Thursday, August 28, 2008

Three Years Later: What's Really Hurting The Recovery

Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune
Erica and Brian Dejan look at what is left of a flooded home they recently purchased on Kendall Drive in Gentilly Woods Saturday, August 16, 2008. Despite being told by City Hall that the flooded home they purchased in June was taken off the city's demolition list, the home was being torn down this morning.

Incompetence on the part of city bureaucrats helped crush a Gentilly family's dream Saturday. Brian and Erica DeJan, who are soon expecting a baby, bought a large fixer-upper to accommodate their growing family. The city had granted the DeJans the necessary building permit and the family had put time and money into rehabbing the house.

The city also had the house at 5132 Kendall Drive on its demolition list, a list that logic precluded the DeJans from checking. The city would really have to screw up to tear down a house it knew the DeJans were rebuilding.

The city did just that -- even after the DeJans saw a demolition sticker on the Kendall Drive house and protested. The city did just that -- less than 24 hours after giving Erica DeJan a letter promising not to demolish the house unless a public hearing found it necessary.

The city did just that -- even though tearing down the DeJan's house, to quote Mayor Ray Nagin, hurts the recovery. Not in a symbolic sense, but in a tangible and personal way.

Bureaucracies can be cold and impersonal and so complex and multi-layered that the bureaucrats inside forget that their incompetence, their laggardness, their contradictory messages can devastate residents.

The DeJans had invested money in that house. They had put work into it. They were planning their future there. And the best Sanitation Director Veronica White could come up with Saturday was an e-mail saying the DeJans could have prevented the tear-down if they'd made noise at least 72 hours before the scheduled demolition.

How about the city cross-referencing its list of building permits with its list of homes scheduled for demolition and flagging all the addresses that appear on both? Then, how about making it impossible to demolish a house that's flagged? Better yet, how about a computer program (something a competent chief technology officer would create) that would signal an error if there were an attempt to add to one list a house that was already included on the other?

How about city bureaucrats realizing that they are not dealing with addresses -- that they are not even engaged in high-minded acts of recovery -- but should on a microlevel be helping people get on with their lives?

Every stage of this city's recovery has been met by the public's impatience. The magnitude of the destruction remains especially incomprehensible to people who haven't seen it with their own eyes. So they wonder if the pace of the recovery doesn't reveal some moral failure in the people still struggling to return to normalcy.

There are hundreds of thousands of people, I say, all deciding whether to repair a house, tear it down or sell it, whether to cut their ties with the city or start all over again here -- and their decisions may be complicated by their insurance companies shortchanging them, by family succession issues, by their children's attachment to a new school or by their employer's departure from New Orleans.

And then there are the impediments of government: a Road Home program that has been slow and stingy and a local administration that has gone on at length about the emperor's new-looking city.

Reports about how well the city is recovering did nothing for the DeJans. Their personal investment in the city's comeback was destroyed by the city itself.


Bro. Jarvis De Berry is an awarding winning journalist and editorial writer at the New Orleans Times-Picayune...He along with members of the New Orleans Times-Picayune Staff recently won a Pulitzer Prize for their amazing reporting post-Hurricane Katrina and also for an open letter to Mr.Bush concerning the Hurricane Katrina Fiasco entitled Dear Mr. President...Bro. De Berry like W.E. A.L.L. B.E.'s founder and Minista of Information R2C2H2 Tha Artivist is an alum of Washington University and The John B. Ervin Scholars Program...Bro. Deberry can be e-mailed at jdeberry@timespicayune.com or called at (504) 826-3355

Posted by tha artivist at 12:06 PM 0 comments

8/31/08~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special~Never Forget: Hurricane Katrina Three Years Later...




One Full Year On The Air!!!







August 2008's Theme Is "Let's Get Free"

Date: Sunday August 31, 2008

Time: 4PM C/5PM E/2PM P





Topic: Never Forget...Hurricane Katrina Three Years Later...

“In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed... It means facing a system that does not lend its self to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.”
~Ella Baker

"Look For Me In The Whirlwind Or The Storm."
~Marcus Garvey



Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans???

You Probably Do Since There Has Been A Corporate Media Blackout Of The Aftermath Of One Of America's Greatest Human Made Tragedies...Three Years Later It Still Seems That What Hit The Crescent City Happened Only Three Days Ago...The City Will Never Be The Same...Since This Is A Political Season The Question Remains : How Are We Going To Rebuild A Country When We Can't Rebuild A Great American City???

Eerily As Another Storm Approaches The Gulf Coast This Weekend, What Does The Future Has In Store For New Orleans & The Rest Of The Nation???

