Song for Palestine
Happy Sunday, everyone.
I am so heartbroken this morning. I want to wail at seeing the suffering, destruction and loss of life of the Palestinian people. They have a human right to live, survive and thrive. Pray for them!
‘We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.’
–Nelson Mandela
Asians keep a dollar in their community 120 times longer than African Americans
Published On July 25, 2014
by By Nicole Kenney, NAACP Economic Program Specialist
As I meet and speak with community members from all over the country, I am guaranteed to hear them express concern about the dearth of sustainable black owned businesses. Currently, black owned businesses are vastly underrepresented, accounting for less than 7% of all small owned businesses, even though we account for 13% of the population. African Americans certainly have an entrepreneurial spirit as we are more likely to start a business relative to other racial groups. But, limited access to resources (e.g., capital, clientele, etc.), increase our businesses’ likelihood to close its doors. Research suggests that communities’ generational economic empowerment is linked to entrepreneurial success. Therefore, if we are serious about improving our communities, improving our schools, providing jobs (black businesses are the 2nd highest employer of African Americans after the government), we must advance and strengthen black owned businesses.
Over the weekend, The Nielsen Company released “The State of the African American Consumer”, a groundbreaking report projecting African Americans buying power at 1.1 Trillion dollars annually by 2015. To illustrate how massive this figure is, if African Americans’ purchasing power equated to a country’s GDP, we would be the 16th largest country in the world! What does this mean? Black consumers have more economic power than we may realize. It is important to note that the 1.1 Trillion figure may not necessarily be all cash on hand, as we may be using credit cards and loans to make certain purchases. Also, spending power increases and/or decreases with one’s income. However, as a collective, there is enormous potential for black consumers to leverage our economic power by way of supporting black owned businesses to foster community economic development.
The NAACP and other organizations are constantly advocating for policies to create more opportunities for black owned businesses (e.g., increasing access to capital) to succeed. But, while these organizations are affecting change at an institutional level, I want to highlight how we, as individuals, can foster an environment where more black businesses can thrive. First, we must stop the massive “leakage” of our money out of our communities. Currently, a dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month, in Jewish communities approximately 20 days and white communities 17 days. How long does a dollar circulate in the black community? 6 hours!!! African American buying power is at 1.1 Trillion; and yet only 2 cents of every dollar an African American spends in this country goes to black owned businesses.
http://financialjuneteenth.com/asians-keep-a-dollar-in-their-community-120-times-longer-than-african-americans/
Financial Lovemaking: How did Will and Jada make it to 18 years?
Published On July 25, 2014 | By Staf
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith have the kind of marriage that has become legendary. Making through 18-years, the two megastars have become the most consistent black power couple of our time. Despite the challenges, the rumors and all of the uncertainty, their relationship has kept on ticking.
Recently, Jada explained that she and Will have made it this far because they are warriors for their marriage.
http://financialjuneteenth.com/financial-lovemaking-how-did-will-and-jada-make-it-to-18-years/
email
Married at First Sight-very interesting premise.
Been thinking about it, and maybe it’s because I am older, but none of these folks seem crazy to me. 10 years ago I would have said that they were nuts.
July 27, 2014, 03:08 pm
Michelle Obama to Dems: Get ‘hungry’ for the midterm campaign
By Julian Hattem
First lady Michelle Obama is making a new push to increase voter turnout in November with a video that targets Democratic voters.
In her most public pitch so far this political season, she tells Democrats to be “even more passionate and more hungry” than they were during races in 2012.
“These elections will be even harder and even closer than those presidential elections,” she said in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee video, which debuted 100 days before the election. “We’re talking about races that are won and lost by just a few thousand votes or even a few hundred votes.”
To spur the effort, she directed Democrats to show their support on a new campaign site that has a goal of marking 1 million new voters by November.
“Together we want to reach 1 million new voter commitments by Election Day because its simple: you deserve a Congress that will work for you and your family,” she said.
