Throughout his career, MJ captivated onlookers worldwide not only with his music, but with behavior that only grew stranger and more unseemly as time went on. In remembrance of the legend we lost two years ago Saturday, here are ten of the most shocking moments – good, bad, and odd – in Jackson’s life:

Moonwalk (1983)
Jackson debuted the dance move that would become his signature during a performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. While the moonwalk may seem intimately familiar to us today (who out there hasn’t tried it at least once?), to the audience of 47 million watching the show that night in 1983, it was pure magic.

Pepsi commercial fire accident (1984)
Pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson’s hair ablaze on the set of a commercial for Pepsi. He was rushed to the hospital and treated for second-degree burns to his scalp, and would eventually become dependent on painkillers as a result of his injuries. Click below to watch video of the incident:

“Thriller” video (1983)
When the 13-minute video for Jackson’s song “Thriller” was released on December 2, 1983, it changed the concept of music videos forever. With its complete storyline, innovative make-up and costumes, and unforgettable choreography, “Thriller” elevated what had initially been an afterthought in the music business into an art form. Watch the video:

Check out our gallery of photos from Michael’s life:

Child molestation accusations (1993)
13-year-old Jordan Chandler said that Jackson had sexually abused him during Chandler’s visits to Neverland. During the investigation Jackson was subjected to a 25-minute strip search, but ultimately no charges were ever filed. He consistently proclaimed his innocence of the allegations, and eventually settled out of court with the Chandler family for an undisclosed sum. Watch Jackson’s statement to the public about the accusations:

Marriage to Lisa Marie Presley (1994)
The King of Pop kept his marriage to rock & roll royalty under wraps for nearly two months after the ceremony. Once he and Lisa Marie, daughter of Elvis Presley, came forward with the truth, many in the press dismissed the unlikely pairing as a sham to deflect attention from Jackson’s legal troubles. In response to their detractors, the couple stunned the audience of that year’s MTV Video Music Awards with an awkward on-stage smooch. Check out the video:

Marriage to Debbie Rowe (1996)
Both the public and the press found it quite surprising when Jackson turned up married to Rowe, who was his dermatologist’s nurse. He and Rowe went on to have two children, whose appearances also proved shocking: many have noted that Prince and Paris Jackson appear to have no African-American ancestry, calling into question their paternity. Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999.

Dangles newborn son over a balcony (2002)
Shortly after son Prince Michael “Blanket” Jackson II was born, Jackson was staying at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, Germany where fans somehow discovered his presence. He greeted them from the balcony of his suite, then dangled baby Blanket over the railing for a few seconds. The incident was met with widespread outrage but, as usual, Jackson saw nothing wrong with his behavior.

Admits to sharing bed with children (2003)
In an interview with British journalist Martin Bashir, Jackson openly discussed his sharing a bed with numerous children who had visited his home over the years as if it was the most natural idea in the world, calling it “a beautiful thing.” As an incredulous Bashir looked on, Jackson dismissed any notion that this behavior was inappropriate for a man in his 40s.

People of the State of California v. Michael Joseph Jackson sexual abuse trial (2005)
Jackson was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy, giving him alcohol, and conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at Neverland Ranch. Jackson again asserted his innocence, saying the family had attempted to extort money from him. He was acquitted of all charges. Watch Jackson speak out in his own defense prior to the trial:

Death (2009)
Perhaps the most shocking Michael Jackson moment of all came June 25, 2009, when the singer was pronounced dead as a result of cardiac arrest. While he had been out of the spotlight for many years, Jackson was poised to begin a comeback tour that very summer, and his death came as a painful surprise to fans and family alike. The world truly lost one of its brightest stars. Watch video below of Michael’s brother Jermaine announcing the sad news:

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Soledad O’Brien describes her encounter with Jesse Jackson in her new book:

Even though I am not sure what he [Jesse Jackson]  is saying, I can tell he is angry. Today he is angry because CNN doesn’t have enough black anchors.

I interrupt to remind him, “I’m the anchor of American Morning”. He knows that. He looks me in the eye and reaches his fingers over to tap a spot of skin on my right had. He shakes his head. “You don’t count,” he says. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I don’t count — what? I’m not black? I’m not black enough? Or my show doesn’t count?

I was both angry and embarrassed, which rarely happens at the same time for me. Jesse Jackson managed to make me ashamed of my skin color which even white people had never been able to do.

I am immediately upset and annoyed and the even more annoyed that I am upset and pissed off. If Reverend Jesse Jackson didn’t think I was black enough, then what was I? My parents had so banged racial identity into my head that the thoughts of racial doubt never crossed my mind. I’d suffered an Afro through the heat of elementary school. I’d certainly never felt white. I thought my version of black was as valid as anybody else’s. I was a product of my parents (black woman, white man) my town (mostly white), multiracial to be sure, but not black? I felt like the foundation I’d built my life on was being denied, as if someone was telling me my parents aren’t my parents.

Rev. Jackson diminished O’Brien’s  efforts and accomplishments by telling her that she isn’t Black enough. Numerous Black Planet readers have expressed that they too share Jackson’s sentiment; in that they feel she isn’t “Black enough” to represent Black people, while many others feel that the complexion of her skin or genetic background doesn’t set a precedence in her connection to the Black race.

Do You Consider Soledad O’Brien A Black Woman?

Soledad O’Brien Slams Rev. Jesse Jackson For Questioning Her “Blackness” In New Book

View Soledad O’Brien Gallery Below:

Black people have long shared a fraught relationship with the Academy Awards. Ever since our first win–Hattie McDaniels’ 1939 Best Supporting Actress victory for her portrayal of Mammy in “Gone With The Wind”–many of us have wondered if being rewarded by the white Hollywood establishment for playing negative or stereotypical roles is really anything to celebrate. The same question nagged at us when Denzel Washington won the Best Actor trophy for his turn as a crooked cop in “Training Day” rather than his portrayal of Malcolm X, and when Halle Berry was named Best Actress for her work in what some considered a stereotypically hypersexualized Black female role.

Text continues after gallery …

This year, with “Precious” nominated for more Oscars than any other Black film in history, we’re compelled to ask again: Just what is the Academy looking to praise us for? Derided by some critics as “poverty porn,” “Precious” tells the story of a morbidly obese, illiterate incest victim living in Harlem with her physically and sexually abusive welfare queen of a mother. Not a whole lot of positivity there.

RELATED: “Precious” Nominated For Six Academy Awards

But uncomfortable though it may be, “Precious” does portray a slice of American life that can plausibly find some counterpart in reality. The same could be said of “Training Day” or “Monster’s Ball.” The problem that we as a people often run into when considering forms of artistic expression is that it isn’t enough for Black film or television characters to be merely plausible or real: We want them to be heroes.

Understandably so. There’s no shortage of negative portrayals of Black people and Black life in the media and entertainment, and to deny that the skewed picture they paint is damaging would be dishonest. But the remedy isn’t to suppress negative images–the remedy is balance. We should redirect our energies toward creating and elevating positive Black films and characters rather than condemning films like “Precious” for depicting us in a poor light. Because, let’s face it, there really are some Black mothers who abuse their children as mercilessly as Mo’Nique’s Mary did Precious. There also really are (or were) Italian mafiosos like Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, and white serial killers like Charlize Theron’s Aileen Wuornos. Not only do morally reprehensible people of all races exist, they make for compelling, complex, and layered characters. Such characters provide an opportunity for just the type of breathtaking displays of acting talent that Mo’Nique turned in for “Precious.”

RELATED: Writer Says “Precious” Is As Damaging As “Birth Of A Nation”

So yes, Black folks should celebrate if “Precious” wins any of the six Oscars it’s nominated for. For us, the film itself may not have been flattering, but it was as real and as worthy a display of talent as any other less-than-positive work to come before it. Amid the controversy surrounding the Academy’s lauding of “Precious,” we must remember: the villains in our community are as real as the heroes, and they can allow for acting roles as worthy–or more–as so much positivity.

The best choice we can make, then, is not to suppress or deride films like “Precious,” but simply to keep them in perspective.

Today, Reuters reports that President Barack Obama and famed investment guru and philanthropist Warren Buffet are seventh cousins, twice removed:

U.S. President Barack Obama, who won political support and has sought advice from investment guru Warren Buffett, may now feel even closer to the world’s second richest man. According to their family trees, the two men who at times shared the stage together during the 2008 presidential campaign are seventh cousins three times removed. Genealogists at ancestry.com announced on Tuesday that Obama and Buffett are related through a 17th century Frenchman named Mareen Duvall. [SOURCE: Reuters]

Um … so what? This “news” (and I used the term loosely) of course comes after the groundbreaking revelation during the presidential campaign that Obama is a distant cousin of both former Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George W. Bush.

There’s something uncomfortable about the way people keep trotting out these distant white relatives of Obama. It makes you wonder, what’s really the motivation? No one was digging around in George W. Bush or Jimmy Carter’s family trees searching for people of color, penning headlines like “BUSH AND MALCOLM X ARE 15th COUSINS SEVEN TIMES REMOVED.”Know why? Because Black relatives don’t contribute anything positive to a white politician’s image, and can actually prove harmful: Remember how Bush tanked John McCain’s 2000 South Carolina primary campaign by spreading rumors that he had a secret, illegitimate Black child?

But the effort to give Obama every possible scrap of a connection with white people seems like some sort of thinly veiled quest for racial and mainstream legitimacy. It’s as if the people digging for these ancestral details are sitting somewhere thinking, “Alright, if we can just relate Obama to 7 more white people, then Confederate flag-waving right-wing psychos will totally stop plotting to assassinate him.”

Honestly, if the fact that Obama’s mother was white hasn’t bought him a pass, I can’t imagine that these Warren Buffett/Dick Cheney/George W. Bush connections have much potential to help his cause. So can we please put a moratorium on “OBAMA’S SECRET WHITE ANCESTOR” stories? Apart from being useless, they’re just … not interesting.

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Manners took quite a hit this year. Socially conservative types have bemoaned the decline of common decency for decades now, but the past 12 months have made even the most forgiving among us sit up and take notice. Here are the five newsmakers who committed this year’s most appalling public acts of impoliteness:

5) Serena Williams

When a line judge at the U.S. Semifinals made a questionable call, Williams had some choice words for her. Among them: “If I could, I would take this #^%*&! ball and shove it down your #^%*&! throat.” It didn’t stop there, as Williams continued cursing, yelling, and menacingly shaking her racket at the judge. Thanks to her unsportsmanlike conduct, she lost the match and has since been hit with an $82,500 fine.

4) Kanye West

YO SERENA I’M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU AND I’MMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT KANYE WEST HAD ONE OF THE MOST DISRESPECTFUL OUTBURSTS OF ALL TIME. OF ALL TIME! Not only did Kanye ruin poor little Taylor Swift’s big VMA moment (and ultimately give her career a huge boost), he spawned an internet meme that’s given the masses a brand new way to disrespect one another in cyberspace. Pretty impressive fallout for a few seconds of Hennessy-fueled buffoonery.

