It has been awhile, but after seeing Seven Pounds....
ROSARIO DAWSON is the Beauty of the Day
If you haven't seen Seven Pounds, it's a different role for Will Smith. Check it out.
Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9nn0eKwxHY
I am pretty sure everybody knows this story by now,but if you dont...here you go:
A white social studies teacher attempted to enliven a seventh-grade discussion of slavery by binding the hands and feet of two black girls, prompting outrage from one girl’s mother and the local chapter of the NAACP. After the mother complained to Haverstraw Middle School, the superintendent said he was having “conversations with our staff on how to deliver effective lessons.” “If a student was upset, then it was a bad idea,” said Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District in New York City’s northern suburbs. The teacher apologized to the mother who complained and her 13-year-old daughter during a meeting Thursday that also included a representative of the local NAACP. But the mother, Christine Shand of Haverstraw, said Friday she thinks the teacher should be removed from the class. “I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline,” Shand said. “I know if that was me, I would be uncomfortable going back to that class. Why should my daughter have to switch?” Monahan refused to say what, if any, measures were taken against the teacher, Eileen Bernstein, who was still working on Friday. The school district said she was not available for comment. “We encourage our teachers to deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways, to go beyond just reading the textbook,” the superintendent said. “We don’t want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset.” On Nov. 18, Bernstein was discussing the conditions under which African captives were taken to America in slave ships. She bound the two students’ hands and feet with tape and had them crawl under a desk to simulate the experience, Monahan and Shand said. Monahan said the girls were not the only blacks in the class. Gabrielle Shand burst into tears at home, her mother said.
“There are other ways to demonstrate slavery,” Christine Shand said Friday. “It doesn’t matter the color of the kids, it’s just not right to tie them up. My daughter is still upset, still embarrassed. She didn’t go to school today.”
CREDIT TO NY DAILY NEWS
Well in my opinion, this teacher did go too far, but I believe that the media is milking this story as far as they can. Who knows what the real story is? I mean these children are in seventh grade, therefore they have a voice. They could have resisted the teacher and stated that they did not want to be bounded. The only issue with this story is the fact that the children were black. The teacher should have chosen children from any racial background. But that's just my opinion. Share your voice, what do you think?
In "Brooklyn (Go Hard)", Jay-Z samples Santogold's "Shove It," for an ode to Brooklyn. And, indeed, it goes hard. The song will be on the soundtrack for "Notorious," the Notorious B.I.G. biopic (in theatres January).
Also, Drake (or Jimmy from Degrassi) has made a cute little remix to Lykke Li's "Little Bit." With a special appearance by that damn auto tune. Can that trend be over already *cough*kanye*cough*? But the auto tune doesn't really take away from the song, so I approve.
Problem #1 “Look at that White Girl stealing all of our good men!!! Why doesn’t she just stay off of our men and date within her own race?” Although this is ridiculously racist, (an article for another day), I am here to tell my Black Sisters that I understand. Yes, a Black Man claiming to understand the pain you must feel when you see a Black Man, hand and hand walking with a white woman. When it was Black Women who were always there behind the scenes for Black Men during their most trying hours. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Booker T. Washington among other prominent men could not have done it if they did not have their Corretas in the background doing more work than they got credit for. At the end of the civil rights movement the only female that recieved mass acclaim was Rosa Parks for not giving up her seat on a bus. Although, that was an incredibly courageous thing to do, it was hardly the epitome of the Black Women’s involvement in the struggle. Swallowing your pride and allowing your brothers and husbands to get all the credit for a day in which Black People could all move up to being equals to white people. So to look up 20, 30 to some 40 years later and what do you see? A black man smiling with his trophy girlfriend, the gleams of his eyes, the reason he has a bounce in his step…A WHITE WOMAN! (OH HELL NAW!!!). All those days, fighting behind the scenes for equality and to look up and see that you were never fighting for equality, but for your black men to walk hand in hand with some white women. How could this be? What happened to Black Love? What happened to the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice?
“Man, F*ck all Black guys, they are all (negro) hos!” I hear a Black Woman Exclaim as she complains to her friend about how there are no more good Black Men. “You get with one of them and sooner a later they do you dirty. Either they get to thinking that they are cooler than they are, they end up cheating with your friend, a girl you hate or of all women, A White Woman! What ever happened to the good ol days when black love was Black Love? Why can’t I trust my man not to be doing things behind my back? Why can’t I live without fear that my man is just stringing me along until he finds someone he thinks is better?”
If you feel like you have any of these problems, here is my answer.
*Disclaimer*
Now before I get calls from my brothas telling me that they woman left them because they suspect their man is cheating on them. ALL BLACK MEN, I REPEAT, ALL BLACK MEN ARE NOT DOGS. There are some, and dare I say, many men that will stand by your side and treat you with respect. If you have a good man, appreciate what you have and he will appreciate you in return. The last thing Black Men, (and all men for that matter) want to hear is them getting blamed for things they did not do. So please have solid proof that your man is “trifling” before you start throwing shit at the fan and making things a lot worse than it is.
...Imeabasi...
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If you're on this website you probably have heard of and will be attending Griot Nite. However, Just as Griot Nite is finishing, a fashion show/live performance/club party will be right underway at Sevillas in Riverside.
The doors open at 10pm and the event ends at 2am.
This is an 18+ EVENT.
What to expect: Fashion show from: OneWayNorth or [OWN], Dangerous Negro (DN), Mariala, Major Hype, and Ropa Sucia.
Live performances: Dana La Rock, The PUSH!! and surprise performers.