She mentioned equal pay for women, immigration reform, abortion rights and an increase in the minimum wage as serious issues confronting Washington, but says the president “needs leaders in Congress who will work with him, leaders who care about what’s going on in your lives and who will fight for you every single day.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/campaign-committees/213455-michelle-obama-warns-midterms-harder-than-past#ixzz38hb85vCh
http://youtu.be/8VnOzjR7bP8
http://youtu.be/OGLs9D4Wz9I
July 27, 2014 3:37 PM
20 Black Angels Worth Knowing For Minority Startups
The number of black investors funding startups is small but growing
by Carolyn M. Brown
Daymond John helped revolutionize urban fashion in the 1990s as founder, president, and CEO of FUBU (“For Us, By Us”). He guided the iconic brand into a multimillion-dollar business, placing it at the same table with such designer sportswear labels as Donna Karan New York and Tommy Hilfiger.
These days, John is known for being a “shark” on the hit reality series “Shark Tank”. Every Friday night, some seven million viewers tune in to the ABC show that features a panel of investors, or “sharks,” that consider offers from aspiring entrepreneurs seeking capital. John, a member of the cast since the show’s premiere in 2009, along with four other prominent chief executives listens to business pitches (a contestant’s one-hour pitch is edited down to a 10-minute segment) from everyday people hoping to take their company or product to new heights. Using their own money, the sharks have invested more than $20 million, having completed more than 30 deals with an average valuation of $250,000. John is the show’s second leading investor.
Studies show that African American-owned firms are less likely to receive angel investment. In the first half of 2013, only 8.5% of startups pitching to angels were minority-owned; 16% were women-led, according to a report by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. Only 15% of those minority-owned businesses successfully got funded, while 24% of the female entrepreneurs received angel investments. Moreover, ethnic minorities account for less than 5% of the angel population.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/20-black-angels-worth-knowing-for-minority-startups/
New Wave of African Writers With an Internationalist Bent
By FELICIA R. LEE
JUNE 29, 2014
More than a decade ago, when the young Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was struggling to get her first novel, “Purple Hibiscus,” published, an agent told her that things would be easier “if only you were Indian,” because Indian writers were in vogue. Another suggested changing the setting from Nigeria to America. Ms. Adichie didn’t take this as commentary on her work, she said, but on the timidity of the publishing world when it came to unknown writers and unfamiliar cultures, especially African ones.
These days she wouldn’t receive that kind of advice. Black literary writers with African roots (though some grew up elsewhere), mostly young cosmopolitans who write in English, are making a splash in the book world, especially in the United States. They are on best-seller lists, garner high profile reviews and win major awards, in America and in Britain. Ms. Adichie, 36, the author of “Americanah,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction this year, is a prominent member of an expanding group that includes Dinaw Mengestu, Helen Oyeyemi, NoViolet Bulawayo, Teju Cole, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and Taiye Selasi, among others.
There are reasons for the critical mass now, say writers, publishers and literature scholars. After years of political and social turmoil, positive changes in several African nations are helping to greatly expand the number of writers and readers. Newer awards like the Caine Prize for African Writing have helped, too, as have social media, the Internet and top M.F.A. programs. At the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, black writers with recent African roots will make up more than 10 percent of the fiction students come September. Moreover, the number of African immigrants in the United States has more than quadrupled in the past two decades, to almost 1.7 million.
And publishing follows trends: Women, Asian-American, Indian and Latino writers have all been “discovered” and had their moment in the sun — as have African-Americans, some of whom envy the attention given to writers with more recent links in Africa.
“People used to ask where the African writers were,” said Aminatta Forna, author of “The Hired Man” (2013, set in Croatia). “They were cleaning offices and working as clerks.”
Some writers and critics scoff at the idea of lumping together diverse writers with ties to a diverse continent. But others say that this wave represents something new in its sheer size, after a long fallow period. (There were some remarkable exceptions, like Wole Soyinka’s 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature and Ben Okri’s 1991 Booker Prize.) And it differs from the postcolonial wave, roughly beginning in the 1960s, which brought international acclaim to writers like Chinua Achebe and Nuruddin Farah, among others.
There are more women, for one thing. More important, the stories being told, while sometimes set in Africa, often reflect the writers’ experiences of living, studying or working elsewhere and are flecked with cultural references — and settings — familiar to Western audiences.
Continue reading the main story
Ms. Adichie’s “Americanah” chronicles the lives of Ifemelu and her lover, Obinze, whose adventures take them from Nigeria to America and Britain. In the United States, Ifemelu writes a popular blog about her growing racial consciousness and finds love with American men, both black and white. Back in Nigeria, her friends use the word “Americanah” to tease her about her Americanized attitudes.
