal city'. Nations were invaded, their nobles either slain or enslaved, puppets were installed, and the natural resources extracted to feed the ever-hungry maw of Rome.

For millions of Blacks, the Obama election has sparked a new way of thinking and speaking of an America that has, heretofore, been a subject of considerable ambivalence. For perhaps the first time in U.S. history (certainly since Reconstruction), millions speak of the U.S. as "we", instead of "they."

This may well be a turning point in American history.

But is the American Empire "ours" simply because a Black man is the nation's chief executive?

Did we vote it into being, or did we merely inherit it?

Most who voted for Obama certainly didn't vote for the Iraq War, one of the most overt imperial projects in modern U.S. history. They supported a quick and decisive end of the war - not its continuation nor its expansion.

Indeed, of all Americans, Blacks opposed the war the most vehemently, according to national polls.

Perhaps it was the deep memory of national oppression that made it so unseemly to support such an oppressive occupation against the Iraqi people; perhaps it was the clumsiness of the government's lies used to 'sell' the invasion.

But empires begotten by violence and exploitation are poisonous things that damage both sides of this deadly duo.

The British Empire toiled for generations to conquer and exploit over 1/2 of Africa, most of Asia and two-thirds of the Americas. But all of that crumbled when the nation was almost broken under the weight of the Germans, and she was too weak to hold her colonies. Indeed America, as the strongest to emerge from the war, inherited much of Britain's loss, as well as other European powers.

It inherited the Vietnam War when the French could no longer sustain it, and paid a heavy price of death and defeat.

Empires shouldn't be inherited lightly, like knick-knacks from an elderly grandma.

This is especially so in democracies, where the people allegedly determine public policy, for what public policy could be more dire than imperial war?

--(c) '09 maj

====================

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

Audio of most of Mumia's essays are at: http://www.prisonradio.org

PLEASE CONTACT:
International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ
P.O. Box 19709
Philadelphia, PA 19143
Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180
E-mail - icffmaj@aol.com
Web - www.freemumia.com
AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
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AM 8335
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Waynesburg, PA 15370

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

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[Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM:
A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South
End Press (http://www.southendpress.org); Ph.
#1-800-533-8478.]

Mumia Speaks: Wildin' On Wall Street.

[col. writ. 2/23/09] (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

For years now, banks, investment houses and brokerage firms have engaged in a feverish dance of hustling from home-owners, using devices like ARM's (adjustable rate mortgages), offering loans at low or no interest which balloon into traps, forcing foreclosures that insured new properties could be sold, with the hustle being hustled anew.

You know what these hustlers think of the economy that they've brought to the brink of disaster? You needn't look far, for cable systems were ablast with the video of a 'reporter' on the trading floor of the stock exchange going full tilt over the alleged misdirection of monies going to homeowners struggling to make their mortgages.

It looked like a pig fighting for more slop in his trough -- upset that he couldn't get it all. They were angry that the other pigs of Wall Street couldn't get more, while standing amidst the economic wreckage.

The nation's economy is falling not only because of the epic greed on Wall Street -- the long Iraq debacle, with its 'lost' billions certainly didn't help -- but these princes of capital certainly played a pivotal role.

And the irony isn't that they want more; it's that these pigs will probably get it!

For if capital is anything, it is hopelessly amoral.

Its only interest is gain.

If any people in America know this, it's African Americans, whose grandparents were capitalist - owned chattel like horses or swine.

Except for a tiny band of radicals called abolitionists, many of whom were driven by deep religious fervor, few in American life considered slavery wrong, for many considered it as natural as grass growing on the lawn in spring.

The reason the economy is still stuck in idle isn't because of a lack of stimulus; it's the tremendous distrust on both sides.

Bankers are afraid to lend lest they won't be repaid; lenders are afraid they'll be trapped and tricked by slick language hidden in loan agreements.

Meanwhile, the House of Capital crumbles from within and without.

--(c) '09 maj

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WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Check Out Michelle Obama's Most Recent Weekly Addresses(2/18/2009 & 2/24/2009)

Video: 2/18/09: Michelle Obama's Weekly Address

Video: Joaquin Phoenix Comes Clean on Michelle Obama Address

Video: 2/24/09: Michelle Obama's Weekly Address

See Also...

2/12/09: Michelle Obama's Weekly Address
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/02/21209-michelle-obamas-weekly-address.html

Yes We Can!!!

