from Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

www.YourBlackWorld.com

Following up on the black challenge to Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and others:

A few days ago, we began talk of holding Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity accountable for their racialized smearing of Senator Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This event was only the latest in non-stop racial attacks by those in the “Axis of Ignorance”, engaging in consistent social terrorism of people of color.  Many of us sat angry and hurt as we felt defenseless to counter the lies being told on airwaves and media channels that distort elections and mute black voices across America.

Hundreds of you emailed us back with great ideas, including Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who reminded us of the importance of engaging in action and not feeling that we are powerless to respond.  We also heard from individuals affiliated with the Obama campaign, who reminded us to keep believing in our power to overcome.  In my mind, the issue is not whether Pastor Wright was right to speak, or if Senator Obama was right to denounce him.  The issue was that two powerful, intelligent black men were being forced to end their 20 year relationship because racist individuals decided to paint an educated ex-Marine with a critical mind as an unpatriotic lunatic.  I have dealt with O’Reilly and Hannity up close on MANY occasions, and I can assure you that they DO NOT have the interests of black people at heart.

While O’Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity have a right to speak freely, I am sure many of you agree that they should not be allowed to attack your leaders using your money.  So, to help the cause, we’ve gathered a list of corporate sponsors for Fox News.  I would like to thank Andrea Hatter, a respected novelist and member of the Your Black World Family, for providing this list.  If you would like to write or call these sponsors and also complain to the FCC about what you’re seeing on the airwaves, the information is there for you. You can also email us at info@yourblackworld.com to share your frustrations.

Please forward this link to anyone else concerned with the activities of Fox News.  We are not out to trample on their freedom of speech.  We are just seeking to keep them from trampling our freedom of speech and using our money to do it.  We don’t have to support corporations that support this kind of behavior, that is our fundamental right as Americans.
Take care,

Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

www.YourBlackWorld.com

ps.

For those interested in Black Money and Black Finance, here is an article on the topic I recently wrote. It was inspired by my visit last weekend to speak with the Urban Philly Professional Network. Like this group, it is important that we as black people work together every chance we get.

by A.man.I

VH1 IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY - Read about VH1’s new reality show.

YOUR BRAIN ON…. - Grayson Daughters forwarded me this link. I think the woman in the video needs help. BIG TIME.

ABC NEWS TO LAUNCH STUDENT BUREAUS - Not to be a hater, but I always thought that students were supposed to pay some dues before getting a chance to work at the network level. At least the University of Florida is one of the schools participating. Go Gators!

by A.man.I

Philly police gang up on three suspects, and it’s all caught on tape.
Watch video

by A.man.I

OBAMA’S STILL ROLLIN’
From Politico

Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote.

CHICAGO’S NBC 5 BROADCASTS WITH SKYPE
from the Digital Journalism Task Force message board

NBC5Markus wrote:

I know a lot of TV outlets have been trying out live streaming via Skype, so I wanted to share our experiment. On Friday we covered an event in Chicago called Looptopia, which is a dusk-till-dawn celebration, with 100 arts and culture venues and 100,000 people on the street.

We had 18 bloggers on the street, blogging all night long, but we also hooked up a video camera to a laptop and streamed the feed
to the Web site through Skype. A blogger roamed around downtown talking to people and showing various events, in addition to the text content that the bloggers were phoning in to me in the media room.

Needless to say, it was very cool, extremely cutting edge, and not terribly difficult to do (we also sent updates via Twitter).
You can check out the blog itself at www.nbc5.com/streetteam, and view everything from May 3 on down to see the coverage. Some of the embedded video is actually a taped recording from the live camera.

SEND ME YOUR STORY IDEAS
If you’re in the Atlanta Metro area, and have a story to tell for Current TV, hit me up. They’re looking for interesting topics for 18-34 year olds. These are their ideas:
-Activist kids “greening” their parents – this has happened in several congressional households
-Gay kids and their partners (and kids?) in a traditional (conservative) American family – think Who’s Coming to Dinner?
-Kids who are more conservative than their own parents - e.g., hippies who end up with a Republican kid
-Kids with gay parents
-The Obama/Hillary split in some Democratic households
-Young career women in traditional (sometimes immigrant) households

by A.man.I

RECYCLE YOUR ELECTRONICS - Drop off any used electronics equipment on May 6 at this event sponsored by The Edge Connection and HP. 8:30am-2:30pm, KSU Center 3333 Busbee Dr., Kennesaw GA, 30144 SW Corner Parking Lot.