Ms. Adichie, who divides her time between the United States and Nigeria and runs a summer writing workshop in Lagos, has now written three well-received novels and a book of stories. She has amassed awards and has a movie adaptation this year of her novel “Half of a Yellow Sun,” about the Biafran war. She even made it into a Beyoncé song: “Flawless,” released in December, sampled several lines about feminism from a public lecture she gave.
The success of “Half of a Yellow Sun” (2006), after the critical embrace of “Purple Hibiscus” (2003), was a major factor in sending publishers scrambling to find other talented African writers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/arts/new-wave-of-african-writers-with-an-internationalist-bent.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth&module=inside-nyt-region®ion=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region&_r=4
Gas station clerk with MMA training surprises thieves
http://youtu.be/HgmnIJF07kg
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
Black voters understand & support bi-partisanship. What we don’t support is pandering. Rand Paul & Reince Priebus are pandering. #blacknews
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
Black pundits, like Roland Martin, think Blacks are ignorant about politics, but judging by his TL, he gon’ learn today!
Mr. NFTG @Kennymack1971
Funny how Black pundits and their apologists “understand” how politics work when the GOP comes a pandering….
from AG about the water bill ‘crisis’ in Detroit:
Mr. NFTG @Kennymack1971
Gripe at PBO about any and everything but let the GOP blow em a kiss and here come the capes…we see you Black pundits.
More GOP Minority Outreach, Rand Paul Edition
This weekend is the National Urban League’s annual conference here in Cincinnati, and of course this close to Kentucky, GOP Sen. Rand Paul just couldn’t resist showing up to Randsplain to us black folk why Republicans are the bomb diggety. Or something. Very few people wanted to hear what he had to say.
So when Republicans ask blacks to give their party a second look, they have a hard time finding an audience. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky confronted this on Friday when he appeared at a highly publicized speech to the National Urban League Conference to see row after row of empty chairs. The space did not look much fuller after one of the organizers urged people seated near the back to fill in the front rows.
He pushed forward, quoting Malcolm X: “Nobody can give you equality or justice. If you’re a man, you take it.” And he sounded empathetic as he described the arrests of three young black men as they waited for a bus. Their apparent crime, he said, was “waiting while black.” And he delicately acknowledged what was perhaps the biggest cloud hanging over his visit: hiscomments in 2010 in which he suggested that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 encroached on individual liberties. He told the crowd he supported the law unequivocally.
The speech in Cincinnati was his latest before a mostly black crowd, and it was a demonstration of how Mr. Paul — however improbably — has become the only major figure in his party who seems eager to keep going back to African-Americans to appeal for support even if his approach unsettles some fellow Republicans.
That Malcom X quote rings pretty hollow when Paul has attacked President Obama and Attorney General Holder for “overstepping their Constitutional authority”. It rings even more hollow given the fact that Paul has voted against Democratic jobs bills, immigration bills, climate change legislation, the Paycheck Fairness Act and efforts to increase the minimum wage, all things that would help African-Americans…and all Americans for that matter. It’s great that he wants to do something about sentencing laws for drugs, but even if he actually had a change of heart on the Civil Rights Act, he’s still publicly come out against the Voting Rights Act.
He wants to court the black vote. He just doesn’t want too many of us to be able to vote.
Rand Paul isn’t interested in justice or equality. Rand Paul is interested in Rand Paul.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-gop-minority-outreach-rand-paul.html
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Last Call For Working Class Blues
Molly Ball at The Atlantic wades through election data and comes up with the fact that Democrats have recently done very well when they win the working class vote big. When they win it by a smaller margin, Republicans are able to make up the difference with wealthier voters.
Republicans consistently win voters making $50,000 or more, approximately the U.S. median income. The margin doesn’t vary too much: In 2012, Mitt Romney got 53 percent of this group’s vote; in 2010, Republican House candidates got 55 percent. And Democrats consistently win voters making less than the median—but the margin varies widely. In fact, whether Democrats win these voters by a 10-point or a 20-point margin tells you who won every national election for the past decade.