3) Teabaggers and Town Hall Protesters

I’m all for free speech and healthy debate about the activities of our government, but these rabblerousers took the discourse entirely off the rails. You don’t have to agree with health care reform, but is it really necessary to bring guns to town hall meetings and compare the President to Hitler? And as for the protesters who ran into some trouble writing their signs — “Obama Is A Half-Breed Muslin,” “NO PUBIC OPTION!”– at least have enough respect for your adversaries to hit up the spell-check.

2) Joe Wilson

This South Carolina congressman was apparently so overcome with righteous anger that he felt the need to express himself in the middle of a presidential address to Congress. For his “You Lie!” temper tantrum, Wilson was rewarded with millions of dollars from his supporters and lots of publicity. But he didn’t get off scot-free: the House of Representatives passed a resolution reprimanding him, and the Democratic challenger for his House seat also received a windfall of cash after the outburst.

1) The Salahis

Say what you will about Joe Wilson’s outburst in Congress, but at least he was supposed to be there. The Salahis were much too hungry for reality TV fame to let little things like invitations or presidential safety get in their way, so they crashed the White House State Dinner for India’s Prime Minister. And they were so proud of their accomplishment that they posted photos of it on facebook.com to brag about the big-wigs they hobknobbed with. Their antics went beyond mere tackiness — they’ve had real consequences. “Gatecrashergate” exposed a gaping hole in the security of President Obama, landed his social secretary in hot water, and resulted in three secret service officers being placed on leave. Where the Salahis are concerned, calling them “rude” would be the understatement of the year.

Dishonorable Mention: Tiger Woods and His Ten Merry Mistresses

Unlike the rest of the shameful characters on this list, Tiger’s (many, many) disrespectful acts were initially conducted in private. But since the car accident that blew this story wide open, there’s been a never-ending stream of Tiger’s former  jump-offs looking to get their 15 minutes in the spotlight by snitching. The actions of Tiger and his ladies are not only disrespectful to his wife and children, but are an affront to common decency in general. This list would’ve been incomplete without acknowledgment of Tiger’s sordid tale.

Check out more of NewsOne’s Best & Worst of 2009 and the Decade HERE.

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A NewsOne Exclusive

Since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPST) announced its breast cancer screening guidelines, women of all races have expressed confusion and concern. But perhaps even more than others, one group has particular cause to be wary: Black women.

RELATED: Women Now Advised To Start Getting Mammograms At 50, Not 40

After reviewing data and weighing the potential risks of mammography against the benefits, the USPST now recommends that women begin getting regular mammograms at age 50 rather than at 40, and that the frequency be reduced from annual to once every two years. So what does this sweeping change in policy mean for Black women — who have the highest breast cancer death rate of any race, are at increased risk for developing the disease at younger ages, and are disproportionately prone to an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer?

“These new recommendations could have a devastating effect on African-American women,” said Marisa Weiss, M.D., director of Breast Radiation Oncology and director of Breast Health Outreach at Pennsylvania’s Lankenau Hospital.

Weiss, who is also the founder of leading online resource breastcancer.org, believes that given the unique impact of the illness on black women, the USPST’s recommendations could prove disproportionately harmful.

RELATED: Black Activists Angered By New Breast Cancer Guidelines

“African-American women are more likely to get breast cancer than white women when they’re under age 40,” she said.

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health reports that Black women ages 35 to 44 have a breast cancer death rate more than twice that of white women in the same age group.

“These guidelines that would start screening at age 50 would pass over the time of greatest risk for African-American women,” said Weiss.

But age doesn’t pose the only problem — the particular type of breast cancer many black women are diagnosed with brings its own set of serious concerns.

“Plenty of African-American women get regular old breast cancer that looks like white women’s breast cancer,” Weiss said. But nearly one-third of breast cancers diagnosed in Black women are an especially aggressive and fast-developing type called “triple negative,” which is resistant to traditional forms of treatment.

RELATED: Study Examines Black Breast Cancer Survivors

“When it comes to triple negative breast cancer, it’s a kind of ‘interval cancer’ that can sneak up in the time between mammograms,” said Weiss. “By the time you find it by feeling it or finding it at a significant size, it’s not stage 1 anymore.”

Since the USPST recommends not only delaying the age at which women begin receiving mammograms, but also decreasing their frequency to once every two years, the consequent lags in diagnosis could prove dangerous.

Black women already receive fewer mammograms than white women. Evidence has also shown that even after receiving breast cancer screenings, black women are less likely to understand or even receive their results, and to obtain necessary follow-up testing and care. When they are diagnosed, it is frequently with later stages of the disease than women of other races.

RELATED: Rocawear Teams Up With Susan G. Komen To Fight Breast Cancer

Both the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen breast cancer advocacy foundation have issued statements in response to the government’s new guidelines, saying they have reviewed the same data as the USPST and still believe women should follow the old recommendations. Weiss agreed.

“Mammography is not perfect of course. It’s got faults,” she said. “But I strongly recommend starting mammogram screening at age 40 every year.”

Weiss advises that women who have a history of breast cancer in their family speak to their doctors about beginning screenings early. However, she warns, all women should be vigilant.

“80% of women who get breast cancer don’t really have a family history, but they think, ‘It’s not in my family, so I don’t have to worry about it,’” she said. “If you feel lump or an abnormality, if something’s not right, that’s another reason to start screening earlier.”

RELATED: Hampton University Awarded $1.3 Million For Breast Cancer Research

For Black women, staying aware of breast health and faithfully getting screened is of critical importance in light of the unique dangers they face when dealing with breast cancer.

“Know your family history,” Weiss said. “Know your risk.”

A NewsOne Exclusive

Lee Daniels, director of the newly released film “Precious,” made a surprise appearance at one of the opening screenings of the movie in New York City.

The audience at the 7:30 p.m. presentation of “Precious” at the AMC Theater in Lincoln Square had purchased tickets for a standard showing, but just before the movie began, a theater employee revealed that after the film, Daniels would be on hand to discuss the project and answer questions.

“Precious,” based on the novel Push by Sapphire, tells the story of a poor, overweight, dark-skinned Black teenage girl who overcomes abuse, illiteracy, and two incestuous pregnancies in 1980s Harlem. The star-studded cast features Mo’Nique as Precious’s mother, Mariah Carey as a social worker, Paula Patton as a caring teacher, and Hollywood newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the title role.

The film was well received by the audience, and Daniels was greeted with enthusiastic applause when he arrived. A reporter for the LA Times moderated the conversation on-stage, and the director began by explaining what made him want to take on the project.

Daniels recalled an incident from his early life when a naked little girl showed up on his doorstep one afternoon, covered in blood, pus, and welts from being beaten with an extension cord. After his mother tended to the child, she knew she would have to return her to her home. That moment, he said, was the first time he saw fear in his mother’s eyes, and witnessing the reality of such abuse remained with him.

“I did this [movie] so that I could heal,” said Daniels. “I did this so that we could all heal. It’s not just an African-American story, it’s a universal story.”

Audience questions covered a wide range of topics, from his experience working on the film to his upcoming projects.

Discussing how he assembled the cast, Daniels satisfied some of the curiosity surrounding his selection of Sidibe as the film’s star.

“When I was looking for Precious, I started searching in Harlem at McDonalds, or in a theater behind the counter,” he said. “But I realized that if I used these girls, I would have been exploiting them.”

So Daniels cast Sidibe, an actress who physically fit the bill, but shared none of her character’s harrowing experiences as a poor and abused woman.

One of the final audience questions was the most incisive, asking how the director responded to those who worry “Precious” reinforces negative stereotypes about black women.

“I cannot answer that. I’m a storyteller, a filmmaker—I have to tell my truth,” said Daniels. “If it upsets a certain demographic, so be it.”

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A NewsOne Exclusive

When Bill Cosby announced his plans to release a rap album, the widespread reaction was one of confusion. Best known for his role as lovable Dad Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” his iconic Jell-O Pudding commercials, and, most recently, impassioned speeches on how the Black community can solve its problems, Cosby seemed an unlikely hip-hop enthusiast. But, acting as the creative force behind the album, he brought together three rappers to create “Bill Cosby Presents The Cosnarati: State of Emergency.”

In this exclusive interview with NewsOne, Cosby and The Cosnarati reveal how “State of Emergency” will stack up against the rest of today’s hip-hop albums, the inspiration for the project, and why Cosby’s message isn’t always well-received among Black Americans.

The album hits stores November 24.

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So, you’ve decided you’re going to be President Barack Obama for Halloween. Good for you! While it’s not the most original idea by any stretch of the imagination, the impulse to celebrate our first Black president is a noble one.

Here at NewsOne, we’re all about promoting racial harmony and helping the people. We do it for the kids, as they say. So in the interests of preventing extreme awkwardness and fisticuffs inspired by racial animus, we’d like to help you plan your Obama costume this year.

See, this is a multicultural nation, but a bunch of white, Asian, Latino, Native American and otherwise non-African-American people attempting to dress up as a black guy is a potential minefield. To make sure you don’t start a race riot this weekend, follow our handy list of tips: How Not To Accidentally Wear A Racist Obama Costume.

The Clothes

DO wear …

A suit – You can’t go wrong here. A suit is standard, polished, presidential attire.

Khaki pants and a polo shirt – Think of this outfit as “Obama casual.” He’s been seen dressed like this on the golf course and while relaxing with his family, so you can go ahead and dress down too.

A basketball jersey – A love of basketball is one of those black man stereotypes that, in the case of our president, happens to be true. Since Obama is a well-known recreational ball-player—the man even built a court in the White House—this outfit is an a-okay deviation from more humdrum presidential clothing.

A superman costume - Because … well, why not?

DO NOT wear

A prison jumpsuit, slavery rags, a fur coat and pimp cane, or a black sheet and googly eyes.  - … Do I really need to explain?

The Props

DO carry:

A Briefcase

A Book

A pen, and a bill to be signed into law – The bill can contain the legislation of your choice, such as the institution of socialized medicine, the legalization of gay marriage, or an affirmation of the First Lady’s right to bare arms that simultaneously outlaws all gun ownership.

A Basketball – Carry this prop with the Obama-as-Basketball Player costume.

Golf clubs – These match up nicely with the Obama casual look.

DO NOT carry:

A weapon of any kind, especially an AK-47 (the rapper’s rifle of choice)

Anything that could be described as “bling”

The Snacks

While wearing your Obama costume, it would be wise to watch what you eat. This isn’t just about attaining the president’s trim physique: Choose the wrong snack and you just might accidentally turn into a racist. And who wants to do that?

DO NOT eat or drink:

Fried chicken or watermelon ­– I shouldn’t have to tell you this at all, but with folks these days you can never be too careful.