I Was There...Tha Artivist's Thoughts On Inauguration 2009...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-was-theretha-artivists-thoughts-on.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Artists: Sis. Rachel Crouch:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/check-out-first-installment-of-we-all.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special:Reflections On The 2009 Inauguration Part One:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/01/23/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: Yes He Did...So Now What??? Defining The Obama Presidency...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/16/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special:O Yes We Did!!! The Barack Obama Tribute...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/09/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: Barack Obama & The Hip Hop Effect On American Politics:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/02/10/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

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Get The Barack Obama Holiday Inaugural Gift Package By R2C2H2 Tha Artivist!!!

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-barack-obama-holiday-inaugural-gift.html

2-25-2009~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special~Re-Discovering Martin & Malcolm In The Age Of Obama: A Tribute.

Celebrating 2 Full Years In The Biz: Ain't No Stopping Us Now!!!

February 2009 Theme: No Justice No Peace!!!
Air Date: Weds. February 25, 2009
E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

Listen Online:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/02/26/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Topic~Re-Discovering Martin & Malcolm In The Age Of Obama: A Tribute

"I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."
Ralph Ellison

"If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say,'There lived a great people—a black people—who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.'"

"We are not makers of history. We are made by history."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself."

"History is a people's memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals."
Malcolm X

Summary
Listen To Two Brilliant Timeless Thought Provoking Speeches By Two Brilliant Timeless Thought Provoking Men:

*The Ballot Or The Bullet (1964, Malcolm X)
*The Mountaintop Speech (1968, Dr. Martin Luther King)

With Special Appearances & Commentary By:
*Betty Shabazz (Malcolm X's Widow)
*Ossie Davis
*Robert Kennedy
*Louis Lomax
*James Baldwin
*James Farmer
*Malcolm X
*Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
*The People

As we navigate our way through the Age Of Obama let us not forget those who made the ultimate sacrifices for our progress. Let us honor those brave ancestors with a renewed spirit, courage and vision for liberty and justice for all.

We urge you all brothers and sisters to take your rightful places at the table of humanhood and demand the food and the compensation you seek for the replenishment and nourishment of your mind, body and spirit.

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Family So Spread The Love Agape Style And Remember That Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied!!!

Blessing You With Revolutionary Love & Courage

Remember The Revolution Won't Be Televised But It Will Be Blogged, Podcasted & Now Broadcasted Online!!!

Artastically, Communally & Revolutionarily Yours,

Tha Artivist
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Founder and Minister of Information
http://www.weallbe.blogspot.com/
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe
http://www.youtube.com/weallbetv

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. is looking forward to hearing from you all soon!!!

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: Black Liberation Theology 102: Putting Rev. Wright In The Right Context...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/30/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

We Honor Malcolm X On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/05/we-honor-malcolm-x-on-we-all-be-news.html

MLK: The Reluctant Hero...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/mlk-reluctant-hero.html

KING SIZE COURAGE Made Up For Dr. King's Shortcomings...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/01/king-size-courage-made-up-for-dr-kings.html

It Was All A Dream: Tigers' Connection To 68...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/it-was-all-dream-tigers-connection-to.html

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Specials*

Eye-Witness To The Crucifixion: The Last Days Of MLK...

Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/07/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio-1

******

Topic: If Memphis Could Talk Part 4~April 4th, 1968, Another Perspective...

Show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/12/14/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

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To see or rather "hear" how far W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio has come please listen to the first broadcast, Jan. 7, 2007:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/01/07/tha-artivist-presents

Also check out how good we were in "2008 a.k.a. The Year Of Citizen Radio":
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/we-all-be-news-radio-made-2008-year-of.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Supporting W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio: Buy Art & Gear For 'The Cause' Today!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-all-be-supporting-we-all-be-news.html

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Celebrate Black History And Love All Day Every Day With Works By Tha Artivist:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/celebrate-black-history-and-love-all.html

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Buy The Award Winning James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant

*Named To The Smithsonian Institute's Jazz Books For Kids And Young Adults List*

Official Website:

http://www.jazzlieutenant.blogspot.com/

Buy The Book @ Amazon.com

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$ Millions Of Dollars In Scholarships, Internships & Job Offers $
Please Visit

http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com/

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Check Out "The Empowerment Hour" Hosted By Bro. Kermit Eady Every Saturday @ 6 PM EST/ 5PM CST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/EadyAssociates

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Get The Barack Obama Holiday Inaugural Gift Package By R2C2H2 Tha Artivist!!!

