1.Who Killed M-Bone?

Over the weekend, the Inglewood Police Department of California announced that they are offering $25,000 to anyone who has information on the gunman who shot Montae Talbert, aka M-Bone (pictured), of Cali-Swag District.

2. What Ever Happened To Ted Williams?

Entertainment Tonight catches up with the once-homeless Ted Williams to see how the past year has treated him since his video went viral on YouTube.

3. Triflin’ Hunters

In what would go in the overly trifling files, hunters are paying big money to fly to certain parts of Africa and kill giraffes. Bored lately?

Check out BlackPlanet’s News page for more headlines creating a buzz among BP members.

1. Open Marriage Anyone?
According to Newt Gingrich‘s ex-wife, Marianne, Gingrich wanted an open marriage, so he could have both a mistress and a wife. What’s worse, once his six-year affair came to light, he reportedly asked Marianne if she would be open to sharing.

2. Christianity Is On The Decline
Due to skepticism and apathy, Christianity is said to be having a marked decline among teens and young adults, according to the Pew Center.  How younger generations perceive Christianity is reportedly far different from how their parents view the religion.

3. Added Pounds Could Cost Ya
With the international crackdown on obesity, some airlines are jumping in to the fray by taxing passengers on excessive grams of weight. Not every airline is on board, though, this controversial measure is being boycotted by Australian airline Quantas.

Check out BlackPlanet’s News page for more headlines creating a buzz among BP members.

SimplyComplex_87 said:

how the hell do white artists keep black music ALIVE? they may be small contributors to the genre, but they wouldn’t have had such careers had it not been for black artists to pave the way…

Related Links:

Hypocrisy? Bachmann’s Husband, Closeted Gay?

Reviews around Google+ have been hitting blogs and websites over the past few days. One Social Media consultant blogged about the 2 reasons why you should avoid Google+. Check out his reasons and some of the comments on the BP News Page.

Yesterday, law makers fell short on the debt deal. BP members are now wondering just how serious are the Republicans about reducing the debt. Stay updated with Obama’s debt battle and read what others are saying about it.

Read other news stories shared by BP Members.

Related Links:

Are We Abandoning Our Race By Dating Interracially?

Missx Said:

7 black kids stomp an elderly white man to death in Seattle and get 3 weeks to 24 months. Bernie Madoff, an elderly white man gets 150 years for stealing from rich people. Stop with the pity party.

phatkeys said:

1. Oprah u are not God, or Dr. King, so sit the hell down and do yo talk show.
2. OJ did it…
3.smh @ the media
4. WTF? i mean really…
5. refer back to # 2

And that pretty much sums it up…

Related Links:

O.J. Simpson Allegedly Confesses To Murdering Nicole Brown Simpson

Oprah Wants O.J. Simpson To Confess To Murder

Japanese scientists are synthesizing meat from human feces. The ‘poop burger’, is an artificial meat created from sewage containing human feces. Edible steaks from human feces? What do you think?

Prostitution is on the rise and on November 4th San Diego, California will decide whether to stop penalizing those who partake in it. The decision will not make the related acts legal, but it would keep those involved fear-free of arrest.

A YouTube video goes viral when a White woman explains why she’s pissed at Black people. She’s got some strong feelings about being 34 years old and not being informed about Cocoa Butter.

The economy. Is it or isn’t it? New reports show that the Black Male Unemployment Rate is 17.5%. The Black male rate has always been higher than national levels, but they are now currently reaching Depression era-levels.

Check out BlackPlanet’s News page for more headlines creating a buzz among BP members.

Now Morgan, meets with LGBT homeless teens in NY and apologizes again.

The BlakGuy said:

I wish Tracy would get off his knees on the Apology Tour. Are these people trying to tell me that there are no racist, cheating, lying, criminals in the Gay and lesbian community.

Is he doing too much? When will Tracy Morgan have repented enough?