Hennessy, Hpnotiq, a 40, or anything else you would see someone guzzling from a brown paper bag on 125^th and Lenox – If you can’t resist the urge to imbibe, keep it classy, Mr. President. No hood drinks please. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t shake up any champagne bottles and “make it rain” on your constituents.

Kool-Aid – I see how someone could make this mistake. With some of the completely uncritical, Obama-can-do-no-wrong sycophants out there, it could fairly be said that some folks are indeed “drinking the Obama Kool-aid.” But clever as you may be with your social commentary, most people are much to literal-minded to make the connection. So just leave the pitcher at home.

Bananas – All you would do is remind people of this:

… Or this:

Not a good look.

The Face

We know. Somehow you have to make it perfectly clear that you’re supposed to be the president. Otherwise, what makes you anything more than just some guy walking around in a suit? There are two good ways to establish your presidential identity this Halloween:

DO wear:

A plastic Obama mask

A name tag

That’s it. Those are your options. But in case anyone tries to get any bright ideas, we’ll spell it out:

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, FOR ANY REASON:

Paint your skin brown. If you heed none of these other suggestions, heed this one. If you, in a misguided attempt to match Obama’s skintone, color yourself in with brown make-up or (especially) shoe polish and start heading out the door, STOP.

WARNING: You are no longer in a Halloween costume. You are in blackface.

I REPEAT: YOU ARE IN BLACKFACE.

Go directly back into your home, and wash the make-up off. Do not pass “Go,” do not collect 200 pieces of candy. Then put on an Obama mask or a name tag like you were told to in the first place. Believe me, I’m telling you this for your own good.

Well, that should cover all of our racist bases. Follow these tips, and you’re sure to avoid disaster, awkward stares, or getting beat up. Good luck, and Happy (Totally Not Racist) Halloween.

At the 19th Annual Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Awards on October 20, TV One President and CEO Johnathan Rodgers was inducted into the hall of fame in recognition of his work in television news and management. Check out Broadcasting and Cable’s story on Rodgers’s career:

In 2006, TV One President and CEO Johnathan Rodgers planned to hold a meeting with radio host/CNN correspondent Roland Martin and a number of the channel’s executives in Washington. After a scheduling mishap, Rodgers made an executive decision: “He was like, ‘It’s 2 o’clock,Roland has a 7 o’clock flight, we’re meeting on the golf course,’” Martin remembers.

It’s not surprising that Rodgers—an avid sports fan who still flies to see the football games of his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley—would call for a meeting on the fairway. It’s indicative of the flair, fun and affability Rodgers is known for throughout a career that spans broadcast and cable, editorial and executive, and East Coast to West.

The first African-American president of a major network’s station group, he has left a mark on a generation of reporters, producers and executives. “I have been a member of NABJ [National Association of Black Journalists] for 20 years, and when you talk to African-Americans who are executive producers, news directors, GMs, they look to pioneers like Johnathan as setting the example for what it is that we want to achieve in this industry,” Martin says. “There is no doubt about that.” [SOURCE: BroadcastingCable.com]

Click here to read more.

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This morning, the world received the surprising news that President Barack Obama has been awarded the Novel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” While this is undoubtedly a proud moment for the president and for the nation, did Obama really merit this honor? Perhaps not. Here are three reasons why President Obama shouldn’t have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

1) He hasn’t accomplished anything yet. It’s certainly true that President Obama has raised the international profile of the United States, and that’s wonderful and important. But he’s done that primarily by a) not being George W. Bush and b) by giving a few key speeches. Should the Nobel Prize Committee really be in the business of rewarding people for existing and talking? That seems like an awfully low standard. He’s working toward spreading peace in the world, to be sure, but this isn’t third grade – the President of the United States should not get a gold star and an A+ just for trying. What happened to rewarding people for the actual fruits of their labor?

2) This moment could have been saved for later. It’s entirely possible – even likely – that later in his life, President Obama will have substantial and tangible results to show for his presidency. Past winners such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Al Gore, and Mother Theresa have been awarded the prize after dedicating their entire careers to their respective causes: racial justice, combating climate change, and fighting world hunger. Rewarding a lifetime of toil is a much more worthy motivation for awarding a Nobel Peace Prize than simply wishing to acknowledge someone’s effort before they’ve had a chance to make a real impact. Was it really so urgent that Obama receive this award now, nine months into his presidency? This prize would have been a great deal more meaningful if he had won it after decades of hard work.

3) Idleness should not be encouraged. It would be very unfortunate indeed if President Obama took this award as a sign that he’s doing a great job and should plow ahead in the same manner. Thus far, a whole lot as been said – about health care, closing Guantanamo, sorting out Afghanistan, equal rights for gay Americans, etc. – and very little has gotten done. And before anyone trots out the old “He’s only been president 3 months/6 months/9 months, give the man a chance!” rallying cry, let me remind you: 9 months is close to a quarter of a presidential term, and he is by no means guaranteed a second one. What’s more, he can only count on strong Democratic majorities in Congress for another year; there’s no telling what will happen in 2010′s midterm elections. The man doesn’t have the luxury of time, so he needs to get serious about his agenda and hop to it. Giving Obama an award right now doesn’t push him any closer to doing so.

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Over at The Grio, the relatively new Black-oriented news and opinion site from MSNBC, there’s a career advice article this week entitled “Finding a Job While Having An ‘Ethnic’ Name.”

Before dispensing with the wisdom on just what to do in case your first name is Daquan or Teisha, or contains more than 2 apostrophes, writer Yasmeen Muqtasid offers some background on the situation for such job-seekers. The news isn’t good:

According to a study for the National Bureau of Economics, resumes and applications with names more commonly given to white Americans were 50 percent more likely to be contacted for job interviews than those applicants with names more associated with black Americans.

It has also been found that employers download resumes from applicants with “white names” – such as Molly and Daniel – 17 percent more often than those of applicants with “black names” like Maesha and Darius. Some speculate that it is not about race but that names are indicative of social background. Either way, assumptions are being made independent of a person’s capabilities.

So, Muqtasid says, rather than boo-hooing into our hot chocolate or instituting a race-wide policy to name all of our future babies Becky or Daniel Smythe Worthington, III, “it’s best to ask how we can overcome the lingering racial biases in the minds of too many hiring managers.” And how does she propose job-seekers do that?

First, if your name sounds too Black, pretend your name is something else. “For example,” Muqtasid explains, “if your name is ‘Daquan Justin Woods,’ go with ‘Justin Woods’ for now. You can always change it up once you get the job.”

Um, I see. Alright, what’s the next suggestion?

“Never put your address on your resume. [...] It’s not uncommon for hiring managers to note where you live and to make assumptions of your race and status based on zip codes.”

And when the wily application system won’t let me leave out my shameful Harlem address? Muqtasid covers that too. “One of my white friends told me that they use their parents’ address, which is in a very affluent neighborhood.”

So I should find a family member or make a friend who lives at 72nd and Park, and use their address. Check.

The next helpful hint is basically that we should try not to “sound Black” on the phone. Leaving aside what sounding Black specifically entails – is it the related to the depth of our voices? Our particular vocabulary? The speech cadence? – Muqtasid explains, “it is a matter of communicating clearly and articulately so that people can not linguistically profile you.”

Now call me crazy, but none of this advice sounds like it will help you “overcome” anyone’s racial biases. In fact, it seems an awful lot like you’ll actually be surrendering to those very biases by denying essential aspects of yourself — your name, your home — to make ol’ racist hiring manager over here feel more comfortable.

This isn’t to say that Muqtasid’s advice is bad — it’s not. I have no doubt that following her suggestions will make it easier for people with more “ethnic” names to get their resumes looked at, get interviews, and eventually get hired. But then what?

Every time a Daquan Justin Brown pretends his first name is Justin to get the job, he sends the message that the existing racial biases in hiring are perfectly acceptable, and that the people being discriminated against are the ones who need to correct themselves. Things work out for Daquan in the short-run, sure. But when LaTeisha, Juan, and Krishna are out next month or next year searching for their own dream jobs, nothing will have changed.

This is absolutely not a call for any ethnically-named individual to fall on his or her sword, leave their name as-is on a resume, list their address as 2520 Malcolm X Boulevard, and show up to an interview in a dashiki. Times are hard and people should feel free to do what’s necessary to avoid the unemployment line.

But going forward, taking action to blunt the impact of racial biases in hiring should be added to the national agenda. We already have one measure in place that works toward that goal — affirmative action. (And given the National Bureau of Economics’ findings, it’s ludicrous that anyone could believe the time for this program has passed.) But affirmative action shouldn’t be the only anti-bias weapon in our arsenal.

On a national level, we should find out which companies have the most rampant racial bias in their hiring practices, and call them out. Beyond publicly shaming them however, we should insist that they work to really overcome the biases through programs like sensitivity training.

As for individuals, those with the luxury to do so should go ahead and use their real names and addresses, and then go and impress hiring managers with their awesomeness.

With everyone pitching in on a multi-level effort to combat racial bias in hiring, ideally articles like “Finding a Job While Having An ‘Ethnic’ Name” will no longer be necessary.

Because job-hunters with “ethnic” names — or addresses, or accents, or anything — shouldn’t have to play Undercover Black Agent forever.

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Unemployment Rate Hits 26-Year High

College-Educated Blacks Hardest Hit By Unemployment

A NewsOne Exclusive

R. Dwayne Betts was a high school junior and honor student in Maryland’s majority-Black Prince George’s County when a mere 30 minutes of poor decision-making changed the course of his life. Betts and a friend, at a mall parking lot in a nearby white suburb, carjacked a sleeping man at gunpoint, then went on a shopping spree with the victim’s money. Though he’d never been in trouble before this incident, at 16 years old Betts found himself sentenced to nine years in an adult prison.

During the years that followed, Betts’s long-time passion for literature kept him from succumbing entirely to his negative surroundings, and allowed him to emerge from prison ready to complete his education. After his release, Betts attended the University of Maryland on a full academic scholarship, and began devoting his time to non-profit work related to juvenile justice and encouraging youth interest in literature. In his new memoir, A Question of Freedom, Betts tells his story of surviving and coming of age behind bars. In an interview with NewsOne, he talks about the book, life after prison, and his thoughts on justice in America.

NewsOne: What makes an honor student steal a car?
R. Dwayne Betts: I think part of the process of writing the book was figuring out exactly that. It had more to do with my inability to navigate the violence around me in my neighborhood. It was steady exposure to violence, a steady exposure to crime. [Often] we only find out that kids weren’t equipped to deal with things around them when they make mistakes.

NO: At the time, did you think your nine-year prison sentence was fair?
RDB: Then, I was thinking less about justice and more about my own survival. [Now] I don’t necessarily think it was fair, especially because studies and statistics show that it’s easier to rehabilitate a child than an adult. I was sent into a place that’s failed to rehabilitate the adults there. It wasn’t fair in the sense that prison didn’t give me the real opportunity to succeed or change my life. That fact that I’ve done that wasn’t as a consequence of programs I found while in prison.

