Benin Dakar Chronicle--Blog by Benin "Beni" Dakar

Was Martin Luther King, Jr. a Republican?

2006-10-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

By

Beni Dakar

A radio ad played primarily in Maryland and Ohio, sponsored under the auspices of the Black Republican Association is hoping to inspire otherwise reluctant black voters (who traditionally support the Democrats) in those states to support the GOP and their star black Republican candidates – Maryland Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele who is running for the U.S. Senate from that state and Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell who is running for Governor of Ohio – by suggesting that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican too.

The creators of those ads that put forward that King was a Republican and demonize the Democratic Party for creating a Jim Crow South are relying on most Americans being unaware of how the two modern day parties have changed in vision and membership – beginning with the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.

Martin Luther King Jr. like most educated African-American southerners of his generation was most likely a registered Republican. The southern branch of the Democratic Party often colloquially called the "Dixiecrats" since the post-Reconstruction period had been steadfast in denying human and civil rights to southern blacks. If a black man or black woman was able to register to vote and participate in elections in the Old South – they would have been voting conspicuously against their own welfare to have voted for most southern Democratic candidates prior to Lyndon Johnson's presidential run in 1964.

After the Civil War with the passage of the 15th amendment to the Constitution giving black men the right to vote most African-Americans chose to be affiliated with the Republican Party – because that was the party of Lincoln "The Great Emancipator" and the predominant party affiliation of Federal troops who were sent to occupy the South during the Reconstruction period from 1865-1877. During Reconstruction there were several black Republicans who were elected to both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, including Mississippi Senator Blanche K. Bruce, who served from 1874-1880.

"The Compromise of 1877" which gave the disputed 1876 presidential election to Ohio Republican presidential candidate Rutherford B. Hayes – required Republicans to withdraw Federal troops from the South. The departure of Federal troops forced most ‘liberal’ white Republicans to flee to the North or to switch to the Democratic Party – since white carpetbagger Republicans feared the wrath of white southerners without the protection of the Federal Government. Indigenous southern blacks – many who could not leave or choose not to take flight were left at the mercy of angry southern whites – and an era of black political disenfranchisement and a solid Democratic South that lasted almost a century was begun.

An array of so called "Black Codes" that southern white Democrats used in conjunction with terrorist tactics by groups like the Ku Klux Klan were used to socially and economically paralyze blacks too. The few blacks who were able to vote in the South and northern blacks continued to vote mostly Republican until the presidential election of 1936.

New York Democrat, Franklin Roosevelt, first elected in 1932, did little to take segregation head on; but his administration did consciously set-aside 10% of its New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to be spent specifically to relieve depression era suffering for African-Americans who were also 10% of the American population at that time. Blacks – mostly from the North who could vote showed their appreciation by voting in increasing numbers for the northern Democrat Roosevelt in subsequent elections.

Blacks further became enamored of Democrats when President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 in July 1948 ending racial segregation of the United States military. Southern Democratic leaders of the time were angry about Roosevelt’s and Truman’s more progressive policies that favored blacks. Eugene Talmadge a leading figure in Georgia politics, including being elected three times as governor was outraged at FDRs New Deal policies and opposed his re-nomination in 1936. In 1948, in response to the desegregation of the military southern Democrats founded the short-lived Dixiecrat Party (autonomous from the Democratic Party) and nominated South Carolina Senator Strom Thurman as its candidate for president.

"We have lost the South for a generation" said President Lyndon Johnson after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which officially ended the Jim Crow era of racial segregation by law and by custom throughout the South. What Johnson meant was that because of the larger Democratic Party's support of the Civil Rights Act and his signing of it -- that southern white Democrats would abandon the party – and he was right; except the change seems to be permanent instead of generational.

The conservative wing of the Republican Party lead by Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater saw an opportunity to swell its ranks with disenchanted white southern Democrats who were troubled by the national Democratic Party's softening on civil rights issues. During the presidential election of 1964, Goldwater won his home state and five Southern states -- this was the beginning of the ongoing exodus of white southerners (former "Dixiecrats) to the Republican Party. Today, most of the south is solidly Republican – in contrast to the solid Democratic South prior to 1964.

In 1968, when King was assassinated the rabid segregationist Lester Maddox – a Democrat was governor of Georgia -- King's home state. It is unlikely that King would have seen a place for himself in a Georgia Democratic Party headed by the likes of Maddox. However, by 1973, this same Democratic Party would include 35 year old newly elected Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, the first black Mayor of a large Southern city.

Who knows for certain which, if any, major political party King would support, if he were alive today? Both parties have gone through a metamorphosis in the almost forty years since his death.

However, I do think that King might disapprove of his image and memory being used for political gain by a party that has few visible members who celebrate King’s commitment to social justice and non-violence.

Summer snowballs?

2006-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, July 18, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Summer snowballs?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Summer has long been my favorite season.

Nearly three decades since my school girl days have faded away, I still remember how slowly those last few weeks of school seemed to drag by while eagerly waiting for summer vacation to begin.

I am fortunate to have many wonderful summer memories. However, one memory reigns supreme: The July 1967 snowball fight. Yes, a children’s snowball fight, right in the middle of July.

Like many Gwinnettians, much of my life’s history is in another place. My beginning is in the Midwest, where we fully experience the gladness of all four seasons.

My mother and Aunt Addie, unbeknownst to anyone else, had made dozens and dozens of snowballs throughout the winter and stored them away in brown paper grocery bags kept in my mother’s big deep freezer.

One hot and lazy mid July summer afternoon, my Mom and Auntie challenged about a half dozen of my playmates and me to a snowball fight.

We all looked perplexed and nervously laughed at the adults who proposed such a preposterous idea.

After all, it was hot - July hot – and there was scarcely a cool breeze to be found, much less any snow.

Suddenly, the unbelievable was made believable. Against the backdrop of 90 degree and rising heat, winter’s chill splattered all over my face. Someone had tossed a snowball at me.

My friends’ eyes widened with wonder. Nervous laughter turned into unrestrained merriment.

Like magic, sacks and sacks of snowballs appeared.

For about 15 minutes we enjoyed a supernatural like bliss of hurling the cold snowballs in the summer’s heat at one another.

To this day, that is the most counterintuitive fun that I have ever had.

The other kids could not wait to tell their parents about the summer snowball fight. Several parents came by our house to verify that such an event had indeed occurred. Perhaps, they thought their offspring had just made up a silly story?

I now think about how much love and intention my mother and aunt put into planning for a few minutes of summer time fun for my buddies and me. I wonder what were their thoughts and their inspiration to make and sack and store dozens of snowballs in the winter – to be used as ammunition for a July snowball fight by their daughter/niece’s playmates.

The memory of those remarkable ladies and the delight of that summer snowball fight continue to bring me pleasure.

What is your best childhood summer memory?

King papers important for Gwinnett, too

2006-07-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, July 11, 2006 by Beni Dakar: King papers important for Gwinnett, too

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

King papers important for Gwinnett, too

By BENI DAKAR Tuesday, July 11, 2006, 08:50 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Shirley Franklin’s political savvy and leadership ability spill over into the entire Atlanta metro region.

Last February, in a speech to the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta mayor addressed a capacity crowd of local business and political leaders about the need for a strong regional focus.

Franklin spoke about how Atlanta and metro counties, like Gwinnett, share natural resources of air and water — and, moreover, how we draw from the same labor pool.

Without being smug, Franklin knows that the prestige and attraction of her city has a lead role to play in forging the identity and the perceptions of the metro area and perhaps even the entire state.

That is why it is important, not just for Atlantans, but for all Georgians to celebrate Franklin’s recent success in putting together a rainbow-colored cadre of local business leaders to purchase the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The King papers were purchased in late June for $32 million. The King children had placed their father’s papers with Sotheby’s in New York for auction.

This treasure trove of King’s papers and mementos includes drafts of his famous 1963 March on Washington speech as well as his 1964 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

It is misguided to believe that the King collection is only important for Atlantans or black people or scholars.

King’s papers are something to be valued and shared by everyone who is committed to rid the world of the cancer of racism and chauvinism in all of its manifestations, the cancer that maims and murders human beings and dries up human potential.

That is why I am steadfast in my belief that Gwinnettians have ample reason to be joyful and proud in knowing the King papers will be housed in nearby Atlanta.

Gwinnett, like most of America has greatly improved in race relations, but the county still has a long way to go.

The minority population of Gwinnett that includes blacks, Asian-Americans and Latinos has grown exponentially over the last decade. Collectively, non-whites now make up 43 percent of the county’s population. But Gwinnett citizens of color have yet to effectively penetrate the vanguard of the existing political and business infrastructure of the county.

The recent faux pas by the library board regarding its Spanish fiction collection in part can be traced to a lack of racial and cultural sensitivity. Having board members who reflect the changing demographics of the county may have diverted them from making such a publicly embarrassing mistake of having elimated and later (to their credit) restoring the funding for Spanish-language reading materials.

Moreover, both the GOP and the Democrats in Gwinnett have tremendous opportunity for more diversity in recruiting, mentoring, and running candidates who reflect a multicultural county.

Although, Gwinnett is about 15 miles north of Atlanta, we are as distant as the North Pole when it comes to Atlanta’s more progressive and inclusive political climate (albeit often contentious). In Gwinnett we have yet to get the recipe right for the “primordial soup” that would enable our own needed version of Shirley Franklin to evolve.

I hope that Gwinnettians will visit, read and be inspired by the King papers.

Perhaps having the King papers in our midst and the outstanding example of regional leadership of Franklin will provide Gwinnett with the drive to move beyond its superficial racial diversity.

Gwinnett is a good place to live, but it will never truly be great until its growing minority population is sought out and welcomed as co-laborers in leading the county’s business and political communities.

In what ways you think the King papers are important for Gwinnettians?

Button Gwinnett’s spirit lives on

2006-07-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, July 4, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Button Gwinnett’s spirit lives on

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

For me the Fourth of July is the most special day in American history.
It is a day that should mean more than backyard barbecues, fireworks, and an extra day of summer shopping.

Without the boldness and courage displayed by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, America as we experience it and love it, may never have existed.

On the Fourth of July 1776, the men who signed this historic document, committed treason against the British Crown. If caught the penalty was likely to be death by hanging. Among those men willing to sacrifice their lives in exchange for being free of British rule were three Georgians: Lyman Hall, George Walton, and Button Gwinnett.

Many people fail to realize that Georgia is one of the original 13 colonies. The first colony founded by the London Company in 1607 was Virginia.

The last colony founded by James Edward Oglethorpe in 1732 and became a Royal Colony in 1752, is our beloved Georgia.

Today’s Gwinnett reflects the spirit of the man the county was named after. Button Gwinnett, like many Gwinnettians today, was an immigrant who hoped to improve his life by settling in the Americas. Gwinnett was born in 1735, in Gloucestershire, England.

When Gwinnett was about 22 years old, he emigrated from England to Charleston, S.C., but later moved to Savannah, Georgia. Although Gwinnett County is named after him, it’s likely than he never set foot here. The land belonged to the Cherokees in his day.

Gwinnett was an outspoken critic of the Crown and his enthusiasm was recognized. He was chosen to be a representative at the Continental Congress, where he added his name to the Declaration of Independence.

Unfortunately, less than a year after the famous signing, Gwinnett died. Upon returning to Georgia, Gwinnett ran for governor and lost to his opponent and “personal enemy,” Lachland McIntosh. Their bitterness towards each other was so great that Gwinnett challenged McIntosh to a duel on May 15, 1777. Both men were badly wounded and Gwinnett died on May 27, 1777.

Because Gwinnett died so soon after the Declaration of Independence was signed; there are very few other documents that have his signature - this makes Gwinnett’s signature among the rarest of all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In 2001 his signature sold for $110,000 at Sotheby’s, more than an album signed by all four Beatles.

Happy Birthday America!

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?

We deserve answers from library board

2006-06-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, June 27, 2006 by Beni Dakar: We deserve answers from library board

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

We deserve answers from library board

By BENI DAKAR Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Beni's Bio What do the dates May 10, 1933 and June 12, 2006 have in common? They are both poignant dates for those who love books and democracy.

On May 10, 1933, the Nazis began their infamous ‘book burnings’ and set ablaze over 25,000 library books by Jewish intellectuals and other authors who threatened their misguided Aryan beliefs.

On June 12, 2006, the Gwinnett County library board decided to reduce to ashes the career of Jo Ann Pinder, Gwinnett County public library executive director, because her confidence and vision threatened the close-minded, meddling and misguided Gwinnett County library board.

Pinder had the leadership ability and management acumen to successfully lead the public library for 15 years that enabled it to achieve national honor and recognition as Library of the Year in 2000.

She and the public deserve to know why she was fired earlier this month “without cause.”

If there are documented reasons for Pinder’s dismissal based on her job performance, then the library board should share that with her and the public.

Otherwise, it simply looks like petty politics and personal vendettas being played out at taxpayers’ expense, since the library board is obligated pay Pinder a year’s salary - $127,000 – in severance pay.

Brett Taylor, who was appointed in January 2006 to the library board by District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green, was the only library board member who voted to retain Pinder.

In a letter addressed to Gwinnett County citizens that the AJC Gwinnett News ran online on June 5, Taylor said the effort to fire Pinder was ignited by personal issues that Phyllis Oxendine had with Pinder.

Oxendine was appointed to the library board by county commission chair Charles Bannister in January 2005 and at one time also worked for the library system.

Taylor also stated in his letter that he believes Oxendine plans to fire several people and eliminate positions from the library executive staff. If this is so, then Pinder’s firing may be just the tip of the iceberg.

If library executive staff is dismantled, it’s possible that Pinder’s work to build an award-winning library will be undone. And if those staffers have employment contracts similar to Pinder’s, the county may also have to give several other library staff fired ‘without cause’ their severance pay.

Following Pinder’s dismissal the library board cut $3000 from its $22 million 2007 budget that was intended to purchase books for its popular Spanish-language fiction collection.

The board’s decision hinted of racism towards the library’s fast-growing Latino community and also appeared to be an assault on Pinder’s efforts to increase Spanish-language offerings.

After an outcry from the public, library board Chairman Lloyd Breck told the AJC Gwinnett News that the board will vote unanimously in a special session on Wednesday to restore funding for Spanish-language books.

The move may be a sign that the library board has moved away from its bullying and tyrannical maneuvers. Let’s hope so.

I encourage the public to continue to pressure the library board until it explains why Pinder was dismissed. They should also demand that those who appointed the board - the county commissioners - break their long silence about her dismissal.

We must remember that the library board serves at the pleasure of the commissioners and that the commissioners serve at the pleasure of the Gwinnett county electorate - which is us!

Have you contacted your commissioner about the library board’s shenanigans?

How does your paycheck compare to CEO’s?

2006-06-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, June 20, 2006 by Beni Dakar: How does your paycheck compare to CEO’s?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

When will same-sex marriage be allowed?

2006-06-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, June 13, 2006 by Beni Dakar: When will same-sex marriage be allowed?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog.

Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

How do you respond to crying kids in public places?

2006-06-06T05:50:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, June 6, 2006 by Beni Dakar: How do you respond to crying kids in public places?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Should employees, kids be spanked?

2006-05-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, May 30, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Should employees, kids be spanked?
Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Responses to "Why must we hyphenate ourselves to be American?", AJC Gwinnett News, April 4

2006-05-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

'African' tag misleading

The issue that I have with "African-American" is that Africa[n] refers back to an entire continent.

Blacks in this country who can claim all four grandparents were born here may be able to trace a significant portion of their genetics back to certain parts of West Africa where the slave trade took place, but not to the entire diverse continent of Africa.

Beyond that, most North American blacks can also claim a shared ancestry with Europeans and Native American peoples. (That is why I was so undone last year when a heart drug was marketed as a drug for black Americans---because people who are socially identified as black Americans are no doubt among the most genetically diverse people on the earth.)

The other hyphenations refer back singularly to a specific country of origin. For example, when someone identifies with being an Italian-American or German-American, they are not referring back to Europe as a whole, but a specific geographical area on the continent of Europe where a particular grouping of people share a certain culture and history.

The African continent has 54 different countries and many racial, ethnic and tribal identifications. There is no, and cannot be a, singular "African" culture or identity. Africa is far too complex.

Moreover, the recent immigrants from Africa almost always refer to themselves in reference to their country of origin, for example, as Nigerians or Cameroonians, but not as "African" in a generic sense.

BENIN DAKAR, Duluth

Could Gwinnett exist without immigrants?

2006-05-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, May 23, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Could Gwinnett exist without immigrants?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Can May-December marriages be happy?

2006-05-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, May 16, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Can May-December marriages be happy?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Should I have paid for chocolate cream pie?

2006-05-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, May 9, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Should I have paid for chocolate cream pie?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

Should you bet on winning the lottery?

2006-05-02T05:33:00.000-07:00

This is the new blog entry at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) for Tuesday, May 2, 2006 by Beni Dakar: Should you bet on winning the lottery?

Thanks for dropping by and reading the blog. Also, do not forget to leave a comment.

Thank you,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

911 Loose Change (A must see movie)

2006-04-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

911 Loose Change is a 'must see' movie--that you can view right from Benin Dakar Chronicle.

Now viewing here: 911 Loose Change

Leave your review.

Thanks,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

'FREE' Atlanta Youth Conference, Saturday, May 13, 2006

2006-04-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Colleagues,

I am posting this email from Carlis V. Williams, from Health and Human Services to you about a dynamic youth conference that will be held in the Atlanta area on Saturday, May 13, 2006.

The event is 'FREE' and there are tracks specifically for youth and adults. Anyone who cares about our greatest resource: our youngsters, should plan to attend. Below is information about Ms. Williams and attachments about the itinerary and how to register. Registration must be made by May 5, 2006.

Please distribute this information far and wide throughout the Metro Atlanta region.

I will look to see you there!

Best,

Benin "Beni" Dakar

From The Desk of: Carlis V. Williams

Who is Carlis V. Williams? Click here to learn about this awesome woman!
Greetings Everyone:

Attached is information about the Youth Forum - Speak Now! It's Up To You! – on Saturday, May 13 from 8:00am – 5:00pm at the Georgia International Convention Center, 2000 Convention Center Concourse, College Park, GA (near the Atlanta airport) - in partnership with local AAHMI healthy marriage coalitions and the Metro Atlanta YMCA, we are planning interactive educational sessions on relationship education, music and the media for youth ages 9-18 - an adult track will also be offered with presentations that will focus on resources for families

The event is free and targeted to youth, parents, mentors and representatives of youth serving organizations – we are particularly interested in attendance by youth ages 12-18 - lunch will be provided, however, parking at the Convention Center will be $5.00 - each individual who plans to attend must register - attachments include agenda and registration details, including information for registering online.

The Forum is being planned for 250 participants – if you have any questions, please let me know.

Program

Registration Form

Benin "Beni" Dakar debuts as AJC blogger/columnist

2006-04-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Today I debut as a blogger/columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Please drop by and read the column and leave a comment, if you like. I am writing under my preferred name of Beni (pronounced Benny).

We are located at the following AJC/Gwinnett Pages

Thanks,

Beni Dakar

Play Nail The Interview...and get that 'good job'

2006-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Free at last, journalist Jill Carroll

2006-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

(Photo, from The Christian Science Monitor)

I am so pleased that the Christian Science Monitor journalist Jill Carroll has been freed from her captivity and is back with her loving family, friends, and colleagues.

Ms. Carroll has gone through a trial by fire that none of us can imagine or fully understand. I know that she is strong and that she will rebound and use her experience for a greater good.

I was especially intrigued by Ms. Carroll's plight, because her newspaper of affiliation, The Christian Science Monitor, published my first opinion pieces. I will always be respectful of Clara Germani, who was the opinion editor, and appreciative of the opportunity that she and the newspaper generously extended to me.

Here are my special thoughts for Jill Carroll and her family:

(Published along with best wishes from numerous other admirers in The Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday, April 04, 2006)

Like Abraham and Isaac

The most uplifting news of the Iraq fiasco has been the safe release of Jill Carroll.

As I viewed photographs of Ms. Carroll being reunited with her family, the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac is heavily imprinted in my mind. Surely the Carrolls must feel the joy that Abraham felt when his son was spared from sacrifice. Ms. Carroll’s return to the loving embrace of her family after having been in captivity for nearly three months is indeed nothing short of miraculous.

Benin Dakar, Duluth, Ga., USA

2006-03-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Please visit the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper

Top black official in Bush Administration accused of theft

2006-03-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

If these allegations have merit then this is one of the most self-delusional conservative's that America has produced in decades.

Benin Dakar

From the Washington Post, March 11, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/10/AR2006031002328_2.html

Former Top Bush Aide Accused of Md. Thefts
Refund Scam Netted $5,000, Police Say

By Ernesto Londoño and Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff WritersSaturday, March 11, 2006; Page A01

Claude A. Allen, who resigned last month as President Bush's top domestic policy adviser, was arrested this week in Montgomery County for allegedly swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000 in a refund scheme, police said.

Allen, 45, of Gaithersburg, has been released on his own recognizance and is awaiting trial on two charges, felony theft scheme and theft over $500, said Lt. Eric Burnett, a police spokesman. Each charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Allen could not be reached for comment last night.

His attorney, Mallon Snyder, said last night that his client denies wrongdoing. The lawyer disputed the police account of Allen's actions. "It's his reputation. Obviously, he's very concerned about it," Snyder said.

Snyder said he feels confident that Allen will be able to prove that the incidents were "a series of misunderstandings."

Allen, a former deputy secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, was nominated in 2003 to a federal appeals court seat. He was appointed the president's top domestic policy adviser last year at the start of Bush's second term. That made him the highest-ranking African American on the White House staff.

Working out of a small office on the second floor of the West Wing, Allen shaped administration policy on such issues as health care, space exploration, housing and education.

He came to the attention of Montgomery police after a manager at a Gaithersburg Target store called the department about an incident Jan. 2. Montgomery detectives were able to document other alleged crimes from Oct. 29 to Jan. 2, some of which were captured on camera, Burnett said.
Allen resigned from the White House on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

In a statement that day, Bush said: "Claude is a good and compassionate man, and he has my deep respect and gratitude. I thank him for his many years of principled and dedicated service to our country."

