BlackPerspective.net

We’ve been following the case of then 15 year old Chioma Gray since January; just weeks after she went missing in December.

The last time I reported on her back in March was in regards to a press conference her mom held to express her frustration with getting little help from the authorities.

Kevin Myles of the Wichita NAACP blog has recently spoken with her mom and says:

Months have passed… 9 months… and during that time we’ve heard countless cries and pleas for Stacy Peterson, Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, Madeline McCann, and now, little Caylee Anthony.

I grieve for the families in each of these tragic situations; no family should ever have to endure the grinding despair or enervating uncertainty of a missing loved one. But I have a special place in my heart for Chioma… I am pained by her disappearance and disheartened by the apparent limits of our compassion. Can we all not grieve for her as well? Can we all not share her mother’s burden?
.
Why is it that CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, the FBI, Nancy Grace, John Walsh, America’s most Wanted, and all of these people and agencies can come together and stake out Drew Peterson’s home, investigate leads for Madeline McCann all the way over in Belgium, track down Ceasar Laurion in rural Mexico, and tape and analyze every conversation Mom Casey Anthony has, and bring in all sorts of equipment to do air sampling within Casey’s trunk, and yet there is no National push to find Chioma? Why?

Chioma is a good girl, she has dreams, she has a bright future, she is an excellent student, she cares deeply for her family, she is a person of deep and abiding faith; She deserves more than a couple missing person flyer’s in the foyers of a few Walmarts.

I spoke with Chioma’s mom yesterday… She told me that she hasn’t received any word, NOTHING, from the FBI since February. She told me that the Ventura Police Department has already stopped looking. There were leads in the case that Chioma may have been spotted in Mexico, but they were never followed up on, reports of various sightings, and she still has no information and no real assistance.

Over these past 9 months, I have come to know Mrs. Black, and I consider her a friend. And it is truly painful to hear the hurt and the pain in her voice as she asks the very simple questions, “why won’t anybody help me find my Chioma?” and to know that there is no good answer…

But we are not helpless. Collectively, we can make our voice heard. We need to speak out on behalf of Chiomaezronesha Gray and make the CNN’s, Nancy Grace’s, John Walsh’s, and FBI take note. With Internet advocacy groups like the Afrospear, Color of change, and Netroots, representing hundreds of new media outlets with hundreds of thousands of readers, if we all spoke together, the message could not be ignored. And here is the message:

We want to find Chioma, we want resources dedicated to finding her, we want updates on her case, we want to know that there are people out in the field following up on leads, we want to know that the latest technology is being used to uncover evidence, we want to know that Andrew Tafoya’s contact with his family is being taped and scrutinized, we want someone to be in contact with the family of Chioma Gray, and we want to make it clear that we love our children too; just as much as Cindy Anthony loves Caylee, just as much as Gerry and Kate love Madeline McCann, just as much as friends and family love Stacy Peterson… We want our Chioma back too.

Readers, I want to ask a favor of you all… first email, copy, reprint, repost, or retransmit this post in any and every medium you can. And second, please take a second or two and contact the following people and let them know that you want an update on the case of Chioma Gray:

• California Dept of Justice, Missing and unidentified persons unit EMAIL
• Chief Pat Miller, Ventura PD EMAIL Business phone: 805-339-4400
• FBI, Los Angeles Field Office (310) 477-6565
• Nancy Grace EMAIL
• Greta Van Susteren EMAIL
• America’s Most Wanted EMAIL

Popularity: 28% [?]

Joe Biden accepting VP nomination and taking on John McCain

He went with the tag line against John McCain “that’s not change, that’s more of the same”; mostly in regards to tax breaks for corporations and other economic factor, with nothing for regular people:

“He voted 19 times against the minimum wage, for people struggling just to make it to the next day; that’s not change, that’s more of the same”

…and for the last 7 years the administration has failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century…the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan; the real central front in the war on terror.”

Here’s Clinton’s:

You might want to go to the 3:32 mark to get past all the cheering.

This version has the timer:

Notable quotes: “Everything I learned in my 8 years as president, and in the work I have done since in America and across the globe; has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job”

“People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example, than the example of our power”

“I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other serious conditions, who told me on the campaign trial that they couldn’t afford healthcare and couldn’t qualify for their children for Medicade; unless the quit work and starved, or got a divorce. Are these the family values the republicans are so proud of?”

“…16 years ago you gave me the profound honor to lead our nation to peace and broad prosperity…where the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief. Sound familiar? It didn’t work on 1992, because we were on the right side of history; and it won’t work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.”

Popularity: 45% [?]

Spike Lee’s Maricle at St. Anna, based on James McBride’s 2002 novel, brings to screen an account of historical fiction surrounding the real all Black World War II 92nd Infantry.