NO: What made you able to succeed after prison when so many other convicts don’t?
RDB: I’ve always had a passion for literature, and I went in able to read, able to write, able to think critically, and knowing that my ability to do these things could better my life. Most 16-year-olds have no idea what they’re going to do next week, while at 16 I could look and imagine what I was going to do at 21, 23. I’d read a lot of prison memoirs before, and I’m a writer. I’ve been writing poetry for years, writing essays trying to explain my situation to myself. Most people can’t do that – they’re unable to look past short-term, and it’s hard to be disciplined in a place like prison.

NO: How did you end up writing A Question Of Freedom?
RDB: I started a book club in 2007, YoungMenRead, working with boys from middle school to high school to expose them to literature. A reporter from the Washington Post wanted to do a story about the book club, and eventually learned that I’d been in prison. The story ended up the front page of the Washington Post, and I started getting contacted by publishers.

NO: So, the reporter found out that you’d been in prison without you saying so? After your release, were you open with people that you’d been convicted?
RDB: No, I didn’t say I’d been in prison, and it should be that way. Even though prison is the ultimate scarlet letter in our society, I shouldn’t have to walk around with a badge that says, “convicted felon.”

NO: What do you think of the common practice of asking about criminal backgrounds on job applications?
RDB: I believe that for most jobs there’s no reason for an employer to ask about your criminal background. People who aren’t proper candidates usually won’t be hired anyway. Of course, there should be an exception for jobs where people are working with children. But they’re asking at McDonald’s, for low-level management positions, and asking people who have proven themselves in the workforce for 10 and 15 years. For a society that claims to believe in rehabilitation and that people can change, we want to hold people accountable forever. It’s the height of hypocrisy. Even today, as many things as a I’ve done for my community and in my life, a lot of people will still judge me by my prison conviction.

NO: What’s the main focus of A Question of Freedom?
RDB: While prison is a large part of it, isn’t the only central point. Thematically, the book is a lot about literature and coming to manhood.

NO: What kind of impact do you want the book to have?
RDB: My story really isn’t that unique, but a lot of juveniles get sent to prison and people don’t know. My story can inform people about things they might be aware of.

NO: What are you working on right now?
RDB: I’m the national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice, advocating for an end to sending children to prison with adults, and I’m the Program Director for the DC Creative Writing Workshop, which teaches children about the written word. Often, kids get exposed to opportunities about what their lives could’ve been like after they get in trouble. Once I went to prison, everyone wanted to take time to tell me how I ruined my life. [In the workshop] they get to see the power of the written word before they get into a situation where the written word is all they have. It’s really important for us to fund programs like this. These are the kind of programs that don’t generate millions of dollars, but save millions of lives.

——

Betts is currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at the Warren Wilson College, and his collection of poetry, Shahid Reads His Own Palm, is slated for a May 2010 release. His first book, A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison, is on sale now.

The birthers have officially stepped their game up. They have produced that highest form of American advertisement, guaranteed to reach the critically thinking masses: an infomercial.

For just three easy payments of $19.99 (plus $4.95 shipping and handling) you too can buy into the wackjob conspiracy theories of right-wingnuts with the collective IQ of a fruit fly! Call now, this offer won’t last.

Watch the video:

… And that’s the current state of citizens’ political engagement in America.

Next one-way flight to Paris leaves in an hour, y’all.

Diabetes is one of many illnesses that disproportionately affects Black people in America. While 8% of the total population has the disease, more than 14% of African-Americans over the age of 20 are diabetic. Not all cases of the illness are the same: While between 5 and 10% of people diagnosed with diabetes have Type 1 (which generally occurs in childhood), 90 to 95% of have Type 2 – adult-onset diabetes. The good news is that Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. Prevention magazine put together a list of tips to help people ward off diabetes before it takes hold. Here are a few of their suggestions:

Nudge the scale
Shedding even 10 pounds can significantly slash your risk. Even extremely overweight people were 70 percent less likely to develop diabetes when they lost just 5 percent of their weight — even if they didn’t exercise. If you weigh 175 pounds, that’s a little less than 9 pounds! Use a calorie calculator to see how many calories you consume — and how many you need to shave off your diet — if you want to lose a little.

Ditch your car
Walk as much as you can every day. You’ll be healthier — even if you don’t lose any weight. People in a Finnish study who exercised the most — up to 4 hours a week, or about 35 minutes a day — dropped their risk of diabetes by 80 percent, even if they didn’t lose any weight. This pattern holds up in study after study: The famed Nurses’ Health Study, for example, found that women who worked up a sweat more than once a week reduced their risk of developing diabetes by 30 percent. And Chinese researchers determined that people with high blood sugar who engaged in moderate exercise (and made other lifestyle changes) were 40 percent less likely to develop full-blown diabetes. Why is walking so wonderful? Studies show that exercise helps your body utilize the hormone insulin more efficiently by increasing the number of insulin receptors on your cells. Insulin helps blood sugar move into cells, where it needs to go to provide energy and nutrition. Otherwise it just sloshes around in your bloodstream, gumming up blood vessel walls and eventually causing serious health problems.

Be a cereal connoisseur
Selecting the right cereal can help you slim down and steady blood sugar. A higher whole grain intake is also linked to lower rates of breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke — and cereal is one of the best sources of these lifesaving grains, if you know what to shop for.

Some tips: Look for the words high fiber on the box; that ensures at least 5 g per serving. But don’t stop there. Check the label; in some brands, the benefits of fiber are overshadowed by the addition of refined grains, added sugar, or cholesterol-raising fats.

Decode the grains: Where that fiber comes from matters, too, so check the ingredient list to find out exactly what those flakes or squares are made from. Millet, amaranth, quinoa, and oats are always whole grain, but if you don’t see whole in front of wheat, corn, barley, or rice, these grains have been refined and aren’t as healthy.

Watch for hidden sugar: The “total sugars” listing doesn’t distinguish between added and naturally occurring sugars; the best way to tell is scan the ingredients again. The following terms represent added sugars: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sugar, and sucrose. Skip cereals that list any of these within the first three ingredients (which are listed by weight).

Go veggie more often
Consider red meat a treat — not something to eat every day. Women who ate red meat at least 5 times a week had a 29 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate it less than once a week, found a 37,000-woman study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. And eating processed meats such as bacon and hot dogs at least 5 times a week raised type 2 diabetes risk by 43 percent, compared with eating them less than once a week. The culprits? Scientists suspect the cholesterol in red meat and the additives in processed meat are to blame.

Get a perfect night’s rest
There’s a sleep sweet spot when it comes to preventing diabetes. A Yale University study of 1,709 men found that those who regularly got less than 6 hours of shut-eye doubled their diabetes risk; those who slept more than 8 hours tripled their odds. Previous studies have turned up similar findings in women. “When you sleep too little — or too long because of sleep apnea — your nervous system stays on alert,” says lead researcher Klar Yaggi, MD, an assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at Yale. This interferes with hormones that regulate blood sugar. A Columbia University study found that sleeping less than 5 hours also doubled the risk of high blood pressure. For a good night’s rest, avoid caffeine after noon, leave work at the office, and skip late-night TV. Oversleeping may be a sign of depression or a treatable sleep disorder, so talk with your doctor.

Have a blood test
Many diabetes symptoms are silent. A simple blood test can reveal whether sugar levels put you at risk for the condition. People with prediabetes — slightly elevated blood sugar levels, between 100 and 125 mg/dl — often develop a full-blown case within 10 years. Knowing your blood sugar levels are a little high can put you on a track to steadying them — with simple diet and exercise changes — before diabetes sets in and medications may be necessary. Everyone 45 and older should have their blood sugar levels tested. Younger people who have risk factors such as being overweight, a family history, and high cholesterol and blood pressure should ask a doctor about getting tested sooner. If results are normal, get tested again within 3 years. If you have prediabetes, blood sugar should be tested again in 1 to 2 years.

Click here to read more.

[SOURCE: MSNBC]

From awe-inspiring gold medalist athlete on top of the world to traumatized young woman on suicide watch. That’s the journey we just sent Caster Semenya on—a whirlwind three weeks of cruelty, speculation, and outright invasions of privacy.

From the moment the questions surrounding Semenya’s sex became public, writers and pundits collectively tripped over themselves in the rush to weigh in. “Is it sexist that Semenya is being questioned?” many asked. “Would this be happening if she looked and acted more ‘girly’? What about racism? Would this be happening if she were white? Are the questioners right? Is she, or isn’t he?”

Semenya’s story was a goldmine for the 24-hour news cycle, hitting on all the hot-button issues folks love to bloviate about: racism, sexism, beauty. But in the rush to fit the story into a suitably familiar and inflammatory narrative guaranteed to maximize ratings and readership, the important questions were pushed aside. The big scandal here isn’t whether or not Semenya is intersex, or even whether or not the sex testing should have been conducted at all. It’s the fact that without her knowledge or consent, before any official confirmation of sex test results was made, before it was decided whether she would keep her medals, someone felt they had the right to tell the world her personal business, and the world felt it had the right to read, watch, and discuss. At this point, the only thing anyone actually needs to know is this: How and why were this sex inquiry and its results made public, and who is going to lose his or her job over it?

Because, while whoever leaked the elements of this story certainly did the media a huge favor by handing us what many view as a fascinating freak show to carry us through the August news doldrums, they also helped to tear Semenya down bit by bit, story by story. They ripped the clothes off of her and shoved her naked into the glare of media scrutiny, where we all proceeded to point, poke, and attempt to penetrate her with our speculations and such sensitive headlines as “Semenya Has Internal Testes.” Meanwhile, she was left to learn what should have been private details of her own body from the media, with the entire world watching.

As always with our 24-hour news cycle, though, the beat goes on: We’re off Semenya this week because we’re busy lamenting the loss of “civility” in American society, as demonstrated by the latest pair of buffoons: Kanye West and Joe Wilson. There’s no doubt that there’s something very, very wrong with the way people treat each other these days, but these latest outbursts are just the tip of the iceberg. Everything about the Caster Semenya story has been deeply indecent and uncivil, from the way she has been treated and lied to by the people in her life to the way the media and its consumers have picked over her.

I understand that this is the way the world works now—people make their way onto the national stage and we opine on and dissect the details of their lives. But even if we accept that we now live in a culture of instant celebrity and media feeding frenzies, Semenya is just a young athlete who was doing what she loves, and doing it well. She didn’t offer herself up for this particular flavor of scrutiny and shouldn’t have been subjected to it; certainly not before any official test results were released or made known to her. Unless both media and consumers become more critical about who we subject to our unrelenting gaze and what aspects of people’s lives we feel entitled to know, Semenya won’t be the last innocent person we humiliate and traumatize. Since this began, she has dropped out of a race, required psychological counseling, and is now reportedly so distraught that loved ones fear for her life. All of this because someone lacked the common decency to respect her privacy, and because we all lacked the decency to stop staring.