Burnett said Montgomery police contacted the White House to verify Allen's identity after the Jan. 2 incident. He said that was the extent of their communication with the administration. He said he could not immediately determine the date of that contact, or whether police informed the White House that Allen had been charged Jan. 2 and was still under investigation.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said last night that if the allegation is true, "no one would be more disappointed, shocked and outraged" than the president. McClellan said Allen had told White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and White House counsel Harriet Miers that the matter was a misunderstanding.

This is what police said happened Jan. 2:

Employees at the Target store at 25 Grand Corner Ave. in Gaithersburg spotted Allen putting merchandise in a shopping bag. He then walked over to the guest services desk, produced a receipt and received a refund for the items.

After getting the refund, Allen left the store without paying for additional merchandise in his shopping cart.

A store employee stopped him, and police were called to the store. Officers issued a citation charging him with theft under $500 but did not arrest him. Court records show prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor charge, which is not unusual in cases in which detectives are considering filing more serious charges.

Detectives from the county's retail crime unit soon learned that the incident was not an isolated event, Burnett said.

He said investigators were able to document 25 fraudulent refunds for items including a Bose home theater system, stereo equipment, clothes, a photo printer and items worth as little as $2.50.

Allen would purchase an item, take it to his car, return to the store, select the same item, take it to the counter and get a refund based on the receipt for the merchandise in his car, Burnett said. "He would get the money back or the credit" on his credit cards.

Allen's arrest was first reported yesterday afternoon by the online magazine Slate.

At the time of his resignation, Allen denied reports that he was leaving to protest military guidelines that required chaplains to perform only nondenominational services.

As Bush's top domestic policy aide, he frequently briefed the president and traveled with him on Air Force One, and he sat in first lady Laura Bush's box during the president's State of the Union address Jan. 31. Two days, later he traveled with the president to Minnesota, briefing reporters about Bush's education and alternative energy proposals.

At the Department of Health and Human Services, where he became a strong advocate for abstinence-only AIDS prevention programs, Allen focused on homeless issues and racial health disparities.

Democrats in Congress blocked his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in 2003, citing his relative lack of legal experience. The court, based in Richmond, covers Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Allen, a native of Philadelphia, spent much of his childhood in a working-class section of Northwest Washington, attending Archbishop Carroll High School. He later attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke Law School.

Allen is a self-described born-again Christian who got his start in politics working for Jesse Helms (R), the conservative former North Carolina senator.
Allen stirred controversy as Helms's campaign spokesman in 1984 by telling a reporter that then-Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. -- Helms's opponent -- was politically vulnerable because of his links to the "queers." He later explained that he used the word not to denigrate anyone but as a synonym for "odd and unusual."

Before that, Allen worked for the Virginia state attorney general's office and as state health and human resources secretary. In that job, he earned a reputation as a staunch conservative; once he kept Medicaid funds from an impoverished rape victim who wanted an abortion.

Staff writer Martin Weil contributed to this report.

Presidents job to be outsourced to India

2006-03-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

The United States Congress today announced that the
office of President of the United States of America
will be outsourced to India as of January 12, 2007.

The move is being made to save the President's
$400,000 yearly salary, and also a record $521 billion
in deficit expenditures and related overhead the
office has incurred during the last 5 years.

"We believe this is a wise move financially. The
cost savings should be significant," stated
Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-WA). Reynolds,
with the aid of the Government Accounting Office, has

studied outsourcing of American jobs
extensively. "We cannot expect to remain
competitive on the world stage with the current
level of cash outlay," Reynolds noted.

Mr. Bush was informed by email this morning of his termination.
Preparations for the job move have been underway for sometime.

Gurvinder Singh of Indus Teleservices, Mumbai,
India, will be assuming the office of President as of January 12th.

Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his
Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls, thus
making him eligible for the position. He will receive
a salary of $320 (USD) a month but
with no health coverage or other benefits.

It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle
his job responsibilities without a support staff. Due to the
time difference between the US and India, he will be
working primarily at night, when few offices of the US
Government will be open.

"Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at
the American Express call center," stated Mr. Singh in
an exclusive interview. "I am excited about this
position. I always hoped I would be President someday."

A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr.
Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues
involved in the office of President, this should
not be a problem cause Bush was
not familiar with the issues either .

Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will
enable him to respond effectively to most topics of
concern. Using these canned responses, he can
address common concerns without having to understand
the underlying issues at all.

"We know these scripting tools work," stated the
spokesperson.

"President Bush has used them successfully for years."
Mr. Singh may have problems with the Texas drawl, but
lately Bush has abandoned the "down home" persona in his effort to
appear intelligent and on top of the Katrina situation.

Bush will receive health coverage, expenses, and
salary until his final day of employment. Following a
two week waiting period, he will be eligible for $240 a week
unemployment for 13 weeks.

Unfortunately he will not be eligible for Medicaid, as
his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit.

Mr. Bush has been provided the outplacement services
of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume.

Hail to the Indian Chief.

(This is Tongue in Cheek!)

Gordon Parks, photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer, succumbs at age 93

2006-03-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

Benin Dakar Chronicle salutes the late Gordon Parks, who was a trailblazer in still photography, film, music composition, and the literary arts. Parks died on Tuesday, March 06, at the age of 93.

Parks who never was able to complete his high school diploma is a shining example of one's ability to overcome obstacles of racism, classism, and the general challenges of life.

Parks was the first African-American photographer for Life Magazine. He wrote "The Learning Tree" which was semi-autobiographical about his coming of age, and was the first black to produce a major Hollywood movie, 1969, when the story was turned into a screen play. Later Parks directed and produced the movies "Shaft" (1971)and "Shaft's Big Score" (1972). In 1970, Parks helped to found Essence Magazine and was its editorial director for its first three years of operation.

Thank you Mr. Parks for showing us all how to become full contributors to our immediate community and to the world community; your example is an amazing legacy.

Benin Dakar

Black Oscar Winners

2006-03-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

Black Academy Award Winners:

Hattie McDaniel, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind (1939).

James Baskett, Honorary Award "for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's Song of the South" (1946). [awarded at the 1948 Academy Awards Ceremony]

Sidney Poitier, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Lilies of the Field (1963).

Isaac Hayes, Best Music, Original Song for "Theme from Shaft" from Shaft (1971).

Louis Gossett, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982).

Irene Cara, Best Music, Original Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling" from Flashdance (1983).

Prince, Best Music, Original Song Score for Purple Rain (1984).

Stevie Wonder, Best Music, Original Song for "I Just Called to Say I Loved You" from The Woman in Red (1984).

Lionel Richie, Best Music, Original Song for "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights (1985).

Herbie Hancock, Best Music, Original Score for 'Round Midnight (1986).

Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory (1989).

Whoopi Goldberg, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ghost (1990).

Cuba Gooding, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire (1996).
Halle Berry, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Monster's Ball (2001).

Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day (2001).

Sidney Poitier, Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence." [awarded at the 2002 Academy Awards Ceremony]

Jamie Foxx, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ray (2004).
Morgan Freeman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Million Dollar Baby (2004)

2006 Oscars:

ORIGINAL SONG

"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," music and lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard

Take heed, Democrats: Unrequited love is not an option

2006-02-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

At the State of the Black Union conference held on Saturday, February 28, 2006, in Houston, Texas, there was a lot of discussion about how African-Americans must change their relationships with both the GOP and the Democrats.

In October 2004, in the article that I wrote for The Christian Science Monitor article I made the same argument. This article “Take Heed Democrats, Unrequited Love is not an Option” is worth revisiting by any concerned black person who wants new ideas about how to approach electoral politics.

Benin Dakar

Commentary > Opinion
from the October 04, 2004 edition

Take heed, Democrats: Unrequited love is not an option

By Benin Dakar

SNELLVILLE, GA. – The black American electorate is at zero hour; a vital decision must be made. After 64 years of mostly unrequited love, black voters must choose to end their unilateral devotion to the Democratic Party. This will not be easy, and what is required for black voters to let go and realize their full potential will be counterintuitive to prevailing political thought in the African-American community.

Prior to 1940, most blacks who were able to vote identified themselves as Republicans because Abraham Lincoln - the great Emancipator - was a Republican. But with the success of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, blacks began voting for Democratic candidates and by 1960, most had migrated to the party. For the second half of the 20th century, blacks have been a reliable constituency for the Democrats. Yet no longer can we afford to base party affiliation and voting patterns on sentimentalism.

The black electorate has received only a small and inconsistent return on its unyielding loyalty. Self-respecting black voters should not be counted on to flex their enormous political muscles on cue without asking for, and receiving, more return on their investment.

That yield must include more blacks in all levels of Democratic Party leadership and an unfeigned effort to promote blacks for statewide and national office - even the presidency.

Eloquent speeches at the 2004 Democratic convention by the Rev. Al Sharpton, a former presidential candidate and by Barack Obama, a candidate for US Senate from Illinois, are not fair trade for robust black electoral capital.

John Kerry's 11th-hour appointment of the Rev. Jesse Jackson as a senior campaign adviser last week has little to do with the Democratic presidential nominee wanting to address the average black voter, and more to do with assuaging Mr. Jackson's elephantine political ambitions by using him to stop any more defections before Election Day. Although a new poll found black support for Senator Kerry has dipped precipitously since August, nevertheless, should Kerry succeed in his quest for the White House, in large measure his victory will be attributable to the millions of black voters who remain the most reliable constituency of the Democratic Party and who will stand in long lines to vote in key states such as Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, and Michigan.

Yet the Kerry campaign has done little to court African-Americans. Moreover, black leadership and voters have not demanded more of Kerry's attention. A too easily satisfied black electorate has settled for Kerry's candidacy without question - simply because Kerry is the anti-Bush. Since it is banal for black voters to consider flocking to the Republican Party, which only seems interested in adding a few perplexing and tractable blacks to its ranks - it is not a viable alternative. Therefore, blacks must begin to think of new ways to boost their voting power in all levels of elections.

African-Americans must begin to consider themselves mercenary voters, unabashedly self-interested and steadfast in their refusal to exchange the power of their ballot for any candidate or cause that is not conspicuously to their benefit. A bloc of black voters purposely unaffiliated with one party has the means to become an independent variable that will irrevocably change the American political landscape.

An autonomous and confident black electorate open to voting for candidates across the spectrum who are responsive and accountable, will transfigure American politics. Non-black Americans must not fear a liberated black voting bloc that holds those who court and earn its support accountable. A maturing black American electorate that is conscious of its power and relentless in its pursuit of a new political vision will help to create new and enhanced realities for other Americans, too. After all, black American self-interest, with its uncompromising emphasis on civil and human rights and economic justice, has often been the driving force that has enabled America to reach the moral high ground that differentiates this country among the community of nations.

Investigating and implementing new approaches to expand black political power is a risky endeavor, and there are likely to be notable disappointments as new political alliances are formed. However, not to rethink political strategy is unacceptable.

The educator Booker T. Washington is often quoted as saying, "Cast down your buckets where you are."

For me, that means giving final notice: This is the last time I will cast my vote for a Democratic presidential nominee whose single endearing quality is that he is less openly hostile toward my community than the Republicans are.

I deserve more in return for my vote and my loyalty. No longer will "unrequited" love be an option.

• Benin Dakar writes about political, social, and economic issues affecting the African-American community.

King tribute, would make Woodson, 'father of Black History Month' proud

2006-02-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

This February unexpectedly brought a new vibrancy to Black History Month.

The January 31 passing of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the first lady of the Civil Rights Movement, ensured that the opening days of February were filled with well-earned praise for King’s contributions, as Georgia, the nation, and the world paused to pay tribute to her life and legacy.

King, the widow of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was bestowed honors and deference that by-passed her husband. King became the first African-American woman to lie in state at the Georgia Dome and is the only American to have four presidents to attend their ‘going home’ service and provide individual eulogies.

In remembering King this February, we are again reminded of how important African-Americans remain in the history of America. The moral courage of King and her husband helped to hasten the end of Jim Crow segregation and to redeem our nation’s soul from the tragedy of state sanctioned prejudice and discrimination.

In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, distinguished historian, and the second black to earn a doctorate from Harvard University (sociologist W. E. B. Dubois was the first) created ‘Negro History Week’. In 1976, Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month.

(Contrary to popular belief February was not chosen to celebrate black history, because it is a ‘short and cold’ month. Instead, February was selected by Woodson because two of the most notable heroes to early twentieth century African-Americans share birthdays during the same week. President Lincoln, known as the ‘great Emancipator’ and Frederick Douglass, the Maryland slave, who taught himself how to read and write, and who later became an abolitionist and an ambassador to Haiti, birthday’s are respectively celebrated as February 12 and 14.)

Woodson was born ten years after the end of the Civil War on December 19, 1875, in New Canton, Virginia to former slaves. Woodson was unable to receive the education he yearned for because of the paucity of schools for the newly freed blacks and in part because his struggling family needed his labor to help them economically. However, these twin obstacles were not enough to stop Woodson from learning how to read and write mostly on his own, in between his labors. In 1892, Woodson moved with his brother to Huntington, West Virginia which had a rarefied high school for blacks. Woodson worked in the coal mines to support himself while he attended school. Woodson graduated from Douglass High School at the age of 20; having completed his studies in only two years. He later studied at Berea College and went on to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912.

Woodson believed that efficacy for the history of blacks would serve the duo purposes of building the self-esteem of blacks and helping to erode bigotry of whites against blacks. He hoped that by promoting Negro History Week that both blacks and whites would have the opportunity to learn and value the contributions of blacks to civilization and to the building of America.

In February as presidents, members of Congress, Heads of State, and dignitaries and commoners came together at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, to pay final respects to Mrs. King, shows that we are doing a better job in acknowledging the contributions of black people— but there is still room for much improvement.

I think Woodson, who died on April 3, 1950, would have been in awe and inspired by our final tribute to King.

Benin Dakar

Coretta Scott King, Video of Atlantans Paying Respects

2006-02-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here are excerpts from a video that I did of the throngs of black folks who stood with quiet dignity in the rain waiting to pay their last respects to Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Enjoy!

Coretta Scott King Video of Mourners, February 06, 2006, in the historic MLK district, in Atlanta, GA.

To view Part I, please click here.

For Part II, please click here.

Benin Dakar

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Shani Davis wins 'black gold', while in the cold!

2006-02-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

Shani Davis becomes the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Davis won his gold meal in the men's 1000 meter speed skating finals. (I hope a residual impact of Davis' win is that blacks will begin to view themselves as a people capable of excellence, wherever they choose to compete.)

Benin Dakar

Coretta Scott King: 1927-2006

2006-02-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

America and the world owe a large debt of gratitude to both the recently deceased Coretta and her husband Martin Luther King. Their tireless commitment to civil rights helped America to mature into the great Democracy that she claimed to be. I cannot imagine what America or the world would be like without having benefited from the moral courage of Mr. and Mrs. King.

Benin Dakar

Radio Open Source: A Fresh Start for Liberia

2006-01-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

We appreciate Lisa for contributing this awsome link to a radio show program about Liberia's new president and hope for a better future.

Benin Dakar

http://www.radioopensource.org/a-fresh-start-for-liberia/

Liberia has female president, hope for stability and nation building

2006-01-16T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is a great day for Mother Africa. Liberia has its first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is a Harvard trained economist.

Benin Dakar

THE KING LEGACY: Criticisms can't tarnish his crown

2006-01-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

I had the high honor of having an opinion piece on the legacy of Dr. King published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on January 16, 2006. This is the 20th anniversary of the 'official' MLK holiday. Yesterday was King's 77th brithday.

Benin Dakar

ajc.com > Opinion
THE KING LEGACYCriticisms can't tarnish his crownBy BENIN DAKARPublished on: 01/16/06

For me there is nothing that can diminish the significance of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the MLK holiday.

What King gave to America and the world is far too consequential to allow the irony of the latest round of bickering and power struggles among the children of the man of peace to have me lose focus of why King matters. Nor will I allow the media image of King, almost exclusively of him giving his soul-stirring "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington in 1963, to be the single frame that gives shape and form to my knowledge and memory of King.

When King came into national prominence in 1955 as the 26-year-old leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, America was fundamentally a very different nation than it is now.

Nearly all of American society was sick with the disease of segregation of the races, both by social custom and by law. At one time there were more than 400 state laws, local ordinances and constitutional amendments that regulated the social interaction of whites and non-whites throughout our country. (I use the term non-whites, opposed to blacks, because even in states that had a negligible black population there were laws that governed how Asians, Latinos, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders were to demur to whites, based on legal code.)
The name for these laws was called Jim Crow. Jim Crow was a fictional black buffoon character often portrayed by whites doing vaudeville shows while in blackface. Jim Crow laws were more numerous in the South, and they regulated nearly every aspect of life between the races.

The intent of Southern Jim Crow was for whites to keep psychological, social, economic and physical control over blacks, while giving whites a false sense of superiority.

Jim Crow laws permeated every nuance of life. Everything from public accommodation to health services, to the military service and even to recreation and sports were subject to unjust Jim Crow laws. Whites who dared to defy Jim Crow could face being ostracized; blacks who dared to defy Jim Crow laws could face emotional abuse, economic loss and even lynching.

Many Americans are aware that separate water fountains and toilets were mandated for the races. But most people are surprised to learn that just five decades ago in Georgia, Jim Crow laws demanded that black and white mental patients be separated, that black barbers could not serve any white girl or woman, that tavern and bar keepers had to serve exclusively either black or white patrons and that parks and libraries be designated as being either for whites or blacks. Even fairs and circuses were regulated by law to have separate entrances, if not separate days, when blacks and whites could attend.

The ascendancy of King helped to hasten the end of Jim Crow. King, who is a 20th century American patriot, was a man designed for his times. The ability of King to articulate the hopes and dreams of America's marginalized people helped to give amplification to voices that were otherwise mute or at best soft.

The intelligence, courage and leadership of King inspired black Americans to organize, and stand tall and firm against the tyranny of the social system of segregation. Only a prophetic leader, such as King, could have persuaded legions of blacks to risk not only their livelihoods, but also their lives in taking on the goliath of Jim Crow.

King and the MLK holiday matter deeply to me, because I know that without the bravery and personal sacrifice of this lone man, the multicultural and open America that I enjoy living in would not, could not, exist.

Darnell brings encouraging news regarding Alito and the 1954 Brown decision

2006-01-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

Again, Benin Dakar Chronicle is appreciative that Darnell is keeping us on our toes with our thinking caps tied tightly.

We are genuinely happly at Alito's politically correct answer concerning the Brown decision. Perhaps, Alito will prove to be another O'Connor or Souter after all. (You never know, but you can hope so:-)

Benin Dakar

"Darnell" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 1/12/2006 08:08:32 AM
Date:
Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:16:05 -0800 (PST)

Alito blowing away this entire lie that he does not support Brown, in his own words:"ALITO: The court certainly got it wrong in Plessy, and it got it spectacularly wrong in Plessy. And it took a long time for that erroneous decision to be overruled.

One of the things, I think, that people should have understood that separate facilities, even if they were absolutely equal in every respect, even if they were identical, could never give people equal treatment under the law."http://www.lifenews.com/nat1982b.html --Posted by Darnell to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 1/12/2006 08:08:32 AM

Alito Hearing Coverage in The Washington Post

2006-01-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Alito Hearing Coverage in The Washington Post

Charles Babington and Amy Goldstein wrote the main news story.
Dan Balz wrote an analysis, , Mark Leibovich wrote the feature in the Post Style Section, and Dana Milbank did his sketch, in which he says:
"Ordinarily, the first day of hearings for a Supreme Court nominee would be full of pomp and pageantry. But Alito had the misfortune of following by just four months the confirmation of the witty, charming and erudite John G. Roberts Jr. -- and there was a palpable sense of detachment in the hearing room yesterday."

By Fred Barbash January 10, 2006; 04:04 AM ET Previous: Video: Judge Alito's Opening Statement Main Index Next: Alito Hearings: Live Coverage in this Space Starting at 9:30
CommentsPlease email us to report offensive comments.

Following the U.S. Constitution, Legislative and Judicial Branches of government need to have a part in establishing and enforcing law in the war against terrorism, where the American people can be represented in this new type of war, not just the top administrators in the Executive Branch. I am concerned that Judge Alito fails to interpret the simple fact that presidential policies in a time of war are not laws.

I think the Supreme Court needs to balance the controversial issue of abortion without aborting personal freedoms and uphold the rights of the unborn at the same time by structuring separate abortion case Courts that can do that complex task. But Judge Alito seems so readily willing to let the rights of the unborn ‘totally’ over shadow the rights of personal freedoms that I do not think he could guide such institutions of law in a bi-partisan manner.

Thank you Washington Post, from a reader

Posted by: E. Weisgerber Jan 10, 2006 7:20:32 AM Permalink

This is quoted from the Washington Post, “Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. decided to study constitutional law because he was distressed over the liberal activism practiced under Chief Justice Earl Warren's leadership.”
My viewpoint on the above:

I understand that Judge Alito was inspired to study constitutional law, because he was so disillusioned with the Warren Court.

The Warren Court is that courageous court that unanimously paved the way for the end of Jim Crow segregation throughout America; by issuing the famous 1954 Brown v The Board of Education decision. The Brown decision arrested the so called “separate but equal” doctrine of the infamous and divisive Plessy v Ferguson decision of 1896 and paved the way for the Civil Right Movement to gain needed momentum.

Any Supreme Court justice nominee that finds the Warren Court troubling – is a nominee that is speaking in code that he finds that the decisions by the Warren Court that helped break down the rigid racial and economic caste systems in America troubling.

This alone is an adequate reason to look critically at whether Alito has the social consciousness and welfare of a diverse multicultural America at heart. Simply basing a Supreme Court justice’s nomination and confirmation on having elegant credentials and a strong intellect is not enough. (The infamous Dr. Mengle of the Nazi era had elegant credentials and a strong intellect too.) Our nation deserves better!

