Joe Thinks Omer is Michael Jackson's Son, Blah, Blah, Blah

In this video, Smokey Fontaine of Newsone/TV One stands up for Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, who recently said that Michael has another child, Omer Bhatti, who lives in Oslo, Norway. Fontaine, who interviewed Joe Jackson, goes on about how articulate Joe is to him.

He says Joe has been the "victim of soundbites" and then reminds us that Joe Jackson is the man who trained the Jackson Five, etc., early on, and is their father. He says this after Campbell Brown reminds the world that Joe Jackson was estranged from Michael and remains distant with the rest of the family today.

Anyone who watched the horrific BET Awards saw how strange Joe Jackson can be regarding his son's death. While the rest of the family could barely hold it together, he was been busy on the red carpet, and despite his being there at the event already, the family elected Janet Jackson to speak to America on its behalf, and she did so weeping.

I dunno about Joe. Whenever I see people in mourning but there's one of them who keeps popping up in headlines blabbing, constantly reminding us of his relationship to the deceased, waving on the red carpet as the cameras click, saying odd things on Larry King Live, etc., I write them off as the lost one who wants attention.

And I don't know which Joe Jackson Smokey Fontaine interviewed because the Joe Jackson I've seen in uncut TV segments, not sound bites, does not seem articulate to me. He seems to be a tired man who rambles and sometimes makes no sense, who in his old age misses the spotlight.

Props for bringing us the J-5, Joe, but I'm concerned about you these days. I give you some consideration because you're only human, but having known a control freak or two in my day, I can't give you the benefit of the doubt the way Smokey Fontaine does. I think you treated your children more like possessions than people you love.

As for Omer, who was supposedly living with Michael at Neverland when the police raided the mansion, he's an aspiring rap star and he denies Michael is his daddy, per CNN. DNA tests anyone? Other news sources say Omer's called Michael J. by the family and wants a DNA test. How many Michael's are there in this family? "Prince" is called Michael. "Blanket" is called Michael, and Omer is also Michael?

And even if he is, what does that really mean? Lisa Presley, daughter of the late Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson's former wife, doesn't seem to have inherited her father's entertainment genes. Yes, I can think of other children who've inherited their parents' talents, but really it's a crap shoot and no one can replace Michael Jackson. No one. What is it that the public expects from the children of mega-stars?

I wonder if Joe Jackson wants to believe Omer is his biological grandson because if he is, it might quell some of the rumors that Michael Jackson never had sex with a woman. A "macho" father like Joe would never like to hear that kind of rumor about his son unless his son is a Catholic priest. Or perhaps Joe wants a second chance to mold a Michael. Remember, that when Michael made his comeback and emerged as the King of Pop, he did so without his father.

Omer may be the smartest one in this story. He's been low key and he hangs back. He knows not to run to media circus but away from it. And there Joe is, dragging him into the center ring anyway. Joe could have answered Fontaine's question about Michael's potential offspring by saying, "I don't know." After all, how can he know? Does he have DNA test results to share?

I'm still pondering why news anchors are talking about this story. Why are Campbell Brown, Anderson Cooper, the folks at ABC and elsewhere, spending news time on who may or may not be Michael Jackson's children when we have a health care battle raging?

Wait. I know the answer. They talk about it because people don't change the channel when they do.

Michael Jackson's Children: Katherine Jackson, Debbie Rowe Reach Custody Agreement

Mainstream media sources report that Michael Jackson's mother Katherine Jackson, 79, has received full custody of the King of Pop's children, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. aka Prince, 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael Jackson II aka "Blanket," 7, the youngest. Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of the two older children, has retained her parental rights and will have visitation. ... Read more of this story at Blogher.com

Colin Powell on Gates Incident and a Gates Reading List

Over at the African-American Books Examiner, I've posted Colin Powell's comments on the Gates incident. The former Secretary of State recently spoke to Larry King on CNN and as anyone could expect, Powell took a balanced view, saying both men overreacted.

Nevertheless, he thought Sgt. James Crowley should not have arrested Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

"I think in this case the situation was made much more difficult on the part of the Cambridge Police Department," Powell said. "Once they felt they had to bring Dr. Gates out of the house and to handcuff him, I would've thought at that point, some adult supervision would have stepped in and said 'OK look, it is his house. Let's not take this any further, take the handcuffs off, good night Dr. Gates.' "

In addition to Powell's remarks, I shared a list of books by Gates and more on his background. Read the African-American Examiner post here.

Powell also discussed how the Republican Party kow-tows to Rush Limbaugh and thoughts on Sarah Palin. Furthermore, he shared that he has experienced racial profiling in his own life.

Shatner Does Palin as Poetry

I'm a trekker aka Star Trek fan, and so I love William Shatner, but I also liked him in Miss Congeniality and in Boston Legal. He's outdone himself with his recent performance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He recited as poetry part of Sarah Palin's farewell speech given when she left the office of Governor of Alaska. The video, which you should see at the top of this post, is pretty darn funny. You betcha.

Arrest, Apology Demand, and Reflection of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

[Editor's Note: This piece is cross-posted at BlogHer.com where I have responded to at least two posters and given new information from the original 911 call. I addressed someone who says white people are confused about black people because of rap music. You connect the dots. I have a headache. Read the comments section at this link.]

America entered the new year knowing it had elected the first African-American president but also seeing video of a white BART police officer shooting Oscar Grant, an Africa-American, in the back, killing him as another officer pinned him to the ground. In May, on YouTube, the world watched a black EMT being choked by a white Oklahoma state trooper against the EMT's ambulance while a patient awaited transport to the hospital inside. And this week it's Cambridge Police arresting Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a "preeminent" African-American scholar, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, Mass., and editor-in-chief of TheRoot.com, at his own home near Harvard Square.

After hearing on his radio that a woman had called the police saying she saw two black men trying to push in the front door of her neighbor's house, a police officer arrived at Gates's home. The professor had just called his real estate company to say his front door had been damaged. Gates, arriving at his home with a driver and luggage following a trip, had trouble with the front door's lock. He and his driver were the two black men the neighbor had seen "breaking in."

Two accounts of what happened at Gates's home are on the record regarding what happened, the police officer's and Gates's. The officer's account has Gates screaming the word "racist" for no apparent reason other than a white cop showed up at his home and also indicates Gates threatened to go after the cop's job. Gates's account says Gates suggested the cop has mistreated him because he is black after the officer refuses to give Gates his name and badge number. Both accounts agree that Prof. Gates produced his driver's license and his Harvard University ID, that he is who he says he is and that it was indeed his house. And yet, the police officer arrested Gates for disorderly conduct.