The First Family Attends A Howard University Basketball Game

AIDS Activist Plans To Row Boat From Africa To New York To Fight The Deadly Disease

Thanksgiving 2010: Single Georgia Mom Of 4 Awarded New Home

Bill Cosby Takes Education Message To Conn. Streets

Obama’s Volunteer At DC Food Pantry For Thanksgiving

13-Year-Old Saves Baby Brother From Bullet After Mom’s Boyfriend Shot Family

Kobe Bryant Says Michael Jackson Made Him The Basketball Player He Is

Black Entrepreneur Helps Detroit Creperie Rise From The Ashes

Economist Predicts Pres. Obama Will Win ‘12 Election In Landslide

Why We Still Need Black-Owned Banks

Is Money A Thoughtful Gift?

How To Find Comfort In Your Daily Routine

How To Decorate Your Bedroom This Christmas

Mariah Carey Films “Merry Christmas To You” TV Special [PHOTOS]

Your Weekly Horoscope With Psychic To The Stars Psychic Wayne

How To Choose A Bottle Of Wine

Kelis, Christina Milian & More Bring Kids Out To “Yo Gabba Gabba Live!” [PHOTOS]

Exfoliate Your Lips With Sugar

Ochocinco’s Bride-To-Be Evelyn Lozado: “We Are Like Beyonce & Jay-Z”

How To Create An Effortless-Looking French Braid

Jay-Z’s “Decoded” Lands On NY Times Best Seller List

Uncle Luke Lands Assistant Coach Job At Miami High School

Five Ways The Miami Heat Can Salvage Their Season

Sykes On A Plane!!! [Daily Laugh]

Birdman & Young Money Give Out Turkeys For Thanksgiving [PHOTOS]

Kevin Hart Talks Divorce & Why Comedians Love Leather [AUDIO]

Should Michael Vick Be The NFL MVP? [VIDEO]

“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” Album Review

Nicki Minaj Album Review

2 Easy Recipes Even A Man Can Do: Sweet Potato Pie & 4 Cheese Macaroni

It’s that time again!!!  Enjoy some of these posts you may have overlooked while enjoying the great content on the site!!

Barbie Recall: The 10 Most Absurd Lyrics From Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday

Four Web Sites To Buy Hard-To-Find Black Movies

Lavell Crawford on Eating Tsunamis [Daily Laugh]

C’mon SON 20: Raz-B, George Bush, Mc Hammer & Four Lokos [VIDEO]

Five Better Career Moves For Flavor Flav

Talib Kweli Doing Free Concert In L.A. November 24th

Common’s Memoirs Coming To Stores In June of 2011

Samuel L. Jackson Stars As Jimmy McMillan In “The Rent Is Too Damn High!!” [SPOOF]

Jimmy Fallon & Bruce Springsteen Cover Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair” [VIDEO]

A Toast To The Douchebag: Kanye West’s Most Outrageous On-Camera Moments [VIDEO]

How To Help Black Males In School: Treat Them Like Gifted Students

Kansas African American Museum Honors Barry Sanders

Celebrated Black Chef Prepares For Launch Of Much-Awaited Harlem Restaurant

Sharpton, NYPD Team Up To Get Guns Off Streets

White House Report: Stimulus Law Boosted Economy, Jobs

“Work It Out!” First Lady Races Kids At Harlem School

Mandela Gives Birth To South African Democracy

KFC Offers $20,000 College Scholarship For Best Tweet

Gospel Artists and Choirs To Raise Voices, Stroke Awareness

How To Teach Black Children

5 Ways To Survive Black Friday

Broke, Not Broken: Letting Go Of Financial Stress In Your Marriage

5 Simple Things To Do Before Your Guests Arrive This Holiday Season

First Lady Michelle Obama Brings “Let’s Move” Campaign To Harlem School [VIDEO]

Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony To Launch His & Her Clothing Lines For Kohl’s

Win A Trip To NY To See R. Kelly Perform Live!

Top 5 Thanksgiving TV Moments! [VIDEOS]

Decorate Your Bathroom On A Budget

Spotlight: BlackPlanet Member, Posivitively Mimi

How To Maintain An Organized Living Room

In Trying Times, Keep Your Head Up!

