Dr. Boyce Watkins: Carol Moseley-Braun Campaign Was Marred by Financial Problems

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

One of the most interesting political events in America was the race to become mayor of Chicago. After yet another seemingly endless regime under the Daley family, black Chicago had a chance to elect one of their own. Carol Moseley Braun, the seasoned politician and history-making former Senator, positioned herself to be the great black hope for the city of Chicago.

Unfortunately, the Moseley-Braun candidacy was simply not meant to be. After a series of missteps, Rahm Emanuel used the power of President Obama's backing to convince the vast majority of Chicago citizens, white and black, to give him their support. Apparently, unspoken endorsements from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton goes a long way, even if you can't readily prove that you've done very much for the African American community.

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George Desdunes: Cornell University Student Found Dead in a Frat House

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

George Desdunes, a 19-year old freshman at Cornell University, was found dead outside a fraternity house on Friday, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Desdunes was from Brooklyn and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
The cause of death has not yet been specified and is expected to be released after the autopsy.

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Dave Duerson: Said Something was Wrong with His Brain when he Killed Himself

 

This video interview with the wife of former Bears star Dave Duerson who killed himself says that Dave was having problems with his brain before he died.

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The Case of Rodney K. Stanberry – Innocent Man Sent to Prison for Murder?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Dr. Artemesia Stanberry has been relentless in fighting to free her cousin, Rodney K. Stanberry, who appears to be in prison for crimes he did not commit. I first heard about the case from Dr. Wilmer Leon, as we were headed to Missouri last year to rally on behalf of Heather Ellis, a college student threatened with 15 years in prison for cutting in line at a Wal-Mart.

When I first heard about Rodney's case, I couldn't believe my ears. From what Dr. Leon was telling me, it sounded like a case of lazy police work, where officers didn't want to go through the efforts of going all the way to New York to find the true killers. Additionally, like so many others affected by our racially-skewed criminal justice system, Rodney K. Stanberry ended up in prison because he was the most convenient person to incarcerate. This is particularly true in Alabama, a state where the modern prison system has powerful links to slavery.

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Good News: All Black Male School in Chicago Sends 100% of It’s Students to College

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Well, they've done it again. Urban Prep Academy of Chicago, an all-male charter school with kids from the "worst" parts of Chicago, is sending 100% of its graduating seniors off to college. The school, founded in 2006, has stated that its continuous objective is to see to it that all of its students go to college. They are succeeding with flying colors.
The school started with kids whose futures had been left for dead by their public schools: Only four percent of the school's incoming freshmen were reading at grade level when they arrived on campus. But by sending all of their graduating seniors to college, they've not only gotten these kids up to speed, they've allowed them to zip past every other public school in the entire United States.
"No other public [school] in the country has done this," said Tim King, the founder of Urban Prep.

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Dr. Boyce: Michael Vick Cancels on The Oprah Winfrey Show

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Football superstar Michael Vick initially made plans to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show. But it's just been announced that Vick is not going to appear on the show, citing personal and professional conflicts that have made the appearance impossible.
"Mike postponed the taping because of the timing of the interview for personal and professional reasons," said Michael Vick's spokesman Chris Shigas. "He does not have a reschedule date at this time."

Some speculate that Vick may have canceled because other groups have been sending emails and letters to the Oprah Winfrey Show, asking that the voices of Vick's critics be heard. One of Vick's strongest critics has been Richard Hunter, a stand-up comedian who also adopted one of Vick's dogs. Hunter claims that he and others who agree with him have been harassing Oprah's producers since it was announced that Michael Vick might appear on the show.

 

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Dr. Boyce: OJ Simpson Reportedly Beaten in Prison by Skinheads

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

OJ Simpson has, according to the National Enquirer, been having a hard time in prison. The magazine is claiming that some White Supremacists have been targeting Simpson for bragging about his sexual conquests with white women.
"Inmates cheered as a muscular young skinhead knocked him to the ground, punching and kicking him to a bloody pulp and inflicting injuries so severe he secretly spent nearly three weeks in the infirmary before he recovered."
While the Nevada Department of Corrections is denying that any such incident took place, I know enough about corrections departments to know that their words have as much credibility as Sarah Palin at a Mensa convention.