When Oscar Grant was shot to death, people wanted to know, "Was Grant a criminal? Did he have a record?" When the trooper choked the black EMT, people wanted to know, "Who really had the right-of-way on that Oklahoma road? Isn't it true the black EMT was wrong to go first?" And now, after learning that a 58-year-old black Harvard professor of slender build, who requires a cane to walk, is arrested at his own home, some, who assume the officer's story must be true, are saying, "He shouldn't have said that to the policeman, who was only doing his job" and also declaring that Gates's position as a college professor with no criminal record should not be a factor at all in the story. Others say looks like racism, smells like racism, we say "racism."

Yesterday, the day after the arrest story broke, Gates and the Cambridge Police Department issued a joint press release stating they have come to an agreement. Neither will pursue legal action. Everybody wins!

The City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Police Department have recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed. Therefore, in the interests of justice, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office has agreed to enter a nolle prosequi in this matter.

The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the incident of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate. This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department. All parties agree that this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances.

As can be expected, neither of the parties involved may dictate to the American public how to perceive them or their actions. For instance, PPR_Scribe poses a series of "what if questions" while Field Negro says, "Yes, that educated Negro, caved," and a white columnist at Examiner.com assumes the professor's willingness not to sue means he's guilty of something.

After reading the tweets of Princeton Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell on Monday and her opinion that Gates is not a radical by any means, I was not surprised to learn the Harvard Professor did not pursue legal action. I considered that he may fear damaging his reputation, something that could conceivably happen through a campaign of lies and innuendo, the kind typically heaped upon people of color who speak out against racial injustice.

Today at The Nation, under the title "Skip Gates and the Post-Racial Project," Harris-Lacewell expands on her impressions of Gates, saying:

Over the past several days a strange characterization of Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has emerged. Many are portraying him as a radical who easily and inappropriately appeals to race as an excuse and explanation. This image of Gates is inaccurate. In fact, more than any other black intellectual in the country Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was an apolitical figure. This is neither a criticism nor an accolade, simply an observation.

Gates is the director of the nation's preeminent institute for African American studies, but he is no race warrior seeking to right the racial injustices of the world. He is more a collector of black talent, intellect, art, and achievement. In this sense Gates embodies a kind of post-racialism: he celebrates and studies blackness, but does not attach a specific political agenda to race. For those who yearn for a post-racial America where all groups are equal recognized for their achievements, but where all people are free to be distinct individuals, there are few better models than Professor Gates. (Melissa Harris-Lacewell)

While people stew in and chew up this juicy story and what appears to be the potential hero backing away from the justice many people of varying ethnic backgrounds hoped he'd pursue, the big-fat lawsuit, Prof. Gates has tossed another chunk of meat into the pot. Agree to not press charges? Yes. Agree to forgive and forget? Not so fast.

Gates has publicly "chastised" the police officer who arrested him and demanded an apology while simultaneously offering the officer the chance to educate himself about black people.

If he apologizes sincerely, I am willing to forgive him. And if he admits his error, I am willing to educate him about the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling … That’s what I do for a living. ...

... “The police report is full of this man’s broad imagination,” Gates said in response to a question on whether he had said any of the quotes in the report. “I said, ‘Are you not giving me your name and badge number because I’m a black man in America?’ . . . He treated my request with scorn. . . I was suffering from a bronchial infection. I couldn’t have yelled. . . I don’t walk around calling white people racist.”

Gates continued, “I’m outraged. I shouldn’t have been treated this way but it makes me so keenly aware of how many people every day experience abuses in the criminal justice system ... No citizen should tolerate that kind of poor behavior by an officer of the law. . . This is really about justice for the least amongst us.”

Because of his arrest, Gates said he plans to make racial profiling and prison reform central intellectual and political issues he wants to explore. He’s also considering a new documentary on racial profiling.

“Because of the capricious whim of one disturbed person . . . I am now a black man with a prison record,” Gates said. “You can look at my mug shot on the Internet.” (Source of photo and quote: Boston.com)

When I heard the story of his arrest, I posted on it Monday as "Wary of White Cop at Door," including links to the police report and an update with Gates's statement, as presented by his attorney and colleague Charles Ogletree. Gates's story is very different from the officer's account. As I've watched the drama unfold, my perception of what happened has not changed. I still believe that with the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard professor, we saw more evidence that some police officers feel people of color, in particular African-American males, should not challenge them.

And now we are left to watch and see if what could be called a "crash" moment for Gates--his direct encounter with the new face of racism in what he hoped would be a post-racial society, his incident that hits most who experience similar incidents in the gut as the racially-motivated negation of their achievements and social status--whether his confrontation with this white cop will impact his work to enlighten our so-called post-racial world. Will Gates shake the naive with truth? A black president in the White House is one bold step for mankind but along America's racism trail, it's nowhere near the finish line.

Additional Reading:

• NPR: Gates Arrest Resonates Through Black America, includes a list of prominent black men sharing their thoughts.
• Twitter hashtag #SkipGates
• Stuff White People Do: They Think They Can Put Themselves in Black People Shoes, written by a white male, and in a non-Gates but similar vein at Racialicious, they say odd things like what actress Kirstie Alley said.
• Scholar Says Arrest Will Lead Him To Explore Race in Criminal Justice

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE and the African-American Books Examiner. Visit an overview of her latest writing at Her411.com.

Sgt.Crowley, Wrong! Plus NJ Multicultural Corruption

I'm about to get back on the road to Chicago, continuing my journey to the BlogHer09 Conference. However, I wanted to do a quick round-up of the news I've heard this morning. First, if ever there was a man who needed racial sensitvity training it's Sgt. James Crowley, the white Cambridge, Mass., police oficer who arrested Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an African-American Harvard professor, on the porch of his own home near Harvard Square for challenging him.

O.K. Crowley says it was disorderly conduct. I say he arrested Gates for challenging him.

Anyway, today Crowley, who refuses to apoplogize (meaning to make the popular apology people expect today after people do anything perceived to be racist), is defending himself and saying he's not a racist because he once gave black Celtics basketball star Reggie Lewis, who was having a heart attack, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Crowley says he didn't see color but a human being. (The photo of Crowley comes from the NY Daily News.)

This man is proving that he needs to be re-educated. Doesn't he know slave owners used to have sex with black slaves left and right and still refused to acknowledge them as equal to whites, would have whipped them for speaking out? And they too may have saved a slave from death because slaves, like basketball stars, carry a dollar value on their heads.