Spotlight Group: The Artist Lounge

You Mean There Is Still Racism?

More Black Coaches Get Positions In College Football

Black SC Civil War Vet Honored With Grave Marker

Bebe Winans Gets Nationally Syndicated Show On Sirius Radio

Spelman College Students Win National Mobile App Competition

Alvin Greene Considers Running For President In 2012

New Haven Connecticut Offers Its Students Free College Tuition

And1 Celeb Basketball Food & Toy Drive [Atlanta 10/10]

Radio One Chairwoman Cathy Hughes Inducted Into National Radio Hall Of Fame

What We As Citizens Can Do Beyond The Ballot

BET’s Black Girls Rock Honor African-American Queens

Which Celebrity Has The Best Smile? [PHOTOS]

Your Weekly Horoscope With Psychic To The Stars Psychic Wayne

Fellas, Are Your Dating Skills On Point?

Amel Larrieux: “Independent Artists Of Color Are Too Under The Radar” [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]

5 Questions With…Ingrid B.

Barack & Michelle Obama Dance With Local Children In India [VIDEO]

Iman Set To Debut New Show

4 Smart Holiday Shopping Tips

Enter HelloBeautiful’s Prize Package Sweepstakes!

7 Tips To Spend Less And Erase Holiday Stress

10 Movies With Rappers That Didn’t Suck

5 Great War Films For Veterans Day

Natalie “The Floacist” Stewart Speaks On New Album And Possibility Of Floetry Reunion

Top 5 Casting Choices For Catwoman

Akon Plans To Build University, Hospitals For Under Privileged

Denzel And The Dude From Star Trek Save America In “Unstoppable”

Chris Rock Narrating Busta Rhymes’ New Album

R Kelly And Ron Isley Behind The Scenes Of The Soul Train Awards Singing “Contagious”

DJ Irie Drops Jewels For Charity

Drake To Be Executive Producer Of “The Aaliyah Story?”

Atlanta (AP) — Atlanta City Councilman, Kwanza Hall and And1 streetballer, Dennis “Spyda” Chism will join the fight, this holiday season, to strike hunger and support two worthy organizations. On Wednesday, November 10, the two will greet donors as they drop off food and toys at Licquid in the Castleberry Hills area of downtown Atlanta between 4 p.m. — 8 p.m.

Actors, rappers, professional athletes and tastemakers are lending their time this holiday season to help Atlanta’s low-income families. The Pamela Mitchell Jones Foundation (PMJF) and Divva Biz in conjunction with Blessings in the Sky Foundation (BITS) is hosting the 2nd Annual Hoops4Food Celebrity Basketball Game and Food Drive-thru starting the second Wednesday in November and culminating with the celebrity basketball game on Wednesday, December 15.

1. Hoops4Food Celebrity Food Drive-Thru: Donors will drive-up to drop off nonperishable food items and unwrapped toys while being greeted by celebrity supporters. There will be complimentary food and drinks by Bang Catering with music provided by DJ Blak Magic for those supporters who want to mingle after making their donation.

Dates: Wednesdays; November 10, 17 and December 1

Time: 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Where: Licquid, 294 Walker Street, Atlanta, Ga 30313

2. Hoops4Food Celebrity Basketball Game and Food Drive: Teams will consist of celebrities and staff from Konvict Music, HAH Enterprises, Block Entertainment Atlanta radio’s Hot 107.9 Hot Shots, former And1 streetballlers (now the Get Buckets Brand Streetballers www.GetBucketsBrand.com) and a host of actors and comedians. Funds raised from this event will benefit the PMJF and BITS.

Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Adamsville Recreational Center, 3201 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta, Ga 30311

Purchase Celebrity Game tickets for only $5 at www.hoops4food.eventbrite.com or in-person at Licquid located at 294 Walker Street in Atlanta (call Licquid at 404.343.6449).

Food collected will be donated to needy families that fit the criteria of the host organizations.