Benin DakarDuluth, GA

Posted by: Benin Dakar Jan 10, 2006 10:13:59 AM Permalink

No, Presidential policies are not laws - in a time of war or otherwise. But, as the President, Mr. Bush does have obligations, duties, and powers outlined in the Constitution. Chief among those is to "uphold and defend". It is sad that Mr. Kennedy would talk about spying on American citizens when his brother routinely spied on groups and people that WERE American citizens talking WITH American citizens and not some "Americans" talking with a group of international terrorists out to destroy not only our Constitution and country, but the entire Western World. I am proud that Mr. Bush would do whatever it takes to defeat these Islamic terrorists. Although I would never readily surrender my rights, I know they would rather slit my throat than discuss it.

Having Mr. Bush listen to my phone calls if I am calling some guy in Iraq or Syria is a small price to pay knowing my children won't have to speak Urdu or Sunni, worship a rock in the middle what use to be Jerusalem or bow to a backwater town in the middle of the desert.

And, since when is it a "personal freedom" to kill an innocent person? I guess Jeffery Dahmer was exercising his own "personal freedom". I guess sticking a pair of scissors into the brain of an almost born child is "exercising personal freedom". I guess a woman spreading her legs for any man and killing two, three, or more innocent children as a form of birth control is "exercising personal freedom". Sure, there are times abortions should be allowed - even encouraged, but not at the expense of calling it "personal freedom". What ever happened to the "personal freedom" of the baby? Freedom is too valuable a word and too precious a commodity to be used to justify murder.

The Constitution is not bi-partisan - as that word has become to mean. It is a compromise, to be sure, but one for the better. Bi-partisan today means a compromise of ideals so "everyone is happy" (which, it turns out means, "no one is happy"). The Constitution was never a compromise of ideals, but a compromise on how to sustain those ideals. People today have distorted and contorted this to "a living breathing document" that can be changed at the whim of judges so that "no one is happy".

Posted by: M. Hampton Jan 10, 2006 10:51:16 AM Permalink

Benin,

If you think that all white people sit around devising some strange secret code so we can subjugate other races, you are greatly misinformed. We are too busy trying to better ourselves, our community, and our neighbors (and that includes all other races) than trying to maintain a useless caste system.

If I say I am "distressed" with the Washington Redskins, it has nothing to do with black players on the team. If I am "distressed ... with liberal activism", I am not upset with allowing equal protection under the law, I am upset with the courts manipulating the Constitution so much so that the Founders of this great country wouldn't recognize it. Denying the most understandable fundamentals of the Bill of Rights by usurping States Rights ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.") and creating the right to kill babies where there is none ("The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, ..." doesn't say you have a right to an abortion and the Founding Fathers would choke at the thought of that.) And declaring a “Separation of Church and State” in the 1st Amendment when it isn’t there. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…” means the U.S. Government will not make a “State Religion” like the one the Founders escaped from in England. It does not say “Freedom from religion” – otherwise, why would all the original documents, slogans, statues, etc. contain the word “GOD”?

Yes, I am upset also with the Liberal Judicial Activism which eliminates “God”, diminishes our States’ rights, and allows innocent babies to be killed for convenience. Judge Alito was upset at the same things.

And remember, it was the Democrats who created those Jim Crow laws and it is those same Democrats that support liberal activism - which includes the killing of innocent black babies by the thousands every year. (Don’t you think there is something of a "secret code" in that?)

Posted by: M. Hampton Jan 10, 2006 2:03:01 PM Permalink

To M. Hampton

Jim Crow laws were a collection of more than 400 state laws, local ordinances, and constitutional amendments that regulated the social interaction of white v non-white Americans. I use the term non-white, because in states that had negligible black populations, there were laws that governed the interaction of whites v Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians. There was no one president that enacted Jim Crow—be that person Republican or Democrat.

Beyond that the Democratic Party of today is much different than the Democratic Party prior to the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, when droves of white Southerners defected to the GOP, to protest against the more liberal Northern wing the Democratic Party.

As for white code talk, I stand by my previous statement. The Warren Court helped to liberate America from legalized segregation. When a person, such as Alito publicly states that he found the Warren Court’s philosophy problematic—it is tantamount to declaring that he found such decisions as the Brown decision problematic. And that is tragic.

Benin Dakar
Duluth, GA

Posted by: Benin Dakar Jan 10, 2006 7:24:58 PM Permalink
Post a Comment

Why Alito should not be confirmed

2006-01-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

This is quoted from the Washington Post, “Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. decided to study constitutional law because he was distressed over the liberal activism practiced under Chief Justice Earl Warren's leadership.”

My viewpoint on the above:

I understand that Judge Alito was inspired to study constitutional law, because he was so disillusioned with the Warren Court.

The Warren Court is that courageous court that unanimously paved the way for the end of Jim Crow segregation throughout America; by issuing the famous 1954 Brown v The Board of Education decision. The Brown decision arrested the so called “separate but equal” doctrine of the infamous and divisive Plessy v Ferguson decision of 1896 and paved the way for the Civil Right Movement to gain needed momentum.

Any Supreme Court justice nominee that finds the Warren Court troubling – is a nominee that is speaking in code that he finds that the decisions by the Warren Court that helped break down the rigid racial and economic caste systems in America troubling.

This alone is an adequate reason to look critically at whether Alito has the social consciousness and welfare of a diverse multicultural America at heart. Simply basing a Supreme Court justice’s nomination and confirmation on having elegant credentials and a strong intellect is not enough. (The infamous Dr. Mengle of the Nazi era had elegant credentials and a strong intellect too.) Our nation deserves better!

**My intention is not to imply or expect others to infer that Alito is demented like Mengle. But to glaringly show that just because a person has attended certain institutions, has a certain transcript, and has a powerful intellect—this is not the sole barometer to assess one’s fitness for a given position.

Benin Dakar

Is the far right, wrong in how they use talk radio?

2006-01-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

I found this pearl of perception from a blog at The Washington Post that discussed the recent racial unrest in Australia. This blogger I think is onto something powerful about how radio is often a robust medium throughout the world for political extremists. It seems that not just in the United States, but throughout the world radio is often used to stir up the masses of the fearful and malcontents.

Benin Dakar

The most ominous element of the Australian riots is the influence of talk radio in driving the violence.

It is very easy to drive up ratings on radio by appealing to and inflaming base impulses. From Hitler's Germany to the Rwandan genocide, the hot medium of radio has been the driving force for fanning latent hostilities into open acts of violence.No other medium works the same way. Reading a newspaper is conducive to analysis and intellect, while television watching is a passive act that inclines the viewer toward doing nothing - for better or worse. But radio is different. Someone like Hitler who looks ridiculous on TV with wild gestures, etc., instead sounds passionate and forceful on radio.

The United States will learn just how dangerous the knee-jerk reactionaries of right-wing radio are, but not until the economy heads south and scapegoats are needed.

Posted by: troutcor Dec 20, 2005 12:39:38 PM Permalink

A good life should end easily

2005-12-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

I really was inspired by this opinion piece in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The author really makes one think critically about prevailing viewpoints on pain and suffering and dying. Are we really as "moral" and kind as we think we are?

Benin Dakar

A good life should end easily
By JACK REEVES
Published on: 12/16/05

Marvin died within seconds after the injection. Our veterinarian softly uttered, "There's no charge." My wife, Nancy, cradled our cat as I drove home. He was old, had a terminal illness, and suffered. Once a humane society kitten, we buried him with tears and honor. A stone and daffodils mark his grave.

The life of convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams' ended Tuesday from injections of sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.

Pentothal induced unconsciousness within 30 seconds. Pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant, stopped breathing within a minute. Potassium chloride instantly stopped his heart. It was totally painless.
Nancy died of stage four cancer on Nov. 27. She was 66. Amid bodily anguish and horrid consciousness she pleaded twice: "I wish someone would give me a shot and I could go to sleep."

The hospice nurse came two days before. During her initial visit, she discussed with Nancy her living will, in which Nancy directed that "the application of life-sustaining procedures to [her] body , including nourishment and hydration, be withheld or withdrawn and that [she] be permitted to die."

For Nancy, there was no "shot" — only liquid morphine sulfate. Day and night I put measured doses under her tongue. Twice, though, she suddenly arose in bed, eyes wide staring at me, and screamed.

I'm haunted: What horror slouched through her soul?

She went through the stages of death for three days. Her temperature elevated, then she became colder as blood was being preserved by her failing organs. There is a death rattle: a gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages. Her breathing became difficult as her courageous heartbeat accelerated.

Some 48 hours after the hospice nurse was satisfied that all was in (legal) order, my beloved Nancy succumbed.

A friend and I were with her to the end. We had nothing to sufficiently palliate our suffering either.

Marvin's death occurred in seconds. Williams' occupied two unconscious minutes. We have mercy on pets and those who cruelly murder. But not for the Nancys.

The love of my life was past president of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia, Counselor of the Year in 2005, and elected to the board of directors of the new LPCA Foundation. She was an extraordinary, good person.

I could not help her die without pain and terror. Nancy, even with morphine, experienced the private hell of her death — for days. I know. She screamed its horror to me.

"I wish someone would give me a shot and I could go to sleep."
Why can't we?

Governor Schwarzenegger thanks me for my plea to spare Williams TWO days after his execution

2005-12-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

Governor Schwarzenegger's office responds to my request to spare Stanley "Tookie" Williams two days after he was killed by the State of California. What should I make out of the response? That is a good question.

Benin Dakar

To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
From:
governor@govmail.ca.gov Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject:
Re:Governor Schwarzenegger: Please spare Stanley "Tookie" Williams Life

As the Governor's Legal Affairs Secretary, I have been asked to respond
to your email concerning Stanley Williams.
Clemency decisions are always difficult, and the case of Mr. Williams
was certainly no exception. Governor Schwarzenegger studied the
evidence, reviewed the history, and thoroughly considered the views and
arguments presented before making a determination in this matter. A great
deal of time and thought went into the Governor's decision, and it was
only after careful deliberation that he concluded clemency in Mr.
Williams' case was unjustified. The Governor's statement of decision is
available at www.governor.ca.gov.
We acknowledge your views and comments in this matter and appreciate
you taking the time to share them. On behalf of the Governor, thank you
for writing.
Sincerely,
ANDREA LYNN HOCH
Legal Affairs Secretary

DeleteReplyForwardSpamMove...

State Sponsored Murder is Wrong: State Must be Held to Higher Standards than Street Criminals

2005-12-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

The federal governments' execution of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh was equally unjust. No one has the right to take a life. The worse sentence there is -- is to sit in a jail cell day-in and day-out and be deprived of life's everyday pleasures. Tookie died 24 years after his conviction of four murders, not because he committed those crimes; but because it was politically expedient for the governor to allow his execution.

Darnell's dissent...we welcome it!

From:
"Darnell" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 12/13/2005 05:00:36 PM
Date:
Tue, 13 Dec 2005 17:06:45 -0800 (PST)

If Tookie was a white man that did his crimes with a White sheet over his head I doubt there would be any form of "redmption" that Mr. Dakar or anyone else crying for Tookie would accept!Tookie destroyed communities and families and suddenly the cries for "mercy" flow like a river.Such hypocrisy and vicious double standards, disguised as love and caring! --Posted by Darnell to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 12/13/2005 05:00:36 PM

From the AJC Forum on 'declining black marriage'

2005-12-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

This is from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Forum on 'declining black marriage'

The decline of black marriages
Sunday, December 11, 2005, 09:36 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How can the decline of black marriage be reversed? What do you think?
Please keep your posts to 300 words or less. Comments longer than that run the risk of not being posted or being deleted. Thanks.
Permalink Comments (10) Post your comment Categories: Forum

Comments

By ugotme?
December 11, 2005 10:16 PM Link to this
I don’t see how those of us who are caucasion can even respond to this question, but I hope to see some viable solutions. It will benefit everyone.

By Van
December 12, 2005 09:02 AM Link to this
To listen to some, we live in a secular world, without religious foundation, where commitments are temporary, where marriage is defined as “until we no longer feel like it” instead of “until death do we part.” Some say that everything should revolve around “self”. That self comes first.
We live in a world where having a child out of wed ock is celebrated instead of something to be ashamed about. In a world where moral right and wrongs do not apply.
I don’t know what can be done to save marriage, much less what can be done to save black marriages.

By E. Lewis
December 12, 2005 10:26 AM Link to this
It’s not simply the decline of black marriages that is the problem. It’s the decrease of good, stable and lifelong marriages and the increase in of out of wedlock children that is more to the point. An unsafe, bad marriage is worse than no marriage at all. I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the days when adultery and abuse were rampant.
Perhaps the solution lies in educating the current generation. A good education/job, a hopeful future, unlimited possibilities, strong self esteem and birth control can go a long way to solve many of the problems in the black community.

By Single and Looking
December 12, 2005 11:04 AM Link to this
Please move this topic to a more visible place in the AJC. This topic is very dear to me, because I am a single mother. Marriage was something I dreamed about as a very young teenager. However, I quickly found out at 23 and pregnant, that relationships were very difficult to maintain - especially, when you are the only person with the dream of being married.
Although, it’s been more than 10 years since the birth of my daughter, I find that most of the men that I encounter are not interested in permanent relationships. Those that say they are ready, are not truly financially responsible.
It’s especially hard for me, because I have obtained a certain living standard for my daughter and myself. I graduated college, developed my career, purchased a home and earn above the middle class standard of living. But, most of the young african american men my age are way behind.
I’m currently working on myself, to see if I can move past the expectations I have for the men I meet. I do not want to lower my standards, in order to get married — but I have learned to love unconditionally. Which is something I did not know how to do 10 years ago.
We need to work closer with our young black men to let them know that marriage can be a great joy. Work to get the “I am a player mentality” out of our society. Encourage the young ladies to talk openly and honestly about marriage. But, first we need to paint a better picture of what marriage can be for two people and their children.

By Diann Dawson
December 12, 2005 11:40 AM Link to this
The good news is that we can reverse the decline in black marriage through marriage education. There is growing evidence that good marital skills and knowledge can be taught even if a generation has not seen an abundance of healthy role models. I am encouraged by the development of culturally competent marriage curricula that are beginning to address the unique issues of African American marriage.

By Charles Barrow
December 12, 2005 01:03 PM Link to this
I think we will begin to see a reversal in the decline of black marriage, by focusing more on an effective method to build and reinforce character in both the young black male and female.

By joe
December 12, 2005 01:11 PM Link to this
Great subject, single and looking (a forum writer) is right about one thing: why doesn’t the AJC have this as front page news. I thought the article was well-written for the most part except like most black writers she had to throw in a cheap dig at the black clergy who oppose same-sex marriage. I am sure those same black clergy are advocates of increasing marriages of black male and female couples.
After reading single and looking’s letter, I must admit I am proud of her for stepping forward and first admitting her mistakes. Since it is obvious she has done much good in her life, I am confident with her attitude she will find a great guy for her and her child. To find a suitable mate you have to do a lot to make things work, more than anyone could say here. One of the most important is check yourself for selfishness and dishonesty. Remember marriage is a two-way street, you have to give as well as get. *Happily married over 20 years!

By Carlis Williams
December 12, 2005 03:52 PM Link to this
I was so pleased to see your article in the AJC about Black Marriages. I believe that we can and will turn the tide on marriage in the African American community by focusing on the provision of marriage and pre-marital education. By encouraging faith-based and community organizations to come together to have discussions and share information about the benefits of a healthy marriage for child well being, economic security and community health and stability. There are several groups/coalitions that have formed in the Atlanta area that are addressing the AA marriage issue and bringing them together to share their experiences and to encourage their continued work would be beneficial. Getting the word out about healthy marriage and healthy relationships in the AA community will surely make a difference!

By sATaLyte
December 12, 2005 04:12 PM Link to this
There have got to be several reasons for the decline of black marriage. One of them, maybe, black youths are waiting a little bit longer to find that special someone rather than just settling down.
I am twenty-three years old, and as far as I can tell many black youths are focusing on furthering their careers and their educations. The idea of marriage to many youths is like a life sentence. It appears like a punishment for either having impregnating someone early, a trap set by women who are lonely and looking to sucker a man in for a lifetime of nagging and misery, or an answer for those who have exhausted their options.
The idea of marriage for blacks just carries too many negative connotations. I can recall numerous occasions where elder black men would beg and plead for me not to get married young or get a girl pregnant fearing as if they would watch another young brother give away his life, almost like murder.
They get this idea from watching their families and those that came before them who settled down at an early age. Marrying young seems very antiquated, a standard way of doing things in a culture long before their time. While looking back at their grandmas and grandpa-pas and reveling at their unions that spanned the test of time, in the back of their minds they are saying to themselves “not me”.
For many blacks they see the idea of not marrying young and holding down a long-lasting relationship as a rebelliousness against the old-fashioned way of doing things. The problems that the age rift present between black elders and youth not understanding one another could also certainly play a large part in this behavior.
This is just one opinion I have on the topic, hopefully not to be taken offensively.

By Richard Bush
December 12, 2005 04:31 PM Link to this
I am commenting as a 56-year-old, well-educated professional black male, recently married. How did I get to where I am? Not so different than many others I suspect. My life has been a product of both white American system influence and black American circumstance. I agree that white American governmental tactics over time put quite a void between many black Americans, while America tried to figure out how to accommodate a restless black culture. I refer to everything from busing to EEO, to welfare practices. I have largely been a recipient of some of those practices more so than a victim. But, all of that didn’t really bring me any closer to marrying a black woman and starting a same race black family. However, in the early sixties it was generally understood at that time that many black females were on college campuses to find a husband more so than being interested in an education. At the time that was a relatively new notion and clearly not isolated to black females. But as a guy on a mission to succeed in college life, the thought of a wife and crying babies was out of the question. Later on in life, by observation and varied conversation, black women became increasingly aggressive and impatient with black male development. As I see it, black women for the last four decades or so have largely been in competition with black males in nearly every area of American socio-economic life. Let’s face it, there have only been a limited number of positions, mentors, programs, etc. for both black males and females to take advantage of. As I have seen, black females were ushered in through those doors first. We males clearly were aware of this trend and it drove yet another wedge between the black sexes. Our society has little patience with those (of any color) who do not perform. Over the years “performance”, other than the most basic elements of survival or athletics, has not been a primary concern particularly of the American black male. But, the black female more often has been mentored by both white females and white males enabling them to emerge from our short sited past. Once a significant number of black females got a grasp of all this, America developed and support this gender in acquiring many of the “how toos” and staples of our society. I submit that much of this did not occur with a large portion of Americas’ black males. Lucky for me I happened to benefit from some of the same support that many black females enjoyed. Why?, part luck, part having an exceptional single parent household mother, and my own determination to be more than my predecessors had been. I was the first male in my family to graduate from college and the first to achieve a professional career. Since that time I have nephews and nieces that have followed suit. Today’s young black males and females have entirely different circumstances and it is up to them to find their way to stable households. Having said that, as I look around these days, I really don’t see a lot of difference separating blacks and whites of the same age group. In my eyes they have the same discouragements and conflicts that are rapidly making marriage a “dying institution”. I see things as level as they have ever been and don’t see the issue you site as solely a “black” one. The folks you write about are all part of a generation that has gotten more than there parents had and it really hasn’t made them any more appreciative of family structure. I suspect that living life will eventully do that. So please don’t be so quick to single out today’s black males and females when it comes to this issue. Today’s young folks seem to need more time to grow up than previous generations did. That’s how I see it today.
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F
Post a comment

A readers' view on marriage

2005-12-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

This is what Marriage Boosters had to say!

From:
"Marriage Boosters" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 12/13/2005 04:34:24 AM
Date:
Tue, 13 Dec 2005 04:40:32 -0800 (PST)

I can tell you the easy answer to reverse this decline. It's only five letters long. N-O-S-E-X.Everyone knows it's what motivates men. Everyone knows it attaches women to men. I guarantee it will be a quick fix if, beginning today, the only way a black man can be intimate with a woman is if he is married to her and behaving like a gentleman. When are women (of all colors) going to stand up and say, "Enough!"? Let's all admit that the sexual revolution was a failure and that women and children are WORSE OFF for it.Think I'm too simplistic? The truth usually is simple. --Posted by Marriage Boosters to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 12/13/2005 04:34:24 AM

Stanley "Tookie" Williams Fate in Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's Hands

2005-12-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Stanley "Tookie" Williams' legal team has called out their last stop; which is to ask the Supreme Court to spare their client's life. The case was given to outgoing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. We only pray that one of her last acts is to commute the sentence of Williams to life without parole.

In all of the flurry of the day's events, we must also choose to remember the four murdered persons and their family and friends. May our thoughts and prayers be with them too during this troubled time.

Benin Dakar

Not everyone wants Tookie to live: the right to openly disagree is the strength of America

2005-12-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Letters of dissent about Tookie

From:
"Zev" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 12/12/2005 05:20:54 AM
Date:
Mon, 12 Dec 2005 05:20:56 -0800 (PST)

You must be a liberal...No one I know can be this stupid. The guy is a criminal who murdered 4 innocent people for absolutely no reason at all. It is time for Tookie to die...Will he order chicken or steak? Ha ha ha! --Posted by Zev to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 12/12/2005 05:20:54 AM

From:
"A Christian Prophet" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 12/12/2005 01:43:35 PM
Date:
Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:50:01 -0800 (PST)

The Holy Spirit's message on The Christian Prophet blog today says that as long as Tookie lives on earth he pays the price for his mistakes, but when no longer living on earth he is totally forgiven and free. --Posted by A Christian Prophet to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 12/12/2005 01:43:35 PM

Drop in black marriages hurts families

2005-12-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 12, 2005

ajc.com > Opinion

Drop in black marriages hurts families
By BENIN DAKAR
Published on:
12/12/05

Marriage is the most enduring present that Otis and Elaine Dickerson of Duluth have given themselves and their four children.

On Dec. 18, 1953, on the first birthday of their baby boy Eric, the young and determined African-American couple were married in the modest home of Otis' mother in a working-class Baltimore neighborhood.

