3 brothers and A SISTER

Why Does Rush Limbaugh Get To Have All The Fun On Syndicated Radio?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Star Search

by Mark Lassiter

On his nationally syndicated Premiere Radio Networks' show, Rush Limbaugh recently called President Obama "this little boy, this little man-child president..."

How many days before Limbaugh calls for armed revolt against The White House via Fox and Friends over coffee and donuts?

The Tea Party Express 2 is a Great American event for Fox News to promote and rally behind. How are protesters empowered and financially supported by a new program claiming to be "Fair And Balanced"? Fox News sponsors the echo chamber for a tea party coming to a city near you, complete with President Obama being demonized, shot at, lynched or dehumanized. If there is a Presidential do-over before 2010 will Fox News cite treason for its high ratings?

When I listen to the single point of view that is broadcast to over 600 stations via national media behemoth like Clear Channel on a daily basis, I am reminded of the words of my former neighbor, also African American, who said with force, "we have so much talent."

Certainly, money is not a problem as Limbaugh's deal with Clear Channel Communications is the second-largest ever for a radio personality, ranking behind Howard Sterns's five year agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio in 2004 for more than 500 million dollars. According to The Los Angeles Times, Limbaugh's salary is more than the combined annual salaries of the four best paid anchors on network television.

Unfortunately, syndication has more to do with the large advertisers than it does the unique interests of the local markets. Syndicated shows have stunted the development of new local talent as they force many local businesses from marketing to local consumers as the stations can base their ad rates on 'national' levels and carry ads purchased by the syndicated show and not the local audience they are supposed to represent.

There isn't a single nationally syndicated progressive Black voice on Clear Channel (or anywhere) who has the same unchecked creative license as Rush Limbaugh. It is time for that to change along with the colors of leaves in the Fall. Business models and old systems are being reshaped by the minute. Media, both traditional and new, will experience its own epiphany when people understand how "we have so much talent" translates into becoming cultural pioneers.

There is no need for a massive cattle call along the lines of American Idol. The only issue is conforming to the clearly defined Limbaugh criteria.

The Job Description is as follows: must be angry, fearless and divisive. Must make audience uncomfortable. Host will have free reign to craft vocabulary, leverage language or bend facts in the name of truth, justice and the American Way. Forget the intellectuals. I nominate Wanda Sykes, Charles Barkley, Chris Rock, Screamin Jay Hawkins (RIP), a fired-up Cedric The Entertainer, or Chuck D of Public Enemy.

Top Ten Candidates for The Next Great Media Host

10. Wyatt Cenac - cool, simultaneously brilliant and unassuming. Emmy Award winner. His sleepy eyes mask a surgical strike at all things stereotypical. Feature 'reporter' on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In October 2009, he worked with rapper Slim Tug on the music video "Still a Boss" as a parody of how the recession is affecting the rap community..

9. Dave Chapelle - outrageous and raw. Reminds me of Sly Stone back in the day. The question was not whether Sly would be late to his concert, but whether he would show up at all. Chapelle walked away from 50 million dollars to keep his show on Comedy Central.

8. Cris Carter - analyst on ESPN Monday Night Countdown, Sunday NFL Countdown and HBOs Inside the NFL. Passionate and willing to fight for the things he believes in. He said if he were in charge of the Dallas Cowboys he would put a bullet in Terrell Owens which caused an uproar that caused him to apologize for his comments. "C'mon man!"

7. Wanda Sykes - Emmy Award winner named one of the 25 funniest people by ntertainmentFox has her signed for a new show as reparations for Fox News Channel. I hope she does well. I miss the HBO Chris Rock Show with Grandmaster Flash as musical director.

6. Carlton Douglas Ridenhour / Chuck D - rapper, author, publisher, lecturer and producer. Politically active. Testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing. Believe the hype.

5. Chris Rock - from Saturday Night Live's Nat X to his current standup routine, Rock is more Baptist preacher than comedian as he exposes hypocrisy with a compact New York City switchblade.

4. Larry Wilmore - "Senior Black Correspondant" with The Daily Show is a good enough title to merit a promotion to the national stage. A veteran of 30 years, he has written for The Office, Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, In Living Color and The Bernie Mac Show. His latest book, "I'd Rather We Got Casinos" sums it up.

3. Paul Mooney - "BET is owned by White people. They rewrite history. They are big liars. They don't like the messages I send. They get intimidated and get frightened." Wrote for Richard Pryor. What more needs to be said?