Doesn't he know there are white men after slavery who fathered black children on Friday night and put on a white sheet and burned a cross on Saturday night, or more subltly for Crowley supporters, white men who fathered a black child on Sunday but called an 58-year-old black man 20 years their senior "boy" on Monday? Racists exchanging bodily fluids with people they think are beneath them is nothing new and certainly not evidence of being nonracist.

How does performing CPR on a basketball star as part of your job (Crowley was a campus cop on a campus where Lewis had his heart attack) prove you're not a racist? Racism is about feeling superior to someone of another race, believing that that person has no right to question you. You don't necessarily have to feel the person is an animal, just an inferior human or beneath you.

To put it in a different perspective, there are some men who think their own wives are inferior humans. They think women in general are inferior. That deeply-rooted belief would not prevent them from performing CPR on a woman, but it might make them think back-handing her for questioning one of their decisions was a righteous act.

I guess we can just be grateful that Crowley didn't announce some of his best friends are black or that he voted for Obama.

Moving on!

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The ficticious Sopranos may have stopped shooting new shows in New Jersey, but NJ's still got it's real live organized schemers. This morning I heard on CNN that mayors, a deputy mayor, other city officials and rabbis in three NJ cities--Secaucus, Hoboken, and Jersey City--have been arrested on corruption charges involving bribery and money laundering. From the video and report, it seems the alleged crooks are from different ethnic backgrounds and both political parties.

YAY! I say this because down here in NOLA, after watching black politicians on the news after long-haul sting operations, I'm glad people are seeing this New Jersey mess on national news.

I'm pissed at the corruption, but happy people who assume black politicians are more corrupt or that corruption only infects one political party can see that greed and corruption cross color lines, party lines, and apparently religious lines as well. New Jersey is proving this, offereing us Equal Opportunity Corruption.

Two years ago I moved back to New Orleans. Prior to the move I was living in New Jersey. New Jersey and Louisiana are states known for corruption in all shades. Yet, some people tend to assume black politicians are more corrupt, which is not true.

And I add in edits, five hours later, maybe this will push some of our black politicians who want to play slick but have gotten caught in corruption schemes to stop saying "I was targeted because I am black." Sometimes that's true, but if you keep your nose clean and good records, then you don't have to worry about getting caught doing anything other than your job.

And last, a sad story. Four boys have been arrested in Arizona for raping an 8-year-old girl, reports CNN. The boys range in age from 9 to 14. They've admitted it, but possibly more sad is that the girl's parents blame her. They say she's shamed them by being raped and have disowned the 8-year-old. The family members are refugees from Liberia, Africa.

Obama's Take on Gates's Arrest, per CNN

I'm headed to BlogHer09 in Chicago, Ill. My daughter's driving right now, and in about an hour we'll be stopping at a hotel six hours south of the Windy City. We're enjoying our time together, but I thought I should post President Barack Obama's take on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Harvard professor, in his own home near Harvard Square.

I've been following the story and have written about it twice at this blog, now thrice counting this update. I also cross-posted on the topic at BlogHer.com after Gates asked the police officer for an apology and offered to educate him about African-American history and racism in America.

In the video from CNN, President Obama says that he wasn't there but thinks the police acted "stupidly" by arresting a man in his own home after verifying his identity. He added that separate from the Gates incident it's a fact that racial profiling is real and African-Americans and Latinos are stopped by police officers in disproportionate rates to whites.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Arrest: Wary of White Cop at Door

See all H.L. Gates posts at this blog through this link, including President Obama's response and my thoughts on Officer James Crowley's reasoning that he's not a racist because he gave a black basketball star CPR once.

News of Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest came to my attention in email today from another blogger via a Boston.com story:

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling. (Boston.com)

The first thing I thought about after hearing the news was the incident in which the white Oklahoma state trooper choked the black EMT against the side of the ambulance while he and his partner were taking a woman to the hospital, Choked for Challenging.

And then I thought of what fellow blogger RevvyRev said on my first post about the EMT being jacked up:

I don't know yet whether this is another police gone wild issue or if it is the manifestation of the rapidly expanding "Negroes have no titles, positions, authority, competencies, or professional designations or duties" club that is becoming more and more visible in this country. (RevvyRev also blogs at The Certain Sound)

I hadn't really thought of the choking incident in terms of black men being slapped down for having titles and authority until I saw his comment in May, which I quote for the second time in a post.

My take on the choking incident was that black men, no matter who they are or what their status, aren't allowed to challenge white police officers, which I suppose is similar to saying black people aren't allowed to have titles, authority, or clout. My thoughts on the Gates incident are the same, that some police officers feel the need to put black people, black men in particular, "in their place." Uppity Negroes in particular must be squashed and humiliated:

He (Gates) was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had "no idea who he was messing with,'' the report said. (Boston.com)

I imagine Gates was mad as hell at being ordered out of his residence, and as some of us have realized, black people are not allowed to express anger or disappointment. We're supposed to express only undying gratitude for the success we've been allowed to achieve after having been brought here in chains. See Michelle Obama as angry black woman lambasted for not being "really" proud of America until she saw how people of all races embraced her husband on the campaign trail.

It seems the Gates incident started out as an investiagtion of a potential break-in reported by a white neighbor at Gates's home near Harvard Square, according to the police report and other sources. And if the officer's version of the incident can be trusted, he asked Gates to step out of his home and answer some questions. Gates, without provocation, according the officer, accused him of being a racist police officer.

If the officer is telling the truth, then it sounds like Gates was possibly behaving like someone with paranoia based on personal experience. At first glance, most people would wonder why didn't Gates just step outside and answer the questions. However, if you've been worried about how police treat black men, you'd resist stepping outside to talk to a police officer. You might assume if you step outside, you'll be treated not like a witness but like a suspect. Did the police officer then validate Gates's beliefs by how he handled the situation, eventually arresting Gates even after he knew Gates was an elderly Harvard professor at his own home?

The weirdest thing is the officer seems to have arrested Gates at his own home for loudly voicing his opinions even after the officer was convinced Gates was who he said he was. It seems he arrested Gates for making a scene and calling him a racist police officer.

Read the police report obtained by Boston.com and the full story. I'm short on time today, and probably have a lot more to say, but can't right now. As usual with these sorts of stories, don't read the comments section at Boston.com unless you have Valium or shots of vodka nearby.

Update: Field Negro has posted part of the statement from Prof. Gates's attorney, Charles Ogletree, as posted at TheRoot.com with a much more detailed account of the Gates incident. Gates is also The Root's editor-in-chief. Here is part of the statement:

When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch. (Gates's statement from his attorney at TheRoot.com)

This story is very different from the police report that I linked to earlier, as would be expected.

