I just wanted to share this because it now sounds so funny. Do you remember when right-wing commentators used to bully people with Republican talking points. Now that they see the country’s views on their “leadership” souring, they begin sounding desperate.

Here’s an example of just that (thanks to Crooks And Liars for the clip).

 

 Hannity Sounding Desperate: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

As you might be aware, I had been contemplating a change since Radio One fired Matsimela Mapfumo from its “The Power” channel on XM radio and replaced his show with a sports show. When I heard that he got a show with Sirius, I gave it even more thought but, there were still a few shows on the Power that were keeping me there.

Well, it looks like I am being nudged, again. I read, today, that XM Radio is ending its relationship with Radio One and will be bringing programming for the Power in-house. From what I can surmise, XM will continue carrying the shows of Joe Madison, Warren Ballentine and Al Sharpton but, effective Jan 8, all other on-air talent will be dumped.

According to Radio One, the advertising dollars just weren’t coming in. Truthfully, the quality of the programming on the Power had gone down significantly in my eyes and I really only listened to three shows: the Joe Madison Show in the morning; Digital Spin, at night; and On With Leon on the weekends.

The only reason I chose XM over Sirius was the availability of a black talk channel. However, when Radio One began “dumbing down” their programming (this was how I saw it), I had to question whether or not I would stick with XM. So, we’ll see what the next few weeks bring. If it’s not good, I’m off to Sirius.

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I’m not going to lie — a brother has read more than a few issues of Essence magazine. Come on…I know that I’m not the only one. I guess that really speaks to the power of this publication. It’s not just a magazine that has been relevant to black women; it’s also a magazine that has been relevant to black people.

In no small part, this has been due to the efforts of publications director Susan Taylor. Now, after 37 years at Essence, Ms. Taylor is stepping down. She will now focus her time on the Essence Cares Foundation, a organization that encourages black adults to help with the mentoring of at-risk black kids.

I’m sure that a lot of readers will miss the picture of the sister with the braids and broad smile when they open the cover of the magazine but, to know that she is leaving to head up such a great organization should be of consolation to loyal readers.

Congratulations, Ms. Taylor. You are a true media icon.

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If you liked him, hated him or simply considered him to be the butt of jokes, there was no denying Ike Turner’s contributions to American popular music.

Ike Turner played on what was considered the first rock n’ roll record, was a prolific musician and songwriter and introduced the world to Tina Turner.

Sadly, Ike Turner was also a spousal abuser and, for many years, a drug addict.

Nonetheless, this past February, 10 years after he sobered up, he won a Grammy for best traditional blues for is album, “Risin’ With The Blues”.

Ike Turner passed away today. He was 76 years old.

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I’ve been meaning to speak on this for a little while now but, I am just now getting around to it.

You might remember me posting about ColorOfChange.org. Color of Change is a group that brings black activism to the web. One of its campaigns has been to raise money for the legal defense of the Jena 6.

However, despite their best efforts, this did not stop them from being the subject of attack by radio talk-show host Michael Baisden. Baisden had Marcus Jones on his show. Jones is the father of one of the Jena 6, Mychal Bell. On this show, Jones claimed that ColorOfChange.org was collecting money against the wishes of the Jena 6 families. Bell and Baisden went on to claim that Color Of Change had been pocketing the money for themselves, even saying that a $10,000 donation made by David Bowie was kept by Color Of Change.

Unfortunately, this was untrue and this dishonesty was spread across the airwaves.

Where do I begin? First, Bowie never made a $10,000 donation for the Jena 6 defense to Color of Change. That donation was made to the NAACP (see the press release from the NAACP).

To date, Color of Change has raised over $230,000 for the legal fees of the the Jena 6 and their attorneys have acknowledged receipt of the funds.

Now, honestly, I would have cut Baisden some slack, had I not been informed of the background. You see, Baisden’s interview with Jones was on November 5th. But, Baisden’s staffers had contacted Color Of Change in October for information regarding these allegations and Color Of Change provided them with information supporting the fact that they were operating above-board:

James Rucker (Director for Color Of Change) has talked with Baisden directly, and at his direction, with Pamela Exum, his business manager, and Yvonne Gilliam, his publicist. From the start, we have explained our procedures to Baisden and his staff; we had them verify payments were received by lawyers; we had them verify our process with the lawyers and families–it was in response to an inquiry they started, driven by Marcus Jones’ accusations almost two months ago.

In fact, Yvonne Gilliam faxed us Marcus’ Jones authorization to release funds. It makes it clear that Baisden’s staff knew that Marcus knew ColorOfChange.org and that he had asked us to direct funds to his attorney.