In 2004, Democrats won the working-class vote by 11 points; George W. Bush was reelected. In 2006, Democrats won the working-class vote by 22 points and took the House and Senate. In 2008, Democrats won by 22 points again, and President Obama was elected. In 2010, the margin narrowed to 11 points, and Republicans took the House back. In 2012, Obama was reelected—on the strength of another 22-point margin among voters making under $50,000.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/07/last-call-for-working-class-blues.html
MR. STATE’S RIGHTS-RACISTLIBERTARIAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4FTd-1m-o
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Ryan Plan 3.0 Versus Reality
Mother Jones reporter Stephanie Mencimer calls out Rep. Paul Ryan’s poverty plan for what it is: a massive scam that’s impossible and prohibitively expensive to implement.
Consider, as a hypothetical, the food stamp program, which Ryan thinks should require people to work as a condition of receiving the benefit (ignoring, for the moment, that nearly 60 percent of working-age adults getting food stamps already work). More than 40 million Americans get food stamps. Providing all them with a hand-holding caseworker with whom, under Ryan’s plan, they’d draft long-term plans and contracts outlining their responsibilities and goals before they’d be allowed to eat, would require a fleet of roughly more than 700,000 social workers, assuming a reasonable caseload of about 55 clients per caseworker. Social workers don’t make much money, with a median salary of about $44,000 a year. Even so, 700,000 of them would cost more than $30 billion a year, not including benefits. That’s nearly 40 percent of what the country currently spends on food stamps and nearly twice the entire federal welfare budget. By comparison, the current food stamp program delivers 92 percent of its funding directly to people in need; only 5 percent goes to administrative costs.
Somehow, I’m doubting that conservatives are going to be super excited to pay for 700,000 new government employees. But wait, what if these are all private sector or non-profit organization hires? Surely somebody has tried the Ryan Plan 3.0 before, right?
Turns out the state of Nebraska did just that.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/07/ryan-plan-30-versus-reality.html
Woman battling late-stage cancer gets dream wedding wish fulfilled
Jul 26th 2014 8:00PM
The couple tells KTLA reporters that they would not have been able to afford a ceremony like so lavish on their own, but after they shared their story volunteers jumped into action.
“They gave me the most gorgeous, spectacular wedding ever,” bride Iran Williams said.
For at least one day, it is not about hospitals or treatments or being sick. In this moment, cancer loses.
“Honestly, I can tell you this is the happiest day of my life” Williams added.
What Iran, Raymond, and their children will remember will be a dress that made mom feel like a princess, luxurious flowers, food, cake, and a breathtaking venue in the Pacific Palisades.
“This really made her happy and made her not think about [cancer] for a day” daughter Yvette Williams said.
The fairy-tale event was granted by the non-profit Wish Upon a Wedding and roughly a dozen vendors who volunteered their time and services.
“She was diagnosed again and they gave her the option to have the surgery and she chose not to because it was going to ruin the quality of her life,” Jeannie Ward, Wish Upon a Wedding board member, told KTLA. “So basically her prognosis is less than a year and we felt like we needed to do this for her”.
The biggest gift was being able to share this moment with her children.
“It was amazing because I do everything for my children and I love them so much” said the bride.
The couple does not know what lies ahead.
“This is my third time getting stage IV thyroid cancer, but I believe in miracles” said Williams.
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/07/26/woman-battling-late-stage-cancer-gets-dream-wedding-wish-fulfill/20937433/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl6|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D507437
As TOD Reminds us, today, 10 years ago, State Senator made this speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention:
http://youtu.be/eWynt87PaJ0
Only4RM @Only4RM
#PSA When GOP pols like Paul & Ryan w/ VOTING RECORDS supporting policy disadvantaging PoC suddenly pivot, it’s to court INDEPENDENT voters.
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
.@rolandsmartin No. Blacks are following the wisdom of Dr. Maya Angelou: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. #blacknews
I’m not on twitter, but I hope the 3CHICS twitter team lights up MHP for trying to push Rand Paul FOR ANYTHING.
email
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
Be wary of Black pundits trying 2 convince AA community we should listen 2 Rand Paul & Repubs who create policies that hurts us. #blacknews
Zandar @ZandarVTS
TL indicates #Nerdland is trying to convince black people that we should listen to Rand Paul, justifying why I quit watching long ago.
