BlackPerspective.net

By: D. Yobachi Boswell

With the next presidential election revving up earlier than ever in modern political history, this cycle; it’s not too early to take a look at what some of the candidates have to offer. Though certainly black people are not a monolith, there are two clear front-runners for the black vote as of now – Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

On the one hand there is a fondness the mass of the Black community holds for the Clintons, do to, whether warranted or unwarranted; feelings that during Bill Clinton’s presidency they were on our side – looked out for black folks. But the Clintons share an even cozier relationship with the Black community than the average white politician thought to be on their side. Bill Clinton saxophoned his way into the hearts of many blacks on the Arseno Hall Show during his first presidential run in ’92, and it has been a love affair ever since. Between that opening salvo, perceived favorable policy and that down home Black Baptist preacher way of communicating, which he has successfully pulled off in actual Black Baptist Churches to boot; the Clinton’s have schmoozed their way into a reserved vaunted position in general Black society.

Added to that Bill’s choice of Harlem to set up his offices post-presidency and Hillary evening naming a book she authored after an African proverb, along wit those pictures of the world wind trip she took to Africa as First Lady; they seemed to had have locked up Black support for Hillary’s long expected presidential run.

On the other hand we have a relatively young (45), fresh on the national scene, handsome Senator, Barack Obama. Barack enjoys black support because first of all, well…he’s black. Already anointed some Luke Skywalker-esq rising star in the Democratic Party by both the party bosses and the media, from the day he stepped on the national stage two and half years ago, delivering a speech at the Democratic National convention; he ignited the hopes and dreams of a community clamoring both for mainstream solidification in a country so long denying them full recognition. And further clamoring simply for some damn representation in government.

Certainly being black isn’t enough; it’s what he brings to the table as a Black man – all the charisma of the beloved Bill Clinton, and the “Talented Tenth” credentials that being a graduate of Harvard Law provides. He combines both the down-homeness that the Black community tends to prefer; along with unimpeachable, prerequisite educational standing that some in our community require. He also lacks the fiery persona that makes Al Sharpton off-putting to some; and carries none of his or Jesse Jackson baggage. And then there’s that hope - that hope that this one can actually win; seeing that there is ostensible support, or at least approval of the white majority that would be necessary to win even a democratic party nomination, much less the general election.

A great indicator of what the answer to the proposed question may end up being is to look at the path of poll numbers in the short three months since the race officially started.

In January, according to Washington Post-ABC Polling, when Clinton officially announced, she led Obama amongst Blacks 60 percent to 20 percent. Obama announced three weeks after Clinton, and by the end of February, with a boost in notoriety, Obama had turned the table, taking the lead 44 percent to Clinton’s 33 percent.

It’s a stunning turnaround in just a few weeks. It can be largely explained by the fact that most Americans didn’t even know who Obama was before he announced for the presidential candidacy. The post-announcement media coverage raised his profile and gave Black and all voters a chance to know him. But there’s an added troubling aspect in this poll turnaround for Clinton. The title wave took place in spite of Clinton still having a favorable rating with 4 out of 5 Blacks.

One solace for Clinton is that it’s early and the 44/33 split still leaves 23 percent up for grabs; significantly more than what’s needed for her to regain that lead. With presidential nominations usually coming down to two candidates in the end, and 10 months until the primaries start; there’s plenty of time for her to hedge her position if these two front-runners end up going head to head at the end of the primaries. On the other hand it could just become more time for her to further lose Black voters as Obama becomes even more well know. She has had a 12-year head start on him after all.

It’s too early to make any final conclusions. American voters in general are notoriously fickle, and any scandal or revelation could rightfully cause changes in favor. A couple of things that are for sure, Clinton can’t simply rely on the longstanding affection she’s enjoyed in the Black community and take their vote for granted; and that Obama has the opportunity to stake a larger claim in that vote.

1. VA Tech Victim
2. More To Blame On Rap Music
3. Darfur Update!

VA Tech Victim - From Villain to Possible “Hero”

It was revealed today that a Black man, a senior set to graduate next month, Ryan Clark was one of the first two students murder in the dorm at Virginia Tech yesterday.

Clark, a resident assistant in the dorm that he was killed in, appears to have been responding to a disturbances between the shooter and a resident Emily Jane Hilscher, who was the other student killed in the dorm.