A NewsOne Exclusive

Students and parents at P.S. 242 in Harlem enjoyed a very special start to the year on Wednesday when New York State governor David Paterson spoke in their auditorium in honor of “Dads Take Your Child To School Day.”

The initiative, advocated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, is an extension of a national campaign by the Black Star Project for Black fathers to accompany their children to the first day of school and take greater responsibility for their education. Parents and children of all races were in attendance for the governor’s speech.

“Education is not just for the mothers to be involved in, it’s for the whole family,” said Paterson. He urged fathers and father figures to keep bringing their children to school and stay involved by helping with homework.

Paterson, a Black father himself, also emphasized the need for students to take their studies seriously.

“Whatever your dreams are, whatever you see yourself being when you grow up, you need an education to get there,” he said. “In this terrible economy, it’s a fact that the ones who lost their jobs first are the ones who didn’t get as much education.”

Paterson went on to highlight his administration’s commitment to education, and to ask that students remember to give back to their communities even after they finish with school.

Despite the governor’s current political problems—from dangerously low approval ratings to controversial remarks on race—the crowd welcomed him warmly and his words were received with enthusiastic applause. His speech reflected nationwide attention on education, as it came on the heels of President Barack Obama’s televised address to the country’s schoolchildren.

Parents at P.S. 242, several of whom wore “Dads Take Your Child To School Day” t-shirts, appreciated Paterson’s message and the impact the initiative could potentially have—especially on male students in need of strong and involved role models.

“It’s great, it should be encouraged,” said one father who routinely brings his children to school. “A lot of our Black and Latino boys really need it.”

Writing about Black people is hard. There are more than 40 million of us in the United States alone, each running around with different ideals, interests, occupations, and income levels. With all of that going on, things are bound to get complicated. So how can the American news media—not renowned for its ability to cover nuance and complexity—engage with all of that?

Well, the short answer is that they can’t. Or perhaps won’t. Instead, the vast majority of coverage of Black people sticks to easily digestible narrative themes: Overcoming adversity, committing violent crime, engaging in secret elitism, complaining of real or imagined victimization by The Man, allowing the family unit to disintegrate, and so on—these are the types of Black people stories we’ve come to know and love.

And when some subset of people doesn’t fit into one of these pre-set narratives? Well, they get the Loch Ness monster treatment: Some kooky blog or other disreputable source might rant and rave about their existence and importance, but you won’t find CNN or the New York Times taking much notice. But we true believers, we know they’re out there. And so I present without further ado, 7 Groups Of People The Media Pretends Don’t Exist:

The Black Middle Class
Before anyone pipes up with a reference to The Cosby Show, try to remember that it ended more than 15 years ago. And the Obamas don’t count either—there’s nothing “middle class” about being the President of the United States. So what we’re ultimately left with is a case study in the coverage of extremes. CNN’s Black in America 2 offered a prime example of this in its choices of subjects: They showed the obligatory uplifting story of poor inner-city children being inspired to achieve their dreams, and later shifted gears to offer a peek into the world of the Black elite—mansions and debutante balls for all. Black families that fall squarely in between these two ends of the spectrum remain invisible.

Gay Black People
Did you hear? Bible-thumping, Obama-loving, and gay-hating blacks put the nail in the coffin of gay marriage in California. Yes sirree, according to coverage of Proposition 8 in several mainstream media outlets, all these black folks are very socially conservative and don’t hold with that same-sex relationship nonsense. Oh, unless they’re closeted gangsters on the down low or something, creeping behind the backs of their wives. Other than that, nope—no healthy, happy, non-dysfunctional gay or lesbian relationships among African-Americans. Move it along folks, nothing to see here.

Missing Persons Who Aren’t White And Female
Because only little white girls disappear, apparently. If you’re male, or a person of color—or to be honest, even just a brunette—and you have the misfortune of being kidnapped or otherwise going missing, good luck ever being seen or heard from again.

Non-Christian Black People
To hear the mainstream media tell it, black people are all just a-wavin’ our fans and catchin’ the Holy Ghost in the pews, like extras in a Tyler Perry movie. That’s why any politician who wants the black vote must give adequate attention to The Black Church by showing up at a Christian service or two. There are, of course, Black adherents to other faiths, not to mention (horrors!) Black atheists and agnostics. In fact, a CBS survey found that at least one-third of American Muslims are Black! But as usual, the compulsion to paint Black people as a monolith, combined with a dash of historical nostalgia—(The Civil Rights movement was centered in churches! Their strong faith in Jesus carried them through slavery!)—keeps coverage of Black people and religion safely insulated from such nuance.

Educated, Married Black Women
If the constant hysterical repetition of the scary statistics is to be believed, you’re about as likely to run into a happily married, educated Black woman with children as you are to be handed a pot of tax-free gold by a leprechaun riding on the back of a unicorn. The most recent incarnation of the “Black women with degrees are condemned to spinsterhood” article appeared on MSNBC earlier this month. It helpfully explained that “many” Black women with advanced degrees remain unmarried—no specific number, just the ominous “many.” The piece then went on to tell that 38 percent of highly educated Black women born between 1961 and 1970 are childless. The other way to say that statistic, of course, is that 62 percent of those highly educated Black women do have children. But I’m guessing a headline like “A Solid Majority Of Highly Educated Black Women Will Marry and Have Children” just wouldn’t get as many clicks, or be as fun to recycle and reprint several times a year.

Africans Who Are Not Poor, Starving, and Living in Small Villages
Did you know that nearly 40 percent of people on the African continent live in urban areas? That means cities, like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. No? Of course you didn’t. How could you, when most American news coverage of African countries looks like a bunch of extended “Save the Children” commercials?

Black Police Officers
No surprise here—the existence of black police officers is simply inconvenient, from a narrative standpoint. How else but by ignoring the existence of minority law enforcement officials could media outlets continue to crank out new spins on the old classic “Black Folks Have Historically Fraught Relationship With The (Racist) Cops” story? Don’t believe me? Take a look at this photo, from the recent racial dust-up surrounding the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.:

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is, in fact, a black man wearing a police uniform in the bottom right corner of the photo. But the mainstream media pulled a Beyonce and directed everyone’s attention to the left, to the left, so that they could continue with their regularly scheduled programming.

Maybe someday the mainstream media will catch on and start covering these groups in a meaningful way. But until then, keep an eye out for these characters lurking in the background of the usual stories, hoping to be heard. Because seemingly imaginary people are people too.

As part of his educational platform, President Obama has pledged government support that will help make the U.S. college graduation rate the highest in the world by 2020. And with the beginning of another school year approaching, millions of students throughout the country are preparing to do their part in working toward that admirable goal. But for many, especially in the African-American community, lack of information about how to achieve the dream of attending college holds people back. In the interest of giving college-minded students the tools to achieve their goal, below is a roadmap to college, beginning at the first year of high school.

9th graders – It may seem too early to be thinking about it, but four years of high school are over in a flash, and keeping the goal in mind from the start is the best way to make sure you’re ready when the time comes to apply. Here are the key things you need to do over the next four years:

FRESHMAN YEAR

Create a tentative 4-year plan of the classes you want take in high school. As you do this, it’s a good idea to take a peek at the admissions requirements of colleges you think you may eventually be interested in—many of them want to see that you’ve taken a specific number of years of math, English, science, and a foreign language. Having that information early can save you from scrambling and disappointment come application time. Creating a plan of study can also be a great way to get an early sense of what your school offers in relation to your academic goals, interests, and strengths.

Get used to challenging yourself academically. If your school has honors or AP classes available, and you—in consultation with your parents and guidance counselor—feel that you can do well in them, take them! Even if you aren’t quite ready to tackle honors or AP classes, plan to take classes at the highest level you can excel in. Colleges will be pleased to see that you made the most of whatever your school had to offer.

Get involved. Find a few activities that you enjoy—anything from chess club to basketball, marching band to volunteering. Participating in different clubs and sports can be a great way to make friends and learn more about your interests and what you’re good at outside the classroom.

SOPHOMORE YEAR

Do well in your classes. When looking at your grades, some colleges take a more lenient attitude toward your performance in the first year of high school. But once you reach your sophomore year, each and every grade absolutely counts, so it’s crucial to begin to take your studies seriously if you haven’t already. If you find yourself running into academic trouble, don’t hesitate to seek out help—speak your teachers or guidance counselor.

Stay involved. Have you found a few extracurricular clubs or sports you like yet? It’s great to have tons of interests, but maybe by this year you’ve found one or two activities in particular that you want to devote most of your time to. If you’ve found a niche, college admissions officers will certainly appreciate your consistency. If not, don’t worry! Well-rounded students who are part of many different clubs or teams are also looked upon very favorably. Also, don’t be concerned if you aren’t able to devote that much time to extracurriculars because you have a job outside of school—colleges are always glad to see students who can handle responsibility.

JUNIOR YEAR

Take the PSAT (again). For 11th grade students, the PSAT is not only great practice for the SAT—it’s the official National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Based on your score, the test can put you in the running for the National Merit Scholarship, which helps cover some of the cost of attending college. For students who identify themselves as Black on the test and indicate their interest in being considered, the your PSAT score also enters you into the National Achievement Scholarship competition.

Get even more involved. By this point in your high school career, hopefully you’ve found and dedicated yourself to the extracurricular activities that interest you. If you have, consider making more of a commitment to your activities by becoming an executive board member of a club or two, or becoming a sports team captain. College admissions officers greatly value this sort of leadership and initiative.

Prepare for and take the real SAT. Many students wait until the fall of their senior year to take the SAT, but taking the test earlier gives you the opportunity to try again later if you’re unsatisfied with your score. The SAT test is the primary standardized test used in college admissions, and assesses students on their math, writing, and critical reading skills. It is administered several times each year, in October, November, December, January, March, May, and June. Once you feel you’ve spent enough time preparing for the test, either by studying on your own with SAT books or taking a course, register for the date of your choice. The cost is $45, but don’t let that deter you—fee waivers are available for students who otherwise could not afford to take the test. [Note: You can opt to take the ACT college entrance test rather than the SAT. The ACT assesses students’ abilities in math, reading, science reasoning, and writing. While this test is more widely used in the Southern and Midwestern U.S., most colleges throughout the country accept it. Deciding which test to take is a matter of your own preference and what’s available in your area.]

Start seriously looking at colleges. College admissions is a two-way street: You’ll apply to schools and hope to be accepted, but you should also aim to find a school that fits your goals, interests, and personality. First, take a realistic look at your high school grades so far, your SAT scores, and your extracurricular involvement, and do some research to find out what schools students with similar profiles typically get into. Then take some time to think about what you’re looking for in a college: 2 or 4 years, location, student body size, academic programs, available sports and clubs, etc. Hopefully by now you’ve started receiving brochures and other mailings from schools who are interested in you—make sure to look them over. Also speak to your guidance counselor, and head to the bookstore, your local library, and online to learn more about different schools.