Their commitment to rear their children — son Eric (now known as Sitawi Jahi), of Baltimore; and daughters Marcia Dickerson, 50, of Duluth; Sheila Conway, 44, of Columbia, Md.; and Leslie Pickett, 43, of Alpharetta — as a faithful husband and wife provided the emotional support and economic wherewithal for the couple and their offspring to find their way into the middle class.

Although the Dickersons' marriage had some of the usual rough spots that even good marriages are certain to experience, Otis and Elaine remain steadfast in making it work, not just for themselves but as an example to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Otis, a 73-year-old naval veteran and a retired civilian courier for Naval Services in Washington, and Elaine, a 71-year-old retired cryptanalyst from The National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Md., say their partnership enabled them to succeed in the workplace, to become homeowners and to rear stable and productive children.

What makes the story of Otis and Elaine Dickerson exceptional is that fewer and fewer young black couples who find themselves in a "family way" are following their lead to the altar.

The decline of marriage, especially in many low-income black communities, is cracking the foundation of the black nuclear family and worsening poverty and child welfare. According to The Brookings Institution, 70 percent of African-American children are born out of wedlock and up to 85 percent of African-American children will spend some or all of their childhood in a single-parent home.

This is important because the emotional and economic security of children is greatly reduced in single-parent homes. Of course, there are noteworthy exceptions to the rule, but by and large, children from two-parent homes simply fare better.

The reasons for declining black marriage rates are varied and complex, said Lorraine Blackman, associate professor of social work at Indiana University and director of the African-American Family Life Education Institute.
The women's movement of the 1970s enhanced opportunities for many black women and changed their expectations of marriage, Blackman said. Simultaneously, because of a changing economy, job opportunities for non-college-educated black men have decreased.

Furthermore, Blackman said, the government has inadvertently discouraged marriage among lower-income black women by denying them such safety net supports as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and food stamps if there is evidence of a man in the household.

Surprisingly, many black clergy who stood at the forefront of opposing same-sex marriage are eerily quiet when it comes to addressing the crisis of declining African-American marriage rates. The irony is that while same-sex marriage has little, if any, impact on the well-being of the black community, decreasing marriage rates between a black man and a black woman threaten to erode black social and economic progress.

Despite the intricacy of understanding and addressing the issue of declining marriage in the black community and the fact that there are no quick fixes, we still can hope that other young black couples will choose to emulate Otis and Elaine.

In a very real and unsentimental way, the future of an empowered, effectual and enduring black America is wedded to our efforts to increase black marriage rates.

Forum

Benin Dakar of Duluth is a writer and owner of a property management company.

Drop in black marriages hurts families

2005-12-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

We are the most emailed AJC article as of December 12, 2005, at 12:32 pm.

Close
Thank you

Your email has been sent.

View the most EMAILED links for today from Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

1.
Drop in black marriages hurts families
2.
Airline says tentative agreement reached with pilots
3.
Comets' point guard shines
4.
Tax votes can make or break Beltline plan

Send a letter to show support for Stanley "Tookie" Williams before it is too late

2005-12-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

Send an email to Governor Schwarzenegger: governor@governor.ca.gov

Send a fax to Governor Schwarzenegger at 916-445-4633

Call Gov. Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841

Email Mr. Williams and let him know that you care about his life: tookie@tookie.com

Please do this ASAP -- on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 at 12:01PST, Mr. Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection. Let's pray that the governor does the right thing and commutes his sentence to life in prison, without parole.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams Website

Letter to Stanley "Tookie" Williams

2005-12-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Along with countless others throughout the world, I am praying that the life of Stanley Williams, founder of the Crips be spared. Below are letters to Mr. Williams and to the governor of California asking that his life be spared.

Benin Dakar

Date:
Sun, 11 Dec 2005 15:40:44 -0800 (PST)
From:
"Benin Dakar" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject:
I am praying that Governor Schwarzenegger "does the right thing" and your life is spared
To:
tookie@tookie.com

Dear Mr. Williams,

For the past several months you have been present in my thoughts and prayers. I pray that your life is spared by Governor Schwarzenegger.

I think that if the governor looks closely at your case, that he can make no other decision but to deny the State of California the right to take your life. After all, you did not have a jury of your peers and there is good reason to believe that you were framed. But even if you are a guilty man, you should live.

You have made the best out of your prison experience, by undergoing a human revolution. You have used your life from behind prison walls to help others better understand the gang mentality and dynamics and to steer at risk youths away from gang membership.

Should you succumb on December 13, I hope that you find complete rest for your soul.

Peace,
Benin Dakar

Date:
Sun, 11 Dec 2005 15:38:47 -0800 (PST)
From:
"Benin Dakar" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject:
Governor Schwarzenegger: Please spare Stanley "Tookie" Williams Life
To:
governor@governor.ca.gov

Copy Governor Schwarzenegger

Dear Mr. Williams,

For the past several months you have been present in my thoughts and prayers. I pray that your life is spared by Governor Schwarzenegger.

I think that if the governor looks closely at your case, that he can make no other decision but to deny the State of California the right to take your life. After all, you did not have a jury of your peers and there is good reason to believe that you were framed. But even if you are a guilty man, you should live.

You have made the best out of your prison experience, by undergoing a human revolution. You have used your life from behind prison walls to help others better understand the gang mentality and dynamics and to steer at risk youths away from gang membership.

Should you succumb on December 13, I hope that you find complete rest for your soul.

Peace,
Benin Dakar

Darnell's positng about NOI

2005-12-05T00:24:00.000-08:00

Below is a letter from Darnell that gives another explanation of the “Synagogue of Satan. It is worth taking the time to read.

From:
"Darnell" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
[Benin Dakar Chronicle] 12/02/2005 06:04:36 PM
Date:
Fri, 2 Dec 2005 18:04:32 -0800 (PST)

As usual the foolishness of the NOI continues. A proper understanding of that verse is explained here: http://www.keyway.ca/htm2004/20040708.htm
To me all racist have a full ticket. And being a Black man that knows about the NOI, their leader has a double ticket! --Posted by Darnell to Benin Dakar Chronicle at 12/02/2005 06:04:36 PM

DeleteReplyForwardSpamMove...

Blacks must shun anti-Semitism

2005-11-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Below is a copy of the email correspondence that I had with The Final Call newspaper about its endorsement of the book titled, “The Synagogue of Satan”.

The title is obviously racist and anti-Semitic and this feeds into the image that The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an anti-Semitic organization.

James Baldwin once wrote a book called “The Price of the Ticket” where he talked about how American society was both racist and anti-Semitic. Baldwin alleged that blacks have one half of the ticket (because they are not Jewish) and that Jews have the other half of the ticket (because they are white and not black); but still neither had the wherewithal to escape bigotry.

It troubles to see black people trying desperately to use their half of the ticket to find favor in America or anywhere else by accepting anti-Semitism as part of their beliefs.

Benin Dakar

From:
"FCN Online Staff" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
Subject:
RE: Final Call News Article
Date:
Wed, 23 Nov 2005 09:40:27 -0500

*****
Subject: Final Call News Article
Where_From: Final Call Newspaper
Username: Benin Dakar
UserEmail: benin_dakar1@yahoo.com
UserTel:
Location:
Remote Name: 24.99.185.230
Date: 23 Nov 2005
Time: 00:53:05
Comments:
"The Synagogue of Satan" is a racist and anti-Semitic term. I would be
equally appalled at a book named 'Mosque of Murderers' or 'Infidels of
Islam'. It is shameful that your publication is promoting this kind of
bigotry and hatred of another racial and religious group. No religion
or group of people should have their religious symbols used in such a
defamatory manner. No wonder the Nation gets a rap for being
anti-Semitic?
_______
Greetings and thank you for your comments;
According to the author which is indeed the case, the book's name is
derived from the following verse in the Bible:
"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)
and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but
are the synagogue of Satan." (Bible, Revelation 2:9) -See also Revelation 3:9
Is the Bible and the thousands of Chritian Ministers and Churches
throughout America also shameful and anti-Semitic for refusing to denounce the Book of Revelations?

Your comments will be passed on to the book's author.

Thank you,

FinalCall.com Staff

Next Rosa Parks may live next door

2005-11-09T06:20:00.000-08:00

ajc.com > Opinion

GUEST COLUMN

Next Rosa Parks may live next door

By BENIN DAKAR

Published on: 11/09/05

With the passing of civil rights heroine Rosa Parks, many in the black community can be heard wondering, "Who will be the next Rosa Parks?"

Beyond the fact that Parks with her quiet unshakable courage is irreplaceable, it is disquieting to me that many black people have a mind-set that the fate our race and well-being in America is tied to one or two iconic men or women.

For four long decades, African-Americans have been stuck in a leadership vacuum. Too many blacks who were either children or yet unborn at the time of the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are still mourning the loss of these distinguished men and hoping that their heir apparent will soon make an appearance.

For certain, Parks, King and Malcolm X were all products of their time. The circumstances that they confronted and the type of leadership required during the 1950s and 1960s are different from the leadership necessary to enable African-Americans to better navigate our 21st century American experience.

Racism has not gone away, but the "in-your-face" apartheid of Jim Crow racism of the period has by and large faded away into the history books.

The new challenge for black Americans is for us to master ourselves and learn to identify and exploit the opportunity that surrounds us.

No longer are outstanding poetical and metaphoric oratory, massive marches or sheer defiance of unjust laws and rules the best way to make strides toward full inclusion in American society. The challenges today call for multiple grass-roots leaders who can build organizations across race and class in their communities that produce measurable ongoing results.

Moreover, black leadership today must begin to think in terms of legacy and how it will replicate itself. That means focusing on making an investment in our youth.

The kind of relevant and progressive modern-day black leadership that I am talking about is personified by chessmaster Orrin C. Hudson, who lives in DeKalb County.

Hudson is an Air Force veteran and former Alabama state trooper who for a decade owned a thriving automobile business. With his own money and resources, he founded the nonprofit "Be Someone," which teaches at-risk youth, most of whom are black, how to play and win at chess and in life.

In 2000, upon hearing about the execution of seven Wendy's employees in New York City by a misguided youth for a bounty of $2,000, Hudson became angry.

More than a century ago, educator Booker T. Washington called for blacks to "cast down your buckets where you are." That is what Hudson did.

Without fanfare, Hudson began going into local schools to teach the most problematic boys and girls, who had been all but abandoned, the urbane skills of concentration, logic, pattern recognition, long-term planning, delayed gratification and effective use of one's resources.

The cognitive skills and confidence that Hudson's kids develop enables them to win chess matches and in day-to-day life.

Among Hudson's noteworthy accomplishments was coaching the team from low-ranking Benteen Elementary School to the Atlanta Public Schools chess championship in 2001.

Hudson has found support for his mission from people and organizations as diverse as actress Jane Fonda and the NAACP.

There can never be another Rosa Parks. But thanks to the efforts of Hudson and other new styled grass-roots black leaders like him, the future of black America is brighter with more possibilities than previously imagined.

— Benin Dakar of Duluth is a writer and owner of a property management company.

Doreen Ambrose a poet you should know!

2005-10-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Doreen Ambrose is a poet out of Chicago. Ambrose is an amazing talent and she writes powerful and provocative poetry in the tradition of Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni.

I encourage everyone to visit her website http://cooleyhighinreverse.com/

Below is one of my favorite Ambrose poems, “Invisible Woman?”

Benin Dakar

Invisible Woman?

by Doreen Ambrose

You glare at me
You stare at me
You look past me
You drop doors on me

Because I don't stand
5'2, possess tiny breasts
and weigh 90lbs
Soaking wet

You jeer at me
You peer at me
You step on my toes
To get

To the place where you can
call her your nubian queen
And in the same breath
You call me a fat bitch

I've been here before
Like Maya Angelou said.
I've seen this road before,
But Still I Rise!

With the wind beneath my wings,

Because I am a Phenomenal Woman,

A Woman Phenomenally,

Despite how you feel about me,
I am not Invisible
I am here to stay!

I've been called
Big Drawers, Bertha and Bessie Smith
And a host of other b's
That you have in your
Arsenal waiting only for me

Because I don't fit
Your standard of beauty
But that's okay
You'll get over it

Historically, I've been looked over,
Overlooked,
Overcharged
And overworked

Because of the frame
I'm housed in
But not to worry
Things are getting better

You'd like to think
That I'm invisible
But how can I be?
How?

When you devote so
Much of your time
Desperately trying to decimate
Me?

If I was Invisible
You wouldn't have to
You try to box me
Into

A non existent category
But I refuse to let you
Take me there....
And hold me there...

I take my beautiful brown
hands
and I unfold them and I come out WRITING!
Because I am a Phenomenal Woman

A Woman Phenomenally...

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Reader Response

2005-10-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

From the tone of the response the reader thinks that I am a black neo conservative. The truth is that I do not think much of Bennett, but there is something about his comments that we [black folk] can use as a conversation starter, beyond just castigating Bennett. Black lives are not about us attacking Bennett; so much as they are about blacks using our liberty and resources to attack issues and concerns that are pertinent to our community and well being.

As a writer, I am proud to have angered a reader to the point that they must write a letter: this means that I have provoked thought, beyond normal parameters and that is a good thing!

Reader response:

Bennett expressed his true feelings

I am appalled and in complete disagreement with Benin Dakar's column regarding former Secretary of Education William Bennett's comments on black babies and crime ("Blacks must save selves from crime," issue, Oct. 11).
In a country as diverse as the United States, it is reprehensible and insensitive to have the audacity to suggest that to abort every black baby would lower the crime rate. Since Bennett was a member of the strongly pro-life Reagan administration, it would be safe to assume that he is against abortions --- with the exception of African-Americans. I am convinced that he said what he meant and meant what he said, and then tried to clean it up with a statement that was indeed an antithesis of his original.

Regarding Dakar's highlighting of criminal justice statistics, it makes no sense that minorities make up the majority of the criminal justice system; that anomaly in itself suggests racism. To me, this is just another example of the underlying issues in our society that have not been resolved. The frightening part is that I think Bennett was in essence articulating the sentiments of many.

The Rev. D. DEMETRIUS PRATHER, Atlanta

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Most Emailed Articles

2005-10-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

As of 2:00 pm, Tuesday, October 11, 2005, I have the fourth most emailed article for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

See Below:

Close
Thank you

Your email has been sent.

View the most EMAILED links for today from Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

1.
Mothers' genes and male baldness
2.
Who'll be where in 2006
3.
Stolen airplane ends up in Gwinnett
4.
Blacks must save selves from crime

Blacks must save selves from crime

2005-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is an article written by me, that appears in the October 11, 2005, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

GUEST COLUMN
Blacks must save selves from crime
By BENIN DAKAR
Published on: 10/11/05

The knee-jerk tendency to condemn anyone who dares to enumerate troubling statistics and realities in the African-American community prevents mature discussions and viable solutions for what ails black America.

Last year, educator and entertainer Bill Cosby was vilified by many in the black community because he dared to speak out about the epidemic of poor parenting and undisciplined and ungoverned youth in too many African-American communities.

Now comments by former Education Secretary William "Bill" Bennett are selectively taken out of context. Instead of having a meaningful conversation about how to reduce black-on-black crime in many African-American communities, Bennett has become the poster child for the neo-racist.

On his Sept. 28th radio talk show, Bennett made the following comment: "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose — you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett quickly added that such an idea would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do." But, he said, "your crime rate would go down."

I do not believe that Bennett is purporting the systematic abortions of black babies, but instead is suggesting that based on sheer, cold statistics, if the number of black babies coming into American society were to decrease there would be a decline in the number of blacks who have the opportunity to get involved in the criminal justice system.

The only argument (statistically speaking) that I have with Bennett's statement is that he should have said "black male babies" instead of simply black babies.
According to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics, in mid 2004 there were 4,919 black male prison and jail inmates per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 717 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.
Like all babies, black male babies are born as innocent human beings. Black male babies do not have any innate proclivity toward crime.

However, due to ongoing structural racism, gross inequality in educational opportunity, and the lack of job training and high-wage jobs in many African-American communities, black males have more chances to become involved with the criminal justice system.

Instead of bashing Bennett because he alluded to this reality, black leaders should be initiating discussions about what we can do to decrease these numbers.

Moreover, we need to talk about and then take the necessary action on what we can do to reach out to those blacks — both male and female — who already have a criminal history and help bring them back into productive mainstream society.

The discussion must include talking about ongoing prejudice and discrimination in American society and how to eliminate racism; but we must resist having meaningless conversations that are little more than a citation of the sins of white people imposed on black lives.

Instead, black people must discuss and decide what we can do as individuals and as a group to help more of our people stay out of the criminal justice system and make our predominantly black communities safer places.

People like Bennett can parrot troubling statistics about black people, but they are not likely to do much more than simply speak about our deficiencies.
It is up to us — black Americans — to do what we can and must do to save ourselves.

— Benin Dakar of Duluth is a writer and owner of a property management company.

Bennett a racist & statistically correct

2005-10-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

The former U.S. education secretary-turned-talk show host said on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett quickly added that such an idea would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do." But, he said, "your crime rate would go down."

Statistically speaking Bennett is on target; he could have refined his comments and said specifically, that the crime rate would exponentially decrease if you aborted male black babies.

The sad truth is that black men in America are disproportionately involved in crime and subsequently are disproportionately represented in the prison, parole, and probation systems.

In tandem with that troubling truth is that most targets of black male criminality are other black people. Too many of our predominantly African-American neighborhoods have been taken over by young black male predators that make living in those communities unsafe regardless of the time of day.

The issue is that Bennett was stupid enough to think out loud and say in a public forum what many whites believe and what social scientists can support with their data.

Bennett who has connections with the far right may well be a racist; but the fact of the matter is that there is a crisis in black America and too many of our offspring are involved in criminal activities.

It axiomatic that we live in a racist society; but that is no excuse for blacks to have increased criminal behavior.

Each of us, even those of use from unprivileged inner city or impoverished rural backgrounds as human beings has the ability to choose how we conduct ourselves.

Instead of beating up on Bennett who is not worth our time and resources, we [African-Americans] must begin to seriously talk about how we can help reduce the number of black males headed toward criminal records and how to make predominantly black neighborhoods safer for the black people who live there.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Comedian Nipsey Russell Dies

2005-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

The funny man Nipsey Russell has died of cancer, at age 80. Please click on the hyperlink to read more about his life and passing in the Washington Post.

Dear Nipsey Russell,

You are one of the funniest and sophisticated comedians around.

As a child, I enjoyed seeing you on the television show “To Tell the Truth”. You were always comical and a great conversationalists on the panel – and one of the very few African-Americans who was seen in such an upscale and intelligent setting.

Upon reading your biography, I have discovered that you are also a scholar and an officer in the military. Of course, everyone already knew that you are a gentleman!

With fond memories,

Benin Dakar

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Pulitizer & Tony Award Winner, Playwright August Wilson dies

2005-10-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Please click on hyperlink in title bar to read about the passing of the great contemporary African-American playwright August Wilson, who died on Saturday, October 01, 2005, in Seattle, Washington, at age 60.

Dear August Wilson,

Thank you for your powerful and provocative plays that brilliantly capture authentic African-American life.

Your gift of great intellect and insight which eloquently resonates throughout your body of work is a large and enduring legacy and testament to a life dedicated to celebrating the black experience.

Rest well, my dear brother and kindred spirit.

Benin Dakar

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Comments at Washington Post: PBS Wide Angle: 'H5N1: Killer Flu'

2005-10-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

These are comments that I made about Avian flu and was published in the Washington Post.

Duluth, Ga.: I participated as one of 103 citizen advisors in a Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza held in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, August 27, 2005. The primary sponsor of the symposium was the Centers for Disease Control. This was the first time that ordinary citizens were asked to be involved for their perspectives and input in planning for how to respond to a potential public health crisis.

Prior to the symposium we were given materials to study about Avian (bird flu) and about influenza in general. That Saturday we had presenters from the scientific community to address us and then we had very focused discussions on deciding who should have priority in receiving vaccine, if and when a major "drift" occurs with A (H5N1).

Although, the discussion was a hypothetical discussion, it was nonetheless very emotionally taxing deciding who should get the scarce vaccine, should a pandemic occur. It was as if we were playing "God" with who should live and who may die.

The vaccine cannot be made until it is identified that there appears to be a major change in the virus and then it takes minimally four to six months to prepare the vaccine and then it must be determined if one or two doses of vaccine are needed to cause immunity.

Should there be a bird flu epidemic it would probably last about 12 weeks and because you cannot predict how to make the vaccine in advance it is inevitable that vaccine would be scarce. Only one percent of the American population would be able to receive the vaccine on a rolling basis, once it was ready. If two doses of vaccine are required then even less people could receive vaccinations.

Ironically, just days after the symposium Hurricane Katrina hit and we saw just how disorganized and delayed the federal government was in adequately responding to the disaster of the gulf coast region.

Hopefully, the department of Health and Human Services, which is the parent agency of the CDC and FEMA who would be running the show if a bird flu pandemic occurs has learned something about how to prepare and respond to domestic crisis and in meeting human needs. If not, and a pandemic bird flu should come about, the suffering, death, and economic losses that have occurred with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath will be minuscule in comparison to the loss of life and the economic consequences that will result from a poor response to a pandemic bird flu outbreak.

The threat of an Avian bird flu epidemic is a real threat to our nation: and should be viewed with the same importance as in addressing terrorism. Otherwise, we are doomed.

Citizen Advisor~Atlanta 100

Avian Pandemic Influenza Symposium

This is Mr. Fink's response, he did the PBS documentary about Avian flu, which aired in September 2005.

Micah Fink: Dear Duluth, Ga,

Thanks for your remarks. I think that the issues you are raising are very real and very disturbing. It shows how very unprepared we are for a pandemic. The parallel to Katrina is apt, I think, because this would be a public crisis of the highest order.

Micah Fink

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Racial privilege and racial exclusion are real in today's world

2005-09-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

This is my response to the recent Poynteronline article "Covering Race -- or Covering It Up?"

