Black Women Taking Over: Serena Williams Wins Another Major

Serena Williams routed Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 Saturday to win the Australian Open for her 10th Grand Slam title and a return to the No. 1 ranking.

It was total domination for the second-seeded Williams, who moved fluidly on the court and looked at ease in winning back-to-back majors, including the U.S. Open title in September.

"I absolutely, clearly, love playing here," the 27-year-old Williams said. "You guys root for me so much. I don't get that everywhere. So thank you so much."

Williams becomes only the seventh woman with double-digit Grand Slam singles titles. She leads all active players and broke a tie with two greats of the game -- 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Monica Seles and Maureen Connolly -- who each won nine majors.

Justine Henin was the last to win back-to-back major singles titles, at the 2003 U.S. Open and 2004 Australian Open.

Williams' near-perfect performance was in sharp contrast to No. 3 Safina, who was tight from the start. Later apologizing to the crowd for her performance, Safina said Williams was just too good, leaving her feeling like a ballboy.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins Speaks on “Obama-mania”

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By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

During my recent trip to New York, I was stunned after watching US Airways passengers standing on the icy wings of an airplane floating on the Hudson River. It was only after looking at my cancelled ticket that I realized I was scheduled to fly out of the same city, in the same airport, with the same airline on the same day, at the same time as the people on that flight. They were going to Charlotte and I wasn’t, but that’s still too close for comfort.

In spite of invitations I have to speak and live in big cities, I stay isolated here in Syracuse so I can search for my personal perception of truth within the deepest components of my heart. I seek ideology that is disconnected from hype, politics, financial compensation or other tools used for the tainting of souls and manipulation of minds. I chose not to go to the inauguration and I’ve rarely watched television, all because I wanted to figure out how I feel about recent events without allowing CNN or anyone else to tell me how I should feel.

This morning I watched a Black man….a real brother, Barack Obama, stand and take the oath as President of the United States. When I endorsed Barack long before he appeared to ever have a chance of winning, it was honestly just wishful thinking. I supported the campaigns of Barack, Jesse and Al, mainly because I never believed Bill Clinton to be (as some called him) the First Black President. I also saw something in Barack’s eyes and mannerisms that made me trust him. My “brother radar” gave security clearance, and I knew that only a real Black man would marry an amazing woman like Michelle Obama (the woman I came closest to marrying is actually a beautiful attorney who reminds me of Michelle). I also saw something in Obama’s poise and intelligence that made me believe that he would be good for our nation. My only concern was that I was not sure if a nation willing to elect incompetent men like George Bush would have the vision necessary to choose the best man or woman for the job.

I don’t do media appearances on Fox News anymore mainly because I was disappointed by their attacks on Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright. I was even more upset with Bill O’Reilly’s statements about having a “lynching party” against Michelle Obama, and the light-hearted death threats made by Fox News Analyst Liz Trotter, who stated that she would “take (Obama) out if she could”. I love Barack Obama, and I was inspired by his ability to make the impossible possible. Like all of us, I was happy to sacrifice to help get him into the White House.

But while I support Barack Obama, I never let myself get into Obama-mania.

While I felt the need to show up and vote, I never chose to “Barack the Vote”.

My position has always been simple: Falling in love with a politician can be a very dangerous thing, and I simply wasn’t going to do it.

Like Barack Obama, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was another President who took over our country during a tough economic time. When Black leaders met with Roosevelt to discuss their justifiable indignation over Civil Rights abuses throughout the nation, Roosevelt simply told them, “I agree with you and I want to do it. Now go out and make me do it.”

The interpretation of Roosevelt’s words is that after the celebrations are over and we’ve come back to reality, we must be sure to do what is necessary to effectively utilize this opportunity. Barack Obama is a good man, I know this from speaking to my contacts on the South Side of Chicago. But we must work hard to ensure that Barack THE MAN aligns squarely and firmly with Barack THE POLITICIAN. We must always be aware of the difference between BARACK OBAMA and the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

BARACK OBAMA believes that public schools should get all the funding they need and that education is critically important.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that children don’t vote or pay taxes.

BARACK OBAMA knows that 30 – 40% Black male unemployment is an economic tragedy.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that being too closely aligned with issues effecting Black men is neither politically productive nor popular in a country that still doesn’t like Black people all that much, especially if they are poor.

BARACK OBAMA knows that, in spite of having a Black President, institutionalized racism in wealth and income levels, health care disparities and other areas will take at least another 100 years to eradicate. He is also intelligent enough to know that reparations are long overdue.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that talking about racism using the same language as the United Nations (who states clearly that America continues to maintain a two-tiered society) is something that many Americans simply do not want to hear.

So, as we live in the bliss of “Obama-mania”, please consider this:

The dictionary defines “mania” as “A severe medical condition characterized by elevated moods, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis. Some symptoms are fixation, madness, compulsion, craving, craze, delirium, dementia, derangement, disorder, fad, fancy, fascination, fetish, insanity, lunacy and obsession.”

Like bottles of strong liquor, mania feels good. However, it should only be temporary. You also need designated drivers to keep the political house party under control and get everyone back home safely. Those who remain “high” and detached from reality are easy targets for emotionally void and disturbingly rational political administrations. Any good politician with constituents living in the midst of mania logically understands that there is very little work to do. No one campaigns in the regions they already control.

So, as Roosevelt explained in the example above, we can best show our love for President Obama by being politically intelligent, diligently resourceful, well-organized and focused on the issues. Political engines like the Obama Administration only understand those with the power to churn those engines. The easiest trick in the world is to make us think that racism is over because we have a Black President. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize.



Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Tips for a Great New Year from Lawrence Watkins of Great Black Speakers Bureau

By: Lawrence Watkins

Pareto and Parkinson: Old Laws for a New Year

The 2009 year is underway it it’s shaping up to be a great one. I’ve talked to many of my friends and I’ve heard THOUSANDS (Ok. I’m exaggerating) of New Year’s resolutions. Everything from losing 20 pounds, to being in bed by a certain time, to making straight A’s on their transcripts, to finding satisfying careers, to not eating meat, to etc… What is more surprising than this, is that a couple of people that I talked to have more than 10 resolutions.  You may be wondering, “Lawrence, what are your  New Year’s resolutions?” Is it to lose weight? (I have gained more than a  couple of pounds since undergrad) Nope. Is it to make all A’s in school? Not this time.

My resolution is something much simpler, yet it is one of the most powerful forces known to human productivity. It is to implement Pareto’s Law and Parkinson’s Law into all facets of my life. Surely I need more goals than this to have a successful year, right? No, because of this ONE goal, I will have a MORE successful 2009 compared to any other year in my life!

Pareto’s Law states that a minority of causes, inputs, or efforts usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards. Parkinson’s Law states that a task will swell up in perceived importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. The Law’s are inverses of each other and when taken together, can drastically make you happier and more productive. This is a good time to give thanks to my friend Tim Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek.” I don’t actually know Tim, but I feel a Bromance going on between us since I’ve read his book 7 times. No other business book has influenced me as much as 4HWW and this is where I first learned of Pareto and Parkinson.

Pareto’s Law and my Life

Vilfredo Pareto was a controversial economist who lived from 1848 to 1943. He was an engineer by training and started his career managing coal mines. He later took a position at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and explored the income distribution of 19^th century England. He found that 80 percent of the wealth in England was controlled by 20% of the population. When Pareto started to explore this phenomenon more, he noticed that this pattern of imbalance was repeated consistently whenever he looked at data referring to different time periods and different countries.