PMJF Mission – The PMJF is dedicated to providing families and individuals who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson, etc…) with resources and opportunities via food, financial assistance and other social services for a better quality of life. (www.pmjf.org)

BITS Mission – To restore core Family values through the development of Family activities that promote trust, bonding, and unity; to empower the youth through motivation, education, and mentorship; and to uplift the homeless and hungry by providing essential resources that no person should be forced to live without. (www.thebitsonline.org)

2009 Food Drive Recap – The PMJF Food Drive, on December 10, 2009, was a success. Dretam PR staff, family and friends showed great support for the organization’s inaugural event. We were able to provide a box of food and grocery store gift cards for two families. Special thanks to Jo Ann of the MS Society’s African Americans with MS Self-Help Group. With her assistance, we were able to locate our recipients, MS patients Linda Penn of Marietta and Marquetta Boone of Smyrna. Notorious street ball player and PMJF 2009-2010 ambassador, Dennis “Spyda” Chism (AND1 ESPN2 series), helped us to deliver the donations.

Sponsors

• Bang Catering (www.BangCatering.com)

• Quick Tattoos (www.QuickTattoos.net)

• Dada Supreme Footwear (www.dadafootwear.com)

• Get Buckets Brand (www.GetBucketsBrand.com)

• DJ Blak Magic: (www.DJBlakMagic.com)

• Converse: (www.Converse.com)

For more information and media inquiries, contact Dretam PR at 347-471-1247 or send an email to pr@dretaminc.com.

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With all the content the team here at BlackPlanet is producing, I’m sure you tend to overlook some good stories from time to time, so I’ve provided you several links from the various websites under our banner so you can get a chance to look at some of the more positive articles that have been posted in the past week.

Pursuing The Elusive Good Life

The Military Chic Trend: Down To Your Nails

Chrisette Michele On The Set Of “I’m A Star” Video [PHOTOS]

6 Feng Shui Tips To Arrange Your Living Room

Christina Milian & Eva Longoria Support Cancer Survivors At “Start Your Engines” Brunch [PHOTOS]

Monica Celebrates 30th Birthday With Fiance Shannon Brown [PHOTOS]

5 No-Money Home Makeover Ideas

Halle Berry Takes Daughter Nahla To A Pumpkin Patch [PHOTOS]

Quick Ways To Stay In Shape & Burn Calories

3 Ways To Stand Out In The Workplace

Obama Approval Rating Rises As Midterm Elections Approach

Common And Roasario Dawson Host New HBO Poetry Show

New Program Encourages Health Screenings In Barbershops

Kanye West Fans Call ‘Runaway’ Film ‘Hands-Down Amazing’

President Obama Releases “It Gets Better” Video to LGBT Youth

President Obama, Michelle Obama Encourage Americans To Vote

Spike Lee, Chris Rock And Others Star In Film Inspiring Black Youth

Baltimore’s Black Male Students Show Improvement

Obama Makes A Direct Appeal To Black Voters [AUDIO]

Starting A Plan For Economic Empowerment

Chris Brown Helps Raise Money For The Special Olympics

If You’re A Fan of Ole Skool Music, This Is For You

Jay-Z To Work On President Obama’s 2012 Campaign?

Pharoahe Monch Premieres Anti-Police Brutality Anthem, “Clap (One Day)”

Five Reasons Carmelo Anthony Will Be A Knick

Rhymefest Running For Alderman In Chicago

CEO Flow: Jay-Z’s Richest Rhymes

Skillz Responds To BET’s Cypher Invite, Preps New Album

For the past six years, The Organic Hip Hop Conference has become a leading voice in advocating healthy living through Hip Hop culture to the South Florida community. Just as Hip Hop as a culture and movement was founded under the principle of saving the lives of the youth in the streets of the South Bronx in the 1970s, the legacy continues today, as the message of Organic Hip Hop is oriented towards setting new qualitative standards in the ways that we think, eat and act as individuals, families and communities.