If possible, visit colleges you’re interested in applying to. Whether you go with your parents or on a college tour with other students, campus visits give you a chance to get a feel for the schools, meet students, sit in on classes and more. [Note: As you research schools, take note of their admissions requirements—some schools will want you to take one or more SAT Subject Tests, which assess your knowledge of different areas you’ve studied in school such as languages, science or history. While you may be required to take these tests for college admissions, the schools typically leave it up to you which subjects to choose. If schools you’re interested in require these tests, plan to get them done by early in the fall of your senior year. Each test is an hour long, so you can take up to three in one sitting.]

Begin scholarship research. Scholarship money doesn’t always come directly from schools. There are independent scholarship programs throughout the country that can help students pay for college. These programs select recipients based on academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, or any number of other factors. Fastweb.com is a great place to start searching for scholarships you may qualify for. Prominent African-American organizations like the NAACP and the National Urban League also have well-known scholarship programs. Once you identify which ones you’d like to compete for, make a note of the application deadlines so you’ll be prepared when the time comes.

SENIOR YEAR

Finish up any standardized testing. If necessary, take the SAT and any SAT Subject Tests as early in the fall as you can. Getting them out of the way once and for all will free up your time and energy for getting to work on applications.

Request recommendation letters early. Most college applications won’t be due until December or later, but that’s no reason to delay asking for recommendation letters. You’ll generally need two or three. As soon as the school year begins (as in, no later than September), seek out teachers you have good relationships with and in whose classes you excelled. If you beat the late fall rush of recommendation requests, your teachers will have more time to devote to crafting a glowing letter, and getting it back to you in plenty of time.

Build a final college list and apply. Select the schools you want to apply to, working from the bottom upward. You should aim to have two or three “safety” schools—schools where your grades, scores, and extracurricular accomplishments are well above average, so you know for sure you’ll get in. Make sure your safety schools are places you’d actually want to go, if those were your only options! After safety schools, choose a few “target” schools, colleges where you fit the average profile and have a more or less reasonable chance of being accepted. Finally, choose a few “reach” schools—places that usually take students with grades and test scores that are above yours, but where you just might get lucky.

If there’s a school you are particularly interested in attending, check their website to see if they have an early application program through which you’d receive a decision from them in December or January instead of April. Some early application programs require that you attend the school if accepted, while others are non-binding. When you’ve assembled a list of places you’ll apply, start working on your essays. Don’t hesitate to ask friends, family, and trusted teachers for feedback on this important part of your application. Throughout the application process, keep in contact with your guidance counselor to ensure that all the necessary materials make it to the colleges you’re applying to. Good luck!

Apply for scholarships and financial aid. Remember all those scholarships you discovered in your research last year? Well it’s time to apply! Just as important, make sure to apply for financial aid from each of the colleges you apply to by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the CSS profile with your parents. This will ensure that you’re able to receive loans and grants to help you finance your college education.

Congratulations! You’ve done it! Your applications have been sent off in time, so now it’s time to wait and watch the acceptances roll in. You’ve invested the time and the effort, and have given yourself the wonderful opportunity to pursue higher education and all the benefits that come with it. Soon you’ll be off to college—good luck!

Here are a few books and websites that can help you build a list of schools to apply to, prepare for the SAT, and search for scholarships:

Fiske Guide to Colleges 2010

Colleges That Change Lives

The Best 371 Colleges, 2010 Edition

The Complete Book of Colleges

PrincetonReview.com

CollegeConfidential.com

The Ultimate Scholarship Book

Scholarships.com

CollegeBoard.com

FastWeb.com

A NewsOne Exclusive

Lisa Harris knows how to put together a healthy, balanced dinner. Baked salmon alongside brown rice, served with a few broccoli florets – that’s the kind of meal she prefers to make for her family. But since moving to the South Bronx from California six years ago, it’s been a constant struggle for the mother of two young boys –2 and 4 years old – to find stores close to home that sell the ingredients she needs.

Harris lives in the Patterson housing projects in Mott Haven, a small neighborhood in the southernmost part of the Bronx. Mott Haven and the surrounding communities have been identified by the New York City Planning Department as areas suffering from a severe shortage of supermarkets, according to a report released last October.

As one of the United States’ most well known predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, the South Bronx provides a stark snapshot of the crisis in the availability of healthy foods for minorities nationwide.

With 82,000 residents and 12 supermarkets, the South Bronx has 22,000 more people than the whiter and wealthier Upper West Side—but less than half as many groceries, according to city planning department data and maps.

Absence of supermarkets contributes to area health troubles

But Mott Haven residents like Harris didn’t need a map to tell them that something was wrong.

“There’s nothing around here,” she said. “It’s really terrible how you go like 40 blocks downtown, and there everything is.”

But more than merely inconveniencing residents—who often have to leave the area altogether to find decent produce—the scarcity of healthy food is resulting in dire health consequences for the neighborhood. Two-thirds of adults in the South Bronx are overweight, compared with one-half citywide; one in four is obese, compared with one in five citywide; and 17 percent have diabetes, compared with 10 percent citywide, according to the NYC Department of Health.

What Mott Haven lacks in supermarkets, it makes up in fast food restaurants and bodegas. Standing at the center of the HUB, the South Bronx’s major shopping area, one is surrounded on all sides by fast food restaurants. Up ahead on Third Avenue is a McDonalds, while off to the west on 149th Street sits a Kentucky Fried Chicken. A glance in the opposite direction will yield a Subway sandwich shop.

Meanwhile, it’s not unusual to see two or three bodegas on the same block. Thanks to the dearth of supermarkets, these small shops are where residents purchase most of their groceries, according to the South Bronx District Public Health Office (DPHO). But they are not typically the best places to find fresh, quality fruits and vegetables. A recent study found that only 18% of bodegas in minority neighborhoods carried a selection of healthy foods.

Entering one small shop at 151st and Melrose, for example, shoppers are greeted by a rack of tempting but unhealthy treats like Hostess Pound Cakes and fried pork skins. But for a single cardboard box of bananas sitting on the floor beside the snack foods, the only fruits and vegetables shoppers will find here are in cans. In bodegas all around Mott Haven, the selection is more or less the same.

Kids suffering the consequences

Children in the area, even more than their parents, are hit hard by the poor access to healthy food. Nearly half of those in South Bronx Head Start pre-school programs identified as overweight by the health department.

Harris brings her sons to the Head Start at the Mott Haven community center. While they don’t struggle with their weight, plenty of others in the program do, and administrators who interact with parents are certain that the limited food shopping options contribute to the problem.

Susan Ortega, the health and nutrition director for Mott Haven Head Start, has noticed the increasing numbers of overweight kids, and how it affects their lives.

“You see them struggle a little more, especially when it comes to running,” she said.

So, she meets with the parents of overweight children one-on-one, to get an idea of what they’re up against and to give them strategies on how to make healthy eating a part of their kids’ lives. More often than not, parents complain that healthy foods are simply hard to find.

“When you go [to the grocery store] here, you’re not going to see the things you’d see in a different neighborhood. Everything is fats, you don’t see organic, or whole foods,” Ortega says.

And for parents of children in Head Start programs, which are strictly for low-income families, even when they can find healthy options, the prices can be prohibitive. Ortega encourages them to buy items when they’re on sale, but even that isn’t necessarily a solution if produce and healthy items aren’t what’s being given price reductions.

For Harris, the items on sale are precisely what she doesn’t want.

“It’s all the foods that will make you fat that are always on sale. The stuff with the most sugar, the most sodium, the most trans-fats,” Harris says. “You can get four packs of hot dogs for $5.”

Head Start teacher Julie Perkins believes that part of the problem may also be cultural, both in terms of the purchasing decisions parents in the area make, and in what the stores make available. Mott Haven is nearly three-quarters Hispanic, according to the 2000 census, and in many Hispanic cultures white or yellow rice is a staple food, and much of the meat is fried. So, Perkins says, parents buy and feed the kids traditional foods.

Ortega agrees. “What they cook, it’s too many carbs, a lot of rice and breads,” she says.

Plenty of healthy choices, but no customers?

She thinks that lack of customer demand plays a role in the absence of fresh produce in many of the neighborhood bodegas, and the resulting health consequences.

“I don’t blame [store owners] that this is happening,” Ortega says. “Part of it is that this is what the community is asking for, so they just get what’s going to sell.”

Juan Santana, who owns one of the few bodegas in the area that has a wide selection of fresh produce, corroborates Ortega’s theory. Outside his store on Melrose Avenue, there are rows of oranges, apples, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables that would rival any Manhattan grocery store. But browsing customers are scarce, he says. And continuing to provide produce for customers who seem uninterested can be difficult.

“It’s expensive,” Santana says. “People are buying more bread and rice, and cookies and candy.”

Searching far and wide for healthy options — very far

Still, plenty of residents say they would take greater advantage of nearby healthy shopping options if given the opportunity. But even among the few grocery stores that are close, residents complain that the food quality is poor. One even claimed to have bought bread, only to find the edges nibbled off by rats. As a result, some have given up shopping in Mott Haven almost altogether.

Elaine Rivera, who lives in the Mott Haven housing projects, regularly drives down to the Pathmark at 125th Street in Harlem. It’s a bit out of her way, she says, but the larger selection and freshness of the produce makes the trip worth it.

Rose Melton, who has a 4-year-old daughter in the Head Start program, journeys even farther: to the Fort Hamilton military base in Brooklyn, more than a 30-minute drive away. She lives in the Patterson projects, like Harris, and her husband is in the military. She never buys substantial amounts of groceries in her neighborhood if she can avoid it, opting instead to only stop by the local C-Town Supermarket or bodega for things like juice, or snack items that are on sale.

As for Harris, her supermarket of choice is the Trader Joe’s in Union Square, a 35-minute ride on the Number 5 subway line. But she doesn’t have the time to make the trip more than once every few months.

“You have to make due with what you have in the neighborhood,” she says. “You have to be savvy. I can’t go to one place and get all my meat, my bread, and my vegetables.”

So she pieces together what she can from the bodegas and C-Town, Western Beef and Pioneer supermarkets in the area, getting her meats from one place, her starches from another, and her produce from yet another, always in search of the best quality.

For many residents, the only time that finding healthy and high-quality food becomes easier is during the summer and early fall, when a number of farmer’s markets open in the neighborhood. Harris has long been a shopper at the markets, and naturally finds them more convenient than trekking down to Manhattan.

“Health Bucks” and farmers markets: temporary fixes to an long-term problem?

The city government, recognizing the scarcity of fresh produce in the South Bronx and other parts of the city, has taken steps to make shopping at the markets more affordable. The South Bronx Public Health office distributes Health Bucks, $2 coupons redeemable for fruit or vegetables from farmers markets, through the food stamps program, community groups, and the markets themselves. Last year they distributed 7,000 Health Bucks, and 70 percent were redeemed at the markets, suggesting that they are helping to alleviate part of residents’ problem accessing healthy food.

