Category: Society

Bishop expounds on the new ‘deadly sins’ – CNN.com

Bishop expounds on the new ‘deadly sins’ – CNN.com:

“In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said priests must take into account ‘new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as corollary to the unstoppable process of globalization.’
In the 21st century, he said, ‘You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos.’ “

A welcome update for the modern man and woman.

(Via CNN.)

Dipdive » Blog Archive » Falling for Obama

Dipdive » Blog Archive » Falling for Obama:

“…There seems to be an unusually high number of fainting incidents at Obama rallies, all of which leads to the question of why? Most people will chalk it up to some combination of star power, leadership, and good old-fashioned Obamania. Others (a.k.a. haters) will cite “scientific” and “medical” explanations: it was hot, it was too crowded, she was dehydrated, he was malnourished. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Wow.

(Via DipDive.)

NPR: Obama Campaign Skewers Clinton E-mail Statement

NPR: Obama Campaign Skewers Clinton E-mail Statement:

“What the Clinton campaign secretly means: PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT WE’VE LOST 14 OF THE LAST 17 CONTESTS AND SAID THAT MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA WOULDN’T COUNT FOR ANYTHING. Also, we’re still trying to wrap our minds around the amazing coincidence that the only ‘important’ states in the nominating process are the ones that Clinton won.”

Why the Clinton campaign should to stay in Hillary’s older folks/experience. Ouch.

(Via NPR News Blog.)

Yes, United We Can Stand

A friend called him America’s Mandela. I agree. Yeah, I said it! will.i.am is a hell of an artist.

Dipdive: A friend called him America’s Mandela. I agree. Yeah, I said it! will.i.am is a hell of an artist.

(Via DipDive.)

B.E.T. Honors

For much of the network’s life, I have not been a big fan of it’s social impact. Far too many booties shakin’, gangstas, and not enough positive images or ideas. But as of late, I’ve seen some pretty good programming. The kind of stuff the community has been clamoring for years despite Bob Johnson. This program is a great example of what I hope to be a mainstay of the network. If it doesn’t, we can always watch more of the Boondocks!

Broken Record

I sometimes confront white hostility to “all that black crap” when discussing race with friends or acquaintances. Their exasperation with what they view as black obsession over victimization or beating the dead horse of slaver is clear. The want to stop the broken record of black complaint.
It’s easy to sympathize with them. I have felt much the same exasperation but with white ignorance, sometimes willful ignorance. When I hear things like, “MLK would never want affirmative action to exist today,” or that Emmett Till was a sexual harasser for whistling at a white woman, I have to hold my tongue and cool my impatience/annoyance. (Affirmative action is a pale ghost [no pun intended] of what MLK advocated for in society and Emmett Till was brutally murdered for simply whistling at a white woman.) It’s a teachable moment and I have to bear the burden of playing the broken record if only in an attempt to dispel ignorance with knowledge.
It doesn’t have to be this way. If black and white would listen to one another with respect and concern, then perhaps we can finally throw away each other’s broken records!

Protecting the Guilty

ABC News: DNA Clears 200th Wrongfully Convicted:

“What’s also troubling is how common these exonerations have become since the first reversal in 1989. It took 13 years to reach the first 100 DNA exonerations, but just five to double that number [emphasis mine]. For prosecutors and judges, as well as defense attorneys, the exonerations raise a larger question: How many others, innocent of their crimes, are behind bars?”

(Via ABC News.)

Black people know the answer: a whole lot!

In a world where people still assume your guilt based on your skin color, where class determines punishment or leniency, this number shouldn’t be all that shocking. Black folk have known all too many of their number are in prison wrongfully. Science is forcing white society to confront evidence of its personal and institutional racism, its sometimes overt and sometimes subtle racism among other social pathologies (e.g. lust for vengeance instead of a thirst for justice, etc.). I wonder how much will it take before people start to reconsider their positions? This country is not accustomed to looking in the mirror.

Why I’m not a Conservative

Facts. They are a show stopper! Ignorance mixed with a touch of condescension and a complete lack of self-knowledge make for a very strong common pattern among these so-called conservatives: they come off like sophomoric fools. The recent interview by Jon Stewart of John Bolton on a recent episode of The Daily Show is a grand example of this common pattern. Bolton’s comment, “[Officials in the administration] should be judged on their performance,” is particularly poignant. By that standard alone, Bush’s presidency is a near-complete failure. (To those who think that the lack of a major terrorist attack in the US is proof of competence, I have one word: Katrina.)
Bolton interview (about 9 minutes):

And the recap setting the record straight (about 5 minutes):

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is Hip-Hop

I was asked recently what I thought was the state of hip-hop today. I felt inspired:

Hip-hop is an art form that in classic African style, unites the word and the drum. It lives on in the hearts and minds of the true heads. You, me, that white girl with the nipple rings that knows every word spit by Talib Kweli, that Korean cat in Seoul who memorized every one of Rakim’s joints. It is alive and well and forms the nucleus of an entire urban culture to which you and I take part. Rhymes, skills, things of that nature…
Now that segment of the music industry (as opposed to art) often misnamed “hip-hop” and confused with the art form is a pimp game with large corporations as the pimps, “artists” as the whores (“This is Why I’m Hot”), and the music buying public as the johns. It too is alive and well and with some hubris purports to BE the former. Don’t get it twisted…
Make your next move, your best move. 😉

Black like Me

I recently read an article about Barack Obama that got me incensed. All I could think was “Player Hater!” After calming down and looking over a post + comments on the Barbershop Notebooks, I came across a great comment by “Afrikabelle.”

Comment on “Barack Obama – Professional Bulls***er?” Article:

“Here, Obama stands, with the potential to single-handedly brush the 450-year old chip off the African-American shoulder, destroying whatever venom lives in little Black boy psyches, whispering to them that their kind could never be president. And yet, all the talented tenth men and women want to do is to hop on big media and use Obama as an excuse to hear their own selves sound intelligent.”

(Via The Barbershop Notebooks.)

Politics in a well functioning democracy is about the art of the possible, the art of compromise. Al Sharpton has as much chance of becoming president as Ralph Nader. Yet that’s what all too many black folk expect in the first black president. My father-in-law (a man who had to drive around with a gun in the South) said something to me about Bush I won’t soon forget, “He [Bush II] forgets that he’s president of all the people.” Not everyone in this country is a card carrying pro-Lifer or communist. In fact, no one is “red” or “blue.” I’m pro life, pro gay rights/marriage, pro business/entreprenurship, pro worker rights, pro affirmative action/civil rights, and pro environment. What does that make me? Your typical voter.

Continue reading “Black like Me”