John Conyers has been one of my favorite congresspersons. Perinially, Conyers has consistently presented his H.R. 40 bill, in which calls for a debate on the issue of reparations. An overwhelming majority of congresspeople would never even dare utter the words reparations in public, much less call for a substantive debate on the issue.

Over the last few years, Conyers has been an outspoken opponent on Bush’s lying us into war, he has been very vocal on the assaults on our civil liberties and, more recently, leaned heavily towards a push for Bush’s impeachment.

But, since the Democratic takeover of the House and his ascension to the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, something has change with Rep. Conyers. The talk of impeachment is gone and, as a result, Rep. Conyers has lost some points in my book.

Laura Flanders, in a blog post for The Nation, hypothesizes that, despite his reluctance, there may be a tidal wave coming from progressives in this country that may be impossible for Rep. Conyers to ignore and will force him into action.

“Impeachments come to the Judiciary Commitee. And, believe me, to tie up this government just as we’re trying to stop the war and the clock is running on both the President and the Vice President, I think would be a mistaken strategy. We’ve got to win the next election which is next year.”

Winning the election, he told Democracy Now, is what he meant by “firing” the president. Yeah right. Like firing a senior on the day he graduates. It hurts to listen to because what you’re hearing is the sound of consciousness – razing — as in razor, as in destroy or level or scrape. What you’re hearing is the leveling, scraping away of a man’s conscience. Probably no one’s done more than Representative Conyers and his staff have done to investigate Bush White House crimes, from wiretapping and torture to misleading the country into an illegal war.

Luckily for Rep. Conyers, grassroots activists may save his conscience yet.

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Now a broad array of organizations have launched a new coalition that brings scores of groups together, from the Center for Constitutional Rights to Hip Hop Caucus, to Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, After Downing Street, the Green Party of the USA and The World Can’t Wait.

Impeach07 has national and local demonstrations planned, along with a national day of action on April 28. Oemig isn’t alone. Legislators in three states–New Mexico, Washington and Vermont have made moves towards petitioning the Congress. And no topic provokes more calls to RadioNation on Air America–people want accountability even if their leaders don’t.

So, despite my love for John Conyers, he has to be accountable to the people who form the base of his support.

Popularity: 21% [?]

When it comes to pro football, we’ve heard questions about the abilities of black quarterbacks and black coaches to perform but why haven’t we heard questions about the abilities of black placekickers?

Give up?

The answer is, “because there aren’t any.”

Perhaps, this draft could see that change because, UCLA’s Justin Medlock could be the first black placekicker to be drafted by the NFL.

Medlock is considered to be the most accurate kicker in this year’s draft, with a career success rate of 79%.

So, watch out on draft day. We could be seeing another first.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Though he got to live out a long life, former deputy and reputed Klansman James Ford Seale will stand trial for the 1964 kidnappings and slayings of two black men.

Federal judge Henry T. Wingate also denied bail for Seale so, he’ll be remaining in jail while he’s on trial.

Seale is accused of taking part in the 1964 kidnappings and killings of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee. In the incident, the men were seized, beaten and thrown into the Mississipi river to drown.

Recently, the investigation into this incident was reopened by the Justice Department and Seale was arrested after it was learned that he was still alive.

Popularity: 23% [?]

“93 ’til Infinity” from the album 93 ‘Til Infinity

Popularity: 12% [?]

Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. “Why do you guys need a ‘Black History Month’? What would you say if we wanted a ‘White History Month’?”

Well, in an interesting twist on this question, The Nation’s Gary Younge ponders a White History Month in which a true racial reconciliation occurs from dealing with the history of racism by whites against non-whites.

For example, consider the following:

(James) Blake was the Montgomery driver who told a row of black passengers: “Y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.” Rosa Parks was one of those passengers. She made her stand and kept her seat. The rest, as they say, is history.

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There is no month when we get to talk about Blake; no opportunity to learn the fates of J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, who murdered Emmett Till; no time set aside to keep track of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, whose false accusations of rape against the Scottsboro Boys sent five innocent young black men to jail.

Wouldn’t everyone — particularly white people — benefit from becoming better acquainted with these histories? What we need, in short, is a White History Month.

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The purpose here is not to explore individual guilt — there are therapists for that — but collective responsibility. When it comes to excelling at military conflict, everyone lays claim to their national identity; people will say, “We won World War II.” By contrast, those who say “we” raped black slaves, massacred Indians or excluded Jews from higher education are hard to come by. You cannot, it appears, hold anyone responsible for what their ancestors did that was bad or the privileges they enjoy as a result. Whoever it was, it definitely wasn’t “us.” This is one more version of white flight — a dash from the inconveniences bequeathed by inequality.