The critical thing is not to look at the specific 80/20 relationship, but to focus on the main concept. There is an inherent level of imbalance between inputs and outputs. I experienced this phenomena many times throughout my time as head honcho of Great Black Speakers Bureau, a company dedicated to spreading African American thought to the masses. I remember the early days in January of 2007 when I was working to elevate the company off of the ground. I would put in 10-12 hour days/6 days per week personally building the website, making sales calls, emailing potential clients, getting contracts signed, mailing thank you cards, and pretty much anything else you could think of for a starting entrepreneur. Even though the company was growing at an extremely fast rate, I was always exhausted at the end of the day.

Then a life changing event happened in my life. The Lord blessed me with a scholarship to earn my MBA at Cornell University. After a couple of weeks of pure elation, reality started to sink in that I REALLY won’t be able to run my company and go to school at the same time. By this time, we had grown by about 900% since we started the company the year before. The problem is that much of this growth was directly related to my personal inputs. How on earth was Great Black Speakers going to grow, or even maintain, if I wasn’t there to run it? True, I wrote a good B.S. answer to this question in my business school applications, but now I HAD to come up with real solutions.

I now had to do some soul searching and heavy prioritizing. There was NO WAY that I would leave my baby GBS to dwindle and die. Over the course of two days, I turned off all communication with the world and I spent hours of laying out and analyzing every facet of GBS with a single question in mind that I learned from Mr. Ferris. What inputs in GBS generated the majority of the outputs?  After the analysis, I wasn’t very happy with myself and I noticed major ineffectiveness in my process. I then made an vital decision to revive my company; I would go through a business liposuction process and cut off the fat that would cause GBS to die in the transition.

The first thing that I did was to start searching for a new director of GBS. I was looking for a highly organized person who was excellent at selling. I found both of these traits and more in my friend Diana, who I’ve known for many years since my childhood in Louisville, KY. In fact, Diana is an improvement over me in both of these areas. The next thing that I did was to look at the mundane, but essential tasks that consumed most of my time. Some of these tasks included makings cold calls, working on the website, writing thank you letters, filling out contracts. One by one, I started outsourcing these tasks to other companies that specialize in one or more of these areas. It was actually much less expensive than I thought it was going to be. In my next article, I will talk more about outsourcing your life.

The results have been outstanding in the 8 months since I started this process. I have increased my personal income by 250%, while decreasing my GBS workload from 55 – 70 hours per week down to 8 - 10 hours/week. Furthermore, most of the gains have happened AFTER I started business school. From this situation, I learned a couple of lessons:

1. You don’t have to work like crazy to generate sufficient income for yourself.

2. If you surround yourself with the right people and implement the right process, you can accomplish a lot with very little.

Parkinson’s Law

As stated earlier, Parkinson’s Law states that a task will swell in importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion.  There are two major truisms that I’ve learned that accompany this law:

1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.

2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

The definition of true productivity is simple: Productivity is doing activities that get you closer to your goals. Unproductivity is doing activities that keep you stagnant or take you further away from your goals.

Many people suffer from a common form of laziness: it is called busyness, which is also a disease. This disease is so prevalent that it has brainwashed people to believe that business = busyness. A paradigm shift occurred in my life for me to know that this isn’t true. Working 9 – 5 is an archaic way of doing business. It’s funny how ALL jobs in America take the exact same amount of time to complete. It’s funny because it isn’t true.

Time Compression

Time compression is an important fundamental to manipulate Parkinson’s Law. The law isn’t inherently a good or bad thing, it is just what it is. Parkinson’s Law is similar to fire. Fire can be good when you are cooking, but it would be a terrible thing if your house burns up in flames.  Time compression to complete tasks is harnessing the Parkinson’s Law power to help productivity. What I do is think about an aggressive timeline for a task and then I cut that time by a ½ or 1/3. THAT is my deadline. By doing this, I am forced to focus on the bare essentials ( 20% inputs) of a task and avoid the minutiae  that often clutters projects. Time compression has been one of the hardest concepts to implement into my life and one in which I fail to implement often. But when I do, the results of my improvements are amazing.

Synergies

Taking these two concepts together gives you one simple rule: Focus on the essentials of a task and work like crazy to get those tasks done as quick as possible. However, just because this rule is simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. People often interchange the words difficult and complex. These two words are NOT synonyms of each other. I struggle every day to avoid the laziness of business, and I often fail. I fail less when I ask one simple question: Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important? If I am, I immediately take self corrective measures to put me back on track.

Conclusion

I would like return to my opening statement on why this is my ONLY New Year’s resolution. The reason is that it would be contradictory for me to have 13 New Year’s resolutions and try to implement Pareto and Parkinson at the same time in my life. If I set my resolution as implementing The Law’s, other goals will follow as all encompassing improvements. I’m not against setting many goals for oneself; the exact opposite is true as I have many different personal and business goals. However, the point of The Law’s is to simplify and streamline life as much as possible, which is what I want to do for 2009. As Bruce Le once wrote, “One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not the daily increase, but the daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” So with that, Happy and Fulfilled New Year’s!!!!

 

Lawrence Watkins is the founder of The Great Black Speakers Bureau and an MBA student at Cornell University.  For more information, please visit www.GreatBlackSpeakers.com

Black People: Smart is the New Gangsta

by Charlamagne Tha God

YourBlackWorld.com

Intelligence is the new gangsta. In fact, intelligence is the old
gangsta but it's the new gangsta to this generation because we have
been dumbed down for so long that we either forgot, never knew or just didn't
acknowledge being intelligent was the most gangsta way to be to begin
with. 2009 is going to be the year of the righteous and the year of the
thinker. 2009 begins an era where knowledge truly does reign supreme
over almost everyone. (Word to KRS) in fact 09 is a divine year. If you are
familiar with Supreme Mathematics then you know that nine is born. You are
born once physically then you are born again mentally when you learn
the true and proper knowledge of yourself. For example Malcolm Little
was born physically May 19, 1925 but was reborn mentally some where
between 1945 and 1952. This is when he was incarcerated and introduced
to the Nation of Islam when he learned the true and proper knowledge
of himself. He was mentally reborn El Hajj Malik Shabazz commonly known
as Malcolm X.

I'm not saying that in 2009 everyone is going to convert to
Islam and change their name but what I am saying is that nine symbolizes
the highest level of change. Change is the basis of growth.Growth is
the basis of life and if you are not constantly growing then you are dying. I
say that all the time because I want people to really grasp that concept
of thinking. The energy of change is all around us right now. Do
you think it's a coincidence that Barack Obama's whole campaign was
based on change? Is it just random he is called the "Agent of Change"?
Hell no that's divine. God designed it that way. His administration
starts this year and if you voted for him you are part of his government.
I voted for the first time ever last year. That alone is the direct
reflection of the growth that change delivers but it doesn't stop
there.

We have to continue the growth process. The way we do that is by educating ourselves.
We have to be the bright, articulate, scholars gangstas and gentlemen that we where born to be. Education is sexy! Being smart is the shit! I know that last line wasn't the most eloquent way of putting it but I made my point to the people I was trying to reach.
That is the beauty of hip hop and it's the exact reason that hip hop has been the most influential voice among the youth for the past three decades. It speaks right to us, in our lanquage in our voice.


The problem with hip hop today is most artists are not in tune with what is really going on out here in these streets. Some of them are too busy playing stupid to realize things are changing. People are growing and not trying to hear that murder, murder, gangbanging, drug selling, drug using, I will shoot everybody on your block twice, money is all I glorify bullshit they been kicking anymore. People are trying to be educated and informed not misguided and misled. Salute to all the rappers that encouraged the youth to vote last year. That sounded real cute at all the award shows, on 106 & Park and in in your interviews in XXL and Ozone but how many of you artist have really taken the time to educate yourselves on government? Obama is the president elect but the problems in our society didn't magically disappear when he won. We have to continue to encourage the youth to educate themselves on what's going on in these streets as well as government before they get discouraged.