Marian Freinberg, a member of For A Better Bronx, an organization that has run a farmers market on 138th Street since 2007, believes that the relative success of the Health Bucks program proves that there is a real desire for healthier food in Mott Haven, but that price and lack of proximity are hindering residents.

“There’s this mythology of, ‘Well, the reason why there’s not more [fresh produce] is that people in these neighborhoods are used to eating KFC, so people want the KFC, and that’s why they’re not getting the broccoli,’” Freinberg says “But when you have the Health Bucks, people are lined up to buy carrots and apples. So it shows that a lot of this issue is one of affordability rather than of taste.”

But as helpful as the farmer’s markets can be, when they close up for the winter in mid- to late-November, residents find themselves back at square one. In the entire borough, not a single farmers market remains open year-round.

The promise of more supermarkets to come, a decade away

Residents’ struggle is not lost on city government, and plans are in the works to make it easier for grocery stores to come to Mott Haven. Efforts to re-zone the Lower Concourse, the stretch of Grand Concourse that runs up the western edge of Mott Haven, have been ongoing for nearly three years, according to the city-planning department.

The plan, which hopes to encourage the building of more middle-income residences in the area, would eliminate the requirement for food stores of more than 10,000 square feet to apply for special permits to set up shop in the area. The hope is that removing that application process, which the office admits is “time-consuming and expensive,” would encourage more supermarkets to come to the underserved area.

However, as the plan is still in the review stage, and wouldn’t be approved until mid- to late-2009 at the earliest, it offers little help to residents now. In fact, those at the city planning office say it could be as long as 10 years before any building in the Lower Concourse area begins, supermarket-related or otherwise.

Since the encouragement to build more supermarkets is just one part of the Lower Concourse Rezoning plan, some feel that it’s more a symptom of the gentrification that has slowly begun in Mott Haven than of genuine governmental concern for the health of the neighborhood’s lower-income Black and Latino residents.

“Why does it have to be that only when white people come, we see changes?” asked Lisa Harris. “Why can’t we get good food now?”

——

Also, check out:

OPINION: Blacks Need Health Food As Much As Health Care

[8:00] Welcome back to NewsOne’s liveblog of CNN’s Black in America 2. Turn on CNN now, watch with us, and refresh this page every few minutes for updates. Chime in with your thoughts in the comments!

[8:03] Well here’s something novel (for television) – two involved, dedicated, and seemingly stable Black parents! Haven’t seen much of that since The Cosby Show.

[8:04] Spoke too soon, apparently the marriage is falling apart.

[8:06] … And here we go with the depressing, familiarly scary marriage statistics. It’s nice to see someone taking a solution-based approach though.

[8:07] Taking the journey along with a Black couple trying to save their marriage – this looks intriguing, and is certainly a fresh angle to take on the “Black Marriage Crisis.”

[8:09] The shots of the husband and wife side-by-side, talking to Soledad about their problems, looks like a scene from a Black “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

[8:16] Disagreements over how to raise children are likely a common problem in marriages of people of all races. It’s unfortunate that the issue still seems to be affecting this couple, given that their children are grown.

[8:20] “National Black Marriage Day”? This is the first I’ve heard of such a holiday.

[8:25] Comment received via email: “This is a conflation of the marriage problem in Black America with just regular marital problems.”

[8:28] “Another Black marriage saved,” indeed. But what about all the Black marriages that never happen? It would’ve been interesting to see that addressed in a way more meaningful than just rattling off the usual statistics.

[8:34] Black women are twice as likely to get this super-aggressive form of breast cancer, “triple-negative breast cancer”? We just can’t win, can we?

[8:39] According the the preview of what’s upcoming, there’s a secret cure for breast cancer hidden in Africa somewhere, just waiting to be discovered! Who knew? … Or maybe CNN just really likes having a Back-to-the-Motherland moment at least once per episode.

[8:48] Comment received via email: “I shouldn’t turn on ‘Black in America’ and see another country.”

[8:52] It would’ve been nice to follow up that extremely frightening cancer segment with some information about how Black women can keep an eye on our health. No sense scaring people without any constructive conclusion.

[8:56] I have a sneaking suspicion that this young man’s plans for a better life post-prison are going to be thwarted.

[9:02] From Twitter: “African Americans portrayed in Black in America 2 are either the poorest of the poor or rich kids going to a deb. ball – missing most in between.”

[9:05] So Chris has quit his job “to find another job” … this looks promising.

[9:07] Comment received via email, in response to the news that Chris’s family is living off of Ramen noodles: “… But my dude has a bluetooth in his ear?”

[9:10] It’s unusual to see men in the prison system presented in such a sympathetic light.

[9:16] So that’s it for Chris and the prison system? We’re done there? The transitions in this episode seem a bit abrupt.

[9:18] Soledad is really going hard with the questions tonight. First she asked Dr. Newman if her patient would be alive in 2 or 5 years, now she asks this gentleman if he thinks death is a better option for him than life.

[9:29] … And here’s the Harlem Children’s Zone. The organization gets a lot of press, but such genuine success is a rare find.

[9:34] Tackling the achievement gap, obesity, AND sending kids to Disney World. The Harlem Children’s Zone has a whole lot going on.

[9:40] “Beating white Hollywood at its own game” … Is that what people call what Tyler Perry is doing?

[9:50] Perry’s story is certainly inspiring, but CNN’s time could have been better spent spotlighting more “regular people” instead of a celebrity. It isn’t as if we’ve never heard his story before.

[9:56] It’s great to see this show acknowledging some of the tension that exists around Tyler Perry’s work. Showing that nuance exists in the supposedly monolithic Black community is always positive.

[10:00] That’s for NewsOne’s liveblog of CNN’s Black in America 2. We hope you enjoyed watching with us.

[9:00] Welcome to NewsOne’s liveblog of CNN’s Black in America 2. Turn on CNN now, watch with us, and refresh this page every few minutes for updates. Chime in with your thoughts in the comments!

[9:03] Things are off to a positive start with two kids making the “right choices” in wrong-choice-littered Bushwick, with the help of Malaak Rock (Chris Rock’s wife).

[9:04] Not five minutes in and we’ve already trotted out the Hoop Dreams stereotype. Nice.

[9:11] The kids are off to South Africa after the break. Is anyone else a bit uncomfortable with the old “take ‘em to Africa to show ‘em real misfortune” trope?

[9:19] South Africa: 1 out of 5 adults infected, and 1.4 million children orphaned by AIDS. Staggering numbers indeed.

[9:21] This certainly paints a stark picture of the meaningful differences between Black poverty at home in the U.S., and poverty abroad.

[9:25] Comment received via email from Amara Omeokwe, Bronx, NY: “I know the kids are learning a lot, but I get upset when people just go over [to Africa] and throw money/supplies at these impoverished people. They become so “enlightened,” But those people will be right back to suffering in 2 months when the supplies run out. So who really benefits?” Who, indeed.

[9:27] A number of people have pointed out that for a show that’s called “Black in America,” we’re spending an awful lot of time in Africa. Might that mean CNN is trying to emphasize the connectedness of Black people the world over, or are they constructing American Blackness in opposition to what they show in Africa? Or neither? Food for thought.

[9:28] After witnessing the bit just now with the South Africans eating worms, and the Black Americans gagging, looks like CNN is veering (rather stereotypically) in the direction of emphasizing the opposition.

[9:32] And … they followed up the worm-eating with a safari scene. CNN really went for the gold with this portrayal of South Africa, didn’t they?

[9:41] Looks like Malaak has the right idea, encouraging them toward college and expressing concern about their grades.

[9:43] This might seem a bit pessimistic, but what made anyone think a trip to South Africa would change these kids’ grades? The two things aren’t really related.

[9:48] From what little I saw of the upcoming principal in the preview, I can already tell: I’m really going to like this guy.

[9:56] A near 0% drop-out rate, and 100% of kids who graduate from Capital Prep go to college. Those are the kind of results we need to see for Black children. And it’s all happening under the guidance of this principal, Steve Perry. Not a celebrity, not a rich person. Just a dedicated, regular guy doing his job. Amazing.

[10:00] Comment received via email from Emi Briggs, San Jose, CA: “I love when people take innovative approaches to education, and use the resources of the community.”

[10:05] He drives kids to school! He is really dedicated.

[10:11] Comment received via email from Natasha Alford, Stamford, CT: “The lack of parental involvement is shameful.  What else can you possibly be doing if you’re not taking care of your own children?…Oh that’s right, all the other problems plaguing the black community lie drug addiction and prison.  Sad cycle …”

[10:12] It’s amazing to see how much this young woman, Glorius, and her family, have overcome.

[10:15] Comment from blackplanet.com member UncleTom30: “This show is nothing more than an artificial, superficial, and pretentious profile of the life of a minority of affluent, prominent, and condescending negros who take more than they give, and what they give is merely a meager portion of what they got from exploiting the plight and blight of black life in predominently white America.”

[10:25] From Twitter: “I hope tomorrow Soledad shows some normal black people. Not super rich. Not super poor. Just normal.”

[10:28] It’s nice to see some class diversity in this installment of Black in America. For a second it looked like they were going paint the entire Black experience as one big “up-from-poverty” story.

[10:30] Dr. Miles on upper-class Black Americans: “We’re invisible because we don’t fit the stereotype.” Hopefully a few people watching CNN will have their eyes opened.

[10:33] A gem from Dr. Miles on how to get invited to the Tuxedo Ball: “You don’t have to be wealthy, … you just have to be part of the group.” Rich Black folks: just like other rich people! Elitism looks the same in every color.

[10:43] The struggles of Black people in corporate America – there’s a story you really don’t see every day. Good job, CNN.

[10:52] From Twitter: “Black In America” should be renamed “What CNN thinks America wants to see about Blacks … in America.”

[10:55] This MLT program sounds like a great opportunity for young Black professionals. Hopefully more people will become aware of it after viewing this show.

[11:00] That’s it for tonight’s liveblog of CNN Black in America 2. I hope you enjoyed watching and commenting along with NewsOne. Tune in tomorrow night for our liveblog of the second half of the show. Goodnight!

US Weekly has released never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire as he filmed a 1984 Pepsi commercial. It shows Jackson completing a successful first take of the commercial, with the pyrotechnics behind him going off as planned. On the sixth take, things go awry: the fireworks go off early, and the sparks visibly ignite on his head. Jackson doesn’t appear to notice that his head is engulfed in flames until people crowd around him attempting to smother the fire. Calling it “How Michael Jackson’s Pill Addiction Began,” US reports that Jackson was never the same after the incident. This likely won’t be the last exclusive scoop to come tumbling out of Jackson’s past in the wake of his death. Sadly, for the King of Pop, it appears resting in peace isn’t an option.

The video is below. Watch at your own risk – it isn’t pretty.