Media: Local magazines including IE's finest "DeQ Magazine".
$COST$: $5 if you GUEST_LIST. call 951.445.0710 or 909.658.5623.
DRESS Code: no baggy clothing, no plain t-shirts, no flip-flops, no hats. DRESS to IMPRESS.
For directions and more: www.onewaynorth.com/republic/events
Sevillas: 3252 Mission Ave. Riverside,
Keith Olbermann’s special comment is the most eloquent and passionate response so far regarding this Prop 8
I was recalling instances where I've felt I can't do much more. Instances where I felt I didn't have the fuel, the motivation to go on. If you tend to feel overwhelmed, stressed out, powerless and unmotivated then this is for you.
There are times that you feel that you cannot go on. Times that you feel you are pushed to your very limits. Times when things seem to always go wrong. And at these times we tend to feel like giving up. At these times you just want to turn back. Turn around. Take a break. And Sometimes you feel alone, as if no one understands and if no one cares. And at times you feel you are the reason to blame. You feel your choices have led you to your current state. But I just dropped by to say just remember that somewhere, somehow, someone is counting on you to go on. Somewhere somehow someone is hoping you keep going. Somewhere somehow someone is hoping you stay strong. Someone somewhere somehow is hoping you do the right thing. And Somewhere somehow someone is praying for you to go on. Somewhere somehow someone is pleading God to give you the strength to go on.
If God has given you areas of influence amongst your peers, or even amongst the younger ones, remember that they look up to you and they're counting on you to do the right thing. They're counting on you to go on. No matter what you do in life, someone somewhere, somehow is counting on you to go on. And maybe you maybe that person's only life line, maybe you may be what keeps them going on. When school is difficult and feel that old tendency to procrastinate, remember that someone is counting on you to go on. Someone is counting on you to study and to work hard.
So remember that at times we're faced with very difficult decisions. We're faced with enormous circumstances. We're faced with unbearable uncertainties. But before you lose hop's always a way where there's a will. You can go on. You can make it.
Alright fellas, I know it has been a while, but I had to go soul searching to find this beauty of the day:
OLUCHI ONWEAGBA!
Not known to many people, this Nigerian beauty is a Victoria Secret and Sports Illustrated model who is passionate about charity work and giving back to Africa.
Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oluchi_Onweagba
Website: http://www.oluchi.com/
After nearly a decade, Q-tip is back with his new album, The Renaissance. The jazz-infused, vintage hip hop album features Raphael Saadiq, Norah Jones, D'Angelo, and Amanda Diva in what can only be described as an excellent listening experience from beginning to end. Don't sleep.
"You" and "We Fight/We Love" are my fave tracks.
Listen to tracks from The Renaissance on Q-tip's myspace blog here.
As the electoral votes swarmed in and the will of the people was expressed throughout the country, a dream came to reality. The dreams of slaves working on plantations singing spirituals of better days to come. The dreams of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, aspiring for a day when Black Citizens could hold their heads up high and walk alongside their white brethren. The dreams of young black Americans across the country ever wondering if
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in
-President Barack Obama
...Imeabasi...
In 74 days, President Barack Obama will assume responsibility for guiding the nation out of two wars and through a daunting array of real and potential global crises. Obama is likely to benefit from initial goodwill across much of the planet, where there's profound relief that the Bush years are ending. President Bush himself has taken steps, such as outreach to Iran and Syria , in his waning months that could provide Obama with diplomatic opportunities. But still, Obama faces many troubles to what might be the worst economy since the Great Depression in 1930’s.
Iraq, where Obama has promised to withdraw U.S. troops by summer 2010, is less violent, but far from stable or self-reliant because Al Qaida and the Taliban have grown stronger and now control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal areas. Neither sanctions have halted Iran's nuclear development.
Obama has pledged to remove U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months after taking office and to increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan . Whether he can meet that deadline remains to be seen, and the future of the U.S. troop presence is caught up in an agreement Bush is negotiating with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki that's been delayed repeatedly.
If history is a guide, Obama will face early tests from abroad as president, either from leaders seeking to gauge his mettle, or from surprise events. So please, don’t expect change immediately. Obama is a stepping stone for change. Hopefully he will be reelected because it is going to take at least one term for us to even see “change”.
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As we made history by electing our first African-American President, Proposition 8 passed. The election results come as a bittersweet victory for many as said proposition aims to eliminate gay marriage. Many wonder why, in a supposed liberal, equality-supporting state such as California, this prop was backed heavily.
There was a time when blacks couldn't even marry whites. It was deemed a felony just mere decades ago using the same scare-tactics displayed today; portraying it as some "abnormal", "detrimental" action among other mindless fodder spewed in campaign ads.
So here's a question: why eliminate someone's right to offically commit to their loved one? Religion? Homophobia? For those who voted Yes...why?
*If you were disappointed by the intolerance that many people still seem to possess in California, please sign the petition.
Click here.
Early voting has begun!
For those of you living in the Riverside County Area, the nearest Early Voting Center is in Moreno Valley. Directions as follows:
| 1. | Head east on University Ave toward Iowa Ave | 0.4 mi |
| 2. | Turn right to merge onto I-215 S toward Indio | 3.3 mi |
| 3. | Slight left at CA-60 E (signs for Indio/ | 0.7 mi |
| 4. | Take the DAY St exit toward MORENO Valley | 0.3 mi |
| 5. | Keep right at the fork to continue toward Day St and merge onto Day St | 0.5 mi |
| 6. | Turn right at Gateway Dr | 0.4 mi |