Many white people who are tired of being called on the carpet for being ‘racists’ wish that the whole race issue would just simply go away.

Not necessarily because they abhor the privileges of whiteness; but because they dislike the psychological discomfort of being confronted with the reality that whiteness does offer privileges that they enjoy; based on the backs of people of color.

Blacks and other non-whites who experience exclusion based on hue and phenotype know that even if race has no biological origins that the social construct of race has a powerful tradition in our world and it unlikely to change anytime soon.

Even the most liberal whites have too much to lose if racism were eradicated. Being white in this world is like having an American Express card, ‘you do not want to leave home without the privilege of your whiteness’.

It is amazing how some whites when confronted with a lack of diversity in the workplace for certain jobs are quick to quote Dr. King’s “we should judge others by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin”, when it comes to making the conscious choices necessary that would be required to change lily white or mostly white settings.

Moreover, although the scientific community knows that in reality that there is no biological basis for race; earlier this summer when it came to the marketing of a new drug to treat heart failure patients based on ‘race’ there was very little outrage that this was bad science.

Why were so many knowing people mute or quietly cooperative, when black Americans, who are among the most genetically diverse people in the world, were targeted for the worlds ‘first race based’ drug?

Unfortunately, the reality of race is not likely to go away anytime too soon. However, we can help to cripple racism, by not denying that racism exists. We do not yet live in a world where people ‘do not see and respond to color’.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Pledge of Allegiance: Responses to "Judge: Pledge violates rights," News, Sept. 15

2005-09-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is a letter that was written by me to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the recent ruling about the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance: Responses to "Judge: Pledge violates rights," News, Sept. 15

Hope other impositions soon will be lifted

As a proud and loyal American and a committed Buddhist, I am pleased with the court decision declaring "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.

Since we Buddhists are non-theistic --- we do not worship any "higher power," commonly called "God" in this society --- it is conflicting for me to say "under God" when I am reciting the pledge. Many Americans who have other non-Abrahamic beliefs find it imposing to have to conform to the religious practices of others.

The federal judge's ruling hopefully is a step toward eliminating such impositions as school prayer, using the Bible to take civil oaths and putting religious symbols in public life.

BENIN DAKAR, Duluth

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Alan Dershowitz: Telling the Truth About Chief Justice Rehnquist

2005-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

From Yahoo! News Monday, September 05, 2005/ HuffingtonPost.com

Alan Dershowitz Mon Sep 5, 1:16 AM ET
My mother always told me that when a person dies, one should not say anything bad about him. My mother was wrong. History requires truth, not puffery or silence, especially about powerful governmental figures. And obituaries are a first draft of history. So here’s the truth about Chief Justice Rehnquist you won’t hear on Fox News or from politicians.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist' set back liberty, equality, and human rights perhaps more than any American judge of this generation. His rise to power speaks volumes about the current state of American values.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Rehnquist bragged about being first in his class at Stanford Law School. Today Stanford is a great law school with a diverse student body, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it discriminated against Jews and other minorities, both in the admission of students and in the selection of faculty. Justice

Stephen Breyer' recalled an earlier period of Stanford’s history: “When my father was at Stanford, he could not join any of the social organizations because he was Jewish, and those organizations, at that time, did not accept Jews.” Rehnquist not only benefited in his class ranking from this discrimination; he was also part of that bigotry. When he was nominated to be an associate justice in 1971, I learned from several sources who had known him as a student that he had outraged Jewish classmates by goose-stepping and heil-Hitlering with brown-shirted friends in front of a dormitory that housed the school’s few Jewish students. He also was infamous for telling racist and anti-Semitic jokes.

As a law clerk, Rehnquist wrote a memorandum for Justice Jackson while the court was considering several school desegregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Education. Rehnquist’s memo, entitled “A Random Thought on the Segregation Cases,” defended the separate-but-equal doctrine embodied in the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Rehnquist concluded the Plessy “was right and should be reaffirmed.” When questioned about the memos by the Senate Judiciary Committee in both 1971 and 1986, Rehnquist blamed his defense of segregation on the dead Justice, stating – under oath – that his memo was meant to reflect the views of Justice Jackson. But Justice Jackson voted in Brown, along with a unanimous Court, to strike down school segregation. According to historian Mark Tushnet, Justice Jackson’s longtime legal secretary called Rehnquist’s Senate testimony an attempt to “smear[] the reputation of a great justice.” Rehnquist later admitted to defending Plessy in arguments with fellow law clerks. He did not acknowledge that he committed perjury in front of the Judiciary Committee to get his job.

The young Rehnquist began his legal career as a Republican functionary by obstructing African-American and Hispanic voting at Phoenix polling locations (“Operation Eagle Eye”). As Richard Cohen of The Washington Post wrote, “[H]e helped challenge the voting qualifications of Arizona blacks and Hispanics. He was entitled to do so. But even if he did not personally harass potential voters, as witnesses allege, he clearly was a brass-knuckle partisan, someone who would deny the ballot to fellow citizens for trivial political reasons -- and who made his selection on the basis of race or ethnicity.” In a word, he started out his political career as a Republican thug.

Rehnquist later bought a home in Vermont with a restrictive covenant that barred sale of the property to ''any member of the Hebrew race.”

Rehnquist’s judicial philosophy was result-oriented, activist, and authoritarian. He sometimes moderated his views for prudential or pragmatic reasons, but his vote could almost always be predicted based on who the parties were, not what the legal issues happened to be. He generally opposed the rights of gays, women, blacks, aliens, and religious minorities. He was a friend of corporations, polluters, right wing Republicans, religious fundamentalists, homophobes, and other bigots.

Rehnquist served on the Supreme Court for thirty-three years and as chief justice for nineteen. Yet no opinion comes to mind which will be remembered as brilliant, innovative, or memorable. He will be remembered not for the quality of his opinions but rather for the outcomes decided by his votes, especially Bush v. Gore, in which he accepted an Equal Protection claim that was totally inconsistent with his prior views on that clause. He will also be remembered as a Chief Justice who fought for the independence and authority of the judiciary. This is his only positive contribution to an otherwise regressive career.

Within moments of Rehnquist’s death, Fox News called and asked for my comments, presumably aware that I was a longtime critic of the late Chief Justice. After making several of these points to Alan Colmes (who was supposed to be interviewing me), Sean Hannity intruded, and when he didn’t like my answers, he cut me off and terminated the interview. Only after I was off the air and could not respond did the attack against me begin, which is typical of Hannity’s bullying ambush style. He is afraid to attack when there’s someone there to respond. Since the interview, I’ve received dozens of e-mail hate messages, some of which are overtly anti-Semitic. One writer called me “a jew prick that takes it in the a** from ruth ginzburg [sic].” Another said I am “an ignorant socialist left-wing political hack …. You’re like a little Heinrich Himmler! (even the resemblance is uncanny!).” Yet another informed me that I “personally make us all lament the defeat of the Nazis!” A more restrained viewer found me to be “a disgrace to the Law, to Harvard, and to humanity.”

All this, for refusing to put a deceptive gloss on a man who made his career undermining the rights and liberties of American citizens.

My mother would want me to remain silent, but I think my father would have wanted me to tell the truth. My father was right.

Alan Dershowitz is a professor of law at Harvard. His latest book is The Case for Peace: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved (Wiley, 2005).

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Fight Judge Roberts nomination as Chief Justice, we owe it to our grandchildren

2005-09-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy of Google Images

Outsider Judge Roberts’ nomination to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme court must be very disappointing for the other Supreme Court Justices who have been on the bench for years.

I wonder if the overlooked Justice’s who supported Bush in 2000 and are grieving over recently deceased Chief Justice William Rehnquist do not feel like they have been kicked in the teeth for the president not to have considered any currently sitting Supreme Court Justice as a candidate to fill the role of Chief Justice.

I bet if Roberts is confirmed and enters the court as “first among equals” that it is going to be a tight working environment.

An upstart from the outside comes in as “your boss”, of course, there are going to be some hard feelings and someone is not going to be happy with their vote in Gore v Bush, which helped the president become the “president”.

You can bet that there are going to be a lot of “sour grapes” among the remaining Justices who were dismissed as being nominated for Chief Justice in less than 36 hours of the late Rehnquist’s passing.

President Bush is in a weakened political state: with the war in Iraq going badly, the incompetence of addressing Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and with gasoline scarcity and soaring prices.

And the preceding political liabilities are just for starters, it is in no way a comprehensive list of the Bush administration’s failures.

Chances are that “Chief Justice Roberts” could serve thirty or more years on the court, thus elongating the president’s so called “compassionate conservatism” which we see failing miserably the evacuees in the Gulf Coast for decades to come.

The Democrats, Independents, and more moderate Republicans like California Governor Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Bloomberg, owe it to their children and grandchildren to wage a strong battle against the conservative Judge Roberts’ nomination as Chief Justice.

In just a couple of months the political climate has changed and progressives had better change too and fight the Roberts nomination with EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Who is New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin?

2005-09-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is a REPUBLICAN who changed parties at the 11th hour to help increase his election chances in a Democratic town.

Nagin had little relationship with most of the poor blacks in New Orleans and very little prior political leadership experience.

Here is Nagin's biography: Ray Nagin From Wikipedia:

Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956 in New Orleans) is the Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was elected in May 2002, succeeding Marc Morial. Nagin gained international prominence in 2005 as the mayor of New Orleans during and immediately following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city.
[edit]

Biography
Before his election, Nagin was a member of the Republican Party and had little political experience; he was a vice president and general manager at Cox Communications, a cable communications company and subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Nagin did give donations periodically to candidates, namely President George W. Bush and former Republican U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, as well as to Democratic U.S. Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston earlier in the decade.
Days before filing for the New Orleans Mayoral race in February 2002, Nagin switched his party registration to the Democratic Party, presumably in order to improve his chances of winning the race in heavily Democratic New Orleans. Shortly before the primary election, an endorsement praising Nagin as a reformer by Gambit Magazine gave him crucial momentum that would carry through for the primary election and runoff. In the first round of the crowded mayoral election in February 2002, Nagin received first place with 29% of the vote, against such opponents as Police Chief Richard Pennington, State Senator Paulette Irons, City Councilman Troy Carter and others. In the runoff with Pennington in May 2002, Nagin won with 59% of the vote. His campaign was largely self-financed.
Shortly after taking office, Nagin launched an anti-corruption campaign within city government, which included crackdowns on the city's Taxicab Bureau and Utilities Department. Nagin also made a controversial endorsement of current Republican U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal in the 2003 Louisiana Gubernatorial Runoff over current Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco, and only reluctantly endorsed U.S. Senator John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential race.
Nagin received a B.S. degree in accounting from Tuskegee University in 1978 and an M.B.A. degree from Tulane University in 1994. He and his wife, Seletha Smith Nagin, have three children: Jeremy, Jarin, and Tianna.
[edit]

Hurricane Katrina
On Friday August 26, the National Hurricane Center predicted for the first time that Katrina would become a Category 4 storm, and thus exceed the design limits of the New Orleans levees [1].
On Saturday August 27, Nagin issued a voluntary evacuation request late in the day. He was hesitant to order a mandatory evacuation because of concerns about the city's liability for closing hotels and other businesses. [2]
On Sunday August 28, Katrina became a Category 4 hurricane [3]. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a mandatory evacuation of the city, and opened the Superdome to those who couldn't leave the city. State Governor controlled National Guard troops were stationed inside the Superdome to screen refugees for weapons [4], yet the situation within the Superdome was very difficult for evacuees and city government could not cope with the problems.[5]
Katrina shifted eastward approximately 15 miles from its expected landfall point, which was to be a direct hit on the city of New Orleans, only a couple of hours prior to making landfall, minimizing the anticipated wind damage to the city. The resultant floods arrived many hours after the worst of the hurricane had passed, breeching and undercutting the levees in numerous locations and quickly inundating a wide area of New Orleans. An estimated 90,000 were still in the city when the hurricane made landfall on August 29, causing severe damage to most of New Orleans.
On September 1, 2005, Nagin expressed his frustration and fury at the response of other government officials and the lack of aid to the city of New Orleans in an emotional interview on radio station WWL:
I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.
Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.
The mayor also stated, "The convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we are running out of supplies for the 15,000 to 20,000 people."[6]
In several television interviews, FEMA director Michael D. Brown claimed he had only officially learned about the Convention Center situation on Friday, September 2, 2005.
On September 3, 2005, President Bush issued a statement saying that "[the magnitude of the crisis] has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable." [7].
[edit]

External links
The City of New Orleans
Campaign contributions made by Ray Nagin
Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses', CNN transcript and the audio of WWL-AM radio interview.
Profile on CityMayors.com
Southeast Louisiana Evacuation Plan Supplement

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Understanding what has happened to our American kin and being thankful for who we are

2005-09-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy of Google Images of Buddhist home alter

Everyone including myself is speaking about Hurricane Katrina and race and class; but the overarching larger concept to grasp is the following: A major American city has been destroyed by flood waters and then some parts of the city by fire.

Yes flood waters and fires have destroyed New Orleans, Louisiana – USA.

Do we understand that the Gulf Coast has been all but destroyed?

Do we really have a clue to what the people in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana who are directly impacted by Katrina have experienced and are still experiencing?

Do we really understand what it means for us to be discussing the loss of an American city? And the destruction of much of the Gulf Coast.

Do we really understand that we are talking about the loss of tens of thousands of lives?

Do we really understand that we are talking about the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people?

Can any of us fortunate enough not to have been directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina have any idea of what it might have been like to have experienced the following:

To be on the roof of your home (or hanging onto a tree branch) with the hot Gulf Coast summer sun beating down on your increasingly dehydrated sun scored aching body.

To live with the emotional anguish that you might just die on the roof of your home or in a tree top.

To know that your family member or friend or neighbor is dead because of the storm and you are so focused on your own physical survival that you cannot grieve for your loved one or your neighbor; much less ensure that their human remains are ceremonially cared for.

What is it like to be in a shelter (the Superdome) without adequate food, water, and toilet facilities? What is it like not to be able to attend to your hygiene needs? What is it like not to be able to provide for your children?

What is it like to feel abandoned by your country and perhaps even feel abandoned by your God?

And for those evacuees who are now in other cities and states – what must it be like to have been transplanted from your home to a place unknown to you just a week ago and now you have to try to piece your life together in a strange land.

And there is a list of a thousand other nightmares that we who are fortunate enough to have only experienced the flooding via the media will not ever fully understand.

And the trauma faced by those in Hurricane Katrina’s path last week is far from over…in fact it has ONLY just begun.

I think that we (the American people) are in some form of shock or denial about what has happened to our fellow Americans and to the land that they called home.

Whatever we think about the people who could not flee from New Orleans, Alabama, and Mississippi, about what Mayor Nagin of New Orleans or Governor Blanco of Louisiana should have done, or about how disgusted we are at what President Bush and company are not doing; it all pales in comparison to the fact the WE HAVE LOST A MAJOR AMERICAN CITY AND THAT OUR GULF COAST IS NEARLY DESTROYED.

Just a week and a day or two ago, people were living their ordinary lives in the “Big Easy”.

Just think that the great multicultural city of New Orleans with a French flair that gave us jazz music and Cajun cooking is now an uninhabitable cesspool.

Just think life along the Gulf Coast is now so fragile and forever changed?

Just think of how fortunate you are and give thanks!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Hurricane Katrina: Diverse Media Matters

2005-09-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath is a monumental story: perhaps the defining story of the first decade of the 21st century for the United States.

Undoubtedly, millions of diverse Americans have been extraordinarily affected by this catastrophe.

However, it is still true that legions of African-Americans have been disproportionately impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

It is a pity that the black press in America is so weak and disorganized that it is unable to reach out and report on the stories of ALL of those Americans impacted.

By and large the reporting of Katrina has been mostly a mainstream media story. Even the reporting of Katrina in African-American publications has to rely on newswire feeds from mainstream media.

My criticism is that the coverage of Katrina shows that in this information age that there is still a paucity of black news media that have the wherewithal to cover major American events.

For anyone black or white or other who loves a free press; they will realize that this is a second tragedy.

Class and race clearly do matter in the Katrina disaster. My viewpoint is that a strong black press could help to illuminate some of these troubling issues in a way that mainstream press cannot do.

Good reporting by alternative niche presses on the Hurricane Katrina fiasco would help to show other angles of the story that are no doubt being missed by even the most sensitive mainstream reporters.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

President Bush’s gross incompetence is an opportunity for Democrats to rebound

2005-09-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

Image: Courtesy of Google Images

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina as powerful and devastating as it is pales in comparison to the second tragedy of lackluster leadership from President Bush and his administration in handling our nation’s greatest natural catastrophe.

Now that President Bush is fully exposed as an out of touch and incompetent leader perhaps the millions of working class and middle class Americans who voted against their political and economic interests by being hoodwinked by GOP ruses of using emotional issues like the “gay marriage amendment” will finally wake up and realize that President Bush and company have little to offer them, beyond rhetoric.

With the whole nation seeing a bumbling President Bush, who cannot seem to come to grips with the ever increasing and certain to be long-term crisis stemming from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath; the Democrats have a golden hour to begin making inroads into the hearts and minds of Americans desperate for sensitive and competent leadership.

If the Democratic Party leadership is savvy out of the flood waters of the Gulf Coast; the Democrats will rise again!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Hurricane Katrina’s media coverage exposes need for diverse press

2005-09-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy of Google Images

People have different experiences based on race, class, and other social factors.

There is a need for a strong African-American press, Hispanic press, Asian press, Gay and Lesbian press, Jewish press, Arab-American press, etc.

This is not to polarize America, but to ensure that ALL of Americans viewpoints have a conduit for expression.

The mainstream press by and large does an admirable job. However, there are nuances of people’s lives that the mainstream press is not always sensitive to or equipped to handle. Thus, there is a great need for other niche presses to ensure that alternative points of view have an outlet.

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is an American story that disproportionately impacts poor African-Americans. In light of this fact, it is a pity that there are few strong African-American newspapers to tell of this unfolding story first hand.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Language Matters: Do not call fellow Americans Citizens “Refugees”

2005-09-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy Google Images
mason.k12.il.us/ havanahs/flag.htm

If you simply go to any dictionary or thesaurus one will see that the word “refugee” (being used a lot, especially on the cable news channels in reference to the masses of Americans hurt by Hurricane Katrina) means a person in exile, immigrant, migrant, or expatriate.

The hurting and ignored people in the Gulf States that have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina and are having a second more potent and troubling devastation by the tepid response of President Bush, the Congress, FEMA, Homeland Security, and a plethora of other impotent federal agencies are AMERICAN CITIZENS.

All of the poor black and white people left behind, all of the sick and infirm people left behind, and all of the caregivers that chose to stay behind to care for the poor and the sick and the infirm are NOT REFUGEES, but they are AMERICAN CITIZENS entitled to every right and privilege of any other American citizen throughout America and the world.

And these fellow Americans are being failed even by the language of how we address them in their greatest hour of need. We speak of people who are our American kin with a name that is meant to refer to those people who are stateless and homeless due to war.

The people of the Gulf Coast have a country and belong to the strongest and greatest nation that has ever existed (or so the hype goes) and are entitled to be referred to by a name that keeps their American identity in tact and their dignity.

Let us cease calling our fellow Americans reeling from Katrina and its aftermath "refugees" and instead call them "fellow Americans in need of our immediate support".

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Where are the black journalists to cover Gulf Coast Armageddon?

2005-09-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

Photo: A fire burns at a chemical facility on the east side of New Orleans today after a massive explosion rocked the city.Courtesy the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 02, 2005 (Eric Gay/AP)

This mega-catastrophe that is dynamically unfolding in Mississippi, Alabama, and New Orleans is an American nightmare. This is a Gulf Coast Armageddon.

Let me be the first to say in plain language, that race and class DO MATTER when it comes to an emergency response to a MAJOR American city that is under water.

By and large the people most impacted by Katrina’s killing wrath are poor and working class people and black people.

The people running the show from the lackluster and delayed leadership of President Bush on down are largely out-of-touch white men who are yes men – very good at the political and Pollyannaish spin and much less adroit when it comes to the needed delivery of life saving and sustaining supports needed by the desperately poor, sick, non or limited ambulatory, and black people who have been abandoned by our nations top leaders.

It is troubling that common sense things like having the buses that are coming to take people away from the Superdome in downtown New Orleans to the Houston Astrodome are not packed with water and ice, cold juices and sodas, snacks and meals, toilet paper and hygiene products, and medicine. This small thing of loading the incoming buses with the goods that are needed for those in the city of New Orleans would do an enormous amount of good to save and sustain the lives and the spirits of those trapped in that cesspool.

This leads me to my main thesis: this tragedy that continues to grow and will undoubtedly shape our new century is a story that impacts so many black people, yet there are a paucity of black reporters and even fewer (if any) black reporters from the black press who are gathering the stories of the poor and dying black Americans in New Orleans.

This great story of the 21st century is regulated to sound bytes and pictures taken by others and not by an independent black media. This is a second tragedy that in the modern world, black people still are as poorly equipped to chronicle our stories as we were after the end of slavery.

A strong black press would amplify the voices of those who are struggling for life and dignity in New Orleans and other affected areas. A strong black press would take President Bush and company to task for not supporting Governor Blanco of Louisiana and Mayor Nagin of New Orleans in a better way.

My greatest hope is that ALL of the people of the Gulf Coast get the help that they need with lightening fast speed.

My other hope is that this is a wake up call to black journalists and to the independent black press that WE need to do a much better job of being where our people’s stories are unfolding and telling their stories in their voices.

Moreover a strong black press should be the first to take to task the unacceptable United States government response to helping their most needy fellow American citizens in a time of extraordinary and long-term crisis.

The black press is failing the black and poor people of the Gulf States, just as much as the United States government, because we are not dependable in getting their stories and needs out via our newspapers and other publications.

What a shame!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Hurricane Katrina: The Big One: Aftermath

2005-09-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Photo: Courtesy Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 01, 2005

This is from an email forwarded from Hurricane Katrina survivor Sitawi Jahi.