2. Mike Wilbon - co-host of ESPN's hit show Pardon The Interruption. His commentary on sports and society have been a staple in Washington DC for decades.

1. Charles Barkley - has crossed over to the promised land where he can say anything he wants and get away with it. The studio show for NBA on TNT is a work of art. His aspiration for public office in Alabama is a plus. Introduced to him at Jocks N Jills sports bar in Atlanta and found him to be gracious and almost as funny as he is on the set.

We have so much talent. You make the call.

Right Now, I'm In Desperate Need of A Soul Train Line!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:18:00 +0000

BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana Judge Keith Bardwell Resigns!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:12:00 +0000

White Justice Quits After Interracial Marriage Controversy

A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black has given up his post.

Here's Keith Bardwell's one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."

Bardwell refused to perform the ceremony for Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay because they are of different races.

When questioned about his refusal, Bardwell acknowledged he routinely recuses himself from marrying interracial couples because he believes such marriages cause harm to the couples' children. In interviews, he said he refers such couples to other justices of the peace, who then perform the ceremony, which happened in this case.

Humphrey has said she and McKay received their marriage license from the parish clerk of court, where they also received a list of people qualified to perform the ceremony. When she called Bardwell's office to ask about the ceremony on Oct. 6, Humphrey said Bardwell's wife told her that the justice wouldn't sign their marriage license because they were a "mixed couple."

Humphrey and McKay have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bardwell.

By MELINDA DESLATTE of Associated Press

Change We Can Believe In??? Black High School In Chicago has 115 Out Of 800 Female Students Pregnant

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Of the total female student population at Paul Robeson High School in Chicago, Ill., 1 in 7 are expectant mothers. Robeson Principal Gerald Morrow blames the staggering number of pregnancies on the girls home life and absentee men who are not being the loving fathers they need to.

"It can be a lot of things that are happening in the home or not happening in the home, if you will," Morrow said, according to the network, noting that "absentee fathers" are another factor in the school's high number of teen pregnancies.

The birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 increased 5 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to a March 18 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Could the reasons be lack of access to sexual health education and pregnancy prevention and a lack of access to reproductive health resources. Possibly. What .about the effort to get public assistance? Absolutely.

Or could it be the highly sexualized rap videos on BET or the degrading lyrics in Hip Hop songs catering to these same kids.

Is it a culture that glorifies violence, sex and crimes against women. The same women who have grown up fatherless watching videos portray black women as sexual objects for the pleasure of rappers and their thug entourages.

Is it how rapper Lil Wayne freely plants his seed in any chickenhead willing to open her legs to him. (So far the tally of baby mamas knocked up by the rapper this year alone stands at 4. Wayne already has a 9-year-old with reality tv personality Antonia Carter)

In fact, there was a recent incident where black girls shot up his tour bus because he refused to have sex with them.

The school's students are largely from poor communities of color where teenage pregnancies can be high. At least Robeson is a school in which young women are not being thrown out or transferred to other schools. Principal Morrow notes, "We're looking at how we can get them to the next phase, how can we still get them thinking about graduation?"

Is the answer as simple as providing educational classes and centers to normalize and encourage the use of birth control methods and distribute condoms? While a teen health center is being built across the street, some are advocating for more funding for the creation and maintenance of centers such as these so that teenage pregnancy rates go down.

If only if it were that easy. having 115 pregnant students is an epidemic that is only accelerating the complete economic and social disenfranchisement of Blacks in the US!

Who's On The Outs in Black America, And Who's Stepping Up?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Beverly Bond's '09 Black Girls Rock Awards
No Punches, Just Praise as Tyson, Holyfield Meet
White House Starts Newsletter Targeting African Americans

Rape a Weapon of War in Congo, Activists Say

Black Philly Murder Victim Selene Raynor: Why???

Beyonce & Lady Gaga Collaborating

McCain Tells Obama to Pardon Black Boxing Champion
Celebrating the First Black Cover Girl Katiti Kironde
Elder Bush Sees 'Ugliness' in Attacks on Obama
Fox Fires Liberal Black Analyst Dr. Marc Lamont Hill
Diddy Loses $20,000 Ring During BET Show Taping
Obama Administration Shifting Policy on Sudan

Source

Macy's Passport '09

kathywmson@gmail.com (Kathy Williamson) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Fashion and compassion
Stars come out to raise money for HIV/AIDS

By Kathy Williamson

Santa Monica, CA - The 27th Annual Macy's and American Express Passport, where Fashion + Compassion Come Together, celebrated the common goal of raising crucial funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS organizations which a fashion show on Sept. 24 that incorporated various genres.