They're going to start to wonder why Obama is in the white house but people still keep getting killed in our communites. Obama is in the White House but mama still complaining about money because of this thing called the recession. Educate the babies people add gas to the spark that has been lit in these young peoples minds. My TV stays on news and sports channels. These television executives wonder why shows like Real Chance of Love are suffering in ratings? You know why, because that demographic you thought was in to this mindless nonsense is in to Obama now. They are trying to figure out ways to work for their community not work for Diddy. 50 Cent's show Money and the Power got cancelled by MTV. Why? Declining viewership among 12-34 year olds. MTV wants to revamp their image. Brian Graden, President of Entertainment at MTV Network's music channels and President of logo says, "Our shows are going to focus less on loud and silly hooks and more on young people proving themselves." These are themes that are consistent with the Obama generation. Wow even MTV realizes change has come, even MTV realizes intelligence is the new gangsta.

Rappers, Radio Personalities, bloggers and anyone with a voice, we don't have to dumb down for our audiences. People want to be educated! Intelligence is the new gangsta. Dave Chappelle and the Boondocks are perfect examples of how you can educate and entertain. Killer Mike and Ice Cube are perfect examples of real gangsta rap. Why? Cause Saying fuck another rapper is easy but saying fuck George Bush takes balls. There is nothing wrong with worldstarhiphop and mediatakeout.com but your mental diet can not just consist of the bullshit content that's on those sites. Sure its entertaining to watch Max B clown Jim Jones for the 1000th time, and I love to see Tony Yayo talk shit about everybody but I love being enlightned more. Go to Finalcall.com and read Minister Farrakhan's True Role of Government. In it he says Education is not a privelage, education is a human right. It is knowledge that seperates the human from the beast, therefore, the best possible education should be given by government and guaranteed by government. Otherwise the government is not guaranteeing the unalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I say not only demand it from our government but demand it from ourselves. If you are not in school or college go to the library! Self education is like masterbation! I don't need to pay anybody to fuck me! The library got all the knowledge I need for free. Better yet I can google what it is I'm trying to learn about. Intelligence is the new gangsta.

Remember that old cartoon that showed the brother with the gun and his pants hanging off his ass and the bandana around his mouth and everybody was laughing at him? Doesn't that remind you of your favorite rapper? Well in the same cartoon it showed a brother in a graduation cap and gown with a degree in his hand and everybody was running and screaming scared to death. You know why because intelligence has always been gangsta! My little cousin is in 9th grade he's all caught up in SWAG. He says, "I got SWAG." "Check out my SWAG." I tried to explain to him that SWAG is corny and it is just away for a man to call another man sexy, but then I realized I have to speak to him in his language. That is when I let him know that SWAG means to Study, Work, and Graduate. Study hard and get that education that is your human right because you are a citizen of the US. Work hard, get a job, or a internship while your'e in school; get your hands dirty now so you can keep them clean later by being the boss. And for Christ sake please graduate!!! Take that jewel with you all through high school and college little homie. For those not in school SWAG means to Study, Work, and Grow! Study learn everything you can about God, government, life and business. Work hard at making your community a better place to live, work hard at raising your seeds the right way and getting your family straight, and don't be afraid to grow and become the kings and queens that we are destined to be. That is S.W.A.G!! Not skinny jeans, colorful sneakers, lip peircings and all that other bullshit Lil Wayne got going on.

Intelligence is the old Gangsta, Smart is the Old Sexy and 2009 is the rebirth of the thinker, don't be afraid to express your unique brilliance, and God given genius.This is the era that Knowledge will reign supreme over nearly everyone. Happy New Year America.

--
Charlamagne Tha God
www.dirtlawradio.com
Shadyville Dj's
www.stupiddopemoves.com
I Bust Stupid Dope Moves!

Getting a Chance at Love

Sandy and Chance met during their junior year at USC. During their time in college, they ran with different crowds. Chance was a jock, with a chip on his shoulder. At 6’3” and 253 lbs, this all muscle dark-brown Adonis was a force to be reckoned with. He was headed to the NFL and nothing would stop him. With that said, he knew that he should also get a college degree. On the off chance that something happened, he wanted a back-up plan and a degree in architecture was the answer that he chose. Although he played football for the love of the sport, the women that chased him was the biggest reason that he took the physical beatings on the field. There was no woman of any nationality that could resist his looks, charm and desirability.

On the other hand, Sandy was a quiet bookworm with few friends. You normally could find this Nia Long look-a-like sitting somewhere alone studying or reading a book. Although she was one of the most beautiful women that walked the campus, she kept to herself. She didn’t have the time or the patience for idiocy. It was a miracle that their paths had ever crossed, but it was meant to be.

Sandy happened to be working at the campus library on the Saturday morning that Chance strolled in. It was not his M.O. to be in such a setting, but with finals coming up, he knew that the apartment that he shared with his buddies was not conducive to real studying. He did pride himself on being an intelligent athlete. He was looking for a book on 18th century architecture and Sandy was the only one to help him. As he approached the desk at which she was sitting, Sandy’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. His face was flawless. He had a slight slant in his dark brown eyes that made him look exotic; lickable lips; long powerful legs and a chest so dark and hard that it must have been made of raw mahogany wood. Sandy had never seen any man so beautiful in her life. She wanted to run out of the room as he got closer and closer.

“Go away, go away”, she thought to herself.

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Your Black College: Regimens: For the Best Pick-Me-Up, Lie Down

A cup of strong coffee might make you feel wide awake, but a small study suggests that for improved physical and mental performance, an afternoon nap works better.

Scientists spent a morning training 61 people in motor, perceptual and verbal tasks: tapping a keyboard in a specific sequence, discriminating between shapes on a computer screen and memorizing a list of words. Then the scientists randomly divided the subjects into three groups. The first took a nap from 1 to 3 p.m. At 3, the second group took a 200-milligram caffeine pill, and the third took a placebo. The subjects repeated the tasks they had been taught earlier and were scored by researchers who did not know which group they were in.

Those who had caffeine had worse motor skills than those who napped or had a placebo. In the perceptual task, the nappers did significantly better than either the caffeine or placebo group. On the verbal test, nappers were best by a wide margin, and the caffeine consumers did no better than those given a placebo. Despite their mediocre performance, caffeine takers consistently reported less sleepiness than the others.

“People think they’re smarter on caffeine,” said Sara C. Mednick, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and the lead author of the study, which appeared in the Nov. 3 issue of Behavioral Brain Research. “But this study is a strong argument for taking a nap instead of having a cup of coffee.”

Originally posted on NYTimes.com

Your Black College: Absentee Voting Made Easy

Worried about how to vote absentee while you're away from home at college?

After making sure you're registered to vote, visit this website for a step by step guide to voting absentee. 

Your Black College: Links of Interest

• Listing of various minority scholarships and non-profit organizations, from the African American Web Directory on Blacknews.com
  
• VH1's annual Hip-Hop Honors are coming up. Vote for your favorite Hip Hop centered website, read up on the Honorees, or play a few games on VH1's interactive site. 
• Mixtape lovers can download mixtapes from DJ's all over the country for free, or for a voluntary donation.
• Read today's Sunday Secrets from PostSecret and find out if the exhibit is coming to your school here.
• New Orleans will be hosting it's annual Voodoo Music Experience at the end of October. This year's lineup includes artists such as Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. and Wyclef Jean.
• Let Dead Prez inspire you to live life with discipline and health.