An interesting take, to say the least. I wonder if America is up for the challenge.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Matt Taibbi may be right.

While we are frittering away precious hours on the Anna Nicole Smith saga, Brittany Spears’ haircut, American Idol, 24 and Lost, there are some serious political games being played.

For example, I hear a lot of conservative co-workers talk about Bush wanting to “balance the budget” and their defense of his “efforts” to do so. However, they seem to have no answer for why, as more cuts are announced to social programs, similar amounts of money turn up in the form of tax cuts for wealthy people. Of course, they claim the economy is doing better. I then ask them if they, personally, are doing better. Almost to a person, I either get an admission of “no” or stone silence.

Well, here’s more to consider when we look at how Bush’s billionaire buddies would benefit while we pull the rug out from under people who really need help.

In looking at Bush’s proposed 2008 budget, Senator Bernie Sanders’ office had done some research into how Bush proposes to fund his tax cuts. They also look at the impact of Bush’s proposed repeal of the Estate Tax. Needless to say, the numbers are startling. Bush is looking for approximately $442 billion in tax cuts. Look what could means in benefits to Bush’s buddies and what will suffer as a result:

• If the estate tax is repealed, this would mean about $32.7 billions in saving, over the next 10 years, for the Walton family (heirs to Wal-mart fortune). Over the same period, Bush proposes $28 billion in cuts to Medicaid.
• Again, on the estate tax, the heirs to the Mars candy forturne would receive about $11.7 billion in tax breaks over this time period. In the meantime, Bush is proposing $3.4 billion in cuts to Veterans Affairs (so much for supporting the troops).

In terms of tax breaks, we would see the following:

• The Cox family (Cox Cable) would get $9.7 billion in tax breaks while $1.5 billion would cut from education.
• Nordstrom family (Nordstrom dept. stores) would recieve a $826.5 million tax break while Community Service Block Grants would be eliminated, a $630 million cut.
• Ernest Gallo family (wine makers) would recieve a $468.4 million cut while LIHEAP (heating oil to poor) would get a $420 million cut.

So, my question is, how much longer are going to go along with this garbage? Honestly, I cannot think of one beneficial thing this president has done for a majority of Americans. So, do we go back to watching our entertainment or do we instead turn our eyes to people who are actively working against the interests of the American people?

I’ll do the latter but, you’ll have to decide what you’re going to do.

P.S. When are those articles of impeachment coming?

Popularity: 9% [?]

“Passin’ Me By” from the album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

Popularity: 9% [?]

I am no fan of megachurches and the “prosperity gospel” that comes out of them. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in people doing better. But, I also believe the church to be, primarily, a place of hope and help for all people, a place where people of all income levels can feel free to come and a place that stresses helping the world over strictly helping one’s self.

Dr. Robert M. Franklin won’t be making any friends with the prosperity preachers. He has written a new book, titled Crisis in the Village, that details how the African-Americans are losing ground and, in part, he attributes it to preachers who stress the individual over the collective.

“I am convinced that the single greatest threat to the historical legacy and core values of the contemporary black church tradition is posed by what is known as the ‘prosperity gospel’ movement,” he writes, explaining that the black church has assimilated into a culture that is hostile to marginalized people, such as the poor, the HIV-infected, homosexuals and immigrants.

According to Franklin, one-fourth of the black community lives in poverty. But many churches are devoting more time to “building their local kingdoms” and less time aiding and uplifting the poor.

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Regarding the overall uplifting of black communities, Franklin calls the African American Methodists to take responsibility to leading the educational renewal of the entire village; the black Baptists to answer the call for leadership in assisting people that have been incarcerated to reenter the village with integrity and support; the black Pentecostals to step up to positive youth development, especially with the most at-risk youth. These three faith traditions target the majority of African Americans, Franklin noted Tuesday, as he called all other denominations to action.

We’ll just have to see on this one. I doubt that, when black preachers can buy Bentleys, mansions and helicopters based on the messages they preach, they will be changing up the message any time soon.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Honestly, I know next to nothing about writer/director John Ridley. For all I know, we might disagree on 99% of things (I suspect not but, who knows?). With that being said, I was heartened to hear the interview he had with CNN’s Kyra Phillips. One thing that was abundantly clear, and Ridley seemed to key in on this as well, was that Phillips knew next to nothing about black folks.

Ridley confronted the notions posed by Phillips that, because black people are not monolithic in thinking, any disagreements among black folks are divisions and by discussing them publicly, we are airing our “dirty laundry”.

Needless to say, I was impressed by what the brother had to say here.

Video below:

 

 Ridley on Obama and Race in America [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 13% [?]

“Wicked” from the album The Predator

Popularity: 17% [?]