Featured designers at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica included Rachel Roy, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Levi's; and a visit to Venice, Italy via a live performance by opera singer Melody Moore. The show welcomed stars from the worlds of music and fashion. They included celebrity choreographer Brian Friedman; Indie bands, A Fine Frenzy (from Los Angeles); A Fine Frenzy; Zion 1 with K. Flay (hip hop group); DJ Rashida; Bria Murphy (model, daughter of Eddie and Nicole Murphy); and the Harajuku Girls. The appearances by Sharon Stone and Dame Elizabeth Taylor brought several standing ovations from the audience.

Many of the celebrities were moved to donate $500 to $5,000 including LaToya Jackson; Davy Jones (The Monkees); designer Rachel Roy; Alex Meneses (Everybody Loves Raymond); Eva LaRue (CSI Miami); Cody Longo (FAME); Josie Lauren and Cassie Scerbo (Make It or Break It); and Nichole Hiltz (In Plain Sight). Sharon's "teams" raised almost $75,000.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor asked everyone in attendance to join her in the fight against the wide-reaching and deadly disease. "As my beloved friend Michael (Jackson) said 'We are the world,' and it is up to us - it is our responsibility to take care of those who are sick and dying," which was greeted with cheers from the audience.

Macy’s Passport achieved their goal once again and will be donating over $1 million to a variety of HIV/AIDS organizations.

- Wireimage photo - Nichole Murphy and daughters.

DEATH OF BLACK MEDIA: Is Ebony Magazine Really Up For Sale?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Who Will Tell Our Stories, The Internet?

The outlook for the Holy grail of black-owned publishing companies, Johnson Publishing, is bleak. Actually, beyond bleak.

Non-stop speculation has had Ebony and Jet magazines on the ropes for some time. Then the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show -- a flamboyant staple of black women's fund raising efforts since 1958 -- was canceled for the first time in its history.

And now comes word that the company synonymous with Black America is putting its flagship title, Ebony, up for sale.

According to Newsweek, Johnson Publishing's chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, is seeking a buyer or investor in an effort aimed at securing the survival of the nation's oldest African-American magazine. It's unclear whether the company's other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.

We here at 3BAAS Media Group have been addressing this issue for some time and even held an Urban New Media Conference in June to discuss what actions should be taken.

According to those familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony's legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms. Time Inc., the world's largest periodical publisher, already owns Essence, a monthly lifestyle, beauty, and fashion magazine for African-American women.

Viacom, meanwhile, owns BET (Black Entertainment Television). Nothing has yet resulted from any of Johnson Publishing's overtures, however. And it's unclear whether negotiations are underway between the publishing company and any of the identified parties or other potential rescuers.

It's a challenging time for print media in general, so Johnson Publishing's plight is not that unusual. Add to that the question of whether the brand can stay relevant with younger blacks, and prospects look even worse.

The fact that black-owned Johnson Publishing faces this juncture during the year when a black man -- one whose social circle the CEO belongs to -- took the White House, is tragically ironic.

Still, no magazine holds the place in the collective heart of African Americans that Ebony has had since its inception in 1945. At the same time, the level of superiority and arrogance the company has shown can not be ignored. On several occasions we have heard people express frustration over how they tried to take the company in a direction that embraced New Media and kept readers fully engaged.

Even as recent as a few months ago at the 2nd Annual Blogging While Brown conference, several attendees where mumbling about Eric Easter, Chief of Digital Strategy for Johnson Publishing. For many, Mr. Easter was coming across like he had all the answers as opposed to engaging those in the audience that have demonstrated an ability to create an online presence.

Currently, Johnson Publishing only has one photographer, Valarie Garrett, to cover the entire country for both Ebony and Jet. So even the images they once prided themselves on now coming from the record companies, studios, the celebrities themselves, or companies like Wire Image.

So the million dollar question is, "What we gon' do now???"