But even if the police officer were telling the truth, the officer's story attempting to justify himself is still weird. He arrested a man at his own house for expressing anger by the officer's account, which is the justification the Oklahoma trooper clung to, saying the EMT made a hand gesture at him.

You may also read the tweets on this topic using the Twitter hashtag #skipGates, where another professor commented that had it been Cornel West, who is a professor at Princeton and used to be at Harvard, ... maybe ...

Gates doesn't have the reputation of loud protest.

Would Janet Jackson be a 'Good' Mother?

As I and many others have suspected, the Michael Jackson story will be with us for a long time. More than likely it will outlive me. So, on one hand I'm not surprised that the potential custody battle over his children, "Prince" Michael Jackson, Paris Katharine Jackson, and "Blanket," is being waged in the press. On the other, I'm shaking my head.

Now the news is Janet Jackson may want to raise the children and experts are weighing in on whether or not she'd be a good choice. How would they know? Do any of these experts know her personally, and really who's an adequate judge of who makes a good mother and who doesn't? If you use one gauge they keep mentioning, experience as a parent, then no humans should have babies. We're all inexperienced with our first child.

One factor the "experts" have tossed into the discussion is Janet's break-up with boyfriend Jermaine Dupri. The implication is that between the break-up and Michael's death, the singer may be under too much stress.

CBS reports that the Jackson women--Michael's mother, Katharine; his closest sister, Janet; and his oldest sister, Rebbie, who has raised children herself--are "banding together" for MJ's children. That's a good thing. That's what family does.

This would all go away probably, if Debbie Rowe would say she'll let Katharine raise the children and be done with it. But supposedly she's expressed concern that Michael's father, Joe Jackson, will have any say-so in what happens to the children.

Perhaps it takes an opportunist to know an opportunist. I got an earful of opinions on both Rowe and Joe Jackson at the hair salon last week.

However, it's also been reported that Rowe and Katharine Jackson may be coming to an agreement. As a result, a custody hearing has been postponed, report sources.

It would be wonderful if the media would let the family solve the matter of custody and care in private, but we know that's not going to happen.

Related: Mixed on Michael Jackson's Children Redux

Cronkite's reach: Media may be underestimating

Two days before Walter Cronkite died, I was talking about him to my 18-year-old son. He was asking, "What would you do if you picked up the phone and Oprah was on the other line?"

I said, "I don't know, but one day when I was working at IBM in Maryland I answered the phone and Walter Cronkite was on the other end."

Genuinely impressed, he said, "What! And what did you do?"

"I connected his call."

That was 1988, seven years after CBS forced Mr. Cronkite to retire. I didn't share this with my son but after I got off the call, I told my co-workers (it was a phone pool) and one of them said, "Oh, yes. He calls here all the time."

I don't remember who it was that Mr. Cronkite was calling, all I knew was that he sounded exactly on the phone as he had on the television during all my years growing up, and I felt blessed just for hearing his voice on the other end of the line.

My son recognized his name even though Cronkite was not on the TV as a news anchor, actually not on TV much at all in the last 18 years. So, I called him into the living room a few minutes ago and asked, "How did you know who Walter Cronkite was?"

He said he wasn't sure, that he hadn't been taught anything about Cronkite in school and didn't recall whether he'd ever seen clips of him on TV, but he knew he was an important reporter, and then he said, "It's not just me. Lots of my friends on Facebook knew who he was too."

When Cronkite died on Friday, I heard commentary such as "If you're in your 40s, you may not know why Walter Cronkite is so important." That struck me as an odd thing to say. Up until I was 21, Cronkite was still doing the news.

I'm 49, and I recall Walter Cronkite. President Barack Obama will be 48 next month. Granted we're both on the cusp of 50, but I think we both remember Walter Cronkite just fine.

But why do my son and his friends, people born after 1989, have any inkling that Cronkite was an important person and somebody to be revered?

I think Walter Cronkite had a greater impact on the world than even his fellow news anchors realize.

Tonight CBS will air its tribute to Cronkite. If I don't watch it live, I'll record it for safekeeping to watch later. For my generation and older generations, he was the anchor by whom we measured all news anchors.

When we look sometimes at dread at the rise of multiple pundits coloring news with opinion and fudging facts, when we see how even trained news journalists today--in order to survive in this new world where bloggers sharing personal opinion may have as much influence as a news anchor--have fallen into airing skewed reports tinged with propaganda, it's Cronkite we set beside them and judge that they aren't giving us the news. Some are giving us borderline yellow journalism.

We don't trust news journalists today the same way we trusted Cronkite, who moved from newspapers to television. (My bias shows here. I think there's a value to being trained in print.)

When Cronkite ended the news saying, "And that's the way it is," we believed that that's the way it was. If Cronkite said it, then it must be true because he seemed to not fall to one side or the other. He just told the story. And those of us who hoped to grow up one day and tell the story well thought that's what news should be, an objective report put into the context of historical and current fact.

You didn't have to worry that Cronkite had twisted information or "re-focused" as Fox News often does, for instance, to do a hatchet job on subjects in the guise of "investigative journalism" according to his ideological bent or to score ratings points. To draw back and report information without bias is a gift. Fewer and fewer mainstream media personalities today seem to have that gift.

And in some ways, fewer people seem to read the news with the expectation that it will be objective, which is why we need websites like FactCheck.org. Not only do we suspect that politicians spin the truth, we've discovered the news may twirl as well.

In addition, sometimes I think people want to be told what to think, and that's scary. Sometimes I write pieces without my voice, just collect and report information and tell it within the scope of related facts, and I can tell that those commenting assume the facts are my opinion, something to be questioned, confusing reporting with punditry or the editorial voice.

I wonder how much of this not knowing fact from opinion reflects that the education system is not teaching critical thinking and how much is it people crave to know what the writer is thinking and so assume that what they read is opinion, if they don't know the writer and fact if they know and like the writer. Do today's readers think factual truth is relative?

Whatever it is that drives readers to value opinion more than facts or assume opinion is fact when they like the person delivering information is probably not good for the nation. It means we're creating an environment where the personality has more influence than the truth, and that is never good.

Rest in peace, Mr. Cronkite, and may the study of your style of journalism inspire others to tell the news the way it is. We need reality checks to save ourselves from ourselves.

Obama's Message to NAACP is Similar to His Africa Message

I decided to post video and full text of President Barack Obama's speech yesterday at the annual convention of the NAACP in New York as it celebrates its 100th Anniversary.


From CNN, "Obama to NAACP: Progress made but much still to accomplish":

But Obama said "the pain of discrimination is still felt in America" among African-Americans, Latinos and Muslim-Americans.