It’s funny, or not, that the initial reports to the media by police, assumed that the deaths were a murder suicide. We have to wonder on what information they made this assumption; especially considering the GLARING fact that there was no weapon on the scene. You can’t commit suicide and then go hid the gun.

Hmmm, the police saw a dead white girl and a black man. I guess it was a no-brainer. They must have thought that rap music made him do it. In actuality, though I don’t like to try to make heroes out of everybody that dies and just make unsustainable assumptions, as many do; the black man may have lost his life trying to help the white woman.

More To Blame On Rap Music

This is an OUTRAGE!

Referee Joey Crawford Suspended

But it’s not his fault, its Black rappers fault that he acted this way towards a Black athlete. Snoop Dog made him do it – since Snoop raps about fighting, the direct line of “logic” necessitates that it then made this elderly white man verbally challenge a Black basketball player to a fight.

Down with Hip Hop – White men are victims!!!

Look! It’s number 3 in the How To Be A Professional Victim Handbook: 3. Never be responsible for anything you do, or how you feel. Always blame the following: your momma, rap music, society, God, the basketball diaries, Marilyn Manson, and or your teachers.

Darfur Update!

Sudan Drops Objections to U.N. Aid in Darfur
By WARREN HOGE (New York Times)
Published: April 16, 2007

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 — Sudan said today that it had dropped its objections to immediate international assistance to the overwhelmed African Union force in Darfur, setting the stage for the possible assignment there of United Nations peacekeepers.

Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has repeatedly defied United Nations requests and pressure from governments elsewhere in Africa and around the world to permit international intervention in Darfur, saying such action would violate his country’s sovereignty.
rest of the article

U.N., AU announce Darfur peace plan Top of Form
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

United Nations and African Union announced a two-pronged plan to bring peace to conflict-wracked Darfur, pledging Tuesday to move “expeditiously” to deploy 3,000 U.N. peacekeepers while intensifying efforts to achieve a political settlement.

Moves to speed deployment came as a confidential U.N. report charged that the government of Sudan has been flying arms and heavy military equipment into Darfur in violation of Security Council resolutions, according to a The New York Times report.
rest of the article

By: Dr. Tamekia Rose (pseudonym)

I could write about numerous stupid things my students do. Seriously, but I’m relegating this rant for things that are major, and I definitely feel these things are major because they seem to be indicative of the general mindset of college students (specifically college-AGED college students). I’m just…yeah…

So, what am I talking about? I’m talking about the general laziness and apathy that appears to be afflicting the average student today. These students really don’t seem to give a damn about their work. They come to class with the attitude of “I’m here…now entertain me.” Some students seem to think that by having the power point outline of the chapter, they’ll be fine…even though I EXPRESSELY told them that relying on the packet alone will ensure failure as the packet is just an outline of the chapter. Some students spend their time dawdling and doodling; while others come to class and are just there. No notes, no books, no paper, no pen or pencil…NOTHING…just them. Like I’m supposed to be surprised and impressed that they deigned to attend a class that THEY (or rather, their parents or financial aid) are paying for. I’m sorry, but your presence does not impress me; doesn’t work that way. So, naturally, once the failing begins, you would think that they might take more of an interest in their work and their progress. You’d THINK that. But it is not always the case….not even most of the time. I’ve told students to read, I’ve told students to attend tutoring sessions, I’ve told students to visit me during office hours. And yet, office hours are the loneliest hours of the day I just DO.NOT understand it. Now, if it was just that alone you wouldn’t be reading this. Ooooohhh…but it gets RICH…like triple chocolate heart attack cake rich.

For example:

There’s a girl in my class whom we’ll call Tisha. Now, Tisha is failing my class but she’s in a position where, if she worked hard, she could probably pass my class with a C. They had their lecture mid-term on Friday before Spring Break and they have their lab mid-terms this week (I have one lecture but three labs for freshman Biology). When students have exams in my class, if they wait around, then I’ll grade their tests and give them their grade immediately. Well, while I was grading her lecture mid-term, she mentioned being upset that Duke lost to VCU in the 1st round. I too was GEEKED (thus I expressed my happiness) and she said, “Yeah, I saw the game in the club last night.”

Wait…WHAT????