*Please Read The Following Articles To See Where This Is Going:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-orleans-three-years-later-numbers.html

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-orleans-three-years-later-justice.html

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/08/three-years-later-whats-really-hurting.html

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/08/three-years-after-katrina-state-of.html


Our Esteemed And Honorable Guests:


1.) Popular New Orleans Visual Artist Bro. Oscar Donahue


2.) Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Bro. Jarvis De Berry Of The New Orleans Times Picayune




*Read The Washington University In St. Louis Magazine Article About Bro. Oscar Donahue & Bro. Jarvis De Berry Surviving Hurricane Katrina & Thriving Post-Hurricane F.E.M.A.:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2006/09/tale-of-two-katrina-survivors-and.html


3.) Political Activist & Director Of The Disaster Accountability Project Bro. Ben Smilowitz

http://www.disasteraccountability.org/


4.) Activist & Community Services Program Manager @ Tulane University Sis. Avery Brewton



5.) Folk Musician Extraordinaire & Political Activist Bro. Timbre Wolf


6.) You!!!

*Featuring Music By Woo Child, Brothas Keepa & Timbre Wolf!!!*


****
Get Involved

As Always You Can Catch Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Live Every Sunday By Clicking On The Following Link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe

Please Be Our Invited Guest By Calling Us Live @ 646-652-4593 Or E-mailing Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com


As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!