The film boast Actors such as

Michael Ealy

and

Kerri Washington

As well as

Derek Luke, who is pictured front and center in the pic below.

The Film is set to open in late September.

Here are some excerpts from the Washington Post’s look at the issue of Black soliders in World War II and the lack of their portrayal in Hollywood:

“But save for a cinematic footnote in 1949, the exploits of black soldiers like Stephenson have been missing in action on the big screen. In movie after movie — “Saving Private Ryan,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “The Thin Red Line,” “From Here to Eternity,” “The Great Escape,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Midway” — there was hardly a black face upon the screen. By contrast, films inspired by Vietnam — “Apocalypse Now,” “Hamburger Hill” and “Platoon,” to name just three — featured integrated casts.

“You just came not to expect anything like that, films about us,” Stephenson says. …

Blacks are not a part of the visual mythology of World War II,” says Melton McLaurin, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and writer-director of a recent PBS film about the first black Marines who served in the war. “The national imagery begins in the Second World War with figures like John Wayne and Robert Taylor in the movies. Those films dealt with the white man’s role. And that’s the iconography that came out of that period.

Lee’s World War II drama, “Miracle at St. Anna,” opens on the big screen in September following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier in the month. It is based on James McBride’s 2002 novel of the same name and chronicles the true-life adventures of Stephenson’s 92nd Infantry….



In time, black war heroes emerged. One of the first was Dorie Miller, a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack at Pearl Harbor. Miller, who was forbidden to operate weapons, grabbed hold of an antiaircraft gun and brought down two Japanese planes.

“He was actually the first hero of World War II,” says Gail Buckley, author of “American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military From the Revolution to Desert Storm.” “The military did not release his name to the public until March of 1942. They had looked for a white hero. There was outrage from the black press.” Miller became the first black man to win the Navy Cross.”

Popularity: 47% [?]

This Article is from Reuters:

New Orleans considers evacuation as Gustav looms
By Kathy Finn

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Three years after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast, New Orleans residents on Wednesday again confronted the prospect of an evacuation as Tropical Storm Gustav loomed.

Not since Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, have residents faced a forced departure from their homes and businesses as many still struggle to rebuild their lives in a city famed for its jazz clubs and Mardi Gras festival.

Storm levees broke under the onslaught of Katrina, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans and killing almost 1,500 people in the city and along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The hurricane caused $125 billion in wind and flood damage.

With Tropical Storm Gustav swirling near Cuba and likely to enter the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane this weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said an evacuation could begin as early as Friday — three years to the day after Katrina inundated New Orleans.

Jindal said he had activated the state’s catastrophic action team and could declare a state of emergency as early as Thursday. He also put the Louisiana National Guard on alert…

I heard on headline news that they’ve done away with the whole “refuge of last resort” thing, so the Superdome will not be in use.

Also the spoke of what I would call a phased evaccuation between Friday and Saturday.

Gustav has already hit Dominican Republic and Haiti:

Popularity: 51% [?]

…as we predicted.

The Afrosphere Action Coalition has said for months that the selection of bloggers for the convention was unrepresentative and disrespectful. The DNCC tried to flim flam us with non-sense about not knowing the race of the blog operators.

It seems that the blogger pool’s racial make up has held true to our count. Funny how we with no resources could figure it out; but some how the DNCC couldn’t.

The following article comes from The Francis L. Holland Blog

AfroSpear Blogger in Denver Confirms Whiteness of DNC Blogpool

L.N. Rock, AKA “African American Political Pundit” is onsite in Denver, CO, gathering his blogger credentials to cover the Democratic National Convention, and he is struck by the all-whiteness of the blog pools. He says that although 40 percent [35% according to CBS] of the delegates are minorities, only 7% of the bloggers overally are minorities, including only 1 out of the 55 State Bloggers. The DNC wanted an “elite” State Bloggers Pool and apparently for the DNC elite is synonymous with all-white, just like the whites-only swimming pools of the Jim Crow South.

Unfortunately, L.N. Rock’s daughter Felicia, 19, suffered a serious car accident in the week before the Convention and doctors refused her permission to travel to Denver with a broken leg and back. But, she’ll be blogging from home as her father is blogging from Denver. And she’ll be starting college in the fall.

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I’ve been, and will continue to catalog Black bloggers experience at the DNCC by reposting some of their post and multi-media recordings at The Proud Black Voter Blog

Popularity: 65% [?]

Here we are just 20 minutes after the speech and I’ve got the full audio for you.

I’ll give her credit, Hillary came through quite strong.

There was a lot of loud cheering for a long time after Chelsea announced her; so after that you might want to go to the 4:07 mark when she starts speaking.

Notable Quotes:

“…and you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last 8 years to suffer through more failed leadership. No way, no how, no McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president.”