"Even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folks -- we know that too many barriers still remain," he said. (Obama to NAACP)

I thought about surfing over to Fox News to see how they covered this event, but decided not to. It's too late at night for Faux News foolishness. I wonder if it even covered the event.

Some other headlines from other news sources:

• Associated Press: Obama Tells Blacks to Own Their Own Futures
• CBS: Obama: Blacks "Must Seize Our Own Futures"
• Reuters: Obama Has Tough Love Message for African Americans

Wait! I'm seeing a theme here. Didn't Obama have a similar message for Africa, "Africa's future is up to Africa"?

Here's the speech as prepared for delivery:

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery
NAACP Centennial
New York, New York
July 16, 2009


It is an honor to be here, in the city where the NAACP was formed, to mark its centennial. What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past one hundred years.

It is a journey that takes us back to a time before most of us were born, long before the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and Brown v. Board of Education; back to an America just a generation past slavery. It was a time when Jim Crow was a way of life; when lynchings were all too common; and when race riots were shaking cities across a segregated land.

It was in this America where an Atlanta scholar named W.E.B. Du Bois, a man of towering intellect and a fierce passion for justice, sparked what became known as the Niagara movement; where reformers united, not by color but cause; and where an association was born that would, as its charter says, promote equality and eradicate prejudice among citizens of the United States.

From the beginning, Du Bois understood how change would come - just as King and all the civil rights giants did later. They understood that unjust laws needed to be overturned; that legislation needed to be passed; and that Presidents needed to be pressured into action. They knew that the stain of slavery and the sin of segregation had to be lifted in the courtroom and in the legislature.

But they also knew that here, in America, change would have to come from the people. It would come from people protesting lynching, rallying against violence, and walking instead of taking the bus. It would come from men and women - of every age and faith, race and region - taking Greyhounds on Freedom Rides; taking seats at Greensboro lunch counters; and registering voters in rural Mississippi, knowing they would be harassed, knowing they would be beaten, knowing that they might never return.

Because of what they did, we are a more perfect union. Because Jim Crow laws were overturned, black CEOs today run Fortune 500 companies. Because civil rights laws were passed, black mayors, governors, and Members of Congress serve in places where they might once have been unable to vote. And because ordinary people made the civil rights movement their own, I made a trip to Springfield a couple years ago - where Lincoln once lived, and race riots once raged - and began the journey that has led me here tonight as the 44th President of the United States of America.

And yet, even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the past one hundred years; even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folks - we know that too many barriers still remain.

We know that even as our economic crisis batters Americans of all races, African Americans are out of work more than just about anyone else - a gap that's widening here in New York City, as detailed in a report this week by Comptroller Bill Thompson.

We know that even as spiraling health care costs crush families of all races, African Americans are more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance than just about anyone else.

We know that even as we imprison more people of all races than any nation in the world, an African-American child is roughly five times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a jail.

And we know that even as the scourge of HIV/AIDS devastates nations abroad, particularly in Africa, it is devastating the African-American community here at home with disproportionate force.

These are some of the barriers of our time. They're very different from the barriers faced by earlier generations. They're very different from the ones faced when fire hoses and dogs were being turned on young marchers; when Charles Hamilton Houston and a group of young Howard lawyers were dismantling segregation.

But what is required to overcome today's barriers is the same as was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best.

The question, then, is where do we direct our efforts? What steps do we take to overcome these barriers? How do we move forward in the next one hundred years?

The first thing we need to do is make real the words of your charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among citizens of the United States. I understand there may be a temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there's probably never been less discrimination in America than there is today.

But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion for simply kneeling down to pray. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights.

On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America.

But we also know that prejudice and discrimination are not even the steepest barriers to opportunity today. The most difficult barriers include structural inequalities that our nation's legacy of discrimination has left behind; inequalities still plaguing too many communities and too often the object of national neglect.

These are barriers we are beginning to tear down by rewarding work with an expanded tax credit; making housing more affordable; and giving ex-offenders a second chance. These are barriers that we are targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, and through Promise Neighborhoods that build on Geoffrey Canada's success with the Harlem Children's Zone; and that foster a comprehensive approach to ending poverty by putting all children on a pathway to college, and giving them the schooling and support to get there.

But our task of reducing these structural inequalities has been made more difficult by the state, and structure, of the broader economy; an economy fueled by a cycle of boom and bust; an economy built not on a rock, but sand. That is why my administration is working so hard not only to create and save jobs in the short-term, not only to extend unemployment insurance and help for people who have lost their health care, not only to stem this immediate economic crisis, but to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity that will put opportunity within reach not just for African Americans, but for all Americans.

One pillar of this new foundation is health insurance reform that cuts costs, makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America from the grip of foreign oil, putting people to work upgrading low-income homes, and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced. And another pillar is financial reform with consumer protections to crack down on mortgage fraud and stop predatory lenders from targeting our poor communities.

All these things will make America stronger and more competitive. They will drive innovation, create jobs, and provide families more security. Still, even if we do it all, the African-American community will fall behind in the United States and the United States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters. In the 21st century - when so many jobs will require a bachelor's degree or more, when countries that out-educate us today will outcompete us tomorrow - a world-class education is a prerequisite for success.

You know what I'm talking about. There's a reason the story of the civil rights movement was written in our schools. There's a reason Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There's a reason the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob. It's because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a child's God-given potential.

Yet, more than a half century after Brown v. Board of Education, the dream of a world-class education is still being deferred all across this country. African-American students are lagging behind white classmates in reading and math - an achievement gap that is growing in states that once led the way on civil rights. Over half of all African-American students are dropping out of school in some places. There are overcrowded classrooms, crumbling schools, and corridors of shame in America filled with poor children - black, brown, and white alike.

The state of our schools is not an African-American problem; it's an American problem. And if Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich can agree that we need to solve it, then all of us can agree on that. All of us can agree that we need to offer every child in this country the best education the world has to offer from the cradle through a career.

That is our responsibility as the United States of America. And we, all of us in government, are working to do our part by not only offering more resources, but demanding more reform.

When it comes to higher education, we are making college and advanced training more affordable, and strengthening community colleges that are a gateway to so many with an initiative that will prepare students not only to earn a degree but find a job when they graduate; an initiative that will help us meet the goal I have set of leading the world in college degrees by 2020.

We are creating a Race to the Top Fund that will reward states and public school districts that adopt 21st century standards and assessments. And we are creating incentives for states to promote excellent teachers and replace bad ones - because the job of a teacher is too important for us to accept anything but the best.