Dr Boyce on Black Money 101: The Financial Crisis in America

by Dr. Boyce Watkinshttp://www.boycewatkins.com/

1) FDR had it partially right when he said that "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." While we have other worries as well, the greatest obstacle to economic progress is the HUGE psychological impact of Americans watching the stock market plummet right in front of their faces. This is going to cause consumer spending, lending, borrowing and investing to freeze like a deer in stadium lights. When people stop spending, economies start dying.

2) This crisis was a long time coming. De-regulation pushes down on the economic gas, but increases the chances of an economic crash. The dramatic growth of the past 8 years was a result of the same policies that are leading to the huge challenges we are faced with today.

3) Much of the impact of this crisis is a financial illusion. A large percentage of the devaluation in stock and home prices is driven by the fact that the original value was incorrect in the first place. When prices are out of whack, they must correct themselves. While a crisis may also be a correction, a correction is not necessarily a crisis.

4) Prepare for a period of "Financial McCarthyism" in America. Many baby boomers are closing in on retirement, and scared to death. To boot, many of these individuals have not properly prepared for retirement. When Americans get scared, politicians get nasty. We will likely see some of the most Draconian legislation in history.

5) What makes this crisis such a concern is that even before the meltdown, the economy was already quite fragile. With soaring gas and food prices, the economy was the #1 issue on the minds of most Americans. The decline of many financial services firms was, for the most part, a logical continuation of the fact that many homeowners were defaulting at the start of the year. This crisis is most certainly going to shift the political landscape and might give us our first Black president.

6) Yes, this market drop was the largest in history, 770 points in one day is nothing to sneeze at. But keep in mind that this drop doesn’t even make the top 10 in terms of percentage declines.

7) The American consumer is not off the hook. The “Wall Street Greed” angle of this story completely denies the fact that many American consumers tend to overspend and over borrow. Many Americans were buying homes they could not afford and borrowing against their home equity in order to go on vacation. It takes two to tango and banks rarely forced anyone to take the loans being offered to them. If Obama can tell Black Men to take more responsibility for our economic challenges, then he should be willing to say that to the rest of America.

Your Black College: The Importance of August 28th

I heard Barack Obama give his speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 28th of this year, and towards the end I heard him allude to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the famous speech given in Washington, D.C 45 years ago.

I heard him say that the young preacher brought people from all over this country together, to listen to his words of hope, faith, and a wish for a better tomorrow.

What I didn’t hear him say was the name of the young preacher, nor that the 45th anniversary of the “I Have A Dream” speech is also the 53rd anniversary of the death of Emmett Till.

Isn’t that just as important?

Then I heard Dr. Cornel West speak to a less than impressive crowd at my prestigious university last night.

The school knew he was coming...this world-renowned professor from Princeton University, yet only a third of the room was filled… even though hearing him speak was a free event.

When one of our esteemed white alums comes to speak, seats are filled and tickets are pricey.

Isn’t he just as important?

It is with these issues that I urge black students to really take notice of the things that aren’t being said. I do not devalue the importance of Dr. King’s speech. Nor do I devalue the historic event that was the speech given by Barack Obama. I only suggest young people to not take lightly the history that is often times ignored, and the names that are too often not mentioned in regards to history’s popular stories.

Dr. West made a tremendous point in his address to the crowd last night, which was to take notice of the fact that Barack Obama has no lineage (before his two lovely daughters and wife Michelle) of Blacks in America. He is of native African and White lineage. This means it is not his obligation to be fully aware of everything that happened in Black history. That does not make him any less qualified to lead this country, but it does demand for young black students every where to take value in Black history. Learn the facts, so that we will be able to educate our children about just how both August 28th, 1955 and August 28th, 1963 have an enormous effect on August 28th, 2008 and Obama’s ability to run for president today.

Bill Cosby once said, “The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now.”

But in the nature of ghosts, the past will forever haunt. In the same way we think of dreams, the future is within reach. If all we ever have is now, then our now should be a manifestation of both the past and the future, in a way that says the best of our Black history is yet to come.

Your Black College: New School Year, New Boys

By Joy Leopold

New Year, New Boys

The problem with old boyfriends is that they never go away long enough for you to get your life back in order before they show up again. Maybe you’re at the point that you don’t think about him every time you pass that old tree the two of you once had a picnic under. You even forgot what color his eyes are and which side his dimple was on. You’re well on your way to that special place where out of sight meets out of mind, but before you reach it, he’s back, and with a vengeance.

Maybe you run into each other at the grocery store. You’re in the t-shirt you slept in, and, of course, he looks good enough to eat. He smiles a smile, that perfect smile he used to smile, and suddenly he has you back where you started. Suddenly your unsuspecting and confused mind is spinning. You can’t remember any of the reasons you promised yourself you’d never speak to him again. You can’t remember why you spent weeks screening his calls. You can’t remember anything…

“Hey,” he says. “Hi,” you say. You try to sniff his cologne without him noticing. He doesn’t notice. He’s too busy noticing how you look cute even though you’re in your pajamas. You notice him noticing you and your heart skips a beat. “Aha,” you think, “he’s still hooked.”Still hooked is a good place to have him. Still hooked means you can have him back if you exert a little effort. Still hooked means the two of you could wind up back where you were when there would be no way you could forget the deep brown color of his eyes. Still hooked means your life is in danger of never getting back in order.

But this is a new year. Remember what he did in April that made you so angry you could barely see? And whatever he said in May that made you wish you’d never met him? Yeah, he’s the same. He hasn’t changed. He’s still cute, and you still kind of can’t breathe when you’re around him, but he hasn’t changed. He hasn’t changed and what’s more, he doesn’t want to change, so he’s not going to. If you’re like millions of college-aged girls, your fall semester is just beginning. Your schedule is soon to be filled with new classes in new rooms with new teachers and new classmates. Maybe you’ve got a few new roommates to get to know. And with all this newness, the last thing a girl needs is the same, trifling boys from last semester.

It’s time for 20somethings everywhere to stand up and say, “new year, new boys!” Out with the old, the tired, the trifling, in with the new. Be as happy as you deserve to be or be single!

So you’re in the grocery store, holding your breath, wondering what to do. Make small talk? Try to find out if he has a new girlfriend? Kick him? Mentally shake yourself. “Get it together,” tell yourself. Then, “He’s so not ready for this.” Next, smile a smile, that smile you smile when you know you’re about to win. Say goodbye, and walk away. Look back, just once, to make sure his jaw is touching the ground and once you see that it is, keep going.

And when he calls a few days later, send him to voicemail without hesitation. Listen to the message he leaves, but don’t call him back.

New year, new boys.

Black College Students: Romance In 2008

By Chiderah A. Monde


It is rather discouraging, being a huge fan of Motown and music from years past, because these songs make us girls wish for the times when there was actual courting by a gentleman admirer, dates that consisted of moonlit walks and holding hands, celebration of how beautiful women are in all of our perfect imperfections, and written love letters singing a sad song of wishing she would come back when she’s gone…

It’s discouraging watching movies like “The Notebook” and getting falsified ideas of what men in love look like, since dating back in 1940 is obviously the same as it is now…

It just doesn’t happen like that anymore…and I’m a little bitter.

There are a few guys out there who will argue to the death that they are still perfect gentlemen who know how to treat a lady right, and this might be true….but the characteristics that make a “Southern gentleman” today has definitely changed from what was considered one back then.

Sorry guys, technology won’t let you be “Southern gentlemen” anymore.