Since 2004, the breadth of the conference has expanded. It began as a lecture symposium coupled with a vegetarian banquet, conscientious entertainment and cultural venders at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay. Since then, it has turned into an annual staple experience for the community filled with workshops, film screenings, award ceremonies and concerts. In recent years it has been held in key cultural South Florida locations; at the Miami Light Project’s Light Box near Wynnewood’s distinguished arts community (2008) and the historic African Cultural Arts Center in the heart of the Liberty City community (2009). The conference has attracted people of different genres who seek to promote Hip Hop as a culture and force that can positively transform lives. Past Organic Hip Hop events featured cultural and intellectual icon KRS One, Professor Griff of the famed Rap group Public Enemy, Queen Afua and Supa Nova Slom, Brother J (of X Clan), journalist Davey D, holistic dietician Dr. Laila O. Afrika and community leader Min. Rasul Muhammad.

Need To Be Stimulated? A Mind Once Stretched Is Where You Need To Be!

The 7th Annual Organic Hip Hop Conference will take place on October 29 – 30, 2010. Unlike previous conferences, it will be a part of a larger national movement of collective responsibility among artists called the MIA (Music is Alive) Campaign. Congruently, the theme of this year’s conference will be “Building a National Movement of Responsibility.” Co-sponsoring the conference will be Difference Makers, Inc. Non-Profit Organization and the FIU African and African Diaspora Studies Graduate Students Association.

Day 1 of the conference (Friday, October 29) will be held at Florida International University’s Modesto Maidique Campus. From 9 am to 3 pm, both public and private school educators are invited to partake in workshops demonstrating how to incorporate the empowering voice of Hip Hop in day to day classroom activities. Workshop instructors include Organic Hip Hop Conference co-organizer Tony Muhammad, Hip Hop Chess Federation co-founder Adisa Banjoko, national recording artist behind the “Free the Jena 6” anthem Jasiri X. Smith, MIA Campaign founder Arian Muhammad AKA Poetess and PATH (Preserving, Archiving & Teaching Hip Hop History) founder Brimstone 127.

If There Is A New Movement, It’s Here!

Workshop instructors will convene again at 7:30 pm for a panel discussion on the importance of “Building a National Movement of Responsibility” within Hip Hop. Immediately following the panel discussion there will be a live band local artist showcase featuring J Phonnix; Laguardia; Mecca AKA Grimo; Lip, Tongue and Ears founder Shamelle Jenkins; Kimani Kenyatta; Big Babatunde; Orion and Lox the Rippa. To attend please RSVP the AADS GSA by calling 305-348-4264.

Day 2 of the conference (Saturday, October 30) will be held at two locations. The first portion will be held at the historic African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City. From 10 am to 2pm, youth as well as families are invited to participate in interactive workshops oriented towards healthy eating, thinking and living. Workshop topics include “A New Diet for the Hip Hop Generation,” “Kemetic Yoga 101,” “The Value of the Spoken Word” and “Chess and the Martial Arts.”

In Trying Times, Keep Your Head Up!

On Saturday evening, MIA Campaign organizers will gather at Catalyst for a “Build Session” with Miami Hip Hop community leaders for the purpose of discussing how to develop and expand educational and cultural programs both locally and nationally. Shortly following the “Build Session” attendees will engage in games of chess, checkers and dominos while local DJs spin smooth grooves and artists display their talents open mic style.

For more info, visit www.organichiphopevent.wordpress.com.

Black History Month comes around every February; and every year, the media provide you countless commemorations, celebrations and presentations.

But it’s your history; shouldn’t you decide how to celebrate it?

BlackPlanet is giving its members a unique opportunity to design their own Black History Month campaign.  We want to celebrate the month your way.  Be as creative as you want to be—suggest a way to honor our rich history through a online or live event.

Just click the link here before October 15 to get started.

BP Member Spotlight: Casey Gane

OPINION: NAACP Endorses Legalizing Marijuana, Are They Smoking It?

The Omar Thornton Shootings Show Us Racism Is Here To Stay

Share this post on Facebook! CLICK HERE:

BP Member Spotlight: DJ Sandia

BP Group Spotlight: Black Love Poetry

BP Member Spotlight: Fefe Dobson

5 Very Opinionated BlackPlanet Members

Where Do the Intellectuals Gather on BlackPlanet?