In mid-October, Yvonne Gilliam, who works for Baisden indicated by phone that every lawyer she’d contacted had received their checks.

But, despite knowing the truth, they went on ahead with the show.

However, it gets even better.
Read More… »

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There’s an old saying in the world of news — “if it bleeds, it leads.” This could be the literal, as in shootings, murders, car wrecks, fires, etc. But, it could also be in regards to the stories that shock and titillate. This is why, when we deal with a story about racist rants, like those of Michael “Kramer” Richards or Duane “Dog” Chapman, or racial insults, like those of Don Imus and his on-air staff, they get plastered all over the screen. Racial animus and ratings go hand-in-hand.

DeNeen L. Brown and Darryl Fears of the Washington Post deal with the media’s preference to reduce real racial issues to mere entertainment. In a nutshell, they addresses the shamelessness with which the media presents issues of race and how, instead of providing context and education on a particular issue, they instead continue to stoke the fire for mere ratings.

Sadly, we see this in the manner in which entertainment sites like TMZ.com have come to be the first source of information when issues like this pop up, which given our fascination with entertainment over substance, is now a perfectly acceptable place to check for information.

In many ways, in regards to race relations in America, I say we are going backwards. In no small part, it is due to our fascination with the shock value of overt racism and our disinterest in really fixing this issue.

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“Crank Dat Soda Boy”

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Okay, first Imus, a 60-year-old man, blamed his disrespect of black women on his being influenced by rap music.

Now, Duane “Dog” Chapman says that he used the word “nigger” because of “a bond he shares with the black community” but, after the blowback from all of this he says, “I now learned I’m not black at all.”

He stated this on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes. He offered some other gems, too!

“I thought that I was cool enough in the black world to be able to use that word as a brother to a brother. I’m not.

I didn’t really know until three or four days ago what that meant to black people.”

You’re a 50+-year-old white man and you don’t know that the word “nigger” is an insult, particularly when it is used in a profanity-laced tirade, complaining about a black person?

I don’t expect this guy to be a genius, or even particularly smart. But, he should realize that the rest of the world is not stupid enough to buy this.

In a related story, Joshua Alston of Newsweek ponders if these n-word tirades and subsequent apologies are ploys by D-list celebrities to boost their profiles.

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Before anyone gets on me about blaming Oprah or bashing a “leading black”, hear me out.

Recently, it was reported that allegations of physical and sexual abuse of girls at the hands of a matron (dorm parent) working at the all-girl Leadership Academy she opened in South Africa had surfaced.

According to South African police, the woman in question is accused of choking and beating some students and is also accused of fondling at least one girl there. The matron has been suspended. Another matron and the school’s principal, Dr. Mzimane, had already been placed on leave prior to the alleged fondling incident.

For her part, Oprah has issued tearful apologies to students and their families but, as far as I know, has not made any public statements about this issue in the U.S.

However, could it be that Oprah, unintentionally, created an environment where such abuse could thrive? One Chicago Sun-Times columnist thinks so and I am inclined to agree. The rules of the school state that parents are only allowed to visit their children once a month. Also, children are only allowed to use their cell phones and email on the weekends.

In this country, we know that abuse also goes on in schools but, knowing that a parent could show up at any time, that a kid could call a parent at any time or that, at day’s end, a parent could know what happened, would not embolden many to say the wrong thing to a student, much less put their hands on a child. By keeping these children, as the columnist put it, as “virtual prisoners”, they were left at the mercy of an abuser.

Also, let’s be real, this was supposed to be a dream come true for poor parents to offer their daughters an education that they might not have otherwise received. So, for the sakes of their children, they went along with the rules. But, from what I understand, many parents complained of this arrangement. It now appears that these complaints went unheeded, to the detriment of some students there and to the detriment of the school’s and Oprah’s reputations.

I believe that her school was and still is a wonderful idea. But, perhaps Oprah should actually listen to parents and learn the lessons that the abuse in her own past should have taught her — kids need to be able to talk to their parents about anything. In order to do so, they actually need to be given the actual ability to do just that. It is in silence and secret that abuses like these are allowed to flourish.

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Dog the Bounty Hunter could see his relative fame go down the hole in a New York minute. Some recordings have surfaced in which he is heard pulling a “Kramer”. In other words, he’s caught on tape spewing the word “ni**er” several times in regards to his son’s dating situation — apparently, Dog doesn’t take to kindly to the notion of his son dating a black woman. These recordings made it into the hands of someone at the National Enquirer and TMZ.com has released one of the recordings (audio here).

In no time flat, the crap hit the fan. A&E, the network which carries his reality show, has suspended production immediately, pending the outcome of an investigation of this incident.

But, not to worry, I’m sure someone will find a way to blame hip-hop over this.

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