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Prof. Cornel West Endorses Carol Moseley Braun in Chicago

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

This weekend, Professor Cornel West gave a strong endorsement to Carol Moseley Braun in a heated and controversial race to become the next mayor of Chicago. West didn't have very many good things to say about Moseley Braun's leading opponent, Rahm Emanuel. He referred to Emanuel as an outsider and a candidate who is beholden to big business interests in the city and across America.
"I believe a Rahm Emanuel victory would be a slap in the face," West said. "I'm here to support poor and working people - specifically black Chicago."
One of the problems for Moseley Braun, however, is that the media is focused as much on her remarks about Emanuel as they are about the Cornel West endorsement. When she spoke, Moseley Braun made reference to a movie called "The Producers," which satirized the life of Adolph Hitler.

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Dr. Boyce Spotlight: Prof. Njoki McElroy Lives and Speaks Black History

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

During Black History Month, it only makes sense that we connect with those who can help us to get in touch with our history. Professor Njoki McElroy is a story-teller and truth-teller when it comes to the struggles of our people and how we've created the reality that surrounds us. Her work is well-respected, and she has written a book describing one of the most significant periods in the history of black people in America. It is for that reason that Professor Njoki McElroy is today's Dr. Boyce Watkins Spotlight on AOL Black Voices.

What is your name and what do you do?
Njoki McElroy, PhD. I am a storyteller, professor, playwright, performer and author. My new book is entitled 1012 Natchez: A Memoir of Grace, Hardship and Love (Brown Books)

 

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What’s the Deal with Being “Ghetto Fab”?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I watched a video the other day about a woman named Jazz Ison Sinkfield and couldn't help but laugh. For some reason, Jazz thought it would be a good idea to start growing her fingernails for almost a quarter of a century without ever cutting them. Now, the woman is stuck with a set of peculiar monstrosities hanging from both of her hands that keep her from typing on a computer, tying her own shoes and perhaps even wiping her own behind. I'm not necessarily one to judge another human being so harshly, but I found it most interesting that Jazz truly believes that other women are jealous of her fingernails.

Jazz is not the only person in our community who has gathered a set of habits that some might consider to be a "ghetto fab." I am not sure where all of these habits come from, and when I see them, I try to process things without becoming a hater. But when I put it all together, I can't help but quote someone whom I disagree with regularly by the name of Bill Cosby, who once made this simple comment: "Come on people."

When one rolls through "the hood," they will usually see a few interesting things. First, we see the pants sagging down below the butt, with a brother who has to use one hand to constantly keep his pants from falling to the ground. You might then see someone else with tattoos up and down both arms, and maybe some additional tattoos on the neck. Actually face tattoos have become all the rage among rappers who don't seem to remember that these things are difficult to remove.

 

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Two Thirds of Black Women Offended by the Pepsi Max Ad with the “Angry Black Woman”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

In a recent survey taken at YourBlackWorld.com, two-thirds of the female respondents said that black women should be offended by the recent Pepsi Max Super Bowl ad featuring the violent African American female. In the survey, when asked, Do you feel that African American women should be offended by the Pepsi Max ad featuring the "angry black woman?", 63.7 percent of the black female respondents said "yes," while 32.4 percent of the male respondents gave the same reply.
When asked if African Americans should boycott Pepsi because of the ad, women were more than twice as likely to advocate for a boycott than men. Thirty-seven percent of all female respondents to the survey said that a boycott is necessary, while 16.2 percent of male respondents agreed.

 

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To see the survey results graphically, please click here.