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-barack-obama-holiday-inaugural-gift.html

Monday, February 23, 2009

Teaching African-American History in the Age of Obama

From The Slave Family To The First Family

By JESSICA MILLWARD

When I proposed a spring course on major topics in African-American history, drawing a large enrollment was my chief concern. I had previously taught the course under a different title at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a campus with a sizable African-American presence among students and faculty members. I now teach at a college whose African-American student population is about 2 percent and that continues to feel the impact of California's Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in public education more than a decade ago.

Of course, I believe that African-American history is a topic that all students should find intriguing; but without a "built in" audience, I suspected that I would have to rename the course to capture the imagination of a broad spectrum of students. Hoping to draw students caught up in the general excitement of the past year, I changed the title from what had been "Black History, 1619 to the Present" to the (dare I say) "postracial" "Major Topics in African-American History From Slavery to the Presidency." I submitted the course well before November 4, 2008, determined to keep the title regardless of the outcome of the election.

And then something profound happened. Barack Obama was elected president. Although the present milieu provides a special teaching opportunity, I want to be careful not to read the present into the past. How do I explain that within some four decades, African-Americans have gone from being barred from voting in the South to being represented in the highest office of the nation? At the same time, how will I teach that we cannot look at this exceptional moment as proof that race is not important and racism does not exist? I will have to stress continuity and change.

My pre-existing lectures must reconcile major themes of African-American history — which include but are not limited to the horrific violence of slavery, disenfranchisement, segregation, and economic disparity by race — with what is being hailed as a new message of hope.

As a scholar of slavery and African-American women's history, I am immediately struck by how the public portrayal of the black family is being reconstructed before our eyes. From their fist bump, to their dances at the inaugural balls, Barack and Michelle Obama have presented a new image of a black nuclear family (soon complete with puppy). That representation, however, must be balanced with the legacy of family separation during slavery and the persistence of African-American female-headed households. Lectures and discussions will show the unfortunate elements of enslavement, while being tuned to the brighter image we see today.

African-American resistance — be it to slavery or to discrimination — is a topic that always fascinates students. I will explain that decades of research by social historians have shown that enslaved people worked slowly or feigned illness to subvert the slave system in their own subtle ways. But I cannot ignore the role that violence has historically played in the history of African-Americans. I need to discuss the rape of slave women, lynchings during the era of Jim Crow, the hanging of nooses on the doors of black academics across the country in the fall of 2007, the sobering numbers of black youth murdered in our cities.

Just as important, I fear that our celebration of civil-rights achievements and what Rep. John Lewis has called a "nonviolent revolution" runs the risk of eradicating the lessons of more radical parts of our past. So I will urge my students to balance their discussion of Obama's brilliance in mobilizing the grass roots and calmly meeting the challenges of critics with other narratives. That will mean including lectures on black feminist thought, with its analysis of how power is coded by both race and gender; on the Black Power movement and Pan-African struggles for equality, which engage questions of imperial domination and decolonization. By situating the United States within a larger international context, students will have the opportunity to assess challenges to American exceptionalist claims about its past and present.

No matter how encouraging one may find messages of hope and civic responsibility, students should also understand that it takes time to change formal systems of government and informal mechanisms of power. For example, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, passed after the Civil War, prohibited discrimination at the polls based on former enslavement, race, or color. Yet African-Americans could not safely vote without threat of violence until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — a law that is up for renewal every 25 years. And although students like to draw comparisons between Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Hussein Obama, I will remind them that the president more resembles Franklin D. Roosevelt, and to a lesser extent John F. Kennedy, in his projected proposals for economic recovery. That will mean pointing out that at the end of his life King was prepared to mount a Poor People's Campaign of nonviolent confrontation to combat economic inequality.

The present moment in African-American history allows students to feel that they are architects of history. After all, large numbers of newly registered young people canvassed, voted, and went to the inauguration. Moreover, countless members of the so-called hip-hop generation have used MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube to document their experiences. What do they think about the fact that it was not so long ago that pundits were proclaiming them apolitical? Can they examine their creative output the same way we would any historical source?