TRUTH IN ACTION
Practical Theology for the Masses
By Minister J. Kojo Livingston

The Big One: Aftermath

So, this is it.

The worst-case scenario, or something too close to matter, has become reality. Hurricane Katrina passed close to New Orleans as a category four, doing more damage leaving than when she was coming. Like a mule kicking backwards. The city is under water. People won't have lights, water, gas or phones for weeks. Many of us have lost all of our material possessions. Others have lost their lives.

Why did it happen? Was it God, nature or human failure that caused it? What do we do now?

There are many levels of explanation for any disaster. Anyone claiming the single, absolute explanation is likely full of bull.'wafers', regardless of their spiritual title or position.

You are going to hear some wild explanations coming from the spiritual sector. Respected religious nuts will claim that the city is being punished for whatever they personally don't like. This could include violence, gays, women preachers, casinos, rap music, short skirts, liberals, conservatives, pork, or doing anything that the person speaking does not do or approve of.

Is this a sign that the end is near? Well, Jesus did say he was coming back 'soon'. That was 2,000 years ago (give or take a decade or two). Since that time many disasters (natural and otherwise) have occurred that were more severe in their consequences than this one. People in those times also declared every tragedy to be proof that the end was only minutes, days or weeks away. Like the first Apostles, they all died long before the event they swore they would live to witness took place.

Does this mean we should not seek deeper meaning to the devastation that currently dominates our lives? Of course not!

We should be asking questions about the meaning and true significance of Katrina. Spiritually, each of us must seek answers from the Creator as to the meaning and appropriate response to this disaster. It's just that we must stop spewing out the standard, quick easy, cliché answers and get real about what is happening and the part we all play in it.

Every last one of us participates in disrespecting the planet that God gave us to live in. For you or me to take a wooden pencil and write a single word on a sheet of paper, a forest must die; dangerous chemicals must be used and released into the ground, air or water; countless vehicles must spew poison into the atmosphere carrying either the products or their components; powerful, environmentally un-friendly equipment made from metals and ores ripped from Mother Earth (using other powerful equipment), are used to make, color and shape both the pencil and the paper. It gets more involved when we start talking about phones, computers, clothing, etc. Heck, even our natural food is transported in ways that harm the earth.

None of us has done enough to make the world a better place. We have allowed our children to raise themselves, our school system to melt down, our streets to be unsafe and our economy to be unstable and inadequate. There's more, but you get the point by now.

A city that seems to exist for the purpose of breaking all the rules in a state known for being led by criminals and cheats should expect something bad to happen eventually. That the Southern Decadence Festival had to be cancelled because of Katrina is probably not a coincidence.

We're all guilty to some degree or another. So each of us must aggressively work to do the good we know to do and to recruit others to work to make this city and world a better place. Let our individual good outweigh everything else we generate.

Human Factors

City leaders did their best to beg people to leave the city. Should Mayor Nagin have bluffed, calling a 'mandatory' evacuation that he did not have the means to enforce. Who knows?

The fact that people chose to stay and face death or suffering cannot be blamed on public officials who warned them otherwise. At some point in time people have got to begin taking responsibility for their own decisions and the fruits of those decisions. As a people we often take the 'helpless victim' act too damn far and try to make a virtue out of irresponsibility. This must end. We will never achieve true liberation with such a mentality.

The Dome was a disaster in itself. It was designed to hold a multitude for a few hours, not a few days. Better planning and preparations should have been made, which should have included getting people out of there, by boat if necessary, after a day or two. The Dome should at best, be a stopover until refugees can be taken to other (pre-arranged) shelters across the state or region. Long-term sheltering is a big concern also. If you know that half a million people could be displaced then there should be a realistic 'doomsday' plan for relocating them for as long as necessary.which brings us to the big question.

Considering the extent of the damage and future possibilities for worse to happen, there is a legitimate question as to whether New Orleans should keep the same location. What's that? Why, yes, you can move a city. If you can flood, burn or bomb a city into oblivion, then certainly New Orleans can move to higher ground. It wouldn't take more than a generation to do this if 'the people had a mind to work', as the Bible says. It's not easy, just possible and possibly necessary.

Otherwise it's pretty stupid to build a city in a bowl, below sea level, surrounded by bodies of water and then act surprised when water fills the bowl.

Other than moving the city or closing shop, the option is to build and properly maintain fortifications to keep most of the water out and to pump out falling or other water that does get in. The fact that the fancy new, multi-million dollar pumping station at the Mounds overpass failed so quickly should be an embarrassment to every official who serves the area. Someone should be held accountable for these long-term failures.

As it stands most of us will be out of the city for at least several weeks or months. In my neighborhood water was reportedly roof-high. However nothing material that we lost is an important as what we have.our lives. Everything else can be replaced to one degree or another.

So what do we do now?

Easy question. Difficult task. We start rebuilding. Right now. Today.

Talk to your family. Find out how everyone feels and what they all want. Build the spirit and unity among your own. Get a family vision for rebuilding and then start making it happen today. Don't sit in front of a TV set watching doom and gloom repeated fifty times a day. Get your butt up and start piecing your life back together right now!

If Katrina killed your job then find work where you are. Get your kids in school where you are. Homeschool if you need to. Find a place to stay and start rebuilding your life. Take an assessment of what's important and fill your life only with those things.

Do not put your life on hold. If returning to New Orleans is part of your plan, then plan to return with more to offer than when you left. Read, study, exercise, pray, meditate, find work and get in the best shape of our life.

Why? Because we've got families, communities and a city to rebuild.

Why? Because this time we're going to build a better city than we've ever had before.

That's not a job for half a million self-pitying wimps.

It's a job for people of strength and creativity. It's a job for people of courage and tenacity. It's a job for people who dream and work dreams. It's a job for people who are willing to sacrifice for a greater good and who know what that greater good is. It's a job for people who have decided that they will be unstoppable.

It's a job for people like you.

Now, Whatchagonna DO?

We Will Rebuild! We Will Rebuild!! We Will Rebuild!!!

Kojo Livingston is the founder of Liberation Zone Ministries. For more information or to get involved in the Increase the Peace Campaign call 504-943-7827 or e-mail: liberationzone@aol.com or write PO Box 58178 NOLA 70158.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

We got out alive (Family escapes Katrina)

2005-08-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Photo: Sitawi Jahi, 52 with grandson Isaiah,4; from Family Album, days before Katrina's wrath forced the family to flee for their lives

Letter received today via email from Sitawi Jahi (52), who escaped Hurricane Katrina along with his wife Cynthia (48), paralyzed daughter Tiara Martin (26) and grandson Isaiah (4).

Jambo Brothers and Sisters

For all of you who been calling and haven't gotten through to talk to us because of down phone systems. My family got of New Orleans to Baton Rouge and are now in route to Baltimore. Cynthia, Tiara, Isaiah and me are all safe and fine. Kojo you were right about the Big One. Kojo you warn people in your three part article in The Louisiana Weekly! Hopefully more got the message like my family did got the hell out. There is no more New Orleans as those of us that loved New Orleans so much. I'm still talking to people each night that did not get out. My family has spent two nights in shelters in Baton Rouge and now are on our way to returning to Baltimore for the time being.

I have so much work to get caught up on but that can wait! This was a big message from GOD! Please people take time to come out of the material world and focus on the spiritual world. I'll miss a lot of people that I know who choose to stay behind and die!

Once I finish taking care of some business with FEMA and The Red Cross I will write about this experience. My house did'nt get hit, even though we would still have left no matter what.

Peace & Blessings
Sitawi

P.S. Kojo please forward everyone on this email a copy of your BIG ONE Article!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

My family spared from perishing in the wake of Katrina’s mass destruction

2005-08-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Photos: Far left, Sitawi Jahi 52 with grandson Isaiah, 4 2nd Photo: Cynthia Jahi, 48, with daughter Tiara Martin 26, and Isaiah 4

Photographs from family album and were taken just days before the family’s life was crumbled by Hurricane Katrina

Benin Dakar Chronicle is very pleased that family member Sitawi Jahi and his wife Cynthia, 26 year old paralyzed daughter Tiara, and her 4 year old son Isaiah were able to escape Katrina’s path.

Last November the family was living in Baltimore, Maryland. Tiara and her husband William had been having some very difficult marital issues. Tiara decided to leave her husband and take their son to live with her parents. William (Tiara’s husband) was angry that she had left and stalked Tiara one Saturday morning as she was leaving for her job as a youth counselor for the State of Maryland. William shot Tiara several times and then pointed the gun at Tiara’s mother Cynthia who had run down the steps from their second floor terrace apartment to assist her daughter. Luckily, the gun misfired and Cynthia was not shot.

Later William turned the gun on himself and subsequently died. Tiara was left a paraplegic. In January as soon as Tiara could travel the family decided to relocate to New Orleans, where Sitawi had attended the University of New Orleans and had a current business opportunity to run a community center. Just about five weeks ago, Tiara’s maternal uncle Maurice, who is a truck driver drove down the remainder of Tiara’s belongings to New Orleans. The family seemed to be doing a fine job of rebuilding their lives from the earlier tragedy of the Baltimore shooting of last November and never expected to have their lives uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

The family knew that New Orleans was prone for hurricanes, but they never expected that within eight months of their arrival that the most feared “category 5“ hurricane would come to destroy the new life that they were steadily building.

At the 11th hour on Sunday, Sitawi made a life saving decision to move his family to Baton Rouge. Sitawi was able to get a cab driver who was heading to Baton Rouge to take his family to a shelter at Louisiana State University, which had a special facility to care for those with special needs, like Tiara.

It is great to report that today at 2:30PM that Tiara, her mother Cynthia, and little Isaiah are boarding a plane for Baltimore where they will be dry and safe living with Cynthia’s family. Sitawi has chosen to remain in Baton Rouge for the time being and is hoping to resolve some last minute business and personal issues, before he leaves Louisiana, since he has experienced that it is difficult to do business long distance.

Needless to say, the Jahi family and their extended family and friends are very appreciative that their lives have been spared.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Will Whitney Houston’s star shine again?

2005-08-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Google Images
www.aftonbladet.se/ noje/0504/01/houston200.jpg

It is tragic that Whitney Houston has become a dimming second rate star.

Who would have thought ten years ago at her peak, that Houston would be a sinking shabby star that has to do a reality TV show to pay the bills?

Houston took the world by storm with her debut album in 1985 simply titled “Whitney Houston”.

Later, Houston proved that she had acting ability and big screen appeal in the “Body Guard” and “Waiting to Exhale”.

Houston seemed to have it all: a great vocalist, good looks, pretty okay acting, and cross- over appeal.

It seemed like Houston was on the fast track to become a classic multiple talented, cross-over mega-star.

But then seemingly suddenly it appeared that Houston began an unstoppable race to the bottom.

I hope that Houston is able to pull both her personal and professional life together for herself and her growing daughter Bobbi Christina.

Who knows if Houston can ever regain her former super-star status?

But one thing for sure, this fan would be glad to cheer Houston on in her quest to regain her crown.

Good luck, girlfriend. I am rooting for you!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

REVISITING THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON: BLACK AMERICA MUST HAVE NEW MARCHING ORDERS

2005-08-28T07:33:00.001-07:00

Photo courtesy of Google Images graphics.jsonline.com/.../ king-dreamspeech.jpg

This article was originally published in The Urban Think Tank in September 2003: to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The March on Washington. (The March on Washington was August 28, 1963).

It is now forty years since the historic March on Washington for jobs and civil rights. Of course, that was a monumental day not just for Black Americans but all Americans. Technology and the march were perfectly made for each other. A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters had wanted to lead a march 20 years earlier; but was persuaded not to do so by FDR’s administration. In all probability if the march had been held in 1943, it would not have made the same impact that it made in 1963. Television was just becoming ubiquitous in American households in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and it helped to bridge much of the regionalism of the nation and make us more cohesive. Television was the perfect medium to show in real time, with viewers processing information for themselves the civility, grace, and determination of the marchers and their leaders.

The March on Washington was magnificent and its speakers were bold and committed to ensuring that all American’s had access to the American dream. Young Martin Luther King, Jr. distinguished himself from the other leaders and inspired a nation and a world by his anointed "I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. King’s speech surely deserves to continue to resonate with us today. However, I am dismayed that forty years after Dr. King’s wonderful address at the March on Washington and thirty-five years after his death that many in Black America are stuck in time and at a great loss for effective and diverse leaders.

It seems that many Black Americans want to only replicate the euphoric feeling of the March on Washington; but do not know how to move forward with viable plans to create solid economic and educational opportunities for their communities. Listening to the modern day participants of the anniversary march I heard a lot of rhetoric and blame--but no coherent plans on how to wage successful campaigns for equality in the political and economic atmosphere of today.

Thirty-five years after Dr. King’s assassination, Black America is still looking for a national leader. This is problematic beyond the obvious that a man with the grace of Dr. King is irreplaceable; but also that Black America has not grown beyond putting its hopes and trust into one charismatic individual.

It is troubling to me that most Black leaders or want to be leaders still almost singularly come out of the Black Church. The Black Church warrants respect; but in today’s complex world of business and commerce Black America must begin to seek out multiple leaders who have business acumen, intellectual capital, and are socially adroit and able to mix in diverse settings and build effective coalitions with others who share similar concerns.

Black leadership must move beyond rhyming oratory and stale and predictable marches and boycotts--which may be symbolically meaningful; but are old school methods that do not exploit new technology and have little real value in affecting lasting and meaningful changes.

I hope that Black America makes more movement towards the "promise land" forty years from now, more than it has made from the forty years since the historic 1963 March. Yes, racism is still alive and well; however, ugly Jim Crow, is dead and buried. Black America must accept the new realities of this day and age and begin as individuals and as communities towards fulfilling the dream that Dr. King spoke of so eloquently.

Black America must accept personal accountability for the 70% of births that are out of wedlock. Yes, others may transport dope to Black communities, but individual Black Americans must choose to not to deal and use the drugs that are brought to their door step.

Blacks must begin to have as much anger about young Black men murdering other young Black men as they have when whites murder innocent Blacks, like in the case of James Byrd in Texas.

Racial profiling is wrong; but when so many Black people, especially Black men are part of the penal system--then it is easy to understand how a public can come to identify criminality with young Black men.

Yes, I have a dream too: one of self-respect, self-help, self-discipline, and self-reliance. Let’s take our new marching orders and vow to make movement in ways great and small towards Dr. King’s dream each day. For those of us who truly admire Dr. King and believe in the promise of America we must be compelled to do more than simply reminisce and seek to relive the great speeches of August 28, 1963. Instead, we must work skillfully towards creating the courageous color blind society with abundant economic potential that Dr. King enabled us to see forty years ago.

Copyright (c) 2003 Benin Dakar

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Why is Roland S. Martin of the Chicago Defender attacking Oprah Winfrey about not attending John H. Johnson’s funeral?

2005-08-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Google Images www.digitalhit.com/ galleries/16/1/119

It is troubling that instead of having healthy conversations about the state of black media and the void that John H. Johnson’s death brings to a struggling black media, some misguided black people are beating up on black female media mogul and billionaire Oprah Winfrey.

I am referring to Chicago Defender Executive Editor Roland S. Martin who has taken Winfrey to task for not attending Johnson's funeral (Ebony and Jet founder who passed away two weeks ago) and to the many vile comments about Winfrey that have been posted on the Chicago Defender Message Board.

Why are we (the black community) so very eager to pummel on Winfrey? Because many of us are J-E-A-L-O-U-S of Winfrey’s enormous talent and success!

How has Winfrey become a demonized figure in relationship to Johnson’s passing? Winfrey and Johnson both live in Chicago and they both are black media Titans. Does the fact that Winfrey and Johnson each is black and called Chicago home mean that Winfrey has some special duty to play “Chief Mourner” because Johnson died?

I have no doubt that both giants had respect for each other. But they WERE NOT personal friends. I am sure that Winfrey acknowledged Johnson’s death in an appropriate personal way, based on their very non-personal relationship.

The Johnson family I bet received hundreds or perhaps even thousands of notes and cards and flowers, so just because Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Farr (Johnson's widow and daughter respectively) did not readily remember receiving Winfrey’s card or flowers is meaningless. (I do not think that Johnson’s survivors are gauging their grief on whether Winfrey attended Johnson’s funeral or not).

I believe Winfrey when she says that she is planning on doing a tribute to Johnson’s life and legacy once her new season begins.

Oprah has done more to celebrate black people’s ordinary lives and their very extraordinary achievements than anyone else that I can think of.

I think many of us who are slandering Winfrey should be ashamed of ourselves. Instead of worrying about whether Winfrey attended Johnson’s funeral or what white media did in relationship to Johnson’s passing, WE must hold ourselves accountable for what WE do to carry out Johnson’s legacy.

Instead of taking the easy and ineffectual route of beating up on people about what they did or did not do; we must determine what WE should do that is positive and promotes a strong black media – and then GET BUSY!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

So what if white media snubbed Johnson? What is important is how we black media showed our respect for Johnson and what we do to ensure his legacy.

2005-08-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

Photograph: 1995 Ebony and Jet Founder John H. Johnson receiving The Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton. The Medal of Freedom is America’s highest civilian honor.

Photo courtesy of Google Images www.medaloffreedom.com/JohnHJohnson.htm

John H. Johnson is undeniably worthy of respect for his contributions not only to black Americans, but to All Americans. Ebony and Jet Magazines helped African-Americans to see ourselves in our full glory and beauty.

I think that those two venerable publications (Ebony and Jet) helped play as much a role in breaking down Jim Crow and black marginalization in American life as did any historic march, piece of legislation, or Executive Order has done to help open doors for black people.

In turn, black Americans began to migrate from the sidelines of American life and into the larger America. And although there is still much opportunity to make even deeper and more significant advancements, I think it is true that by and large most black folks are “better off” than they were when Johnson began his publishing business.

As far as the mainstream media honoring Johnson, I am not surprised that Johnson was nearly all but a footnote in most of the majority oriented media.

I think that there were a lack of Johnson tributes for two main reasons: (1) Johnson died just a day after ABC veteran evening news anchor Peter Jennings died and the death of Jennings eclipsed many other newsworthy events, including Johnson’s passing and (2) I do not recall Johnson or Ebony or Jet Magazines ever lauded much in the majority media anyway. (So the truth is that Johnson was pretty much overlooked by mainstream media while living and they were consistent in pretty much overlooking black media Titan Johnson in his passing).

Moreover, what is important to me is not whether the majority media (better known as “the white press”) celebrates the life of John H. Johnson or not. What is important for me is that “I” acknowledge and celebrate the contributions that Johnson made to black media, black business, black self-image, and black self-esteem.

For me the passing of Johnson is in some ways like a favorite Uncle making his transition, no one outside of family and friends really knows the importance of this “favorite Uncle’s" life and impact on your circle of family and friends, but those who are directly impacted.

We, who loved and respected his contributions to us and those like us, know just how vast the void will be in our lives because he is gone. But those outside of our special circle of love and friendship just are clueless at what this great man’s loss is and how much he will be missed.

In mourning Johnson, we should follow his lead, which to me is not to become obsessed by what whites do or not do in relationship to blacks. But to do for ourselves, what we know is right and what we are capable of doing.

Johnson did not whine about the white press not letting him into their world or about how whites treated black people in the their newspapers and magazines. Instead, Johnson created his own publishing company and TOOK CONTROL of how HIS people’s images were created.

Let us who know just how important Johnson was and will remain in black life, take it upon ourselves to be not only chief mourners of his passing; but to be able leaders who help ensure Johnson’s rightfully legacy in black America – and ALL America.

We can do this by creating and supporting independent black media. And by celebrating black entrepreneurship – by supporting black businesses and taking the plunge of creating our own black business.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Is John Roberts the quintessential Supreme Court Justice Nominee?

2005-08-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

I find it problematic that Justice O’Connor’s replacement is not representative of the wonderful diversity that is present in America.

John Roberts, no doubt is a fine man. Roberts’s resume is very impressive. I have no reason not to respect Mr. Roberts.

However, Roberts’s nomination in the larger picture is emblematic of the problem that exists in finding senior leadership and executives for both high level government offices and for big business. There is a narrow status quo preconception of who can be in the pipeline to fill these positions -- and many Americans who are qualified are excluded from consideration.

Of course, we want the best candidate for the Supreme Court to be chosen. My quarrel is why is the only resume that is considered “superior” have to be that of a white male of the privileged class?

Yes, I would like to have had another woman nominated for the Supreme Court. With O’Connor’s leaving the court the number of women is automatically reduced by 50% and this reduction is even more exponential when you consider that women should compose at any given time at least 4 or 5 of the justices.

After all half of all Americans are women and it would be wonderful to have the female gender represented more in proportion to their overall population.

Beyond the gender issue. Why not consider for Supreme Court Justice someone who is Asian, Hispanic, black, or an immigrant? After all we are a nation of diverse people and we should celebrate that diversity in making selections for senior federal government leadership positions.

And beyond gender and race -- is the class issue. There are millions of the so called “best and brightest” who cannot attend boarding schools and Harvard like John Roberts. However, these people are nevertheless able folk, who can add great intellectual capacity and new perspectives by being considered for the Supreme Court, but these people are seldom sought after for high level positions.

Nothing against Harvard. But what about the woman or the man for that matter, who struggled against great odds and earned a law degree while working full time during the day and attending evening law school at a state university -- would not a candidate with this background give the court a rich new texture as opposed to only people with Harvard, Yale, or other Ivy league degrees being considered for the Supreme Court?

And for those people who support the status quo and like to quote their watered down self-serving version of the speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. that we should “judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skins”, I want to say that I agree with them.

However, we live in a very gender, color, and class conscious society. And this bias has caused and perpetuates the systematic exclusion of people who are not white, male, and upper class from many important leadership aspects of life. The only way that we can address and solve the situation is to seek, groom and get more of those systematically excluded persons in the pipeline for leadership positions in America.