Our Most Popular Education Groups on BlackPlanet

BP Group Spotlight: African American Independent & Amateur Filmmakers

Hip Hop CAN Be Positive, Just Ask Author, Tachelle Wilkes

Illustrating Activist, Lance Scurvin, Provokes Discussions With His Art

5 Very Opinionated BlackPlanet Members

Where Do the Intellectuals Gather on BlackPlanet?

The Omar Thornton Shootings Show Us Racism Is Here To Stay

BP Member Spotlight: Ryan Mack

SELFHATE7 (Pictured above)

browneye_sista

muada

Tall_Dark_Aries

tonyceee

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Master See Proves You’re Never Too Old

BP Member Spotlight: Sean M Lee

BP Member Spotlight: Casey Gane

BP Member Spotlight: Charlie Murphy

The Intellects DO gather at BlackPlanet! To make it easier for you to have access and join some of the groups here, I’ve given you 5 links to active groups that want engaging conversation on various topics. Enjoy and if you know or have any groups you’d like to add to this, just leave it in the comment section.

A Think Tank for US

My Intellectual Mind

BlackPlanetRising

African American Business Network

NewsOneWashingtonWatch

The literacy and intelligence of America and the world, usually starts with books even before school is started. Many like-minded readers enjoy indulging in well-written books and like sharing the experiences of the reading with other BlackPlanet members. This is why this group, BlackPlanet Book of the Month, is worth showcasing.

Click here to see what your peers are reading and suggest a book or two as well.

Since the inception of NewsOne.com and over the ten-plus year history of BlackPlanet.com, we have striven to provide Black America with an engaging forum and network, to provoke thoughtful as well as positively engaging material for Black people. Due to our efforts at NewsOne.com, BlackPlanet.com, and HelloBeautiful.com; our sites have all recently joined an elite group competing in this year’s Black Web Awards!

The Black Web Awards is a global celebration of African, African American and Caribbean themed excellence online.  The BlackPlanet Universe as a collection has been nominated for 3 awards; BlackPlanet is nominated for Most Important Site for Black America,  NewsOne has been nominated for Best News Site,  and HelloBeautiful.com has been nominated for Best Lifestyle & Entertainment E-Zine.  (If you want to write in TheUrbanDaily.com, as best entertainment site, you can here.)

Much of our success could have not been achieved without our readers and our BlackPlanet community, for that we thank you all.  Please show your appreciation of our sites by VOTING for your favorite sites on The Black Web Awards website.

Vote now for BlackPlanet

Vote now for HelloBeautiful

Vote now for NewsOne

Write-in TheUrbanDaily

RELATED:
Welcome To NewsOne 2.0!

Smart & Educated Black women

The group boasts more than 40,000 members, which makes sense since the group is catering to smart and educated Black women.

Black Planet Journalists

Having 30,000 plus BP members proves that we have many people who have an interest in writing, so why not check them out?

Black History As Told By Us

This is a group for all to visit. Where youth and elders can come together to learn about some of the many amazing black figures as told by you. Tell us what you know and make us proud. Add on to others insights

Black Teachers of Black Planet United

This group is designed for BlackPlanet’s Education Professionals. Here we can discuss our workday, vent, provide advice, share lesson plans, discuss policy changes and education related topics. The intended audience is classroom teachers, aspiring teachers, parents and citizenry concerned with solutions.

Do you have a group that should be featured? If so, contact me!

by Malik Russell

Over a century ago, scholar and sage W.E.B. Dubois wrote in his groundbreaking book, The Souls of Black Folks that “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.”

Today, optimism springs eternal as a new century and new firsts for Black folks symbolize a socially utopian world only found at the end of rainbows and during one brisk night last November when for a moment everything was right with the world and potential for change unlimited. Then we woke up and realized the post-racial world we were waiting for hadn’t arrived yet-probably held up at the airport and placed on someone’s no fly list?