At a press conference today, Joe Jackson took a few moments to discuss funeral arrangements for Michael, thank the fans for their support, and … plug his new record label. (He probably just wanted to make sure those of us who didn’t hear about it during his red carpet appearance at the BET Awards last night didn’t miss out.) Take a look, below:

Is President Obama becoming the Drake of U.S. politics – flooding the excessively eager media with his image? Bill Maher seems to think so. Maher wrote in a June 17 editorial in the LA Times:

“President Obama should just join the cast of ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!’ It’s not that far fetched; he’s been on everything else. I’m still a fan, but there’s a fine line between being transparent and being overexposed. Every time you turn on the TV, there’s Obama. He’s getting a puppy! He’s eating a cheeseburger with Joe Biden! He’s taking the wife to Broadway and Paris — this is the best season of “The Bachelor” yet! [...] Remember during the campaign when John McCain attacked Obama for acting like a celebrity and we all laughed at the grumpy old shellshocked fool? Well, it turns out he was right.”

Do Maher and McCain have a point? Let’s take a look at his week in review. In the past seven days, Mr. President…

… proposed an overhaul of the U.S. financial system.

… wrote a super sweet (and super public) reflection on fatherhood.

… made the case for universal health care.

… swatted a fly.

… got into trouble with PETA for his cruelty to the aforementioned fly.

… extended some benefits for federal employees’ same-sex partners.

… got hated on by the ghost of presidencies past, and by plain old racists.

Well, he’s definitely been busy. What do you think?  Does he need to get back into the Oval Office and get to work, or is there no such thing as too much Obama?

Last week’s shooting of an alleged marijuana-dealer at Harvard has exposed the elite university’s long-standing underground drug trade to the harsh light of day.

Justin Cosby — the 21-year-old victim of a May 18 murder believed to be an attempted robbery gone awry — is said to have been selling drugs to students. Two Harvard seniors, both women, have been connected with the incident.

Brittany Smith, 22, is the girlfriend of alleged shooter Jabrai J. Copney, 20. Chanequa Campbell, 21, is alleged to be connected to both Cosby and Copney. The two other alleged assailants have yet to be found.

On an otherwise quiet campus, this violent drug-related crime and the alleged student involvement has publically bared what many at the college have been aware of for years:

“Everyone’s like, ‘What was this random guy doing on campus?’ It’s because Harvard students are buying drugs,” says a recent graduate, who requested anonymity. “There are people on campus who are supporting this operation.”

Black Female Student Singled Out

According to this graduate and others, Campbell was long rumored to be a part of that scene.

“It was something that was whispered about on campus months before the shooting — that she sold cocaine, ecstasy, hard drugs,” says the source.

While Brittany Smith will still graduate in June, Chanequa Campbell, a sociology concentrator from Brooklyn who received National Merit Scholarship, as well as scholarships from The New York Times, Coca-Cola, and Goldman Sachs, has been banned from campus.

Campbell is suspected of being the link between Cosby, the victim and alleged marijuana dealer, and Copney, who has been charged with the shooting. Authorities also said someone gave Copney a Harvard access card, which allowed him to enter the Kirkland House dormitory, where the shooting took place.

Campbell states she wasn’t involved in last week’s events and is being wrongfully linked to the murder. She denies selling drugs to students, and says that it was not her card that Copney used to enter the dorm. Campbell told the Boston Globe in a telephone interview: “I do believe I am being singled out. . . . The honest answer to that is that I’m black and I’m poor and I’m from New York and I walk a certain way and I keep my clothes a certain way. . . . It’s something that labels me as different from everyone else.”

This isn’t the first time the university has been accused of racial profiling. Since the murder, black students have reported receiving extra scrutiny.

“Lately I’ve definitely been getting some interesting looks from white people, security guards and other security personnel,” said Malcolm Rivers, a black Harvard student and classmate of the Campbell and Smith.

“As a black man on campus, you understand that that’s part of the territory.”

Rivers went on to say that while black female students like Campbell and Smith might not be as overtly looked upon with suspicion, that they might face a different kind of stereotyping in the wake of the murder.

“People are going to be like, ‘These girls brought the hood with them,’” Rivers said.

Bringing The Streets To The Top Schools

Both Smith and Campbell are New York City natives, hailing from Harlem and Brooklyn respectively.

Campbell is an alumni of the Prep for Prep program, which takes students from tri-state area public schools and prepares them to attend elite private and boarding schools. The students in Prep are generally from poor families, and come from low-income neighborhoods in places like the Bronx and Brooklyn. After Prep for Prep, most of these students end up at the best colleges and universities—if not Ivy League, then certainly first tier. Prep for Prep works to prepare students not just academically, but also mentally and emotionally for the adjustment in environment. But leaving behind past lives, especially the pervasive drug culture, sometimes proves problematic.

“In these elite schools, there are organized activities that are not good. There are drugs and alcohol present. So it’s possible to continue whatever you were doing in the ‘hood, or even pick it up if you weren’t exposed to it,” says a source within Prep for Prep.

“Sometimes it’s not even the case that it’s bringing the ‘hood with you, so much as it’s you finding what you were exposed to in your neighborhood in a different environment,” the source continues.

“This Is Not The Wire”

Indeed, students at Harvard who sought marijuana or, for those who could afford it, harder drugs like cocaine,  weren’t likely to run into any problems getting it. Students from all socioeconomic backgrounds , from athletes and elite social club members, to pre-law students and student newspaper reporters, have been known to indulge without too much concern for the consequences.

“People thought, ‘This is not The Wire. Guns are not going to come out. There aren’t going to be repercussions,” says a current student, who also asked for anonymity.

But the events of last week brought home the stark reality of the consequences of welcoming illegal drugs into the ivy gates: a young life extinguished, potential prison time, reputations called into question, and an academic career cut short.

The dean of Harvard College, Evelynn Hammonds, sent a letter to the university community last week pledging to address the situation that led to the shooting.

“I intend to work with student leaders and others to address the nature and risks of illicit drug use on campus, to underscore the importance of safety and security practices for the entire College community, and to examine the adequacy of existing policies relating to student life,” she wrote.

With finals completed and this year’s commencement ceremonies only a week away, the effects of any efforts to reform the campus drug culture will likely remain to be seen until this fall.

A NewsOne Exclusive

Last week’s shooting of an alleged marijuana-dealer at Harvard has exposed the elite university’s long-standing underground drug trade to the harsh light of day.

Justin Cosby — the 21-year-old victim of a May 18 murder believed to be an attempted robbery gone awry — is said to have been selling drugs to students. Two Harvard seniors, both women, have been connected with the incident.

Brittany Smith, 22, is the girlfriend of alleged shooter Jabrai J. Copney, 20. Chanequa Campbell, 21, is alleged to be connected to both Cosby and Copney. The two other alleged assailants have yet to be found.

On an otherwise quiet campus, this violent drug-related crime and the alleged student involvement has publicly bared what many at the college have been aware of for years:

“Everyone’s like, ‘What was this random guy doing on campus?’ It’s because Harvard students are buying drugs,” says a recent graduate, who requested anonymity. “There are people on campus who are supporting this operation.”

Harvard Student Expelled In Connection With Campus Murder, Claims Racism

Black Female Student Singled Out

According to this graduate and others, Campbell was long rumored to be a part of that scene.

“It was something that was whispered about on campus months before the shooting — that she sold cocaine, ecstasy, hard drugs,” says the source.

While Brittany Smith will still graduate in June, Chanequa Campbell, a sociology concentrator from Brooklyn who received National Merit Scholarship, as well as scholarships from The New York Times, Coca-Cola, and Goldman Sachs, has been banned from campus.

Campbell is suspected of being the link between Cosby, the victim and alleged marijuana dealer, and Copney, who has been charged with the shooting. Authorities also said someone gave Copney a Harvard access card, which allowed him to enter the Kirkland House dormitory, where the shooting took place.

Campbell states she wasn’t involved in last week’s events and is being wrongfully linked to the murder. She denies selling drugs to students, and says that it was not her card that Copney used to enter the dorm. Campbell told the Boston Globe in a telephone interview: “I do believe I am being singled out. . . . The honest answer to that is that I’m black and I’m poor and I’m from New York and I walk a certain way and I keep my clothes a certain way. . . . It’s something that labels me as different from everyone else.”

This isn’t the first time the university has been accused of racial profiling. Since the murder, black students have reported receiving extra scrutiny.

“Lately I’ve definitely been getting some interesting looks from white people, security guards and other security personnel,” said Malcolm Rivers, a black Harvard student and classmate of the Campbell and Smith.

“As a black man on campus, you understand that that’s part of the territory.”

Rivers went on to say that while black female students like Campbell and Smith might not be as overtly looked upon with suspicion, that they might face a different kind of stereotyping in the wake of the murder.

“People are going to be like, ‘These girls brought the hood with them,’” Rivers said.

Bringing The Streets To The Top Schools

Both Smith and Campbell are New York City natives, hailing from Harlem and Brooklyn respectively.

Campbell is an alumni of the Prep for Prep program, which takes students from tri-state area public schools and prepares them to attend elite private and boarding schools. The students in Prep are generally from poor families, and come from low-income neighborhoods in places like the Bronx and Brooklyn. After Prep for Prep, most of these students end up at the best colleges and universities—if not Ivy League, then certainly first tier. Prep for Prep works to prepare students not just academically, but also mentally and emotionally for the adjustment in environment. But leaving behind past lives, especially the pervasive drug culture, sometimes proves problematic.

“In these elite schools, there are organized activities that are not good. There are drugs and alcohol present. So it’s possible to continue whatever you were doing in the ‘hood, or even pick it up if you weren’t exposed to it,” says a source within Prep for Prep.

“Sometimes it’s not even the case that it’s bringing the ‘hood with you, so much as it’s you finding what you were exposed to in your neighborhood in a different environment,” the source continues.

“This Is Not The Wire”

Indeed, students at Harvard who sought marijuana or, for those who could afford it, harder drugs like cocaine,  weren’t likely to run into any problems getting it. Students from all socioeconomic backgrounds , from athletes and elite social club members, to pre-law students and student newspaper reporters, have been known to indulge without too much concern for the consequences.

“People thought, ‘This is not The Wire. Guns are not going to come out. There aren’t going to be repercussions,” says a current student, who also asked for anonymity.

But the events of last week brought home the stark reality of the consequences of welcoming illegal drugs into the ivy gates: a young life extinguished, potential prison time, reputations called into question, and an academic career cut short.

The dean of Harvard College, Evelynn Hammonds, sent a letter to the university community last week pledging to address the situation that led to the shooting.

“I intend to work with student leaders and others to address the nature and risks of illicit drug use on campus, to underscore the importance of safety and security practices for the entire College community, and to examine the adequacy of existing policies relating to student life,” she wrote.

With finals completed and this year’s commencement ceremonies only a week away, the effects of any efforts to reform the campus drug culture will likely remain to be seen until this fall.