Dr. Boyce Watkins Discusses Health Care On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins on NewsOne.com – 2/24/10
The Bottom Line
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.
DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley Fight Is Post-Obama America
By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 24, 2010 12:17 pm
Read more about DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley Fight Is Post-Obama America
TAGS: Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, Tavis Smiley
DR. BOYCE: Do Young Leaders Now Make the NAACP Relevant?
By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 22, 2010 2:59 pm
Read more about DR. BOYCE: Do Young Leaders Now Make the NAACP Relevant?
TAGS: NAACP
DR. BOYCE: The Guts Behind Tiger Woods’ Press Conference
By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 19, 2010 12:47 pm
Read more about DR. BOYCE: The Guts Behind Tiger Woods’ Press Conference
TAGS: sex scandals, Tiger Woods
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
News: Dr. Michael Fauntroy Speaks on Felon Voting
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
– Conservative activist Paul Weyrich, at a 1980 training session for Christian conservatives
While there are a number of very worthy issues that need to be addressed in this area, I propose that we include the issue of felon disenfranchisement in our deliberations. Felon disenfranchisement is critical as it impacts the outcomes of elections throughout the country. Too often, conservative, anti-minority candidates are elected because of the disproportionate removal of African Americans and other minorities from the election rolls. As the policies that disenfranchise felons disproportionately impacts African Americans (both those caught up in the criminal justice system AND the larger Black public which does not get the policies that it could because supportive people are not elected to office), we must understand it undermines the policies that we believe to be helpful to our community.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Dr. Boyce Speaks on Russell Simmons
Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons seems to feel that banks are not treating the poor in a proper fashion. This week, in a rant on his site, “The Global Grind,” Simmons had this to say:
“They trick customers into doing things that are not good for them through lack of transparency, and surprise them with new fees when they can least afford it. I’m learning an important lesson about ethics or lack of ethics in this industry. In fact, I’m fighting with a bank right now that doesn’t know what kind of ass whipping they are going to get when I expose them for the abusive practices and exuberant fees they are charging the poor. What they are doing is trying to double their already outrageously high fees in exchange for providing absolutely nothing to my customers.”
Simmons went on to try to create a “movement” by adding a call to action:
“Let’s start the biggest public discussion ever about how banks treat us and expose these banks for their unequal treatment and unconscionable conduct. The time is now.”
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
University of Alabama Huntsville Shooting
U. Alabama Huntsville is confirming that three people were killed in a campus shooting. The suspect was a female. Another student was injured, and the woman is in custody. Another student was injured as well. The shooting took place in the science building.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Did Clark Atlanta University Violate the Law?
The firing of nearly one-quarter of the full-time faculty members at Clark Atlanta University a year go led to an investigation by the American Association of University Professors.
The investigatory committee has just released its report about the sudden termination of 55 faculty member, concluding that the college’s actions were egregious.
Among the findings:
The administration selected the particular faculty members for dismissal without any discernible prior consultation with appropriate faculty bodies. The administration in its selections also paid no heed to the rights of tenured over nontenured faculty with respect to retention.
- By not affording the dismissed faculty members opportunity for a hearing before a body of faculty peers, the Clark Atlanta University administration denied them academic due process to which they were entitled under stated university regulations as well as Association-supported standards.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Would Dr. Martin Luther King Support Obama
Dr. Boyce Watkins on MSNBC Live discussing if Dr. King would support President Obama's policies
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks With MSNBC Live
Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks With MSNBC Live about the need for a national conversation on race.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
alpha Phi Alpha Stops Membership Drive Nation-wide
From Macon.com:
WARNER ROBINS — Citing flawed membership intake processes at chapters across the country, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity incorporated has put a halt to new membership processes nationwide.
The ruling, announced to active members in a letter from the fraternity’s General President Herman “Skip” Mason Jr., comes nearly a month after a member of the student chapter at Fort Valley State University was charged with aggravated battery against a new member. Mason said the decision to halt intake was due to “the failure of some of our members to behave honorably and with care.”
Click to read.Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Black Commentators Speak – 12/23/09
Media & women's basketball writer for Fanhouse.com
NFL finally comes to on impact of head trauma
9:36 AM on 12/23/2009
OPINION - On October 28, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was slammed about a House Judiciary Committee hearing room like a quarterback facing a blitz....
Freelance filmmaker, writer, blogger and Political Consultant.
Obama and Dems weak-kneed on health care
7:40 AM on 12/22/2009
OPINION - Is the health care bill, as it is, worth the political capital that it has cost the President and the Democratic congress? ...