Because today ladies, instead of hurriedly bumping into a man on the street and turning to apologize at the same time he is, causing your eyes to meet and your heart to instantly be captured…

We turn to Myspace, Facebook, Match.com, Eharmony.com and many other websites to see if we can lock eyes with his perfect picture. And then we pray he looks like that in real life if it is at all an attractive profile picture.

And today, instead of receiving a letter in the mail titled “To My Dearest” and detailing the outing he plans to pick you up later tonight for…

We get 10pm text messages saying “Wussup, whatchu doin tonite boo?”

Followed with “I’m tryna chill tonite, you gonna let me come ova?”

Or maybe that’s just us college aged girls….I should certainly hope those older aren’t subject to the same unfortunate text messages.

Still today, instead of getting close at a local lounge dancing the night away, face to face, his hands on your hips, yours around his neck slowly swaying to the sounds of Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’” or Marvin and Tammy’s “You’re All I Need To Get By” (my favorite songs)….

We go to the club and get freaky to “Falsetto” or bend over to the remix of “Back That Ass Up” as the DJ asks over the microphones “Where my nasty girls at?!” and naive girls scream in response.

When did it become okay to leave the “getting to know you” part of human relationships out and get right to the relating?

To need a “down ass ride or die bitch” as opposed to feeling so lucky because there “ain’t no woman like the one [you’ve] got”

To see him across the room at the next party instead of him picking you up and assuring your parents he’ll get you back safely by midnight.

To never spend nights on the phone talking with your special someone because he prefers texting anyway…

Or even to be told things like “damn girl you look good” or “you sexy as hell”, in replacement of being told you’re beautiful.

It became okay when texting became a verb, when Facebook became a verb, when Match.com became where you find your one true love, when love dropped it’s vowels and became luv, when terms of endearment like “bust it baby” replaced “sugar pie, honey bunch”….

And when girls began taking directions in a song from Lil John, who says things like “bend over to the front, touch your toes, back that ass up and down and get low”.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

If technology is going to be the death of romance, then only people can be its savior

African American Males in Michigan Not Graduating

DETROIT (AP) — A national report says Michigan is the worst in the nation when it comes to graduating black male students from high school.

It also says Detroit has the second-lowest rate among big-city public school districts. The report issued by the Schott Foundation for Public Education says Michigan graduated 33% of black males in 2005-06, compared with 74% of white males.

Detroit Public Schools graduated 20 percent of black males and 17% of white males.

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan says the low graduation numbers are a “major concern.” He says Governor Granholm’s small high school initiative will help build greater relevance and relationships with schools and students.

Oprah Winfrey vs. Ice Cube: Dr Boyce Watkins

Is Ice Cube correct in his accusation that Oprah Winfrey discriminates by refusing to book black male rappers on her show? Fo-shizzle. When I heard Ice Cube, the gangsta of all gangstaz, go after the queen of the universe for her disposition against black men, my reaction was the same as the one I had when my cousin CC finally had the courage to fight the big female bully on the corner of my street. I admired CC’s courage, but I feared for his life, since nobody but nobody had the audacity to attack Big Becky Smith. Oprah is Big Becky all over again, and I am definitely shaking in my boots.

By the time this controversy is over, Ice Cube will be selling Ice Cream out of the back of his mama’s pick up truck. He has balls for going after Oprah, but her balls are bigger….bigger than all of ours. Besides, she can kill Ice Cube’s argument by reminding him that she has booked rapper/actor Will Smith in the past. But using Will Smith as a representative of all black male rappers is like representing The Grizzly Bear Coalition with Winnie the Pooh. Since the balls are already out on the table, why don’t we use this as an opportunity to discuss whether or not there is something to discuss? Is Ice Cube just hatin on Oprah, or is there a legitimate beef?

Let’s look at the evidence. Most of the time, when I turn on Oprah’s show and see a black man, it is usually for one of the following reasons: He has cheated on his wife, beat his girlfriend, has a boyfriend for a girlfriend, or tells jokes for a living. I often wonder if she knows that regular black men exist, ones who don’t do all the crap that she seems to think men do. We are not monsters, but in Oprah’s world, we might as well not exist.

Exhibit B: Oprah creates icons the way a sick 3-year old creates slimy bugars. She has given birth to Suzie Orman, Dr. Phil, and enough best-selling authors to fill a Chinese sweatshop. How many of these Dr. Phil types happen to be black men? Zippo. None. Or, as Ice Cube would say, “Not nare a mah-fauka.” You mean to tell me that she can’t find one black man on earth smart enough to impress the white women in her audience? Damn Oprah, I am really disappointed.

I love Oprah, really I do. She has attained more white power than the Ku Klux Klan, getting soccer moms all over the nation fiending for her like Crystal meth. Both Ice Cube and I would agree “that’s gangsta.” I don’t even care that she doesn’t have black men on her show. With so many negative media portrayals of us, I would rather the media ignore us. But when I do turn to the show on my way to ESPN, and the one representation I see of black men is some brother on the down-low, I get a little fired up.

I don’t even know this secretly gay dude I am watching, but he is already affecting my life. Next thing you know, I am having my female friends questioning why I am in my 30s and not married. A brother puts a potted plant in his living room and he’s suddenly accused of greasing up his homeboys in the middle of the night. All because Oprah has decided to make “black men on the down-low” into a national epidemic. Thanks Oprah, you have now officially informed the world that the black man is the cause of all social ills. We already have “the man” on our back. Now, “the man” is a black woman. All this “hatin” has just got to stop.

So, Ice Cube, you have my back. I have felt compelled to support you since you agreed to get rid of that greasy Jerry Curl back in 1996. But you can’t blame Oprah for being a little irritated with you. After all, you made a song 15 years ago called “A bitch is a bitch.” First, I should say that is a stupid title for a song, sort of like saying, “A monkey is a monkey”. Dawg, you are stating the obvious. Secondly, a title like that doesn’t exactly make you a champion for women’s rights. Even I got a call from Oprah’s producers before you did, and my album hasn’t even dropped yet.

My goal in all this controversy is to sit to the side and “peep game”, as Ice Cube and Oprah are definitely some of the biggest “Playa pimps” on the block. The same as I did when my cousin CC went off on Big Becky, I sincerely fear for Ice Cube’s life. But even through all the fear, you always want to stick around and watch the fight. I am not going to miss this one, because it’s going to be really good.

Black College Athletes Being Exploited - Boyce Watkins

Your Black College: The "Miseducation" of Black Youth

Going to a prestigious university, and having come from a well recognized series of primary and secondary education is a blessing that I never take for granted. My high school’s graduating rate was about 90% my senior year, and moved up to 94% the year after. Out of about 500 seniors, less than 100 are not continuing on to higher education or vocational options.

A fifteen minute metro train ride from my high school in Maryland will take you to the D.C. public school system, where everything is the complete opposite. Washington D.C. public schools have received and/or tied for the lowest rankings in the country as far as basic learning skills, test scores, drop-out rates, poverty make-up, and safety issues are concerned. The Washington Post featured an article about whether or not the District schools are fixable. Noting that

“After decades of reforms, three out of four students fall below math standards. More money is spent running the schools than on teaching. And urgent repair jobs take more than a year…”

Washington Post article

There is a deeper issue than this. I think the most important thing that contributes to the success of students in any school system, is the attention paid to the racial make-up of these students and their needs, their economic backgrounds, the lack of motivation, and the unfortunate plight of using property taxes to pay for the upkeep of schools in cities where property tax is low or properties are not owned.

Most of the students that attended my high school come from middle-class, single family homes and townhouses, decent paying jobs, and safer-than-most neighborhoods. At a glance I would say the school is about 56% white, 26% Black, 10% Asian, 6% Hispanic, and the rest a combination of smaller populations.