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W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Reps Black History 365 Days A Year!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-all-be-news-radio-reps-black-history_29.html


~~~~~~

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 Book @ Amazon.com


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Posted by tha artivist at 4:49 AM 0 comments

Three Years After Katrina: A State Of Emergency Report...

While Republicans And Democrats Gather And Celebrate, A City Still Searches For Recovery


By Jordan Flaherty
http://www.leftturn.org/

While much of the media focuses on conventions and running mates, the third anniversary of Katrina offers an opportunity to examine the results of disastrous federal, state and local policy on the people of New Orleans. Several organizations have released powerful reports in the past week, examining the current state of the city; while grassroots activists have plans to broadcast their message from the streets. For those who have heard only uplifting stories about the city's recovery, the facts on the ground offer an urgent reminder of the ongoing disaster.

According to a study by PolicyLink, 81 percent of those who received the Federally-funded, State-administered Road Home grants had insufficient resources to cover their damages. The average Road Home applicant fell about $35,000 short of the money they need to rebuild their home, and African-American households on average had an almost 35% higher shortfall than white households.

More than one in three residential addresses – over 70,000 - remain vacant or unoccupied, according to a report by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. While workers with Brad Pitt's Make It Right project are working on overdrive to finish the first of their scores of planned houses in the notoriously devastated Lower Ninth Ward, the neighborhood overall ranks far behind other neighborhoods in recovery, with only 11 percent of its pre-Katrina number of households. The same report notes that since the devastation of the city, rents have raised by 46% citywide (much more in some neighborhoods), while many city services remain very limited – for example, only 21% of public transit buses are running.

Race And Class

Its not only radicals that speak of race and class divisions in New Orleans. A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70% of residents feel we're divided by class and/or race. The Kaiser survey also found unity among New Orleanians: we're united in feeling forgotten by the rest of the US. Eight out of 10 said the federal government has not provided sufficient support. Nearly two-thirds think that the US public has largely forgotten about the city.

The survey found large percentages saying that their own situation has deteriorated. Fifty-three percent of low- income residents report that their financial situation is worse today than pre-Katrina. The percentage of residents who say they have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness such as depression has tripled since 2006.

There is a continuing debate about how many people live in the new New Orleans, with no definitive figures until the next complete census. But last year, the census bureau estimated a population of 239,000. Other analysts – and Mayor C. Ray Nagin – estimate the population to be nearly 100,000 higher. By any measurement, the growth in that number has stagnated, while even optimistic figures report that 150,000 - 200,000 former residents (out of a former population of nearly 500,000) have been unable to return. The once nearly 70% African American city is now estimated to be less than 50% African American, a change reflected in the changing face of electoral politics statewide. While Republicans have been losing across the US, Christian Coalition candidate Bobby Jindal was easily elected Governor last year, and in the city, decades of Black-majority city council shifted to a white majority.

Blank Slate Or Burial Ground

Much of the change in the city is led by a new strata of the city's population – planners, architects, developers, and other reformers. Many of them self-identify as "YURPs" – Young, Urban Rebuilding Professionals - in their work with countless nonprofits, foundations, and businesses. Some have spoken of New Orleans as a blank slate on which they can project and practice their ideas of reform, whether in health care, architecture, urban planning, or education. What this worldview leaves out, according to some advocates, is the people who lived here before, who are the most affected by these changes, and have the least say in how they are carried out. "It wasn't a blank slate, it was a cemetery," says poet and educator Kalamu Ya Salaam. "People were killed, and they're building on top of their bones."

The vast majority of New Orleans' new professionals have come here with the best intentions, with a love for this city and a desire to help with the recovery. However, many activists criticize what they see as token attempts at community involvement, and a paternalistic attitude among many of the new decision makers.

For example, our education system was in crisis pre-Katrina, and certainly needed revolutionary change. Change is what we have gotten – the current system is in many ways unrecognizable from the system of three years ago – but this revolution has been overwhelmingly led from outside, with little input from the parents, students and staff of the New Orleans school system.

Shortly after the post-Katrina evacuation of the city, the entire staff of the public school system was fired. Not long after that, school board officials chose to end recognition or negotiation with the teachers' union – the largest union in the city, and arguably the biggest outlet of Black middle class political power in the city. Since then, the school landscape has changed remarkably – from staff to decision-making structure to facilities. According to Tulane professor Lance Hill, "New Orleans has experienced a profound change in who governs schools and a dramatic reduction of parent and local taxpayer control of schools."

The school system used to consist of 128 schools, 124 of them controlled by the New Orleans School Board. Now according to Hill, 88 have opened for the fall, and "50 of them are charter schools (privatized management) governed by self-appointed, self-perpetuating boards; 33 are run by the State Department of Education through the Recovery School District; and only five are governed by the elected school board."

"There are now 42 separate school systems operating in New Orleans," Hill continues, with their own "school policies, including teacher requirements, curriculum, discipline policies, enrollment limits, and social promotions. Publicly accountable schools in which parents have methods for publicly redressing grievances are limited to only five schools (5.6% of the total)."