We should also explore innovative approaches being pursued here in New York City; innovations like Bard High School Early College and Medgar Evers College Preparatory School that are challenging students to complete high school and earn a free associate's degree or college credit in just four years.

And we should raise the bar when it comes to early learning programs. Today, some early learning programs are excellent. Some are mediocre. And some are wasting what studies show are - by far - a child's most formative years.

That's why I have issued a challenge to America's governors: if you match the success of states like Pennsylvania and develop an effective model for early learning; if you focus reform on standards and results in early learning programs; if you demonstrate how you will prepare the lowest income children to meet the highest standards of success - you can compete for an Early Learning Challenge Grant that will help prepare all our children to enter kindergarten ready to learn.

So, these are some of the laws we are passing. These are some of the policies we are enacting. These are some of the ways we are doing our part in government to overcome the inequities, injustices, and barriers that exist in our country.

But all these innovative programs and expanded opportunities will not, in and of themselves, make a difference if each of us, as parents and as community leaders, fail to do our part by encouraging excellence in our children. Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land. We need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes - because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way that we have internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little of ourselves.

We have to say to our children, Yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not. But that's not a reason to get bad grades, that's not a reason to cut class, that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands - and don't you forget that.

To parents, we can't tell our kids to do well in school and fail to support them when they get home. For our kids to excel, we must accept our own responsibilities. That means putting away the Xbox and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. It means attending those parent-teacher conferences, reading to our kids, and helping them with their homework.

And it means we need to be there for our neighbor's son or daughter, and return to the day when we parents let each other know if we saw a child acting up. That's the meaning of community. That's how we can reclaim the strength, the determination, the hopefulness that helped us come as far as we already have.

It also means pushing our kids to set their sights higher. They might think they've got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow, but our kids can't all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice. I want them aspiring to be President of the United States.

So, yes, government must be a force for opportunity. Yes, government must be a force for equality. But ultimately, if we are to be true to our past, then we also have to seize our own destiny, each and every day.

That is what the NAACP is all about. The NAACP was not founded in search of a handout. The NAACP was not founded in search of favors. The NAACP was founded on a firm notion of justice; to cash the promissory note of America that says all our children, all God's children, deserve a fair chance in the race of life.

It is a simple dream, and yet one that has been denied - one still being denied - to so many Americans. It's a painful thing, seeing that dream denied. I remember visiting a Chicago school in a rough neighborhood as a community organizer, and thinking how remarkable it was that all of these children seemed so full of hope, despite being born into poverty, despite being delivered into addiction, despite all the obstacles they were already facing.

And I remember the principal of the school telling me that soon all of that would begin to change; that soon, the laughter in their eyes would begin to fade; that soon, something would shut off inside, as it sunk in that their hopes would not come to pass - not because they weren't smart enough, not because they weren't talented enough, but because, by accident of birth, they didn't have a fair chance in life.

So, I know what can happen to a child who doesn't have that chance. But I also know what can happen to a child who does. I was raised by a single mother. I don't come from a lot of wealth. I got into my share of trouble as a kid. My life could easily have taken a turn for the worse. But that mother of mine gave me love; she pushed me, and cared about my education; she took no lip and taught me right from wrong. Because of her, I had a chance to make the most of my abilities. I had the chance to make the most of my opportunities. I had the chance to make the most of life.

The same story holds for Michelle. The same story holds for so many of you. And I want all the other Barack Obamas out there, and all the other Michelle Obamas out there, to have that same chance - the chance that my mother gave me; that my education gave me; that the United States of America gave me. That is how our union will be perfected and our economy rebuilt. That is how America will move forward in the next one hundred years.

And we will move forward. This I know - for I know how far we have come. Last week, in Ghana, Michelle and I took Malia and Sasha to Cape Coast Castle, where captives were once imprisoned before being auctioned; where, across an ocean, so much of the African-American experience began. There, reflecting on the dungeon beneath the castle church, I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage from slavery to freedom.

But I was also reminded of something else. I was reminded that no matter how bitter the rod or how stony the road, we have persevered. We have not faltered, nor have we grown weary. As Americans, we have demanded, strived for, and shaped a better destiny.

That is what we are called to do once more. It will not be easy. It will take time. Doubts may rise and hopes recede.

But if John Lewis could brave Billy clubs to cross a bridge, then I know young people today can do their part to lift up our communities.

If Emmet Till's uncle Mose Wright could summon the courage to testify against the men who killed his nephew, I know we can be better fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters in our own families.

If three civil rights workers in Mississippi - black and white, Christian and Jew, city-born and country-bred - could lay down their lives in freedom's cause, I know we can come together to face down the challenges of our own time. We can fix our schools, heal our sick, and rescue our youth from violence and despair.

One hundred years from now, on the 200th anniversary of the NAACP, let it be said that this generation did its part; that we too ran the race; that full of the faith that our dark past has taught us, full of the hope that the present has brought us, we faced, in our own lives and all across this nation, the rising sun of a new day begun. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

source: Chicago Sun Times

Michael Jackson: New Footage of Pepsi Commercial Fire

American Idol's Ryan Seacrest tweeted today that Us Weekly posted newly-released footage of Michael Jackson's hair catching fire during the infamous 1984 Pepsi commercial. You can watch the video below.



The footage, posted also at Seacrest's blog, shows that the first five times during rehearsal the pyrotechnic display went off as planned. However, on the sixth take things went haywire. It looks as though Michael didn't even know his hair was on fire at first.

And just as Miko Brando, Marlon Brando's son and Michael's close friend has maintained for years, it seems that he was one of the first if not the first person to run to the mega-star's rescue.

Michael sustained second- and third-degree burns on his face and scalp due to the fire. It's been speculated that these injuries combined with his having Vitiligo, a skin disease that causes humans to lose skin pigment, started Michael's obsession with changing his face

White Club Votes for Black Children to Return to Pool, But ...

A white swim club voted on Monday, July 13, to ask the black and Hispanic children that members kicked out to come back to the pool. Last week the Internet roiled with outrage at the Valley Swim Club of Huntington Valley, Pa., after its members ousted the young campers. Some people were flabbergasted that its president spoke freely saying the children's presence would "change the complexion of the club."

Many people of all ethnic groups hearing the story screamed it was an example of blatant racism. Others thought it was a misunderstanding. Some felt the children must have misbehaved, even though club members did not say that.

Oh, the club members have felt just awful about this, and now warmly open their arms saying it's been a big misunderstanding, words have been taken out of context, the event--blown out of proportion.

Too little too late, says Alethea Wright, director of the daycare and summer camp program.

She told CNN, "These children are scarred. How can I take those children back there?"