So, she proceeds to try to explain to me how they have TVs in club. I’m like, “I’ve been to clubs before…I know they have TVs. My question to YOU is, you KNEW you had a mid-term in my class, a class you are FAILING by the way; and yet, you were at the club last night???” She launches into this narrative about how hard she had studied and how she just couldn’t study any more as her brain (which, I’m thinking, is about the size of a pea) couldn’t retain any more information. Now, that would have been great if she had retained a bunch of information to begin with. But VA girl got 25.5 out of 50 on the mid-term…and that’s WITH some bonus points (I think she got five or seven bonus points)…so OBVIOUSLY she didn’t retain that much or she didn’t understand whatever it was she retained. Now, I completely get that your brain shuts down and refuses to function after so much studying. I completely understand that. What I don’t understand is being out at the club the night before a mid-term. I JUST.CAN’T.FATHOM.THAT. You can try to justify it as much as you want…oh, she needed to relax, she needed to let loose, blah blah blah. BUMP THAT…THEY WERE STARTING SPRING BREAK THE NEXT FRIGGIN’ DAY!!!! She was gonna have a WHOLE DAMN WEEK to relax and let loose, even with needing to study for the lab mid-term. Which brings me to the next episode…

So, the first section of Biology lab had their mid-term yesterday. We reviewed for this mid-term before they went on break. I told them what was going to be covered and what types of calculations would be on the test. Note the word CALCULATIONS as they tend to indicate that you probably need a CALCULATOR. And they should have known this, not only because I told them, but because they needed them to do the homework which were based on those calculations. Well, that and the fact that they couldn’t do basic math to save their lives (no, seriously…I asked them to convert 10% into a fraction or a decimal without a calculator and they all looked at me like I asked for their first-born). Only 42% of the students brought calculators. This is for a test in which 13 or the 25 questions involved calculations. That, in and of itself, is just…YEAH. OH…but it gets BETTER!!!

Remember Tisha…Ms. “I’ma-go-shake-my-ass-the-night-before-a-mid-term?” She was one of the ones who didn’t have a calculator (BIG surprise, right?). So, she gets the test, looks over it about ten times with a look of bewilderment, and says, “Dr. Rose, is it possible for me to come back and take this test later because I don’t have a calculator and I don’t have $100 to spend on one of those big fancy (graphing) calculators.” Once I got over the initial shock of the question, I said, “No you may not take it later and you don’t need a $100 calculator. You can go to CVS and get a $10 scientific calculator like I did. Wait, don’t you have a calculator on your phone?” Naw, she got one of those fancy “I-can-play-music-and-videos-and-take-pictures” phones, but it does not have a calculator…so she was basically out of luck. I mean the students who had calculators, if they wanted to, they could let their classmates borrow theirs and the owners would get some extra credit for being helpful. But the fact is they shouldn’t have had to basically cover the backsides of their bamma ass classmates.

Yea…so, I didn’t even get into the mundane everyday stuff; but I’ve discussed these issues with other professors both in my department and others and we all seem to have the same problem. THESE KIDS JUST DON’T GIVE A HOOT ABOUT THEIR GRADES!!! And this makes my job a little bit harder. Why - Because it places me in a position of caring more about their progress than THEY do. And it’s easy to say “Well, Mekia, if they don’t give a damn, then why should you?” Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because I don’t want to become that professor. You know the professor who seemed to have a chip on his/her shoulder, who seemed to have so much angst and condescension and disdain for his/her students, the one that made you think “Why in the HELL is this cat a professor???” Yep, I never wanted to be that person. Additionally, I’ve had professors who were just a little bit more than a professor; they were mentors, sounding boards, dare I say, FRIENDS (once I banged their class out, of course). They enriched my college experience and helped me get to where I am now. I LUUUURRRRVVVEEEEDDDD these professors and knew that if I became a prof, I’d be cut from the same cloth. But see, to be an effective one, you gotta care…and I don’t know about y’all, but it’s not so easy for me to stop caring for folks. I might not necessarily like them or mess with ‘em like I used to…but I STILL care about them and don’t want anything bad to happen. I CONSTANTLY have got to tell myself (and thus anyone I talk to) that I do NOT feel sorry for them but, honestly, that’s sort of a lie; ‘because I do care to a certain extent…maybe because I think of my own experience.