When the post-racial society does arrive, it may have to stand since the color line will likely refuse to give up its seat. Of course, many things have changed including the hair care products in the Whitehouse, but in many cases, this change is relative. African Americans have made progress relative to their enslaved and legally discriminated against ancestors (many still around today), yet relative to White Americans, little distance has been gained in the racial gaps of wealth, education and position. This assertion is more fact than opinion and substantiated by various studies including a recent study by the Urban Institute on the level of diversity among the leadership of Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area non-profits.

For social prophets blindly ushering in the post-racial era, the results of this study are both disappointing and surprising. For the highly educated Black professionals who make up the world’s most educated and qualified group of Africans in the Diaspora, there was little surprise-its simply something we cannot talk about-not if we want to work again.

According to the study Measuring Racial-Ethnic Diversity in the Baltimore–Washington Region’s Nonprofit Sector, from the Urban Institute, while people of color make up 49 percent of the population of the region, they only make up 22 percent of the executive directors.

http://www.urban.org/publications/412053.html

In the chocolate cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C., the discrepancies between population and power are even less post-racial as they make up only 30-34% of the executive directors but almost 70 percent of the population. In northern Virginia, people of color make up 40 percent of the population and a meager 5 percent of non-profit executive directors.

What is alarming for people of color is the fact that the non-profit, public and government sectors ostensibly represent areas full of liberalized Whites less discriminatory than the private sector and even willing to vote for a Black man for president. One might guess that the color line did not receive the memo that it was supposed to stop at the non-profit sector.

When one looks at paid staff and management staff at region non-profits, African Americans in particular make up nearly 38 percent of paid staff and almost 31 percent of management. Non-Hispanic whites make up 49 percent of all staff and 58 percent of managers. Additionally, the study points to the fact that “young people of color are not entering the ranks of executive directors as readily as their non-Hispanic white counterparts.”

Of course, the advocates of the new religion of post-racialism are now clearing their throats to mention that we do have Barack Obama as president and that in itself confirms a new era of race relations. Yet even in the Whitehouse, the color line remains.

According to a recent analysis done by the Washington Post looking at Obama appointments, people of color, particularly African Americans who as canaries in the mine are suffering the uneven brunt of the economic recession and mass unemployment-are not seeing the change promised.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2009/federal-appointments/

Of Obama’s 404 senior political appointments, 258 are white and the second most group is listed as racially unknown (64), while African Americans, Latinos, and Asians represent 54, 39, and 20 respectively of the President’s appointments. Therefore, despite the ever-promulgated educated-diversity of this region and the national population, whites still make up nearly 64% of the new “Black” president’s appointments. Closer to the Oval Office, among the 39 staff appointed to the Whitehouse, 25 are white, and only seven are Black.

Anyone who has worked in the non-profit arena of Washington-Baltimore region knows that African Americans in the non-profit and public sectors tend to walk on eggshells and your accomplishments tend to matter most when compared to other people of color and matter least when compared to that White candidate with half your experience and educational qualifications. Affirmative action is like that cousin you keep hearing bout’ at family reunions but ain’t never seen yet. Each time you nail the perfect interview you think you will finally be introduced to him but he never shows up. Instead, you get a glistening letter on nice paper that says the organization decided to rewrite the job description.

Or maybe that’s just for tall dark-skin men like me who choose to work in fields that revolve around social justice issues disparately impacting Black men-such as prisons or criminal justice policy. Often times you end up a a finalist for a position and instead of being named to the position, you instead get a pat on the back and an offer to do consulting with that same organization. For many of our white liberal friends working on issues that disparately impact our communities-they have no issue of guilt nor conscious after realizing that the same racism they accuse the system of is reflected in their own organizations and the organizations/foundations that fund them.

A decade ago while conducting an interview for an online radio newsmagazine started by a Black website (The Black World Today) long before other major/white media organizations got the idea, I interviewed Playthell Benjamin, noted author and former press secretary for Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) and he broke down the difference between “White Supremacy,” and “racist.” According to Benjamin, while racist do not care for Black Folk nor desire to be around them, White Supremacists don’t mind having Black Folk around or working with them… “so long as they are the ones in control.”