We must do this not only because it is the moral and right thing to do, but also because our economic competitiveness and perceptions by other nations is dependent upon America striving to become a more inclusive society.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Another white male criminal goes down– human waste Eric Rudolph to fade away in federal prison

2005-08-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia, the notorious self-important peon Eric Rudolph was sentenced to federal prison for the bombings he committed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, a gay bar, and an abortion clinic in Atlanta. All of Rudolph’s Atlanta crimes occurred between the years 1996-1997. In addition to the Atlanta bombings, Rudolph also bombed an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama.

Rudolph, who was born on September 19, 1966, will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

(Click on the hyperlink in the title bar to read more about scum bucket Rudolph)

The highlighting of “criminal” white guys is not make it appear that all white males are criminals, but to turn the tables a little bit about perceptions of who is likely to be a criminal and how white males are often more equipped to commit certain crimes, because they are not generally “profiled” as possible criminals.

Often crime is associated with people of color – and for sure there are many devolved persons who are opportunistic societal predators who are male and female of color.

All of the white male criminals who have been featured at Benin Dakar Chronicle over the last couple of days were able to murder and maim innocent people and rob billions of dollars from unsuspecting people, because they presented as the “white boy next door”, “white male polished high powered executive”, or the “Joe Citizen, white guy involved in his church, boy scouts, with a job with public fiduciary responsibility”.

The short answer is that middle class and wealthy white males are often better able to escape criminal detection, because much of society is brainwashed into thinking that criminals don’t fit that profile.

Boy, can society be wrong!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

White males who believed that they were above the law

2005-08-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

(From left to right, Radar, Rigas, Kozlowski, and Ebbers)

Many people have an unbridled fear against black, Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern men.

We are taught that black men are muggers and robbers, Latin and Asian men are notorious gang bangers, and that Middle Eastern men may be Islamic terrorists.

Seldom are we taught to be afraid of middle class and rich white men. And in many instances it is those “respectable” white men that we should be concerned with.

Middle class and wealthy white males, because of their race, gender, and class privilege are often able to victimize the public in sinister ways that no man of color could ever do.

It is pleasing to report that recently four of the most notorious white male criminals have come to justice and have received the tough prison sentences that they deserve.

Three of the men are white collar criminals who stole in the aggregate billions of dollars from their investors and from their employee pension plans. In doing so they robbed thousands of people of their financial futures. One white male is one of the most sinister serial killers in modern times.

Here are the brief profiles of these disreputable white male criminals. Dennis Kozlowski, age 59, former Tyco International CEO. In June Kozlowski was convicted of looting $600 million from Tyco to pay for such extravagant items as a $6,000 shower curtain. Kozlowski will be sentenced in September and faces up to thirty years in jail.

John Rigas, age 81, founder of Adelphia Communications Corp., was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in looting and debt-hiding which brought Adelphia into bankruptcy. Rigas’ son Timothy was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the debacle. Both John and Timothy Rigas were sentenced in July 2005.

Bernie Ebbers, age 63, ex-WorldCom CEO was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the biggest accounting and corporate fraud scandal in U.S. history. Ebbers was sentenced in July 2005.

Dennis Rader, age 60, also known by the infamous moniker ‘BTK” for bind, torture, and kill (what Rader did to his victims). Rader unmercifully tortured and killed ten people in the Wichita, Kansas area in the time frame of 1974-1992 to satisfy his sadistic and sexual fantasies. Radar worked in several high fiduciary positions while he was on his murder spree. Rader’s employment and community service work included being an Animal Control Officer, as a manager for a security company, a cub scout leader, and was president of his Church’s board. Rader was sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms on August 18, 2005. Rader was not eligible to receive the death penalty, because it was not instated in Kansas at the time of the murders.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Coretta Scott King suffers a big stroke, followed by a heart attack

2005-08-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who is the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is reported to have had a “big stroke”, by her cardiologist Dr. Charles Wickliffe at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Mrs. King’s doctor also reports that Mrs. King had a heart attack too.

Mrs. King, who is age 78, has all four of her children at her bedside and her nephew Isaac Newton Farris.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson came to town to support Mrs. King in her battle to regain her health, but has not been in Mrs. King’s hospital room to visit directly with her.

Mrs. King has been a pillar of pride and leadership for people everywhere, both before and after her husband’s assassination.

Mrs. King has been a reservoir of strength for her children, the Atlanta community, and the nation, and the world. Now it is time for us to support Mrs. King with our most heartfelt thoughts, prayers, and love during her time of challenge.

Benin Dakar Chronicle salutes Mrs. King and believes wholeheartedly that she will “overcome” and enjoy a productive life for some time to come.

Mrs. King, we are rooting for your speedy recovery!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Malcolm X devout Muslim, loving husband & dad, revolutionary, and possibly “on the DL” too

2005-08-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

An article that appeared in the Guardian Newspaper in May 2005 suggests that Malcolm X might have been a bi-sexual or down right gay. Who knows? Does it really matter who Malcolm slept with?

(You can click the hyperlink in the title bar to read the Guardian article).

If Malcolm was indeed a bi-sexual or a homosexual does his sexual orientation detract from his legacy?

For certain, Malcolm X is and will remain a towering figure in both the African-American psyche and in African-American history.

I posted the controversial Guardian article about Malcolm X possibly being bi-sexual or gay at the BlackAmericaToday.com message board and the article really challenged a lot of people. I was taken to task for “spreading” this malicious story about Malcolm X.

The reaction was not totally surprising to me. I suspected that some people would be upset by it.

But I was startled at the implication that many made that this was a conspiracy to assassinate Malcolm’s character.

Is the thought of someone you revere being bi-sexual or homosexual such a terrible thing, that it is equivalent to “character assassination"?

Why is it that the same folk who can celebrate Malcolm X the recovered dope addict and Malcolm X the reformed ex-convict get bent out of shape about the possibility that Brother Malcolm might have had same gender loving experiences?

Many people suggested that I should not have posted the article. Why is it that we (black people) have to have “censored’ and “sanitized” news about black people – and we cannot deal with complexity and controversy?

Most people have multiple lives. People have a home life, a work life, a community servant life, and place of worship life, or other kinds of more controversial lives – like a life with a boyfriend or girlfriend, while “happily married” to the rest of world.

The fact of the matter is that most of us live in shades of gray and not in exclusively black or white areas of life.

If Malcolm X was a bi-sexual or a homosexual man this to me would not detract from Malcolm X and his life and his contribution to America and the world. It would simply be another case of a black gay man contributing to the good of all black people.

If Malcolm X did love other men then he would only be in the best tradition of gay black men like Bayard Rustin who was Dr. King’s aide and planned the famous March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his glorious “ I have a dream” speech and author James Baldwin who was relentless in his assault on white supremacy.

If Malcolm X was indeed on the proverbial “down low” it would show just how even more complex and beautiful a human being Malcolm could be. And how a “gay” brother had the wherewithal to forever positively influence black mindsets and shape black lives.

If it turns out that Malcolm was gay it would show just how silly homophobia is. Because it would mean that the man (Malcolm X) who showed so many black men what manhood was all about was also a man who had emotional and erotic connections to other men.

Who knows and who really cares at this point what Malcolm X’s sexual orientation was?

Regardless of Malcolm X’s sexual leanings he was ALL MAN and a FEARLESS REVOLTIONARY forever worthy of respect.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Stewardess clips the wings of a racist passenger

2005-08-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

The following is purported to be a true story.

A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man.

Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess."Madam, what is the matter," the hostess asked. "You obviously do not see it then?" she responded. "You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group.Give me an alternative seat.

""Be calm please," the hostess replied. "Almost all the places on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another place is available."

The Hostess went away and then came back a few minutes later. "Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in the economy class. I spoke to the captain and he informed me that there is also no seat inthe business class. All the same, we still have one place in the first class."

Before the woman could say anything,the hostess continued: "It is not usual for our company to permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting."

She turned to the black guy, and said, "Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in first class."

At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

When a Co-worker has toe jam

2005-08-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

This poem was found at the Chicago Defender Message Board on August 5, 2005.

It was posted by the author known as “First Lady.”

The poem is funny and “toe jam” you can take literally or as a metaphor for other difficult conversation to broach on a job.

When a Co-worker has toe jam

When a co-worker has toe jam... What is there left for you to say?
Do you pretend that everything is fine or Do you constantly move out of their way?

Do you spray Lysol disenfectant spray when They come to close?

Or do you just pray they don't wear shoes with open toes?

Do you make suggestions and hint around?
Or do you wait to they are asleep and put their Shoes in the lost and found?

Do you buy them socks for Christmas and Their birthday and just for no reason at all? Hoping they'll get the message and the wake up call.

Do you tell them their feet smells like stale Doritos or Funyun's, Do you ask them if they have corns or Bunyons?

Do you look in their socks and check for rocks?

Do you stick odor eaters in their cubicle When they've gone to lunch, Do you tell them to wear bigger shoes so Their toes don't have to be in a bunch?

Do you walk them through a variety of Products to help them sanitize their feet So to speak, Or do you just ramble on about sweat glands With tongue in cheek?

Is it okay to discuss feet with them or do you make normal conversation, Do you stare at their feet but speak with Hesitation?

Do you ask them if they have ever had Athlete's foot, Because certainly you are wondering if that Is the root,

Of their problems with their smelly feet, You want to tell them to treat Their dogs to some soap and water and some baby powder, Because that would definitely stop the odor From getting louder,

But talking to someone about the hygiene Of their feet is not easy to do it's a very delicate thing,

You may be threatened with pushing up daisies or some slow singing and flower bringing.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The Black American Discussion online publication coming in 2006
http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/

Is Black Anger at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) justified?

2005-08-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are under attack by black civil rights leaders for having a slide show ad campaign that juxtaposes images of blacks in slavery and the mistreatment of animals.

In all fairness the PETA campaign also shows slides of Europeans in forced labor and Native Americans on the infamous Trail of Tears also in comparison and contrast with images of senselessly maimed and killed animals.

Moreover, the text of the PETA campaign has quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Pulitzer Prize winning black feminist author Alice Walker, and businessman, comedian, and author Dick Gregory.

I think that it is good that PETA has put the campaign on hold for the time being.

However, I am dismayed that with all of the issues confronting black people at this critical hour in our history that black anger is focused on PETA instead of some of the following issues.

Black people have black sons and daughters in Iraq fighting a contrived war.

Black people have the possibility of a very conservative Supreme Court looming on the short horizon.

Black people have their right to vote guaranteed by the Constitution, but still needs the mechanism of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure that right is not arbitrarily abridged.

Black people (like all Americans) are dealing with gasoline that on average is $2.50 per gallon.

Black people are being ravaged here and in Africa by HIV/AIDS.

Black unemployment is too high.

Black Africans are starving and Black people in the Caribbean are still trying to recover from last year’s hurricanes and storms.

And the list of REAL issues confronting black people can go on and on.

The last thing I am worried about is about trying to find injury and fault in a PETA ad, when there is NO injury or fault.

With so many viable issues, let us use our resources on matters that are substantive and not emotional non-issues.

The PETA ads did misfire and have caused a lot of noise. However, I truly do not believe that PETA meant to offend anyone.

All life is precious.

Human life is the most precious of life.

What has happened to black people with the slave trade, slavery, and colonization in Africa is horrific and on its face value does not compare with animal suffering.

And surely black people are fully human beings and not animals.

However, it is true that there is a point of connection between the mistreatment of animals, the earth and plant life, and human beings mistreatment of other human beings.

How we care for those who are “lesser” than us in the life hierarchy often predicts how we will care about other life forms.

If you look closely at white male dominated racism, one will see how this tyranny has not only injured and murdered people; but look at how the earth is abused; and how so many animals have been killed for sport and some life forms killed to the point of extinction.

There is a thread that sews together all of this hatred, disrespect, and pain. PETA was simply attempting to illustrate the continuum of pain and exploitation of all living beings on this planet.

Obviously, for many people PETA failed at the analogy that they were trying to make.

But again, I do not believe that PETA purposely intended to offend black people.

I wish that for less media driven issues like hunger in Africa, the epidemic of HIV/AIDS both among black Americans and in Africa, and the crisis of black people being incarcerated at record levels in America received the same energy and response from the black community.

It just seems like the more complex issues that require thought and organization we shy away from, while almost wanting and seeking obvious blunders like the PETA
campaign.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Can black Americans help black Africans?

2005-08-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Black Americans are the elite of the black world.

A marriage of black Americans and black Africans has enormous transformative possibility for people of African decent worldwide.

Africa is not only the cradle of civilization, but Africa is the incubator of neo-modernity.

Africa is rich with mineral and human resources that are needed to literally fuel the world and to communicate in the 21st Century world.

Africa has oil reserves and coltran which is a mineral that is needed to make cellular telephony functional. (Those are only two examples of Africa’s mineral wealth).

The lack of real and sustainable interest in Africa (since the end of the apartheid era) by too many black Americans is causing black Americans to abort some valuable opportunities for cultural exchange and business opportunity with those on the African continent.

If African-Americans want to claim their “African” heritage then minimally they can want to learn more Africa, its cultures, and its wonderful people.

A great beginning is to know that there are 54 countries that make up the African continent and to learn something about each of those regions. Interested African-Americans can adopt any of the 54 African countries and decide to learn something about its people, its economy, and its history.

Yes, the news is sometimes slanted against Africans (just like a lot of news is slanted about a lot of topical areas), but you cannot discount all of the news about Africa because there may be some Eurocentric bias.

If you really want learn about Africa, there are many English Internet editions of African newspapers.

The UN Wire and Christian Science Monitor are good sources of African related information.

Much of Africa is English speaking. We can do small things like have black American children and black American adults to have African pen pals. By the exchange of letters and post cards we can begin to learn about at least one brother or sister on the African continent.

An immediate start to help Africa and hungry Africans is to lobby your Congressional Representative and Senators about what the US is doing to help starving human beings in Niger and other struggling African countries and populations.

Beyond that you can write a check to a reputable famine relief agency and help ensure that Africa’s children (its future and our future) have the calories and nutrition that they need to grow strong, learn, and make a great contribution to our world.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

How to help Niger and other hungry nations?

2005-08-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

I urge everyone who knows about the famine in Niger to write a check today and send it to your preferred hunger relief agency.

I also urge you to work with your local community food bank to help collect, sort, and distribute food stuffs in your city or town to help alleviate food insecurity right where you live.

Will you accept the noble challenge?

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, N.Y. 10018
212-967-7800 x108
www.ActionAgainstHunger.org

CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
800-521-CARE
www.care.org

ADRA INTERNATIONAL/ADRA NIGER CRISIS FUND
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-ADRA
www.adra.org

AFRICARE
440 R Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
202-328-5346
www.africare.org

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
Niger Famine
45 West 36th St., 10th Fl.
New York, N.Y. 10018
800-889-7146
www.ajws.org

AMERICAN RED CROSS
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243 Washington, D.C. 20013
800-HELP NOW
www.RedCross.org

SAVE THE CHILDREN
West African Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road Westport, CT 06880
800-728-3843
www.SaveTheChildren.org

U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
1 U.N. Plaza, Room 2610
New York, N.Y. 10017
http://www.unhcr.ch/

U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
Niger emergency fund code: ERNGZ
333 E. 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10016
800-4-UNICEF
www.unicefusa.org

WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
2 U.N. Plaza, DC2-2500
New York, N.Y. 10017
www.wfp.org

WORLD VISION
P.O. Box 78481
Tacoma, WA 98481
http://www.worldvision.org/

Please click the hyperlink in the article name for an even more comprehensive list of agencies that are helping with the Niger crisis.

Thank you.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Why aren’t “African” Americans helping Africans?

2005-08-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

The below letter that I wrote to the NY Times in 2003 was about the lack of black American involvement in helping to alleviate hunger in Africa.

In 2005 I make the same argument. Why is there little or no voice and action from the black American community about the crisis of famine and food insecurity in Africa?

Today Niger in West Africa is the poster child of African starvation, when I wrote my letter to the NY Times in 2003 it was about rampant hunger in East Africa.

Although, the world is now belatedly focused on Niger, there is enormous food insecurity that can become famine in Zimbabwe. The hunger in Zimbabwe is due to the corruption and self-serving President Robert Mugabe.

There has been little criticism of the corrupt Mugabe government by black Americans. This is troubling because if the atrocities of making a one party state and quieting the flow of information were done by a European colonial government in Africa then there would be black American voices calling for boycotts and political and economic sanctions to bring down the corrupt government.

No black American should dare use the term “African-American” or claim with pride that we come from a heroic “African” past without learning more about the 54 countries that make up Africa and without putting our money and time toward African causes.

May 24, 2005 Letter to NY Times (Below)

Editorials/Op-Ed

May 24, 2003

Re "The Shape of Hunger," by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, May 23):

As an African-American woman, I am dismayed that I have not heard one black leader speak of the plight of starving Africans. Not that I have heard too many other voices on this matter — it just seems that ethnic pride would dictate that blacks in America would be more involved in helping to solve this terrible situation. Solving the immediate effects of hunger and getting to the root of the social, economic and political environments that lead to mass hunger are just as important as protesting against now-defunct apartheid.

What will I do? I will send a check to one or more of the organizations listed on the Web site Mr. Kristof mentions. I will write to my representatives about the hunger in Africa. I will volunteer at a food bank and help folks in my neighborhood to have proper nutrition. This is my beginning.

BENIN DAKAR
Snellville, Ga., May 23, 2003

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Update: Russian Sailors and NASA Discovery team

2005-08-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

It is pleasing to report that last Sunday with only a four to five hour supply of oxygen to spare that the British were able to cut the trapped Russian submarine free. It is reported that all of the Russian sailors are doing well.

The space shuttle Discovery was unable to land on Monday as planned in Florida. However, the Discovery executed a flawless landing at an alternative site in California on Tuesday.

Benin Dakar Chronicle is very pleased that these missions ended without the loss of human life. We moreover, are encouraged by the spirit of international cooperation in the recovery of the Russian submarine.

Hat’s off to everyone who made “good luck” possible!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet, dies at 87

2005-08-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Benin Dakar Chronicle salutes the life of John H. Johnson who was the founder and publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines.

Mr. Johnson portrayed African-Americans in a consistently complimentary way that showed the beauty, power, and full potential of black Americans.

Mr. Johnson’s example of excellence we hope will resonate with the new national publication http://theblackamericandiscussion.com/ which will make its debut in February 2006.

Thank you John H. Johnson for a job well done.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Voting Rights Act Supporters Descend On Atlanta In Support Of Renewal

2005-08-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend marks the fortieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed by then President Lyndon Johnson.

The Voting Rights Act ensures that African-Americans and all Americans are able to participate unencumbered in the American Electoral process.

In support of the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, here is an article that I authored that explains the importance of being an educated and active voter.

This article first appeared in Global Black News in November 2003

Blood Bought -- Is Your Right To Participate In Electoral Politics: Exercise Your Vote!

For all of the ills that I can easily rattle off about my country: The United States of America...its saving grace is my right to vote. Every right is coupled with a responsibility and I am responsible for ensuring that I register to vote, educate myself about issues and candidates who may appear on the ballot, and finally ensure that I show up on election day and cast my ballot.

As an African-American woman, I know that my right to vote took two amendments to the US Constitution (the 15th giving black men the right to vote and the 19th giving women the right to vote). Moreover, even with two amendments to the Constitution, my right to exercise my vote -- was "blood bought" by the brave women, men, and children who participated in Freedom Rides, sat-in at five and dime lunch counters, and literally put their jobs and lives on the line for the new opportunities that we African-Americans enjoy today.

You might think that it is "too early" to start talking about voting. Well, the truth is that black people should always think about electoral politics. To paraphrase a popular rap song, "I got my mind on voting and voting on my mind" should constantly drum a beat of independence and freedom in our minds. We must exercise our right to vote to guarantee that our civil rights are not abridged and that we continue to make long strides towards new and greater economic realities.

All elections are important and we must participate in local, city, county, and state-wide elections. Most of our day-to-day lives are affected in real and meaningful ways based on decisions made by school board members, council persons, mayors, state representatives, county executives, and governors. Decisions made by state and local administrators impact whether our children are properly educated, if we have great libraries, regular trash pick-up, potable water, proper policing of our neighborhoods...and the list can go on to ad infinitum. So clearly, the "lesser elections" are germane to our everyday welfare -- and give us a real opportunity to form stronger communities and create improved service delivery systems. Therefore, we must "represent" in strong numbers in these elections.

For most people, the upcoming presidential election of 2004, is the election that counts. I agree, it is extremely important. There is a glaring crisis in leadership from the top down and this is our chance to make some needed alterations. Moreover, the next four years will firmly set a course of destiny for America -- and we must set sail toward more placid waters and earnestly seek to build better mutually beneficial relationships with other nations. African-American voters, who often serve as the conscious of America, have an enormous duty to perform in 2004 by helping to install a new administration and more progressive Congressional Representatives and Senators.

We are POWERFUL! Black voters are approximately 10% of the electorate; however, because of demographics our power is exponentially increased. Many blacks live in key battle ground states that are rich with electoral votes. If blacks come to the polls in strong numbers in just these seven states that have enormous electoral importance Maryland (10), Michigan (18), Ohio (20), Illinois (21), Pennsylvania (21), Florida (27), and New York (31), we can help to pick a new president. These seven states have 148 or 55% of the required 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Of course, we must strive to have record numbers of black voters participate in all of the 50 states; but this simply dramatically shows how relevant black voters are in presidential politics -- and we must take that power seriously.

So I urge YOU to register to vote today. If you need to update your address or other information with your local Board of Elections -- do not delay and update those important records now. If you are moving make certain that even before you get the utilities turned on that you register to vote in your new community. If you travel frequently or are prone to be sick -- make certain that you register to cast your vote by absentee ballot.

Do not let any excuse prevent you from exercising your "blood bought" right to vote or deny yourself the opportunity to create a more perfect destiny for America.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Praying for those in the heavens and under the sea

2005-08-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Like legions of folk I am thinking about and praying for the safe return of those brave human beings who chose to explore the heavens and the seas.