Some of these students who just don’t give a damn come from, well…not the hood…but not that far from it…so college is somewhat of an escape. They’re quite obviously having fun so it seems to me that they would do whatever is necessary to keep that party goin’ by keeping up the grades. I mean…I ain’t gon’ lie…the fact that I was partyin’, drinkin’, chillin, eatin’, pledgin’, steppin’, WHAT-EV-ER with some of the smartest, coolest, best-lookin’ Black folks I’d ever met in my life in one of the best, if conflicted, cities in the WHOLE world (at least, pre-Katrina, it was) was GREAT motivation for me to keep it up academically. They don’t get this no matter how many times I tried to tell them that it is very possible to PARTY.YOUR.ASS.OFF and still get good grades.

Anyway…I just had to get that off my chest….AND share those stories with you…’cause they are WAAAAYYYY too incredulous NOT to share. Feel free to leave any questions, comments, disses, *LOL*, *LMAO*, etc. They WILL be appreciated!!!

The pseudonym-ed author of this rant is a 30-something professor at an HBCU who has just recently finished her doctorial work.

From all descriptions, the Virgina Tech shooter was an Asian fellow.

Uhh Ooh, what does this say for the “Model Minorities”?

What kind of music do the majority of them listen to?

Maybe it’s the Anime ? Video Games? Or is Rap music to blame for everything ? You know those hip-hopper’s wily mind control methods.

What is clear though, all media containing guns must be done away with. Bye bye Hollywood and T.V.; even the news. There is no context where a gun can be show.

*Note: This piece snarks or satires the cultural pundits and overreach-ers, not the tragic shooting itself.

**Everything bold is clickable for descriptive information.

By: D. Yobachi Boswell

By D. Yobachi Boswell

Two elder age white men, Don Imus and Benard McGuirk, attack without cause or provocation, young Black women as hardcore hos, nappy headed hos, and jiggaboos; and not only are they not racist, but a Black rapper named Snoop Dog made them do it.

In the Imus In The Morning situation we have a large sector of white society, along with a few of their usual talking-head Black token-apologist, who as is the unfortunate norm; are not only looking to excuse racism, but to point at Black people as the cause of the racist incident.

This is the all too familiar modus operandi put into action anytime the Black community stands up against a racial denigration or a racism based social policy. A large swath of the majority race dismiss the issue as not racist (usually because, “it was just a joke” or something of similar trite excuse) or point to some issue that is tangential at best, in regard to the Black or Hispanic people under attack. They then under some illogical line of reasoning proclaim that the irrelevant tangential issue absolves the racist act, because the Blacks/Hispanics made them do it or create the situation so that the racist act just could not be avoided.

Imus Is A Victim

Don Imus, having been raised in a culture of prevalent hip-hop music with these debasing lyrics, was involuntarily influenced…uh – oh, wait a minute! No he wasn’t. He was already a grown man long before Hip Hop music even came into existence, and was eligible for his AARP card before rap music hardly ever contained such terminologies as “ho”; and certainly far ahead of Snoop Dog’s appearence on the music scene.

Yet, somehow Calvin Broadus (Snoop) and other black men half Imus’ age, and younger, who operate in the sector of youth culture, caused the behavior of an elderly man with three and a half decades of media experience. This is an amazing feat.

We have utter genius on our hands!

This is scientific breakthrough at least the equivalent of the DNA genome mapping. You mean to tell me; mostly poor, young, uneducated black men have devolved effective mine control techniques that can be transmitted via sound from a simple CD? WOW! As a rapper myself, I never new I had this amazing power. And too boot, it can be done without someone even listening to the music, as Imus is not a rap listener? Just – WOW!

Poor Imus. This rich, millionaire, white-male media veteran is simply a victim of the wily Negroes. Those niggers set him up!

When All Else Fails, Blame the Rappers

I wrote a piece last month called How To Be A Professional Victim. It highlights how to never be responsible for anything you do, and how to always blame something or someone else. Number 3 on the how to be a professional victim list is as follows:

3. Never be responsible for anything you do, or how you feel. Always blame the following: your momma, rap music, society, God, the basketball diaries, Marilyn Manson, and or your teachers.