Ironically, the only moments where I felt something akin to what Whites experience as non-stigmatized o “white privilege,” or that elusive “affirmative action,” was working as a journalist in the Black Press.

Today, Whitehouse occupant notwithstanding, Dubois’s prophetic comment still rings true, albeit one slight change. The problem of the twentieth century will be the problem of the color line-And so too, will the problem of the color line plague Black Folks in the 21st Century. Peace

 Malik Russell is an activist, educator and author and journalist..

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – An eastern Pennsylvania woman has been cited for harassment after her son told police she cleaned the bathroom with his toothbrush, then returned it to its holder. Police in Lower Saucon said 52-year-old Deborah Woist decided on July 18 that a bathroom inside her home needed a good scrubbing because it hadn’t been cleaned in two months.

Her 26-year-old son, Justin Novack, said the scrubbing was done with his toothbrush. He said his mother put it away when she was done.

Novack then called police, claiming his mother applied feces to his toothbrush.

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Woman Charged With Hitting Sister With Toilet Lid

From Stltoday.com:

A new study finds that African ancestry is linked to a more aggressive type of cancer that is more deadly.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor found that, among women with breast cancer, 82 percent of African women had the breast cancer called “triple negative,” 26 percent of African-Americans had the variety, and 16 percent of white Americans had it.

Click here to read more

Click here to see our gallery of breast cancer survivors

RELATED:

New Breast Cancer Guidelines Could Devastate Black Women

Study Examines Black Breast Cancer Survivors

The 2010 FIFA World Cup may have placed South Africa in the international headlines for all the right reasons, but a series of domestic events have the African nation at the forefront of a debate that goes well beyond the football field.

At the same time BBC News revealed June 18 that twenty boys in South Africa’s East Cape Province had died of complications related to male circumcision, another 800 were circumcised in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal.

In East Cape, 9 boys had died in the 24 hours before June 18 and another 11 in the twelve days prior.

Of the 60 boys that were rescued from illegal initiation camps, all were reported to be suffering from dehydration and septic wounds, and 4 faced the likelihood of having their genitals completely removed.

Reports suggest the incident involved tribal initiation practices where those performing the circumcisions were not authorized or trained in accord with South African law.

Text continues after gallery …

In neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province, premier Zweli Mkhize told reporters his government was satisfied with the approach taken to reduce HIV infections and was pursuing a target of 47,055 newborn and 186,703 boys’ circumcisions throughout 2010/2011.

“So far 800 males have been circumcised as of the end of April,” said Mkhize. “We are very happy with the programme.”

The province has played host to a male circumcision conference in recent days where representatives from John Hopkins University were reported to be in attendance.

The event, held around the same time as the mass circumcision, focused on the link between HIV prevention and circumcision.

Past studies suggest that the contraction of HIV between males and females can be reduced by 60 per cent through the partial removal of the penis’ foreskin.

Opponents of male circumcision in the United States argue that the practice robs a child of particular penile functions like the protection against dryness, chafing and abrasions that can allow for the entry of STDs and other bacteria.

While criticisms of the practice have been prevalent for decades in the United States, the country continues to be the world’s largest practitioner of male circumcisions.

In the 20th century over 120 million American boys went under the knife to receive what is now regarded as a ‘cultural surgery.’

Yet since the 1970s the American Academy of Pediatrics has upheld the claim that the amount of circumcision-related complications is unknown.

Male circumcision opponent NOHARMM estimates that the rate of complications range between 2 and 10 per cent of all circumcisions performed in the US.

Author and doctor, Robert Baker M.D, said in 1979 that, “Circumcision, the most widely performed surgery on males in this country, has the least scientific justification of any surgical procedure.”

NOHARMM claims the surgical procedure has continued since then at a rate of around 60 per cent of all male births.

Domestic criticisms aside, the issue remains that Africans continue to suffer the consequences of rampant HIV.

South Africa is home to world’s largest population of people living with the virus.

The country is expected to circumcise 2 million boys in the next 5 years.

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