In the cities where most Black and Hispanic families are, the Black population can sometimes be as high as 98% and the poverty level beyond belief. Even the city of Syracuse, where I attend the university, sees similar results to those of the D.C. public schooling systems. The problems are repetitive. More attention is given to thriving schools that have enough money coming in from their property taxes to pay for newer and better facilities and equipment. More parents in these thriving schools are actually involved with the schooling of their children. More teachers and guidance counselors are helpful to students that don’t pose as threats to their safety.

My younger sister is the president of her high school’s NAACP Youth Leadership Chapter, so when I am home, I attend some of the meetings with her. In almost every meeting, the topic has been about how to get the Black students of Maryland and D.C. public schools motivated enough to come to school, stay in school, and graduate to higher learning.

Too many of our youth are “miseducated” about their chances of success. The guidance counselors and teachers in these schools of urban areas suggest these students consider working after high school instead of going to college. The parents either did not go to college and don’t tell their children they should, or are not home enough to really be involved with their child’s education (although, I do understand that some parents have no choice but to work- sometimes multiple jobs, sometimes for single parent families).

Too many children drop out and follow lives of crime or become pregnant. Those that drop out are often times not given any reason or motivation to go back. Too many children believe that rappers and athletes are the only moneymakers, and therefore see no point in school for those talents ( what about doctors, lawyers, journalists, businessmen/ or women…?), and finally, too many children are not informed about the MANY scholarships, programs, fee waivers and resources that can help them succeed regardless of their race, gender, family, and economic standing.

The problems are repetitive. The initiative has been taken, but the results are far from where they need to be. I do not think it is Obama’s job to come to the rescue of the Black community. What he can maybe do for the school systems, is see to it that the governors of each state make sure that funding is equalized for all of their areas.

Kanye West said in his song “Champion”:

“‘Cause who the kids gonna listen to, huh?/ I guess me if it isn’t you”

I take that as a personal challenge. Whether or not you have children, it is our duty as members of the Black community to see our kids succeed. Better yet, it is our duty as members of the human race to see all kids succeed. They at least need to know that they have options, because success does not only mean going to college, it means living up to their fullest potentials- whatever that may be.

Black Female May have been Murdered in Army, but ruled a suicide

19 year old Lavena Johnson was murdered in the army and brutalized. The military has ruled her death a suicide. People don't agree.

Your Black College Students: Steppin' Out On A Relationship

There is a saying that warns us never to “lie, cheat or steal”, but there are no sayings that have stopped the middle man- cheating (in the context of relationships) from being the reason for, and looming over more than 40% of failed relationships between men and women.

Many people consider it the unforgivable act and the ultimate end to a union. Cheating is regarded as an act of selfishness, of absent-mindedness, or to some…a way to find out how strong a relationship is.

Cheating is just as prevalent in youth/college-aged relationships, as it is in marriage. The statistics for both are very close in number, and responses are quite similar. What does the abundance of cheating in youthful relationships say about the cheating patterns, and likelihood of growing up to cheat on a spouse in marriage?

I performed a simple Facebook question and answer survey, and invited my friends between the ages of 16 and 25 to respond and comment about their thoughts on cheating.

Out of all of the participating respondents:

60% of the respondents between the ages of 16 and 25 had been cheated on at least once.

20% of the respondents had been cheated on more than once.

60% of males admitted to having cheated on a partner at least once.

20% of females admitted to having cheated on a partner at least once.

70% of respondents agree with the “once a cheater, always a cheater” saying.

60% of females stayed with a partner who once cheated on them.

30% of males stayed with a partner who once cheated on them.

50% of the respondents had relationships that ended because of cheating.

70% of the respondents agreed that cheating means purposefully hurting a partner.

80% of the respondents agreed that the decision to cheat is harbored by some sort of insecurity.

100% of the respondents agreed that cheating is a selfish act.

100% of the respondents agreed that cheating is not worth it in the end.


These statistics speak volumes for the effect of cheating on trust issues for people that have been cheated on, and potentially even for the success rate of couples between the ages of 16-25. More girls are likely to forgive their cheating boyfriends, while more boys consider cheating the ultimate unforgivable act. Of course there are exceptions to all of these statistics, but from the survey and the responses that I received, I can conclude that cheating is a more serious problem than some may dismiss it as, and a huge contribution (or rather hindrance) to the success rate of future couples.

This is not to say that the act of cheating is right or wrong. These opinions vary per individual, but the general consensus is that selfishness and insecurity have a lot to do with the reasons why people cheat. Although most would rather not admit to this, it may be an important underlying cause.

African Americans Protest Fox News Racist Attitudes toward Black People

Black people are getting tired of fox. It's time for their racism to end. This video expresses the concern that many people are having about Fox and encourages people to do something about it.

Black College Professor Boyce Watkins on Ice T, Soulja Boy, Kanye West

Soulja Boy’s music?….not that great to me. But then again, it expresses a type of greatness that I probably can’t comprehend. It’s as if I am an expert in German and Soulja Boy did an Edgar Allen Poe in Chinese. If you go to Youtube and check out the hottest artists in America, you might see that a video has 3 million views, maybe 7 or 8 million if they are really hot. Soulja Boy? Try 30 million.
So Ice-T, you might think Soulja Boy’s music is garbage, but there’s a whole generation of brothers, sisters, white kids, Asians, Africans, Latinos and even Martians who disagree with you.

I respect Ice-T. The man’s game is nuclear war-like and I even looked up to him when his musical career was colder than icecream in an Eskimo’s ass. But never once, even at the peak of his career, has he ever done anything hotter than what Soulja Boy did with his Superman joint. Soulja Boy did more with his “15 minutes” than a lot of artists do with 15 albums.

With that said, Soulja Boy has a lot to prove. First, he has to prove that he can actually write some lyrics that make a lick of damn sense. I don’t exactly sense lyrical brilliance in Soulja Boy’s music. He also has to prove that he has staying power. If I’m still listening to Soulja Boy when he’s a crusty old man dissing some 18 year old artist, then I’ll know he was onto something.

Ice-T, in his “apology” for telling Soulja Boy to “eat a d*ck”, issued the heaviest pimp-timidation I’ve ever seen dropped from one black man to another. Now I know why he was a successful pimp, and I seriously thought he was gonna back hand Soulja Boy through the camera. Ice T (who I actually believe to be a genius) played politics with Soulja Boy, reminding him that by coming at Ice-T, he was also coming at all of hip hop and all of the west coast. I can’t disagree with that, since Ice T’s roots run deep. This brother was dropping records before Soulja Boy was Semen Boy, Embryo Boy or Aluminum lunch box Boy.

But Soulja Boy can come back at Ice T with this: “Grand Daddy OG, you got the whole west coast sewn up, but I got every 18 year old in the world dancing to my song. When you’re rollin on 24s in your wheelchair, they’ll still be reflecting on how they were bumpin to my song on prom night.” Soulja Boy is a lock for the “Greatest Hits of the New Millenium” soundtracks being sold on paid TV programs at 3 o’clock in the morning in the year 2032. My man had a classic with that song, there is no denying that.

