on the black hand side

FAMU Marching 100 Photo Used in Article on Hazing at Dartmouth

Roland Martin Reports published an article on hazing at Dartmouth University, “Dartmouth Hazing: Faculty Condemn ‘Moral Thuggery’ In Letter To Administration.” So why is the accompanying graphic for the article a photograph of the Florida A&M University Marching 100? The article does not address the hazing death of FAMU drum major Robert Champion.  

Screen shot of Roland Martin Reports. Article on hazing at Dartmouth. Photo of FAMU Marching 100 used.

 

The Huffington Post website, referenced in the article on Roland Martin Reports,  includes a photograph of a building one can assume is on the Dartmouth campus.

Screen shot of The Huffington Post website on same article.

 

Note this article was originally posted in early February 2012. I came to know of it only tonight via a friend. 

I make no secret I am a  Florida A&M University alum. I do not condone the brutality that lead to the death of Robert Champion. I fully understand my alma mater will be portrayed in a negative light for quite some time. Some criticisms will be justified and must be addressed by the University administration and the entire FAMU family. 

Yet other situations may arise that are controversial, sensationalistic and unfair such as the use of an unrelated photograph of the Marching 100 with an article on hazing at Dartmouth.

 

The Aftermath: Breaking the Black Man and Dis-connecting the Black Community [VIDEO]

I surfed across this very powerful video of the Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. He is speaking at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina on September 13, 2005. You may not like Mr. Farrakhan and you may not agree with him either. If you are black, no matter where you were born, I dare you to watch this video in its entirety.

  

Farrakhan is on point about tactics used to break down the black man in the presence of the black woman and the black child. He is on point about how we have lost the sense of community that our common melanin used to endear. He is on point about how, in a sense, we are worse off today than we were during slavery.

Please share this video with as many black people as possible. 

 

 

Hat Tip: Black Blue Dog

 

 

Tyler Perry, Racial Profiling and the Disappearance of Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams

As a subscriber, I received a message from Tyler Perry today. It was a harrowing description of his personal experience with police officers who puuled him over one night. It also goes into the Trayvon Martin situation in Sanford, Florida and two missing men from Naples, Florida --- Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams.

I thought someone had hacked Tyler Perry's e-mail account and blasted a cruel and un-funny April Fool's Day joke. Could the police stop Perry described really have occured? Well, yes. Could the missing persons story be true? I didn't think so because I live in South Florida and I'd never heard of these cases.

A quick Google search proved me wrong. It seems Perry is drawing attention to the missing persons cases of the two men who lived in Naples. Perry asked, "What's Going on in Florida?"

 

With the controversy surrounding the Trayvon Martin incident dominating mainstream media and comparisons of his fatal shooting to other civil rights cases, it's easy to see how Florida is earning a horrible reputation when it comes to black and Latin males. Tyler Perry's celebrity status, will generate more media coverage of these two missing persons cases. The question remains... What's going on in Florida?

 

Related Links:

Facebook Page: Disappearance of Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos 

 

Calkins says he 'didn't do anything wrong'

The Laurie Roth Show: Missing Men - Felipe Santos - Terrance Williams

FAU Student Goes on Racial Tirade during Study Session [VIDEO]

Check out this video of FAU (Florida Atlantic University) student, Jonatha Carr, going ballistic in class study session. The student reportedly became angry when she did not like the answer the professor gave to a question she asked. The video shows her spewing profanity and racial epithets. She even pushes a male student in the forehead before she is physically removed from class and tased. 

From all indications, this is not typical behavior of the student but that incident was ugly. Maybe she needs to take a break from school. After the commotion, class resumed although half of the students left during the disturbance. 

You know racist YouTube trolls are totally using this opportunity to bash black people, especially black women,  with their comments on this video. They are oblivious to the young black woman trying to stop the outburst as well as the other black women looking shocked as the other students.

 

Book of the Month: Dear White America --- Letter to a New Minority

Tim J. Wise  has added another powerful book to his repertoire on race. “Dear White America — Letter to a New Minority” is a must read.

Wise is gifted with the ability to break complex racial issues down to a simple, logical, understandable concept. In the case of this latest book, Wise points out the actions and reactions of many whites as simply the realization that the balance of power is shifting and they are losing their privilege of being the majority. Check it out.

 

Mitt Romney Doesn't Care About Poor People

The “Mitt Romney Is Not Concerned About the Very Poor” video has gone viral. It is reminiscent of the Kanye West inspired video mash-up — “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” by the Legendary KO.  