The center has lawyers and it's off to the courts they go, lawsuit filed. In addition, Sen. Arlen Specter has called for an investigation into the incident.

Shortly after the initial story of the children's rejection ran at NBC Philadelphia, another facility contacted the camp and offered the children time at its pool. Also, a local business treated them to ice cream, the international childhood comfort food.

Before the re-invitation, some black mothers on the Web had already said that it wouldn't matter to them if the club apologized and opened its doors to the black children. They said they wouldn't let a black child, especially one of their own, near Valley Swim club members.

MsLadyDeborah of My Brown Eyed View said in comments on the BlogHer post: ... Please continue reading this full post at BlogHer.com

The Green Green Grass poem video by Nordette Adams

Oddly, I had just completed a survey for Redroom.com and said that I've never used the send this to a friend feature because I hadn't yet seen something I wanted to send to a friend from the site. Redroom is a book authors' site that I joined because I saw another writer I know using it.

In a way what I said on the survey is still true because generally I don't email stuff that I like. I blog it instead or write an article about it, which is what I did the last time I saw something I liked on Redroom, or I tweet it. Anyway, I hit the submit button on the survey, was taken to Redroom and saw a video by Caroline Rance using the tools at the XtraNormal.com website.

Her video is "I'd Love to Be A Writer" and it's amusing, referencing J.K. Rowling's success. Rance is the author of the historical novel Kill-Grief.

I decided to try out XtraNormal and so I plugged in the words to one of my shorter poems, The Green Green Grass. Immediately I see that making movies at XtraNormal could be addictive.

Sotomayor Hearings: Abortion protesters tossed out

The nation is poised to hear aspersions cast, all the "dirty laundry" anyone opposed to Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor may find or think they've found during her confirmation hearings, which have begun. As President Obama did at Notre Dame, she's got anti-abortion protesters stalking her.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I haven't weighed in on the idiotic accusations that she is an unqualified racist because there are not enough hours in the day to keep track of right wing BS, much less respond to it. However, I did write about what former Secretary of State Colin Powell said and posted it at the African-American Books Examiner last week.

What we can't continue to have is to have somebody like a Judge Sotomayor who is announced and based on one simple, tricky, but nonetheless, case that the Supreme Court is now deciding have her called a racist, a reverse racist, and (say) she ought to withdraw her nomination because we're mad at her. Fortunately the senators who will sit on this hearing in the judiciary committee after a few days of this kind of nonsense said, 'Let's slow down. Let's examine her qualifications in the way we're supposed to at a confirmation hearing.'" (Powell on Republicans an Race, Sotomayor)

I've never doubted her confirmation, but still read up on her battles. Below is a list of links.

• Open Thread on Sotomayor Hearings at Jack & Jill Politics
• Anti-abortion protestors disrupt hearing
• Cast of Characters on Committee Calling Sotomayor
• On Sotomayor and the Process of Inclusion by Professor Kim Pearson
• Sonia Sotomayor and the Code of Sexism
• Media Justice for Sonia Sotomayor
• Pat Buchannan and White Nationalists Can't Spell But Ridicule Sotomayor
• Powell on Republicans an Race, Sotomayor
• Open Thread on Sotomayor at Racialicious
• Thurgood Marshall was also called prejudiced

Lindsey Graham to Sotomayor: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're gonna get confirmed."

His Eye is on the Sparrow by Marvin Gaye

If I knew that Marvin Gaye had recorded the gospel song "His Eye is on the Sparrow," then I forgot it but learned it again reading his American Masters bio at PBS. I immediately checked YouTube and decided to post the video. "His Eye is On the Sparrow" was one of my mother's favorite hymns. She liked it no matter who sang it.

Easy Reading Books About Africa

With President Barack Obama and the first family in Africa this weekend, the African-American Books Examiner has been searching high and low for good books that ease readers who are curious about the great continent into knowledge. However, there is no "Africa for Dummies" book nor is there a Complete Idiot's Guide.

Easy-reading books come to mind because frequently history and political books on Africa are written in a scholary style as though only graduate students or Ph.D. candidates want knowledge. These books may discourage even avid readers who want the basics in clear format. Such detail may be a turn-off to the busy person as well who must learn new information quickly. ... Read full post at the African-American Books Examiner.

Photo is the Presidential Complex of the Republic of Ghana (NewKerala).

Obama, Africa, Its Obligation and Ours

Obama in Ghana. Photo, AFP

The big news today about President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, is that the family is in Africa. It's a historic visit because Obama is the first African-American POTUS. His father was a Kenyan, and his wife and children are the descendants of African Slaves. His visit is also only the third by a "sitting president," according to CNN and other sources.

The president is in the nation of Ghana and CNN's Anderson Cooper, with a slew of other reporters from other media outlets, are following him. Today the president gave a speech:

"Despite the progress that has been made -- and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa -- we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled," Obama said in a speech to the parliament of Ghana, a West African nation seen as a model of democracy and growth for the rest of the continent.

Obama's visit ... highlighted the stability, political strides and painstaking economic progress that Ghana made in being the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence, in 1957. (CNN)

As on any other continent, the nations within Africa have problems that they must overcome, that people outside cannot correct because the roots go deep and rest in internal strife. So, the president is right when he says, "Africa's future is up to Africa." However, does Africa's obligation to itself mean we in the western world can afford to let Africa go it alone?

Should we apply to Africa the kind of philosophy some ultra conservatives in America apply to fellow Americans who struggle, that "your problems are your own and have nothing to do with us even if our actions are part of the reason you're in a ditch"?

As usual, Obama sees in gray, the bigger picture, not in black and white or through a narrow lens. He acknowledges that those outside Africa have plundered it, but also African's responsiblity to stand against corruption, genocide, and wars.

In many places, the hope of my father's generation gave way to cynicism, even despair. Now, it's easy to point fingers and to pin the blame of these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense helped to breed conflict. The West has often approached Africa as a patron or a source of resources rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage and nepotism in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is still a daily fact of life for far too many. (from Obama's Ghana speech)

Years ago, Voices of Africa, a poetry website, asked me to write a poem for Africa. I wrote two and let the site administrator select one. He chose Defining Moments, a poem about genocide, blood diamonds, and our complcity.