“Were you in this campaign just for me, or where you in it…for all those people in this country who feel invisible”

Huffington Post says “HILLARY DELIVERS… AND THEN SOME…”

DENVER — Hillary Rodham Clinton summoned millions of voters who supported her in the primaries to send Barack Obama to the White House Tuesday night, declaring in a Democratic National Convention speech that the man who defeated her “is my candidate and he must be our president.”…

Popularity: 44% [?]

As the Democratic Convention has started, and Hillary Clinton is set to speak in prime time tonight; we see the Dems having to wrestle with the same ol primary and right after primary stuff that Clinton’s mean spirited and divisive campaign has caused.

McCain is using Clinton’s words from her 3am Ad about Obama not being ready to attack him with, thanks to her.

This associated press article tells us about how the roll call vote was going to go; which places all prospective candidates names into nomination, was still be negotiated at least through yesterday; even as the convention had started.

I podcasted about it last night:

More crap from the self-entitled, soar loser, low brow Clinton crowd (and of course such words only apply to whom they apply; every Clinton supporter is not one of these self-superior, hateful partisans):

Some Clinton Fund-Raisers Are Still Simmering
By MICHAEL LUO and GRIFF PALMER
Published: August 26, 2008

DENVER — A significant number of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top fund-raisers remain on the sidelines and unwilling to work for Senator Barack Obama, a nettlesome problem that appears to be contributing to the campaign’s failure to keep pace with ambitious fund-raising goals it set out for the general election.

Even as Mrs. Clinton prepared for her moment in the spotlight on Tuesday night, with a speech expected to offer a strong embrace of the nominee, the lingering rancor between the two sides appears to have intensified with the convention this week, with grousing from some Clinton fund-raisers about the way they are being treated here by the Obama campaign in terms of hotel rooms, convention credentials and the like.

Tensions were already running high going into convention week, particularly in the aftermath of disclosures that Mr. Obama did not vet Mrs. Clinton or ask her advice on his vice presidential pick.

Many major Clinton fund-raisers skipped the convention; others are leaving Wednesday, before Mr. Obama’s speech.

More broadly, a consensus appears to have emerged among many major Clinton donors that the Obama campaign did not do enough to enlist their support, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen Clinton fund-raisers. [In other words he didn’t beg them like they somehow think they deserve to be]

rest of the article

Popularity: 33% [?]

See part one here: Reviewing Networks Fall TV Lineups

The CW

From A May Press Release of theirs:

Monday Night Features Winning Team of Hit Dramas “Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill”
New Neighbors Move in Tuesday Night: “90210″ Ensemble Features Original Cast Member Jennie Garth in a Guest Starring Role, Followed By New Drama “Surviving the Filthy Rich”

Top-Rated “America’s Next Top Model” Leads Into New Fashion Reality Series “Stylista” on Wednesdays

Fan Favorites “Smallville” and “Supernatural” Return on Thursdays

Friday Night Gets a Counter-Programming Comedy Makeover With “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game,” Followed By An “America’s Next Top Model” Encore


Courtesy of Gregg DeGuire, WireImage.com

Three Hours of Original Programming on Sunday From Media Rights Capital
The Devil Returns on “Reaper” for Midseason

The CW’s Lineup simply needs some help. Two of the shows (Smallville and especially One Tree Hill) have out lived their usefulness, and are on creative downslides, right out the door.

I predict 5 out of 11 of those shows aren’t back next year.

This network is like a television grave yard; a bad after though; a place only good for catching some Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens reruns after work, or before dozing off at night.

The bright spot on the dung hill though is that I believe The CW boast the only two shows with majority Black cast in Everybody Hates Chris (one of only 3 currently airing sit-coms I’d make a point to watch) and The Game. Being that The CW is the joint amalgimation of the WB and UPN; the two stations that perfected large Black programing line ups until they could get established, only to leave Black aundinces twisiting in the wind; it’s rather fighting that they hold out some vestiges of the roots and be the only one with any Black shows.

CBS

Unless you’re a big CSI (in all its carnations) fan or a fan of their two big, longstanding reality shows (Survivor and Amazing Race); the CBS lineup can easily be described as BOOOORING.

How I Met your Mother is watch-able, and Two and a Half Men and the Old Adventures of New Christine are interesting enough if you happened not to be doing anything when they come on; but none of it is appointment television.

The network has to rely on 4 CSI programs, one on each of the first 4 nights of the week; to even be viable. Most of the rest of its programming are crime shows too: Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, 48 hours, Numb3rs, Cold Case and also new comers The Mentalist and Eleventh Hour. Has this been an intentional strategy by CBS over the last few years; to market itself as the crime investigations network? Nice to see one of the “big three” being reduced to having to try and compete with Court TV, eeeeer, I mean Tru Tv.