Co-Director of the Political Participation Group at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Slideshow: 12 key civil rights moments of the decade
10:26 AM on 12/21/2009
OPINION - The first decade of the new century has been marked by incredible triumphs, ongoing challenges, and a number of historic moments......
Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
NCAA's educational mission is great scam of 21st century
9:41 AM on 12/21/2009
OPINION - For the NCAA, the educational mission of their professional sports league is one of the great scams of the 20th and 21st centuries, no different from the Ponzi schemes of Bernie Madoff......
Writer for VIBE, Newsday, The Source, Publishers Weekly, and Giant Magazine.
Avatar: A timely message of respect for native people and environment
6:31 AM on 12/21/2009
REVIEW - Avatar is a reminder of the lessons to be learned from indigenous cultures and the respect and honor that must be paid to the environment....
Sports contributor
Chris Henry's missteps don't outshine memories of a good heart
9:01 AM on 12/18/2009
OPINION - In the ego-driven world of professional sports, it says a lot about a player, about man when all of his teammates seem to genuinely share an affinity for him....
Writer
Bankers' bonuses benefit Main Street
7:11 AM on 12/18/2009
OPINION - Amid all the sound and fury generated by banking bonuses, left unspoken are the external benefits that those amounts provide to large states....
Editor of BookerRising.net
China's 'One-Child' laws won't translate for African-American women
8:25 AM on 12/17/2009
OPINION - The adoption of China's one-child policy in the US would have a disproportionately negative impact on women of color....
National Public Education Director for Queers for Economic Justice
Conspiracy theories about HIV do real harm
10:00 AM on 12/16/2009
OPINION - HIV/AIDS conspiracy theories circulate in homes, barber shops, churches, and among activists in the African-American community....
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Terry Bowden’s Great Quote about Racism in College Football
Terry Bowden, former head football coach at Auburn University, had this to say about the NCAA’s lack of black coaches in college football:
“Many presidents won't hire black coaches because they are worried about how alumni and donors will react.”
He also makes this clear and interesting point when it comes to the NCAA’s lack of regard for hiring minority coaches:
“There are 117 colleges participating in Division I-A football and there are only three black head coaches. You don't have to be too smart to know how stupid this looks.
Let me lay it out for you:
Fifty percent black athletes leads to 25 percent black assistant coaches leads to 3 percent black head coaches.
Fifty percent white athletes leads to 75 percent white assistant coaches leads to 97 percent white head coaches.”
Friday, December 18, 2009
News: Beyonce’s Parents are Divorcing
Word on the street is that they are splitting up. It’s about damn time – the marriage was alleged to have been for the kids anyway.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A Presidential Candidate Writes SU on Behalf of Dr. Boyce Watkins
Chancellor Cantor:
I write this letter with fond memories of interactions with the wonderful students at Syracuse University. While on your campus, I found the students to be both thoughtful and welcoming: perfect for a university campus.
I write to lend my full support for Dr. Boyce Watkins and his tenure application at Syracuse University. Dr. Watkins has raised the profile of Syracuse University as he informs our national community on money matters as well as matters of the conscience. And at this particular time in our country's history, financial literacy must be viewed as an important life skill. Dr. Boyce is doing for America what he does in Syracuse University classrooms every class meeting period. So why would Syracuse University not want such a prolific and publicly appealing face as its representative?
Ultimately, Dr. Boyce must be judged by what he does in the classroom and in publications. Does Dr. Boyce elevate Syracuse University and does he elevate his field? Dr. Boyce demonstrates "academics in action" and makes scholarship relevant. Why should Dr. Boyce's scholarship and activism (which elevates Syracuse University) not be rewarded by a grant of tenure from Syracuse University?
As a former Member of Congress and Green Party candidate for President of the United States, I realize that political complexities can play a role in the decision to grant tenure to faculty on most American campuses. As I have just concluded successful organizing against war that brought together four 2008 Presidential candidates, I am reminded of the clean break that Dr. King had to make with his friends of the civil rights movement when he decided to speak out against the Vietnam War. But Dr. King intoned that he had been fighting segregation too long to segregate his moral concerns. Your decision with respect to Dr. Boyce is both political and moral. And so, I will end with one very famous Dr. King quote and hope that the leadership of Syracuse University will do in this decision what is right:
"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right."
Sincerely,
Cynthia McKinney
--
http://www.livestream.com/dignity
http://dignity.ning.com/
http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction
http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction
http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun
http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney
http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Dr Boyce Watkins: Where Eric Holder Got it Wrong
Elliot Millner brought it to my attention that Attorney General Eric Holder has been apparently spending a lot of time with Bill Cosby these days. In a recent speech at a black church in Queens, NY, Holder took a page out of the Barack Obama Campaign Catalog and chose to win favors with the black middle class by recklessly bashing away at absentee fathers and returning to the whole "ya'll just need to grow up and be more responsible" argument that allows any politician to explain away a blatant disregard for meaningful public policy. Rather than talking about things that we can do as a society to take our collective foot off the necks of black men, he chose to say that black men are choosing to put the foot on their own necks.