Several recent articles have expressed excitement and admiration for the new school system, including pieces in the New York Times and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. For school reformers, who came to New Orleans with a desire to try out the changes they had imagined, this represents a dream come true. They have media support, federal, state and city officials on their side, and a massive influx of cheap (and young, idealistic) labor. Teach for America supplied 112 teachers last year, has committed 250 this year, and a projected 500 next year, while tens of millions of dollars in funding is coming through sources such as the Gates and Walton foundations.

There is no doubt that some students receive an excellent education in the new school districts, but critics are concerned that the students that are being left behind, are those that need the most help – those without someone to advocate for them, to research and apply for the best schools. According to New Orleanian Kalamu Ya Salaam, who is director of a school program called Students at the Center, the new systems represent "an experimentation with privatization, and everything that implies."

Although the new charter schools have been able to choose from the best facilities and have used methods such as state standardized tests to pick only select students (including 40% fewer special education students), there are still serious questions over the extent to their much-heralded success. G.W. Carver School, the subject of a fawning NYTimes piece last Spring, received an 88% failure rate for English and an 86% failure rate for math on state standardized tests.

Anniversary And Commemoration

August 29, the anniversary of the devastation of the city, falls between the Democratic and Republican conventions. While the Democratic and Republican parties crown their nominees, activists on the ground will be on the streets, still fighting for a just recovery. "It ain't to rain on Obama's parade," says Sess 4-5, a New Orleans-based hip hop star and activist, "but the people down here need the world to understand that its still a tragic situation. The rent has tripled, the health care system is in shambles, we have less access to education for our kids. The working class and poor are being exploited, while everyone at the top is getting fat off our misery."

"We think August 29 should be holy day, not a day for business as usual," explains Sess, who is one of the organizers of a Katrina March and Commemoration, starting Friday morning in the Lower Ninth Ward, and marching into the 7th Ward. That march is one of two activist commemorations in the city that day, the other starting uptown, near the BW Cooper development, one of the major housing developments torn down this year. "The Mayor announced to the world that New Orleans was 'open for business' but we're here to tell you that it is closed for families," declares former public housing resident Barbara Jackson, who will be part of the demonstration at BW Cooper, called Sankofa Day of Commemoration. "Five thousand demolished homes. Eight thousand new jail beds. This is their one for one replacement plan for us."

Taking to the streets is not the only agenda of local activists. In New Orleans, people have been organizing at the grassroots, working together to build a movement. In the aftermath of the US Social Forum last year in Atlanta, a broad coalition of social justice organizations began meeting monthly to combine efforts. This group, called the Organizers Roundtable, is an important spot for collaborations and community building.

It's been community, not foundations or government, that has led this city's recovery at the grassroots. Bayou Road - a street of Black-owned, community-oriented, businesses in New Orleans' seventh ward – has rebuilt post-Katrina to more businesses than they had before the storm. It hasn't been government help that has enabled these businesses to come back, but the effort of community members coming together. It was also local support that brought back the membership of many cultural organizations, like the network of Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, the century-old Black community institutions who organize secondline parades nearly every weekend throughout the year, as well as benefits for causes such as school supplies for students.

Nationally, the Right to the City alliance (RTTC), a coalition of organizations that focuses on urban issues such as health care, criminal justice, and education, sees the continuing crisis on the Gulf as central to their work, referring to New Orleans as "the front lines in the struggle against displacement and gentrification in the US." They are co-sponsoring the march in New Orleans, as well as actions in seven other cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, Providence, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Miami.

The work of RTTC deserves special notice, as a coalition that has worked to support the struggles of the people of New Orleans, and to bring that struggle and solidarity home to their own communities, while taking guidance from voices on the ground. In this time of many competing visionaries struggling to reshape this city, that willingness to listen to the people who lives are being affected, and to take that struggle and those lessons home to their own communities, may be the radical change New Orleans needs most.


Jordan Flaherty is a journalist based in New Orleans, and an editor of Left Turn Magazine. He was the first writer to bring the story of the Jena Six to a national audience and his reporting on post-Katrina New Orleans has been published and broadcast in outlets including Die Zeit (Europe's largest circulation newspaper), Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, and Democracy Now.

See Also...
 http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/08/katrina-blues.html

Resources for Information and Action:
Reports:
Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
http://www.gnocdc.org/

Kaiser Family Foundation Poll
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7789.cfm

Policylink Report:
http://www.policylink.org/threeyearslater

Activism:
Right To The City Alliance
http://www.righttothecity.org/

Katrina Information Network Schedule of Commemoration Events:
http://www.katrinaaction.org/node/339

Sankofa New Orleans March
http://www.sankofanola.org/

Katrina March and Commemoration
http://katrinacommemoration.ning.com/

Safe Streets Strong Communities
http://www.safestreetsnola.org/

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
http://www.incite-national.org/

Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children