Apparently the Imus apologist got hold of my victims manifesto and decide to employ number 3; although as much of a babbling lush as Imus acts like they could have gone for number 5 regarding blaming psychiatric drugs. But then again that would be beside the point here wouldn’t it; because the point here is to blame Black people for racist assaults against Black people. And what easier Black people to blame, than everybody’s go to scapegoat in society, the rappers?

Obfuscate, Obfuscate, Obfuscate

In the world of business, “location, location, location” is the all-important factor. In race politics, it’s obfuscation, obfuscation, obfuscation.

Obfuscate means to make confused, to obscure, to muddle the issue.

Shall we ever confront the still underlying racism in the country? Of course not: so would appear many a white persons answer. Whenever it comes up, just draw a red herring to argue instead of calling it what it is. Not only did those black rappers control Don Imus and Bernard McGuirk, who Imus told 60 Minutes was hired to “do the nigger jokes”, which we can see he did so well; but Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are also to blame for his downfall. And now somehow because of whom the messengers are, the message (it’s not acceptable to racistly and sexistly attack people and if you do you may have to deal with the repercussions in the market place) somehow is incorrect. In logical reasoning circles this old method of shooting the messenger is called ad hominem logical fallacy. One not llikingShaprton and Jackson can by no stretch of logic then make Imus and McGuirk’s comments justified.

Whether it is the affirmative action issue, where it’s now been shown that more white ethnic-based Scholarships exist than minority scholarships; or the likes of Michael Richards (aka Kramer from Seinfeld) belligerently calling black customers niggers for heckling him and then reminisced of the days those black hecklers would have been hung with a fork stuck up their “ass”; or this situation where some old white guys call some young black girls nappy headed hos and jiggaboos; Black people are always responsible for white action.

At leas that’s what many of the white persuasion proffer in order to never have to deal with and confront racism; and so that the veil of White Privilege in this country never has to be torn down. Cleary, most of those benefiting from White Privilege don’t want to see that. The faux appearance of liberty and justice for all is good enough for them; and they would rather continue racial animosity as long as they do not have to give up their favored position in society.

Preface
Publishers Note: Even though it’s a month passed the event, I wanted to provide this example of hip hop for the grown and sexy just for the cultural relevance of having these type of classic hip hop shows and to show the other side of the art form (which is the real art form) that the media never highlights.

The Article

By: Tressie McMillan
contributions from D. Yobachi Boswell

Charlotte NC -The normal Charlotte hip-hop crowd skews woefully young, as in Young Jocs and Jeezys. Yet, with the art form now more than 30 years old, give or take a few years depending on how far you lived from the Bronx, it stands to reason that there’s more than a few adult hip-hop heads who aren’t getting any live show love.

That’s where Charlotteans should take a break from building banks and trains to thank the CIAA for choosing our fair city to host the annual historically black college tourney. This year’s event brought no fewer than 80 different parties and live music venues. Chief among them were many notable hip-hop shows that went light on the pop and heavy on the grown and sexy.

Friday night’s EPMD show brought together two of the architect’s of the New York sound as they reunite after more than seven years apart. Erik Sermon and Parrish Smith (EPMD), now Queen city residents, brought a stripped down show to Amos’ Southend that delighted fans who remember walkmans and boomboxes. The crowd was set with free, classic style fisherman caps distributed to some in attendance by the promoters, courtesy of Crown Royal. Light on the bling and dressed in requisite old school gutter wear - Timberland boots and black hoodies - the brothers in rhyme ripped through memorable joints from “You Gots to Chill” to “So What Ya Sayin” to “Please listen to my demo”.

Still energetic with solid voices not marred by, uh, “extra-curricular” activities Erik and Parrish skimmed over a few classics as called out by the audience. However, no one could be disappointed as they made time for unannounced guests Kid Capri and Keith Murray to hit the stage.

A pioneer in beat breaks and the now ubiquitous hip-hop mix tape, Kid Capri joined DJ Scratch as Scratch made the turn tables wobble but not fall down. Capri also spoke to the crowd and signed autographs like a soldier, but it was Keith Murray who brought a manic energy to the crowd. With a limited hit list, Keith nonetheless hit the high notes of “The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World” and some of his lesser-known remix appearances. He also brought the head-bangers ball classic - bodysurfing - to this mainly urban crowd.