I know that not everyone is happy with how the election played out, as evident in the sounds of booing, reports of spitting, and calls of the "N" word during John McCain's concession speech, or the costly bill associated with protecting this new first family. Students who supported McCain or did not endorse Obama also desire a voice in the classroom, and they may use the forum of an African-American history course to work out their response to a system that they feel has let them down. I need to consider how to teach African-American politics to students who may still feel resentment about the election results.

In my African-American-history courses, I have found discussions on Africa to be necessary — and compelling — as more and more children of African immigrants populate American classrooms. Although those students identify with their African-American peers, they beam with special pride as I do a roll call and ask, "Who is from Nigeria? Sierra Leone? South Africa?" I start all of my courses with lectures on the continent and continue to make intellectual connections to the African past. With Obama's election, and ties to Kenya, the connection between Africa and African-America is ever more apparent.

Black History Month is ending, and enrollment starts soon for the spring quarter. I'm already hearing about interest among students of varied racial backgrounds. Some of them may decide this course is not for them. But others will embark on a 10-week journey tracing the major themes in African-American history from slavery to the presidency. All of us may discover new points of contact with the material.

Jessica Millward is an assistant professor of history at the University of California at Irvine.

Yes We Can!!!

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Artists: Sis. Rachel Crouch:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/check-out-first-installment-of-we-all.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special:Reflections On The 2009 Inauguration Part One:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/01/23/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: Yes He Did...So Now What??? Defining The Obama Presidency...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/16/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

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Get The Barack Obama Holiday Inaugural Gift Package By R2C2H2 Tha Artivist!!!

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/get-barack-obama-holiday-inaugural-gift.html

Mumia Speaks: The Fallen...

The Fallen

[col. writ. 2/12/09] (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

A nation's economy is always a work of complexity, which accounts for the divergent opinions of economists, who often come down on different sides of the big issues, as in what works, and what doesn't.

Broadly speaking, the conflict is between classic and Keynesian economics, with the former of the view that the market is self-regulating, and the latter of the view that the market isn't self-regulating, but must be massaged and managed by government fiscal policies.

The latest stimulus package is Keynesian (after British economist John Maynard Keynes [1883-1946], as was the bailout of the banks and financial institutions.

It seeks to influence events by an aggressive expansionist fiscal policy.

But it seems like this is less stimulus than stopgap, for it seeks to stimulate something that is in almost deadly shape.

Look at it this way; if your heart stops, and you are given a powerful jolt of electricity, your heart may resume beating, but the problem is hardly solved.

You don't need a defibrillator unless the body (the system) is in an advanced state of collapse. And it's that state of serious illness that isn't being seriously addressed, for the American economy has been ill for quite some time.

Much can be traced to the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) era, which sought to emphatically transform the economy to one run on information and financial services, with the manufacturing to be exported to foreign markets where labor was cheaper.

Unfortunately, no serious educational efforts were undertaken to adjust to this dramatic economic shift, and instead, a decade was wasted on largely irrelevant battles over No Child Left Behind, when millions of children experienced school as a test-taking prison, instead of a site of substantive learning.

With manufacturing hollowed out, and real wages falling annually, how could the economy not have a massive seizure?

For, of all the money roaring through the U.S. economy, over 70% is from personal consumption of goods and services, which means the economy is consumer-driven.

Let us illustrate; the U.S. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for 2006 was over $13 trillion. Personal consumption of goods and services came to over $9 trillion.

The net effect of joblessness and lowered wages is a hit at the heart of the economy, that $750 billion could hardly touch.

Until the fundamentals can be recognized and corrected, these problems will continue, and the economy will sputter along, until the next heart attack.

--(c) '09 maj

====================

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

Civil Rights Ignorance Runs Amuck @ The National Civil Rights Museum...

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."
Marcus Garvey

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."
Dr. Carter G. Woodson

"History is a people's memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals."
Malcolm X

"I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."
Ralph Ellison

My name is Ronald Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 Tha Artivist. I am a concerned citizen of Memphis also known as the City of Good Abode. I thought this would be the perfect time to share some insight into what is currently passing as customer service & narrative excellence at the National Civil Rights Museum.

I was recently disappointed in the narrative presentation by two different tour guides on two separate occasions at the museum. The first disappointment took place Nov. 1, 2008. I was the local community organizer representative for Amnesty International. Amnesty International at that time was granted a special tour of the museum. Amnesty International was of course in town to have their annual southern regional conference. Although there were several tours that evening given for Amnesty International, the particular one I was on was an utter disappointment. The woman who led the tour was unenthusiastic and did not seem to possess a sincere grasp and understanding of the materials she was presenting. The crowd did not seem energized by her or by the wonderful exhibits and artifacts presented at your institution. I was truly utterly disappointed and chose to cut my tour short with my guest.