http://www.fflic.org/

New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice
http://www.neworleansworkerjustice.org/

Justice for New Orleans
http://www.justiceforneworleans.org/

Color Of Change
http://www.colorofchange.org/

Media and More:

Left Turn Magazine:
http://www.leftturn.org/

Grit TV, hosted by Laura Flanders – Week of 8/18 featured excellent coverage of New Orleans
http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/

Kalamu Ya Salaam
http://www.kalamu.com/

Posted by tha artivist at 3:30 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Introducing Michelle Obama...America's Next First Lady...



Michelle Keeps Things Down To Earth
By Roger Simon of POLITICO
Tue Aug 26, 2008

Michelle Obama, wife of Senator Barack Obama, addresses the opening session of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 25, 2008. U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is expected to accept the Democratic presidential nomination at the convention on August 28. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008
(USA)

DENVER — Could the Democrats be about to nominate the wrong Obama?

Well, probably not. But Michelle Obama, Barack’s wife, gave an awfully good speech at the Democratic National Convention here Monday night. While Barack can sometimes soar off into the clouds, Michelle tends to keep things down to earth.

“The Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago,” she said. “He’s the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 years ago this summer, inching along at a snail’s pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands.”

She was describing a simple moment, a real moment, an emotional moment and one that made only one point: Barack Obama is a human being just like you. He is not an “other,” he is not a “celebrity.” He is a father, a husband, a person.

Michelle went on: “And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they’ll have families of their own. And one day, they — and your sons and daughters — will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They’ll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming.”

Which is not bad for a surrogate.

Sasha Obama, 7, daughter of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., blows a kiss to her dad, while he addresses the gathering via-satellite at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Looking on are Michelle Obama, left, wife of the Democratic presidential candidate and daughter Malia, 10.
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

And then something followed that is virtually unheard of at a political convention: an unscripted moment. In a live video hookup with Barack, who was in Kansas City, the two Obama daughters — Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, who had joined their mother on stage — simply talked to their father. He asked them how they thought their mother had done in her speech.

“I think she did good,” Sasha said.

“I think so, too,” Malia said.

And then Malia said, “We love you, Daddy.”

And Sasha said, “We love you, Daddy. Bye.”

True, that moment and Michelle’s speech could not outreach the most emotional moment of the evening: Ted Kennedy’s address, his “Lion in Winter” appearance that literally brought tears to the eyes. (To my eyes, anyway.)

But the Obama campaign did not want it to. It merely wanted to show an American family, an appealing American family, an ordinary American family — or as ordinary a family can be in which one member is running for president.

True, Michelle Obama’s speeches on behalf of her husband for the last 19 months have not been without controversy. In February, to a crowd in Milwaukee, she said: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”

Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain, quickly pounced, saying: “I just wanted to make the statement that I have and always will be proud of my country.”

So Michelle had to explain that she has always been proud of her country, too. “What I was clearly talking about was that I’m proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process,” she said.

And with that it was stipulated that all the spouses of all the candidates had been proud of their country since birth, if not before.

Monday night, Michelle did hit the campaign’s talking points, carefully praising Hillary Clinton, “who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and our sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.“

And also Joe Biden, “who’s never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.”

But she made the speech hers, and she made it a good one.

Her husband will have to top it, of course, and he almost certainly will. He is not too shabby at this speech business.

Before his last convention speech, however — his keynote speech to the Democratic National Convention four years ago — Barack was getting a little nervous, and Michelle went up to him and hugged him.

“Just don’t screw it up, buddy!'' she said.

Which is always good advice.

See Also...

If Fox News Gave Cindy McCain The Michelle Obama Treatment…Thoughts Of An Outraged Negro…

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/07/if-fox-news-gave-cindy-mccain-michelle.html

Posted by tha artivist at 12:07 PM 0 comments

Friday, August 22, 2008

8/24/08~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio~Hip Hop Running For Office & Civil Rights Icon Charles Evers (The Brother Of Medgar Evers) Speaks...




One Full Year On The Air!!!









August 2008's Theme Is "Let's Get Free"

Date: Sunday August 24, 2008

Time: 7PM C/8PM E/5PM P






Topic One: Hip Hop Running For Office

"Reality Is Wrong. Dreams Are For Real. "
~2Pac

"It Ain't Where You From, It's Where You At..."
~Rakim

In this exciting election cycle Hip Hop is once again making an impact and history with the selection of renowned Hip Hop activist and journalist Sis. Rosa Clemente as Vice Presidential Candidate on the potent yet underrated Green Party Ticket...Other prominent Hip Hop heads throwing their mics in the political area include respected journalist and activist Kevin Powell running for the U.S. House Of Representatives in New York state and the young Rev. Markel Hutchinson facing off with Civil Rights Icon John Lewis in Georgia for the elders' coveted U.S. Rep seat...The Hip Hop Generation is finally coming of age and are readying for the chance to direct the leadership mantle of this nation and beyond...

In this segment we will be highlighting young Black men around the country who made the difference by running for offices in their respective communities...Although these brothers didn't "win" they did win the hearts, minds and respect of many in their communities...