Source

To Hell With Boycotting Glen Beck, Show Black People The Money!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:46:00 +0000

Apartheid Alive and Well on Madison Avenue

By Sanford Moore

During the time when America was segregated, the late, great Nat King Cole's groundbreaking television show was canceled because Madison Avenue and its clients would not sign on as sponsors. At the time he remarked, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." Not only was his comment painfully correct, but also eerily prophetic, given that 50 years later Madison Avenue is still discriminating against black Americans.

The streets of Madison Avenue are like the segregated graveyards of the past, filled with generations of unrecognized black contributions, talent and ambitions.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights, in successive investigations dating from 1968 to 2005, has documented the consistent pattern of racial discrimination enforced by the major ad agencies and their corporate holding companies. They control a constellation of marketing, media buying, communications, lobbying and PR firms in which there is also a dearth of African-American executives.

Now, it's time to get agencies where it counts -- their wallets. Recently, I appealed to Bill Thompson, the New York City comptroller -- who manages pension funds, which collectively own some $100 million of agency holding companies' stock and some $6 billion of 46 of their clients' stock -- to pressure the agency CEOs to end the illegal and discriminatory practices of their affiliates.

Like the fight to free the blacks of South Africa, which was aided by the divestiture movement led by the institutional investor community, we must now employ the same tactic in freeing black Americans from the insidious grip of the Mad Men.

Workforce statistics and documented discrimination fail to put this flagrant and purposeful discrimination in its proper economic and societal context. In 1968, the year of the first New York City Commission on Human Rights investigation, the seminal book, The $30 Billion Negro, was published.

This revealed for the first time the extent and existence of the black consumer market. In 1979, when the commission's follow-up report declared that a condition of "de facto segregation" existed for blacks on Madison Avenue, a sequel to the book, The $70 Billion Negro, was published. So while the Mad Men and their corporate clients had no aversion to reaping black dollars, they were averse to hiring black employees and executives.

The black consumer market has since grown exponentially and is currently worth almost $1 trillion to Madison Avenue's corporate clients, according to Target Market News. Yet, Madison Avenue continues to denigrate the importance of African Americans and their consumer dollars. Madison Avenue agencies are still "afraid of the dark."

This prejudice, this remnant of Jim Crow, not only discriminates against black employees, executives and vendors, but also is propagated on the greater American society. It is manifest in the paucity of black leads on network TV, and in the disproportionately low use of black models in television commercials and magazine ads.

It is reflected in the rate and revenue disparity Madison Avenue forces on black radio stations as documented by the Federal Communications Commission. In fact, Madison Avenue has created and perpetuated a "separate and unequal" marketing paradigm. It is evident in its advertising, workforce, executive ranks and allocation of client ad dollars.

As reported by Nielsen, black-targeted media received some $2.3 billion in 2008. This figure represented 1 percent of measured ad spending. The figures for Q1 2009 reveal the same "niggardly" level of spending being allocated to black-targeted media.

Of the $1.3 billion spent by the federal government via Madison Avenue prime contractors in 2006-07, only $6.1 million found its way into black media vehicles, according to Nielsen.

When confronted with these figures, Madison Avenue agencies attempt to rationalize their policies with media gibberish about "impressions delivered" and meeting arbitrarily concocted media criteria.

What is being done is the same as when blacks were declared three-fifths of a person in the Constitution. Despite Jim Crow having been declared illegal more than 40 years ago, Madison Avenue continues to enforce a condition of marketing "peonage" on black Americans and the media that serve them.

Let us not forget that one of the differences between totalitarianism and democracy is the extent to which a free media system is supported by paid advertising. Also, let us consider the historical context since Cole uttered his scathing remark. Changes include the U.S. Voting Rights Act being passed, black rule in South Africa, black CEOs running U.S. corporations, black creative expression setting the tone of America's pop culture, and the U.S.'s first African-American president. Yet Madison Avenue refuses to lift the "cotton curtain" of discrimination.

We have had 40 years of pious pronouncements by the leaders of the industry, 40 years of investigations, reports and obfuscation, 40 years of denying the significance of the black consumer market. It is time to return the favor. It is time to make the CEOs of the holding companies pay a price with their own money, to affect their compensation packages and their company's stock price.

Thus my appeal to Thompson. As the youngsters say, it's all about the Benjamins.

Sanford Moore is an industry critic, former agency executive and current black talk radio co-host. He can be reached at thecutmancv@hotmail.com.

OMG!!! Actor LeVar Burton Has A Hissy Fit After Reading Rainbow Gets Canceled! (Spoof)

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:29:00 +0000

My Living Nightmare Of Encouraging Kids To Read Is Over

By LeVar Burton's Alter Ego

Thank god!