Dr. Boyce: Pepsi Max Super Bowl Ad and the “Angry Black Woman”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

There is no bigger corporate money-maker than the Super Bowl. That's when potential sponsors are lining up to pay amazing amounts of money to advertise, primarily because they know this is the only televised special of the entire year when consumers actually enjoy watching the ads.
In addition to being able to promote their wares to the world, advertisers often find themselves caught in the middle of controversy. Sometimes, the controversy is hilarious, like the little black boy who slapped the man dating his mother for taking one of his Doritos. This year's most interesting ad may have come out early in the game, and it has been brought to you by Pepsi Max. You may want to call this ad "The Angry Black Woman."
In the commercial, a black woman is keeping her husband on a diet. When he eats the wrong food, she gives him an evil look and kicks his leg hard under the table. When she sees him standing over a pie about to eat it, she angrily slams his face into the pie. When she catches him sneaking a bite of fattening food in the bath tub, she violently grabs the food from his hand and stuffs a bar of soap into his mouth.

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Where are the Black Professors at White Universities?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

During a four-year college career, most students take roughly 40 courses. Personally, I went to graduate school for another 7 years after college, taking an additional 40 - 50 more classes. During my entire undergraduate, masters and doctoral experience, I never had one single African American professor.
This experience made the educational process incredibly uncomfortable for me. I never experienced the privilege of my white classmates, who had teachers they could relate to, work with and connect with on a meaningful level. I did meet one African American professor (I never took his class) named Dr. Tommy Whittler. He is the sole reason I became a professor today because he was the first faculty member who'd ever taken time to mentor me as a human being.

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White Man Threatens Black Boys for Talking To His Daughter: Should He Go to Jail?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Millry, Ala., is a town where racial tensions have allegedly been running high for a very long time. The boiling point was hit recently, when a white father came to the town's high school and threatened one of the black players on the basketball team.
The infuriated parent told one of the boys that if any of them made contact with his daughter, he would "kill him and his black friends," at least that's what was reportedly told to Latisha Mitchell, the step-Mother of one of the players.

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Mitchell claims that her son was only friends with the man's daughter and that they would text message each other. TheNAACP took notice of the man's racial threats, and the town is in an uproar. There is even conversation about the Ku Klux Klan planning a retaliation against local residents who held a meeting to discuss what had occurred.
Since the incident, the father has been banned from school property, but some parents are saying that the father should be arrested for his public threats.

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What We Must Consider in the Police Beating of Chad Holley

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

The video-taped beating of 16-year old Chad Holley had me fuming. It's one thing when police use excessive force, but this video was startling for at least a couple of reasons. First, the kid is only 16-years old, and kids that age don't deserve this kind of treatment. While he appears to be a viable suspect for burglary (he was convicted of his crime), the truth is that we must move beyond a society that believes that any child who makes a mistake is beyond redemption. Black children tend to be the ones most likely to be sentenced as adults, and those kids who are lost at an early age can be thrown to the wolves as if they are worthless commodities with abolutely no long-term potential value. Secondly, it appears on the video that Holley does nothing to warrant any form of physical retaliation by officers. He has his hands behind his back and surrenders to the police immediately when they surround him. Yes, Holley might have broken the law, but police officers should not be the judge and jury of this young man, as well as the ones to administer his (cruel and unusual) punishment.
Here are a couple of other things to consider as the nation thinks about the Chad Holley beating by police:

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Chad Holley Videotaped Beating Getting National Attention

 

Chad Holley is brutally beaten by police, although he’d clearly surrendered before the beating.  Click here to see the video.

Bishop Eddie Long Goes to Youtube to Talk about Financial Fraud within New Birth

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in action 

Bishop Eddie Long has made yet another public appearance, this time on Youtube. Rather than discussing his own legal issues, Long spoke about an investment company that allegedly left many of his members on the brink of financial ruin. In the video, Long discussed a dispute that his church is having with City Capital Corp, a company that came to the church to convince members to invest money with their firm back in 2009.
In the video, Long said that since City Capital Corp. came to visit his church, some members have faced bankruptcy, foreclosure, or significant losses in their retirement accounts. Bishop Long made a public appeal to the company's former CEO, Ephren Taylor, and the rest of the company to do the right thing and return the money to those who've been hurt.
In a press release issued on Monday, Bishop Long informed the media that several members of his church alerted him to concerns they had about City Capital. Roughly 20 members of the church invested with the company, according to published reports.

 

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