Their stories deserve to be told and will hopefully inspire many others to be the change they want to see in the world by taking initiative to become leaders and agents of change...At a time when young folks of color and Hip Hop are getting a bad rap by society at large and corporate media, these brothers show that roses that grow from concrete can survive and thrive in a world full of naysayers and player haters...

Introducing The Brothers...

1.) Bro. Charles Sharper of Atlanta, Ga.

http://www.electcharlessharper.com/

This year young family man, educator, entrepreneur and all around good guy Bro. Charles Sharper caught the 'change' bug and decided to run for office to represent his district in the Georgia State House of Representatives...Although the incumbent won 50% of the vote, he still made a decent showing and was able to connect with his community in ways he never thought possible...Please be on the lookout for this young political star in the future...He has alot more campaigns left in him yet...

2.) Bro.Larry Foster II of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
In 2006, 27 year old Bro. Larry Foster II, at that time a law school student, ran for the Oklahoma State House Of Representatives (District # 99)...Without any media and money support, but with passionate grassroots organizing and a desire to be a positive example to young Black males in his district who he felt lacked the leadership and guidance from caring elders, Bro. Larry was able to force a Democratic Primary run-off against eventual nominee and overall winner Anastasia Pittman in which he almost won...

Bro. Larry, a gifted scholar athlete during his days at Wahington University in St. Louis, knows the value of preparation, strategy, dedication and having a game plan executed properly in spite of the odds...He knows that having heart may not always win you games, but it will always win you respect...By following his principles he almost pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Oklahoma political history...

3.) Bro. George Monger of Memphis,Tn

Last year saw Bro. George Monger graduating from high school in the spring to running for city council in the summer...At a time when many young folks are getting prepared to go to college, Bro. George was planting the seeds for a formidable and successful political career...

Bro. Monger made Memphis political history when he became the youngest person ever at 18 years old to run for city council...Although he faced an uphill battle in changing the age requirement for running from 23 to 18 years old, he nevertheless won the respect of even the most seasoned and hardened Memphis political vets...

His unusual or rather unorthodox campaign platform and charismatic persona caught the attention of maverick film maker Jason Pollock (the former asst. director to the award winning iconoclastic film maker Mike Moore) who will release a feature film documentary soon featuring Bro. George Monger and other young folks throughout the country who also recently ran for political office...The film was recently screeened at Mike Moore's Traverse City Film Fest...

By the way Bro. Monger is also a savvy businessmen with a soon to be thriving music entertainment company, Bump Entertainment, and an already thriving real estate/ mortgage business with his father...

Topic Two:Legendary Civil Rights Leader, Politician and The Brother Of Martyred Civil Rights Icon Medgar Evers, Bro. Charles Evers Speaks On Blacks In America Today 45 Years After His Brother's Assassination...


"The least I can do is show Medgar I still care. And Martin."


"I'd rather be dead and in heaven than afraid to do what I think is right."


"Any time the country is split 50/50, the leader is wrong."
~Charles Evers

Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, talks to The Associated Press in his Jackson, Miss., radio station office July 31, 2008, surrounded by photos of him with Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush and other politicians. A long-time Republican, Evers says he supports Barack Obama and does not believe a white backlash will occur should he become president. "I think we're past that stage," he said. "I don't think the majority of white people are thinking that way anymore." (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Charles Evers, older brother of the civil rights hero and martyr Medgar Evers, has been an important leader in the civil rights struggle in Mississippi. Born in Decatur, Mississippi in 1922, Evers had a strong, devoutly Christian mother and a fearless father, who taught his sons never to be afraid of whites. Evers never forgot his father's advice after witnessing an incident in which his father stood up to a white man and made him back down: "Don't ever forget son. Look a peckerwood [anti-black white man] in the eye and he won't do nothin'."

During World War II, Charles and Medgar both served overseas in the U.S. Army. Charles fell in love with a Filipino woman, but could not marry and live with her in Mississippi because her skin was too light. In the 1940s, when he and his brother returned to Mississippi, they began to organize voter registration drives. They tried to register to vote in the 1946 election campaign but were turned away at the polling station by armed whites.

He and Medgar graduated from Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi) in 1950. Settling in Philadelphia, Mississippi, they engaged in various business pursuits while organizing for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Charles Evers had worked a variety of jobs, including cotton picker, dishwasher, bootlegger, and short-order cook. Around 1956, his activities and economic dealings got him in trouble in Philadelphia. He left town and moved to Chicago, Illinois.

When an assassin shot and killed Medgar Evers in 1963, Charles took over his brother's position as state field secretary for the NAACP's Mississippi chapter and led many demonstrations for the rights of blacks. In 1969, Charles Evers was elected mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, the first black to hold elected office in the state since Reconstruction. He served as the city's mayor until 1981 and again from 1985 to 1989. He made an unsuccessful run for governor of Mississippi. Charles Evers was also an informal advisor to a diverse group of politicians, including Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Governor George Wallace.

--Richard Wormser


Tha Artivist Says:

Check Out Bro. Charles Evers' popular radio station WMPR 90.1 AM in Jackson, Ms....He is the general manager and hosts a popular talk radio show every Wednesday...At 85 years young (he will be 86 next month on Sept. 11) he sounds like and has the energy of a man 40 years younger!!! He is a true character who is unforgettable and inspirational...

You can listen to his station online:
