black…MYstory

Converse must have thought that they had a rock-solid idea in 2003. They created a line of sneakers, using the colors and founding years of black fraternities and sororities but, did not pay licensing fees to these groups. That year, they released a line of shoes called “GREEKPAK”. That same year, 6 fraternities and sororities (Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi and Phi Beta Sigma) sued Converse in federal court and a judge ruled against them in January 2005. However, the decision was overturned and, rather than face another legal battle and further jeopardize their standing with black sneaker buyers, Converse opted to settle the claim.

As a result, Converse will pay monetary damages and licensing costs to the fraternities and sororities, pending a judge’s approval of the settlement.

What strikes me as most odd was Converse’s argument that they weren’t violating trademarks. They used the official colors of these groups. They even used the founding years (come on, how many times have we heard Alphas yell “Oh-six”?). Then, on top of that, they named the line “GREEKPAK”. What other conclusion could one draw but that they were making a line of shoes to appeal to the black greek market?

I am just happy to see that they are going to have to pay up. Perhaps they thought they were just dealing with black college kids but, after many decades, these black greek organizations know about licensing and marketing. I’m sure, the next time, a company will go to them first before attempting to infringe on their trademarks.

Popularity: 6% [?]

“Check the Rhime” from the album The Low End Theory

Popularity: 4% [?]

Today’s “Middle Finger Award” goes to Richmond, VA lawmaker Frank Hargrove. The state legislator, in opposition to a measure to apologize on the state’s behalf for its involvement in slavery.

Hargrove said, in regards to slavery, “our black citizens should get over it.” He went on to say, if the state would be apologizing for slavery then “are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?”

Whether or not one agrees with the whole “apologize for slavery” thing is up to him/her. But, to tell me, as a black person, to “get over it” is another thing entirely. I don’t think it’s appropriate to “get over it”, just as I don’t think it’s appropriate to us to not use our history as a motivation to excel.

So, I readily bestow upon Delegate Frank Hargrove the dubious honor of the “Middle Finger Award.”

Popularity: 6% [?]

In the post just prior to this one, I spoke of how, outside of the U.S., serious discussions are going on about the likelihood of an attack on Iran by the U.S. and/or Israel. My concern was about the apparent obliviousness on our part. Though, I still consider us oblivious, by and large, I see that at least one person in Congress spoke out about this concern from the House floor. He’s Representative Ron Paul from Texas and, surprisingly enough, he’s a Republican.

In a Jan. 11 speech, Paul ponders if this latest surge is designed to take our eyes off the ball regarding the movement of troops into attack positions near Iran. He also ponders if the Administration is puffing Iran up to be a greater threat than it is to justify some attack against it. In fact, he goes so far to express that the U.S. may actually manufacture an “attack” against its interests to provide cover for action against Iran, similar to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Also, he is the only congressperson I have heard raise the issue of the U.S. involvement in the attacks in Somalia.

To hear such strong tones coming from one on that side of the aisle was not even a possibility a short while ago. But, nonetheless, I am glad to see someone speaking out.

Popularity: 3% [?]

As I have stated in a previous post, Bush made some thinly-veiled threats against Iran in calling for the troop “surge” (a.k.a. “escalation”). This was followed up a few hours later with a raid on the Iranian embassy in northern Iraq in which, according to U.S. sources, 6 people were arrested.

It appears that, outside of the U.S., people are bracing for what appears to be an upcoming attack on Iran by the U.S. and/or Israel (thanks to Raw Story) for staying on top of this.

Here are just some examples of things going on in regards to this concern.

1. Russia is selling anti-aircraft systems to Iran, presumably to help them defend against air attacks.
2. The banking division of ING Group released a memo last week, titled “Attacking Iran: The market impact of a surprise Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities.” It details some of the reasons that an attack might happens and speculates that it could occur as soon as February or March of this year.
3. Nuclear submarines are now patrolling in the Persian Gulf. This puts them in striking distance of Iranian nuclear facilities.
4. The Arab Times, a Kuwaiti newspaper, is reporting that a U.S. strike could come in April. They are citing what they is a reliable source, indicating that the attack will come from the sea and indicating that Patriot missiles would be used to guard neighboring Arab countries.

So, we could be seeing another war front being opened when the people in charge can’t get control in Iraq. I only hope that my fears are unfounded.

Popularity: 4% [?]

“Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” from the album Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Gregory D. Evans is, no doubt, an incredibly smart brother. He is a former computer hacker and current CEO of LIGATT Security. Mr. Evans has come up with a new service that people with overdue bills might hate. Evans is the creator of SPOOFEM.COM, an online service that allows users to change the number being sent to a person’s caller ID. So, imagine bill collectors or telemarketers (they still call me from time to time and I’m on the “do not call” list) being able to fake you out with a number that you might pick up.

Evans originally created this for himself to collect money from someone who would not take his calls. Now, he is making this service publicly available.

Again, I have to go on the record — the brother is smart but, any product that makes it easier for telemarketers to call me, I hate.

Popularity: 6% [?]

We all want our children to stay out of legal trouble. We all want our children to avoid being in “the system”. However, for some of us, that is not a reality. But, even when it does happen, shouldn’t we expect the law to apply evenly, regardless of color?

To those who view the world like me, this may be naive. To others, the assumption is made that all treatment is equal and Black/Latino kids just commit more crime, thus resulting in more of them being locked up. However, if one looks at the numbers, the bias becomes apparent.

National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) has issued a report that points out some stark contrasts in treatment that Black/Latino versus their white counterparts, in regards to the criminal justice system.

Among the finding from the NCCD report:

• African-American youths are 4.5 times more likely, and Latinos 2.3 times more likely, than white youths to be detained for identical offenses.

• About half of white teenagers arrested on a drug charge go home without being formally charged and drawn into the system. Only a quarter of black teens arrested on drug charges catch a similar break.

• When charges are filed, white youths are more likely to be placed on probation while black youth are more likely to get locked up.

Unequal treatment didn’t stop upon entry into the juvenile justice system. NCCD researchers found that African-American youths are more likely than whites to be charged, tried, and incarcerated as adults. African Americans comprise 58 percent of youths charged and convicted as adults and sent to adult prisons.

Perhaps Lady Justice does wear a blindfold but, when it comes to Black & Latino youth, she’s peeking out of it on a pretty regular basis.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Many of us already knew that the Bush tax cuts were a bad idea. For one, who has tax cuts in a time of war? If you aren’t bringing in tax revenue, just how do you pay for such a huge undertaking?

Well, if you’re George Bush and Co., you simply borrow the money from other countries. Before George Bush took office, our foreign debt was around $1 trillion. This is after 42 Presidents and over 200 years. In less than 6 years, Bush more than doubled our foreign debt. Yes, we are now about $2 trillion in foreign debt. China holds the greatest amount of our foreign debt. Right now, China holds nearly $700 billion U.S. dollars in its reserves and, roughly, $300 billion in U.S. treasury bond. Do you think they may get some say in our foreign policy? If China were to sell off all its U.S. currency, we could see an almost immediate collapse in our economy.

If I remember correctly, the next 3 countries holding the greatest amounts of our debt are Japan, Saudi Arabia and Germany. So, as you can see, we are in a tenuous position.

So, how would this play out domestically?

If we were being responsible, we would be dealing in a “pay as you go” model. This is the Clinton model that turned our national debt into a surplus. This would not totally eliminate our foreign debt but, it could hugely reduce it. However, it would require a rollback of the tax cuts (mainly going to the top 1% of Americans anyway). Bush has flatly declined this proposition.

We have heard about how these cuts are supposedly “stimulating the economy” but, something came out last week that blows this notion out of the water.

In a hearing on Thursday, David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, lays out a pretty grim picture. He says that, basically, government spending is so out of control now that, in 2040, we would either have to cut government spending by 60% or double the tax rate in order to balance the budget. Walker says that the 2006 gains Bush is touting have no real effect on the long-term outlook.

So, the choice is “pay now or pay (more) later”.

Instead of fiscal responsibility, we get $100 billion requests for more money in Iraq (with no oversight). Then, we wonder why we are stretched so thin financially in this country.

The full report can be found here.

Popularity: 7% [?]

If you’re in the market for a new job, you may want to look at some of the companies that have been ranked among some of the best and most diverse companies out there.

Fortune magazine has offered a list of these companies and all are at least 45%-minority.

As a preview, here’s the list:

1. Baptist Health S. Florida
2. Methodist Hospital System
3. Four Seasons Hotels
4. Marriott International
5. Men’s Wearhouse
6. Stew Leonard’s
7. Station Casinos
8. IKEA North America
9. Qualcomm
10. Whole Foods Market

Popularity: 5% [?]