It was not my impression that Soulja Boy started the beef, and that is the dividing line. It can be hurtful when you are young in the game, trying to get your respect and an old cat just broadsides you like that. Kobe went through it when he joined the Lakers, which was Shaquille O’neal’s team. Tiger Woods went through it when white men didn’t believe a black man could dominate professional golf. I applaud Kanye West for coming to Soulja Boy’s defense. Kanye made it plain: This is not 1996 anymore. Tupac and Biggie are gone, gangsta rap has turned into something else, and many college sophomores were born during the same year as the tv show, “Yo MTV Raps”. I grew up on Ice T’s music, and I remember 1996. I listened to Tupac every morning before class, and NWA got me through college. So, I respect the west coast, I respect Ice T and I respect hip hop. But there comes a time when the old school has to add another wing of the building and make room for the new school. Soulja Boy is a respected member of the new school, whether we like it or not. Don’t player hate, collaborate and respect this man’s achievements.

Traditions in hip hop are like pillars of a building. On one hand, they give you stability and a strong foundation. On the other hand, they can be rigid constraints that demote progress within the institution. The more I listen to old school rappers complaining about young entrants, I stop hearing rappers, and start hearing “grumpy old mufukaz”. Instead of offering Soulja Boy a meal he would probably refuse (“eat a ….”), maybe Ice T could have invited the man into the studio. Ice T, your game is strong, Soulja Boy can learn from that. He can also learn a lot from the genius that kept you from getting pimped by this rap game, we know how those contracts work. Soulja Boy doesn’t want your game to die, he wants it to multiply. But if you come off as an old hater, your legacy will blow away like dust in the minds of the next generation. In other words, don’t become a lyrical Bill Cosby…..haterology won’t go as far as constructive critiques when you’re dealing with a fellow soldier.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" He does regular commentary on BET, CNN, ESPN and CBS. For more information, please visit http://www.boycewatkins.com/.

Video: Dr. Boyce Watkins speaks on Soulja Boy, Ice T, Kanye West.

Things We’re Thankful Our Parents Aren’t In College With Us to See

While I’m away at college I often find myself saying “Thank God my mom isn’t here to see this”. When I heard my close friend say the same thing one day, I decided to ask around and compile a list of the top 10 things we are so thankful that our parents are not there for. Here are some of the funniest, and best reasons why black kids have so much fun in college.


Things We’re Thankful Our Parents Aren’t In College With Us to See:

1. Our “sex-capades” (the sexual behavior). Obviously. It may not be your precious little angels, but “that girl” or “that boy” that we know down the hall definitely doesn’t want his/her parents to find out what they’ve been doing.

2. Our morning classroom naps. Maybe you will understand why we sleep through some classes (or don’t even go at all) when you sit through one of those boring writing or statistics lectures at 8:25am.

3. Our laundry habits. We don’t separate the colors. Some of us don’t even know the difference between detergent and fabric softener.

4. Our ears. Cleaning the ears was something for the parents to do, since they could see them. They don’t really bother us, out of sight…out of mind. Cue-Tips are now widely used for removing nail polish or make up.

5. Our eating habits. So pizza can be breakfast, cereal can be dinner, and wings are usually fourth-meal (2am snack). Most of us only get fruit servings through Gushers’ candy, and the only veggies we see are the celery sticks that come with the wings.

6. Our parties. Well…we just don’t dance like you do. That’s all.

7. Our procrastination. Actually, some of us might benefit from having our parents to remind us about those papers. It would save us from pulling the all-nighters!

8. Our video game habits. Without parents there to tell us to stop playing and come for dinner, we don’t.

9. Our outfits. Sometimes looking nice and presentable is too much of a hassle. Other times showering and wearing clothes at all is too much of a hassle.

10. Our Facebook profiles. Thank goodness for privacy settings.

Some parents reading this might find this compilation quite comical. Others are probably concerned and wondering about what their kids are doing. But, think about your own college experiences. It is the same script, different cast. For the most part, these behaviors are not life threatening. Most of the above is all part of the fun of college no matter what graduating class you are, they never change. Besides, if we’re not failing out of school, there’s no need to worry! Parents ought to give their college students a lot of credit. We somehow manage to survive and figure things out for ourselves, and that is how you know you’ve done a good job in raising us.

Young Brothers Don't Want Black Women Anymore?

“We Like Black D***, Just Not Black Men”

Let’s be honest- who wouldn’t want a Morris Chestnut, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, or Taye Diggs type of man?


As black women, we’ve watched our brothers be romantically involved with white women for as long as we’ve been in this country. Just when we thought we were accepting it, Asian and Hispanic women picked up on the trend, and Black men started to choose them first. In a day and age where interracial dating is more or less accepted, we have to redirect our anger.

Now, black women are upset because we’ve taken home the bronze medal in comparison to the other races that seek out Black men. For the most part, young Black men are not choosing their Black women, while everyone else is choosing the brothers.

First, look at the music videos you see on BET, MTV or anything else. No longer are “video girls” really black. Hispanic and mixed women seem to be getting closer and closer to the camera. The Vida Guerra’s of the world have taken the front seat, and more brothers want long REAL hair, fair skin and another language to go along with the urban style.

Some people say Black and Hispanics are one in the same, and although we share the same ancestry, I think to put us in the same boat is to ignore the many differences that the two have, especially historically and politically (for the most part, Hispanics picked Hillary over Barack. Does that say anything significant? I think so.)


Next, let’s look at white women- from whom I got the title of this article. It’s not the preferred conversation to overhear during a study break snack, but that statement is exactly what my girls and I heard one day while sitting in the student center on our college campus.

“ Oh my god, I hooked up with a black guy last night…no, I don’t like black men, but I do like black d***!”

…Was this girl serious?

It just goes to show that the physical attraction is- in some cases- the only reason why these unions happen. Okay brothers, I’ll give you that. Some men enjoy having gorgeous exotic looking women of different backgrounds and ethnicities to trophy around with…but ask yourselves, are your parents going to approve of your relationship?

Maybe so, but what about her parents? Are they really as open-minded as she is? The truth is, not all parents are as accepting and open minded as their children.

Do not misinterpret what I’m saying, I do have a lot of white, Asian and Hispanic female friends who date Black men. They are girls with good heads on their shoulders, who are usually friendly, more reserved, smart and very genuine. They have no problem being my friend, and I have no problem being theirs.

It may just be from what I’ve seen around my campus, but the other-race girls who only go after Black men for their well-endowed features, are the ones who do not take the time to befriend black women.

Those girls stick to their own "kind". They’d rather say the curiosity about the physical pleasure was the reason they did it. Those are the kind of girls I overheard saying the above statement.

Brothers, let’s not take this completely as a compliment. You should be offended by such a blatant proclamation. What does this say about you? ”I don’t like black men” means I don’t like black people, and “I just like black d***” means I don’t see you for who you are.

I’ve dated white men, Hispanic men, and even an Asian once. But ultimately and collectively, they don’t want black women either. Of course there are some exceptions to this, one of my best white male friends only dates black women.

Who you choose to date is completely up to you. This article isn’t about that- it is about the reality of human attraction. It is about why Black women in general are becoming the least desired women of all.

We’re too strong-minded, independent, practical, and unadventurous. We argue too much. We work too much. We’re not as fair skinned or pleasing to look at. We like to dress down more than dress up. We’re not always creative in bed. Our hair doesn’t always blow in the wind, and isn’t always our own. We talk too much. We don’t give oral pleasure (says who?), we don’t want to cook every day (actually I love to cook), and we won’t stay with you after you cheat on us (yea, maybe not).

But if that’s why you’d rather not have us, then by all means, as Tyler Perry would say, have your 20%.

Dr Boyce Watkins: Apology to Method Man, Tupac Shakur

Tavis Smiley Bounces from Tom Joyner Show

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
Tavis Smiley just left the Tom Joyner Morning Show. If I said I was surprised, I’d be lying. The truth is that I wondered why Tavis’ days were not numbered from the jump, because his strong commentary wasn’t quite a fit for the style of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Black people don’t mind black people being controversial, as long as the controversy only makes white people mad.