http://www.wmpr901.com/

More Info On Bro. Charles Evers:
http://www.wmpr901.com/c_evers.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Evers



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Get Involved

As Always You Can Catch Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Live Every Sunday By Clicking On The Following Link:
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Please Be Our Invited Guest By Calling Us Live @ 646-652-4593 Or E-mailing Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com

As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!


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W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Reps Black History 365 Days A Year!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-all-be-news-radio-reps-black-history_29.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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*Named To The Smithsonian Institute's Jazz Books For Kids And Young Adults List*









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Posted by tha artivist at 5:29 AM 0 comments

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Trials Of A Hip Hop Educator: My Reflections On The 2008 National Hip Hop Political Convention...


By Tony Muhammad

Hiphopeducator19@gmail. com
www.myspace.com/tonymuhammad

It was indeed an honor and pleasure having the opportunity to take part in the 2008 National Hip Hop Political Convention, which holistically took place on July 30th to August 3rd at the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although the conference drew fewer numbers than in the previous two years (2004 and 2006), many of those in attendance agreed that the workshops were of high quality, the voices of conscience present were exceptionally pro-active, the structure very naturally intimate and the spiritual vibes higher than the blazing hot Las Vegas dessert temperatures … if you can believe that! In fact, it was difficult to walk a few steps in the hallways of UNLV in between workshops without being fully engaged in constructive dialogue within a cipher bursting with gleaming smiles.


The topics of discussion ranged well beyond the concept of merely encouraging the youth to register to vote or participating in the electoral process.


While it was inclusive of a genre that is exceedingly enthusiastic about the concept of "Rock the Vote," it was home to activists such as the New Orleans based CR10 who work diligently to expose the abuses that the wealthy and powerful inflict on the poor and powerless on a daily basis; it was home to Hip Hop educational leaders such as Asheru, Tehuti, Jadiem Wilson and Martha Diaz who have learned how to use the system to inspire critical cultural change, literacy and intelligence among young people; it was home to artists and DJs such as Kuttin Kandi, Theory and NY Oil who in their efforts to spark cultural and political change honorably refuse to compromise their talents and principles for the sake of commercial success; it was home to independent film makers such as Jeff Carroll and Byron Hurt who seek to challenge the predominant super-masculine type of thinking within the culture that prompts self-destruction and misogyny; it was home to independent journalists such as Davey D who continue to inspire us to challenge the media by being the media ourselves.


With all of the heated discussions that took place, there were two that resulted in intense emotional outbursts from the crowd stemming from the all too popular question "Okay, now what?" These were at the Black and Brown Unity Luncheon hosted by Rosa Clemente and a panel on challenging stereotypical notions of gender featuring Byron Hurt.


It was clear that a "Make the difference yourself" solution was not merely enough for our Brothers and Sisters from such places on the West Coast like Los Angeles, which is riddled with bloody gang-driven Latino-Black violence day in and day out. Likewise in the case of our Sisters who are looked upon by men less as an integral part of the culture and more as just play things, ready to be exploited and abused no matter where they go. While specific strategies to counter these problems were not developed, and perhaps the forum was not designed to develop specific guidelines for all to follow, it was obvious that those that expressed concern desperately want change. As Convention participants continued to network, a simple yet strong message was emphasized: The work begins when you go back home.


While I reflect on my experiences at the Convention I find myself preparing for yet another school year. I'm going in thinking that this will be a school year unlike any other I have experienced before. I'm going in striving for improvement in order to better prepare my students for the challenges they are yet to face in this ever changing world.


However, I teach them that if they are planning to survive they must strive to learn how to work cooperatively and, as Nelson Mandela put it, become the change that they want to see. To believe that there is a drastic need for CHANGE and be on the mere receiving end of CHANGE accounts for nothing, especially in the midst of a rotting economy, a dumbed down educational system and an ever-degeneration of morals. Likewise should be the approach of those of us who were present at the Convention as well as the many other conscientious folks nation-wide who were not so present at the Convention. How well we stay in contact, organize (for various causes), work together (regardless of the difficulties) and continue to validate one another's accomplishments in the process will be a strong measure of the Convention's success.


For now, may we recognize that as a people we are at a crossroads in our mission. Indeed the Hip Hop generation is the Cornerstone of the New World Order. Because we presently have the attention of the whole world, musically as well as culturally, we are in the Best position to inspire critical thought, and hence critical change on all levels. If we choose we can serve our peoples just as Moses, Jesus and Muhammad did in their times.


As Pop Master Fabel indicated at the Sunday Liberation Theology Panel at the Convention, if we choose, we can be at the forefront of a movement that does away with the religious divisions that we superimpose on ourselves presently as human beings, just as Afrika Bambaataa has shown us with his open door policy in Universal Zulu Nation.


If we choose, we can redirect our attention more towards bonding with one another based on the universality that our faiths teach. If we choose, we can teach the world how to do this. If we choose, we can show the world how to do away with other cancers plaguing us, such as racism, sexism, classism, and the self-hatred that comes as a result.


But as the Hon. Min.