I think Simon Baker is a wonderful actor, and loved his previous show The Guardian (which was quality television; but you all apparently didn’t watch it too much; probably because you were burnt out on all your CSI’s); but this show seems like it’s going to be a detective version of House; another super know-it all who just intuitively has all the answers. And the fact is, we’ve had that show, it was called “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” with Vincent D’Onofrio
who’s an expert on everything, and knows more than Solomon; though he’s a cop.

Just what we need, another egotistical, super self-superior genius. This only comes in second for being a bad ideal to ABC’s now defunct “Blind Justice” about a blind detective; and CBS’s currently scheduled for Friday night drama, Numb3rs.

The best night looks to be Sunday Night leading off with Amazing Race, followed by a now old reliable Cold Case, a show for which I can turn to if I don’t want to watch Sunday night football; which most Sunday I don’t; as by that point in the day I’m burnt out on the pigskin after 10 hours of pre-game shows, multiple-games and the post game show. And it rounds out with The Unit, which is a solid, if not terribly interesting show.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Her brother Craig is up first, and then Michelle’s speech starts about the 6:32 mark:

Popularity: 31% [?]

We’re going to do something different here at BlackPespective.net. We’re going to go a little more into pop-culture than is the norm. I have reviewed or otherwise discussed a number of movies here (actually my very first post was a social comparison of Dreamgirls and the Color Purple); but usually it’s in regards to the social relevance.

Here we’re going to do a good ol’ fall line up review; but from a Black perspective, though that’ll give us the opportunity to have some social relevance visa via printout how un-Black and generally un-minority all the line ups are.

Before we get started, just understand that I’m rather cynical. And I’m not cynical just to be cynical, or so I can try to contrive outrageous things to say for shock value; I’m cynical for good reason (have you seen the drek on t.v. the last dozen years), and am expressing my true feelings of my disdain for much of what’s become television.

Nonetheless, I will give credit where credit is due, and there are some bright spots. This will be a series of post to cover all 5 of the broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, And the CW. I don’t know how many post as I haven’t written all out, but I suspect 3.

Fox

Fox, which was the first network to employee the tactic of building itself up largely on the backs of the Black audience, just to dump us once they made it and banked some doe; has a Black devoid line up, not to mention the general deficit of quality:

I’d say seeing how Terminator: The Tara Connor Chronicles continues to develop seems interesting; the rest of it; blah. House is a pretty well written show if you can continue to stand the pompous, genius, now-it-all spiel; which wore thin with me by the start of the second season.

There are two new shows. Fringe, a sci-fi detective drama which seems to fall in the X-files vein, seems promising; the other, Do Not Disturb, does not. Who’s ideal was it to bring back “Just Shot Me/News Radio” (cause you know those two programs were basically the same show; just with one set at a magazine publishing office and the other set at a radio station)? Taking that format and reviving it in a hotel setting is lame; plus this show doesn’t have David Spade or Andy Dick to provide us with banal, dorky white guy humor. Not that I’m suggesting that anybody give Andy Dick a job, I’m strongly against that. Not to mention Jamie Foxx and Whoopi Goldberg already covered the hotel sit-com setting.

The good news is a Niecy Nash in this show will be one of the few Black people on Fox this fall, as she will join 3 brothers on the network to be the one Black regular character on their respective shows. The bad news is her characters description: “RHONDA (Niecy Nash, “Reno 911!”) is the head of Human Resources who also keeps Neal’s demands in check. She’s brash, fabulous and brutally honest and runs the HR department from her bullpen downstairs with a set of rules that are all her own.”.

So in other words she’s going to play the lip smacking, sassy Black Chick, the same role she played on Reno 911; and practically the only role Black women can get on television outside of ER and Ugly Betty.

The only other time a Black person will be central to a program on Fox is when it doesn’t pertain to running and jumping (a.k.a sports) will be to host the terrible Don’t Forget The Lyrics, hosted by terribly corny Wayne Brady. Look, unless he’s got Dave Chappelle in the passenger seat beside him, I don’t know what he’s doing on t.v. Then there are the comedians on Madtv to round out the Blackness. So basically Fox sees Black people’s role not only as running and jumping, but also singing, dancing, and shuffling.

Speaking of running and jumping; by far the time when Fox will attract my attention will be Sunday afternoons for football; other than that, my eyes won’t be traversing the network very much.

And I can remember a time when it was my favorite network between Married With Children, Living Color, Roc, Living Single, New York Undercover – ehhh!

Oh yeah, America’s Most Wanted and Cops will be back for their 80th seasons. I remember when AMW first came on the air; I didn’t even have public hair back then. Hell, the first George Bush wasn’t even president yet.

See lineup here

Popularity: 39% [?]