Nostradeptus @adept2u
So the Black media has been told to go out and fluff Rand Paul. We’re not falling for that shit #nerdland
Nostradeptus @adept2u
I’ll be a MOTHERFUCKER!!! this woman is saying that Rand Paul is the one who can speak right to Black folks not PBO #nerdland #cointelpro
daowens44 @moniqueb45
I caught about 5 min of MHP show. Corporate is really pushing Rand Paul. So don’t be mad at MHP. She’s just doing what she’s told.
April @ReignOfApril
Is it hypocritical for #MHP to say POTUS has “Daddy Issues” when her father wasn’t in the home? Read: http://reignofapril.blogspot.com/2013/02/does-president-obama-have-daddy-issues.html?m=1 … … … #nerdland
Pragmatic Obots @PragmaticObot
@adept2u smh….MHP got whipped till she cried & apologized 2Romney-Roland got put on “black side” of town TV1, but they still caping 4 GOP
Cher ✔ @cher
Follow
RAND PAUL IS LIAR.HE SAYS HES NOT A RACIST YET UNTIL HE STARTED RUNNING 4 PRES HE DID NOT SUPPORT CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.Minorities BEWARE😡
9:12 PM – 25 Jul 2014
Imani ABL @AngryBlackLady
You can tell the white politicians that respect black ppl vs. ones that don’t. Biden respects us. Rand Paul thinks we’re stupid. #nerdland
Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv for a peace rally on Saturday evening, calling for an end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. (July 26)
Thank you for this, Liza! Loves it.
YVW, Ms. SG2. You’ve been bringing it for the Palestinians. Maybe, just maybe people will start waking up to what is going on. Someday…
Thank you, Liza! I wish I could do so much more. I wish I could relieve the pain and suffering.
I believe that without support for the US government that Israel would have to end what is now a seven year siege. That is really the first step and that is why Hamas won’t agree to these so called truces that do not address the blockade.
I don’t think that most reasonable Americans would support the living conditions that Isreal has forced on the Palestinians if the Americans actually knew what they are.
I’m sick and tired of this US collaboration, giving all of this money to Israel, money they don’t really need. It just augments their ability to buy weapons and expand their settlements in the West Bank.
This conflict goes on and on until the US stops backing Israel or the US is no longer a superpower or Israel succeeds in killing most of the Palestinians. Just my opinion.
Tweeted this.
Rulajebreal on CNN speaking about msnbc media bias and labeling her a “Palestinian” journalist & kicking their ass.You lose AGAIN, msnbc. Don’t be bias!
Good Morning Everyone
Heartwrenching. I hope she survives.
Warning! This may leave you shaken.
The moment of bombing Doghmosh family’s house by a missile from Israeli drone
Holy Sh!t!!
Okay, this might sound harsh, but maybe not given the situation. If I were a Palestinian, I think I would hate every cell in every body of every Israeli person who supports this massacre. And that is what it is, a massacre.
Israel, widely believed to have nuclear weapons, is armed to the teeth because they must “defend themselves.” But, apparently, even a slingshot would be too dangerous a weapon for the Palestinians.
How long can this go on? I guess as long as the US is a collaborator, that’s how long.
All of this. So on point. If you freeze the video at the 20 second mark, you can see the missile coming in with lightening speed. The destruction just takes your breath away.
I can’t imagine this, living like this. Most of the people in Gaza can’t imagine it any other way.
Well, I’m back on for a few, while out for the weekend. Bibi’s face is all over the tv. FUCK’EM!
I can hardly take looking at his face. He is arrogant, cunning and ruthless.
Well, Bibi thinks the USofA loves him. He might be surprised by how many of us hate his stupid ass.
Turkey to send another Freedom Flotilla to Gaza
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/13059-turkey-to-send-another-freedom-flotilla-to-gaza
The Turkish humanitarian relief organisation (IHH) is currently organising a “Freedom Flotilla II” which will carry humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, IHH chairman Bulent Yildrim said Thursday.
In statements to Gulf Online, Yildrim said that his organisation has embarked on legal procedures and paperwork required to obtain a permit for the trip. As soon as a final permit is issued, the IHH along with other international organisations will immediately set up the convoy.
The chairman of IHH, a major organiser of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla I, said that Turkish army troops will accompany the ships to protect it from any potential attack, pointing out that his organisation demanded the government to provide protection for them as Turkish citizens.
Maze Keheil, the president of the European Campaign for Lifting the Siege on Gaza, confirmed his campaign’s intention to take part in the new flotilla, as it did in first one in 2010.