*PARENTAL ADVISORY - EXPLICIT LYRICS*

 

Surely someone is creating a remix spotlighting Mitt Romney. He has provided enough material to make a very informative and thought-provoking video. Remember his very cavalier $10,000 bet with Rick Perry during the December Republican debate; his statement that he likes being able to fire people; describing the more than $370,000 in income he earned for speeches as not that much money; characterizing people as envious if they questioned the economic disparity in the U.S.; and the fact that his 2010 income tax returns indicate he pays less than 15% in taxes while sheltering millions in offshore accounts. 

You already know the title of the new video mash-up — “Mitt Romney Doesn’t Care About Poor People.” Just make sure the video accurately reflects the demographics of the very poor in the United States. 

 

 

Black Mormons: Who Knew?

Adaptation:

Few people, Mormon and non-Mormon, are aware that there has been an Black presence in the LDS Church from its earliest days, that the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers included three “colored servants” who were baptized Mormons, and whose descendants remained active in the Church for several generations.

Released in 2007, this documentary talks about that little-known legacy, and confronts the hard issues that surfaced in the most turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement, when the Church restricted its priesthood from those of African descent. It discusses how that restriction was lifted and what the lives and challenges of the modern Black Mormon pioneers are.

Besides never-released footage shot in 1968 and many rare archival photographs, the documentary includes interviews with renowned scholars, historians, Black Mormons, with Martin Luther King III, and with Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, retired pastor of the First AME Church of Los Angeles, which was founded by a former slave of Mormon pioneers.

Related Link:
Official movie website – Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons

Bishop Eddie Long and the Scandal that Will Not Go Away

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bishop Eddie Long and the New Birth Baptist Church are seeking recovery of approximately $900,000 from three of the five plaintiffs in the infamous sex scandal lawsuit in which Bishop Eddie Long was accused of molesting the young men among other things.

When news of the lawsuit broke and the young men identified, they initially proclaimed the lawsuit was not about money so the financial settlement and accompanying confidentiality agreement appeared to paint a different picture of their motives. It also caused many people to believe that Long was guilty of the horrendous charges.

A few months after the settlement, it appears three of the five plaintiffs have violated the confidentiality of the settlement. Yes, first there were four young men but a fifth young man quietly joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff. Now, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande are writing a tell-all book, as is plaintiff #5, Centino Kemp. The flamboyant Kemp has been in the media discussing his entertainment career as well as a book titled, “First Lady” detailing his relationship with the Bishop.  

This latest move to by Bishop Long and New Birth to recover settlement funds already disbursed is expected. One should also expect this situation to dominate the news when the books are released and the authors hit the interview circuit. Oh yeah, if there are books, there could a movie in the mix also. This situation is about to get even more messy, folks. Stay tuned. 

 

Troy Anthony Davis was executed. What next, America? [VIDEO]

 
^{Howard University student arrested at protest at The White House}

People around the world protested Georgia’s execution of Troy Anthony Davis for the August 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah. Messages and photos flooded Twitter’s timeline. Cable television news channels covered the story. Democracy Now! livestreamed  coverage via the internet. As police presence in riot gear was beefed up at Georgia Diagnostic Prison, the site of the execution, it was apparent Davis would be put to death this time. In spite of the protests and legal appeals, Davis was executed by lethal injection at 11:08 PM EST on Wednesday, September 21, 2011.

 

The video footage of the arrest of Howard University students who were protesting at The White House were eerily reminiscent of the non-violent civil rights protests I remember as a child in the 1960’s. Has the execution, I prefer to refer to it as a crucifixion, of Troy Anthony Davis ignited a fire for a larger and louder chorus of voices demanding the end of the death penalty? It would seem so.

Troy Anthony Davis proclaimed his innocence to the end. The State of Georgia has blood on its hands. If you are a Georgia resident, even if you are not on The Supreme Court, the Georgia parole board, are one of the witnesses that recanted, or are the District Attorney of Chatham County, that would be you too.

 

 Video: RTAmerica

 

"Dark Girls" is Sad, Powerful and Haunting [VIDEO]

It's 2011, why are black people still dealing with skin color and hair texture issues?

Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.

How many times do black people have to address the issue of dark skin vs. light skin...good hair...bad hair. It's so sad and so unbelievable by people who are not black, regardless of whether black American, Black Hispanic, Caribbean black, etc.

If the truth be told, the problem of self-hatred and skin color envy is so deep and pervasive. If the truth be told, it goes beyond blacks. The desire for blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin is prevalent throughout the  ethnicity spectrum and damages the psyche of many not naturally born with those genetic traits. It's easier and perhaps more damaging to blacks who are farther away from Nordic blonde, but others are suffering also.

This madness will continue until people start really loving their natural selves. It's okay to recognize beauty in others but when you do that while hating yourself, the cycle continues. Some of comments from blacks in this video make me angry and sad --- in that order. We know better, let's do better. And to my dark girl sisters, you are beautiful. Know it. Own it. Be it.