After 26 long years, I can finally rest easy. Twenty-six years I spent standing in front of a camera, gritting my teeth, and shilling the latest works of every hack children's book author imaginable.

For 26 years, I've told kids they could open a magical door to another world just by reading a book, when the only door it ever opened for me led to a soul-sucking career in the horrifying abyss of public television.

But now, at last, it is over. I don't have to lie anymore. I don't have to live that nightmare.

When the news came that Reading Rainbow would be canceled due to a lack of funding, I felt—well, to use a cliché like you'd find in one of the hundreds of books I pimped endlessly—like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Every day I went to work hoping that maybe the studio had burned down, that maybe the program had been cut, that maybe PBS would finally stop squeezing the life from me drop by drop. Now that it's over, I feel the relief a bruised and broken soldier must feel when he is rescued after rotting away for decades in some dank, forgotten POW camp.

May that godforsaken show burn in hell.

At long last, I can pick up a book and read for pleasure! Haven't read one in ages. You know what I was reading during those 26 insufferable years? Scripts. Scripts for roles that went to actors who weren't stigmatized by their association with a TV show occupying the time slot right after Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

I happen to be an accomplished actor. I starred in Roots, which was the most-watched show in American television history. My stirring portrayal of Kunta Kinte got me an Emmy nomination. But you know what? At 25 years old, when the opportunity to earn a regular paycheck working on a children's show came along, it seemed like a pretty damn good idea.

I was dead, dead wrong.

Little did I know the next quarter century of my life would be an unrelenting blur of excruciating trips to some of the most boring places on earth. Apiaries, steam trains, old mills—every week they sent me to a fresh hellhole, and every week I had to interview the dullest people imaginable.

And those humiliating books. Maebelle's Suitcase and The Jolly Postman. These were not the classics. Anyone who could glue paper between two pieces of cardboard and hire a publicist could get a book on that show. And there I was, in sheer agony, trying to keep a smile on my face while talking up Germs Make Me Sick!

Before long, people began recognizing me on the street, and inevitably they'd come over and start singing this awful, cloying tune. When I finally asked somebody what the hell it was, I was sickened to learn that it was the show's theme. I'd never heard it. They didn't play it on the set, and Lord knows I never saw one episode of that garbage when it aired.

Hoping to escape Reading Rainbow's clutches, I started taking any role I could get. I'm proud of some of them: I played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Martin Luther King in Ali. But you know what the most challenging role of my career was? Hosting Reading Rainbow and acting like I gave a shit about getting kids interested in books.

Fact is, I couldn't care less whether kids learn to read. There, I said it.

Look, Reading Rainbow was a television program. That should tell you something right there. What I should have done is hosted a show that taught children how to watch more television. I bet they would have come up with the funding to renew that show.

All I've done for 26 years is drive to work, clock in, read my lines, clock out, go home, and cry myself to sleep. Now I'm much older, a broken man, but I've reached the end of my terrifying journey.

And do you know what's at the end? Do you what's at the end of the "Reading Rainbow"?

A giant crock of shit, that's what.

Rev. John Hunter of First AME Leads Push To Get Minority Faith-Based Community Leaner And Healthier

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:15:00 +0000

LA Church Opens Produce Market Serving Up Nutrition

"I need to be here because I want to be healthy and keep the weight under control," said Ava Thomas, a member of First AME for over 20 years and a frequent Trader Joes and Whole Foods Market shopper.

That was the sentiment echoed over the weekend, as the nonprofit economic development and social service arm of First African Methodist Episcopal Church officially unveiled an innovative program that has the faith-based community buzzing.

FAME Assistance Corporation's new fruit and produce market, located at the corner of Western Avenue and Adams Boulevard, had Black and Latino patrons snapping up fresh-cut flowers, juices, kettle corn, teriyaki chicken, and down-home Texas barbeque.

The main stars of the show, however, were bins and bins of quality, affordable mangos, cactus pears, sweet strawberries, white corn, red onions, greens, and other delicious produce.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and State Senator Curren Price and others were on hand for the heralded ribbon cutting ceremony. The consensus by those in attendance was that the innovative program was long overdue in an area one community activist called the "food deserts" of inner-city Los Angeles.