ATLANTA VLOGGER SPOTTED ON iREPORT - Check out Atlanta VLogger Grayson Daughters on this iReport video.

LIFE OF A PUBLICIST - A veteran Atlanta entertainment specialist provides a peek into her busy life.

from Francis L. Holland, ESQ.

Dear Howard Witt and Antonio Vargas:

If they thought the Jena March was something, they haven’t seen the anti-Clinton firestorm.

Some leaders in the Democratic Party are playing with fire. They think that they can betray the will of millions of voters–and choose Hillary Clinton as the nominee, regardless of whether or not she is the choice of the voters. We can’t let this happen. It would be the largest disenfranchisement in modern history, and it would mean the Democratic Party giving their stamp of approval to a clear and consistent pattern of race-baiting by the Clinton campaign.

We in the afrosphere are making our voices heard to stop it. We afrosphere bloggers and Color of Change are asking our readers to join us in signing an open letter to leaders in the Democratic Party — DNC Chair Howard Dean, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and all superdelegates — demanding that they reject an outcome that involves trampling voting rights and legitimizing the politics of division and fear:

www.colorofchange.org

By the time the last vote is cast on June 3rd under the rules of the Democratic Party, it’s unlikely Hillary Clinton will beat Barack Obama among voters. But there’s a chance that superdelegates will hand Clinton the nomination anyway.

This would be a shocking attack on democracy, and it would destroy the Democratic party’s credibility on protecting the right to vote. Black people have a long history of fighting against voter suppression, and now the Democratic Party will be the enemy in that fight. As bad as that would be, there’s another reason that a coup by party insiders would threaten racial progress.

Senator Clinton’s plan to have superdelegates hand her the nomination doesn’t make sense without a parallel strategy — she has to stoke enough division and race-based fear among Democratic voters to convince superdelegates that white voters will not vote for Senator Obama in the general election. One of Clinton’s key arguments to superdelegates is that America won’t elect a Black man, and therefore she’s the better choice for Democrats to beat John McCain.

While she makes that argument in private to superdelegates, in public Clinton’s campaign and her surrogates are doing everything they can to damage Barack Obama by ginning up fear and division and playing to the worst instincts of our society. It’s an insult to Black people and all Americans, Obama and Clinton supporters alike.

The pattern has been clear and consistent to some party leaders. Last week, according to the Washington Post, James Clyburn — who as House Majority Whip remains neutral and is the highest ranking Black member of Congress — accused the Clintons of marginalizing Black voters. Referring to this strategy in another interview, Clyburn said that “Nothing in this campaign has been by accident.”

Congressman Clyburn warned that “black people are incensed” over the divisiveness of the Clinton strategy and that it threatens an irreparable breach between Black people and the Democratic Party. He’s right. And if superdelegates hand Clinton a victory despite her defeat among voters, they will be condoning and rewarding that strategy.

Some party leaders have expressed strong concern about superdelegates overruling voters. But as a whole, superdelegates have not made it clear that they will respect the will of voters. Today, we want to send a clear, unequivocal message to superdelegates and other party leaders: Reject the idea that the nomination can be won with a strategy that preys on racism, sows division, and disenfranchises millions of voters.

Please join us: http://www.colorofchange.org

Sincerely,
Francis L. Holland, Esq.
The Francis L. Holland, Esq.

by A.man.I

You can watch how the news saugsage is made by watching a raw interview on Fox News Channel. In the clip, Producer Porter Berry interviews Father Pfleger about Rev. Wright and Senator Obama.

from EyesOnFox.org

The Factor producer throws every talking point gleaned from the right-wing talk radio arsenal. At one point Factor producer Porter Berry agrees with Reverend Pfleger that O’Reilly and his ilk are lying by taking Reverend Wright out of context.

What J-School did you attend Sir? I fear for the public.

Does anyone know if any of this made air?
Watch Video