Surprisingly the crowd kept Keith from hitting the ground but the same couldn’t be said for those of us in the audience who got caught between his enthusiasm and his very large bodyguard’s commitment to keeping him safe. But no one seemed mad at the crowd crush as the show wound to a close. It did, however, require me to leave before the world’s greatest entertainer, Doug E. Fresh, hit the stage for what I have heard was a perfect close to a b-boy night.

The next night the old school vibe continued as area promoter Soul Kitchen, or “Kitch” as those of us in the know call him, presented legendary party maestro DJ Biz Markie and DC go-go favorites the Backyard Band.

This crowd started bigger and surpassed the one at the previous night’s show, proving that girls like to dance and dudes like to watch. Still “no one beats the Biz”, as Biz Markie did what so few new DJs do anymore: he read the crowd and mixed the music just right to keep them guessing and engaged.

There were few people holding up the walls as the Biz ripped through hip-hop classics like “Tramp” from Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy Number One from PE back before Flav sold his soul to the Viacom devil, and even the soul classics that gave hip-hop some of the illest beat breaks in history (read: the entire James Brown catalogue).

The crowd was perfectly amped as Biz transitioned them straight into the percussion driven beats of The Backyard Band.

I saw more than one pair of too cute stiletto heels hit the floor as women decided the beat was too fly to stand still. Those of us who have witnessed a D.C. go-go came prepared in comfy shoes with traction. The band hit the stage and the crowd swelled towards the speakers trying, it seemed, to crawl inside the soul-rattling beat that makes go-go a regional favorite.

By the end of the night the floor was drenched as were the partygoers and not nary a soul looked unsatisfied.

I spoke with promoter Kitch before the night drew to a sweaty close and he looked satisfied with both the age of the crowd and the turnout. When asked if we would have to wait until next year to see another grown hip-hop event he smiled and offered this little bit of news: Nas. Hip Hop is Dead tour. Only Charlotte appearance, Wednesday, April the 11th, also at Amos’ Southend.

That’s music to the ears for those of us who grew up on MCs and time tested battle rhymes.

Visit www.myspace.com/thesolkitchenfor more details. Read more from Tressie at www.associatedcontent.com/user/5206/tressie_cottom.html

A day late (well more like 6) and a dollar short, the National Organization of Women (NOW), possibly the largest feminist group in the U.S.; finally decided that nappy headed black women were worth defending.

After it was brought to my attention yesterday by a black woman that they were being uncannily quiet, they now step forward with this call to action against radio host Don Imus. Nice…now. But seeing as they are normally ubiquitously on the spot to defend women of lesser melanin, the late to the party condemnation just seems to add to the fuel of longstanding angst that many black women feel towards the feminist movement or maybe not the movement but towards white feminist – which if my understanding is correct is that it/they don’t represent all woman and or either don’t address racism or that they actively perpetrate it.

You know, I won’t add any further commentary. I’m just settting the issue out there. I’ll let you be the judge.

Would love to hear from the sistas on this one.

The Darfur Crisis Brought Home
By: D. Yobach Boswell

Nashville TN - On March 27th Nashville welcomed Gloria White-Hammond, physician, pastor and humanitarian, to Nashville to discuss the genocide in Darfur Sudan; and what we right here in the U.S. can do about it.

The event put on by TAG: Tennesseans Against Genocide and hosted by the West End United Methodist Church, brought the doctor in from Massachutes to relay to the people of Nashville her observations from her 7 visits to Sudan, to give us an understanding of the underlying issues causing the genocide there and how the average American or civic group can act to help.

If you are not familiar with the issue, government backed mercenaries, the Janjaweed, have launched brutal attacks against the rural residents of the Sudanese region of Darfur; displacing some 2 million people and killing hundreds of thousands since 2003. To boot, a campaign of mass rape as a weapon of war has left many physically devastated, as well as emotionally traumatized.. As described by the New York Times, this is very different than opportunistic rape by individual criminals, this is policy rape.

Earlier that afternoon she spoke to Fisk students at historic Jubilee Hall about the genocide and the relief effort.

At West End United Methodist Church that evening, nearly 200 people showed up to hear Dr. White-Hammond speak. Emceed by local social activist, Randall Venson of Messengers of Peace; which has also started work on the Darfur issue, the evening was both informative and inspiring. Backed by visuals on a projector, Dr. White-Hammond relayed her many experiences in visiting and treating the Darfur victims in refugee camps.