Elliot Millner, who is also in the legal profession, intelligently said the things that I am sure Eric Holder wanted to say. But unlike Holder, Millner is not constrained by the political shackles that come with being an appointed leader in a society that makes a habit of oppressing, destroying and marginalizing black men.
In his speech, Holder said that, "It should simply be unacceptable for a man to have a child and then not play an integral part in the raising and nurturing of the child."
That quote is a nice way of reflecting on the obvious. It's sort of like saying, "It should be unacceptable for a black man to become the Attorney General of the United States and not play an integral part in helping other black men overcome the blatantly racist and destructive justice system over which you preside."
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tiger Woods and Race: Are there any racial complexities here?
Dr. Boyce Watkins is on CNN with Don Lemon wondering if Tiger Woods will be "OJ Simpsonized" by the recent events in his personal life.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
News: Syracuse Students Discuss Dr. Boyce’s SU Legacy
Watkins, a finance professor at SU, is ignored by the administration.
By Naresh Vissa
In January 2007, college student Heather Ellis and her cousin stood in two lines at Wal-Mart. They agreed that the first to reach a register would combine the items for purchase. When the African-American Ellis gave her cousin the groceries, bystanders behind complained that she had cut. After some verbal exchanges, Ellis walked to her car and found the police waiting to arrest her. She tried her best to resist and suffered numerous cuts and bruises in the process.
Today, Ellis should be in medical school. Instead, she has pled guilty to charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.
The case was covered by CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, Good Morning America, The Today Show and every major black media outlet in America. Even more importantly, Syracuse University is connected to it, but hasn’t issued any statements. As a producer of two radio shows, I myself find it embarrassing that I discovered Ellis through a press release pitch e-mail I received.
At the forefront of all the outrage is Whitman School of Management Finance Professor Dr. Boyce Watkins, but it’s not getting any attention from SU administrators.
“I’ve come to accept the fact that the University is not appreciative of my work,” Watkins said. “It’s part of their tradition when it comes to progressive black scholars. If I’d learned to sit down and shut up, I might be treated better. Quiet Negroes do quite well in academia.”
Click to read.Sunday, November 29, 2009
Why are Black Couples Not Staying Married?
Are black men or black women the ones to blame in the decline in African American marriage?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why We Should Fund Inner City Schools
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
The following is an excerpt from the book, "Black American Money."
I saw some random "expert" on a "60 Minutes" segment discussing the state of the education system. The man was attempting to argue that more resources won't make a difference in the quality of our schools. He went on to argue that many of the pathetic schools in the inner city are run by blacks, implying that not only do African-Americans not care about their own youth, they are shiftless buffoons when it comes to money management. I've heard similar arguments from members of oppressive groups around the world, as oppressor attitudes are shockingly consistent and universal. A friend of mine from India once explained to me that additional government resources being allocated to create opportunities for "the untouchables" were a waste of time, in large part due to the fact that the people were too lazy to efficiently use these opportunities.Stereotypes against historically oppressed groups are quite common, as the world has been trained to believe that when it comes to managing money, white men are gods and black people are idiots. But when it comes to poor money management, few institutions are worse than the Pentagon which has been known to spend $500 for a toilet seat. They also fail to look to the airline and automobile industries, the ultimate welfare queens of American capitalism. These industries consistently seek government bailouts in the form of tariffs and subsidies. I won't begin to discuss the Financial Crisis of 2008 – 2009, as we saw our entire global financial system artificially inflated and subsequently destroyed by individuals who are not black. Rather, people are usually quick to point to black administrators in inner city schools and historically black colleges and universities as the most wasteful individuals in American education and industry.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
WINDING DOWN By Julianne Malveaux
The last five weeks of the year, the days beginning with Thanksgiving and moving through the New Year, are days when we all wind down. Some of us don't want to admit it, citing business as usual. But the fact is that from the first thanksgiving party to the last holiday gift exchange, we have collectively decided that the year is over and we can't do much about it.
This year is different from many others. One in six Americans does not have a job. One in four African Americans is unemployed. This means that our holiday parties must be muted by the challenge of acknowledging and supporting those who are impaired in our midst. It also means lifting up those who deserve the lift up, those who have done such phenomenal things this year that they need a shout out.