The Tom Joyner Morning Show is about being popular. That is what keeps the sponsorship money coming in, and that’s what keeps people bopping their heads to Kool & the Gang and going on your Fantastic Voyage cruise every year. Tom Joyner and Tavis worked together to make black people laugh, cry and think; the show was always fun.

But then Barack Obama showed up and Tavis Smiley suddenly appeared to be a hater.
I don’t know if Tavis Smiley is an official Barack Obama hater, I am not so quick to issue Advanced Playerhaterology Certification. But he certainly sounded like a guy with a grudge. Seeing one strong and popular brother turn his vocal gun onto another powerful brother just made black people sick. Tom Joyner doesn’t make money when black people get sick.

What is most disturbing is that reading between the lines led many African-Americans to feel that Tavis Smiley’s love for Hillary Clinton, in conjunction with his disdain for Senator Obama, was a function of Ms. Daisy having paid off the help to get some extra support. This is not to imply that Hillary paid Tavis, but there was certainly quite a bit of asymmetry in the way Tavis dealt with Hillary vs. Barack.
Having the backing of Black America is one thing. But being too boastful about it and assuming that you control the minds of millions of people is a dangerous game. Tavis sounded no different from a man grabbing his girlfriend by the arm and telling another male suitor, “This is my woman….I own all of thisssssssss…..”
No woman would want to hear those words coming out of her man’s mouth, and neither does Black America. The public ass whooping that our readers put on Tavis after the Obama situation would have put the Michael Vick trial to shame. I honestly felt sorry for Tavis.

I don’t hate Tavis, I actually respect him. But all indicators say that he hates me. That’s why I am no good at this social commentary game: you give one small critique and people think you hate their guts. Either way, I am going to keep telling the truth, since that’s one thing I do well.


VIDEO: TAVIS SMILEY LEAVES THE TOM JOYNER MORNING SHOW

The fascinating parallels between two 20th century geniuses: Martin Luther King and Albert Einstein

by Kevin D. Johnson, Your Black World Contributor and Publisher of AUC Magazine

As I learn more about the great minds of the 20th century by reading in-depth biographies, I realize that popular culture often has the unfortunate effect on shaping the ideas and thoughts that we have about our country’s most important heroes. From a financial company that carelessly uses the image of penny-pinching Ben Franklin, to a brewery that peddles images of American patriot Samuel Adams to gain more loyal customers, it seems as if such desecration is becoming more common. As a result, we begin to recognize American icons in the most simplistic and incomplete ways. Such is the case with Martin Luther King, Jr., the charismatic leader of oppressed black people, and Albert Einstein, the spike-haired scientist responsible for the most famous equation in modern science: E = mc2.



With a closer look, the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein reveal much more than the watered-down and sometimes sacrilegious portrayals of both men found in modern media. Martin Luther King, Jr. represented so much more than black civil rights in the 1960s. Likewise, Albert Einstein was so much more than a brilliant theoretical physicist. After exploring the lives of these individuals and their true passions, I stumbled upon the fascinating parallels between the two; something that because of my cursory understanding of them, I never thought was possible. My discovery –though nothing extraordinary– was at the least inspiring.



Of the many parallels I found, three stood out as the most interesting and lesser-known. The first commonality is that both men believed in absolutism. In his sermon entitled “Rediscovering Lost Values”, King speaks unequivocally about his belief that there are moral absolutes just as there are physical absolutes. “There are moral laws of the universe just as abiding as the physical laws… Because we unconsciously know that there is a final law of gravitation… even if we don't know it in its Newtonian formulation…we just don't jump off the highest building in Detroit for the fun of it… Some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so.”



Similarly, Einstein believed in the absolute physical world. His amazing theory of relativity was one of the most misinterpreted theories in scientific history. The Relativity Theory does not purport that “everything is relative”, especially in a moral sense. Instead it posits, in the realm of science only, that spacetime remains invariant in all inertial frames. In fact, Einstein considered calling his creation the Invariance Theory. Later in life, he struggled to find a unified field theory that would further prove the invariance and structure of the physical world. He would search for the answer unsuccessfully until his very last breath.



Second, both men were outspoken pacifists and supported the idea of democratic socialism. Though in the 1960s it was unpopular to protest the Vietnam War and by doing so directly challenge the policy of the United States , King vociferously denounced all forms of war and violence. His adversaries believed that criticizing the military policy of the United States was un-American and that he should stay within his lot: civil rights for Negroes. King had a bigger vision for his movement and proceeded to broaden his message to include advocating equal distribution of wealth on behalf of poor people. King paid the ultimate high price for his democratic socialist beliefs, provoking even more public ridicule and intrusion by the FBI. Some would argue that not until King preached a message of “reconstruction of society itself” was he doomed.



Likewise, Einstein had a strong aversion to militarism and jingoism from an early age, so much so that he renounced his German citizenship at the age of seventeen. Growing up a Jew in Europe during the early part of the 20th century shaped Einstein’s political ideology. He witnessed first-hand the effects of the First World War that eventually led to Hitler coming to power in 1933 and the expulsion of millions of persecuted Jews from Europe . Many criticized Einstein for meddling in international political affairs, but his sincere passion for establishing world peace equaled that of his scientific aspirations during the latter portion of his life. His much lesser-known passion was evinced by his unwavering support of antiwar organizations and numerous public speeches against war. Like King, Einstein admired Ghandi (he hung a picture of him in his office) and urged the use of civil disobedience to resist war and injustice. As a result of Einstein’s support of pacifist ideas, he too fought false accusations of being a communist. Einstein’s FBI dossier contained 1,427 pages, none of which recorded any incriminating evidence. Though not a supporter of pure socialism, he did believe that the combination of democratic and socialist ideas was the ideal political system.



Third and most importantly, both men defied conventional thinking, and by doing so greatly expanded the limits of our social and physical world. As a world watched peaceful organizers march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma , Alabama only to suffer at the hands of a violent mob of policemen, many questioned the non-violent tactics employed by King and his followers to fight the evils of segregation. Not until the civil rights movement of the 1960s was civil disobedience used on a mass scale in the United States . Though the idea of civil disobedience was not his creation, King was able to utilize an unconventional tactic to successfully fight against racial injustice and precipitate the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.



In the same way, Einstein’s genius can be found in the way his mind worked, not necessarily in the end result. For example, Einstein imagined what it would be like to race beside a beam of light. His creative thought experiments served as the basis for his theories including the Theory of Special Relativity and the Law of the Photoelectric Effect. Such radical thinking based on a deductive approach formed the theoretical basis that enabled the development of several technological breakthroughs such as the atom bomb and laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). Einstein’s ability to conjure up the most creative thought experiments, which eventually were verified through mathematical and empirical proof, was revolutionary. All throughout his life he was a nonconformist, and therefore advocated tolerance of free thought.



Finally, I do not know if Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein ever had the opportunity to meet each other. However, I am sure that the two Nobel Prize winners would revel in each other’s company. Perhaps King would thank Einstein for hosting contralto Marian Anderson at his house because the Nassau Inn refused her a room when she visited Princeton for a performance. Maybe Einstein would commend King for his fight for human rights and engage him in a conversation about the most effective means to prevent nuclear proliferation. Regardless of how that meeting would have gone, I am sure of one thing: it would have been a beautiful fusion of genius. Simply put, the individual accomplishments of King and Einstein will forever secure their names in history, but when compared to one another reveal an unexpected commonality of unabashed resolve, social consciousness, and intellectual genius that is ever more inspiring.