The new market, now officially open all day on weekends, seeks to change that. Leading by example, FAME Assistance Corp. plans to expand healthful-foods education to 10 churches in the surrounding area under a three-year, $500,000 state grant targeting African American women and children, according to the nonprofit's president, Denise Hunter.

Possible initiatives include church forums and workshops, support groups, a cookbook, bulletin boards providing nutritional information and success stories about people who had changed their diets and improved their health.

Hunter, who is also First Lady at FAME, said that a grant to educate people about healthful eating was "incomplete" without offering them a way to buy those foods.

So FAME connected with Coast Produce Co., a Los Angeles firm that is one of the largest wholesalers to supermarkets and military commissaries in the area.

The firm is setting up a nonprofit arm, Fresh Hope, to take fresh produce to underserved communities and eventually supply minorities local jobs, long a vision of its owner, John Dunn. "For us to find a counterpart with the same passion and belief as us -- I do believe there's a higher power that brought us together," Dunn said.

Dunn, a fourth-generation Korean American, said he also hopes to use the market as a way to bring the neighborhood's ethnically diverse residents together. Seeing Mayor Villaraigosa speaking in both English and Spanish drove that point home.

"The warm reception from the community, the way they've embraced it, has made what we've created so meaningful. It has truly become a village-like gathering place," beamed Denise Hunter as her 8 year-old daughter Jaden sat nearby while pinadas and balloons swayed in the background.

Over the weekend, the market drew patrons of every race and offered produce appealing to particular populations: black-eyed peas and okra requested by African Americans, chiles and Mexican squash for Latinos, plantains for Caribbean immigrants. Weekly entertainment will feature local talent: a four-piece salsa band played Saturday, and the Crenshaw High School jazz ensemble performed Sunday.

Ron and Patricia Lowe, members of First AME for 17 years, have been to other Farmers Markets that are bigger, feature more variety, and have competing vendors offering the same products. But they were there with bags of purchased items because this is "something nice to see in our community."

"I'm pleasantly suprised. It's much nicer than I expected," said Patricia. Her husband chimed in as their 13 year-old daughter Crystal nodded in agreement. "It's good they have a focus on produce. That's what I like."

First AME's Senior Pastor John J. Hunter said he along with his wife Denise planned to lead the push for more healthful eating by personal example. Rev. Hunter said he would aim to triple his daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, from two servings to six, and lose a quarter of his weight. But he said changing the church's food culture would be a challenge: Just recently, he said, a church member gave him a banana cake at Bible study as a "sign of love."

"Food is such a part of our fellowship," he said. "Some people say AME stands for Africans Meeting and Eating. But this is important and necessary for our community. And personally, I look forward to having to take in suits that soon will be too big for me to wear!"

Source

Are Anti-Obama Protestors One Step Away From Calling The President A N-Word?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:48:00 +0000

The Water Line Keeps Rising, And All We’re Doing Is Standing There

by Erin Aubry Kaplan

Worst thing first: the loosely confederated but commonly paranoid, almost proudly malevolent anti-America forces that pass for a conservative movement in this country is about two seconds away from calling our shining President Obama a nigger.

But that’s not the worst thing—actually, it may be best thing.

My husband is an American history teacher who’s been arguing for years that the racism that’s supposed to be such a thing of the national past has always stewed just below our surface, give or take an inch or two. The virulent resistance to Obama’s health-care reform efforts—and increasingly to Obama himself-- exposes this inconvenient truth more effectively than any argument that my husband or anybody else could make.

The big conservative march on Washington this past weekend paraded a grab-bag of grievances that all reduced down to one thing: Obama is an Other who doesn’t think like Us.

I wish this was so much political theater staged solely for the benefit of Fox News, et al, but I’m afraid it’s more than that. How else is it possible that the very centrist senator from Illinois, momentarily demonized as a liberal, was very quickly made into a socialist/fascist dictator with an oily smile and even oilier words who was trying to sneak Big Brother government past the loyal watchdogs of liberty and individual rights?

For many true and overwhelmingly white believers, Obama is Hitler meets the mythical black trickster Br’er Rabbit, a dread colored Communist who must be kept from power at all costs, because of course Negroes were most in need of social and economic redress, and must always be barred from the inner sanctums of capitalism.

Electing Obama was one thing, realizing we all must now follow the path he defines, whether we like it or agree with it or not, is entirely another.

The panic is setting in. Even the white folks who voted for him are rethinking their position, wondering seven months into this experiment if it was such a good idea.