I will lift up my sister friend Susan Taylor for her National Mentoring Cares Movement ad for the phenomenal love she sows into African American people as we grow, develop, and learn to heal from our hurt. As she crosses the country, she infuses her gentle spirit into the many ways we can embrace our futures. She is a force that must be loved, respected and appreciated.
I will lift up Dr. Boyce Watkins for his embrace of Heather Ellis, the young sister from Missouri who faced 15 years in jail for cutting a line. Heather Ellis did what so many of us do - went to the store with a friend (cousin), took separate lines, and decided that whoever got up first would hook the other up. How did this turn into a racial farce of utter insanity? It would take the people in Kennett, Missouri to tell us. Here is what I know - Boyce Watkins spent time, effort, energy and money in rallying people around heather Ellis. I am grateful for his activism and lift him up for his work.
I will lift up Donna Richardson Joyner, who has both embraced Bennett College for women and black women around the globe in her positive and joyful commitment to healthy living. Thanks to Donna, we are doing work on growing a healthy garden and embracing healthy habits at Bennett, but more importantly, thanks to Donna, we all have a model of how to live and how to be.
I will lift up Blanche Williams and the National Black Women's Town Hall and the many ways that Blanche is into hooking sisters up. Blanche's mantra is "Embracing Greatness" and she is unselfish about that embrace. She is a blessing and a lesson, a joy and a leader. I am so very excited about their work.
There are so very many more that deserve the lift up. And, there are so many that must be acknowledged as they struggle through these times. I am especially concerned by those who are marginalized by the notion of these holiday celebrations, marginalized by the reality that they have not much to celebrate. What do we celebrate through the storm? Mostly we celebrate that we are still here. Still here? Still navigating, functioning, managing, holding it up. And we celebrate the fact that in the middle of the wind-down, we are indeed winding down.
I always find the end of the year poignant. We always have much to reflect on, much to celebrate. We lift up those who have assisted, accomplished, and moved us more aggressively to a better world. And, at the same time, we acknowledge those who have been tousled by our economy. We ask that all of us do the work we must do to provide analysis as we move forward. We wonder if we suffer from the paralysis of analysis.
At the end of the day, we know that the end-year act of winding down offer us an amazing possibility to lift up and respect our past and yet be challenged by our present. We know that there are those whose contribution has been stellar; we know we all want to do more. We inhale this moment called the end of the year, appreciating the opportunity to wind down, looking forward to the challenge of winding back up.
As long as there are racial economic gaps, there is cause to work, challenge, and focus. When the black unemployment rate is nearly twice the white rate, when black wealth is a tenth of white wealth, there is work to do. For many the end of the year should be nothing more than a momentary respite. There is, still, much work to do.
Dr. Boyce: Black Kids Told to Pick Cotton in front of white classmates
I received a call the today from CNN for an appearance on Headline News with the amazing Richelle Carey. The story happened a couple of weeks ago, but it took me aback and I thought I would quickly share it with the AOL BV family. During a field trip to a former plantation in Charlotte, NC, the tour guide wanted to show the kids what slavery was like. So, he asked the black children to pick cotton while their white classmates stood around and watched. When the CNN producer (a nice woman named Ebony) told me about the story, I had to do a Gary Coleman imitation: "What choo talking bout Ebony?"
Beyond the obvious, this case is disturbing on a multitude of levels. But CNN has asked me to help make this case into a teachable moment. I love finding life lessons in everything, so here are some quick thoughts:
1) The tour guide who did this clearly wasn't thinking: If you want the children to empathize with slavery, why not have them ALL pretend to be slaves? If you have the black children pretending to be slaves and the white kids pretending to be their masters, you are only teaching the white kids to be slave masters and the black kids to be their property.
2) Look at this through the mind of a child: I remember a child in elementary school saying to me, "I wish slavery was still around, because I could then tell you what to do." Those were the same words that Walter Currie's classmate said to him beforespraying him with gasoline and setting him on fire. Those were also the words that one child said to another on the bus ride home from the plantation that day in North Carolina. Do you see a trend here? While we as adults might see the educational value in our remarks, children might see it in an entirely different way.
A Social Agenda for All Americans
Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III
Early on the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama said, "This country is ready for a transformative politics of the sort that John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt represented." Socially, President Obama is beginning to move in such a positive transformative direction.
After 12 years of languishing in Congress, on Wednesday, October 28, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill. By signing this bill, the president expands the federal definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. It also allows federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so. This law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay man murdered in Wyoming in 1998, and James Byrd, the African-American man dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas that same year.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Heather Ellis Finally Speaks: Listen to her Side of the Story
Here is an interview that Heather Ellis did for AOL Black Voices - it appears that her side of the story is very different from the prosecution and she may have reason to sue the police department.
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