However, the other poem that I wrote, "Mother of Our Flesh," received commentary online as well. That was 2005, and when I wrote "Mother of Our Flesh," a good ole southern boy that I think of as an ornery poet, protested a thought in the poem. He felt the world throws good money after bad to help Africa because its corrupt leaders squander international aid:

I understand what, and why, you are saying this (sentiment expressed in the poem "Mother of Our Flesh"), Nordette, but in my opinion the world has not forsaken Africa. Far, far from it. Some [sic] much money has been poured into that continent, only to be stolen by despots and tryants, opening Swiss bank accounts as they allow their people to absolutely live worse that cattle in some area. Yes, of course, Africa needs help, always have, probabaly always will until they finally see the light of day and begin to give TO the population, instead of lining their pockets. This, is the true tragedy of that beleagured [sic] continent. (Jerry Bolton)

I had an answer from him, zeroing in on his statement, "This is the true tragedy of that beleagured [sic] continent." My answer was/is a spiritual one, that the world has a karmic debt to Africa. I know most people won't understand or accept this notion, and Jerry's comment reflects one of several western misconceptions of Africa, that Africa is "other" and separate, the sole creator of its problems as though its current condition sprang only from its deeds. Looking at history, the legacy of colonialism, I see Africa differently.

Related Link: Obama's in Africa, easy books to help you understand.

Here are two videos: 1.) Obama's arrival in Ghana. 2.) Obama's speech.

Feline Printer Maintenance. LMAO

OMG! My friend sent this hilarious Youtube video to me after she saw it on AdminSecret, a site with which I'm unfamiliar, but this cat meets printer video made me laugh through to tears. My friend is right. The thought bubbles combined with the cat's actions make it funny. We both have cats so we may find it funnier than some others may.

Bill O'Reilly is Obsessed With Black People

When is somebody going to sit Bill O'Reilly down and do an intervention? His compulsion to comment on what black people say and do is a sickness. He's obsessed. He's like a damned stalker or a spurned ex husband who can't let go.

He even has to weigh in on Michael Jackson with the Blondie twins, who apparently live in a bubble somewhere sniffing hair bleach, and do a faux debate, concluding that black people are more interested in Michael Jackson than white people. I don't know, but I could have sworn I saw white people in Europe crying and singing Billy Jean and screaming "Michael!"

But why would anybody even do a study to see if black people were more interested in Michael Jackson than white people?

Out of the Ghetto: It's Late at Night, I'm Thinking

This is not my Old School Friday post for July 10, 2009. My OSF post is at this link.

What I'm doing here at the end of my thoughts is posting a song by the late, great Isaac Hayes that has been on my mind lately after seeing and writing about an unseemly display on BET Awards 09,, rappers performing a sexually explicit song while dancing with underage African-American girls. The network has apologized for part of that performance, but it's an apology that many concerned black viewers, including me, see as a day late and a dollar short.

I've been thinking about richness of spirit versus a paucity of spirit, in particular our tendency to fear damaging someone's self-esteem so much that we sacrifice the entire community's quality of life to mediocrity or worse. We have embraced the self-esteem "gospel" to the point that we don't require as much of our people that we once did, in many ways crippling our children so that they take any form of criticism as an attack on their very essence.

But then what do some of our children think their essence is, certainly not the honor of African kings and queens?

I've been contemplating how we've embraced the word "ghetto" in the same way some have supposedly reclaimed the word "nigger." Other minorities who were also forced into ghettos have not decided to glorify the worst aspects of ghetto life and declare it their culture. Have we gone into such a muscular mode of overprotection of the black psyche that we cannot endure even constructive criticism intended to quash the most abominable types of behavior? Will we claim degrading forms of self-expression as "blackness," solidifying the culture of the great excuse in the name of "supporting our people"?

We seem to have fallen into a stupor in which we rarely separate wheat from chaff. Everything in the ghetto is not good for us. Everything from the ghetto should not glorified.

I'm still thinking about this, the idea of taking what has been used against us, such as being forced to live in one section of town under debilitating poverty with limited options, and attempting to turn that circumstance into an asset. On the surface it makes sense to do this. It's a creative and courageous coping mechanism. But isn't it also something that should be only a temporary pacifier?

When do we get to the point of tossing the pacifier down and saying we've sucked it enough? When do we see that what we're really doing is living down to the standard an oppressive system has dictated to us, jigging to foolishness like the unenlightened minstrel? When do will be mature enough in freedom to withstand the kind of community introspection that heals us and restores greatness in all things?

Yes, I get that we should not allow white culture to define us, but why do some of us insists on identifying excellence in art, in academics, in literature, and now it seems in music as well as being white? Why do we keep tolerating a mindset in which we let the majority claim excellence while we claim the crumbs of unskilled craft and ignorance and call it good enough?

No, we all don't do this, and yes, as a people we've many laudable successes in a short period of time under inequitable circumstances, but why do many of us continue to make excuses for people who can do better but cling to the notion that they really don't need to try? Is it helpful to hand out excuses when you believe in someone's ability, or have we unwittingly bought the idea that some of our own people can do no better creatively or academically?

I'm just thinking here. I haven't formed my thoughts fully and need to do some research connected to Stockholm Syndrome's impact on people of color perhaps and theories of reclamation. However, I feel some of us who were once in the ghetto, some of us who've never been in the ghetto, and some of us who are still in the ghetto are being bamboozled to protect unacceptable behavior because we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings and so project to the mainstream the lowest level of what some defensively but erroneously call "black" culture. We're afraid to set a standard of excellence, and you know what that's about, fear of failure.

What we're hearing in some of our song lyrics, what we're seeing on our streets, what we must lament in some of our schools as exceptionally poor performance is not "black" culture and should not be couched in such terms ever. It's the devolution of culture infected by poverty within confined spaces. It's the corruption of a lost culture in which growth was stunted as we were locked out of rightful heritage and then mainstream opportunities.

And yet I've seen young people afraid to venture out and explore the very opportunities that people died to give them. They hide behind the notion that poor performance is just what they do and who they are. Who is to blame for this, the people farthest from them or the closest who say they love them?

Please understand that I write this looking at a city stricken with some of the worst kinds of crimes seen in years, much of it is in our communities, committed by young people who get offended if you suggest they could do better and take a different path. It's as though being a hoodlum and being from "the hood" mean one in the same to them.

When do we put our foot down and correct our errors and evaluate the mythology with which we burden ourselves?

Oh, well. Here's Isaac Hayes's "Out of the Ghetto."

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

OSF: My Wedding Song

I'm happily divorced, but I was married in 1980 and it was o.k. until late 1998, legally ending 2005. Here is my wedding song, or at least the song that was played at my wedding, as required by the Old School Friday meme theme this week--"One in Million You" by Larry Graham.



Here is how the marriage ended, George Benson's "Masquerade."



The creators of the Old School Friday meme are Mrs. Grapevine and Marvalus at Conversations with Marva and has these rules, if you want to join this theme party.