The second time I had issue with the quality of the presentation of your institution was Saturday Dec. 6, 2008. I brought a friend from Atlanta to view this true national treasure. This was her first time going to the museum. The tour guide once again did a very poor and inferior job of following the narrative laid out by your institution. She told folks that Marcus Garvey discovered Liberia and she even confused John Lewis with James Meredith. She made every mistake possible in relaying the Scottsboro Nine case and even told our group that Emmett Till was discovered in a ditch and not the Tallahatchie River. Although she had tons of enthusiasm she clearly lacked knowledge and how to disseminate it. She had no business being a tour guide let alone a gatekeeper/guardian of such a precious narrative such as the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.

When I helped her with the history of the Highlander School she asked if I would be interested in helping her co-lead the tour. I respectfully declined. I did not pay $20 for my guest and I to being doing this poor lady’s job for free.

What was really frightening was the fact that many of the older people in our group and some of the elders that should have known better did not correct her. We had young people in our group being misled by people they are suppose to trust. The blind is leading the blind. This is not only irresponsible but is also very precarious and can really hurt the National Civil Museum’s brand and reputation if this type of mediocrity is continued in terms of how the tour guides are selected and/or trained. I shudder to think about how many people have been bamboozled , hoodwinked and led astray by the incompetence and futility of some of your tour guides.

Just because people are hungry doesn’t mean they should be served rat poison to eat. With that said I urge you to train your tour guides better so that people can get a better understanding as to why your extraordinary institution exists in the first place. There is a clear need for the services your organization can offer, but I must remind you that dysfunctionality doesn’t replace functionality.

When I was younger, I use to volunteer along with my mom as a tour guide when the museum first opened its doors. I took so much pride and interest in helping my mom present the story during my tenure that my love and fondness for our nation’s history, the good, bad and the ugly, has grown since then. I am more than happy to offer my expertise in ensuring that your tour guides are better trained and acclimated to the demands and purpose of their jobs. Just like the sanitation workers strike that moved MLK to come to Memphis over 40 years ago there still is a fierce urgency to get this narrative right, right now. The future is present thus the zeitgeist or the spirit of the times dictates/demands action in the affirmative.

Sincerely not in malice but in goodwill,
Ron Herd II a.k.a.

Tha Artivist
Founder Of W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News
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e-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com
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An Untold Backstory Of The Founding Of The National Civil Rights Museum...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/05/untold-backstory-of-founding-of.html

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: February 18, 2007~"We Shall Overcome"-The Henry Hampton Collection (Creator of the Award Winning Eyes On The Prize Documentary)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/02/18/tha-artivist-presentsmaking-b

It Was All A Dream: Tigers' Connection To 68...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/it-was-all-dream-tigers-connection-to.html

Find A Civil Rights Veteran Today!!!

http://www.crmvet.org

Eye-Witness To The Crucifixion: The Last Days Of MLK...

Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/07/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio-1

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Topic: If Memphis Could Talk Part 4~April 4th, 1968, Another Perspective...

Show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/12/14/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Listen To The Exclusive 'Heating Up The Civil Rights Cold Case Files With Bro. Jerry Mitchell' Interview Only On...

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: We Decide 2008:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/02/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio-1

Dr. Young Gives Food For Thought On What It's Like To Be A Civil Rights Pioneer...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/dr-young-gives-food-for-thought-on-what.html

John Legend Responds To Racist Cartoon With Open Letter To The New York Post. Boycott The NY Post!!!

John Legend Responds To Racist Cartoon With Open Letter to The New York Post

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 18, 2009, The New York Post ran an editorial cartoon comparing the author of the federal stimulus bill to a crazed chimpanzee shot and killed by police earlier in the week after attacking a woman in Stamford, Connecticut. John Legend responded to the cartoon with the following open letter to the Post:

Dear Editor:

I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our president has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?

If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.

I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.

You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.

I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new president, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.

Sincerely,

John Legend

SOURCE Columbia Records

Related Links:
http://www.johnlegend.com
http://www.columbiarecords.com
Boycott The NY Post
http://www.colorofchange.org/nypost/?id=2308-869890