We can only hope that the repairs made on the space shuttle Discovery are adequate and that the astronauts sojourn back to this planet goes well.

And we can only hope that the United States and British naval vessels are able to help retrieve the Russian Navy sailors that are stuck in their submarine at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, entangled in fishing nets.

A fervent prayer of many of us earth bound folk is that there are no loose pieces hanging from the space shuttle that can become dangerous projectiles that will pierce the space ship and cause it to disintegrate like the doomed Columbia space shuttle in February 2003.

We can only hope that the oxygen lasts long enough for the Russian sailors to survive until their submarine can be freed of its entanglement and their vessel brought back to the top of the ocean.

We can only hope and pray for both the space crew and the submarine sailors to rejoin their loved one’s back on this good earth soon.

We can only hope that our prayers are enough!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Relevant Black Leadership: Where It Is Found

2005-08-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

This article was originally published by me in October 2003 and appeared in Global Black News.

"They really need to do something about this or that," is echoed by countless people, regarding a myriad of small and not so small worries and obstacles each day. Who is "They"? From the way statements referring to "They" are made, it sounds like "They" is probably an individual or group that has the magnificent ability to effect meaningful and desirable change. If only [they] take action. (Pun intended).The issue is therefore, not "They's" ability to perform; but instead it is "They's" consciousness to behold their ability to exercise influence and power. Also it is about "They's" courage to strategically and consistently seek to make the necessary changes that only "They" can make.

What does all of this crazy talk about "They" have to do with the real and perceived paucity of African-American leadership? A lot. Just about every time I get together with my black friends and family members, we eventually talk about the multiple crises that black Americans are facing and how there is a lack of quality leadership to help us chart a viable course and navigate through the rough waters of the 21st century.

Too many of us are still mourning the passing of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Ironically most of us who yearn to be shepherded by these men were born after their deaths or were children when they were suddenly and violently separated from their flock.

Yes, I am saddened that Martin and Malcolm were assassinated and that their voices were stilled much too soon. I am also sorry for the families and personal friends of these iconic men, who lost not only heroes of mythic proportions; but sons, husbands, fathers, and best friends. But [they] are long gone: Malcolm since 1965 and Martin since 1968. For almost 40 years we [black America] has been lost in a wilderness of grief and confusion. We must individually and collectively begin to make our sojourn without our beloved brothers towards a promised land; whose terrain is more varied, and more terrifying, and more beautiful and more pregnant with abundance, than what it once was imagined to be.

Who is the Joshua who will usher us into this new land? If you cannot guess who--let me give you a tool that will literally help you to see, who your capable and worthy guide is. Find the nearest mirror and you will behold the "They" who will (either by default or by design) help to create a better present and future for African-Americans.

We--you, yes YOU and ME are the legions of "They". We are the people who can make impactful changes in subtle and resounding ways in our personal lives, families, communities, nation, and the world.I urge each of us to seek to become more fully awakened each day to the enormous wisdom and potential to shape our minds, strengthen our spirits, and model and form positive and enduring realities for ourselves and those around us.

When we, ordinary people, choose to systematically read and develop our minds; we are executing superior leadership. When we decide to be gentle with our partners and not abdicate responsibility to actively rear our children; regardless of how long the work day is or that there is stress because we are out of work; we are providing effective leadership. When we opt to serve our places of worship and PTA's we are being leaders. When we write letters to editors, participate in elections, and discriminate about how our dollars are spent, we are exhibiting leadership that will help create and maintain a strong and effectual black America.

When we as individuals realize and act on our power and beauty with unswerving faith in our Creator and ourselves: The possibilities of greatness are innumerable. Not to accept our responsibility means we are self-imposing a bleak future upon ourselves.

Now that you know who "They" is: It is up to you to ensure that "They" is unfailingly accountable.
DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Hip Hop is here to stay

2005-08-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

I am forty-four years old and I think that Hip Hop is awesome!

I am proud of the young and now not so young black rappers and Hip Hop performers that have set the world on fire with their rhymes, clothes, speech, and culture.

Many older folk are critical of Hip Hop artists. I think some of the critics are jealous of the notoriety and financial success of many from the Hip Hop generation.

The young Hip Hop entertainers and promoters are among the wealthiest people in black America.

Hip Hop culture is celebrated and copied world wide.

Not all of Hip Hop lyrics are pretty – but not all of reality is pretty. Hip Hop is an art form and art reflects “real life”.

One of my favorite Hip Hop artists is super star 50 Cent.

50 Cent had a hell of an upbringing in New York City and his records reflect what he knows “hard core NYC street life”.

I admire 50 Cent because he made his experience of being a street hustler to work for him instead of against him.

50 Cent’s debut album “Get Rich or Die Trying” is the manifesto for his music and ad career.

In Atlanta music mogul Jermaine Dupri was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper talking about how he would like to buy the basketball team the Atlanta Hawks.

And Dupri has the financial power to really buy the team.

Dupri while speaking about possible plans to buy the Hawks was wearing some big shorts and a tee shirt.

Dupri was clothed in the urban casual street wear symbolic of the Hip Hop culture and talking about BIG business plans that few of the Morehouse brothers in business suits can dream of or even begin to execute.

Hip Hop artists are creating and changing culture world wide and laughing all the way to the bank by marketing American urban street life.

Hip hip hurray for Hip Hop!

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Black gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters too

2005-08-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Why is it that people who would find racism, sexism, and prejudice based on class abhorrent, do not have the same repulsion when it comes to homophobia?

What is homophobia? Homophobia is one of the last vestiges of “acceptable” and “universal” prejudice that exists in our world.

Too many people who would shrink from a racist joke think little about making jokes and comments that are hate based about gays and lesbians.

Why is it that in the 21st century so many people still fear and loathe other people whose emotional attachment and sexual attraction is for people of their same gender?

The right wing has played on this societal prejudice to gain more political power and influence.

Like many other Americans, many African-Americans voted against their own political and economic interests by being blinded by the so called “same sex” marriage issue.

Some political analysts contend that George W. Bush carried the pivotal state of Ohio last November because many black voters voted for Mr. Bush because he was against same sex marriage.

Whether we like it or not black gays and lesbians have and will no doubt always be among us.

Many of the accomplishments that African-Americans have made have been because of the intelligence and commitment to the black community of many black gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

Before you make disparaging remarks about black gays and lesbians, think about this list of accomplished deceased African-Americans who happened to have identified with being gay or lesbian; yet have added so much value to our lives.

Bayard Rustin planned, organized, and executed the famous “1963 March on Washington”, where Dr. King gave his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech.

Langston Hughes, the great poet and essayist whose famous Jesse B. Semple column delighted legions of black Americans, in newspapers like the Chicago Defender.

James Baldwin, the great essayist, playwright, and critical thinker, who inspired millions with his collection of essays like the unforgettable “Notes of a Native Son” and “The Fire Next Time”.

Luther Vandross, whose silky voice and sophisticated vocal style, helps make him on of the best male vocalist of his generation. Perhaps, the best balladeer of all time!

Audre Lorde, writer, poet, essayist, philosopher, and educator. Audre Lorde succumbed of breast cancer, but she battled against her cancer with an unmatched courage and grace and left us her memoirs of her experience in her “The Cancer Journals”.

Lorraine Hansberry, whose memorable play “Raisin in the Sun” still speaks eloquently about black Americans quest for inclusion into American society.

Barbara Jordan, the great Democratic Congresswoman from Texas, who possessed a dynamic oratory style and who remains one of the brightest stars ever elected to the United States House of Representatives.

And, if most of you are honest you can name a black gay or lesbian who is in your immediate life: your good looking brother who has little interest in dating girls, your favorite unmarried aunt who loves to spoil you, and possibly your church choir director:)

Black people, we need all of us to come together in our continued struggle for inclusion in every aspect of American life.

We cannot afford to exclude same gender loving black brothers and black sisters from our ranks.

We swim or sink together as African-Americans.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Are Blacks Poor Tippers?

2005-08-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

A recent study by Cornell University School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration says that there is concrete data to show that on the whole African-Americans tip far less than other ethnic groups.

The data shows that the primary cause for poor tipping by blacks is that many blacks do not know that 15% is the standard tip for good service.

Click here for more information about the Cornell report on blacks and tipping:

http://cqx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/1/12

http://cqx.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/45/1/12

By the way, the word “tip” is an acronym for “to insure proper service”.

I always leave a “fair” tip, at least 15% for good service and 20-25% for superior service.

If the service is sub-standard then I talk to the manager about my perceptions. So hopefully we can get on track and still have a mutually satisfying experience.

One of my beloved aunts worked in bars and clubs most of her life and she relied on her tips to pay for her home and bills. I know that the people who work in the service industries are like my aunt and they need tips in order to provide for themselves and their families.

Many people do not realize that service workers often make far less than the minimum wage and that tips are the bridge that helps them to make a living wage.

Not all blacks are poor tippers, but many of us are crummy when it comes to tipping. I have friends and associates whom I prefer not to go out with because of their cheapness when it comes to leaving a tip.

A few summers ago, I went out to Red Lobster with some very nice ladies from a work setting that I was acquainted with. The bill came to about $150.00 for about seven or eight of us – and they made a big deal about leaving one dollar each.

I made a big deal about leaving the server 20% by handing my tip directly to the server, so she would know that I was not a cheapskate. I also left some additional money at the table to supplement the one dollar each that they had left.

The others at the table thought that I was leaving too much money, but I truly thought that the server deserved a decent tip.

Moreover, I only use service and friendliness when determining how much of a tip to leave. If the food or beverage is not good, then I speak to the manager or chef about that; but I do not punish the server by withholding their deserved tip.

My motto is that if one cannot afford to leave a proper tip at a full service restaurant then go to a fast food restaurant where you are not expected to leave a tip.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Benin Dakar quoted in the Afro American Newspaper about Heart Drug Bidil

2005-07-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Benin Dakar quoted in the Afro American Newspaper

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:TbZn1cmBOD4J:www.afro.com/content/templates/%3Fa%3D3614%26z%3D3+%22benin+dakar%22+afro&hl=en

Race-based medicine: Just to make money?

Thursday, July 14, 2005 Frances Murphy

If you knew of a drug that could give you a 43 percent better chance of getting well, would you take it despite the fact it is called a race-based drug?

This seems to be the question some doctors are asking their patients about the new drug BiDil, which is being touted as a lifesaver for African-American heart patients ONLY.

The word "only" seems to be what is stirring most of the controversy, as well as the high price of the drug and the $825 billion projected profit the drug company will make in marketing it to Blacks only.

BiDil, which is really a combination of two old drugs -- isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine -- was approved by the FDA after trials co-sponsored by NitroMed and the Association of Black Cardiologists. Studied were 1,050 "self-identified" African Americans.

Critics contend that FDA approval reinforces disproved beliefs of significant genetic differences between the races, or just plain ordinary prejudice. Marketing BiDil as a drug for Blacks is "a classical example of using race as a surrogate for biology," said Dr. Georgia Dunston, a medical geneticist at Howard University. Critics are also panning the price of the drug. According to the {New York Times}, "NitroMed, the company that makes BiDil, says it will sell the drug for $1.80 a pill, a price much higher than analysts had expected and nearly double the cost of other heart-failure drugs." Depending on the dosage required by individual patients, the {Times} reported, the BiDil treatment could cost from $5.40 to $10.80 a day.

It's estimated that about 750,000 Black Americans suffer from heart failure, the newspaper said.What is so bad about using self-identified racial groupings for targeting drugs? Bio-IT World, the life sciences/technology magazine, says that "Genetic variation within and between different populations generally exists as a continuum rather than discrete clusters." And Dr. Charles Rotimi of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University cautions: "We are all Africans beneath our skin. We all moved out of Africa at some point. Slaves were brought to America from vast swathes of Africa -- hardly common ancestry -- and the subsequent European admixture among African Americans is well documented.

"Benin Dakar, an independent journalist, asks: "Are Black Americans encountering another 'Tuskegee Experiment?' Are misguided scientists and greedy pharmaceutical companies purposely confusing the social construct of race and the biology of genetics for monetary gain by marketing BiDil as a drug specifically for Black Americans?"

And conveniently for NitroMed, if BiDil had been approved for use as a general-use medicine, its patent would last until 2007. But because it was approved as a specialized race-based medicine, NitroMed's patent now extends until 2020 -- a great difference.

Maybe the sad thing in all of this is that people with heart failure who really need the drug may not get it for fear of being labeled "African American," and those people who label themselves as African Americans and do get the medication may not get well because they are really a mixture of everything but African and American. But that is the way a prejudiced society works -- and that is really sad.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Thank you for visiting The Benin Dakar Chronicle

2005-07-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Remembering the “So Amazing” Luther Vandross

2005-07-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

I continue to mourn the early loss of the amazing soulful balladeer Luther Vandross.

Mr. Vandross respected both his craft and his audience enormously. Vandross never relied on silly antics and gimmicks during his concerts to substitute for anything less than a well rehearsed stellar performance.

Vandross always had a well planned rendition of his songs ready to engage and dazzle his audience.

Save for addressing the obvious physical changes that occurred as Vandross went up and down on the scales with his personal “Battle of the Bulge”, he remained silent about himself.

Vandross always the poised, polished, and consummate entertainer and professional chose to focus instead on his many fans.

The rumor mill always suggested that Vandross was a gay man. Big Deal!

One of my favorite songs by Vandross is “So Amazing”, which truly describes both Luther Vandross the singer-songwriter and the man.

If in fact Luther Vandross was a homosexual, then isn’t “so amazing” that an overweight gay man was the messenger of so much love, romance, and hope.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:
http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

The First Race-Based Medicine BiDil Are Black Americans Encountering Another “Tuskegee Experiment"?

2005-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

"Are misguided scientists and greedy pharmaceutical companies, purposely confusing the social construct of race and the biology of genetics for monetary gain by marketing BiDil as a drug specifically for black Americans?"

Recently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel recommended the approval of a heart drug called BiDil to be specifically used for African-Americans. This is making way for the first drug ever manufactured and marketed based on race.
BiDil which is a combination of two generic drugs was tested several years ago and its usefulness at the time was deemed as inconclusive for use in the general population by the FDA.

The drug's maker, NitroMed, a small Massachusetts company, however noticed that BiDil seemed to work best in persons who were self-identified as black American.

NitroMed used this as an opportunity to perform a less costly study exclusively focusing on self-identified black Americans and determined that BiDil significantly reduced the death rate in black heart patients.

NitroMed stands to gain even more, if BiDil is approved for use as a race based medicine. If approved the patent for BiDil as a general use medicine would only last until 2007. But if BiDil is approved as a specialized race based medicine NitroMed’s patent will be extended until 2020.

With there being an historical paucity of concern for black American health care and with so much financial gain to be made by NitroMed and its backers, there is an eerie silence in the black community about BiDil.

Let me among the first black Americans to ask some tough questions and make some important observations.

Are misguided scientists and greedy pharmaceutical companies, purposely confusing the social construct of race and the biology of genetics for monetary gain by marketing BiDil as a drug specifically for black Americans?
I can understand how some medications can be designed for persons who have a very specific genetic background.

Moreover, the next and most promising frontier for medicine will be individualized therapies based on the unique biology of an individual or an isolated genetically same group of human beings.

However, black Americans are not an isolated genetic group. To the contrary, black Americans are probably one of the most genetically diverse groups of people who have ever existed.

Black Americans beyond having an eclectic genetic connection to the multiple peoples who inhabit West Africa, many black Americans have both European and Native American ancestry.

And let us not fail to mention about blacks immigrating from Africa and the Caribbean to the United States, who become “black Americans”, once they reach these shores. Are medications made for “black Americans” beneficial to the newest arriving black Americans?

My brother, who is a black American, suffers with idiopathic torsion dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that has its highest incidence among the European Jewry. Many of his doctor’s are baffled that a black man has this rare disease, until they probe for my brother’s less obvious genetic history.

Our maternal great grandfather was a German Jew. Many black Americans have similar mixed ethnic identities, although we are socially and self-identified as black Americans.

We must be careful that the development of race based drugs like BiDil is not directed by misguided science and unabashed greed.
I hope that scientists are not confusing the social construct of race with the biology of genetics.

I also hope that pharmaceutical companies are not purposely fusing race and genetics for their selfish monetary gain.

The sudden concern by both the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies in the cardiovascular health of black Americans is curious, especially when one considers the “cash cow” that BiDil will become for each of those communities.

Scientists, health professionals, and concerned lay people must work to ensure that BiDil will not become a 21st century medical catastrophe for black Americans, like the earlier Tuskegee Experiment.

If BiDil is inappropriately marketed as a drug for black American heart patients, the negative consequences may be long-term.

The inappropriate marketing of BiDil to the African-American community may lead to an unanticipated further suspicion of the health care system by black Americans.

Moreover, if BiDil is a marketing ruse, it could inadvertently set back more hardcore genetic research and the promise of its results.

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE:http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar

Remembering Ronald Reagan: Beyond the new mythology

2004-06-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

Remembering Ronald Reagan: Beyond the new mythology

I remember that Ronald Reagan began his campaign for the Presidency in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which is just a stone’s throw away from where three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964. Even as a twenty-year old college student, I wondered if his choice of launching a presidential campaign where civil rights activists were murdered was merely coincidental or symbolic of something much deeper.

Today, with the late President Reagan being known as the "Great Communicator" and noted for his ability to speak to the hearts of the American people; I cannot help but still wonder was his choice of Philadelphia, Mississippi to begin his quest for the White House a coded message to white Americans, who were troubled by a changing and more inclusive American society.

Perhaps, his choice of venue was an open secret transmittal to some white Americans, who were tired of coping with the rapid social changes of the 1960s and 1970s? A message that he (Reagan) both understood and shared their fatigue and fears.

My family always stayed informed about the issues and candidates and made a really big deal out of how important it was for us to vote. Often dinner table discussion revolved around the great personal sacrifice that many African-American men and women and others had made for our right to exercise our vote. Therefore, the presidential election of 1980 was a seminal moment in my life. For me, casting my first ballot for the President of the United States of America was akin to my coming of age -- and accepting my place in adult society.

The November 1980 ballot was a three way match up of incumbent Jimmy Carter, third party candidate John Anderson, and Ronald Reagan. Although it was expected that Reagan would win the White House from the embattled Carter administration; which was besieged by an ailing economy, and a duo of crises: the energy crisis and the ongoing Iranian hostage situation. Nevertheless, it was disquieting when Ronald Reagan’s mandate by white America was finalized and announced.

As unsurprising as Reagan’s electoral landslide was, still it was disappointing to have voted for the loser (Jimmy Carter) -- for my candidate to have succumbed. Moreover, it was frightening to ponder if a Reagan presidency would really manifest into the nightmare that black folks supposed it would become. My best friend Diane and I cried like it was Armageddon eve as it was broadcast that Ronald Reagan was now President-Elect Reagan.

In an effort to escape from the news, we turned our radio onto the local black oriented music station WVKO. To our chagrin, the regular format had been dismissed for an impromptu call in show, with black folks from all over the city of Columbus, Ohio expressing their take on how they thought the nightmare of Reagan’s election would crystallize.

The announcer in between calls would repeat in a rueful voice, "Ronald Wilson Reagan is now the fortieth president of the United States of America." Then he went on to exclaim how each of now President-Elect’s Reagan’s name’s had six characters. This surely was an ominous sign. R-o-n-a-l-d W-i-l-s-o-n R-e-a-g-a-n = 666. The sign of the beast for sure?

The two terms of the Reagan administration did prove to be tough for black folks and other Americans who were not part of Reagan’s constituency. But by no means was it doomsday or was President Reagan a beast. Ronald Reagan simply demonstrated an unyielding loyalty to his conservative base, sometimes to the peril of countless other Americans.

During Reagan’s administration ketchup was declared a "vegetable" for the school lunch program. The tiny Caribbean Island of Grenada was invaded by the US, the equivalent of an elephant stomping on an ant. Reagan was unsupportive of the renewal of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts.

Among the worst atrocities was the long silence that Reagan’s camp had on speaking about the new and very deadly disease AIDS. Also, there was a paucity of dollars provided for AIDS research and for the care of persons with AIDS offered from the Reagan administration.

Much of the inaction of the Reagan White House to deal with the AIDS crisis seemed to be rooted in ignorance and fear: since AIDS during the 1980s was perceived as almost an exclusively "homosexual" disease.

But the inattention to Civil Rights characterized by the Reagan administration did not derail black Americans pursuit to become full partners in the American dream. In fact, it was during Reagan’s administration when Martin Luther King’s birthday was signed into law as a national holiday. Black Americans proved that even a sometimes openly hostile president could not dissuade them from pressing on: black high school and college graduation rates, home ownership levels, and the black middle class all increased from 1981-1988.

Moreover, the lack of funding for AIDS research and health care did ironically have an upside -- it mobilized the gay and lesbian community and helped it to marshal its resources to care for its own. A residual impact of the gay and lesbian community coming together to fill the gap made by a lack of response from the federal government in confronting the AIDS crisis has resulted in a more cohesive gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, that are now working on new issues, such as gay marriage.

I do believe that Ronald Reagan sought to govern America in a principled way, but which principles he chose, is where we would have contention.

President Reagan’s two terms taught me that there are many people in America who have a vision and wish for the country that is much different than my own. I also learned that America is elastic and durable enough to withstand this political and economic tug of war that multiple visionaries for America see and wish to implement.

President Reagan’s tenure in office also taught me who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is important. But what is even more important are the values and the resilience that resides in the hearts of individual Americans.

I remain uncertain, if President Reagan beginning his bid for the White House from Philadelphia, Mississippi was a clandestine message or nothing at all.

But I do know, that there are many Americans like me, who respect Reagan as a human being and as having been one of the few men, who has held the title of "leader of the free world."

However, we are void of the sentimentalism of those who stand in line for hours to view his coffin or who will watch the state funeral from millions of TV sets.

For some of us have a very different remembrance of Ronald Reagan.

Please click here for The Benin Dakar Chronicle discussion board:http://b4.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=BeninDakar