Louis Farrakhan has shown us, we are currently taking up a position similar to Jonah (as described in the Bible), wandering around in the belly of the beast trying to get away from our mission. Ultimately, Jonah fulfilled his mission and warned Nineveh of the great destruction that would befall it if it did not change its wicked ways. As a result, Nineveh became the only nation saved that is warned in the Bible. Is the United States of America a modern day Nineveh? Mere belief alone counts for nothing unless put into practice. For over 20 years, we have sat back and watched many of our gate keepers sell our music and culture very cheaply to the corporations that are driven to make a profit from us at the expense of our physical, moral and economic well being.


Our culture has been sold cheaply just for a little success, just as our people were sold off in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade centuries ago in exchange for power (which proved to be limited and ultimately self-destructive); just as the Indigenous people initially sold off land to the European without having a true conception of what the power of "land ownership" was all about.


Today we must reclaim our birthright, no matter how much the enemy has twisted and remolded it to serve his needs and made to look culturally foreign to us. Hip Hop is ours and we can do with it what we please … feed our families, spark intelligence, determine political elections and ultimately save the world. Oh yes, we can do all of these things … if we choose to. May we continue to work to become the agents of change that we are destined to be.


Peace

Special Note: Much love respect to Troy Nkrumah, Heather Sanchez, Zidonia Wong, Wilonda Quinn, Mel Moore, Jacquelyn A.
Guevarra, Justin Ponkow and the rest of the organizers of the 2008 National Hip Hop Political Convention. Your hard work and dedication will not go unrewarded.

See Also...


A Message To The Hip Hop Grassroots From Former Political Prisoner & Black Panther Dhoruba Bin Wahad:
http://odeo.com/episodes/23162473-A-message-to-the-Hip-Hop-Grassroots-from-former-Political-Prisoner-Black-Panther-Dhoruba-Bin-Whad
Posted by tha artivist at 9:18 PM 0 comments

Creator Of 'Obama Is My Slave' T-Shirt Catches Beat Down In His Own Store...




RESIDENT IDIOT: Obama Is My Slave' T-Shirt Peddler Attacked in Boutique

A man selling controversial t-shirts that refer to Senator Barack Obama as a slave was attacked in his New York City boutique.

The man, known as "Apollo Braun," claims that two African-American men entered his store Wednesday afternoon and shouted "Who do you call a slave, you f***ing Jew?!" before assaulting him.

Last month Braun - real name Doron Braunshtein - made news when a woman threatened to sue him after she was assaulted while wearing one his shirts that bore the words "Obama is my slave.

"At the time, Braun defended the shirts, saying that they reflect the views of "ordinary WASPs [white anglo-saxon protestants]."

According to an account from his publicist, the two men worked together - one grabbed Braun's hands while the other kicked him in the testicles. Now, after experiencing the physical fallout for himself, the shirt peddler is reconsidering his merchandise. "I don't want to be killed for my t-shirts. I am still shocked about what happened today but there is a big chance that I will stop selling my anti-Obama merchandise after what happened today. I mean, tomorrow someone can show up at my store with a gun, and I don't want that to happen."

After the incident, Braun was found on the floor of his store by a passerby. He then called the police and filed a report. It was the third time police had come to the store since the owner appeared on the cover of New York newspaper Metro wearing the Obama slave shirt. Since then, Braun has been flooded with phone calls and emails protesting his wears - some threatening death, according to his publicist. Though he's considering halting the sale of the inflammatory shirts, Braun calls the tees "art" and defends his right to make them.

"This is very disturbing to me that I am living in New York City and that I own a boutique for more than five and a half years [in] neighborhoods which are suppose to be the most open-minded and tolerant to any kind of art, but instead, people don't understand me, hate me and don't let me express myself the way everyone should be able to in New York."

Braun maintains that his distaste for the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States has nothing to do with the candidate's race. Instead he dislikes Obama because he believes he is a Muslim.

The shirts causing all the trouble sell for $69 and include several other slogans such as "Jews Against Obama," "Obama = Hitler" and "Who Killed Obama?"

For Comparisons Of Barack To Historical Black Figures Check Out The Following On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio:

Acceptable Blackness Vs. Unforgivable Blackness...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/06/acceptable-blackness-vs-unforgivable.html

Barack Hussein Obama Ain't No Adam Clayton Powell Jr.!!!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/05/barack-hussein-obama-aint-no-adam.html

Tha Artstorian Ponders:Is Barack Obama The Sam Cooke of American Politics???
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/02/tha-artstorian-pondersis-barack-obama.html


More Related Coverage On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio:

If Fox News Gave Cindy McCain The Michelle Obama Treatment…Thoughts Of An Outraged Negro…
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/07/if-fox-news-gave-cindy-mccain-michelle.html


Why Obama Did The Wright Thing And How Rev. Wright’s Selfless Sacrifice Saved The Obama Presidency…


The Hypocrisy Of The Media…Min. Farrakhan Was A Guest Of Honor For Key Pa. Hillary Supporter!!!



W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: Black Liberation Theology 101:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/03/23/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio


The Rev. Wright Controversy Told Through Video Media:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/03/rev-wright-controversy-told-through.html


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


W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special~Eyewitness To The Crucifixion: The Last Days Of MLK:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/07/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio-1


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Get Your Barack
Obama "A Legacy Of Hope" T-Shirt Today!!!



http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-legacy-of-hope-t-shirts.htm
Posted by tha artivist at 8:58 PM 0 comments
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