She showed a striking image, that she had to pre-warn the audience about; of a boy who’s nose had been cut off by Janjaweed to debilitate him. She spoke of the slave redemption issue, which is a practice of buying slaves in order to set them free; and about it being “controversial”. Some are against it because they feel it encourages slavery.

Dr. White-Hammond then showed a picture of a girl who’s freedom was purchased for a mere 32 dollars U.S. The girl told her in response to the controversy to go back to America and “tell them I said thank you. Thank you for returning me to the soil that’s the same color as my skin”.

Dr. White-Hammond also spoke of the devastating effects that rape as a weapon of war has had on these victims. Often the Janjaweed will raid villages, killing all the fighting aged males and gang rapping the woman, including young girls; not only with the male organ but also with objects that cause horrible cutting and tearing. This leaves many damaged and unable to reproduce.

Dr. White-Hammond sought to bring home the experience of these women by prompting the audience to imagine if these were their sisters, mothers, or daughters. She spoke of a focus she has on these women’s empowerment by women reaching out and supporting women. You can learn more about such an initiative through an organization she’s affiliated with, My Sister’s Keeper. You can find them at www.mskeeper.org.

Other’s spoke as well, Cecilia Adeng, who’s family is from Sudan, and who’s family fled many years ago before the worst of the fighting spoke most eloquently about the plight of her people and of her appreciation for the generosity of those who have put forth an effort to help, calling them “friends of Sudan”. Cecilia is Miss South Sudan USA and is a senior at Fisk University who is set to graduate this may.

Her most poignant statement is that through these experiences “pain has turned into passion”.

On a like note, Big Kenny of platinum country due Big and Rich took to the podium giving an unpolished but passionate plea. “I don’t know if you feel like me, I feel like I want to explode inside” He spoke of his recently born son an getting teary eyed. Then in jubilation exclaimed, “I’m an entertainer y’all, I don’t do this”. Having collected himself, he told the audience about a powerful documentary on the Darfur crisis called The Devil Came On Horseback, that will be shown during the Nashville Movie Festivle at the Green Hills Regal Cinema on April 25th.

While the challenges may appear daunting, Gloria White-Hammond exclaimed “I don’t feel no ways tired” and gave 10 reasons why we don’t have to be weary.

If you’re interested in contributing to the relief effort or the political solution, here in Nashville you can start by joining TAG or supporting their efforts. They can be found at www.tennesseansagainstgenocide.org or you can call co-president Hazel Joyner-Smith at the Fisk Race Relations Institute at 615-324-8575

Along with My Sister’s Keeper, other national resources include: www.savedarfur.org and http://darfur.amnestyusa.org

By: D. Yobachi Boswell

It’s a disturbing creditor practice that allows your credit card company to decide that if you’re late on a payment of any debt (and on other factors), that the creditor that you may have never been late in paying can still raise your interest rate to 30 percent or more. This website explains it as such:

The provision, generally buried in the fine print of your credit card agreement, basically says that if you are more than 30 days late on any payment to anyone, the interest rate on your credit card could shoot up and your credit score may be damaged.

This other apologist site, which seems to be some sort of credit card trade site, ridiculously claims that:

Universal default is not meant to hurt consumers. Rather, it is intended to protect credit card companies from potential losses by charging higher interest to those customers with degrading risk profiles.

Of course that’s just code for saying it’s a way for credit card companies to get over and to unduly strain more money out of the customer for their own self-enrichment.

It does give a good list of what things will send you into universal default that you should look at.

See this PBS site for further details on Universal Credit and the history of how this and the exponential late fees applied to late payments on cards became legal.

Citibank ended the practice following being castigated by congress at a hearing in January, but it’s still legal and still being practiced by others. It will be a focal point of a soon to come Senate Banking Committee hearing.

I think we should all be writing calling our own congressmen and the ones on the relevant Senate and House committees governing this issue:

List of all Senate members: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Senate Banking Committee: banking.senate.gov/

List of all House members: www.house.gov/
House Committee on Financial Services: financialservices.house.gov/who.html

Here’s a cribbed letter that you can feel free to sign and send, or just use in part in writting your own letter.