It reminds me of a dynamic that black people know all too well—you get hired for a job in a burst of white generosity, but as soon as the going gets tough, you’re the first to be let go. Except that in the case of the President, he can’t be fired, at least not right away. So a certain segment of the population, including certain members of Congress, are trying to neutralize Obama with panic and character assassination.

I should have known this was coming, and I did. But I’m disheartened nonetheless.

I hardly agree with all that Obama’s doing, starting with ramping up the war in Afghanistan; I’m one of those disaffected progressives that he still calls friends. But to see him not even being treated like a president, when so much unearned respect was accorded George W. Bush for so long, is painful. It’s personal.

And it’s not just Republicans and conservatives colluding on the diss, it’s Obama’s fellow weak-kneed Democrats who either are blue dogs or who have no stomach for racial matters, and therefore say nothing; in not regularly calling out the bullshit of the opposition, they are standing with them.

Alas, President Obama looks as isolated right now as black people in high places have always been—isolation is the price of their success. The irony is that a president is elected to lead, not to be the prominent but innocuous face of affirmative action.

That’s the change Obama assumed came with the mandate of his election.

He was wrong.

ERIN AUBRY KAPLAN is the first African American in history to be a weekly op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Her musings continue to appear in the Times, Essence magazine, and on the blog 3 Brothers and A Sister. Among her many projects, Kaplan is currently working on her much anticipated book.

Do You Recall: A Poem in Honor of 9-11

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:47:00 +0000

By Richard Ivory

Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense.
King Lear, 5. 3

Do you recall:

See the images of our people running

through dust clouds;

trying to escape falling steel;

the still images of screams of horror

tears of anguish!

The choked filled tears of mothers having to explain

the where- abouts of a deceased husband?

Have we forgotten the 92 brave men and women who died on Flight 11?

Have we forgotten our people on United Airlines Flight 175

which hit the South Tower ;

or American Airlines Flight 77

crashing into the Pentagon?

Have we forgotten

Brave Patriots

who prevented United Airlines Flight 93,

from crashing into the Capitol

yet instead perished

on the green fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania?

Have we forgotten America?

Did you see our people throw

themselves helplessly out of windows

to escape the scorching flames?

Do we not recall

the thousands upon thousands

who flooded the Brooklyn bridge

to escape this great terror?

And did we not recall

a Mayor who led fearlessly

as his city was awash in smoke

and in pain.

Let us never forget !

Death(s) 3,017 (including 24 presumed dead and 19 hijackers)
Injured 6,291+
Perpetrator(s): al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden

Source

Natalie Cole Comes Back Stronger, Better Than Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:40:00 +0000

This Is What Triumph Looks Like!

by Errol Briggs

Natalie gave more than what we could have ever imagined or prayed for last night at the beautiful Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Her comeback performance was out of this world. She commanded that stage like she had never been sick a day in her life.

When I tell you that I was "almost" in Heaven last night, then you can believe it.

On Wednesday September 10, 2009, the legendary singer and famous daughter of the incomparable Nat King Cole out performed Aretha, Patti, and Chaka. Natalie wore a deep purple gown for almost the entire show before changing into an equally beautiful turquoise mini gown. She brought out Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers, and she took us literally to church. She started to do the "Holy Dance" and shouted for about 5 minutes.

When you have been through what Natalie has been through, we know why Natalie danced and shouted all night. I think His name is JESUS. The man who saved her life; The man who gave her a new kidney; The man who delivered her from drug abuse; The man who is her all in all. Don't you know a little something about this man I am talking about?

I thank God for giving Natalie a new beginning, and I thank God for placing each one of you in my life. As Natalie said last night, "When you are going through something, you think you are the only one who is going through it. We all got problems in this world, so never give up and always know that if God did it for me, He will do it for you". Well spoken Natalie!

Errol Wayne is President of Errol Briggs & Associates. Check him out over on Facebook.

Museum Officials, Business Partners, Even Florida Governor Charlie Crist Is Pulling Out All The Stops For Black Art Exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:17:00 +0000

The Sunshine State has spared no effort to promote The Kinsey Collection, what many are claiming will be the most remarkable art and historic exhibit yet in tracing the African-American experience for Tallahassee residents. People are already feeling the impact.

Florida A&M University grads Bernard and Shirley Kinsey still consider Tallahassee a second home, and for six months "The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey" will have residence at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science. The exhibit officially opens to the public Friday and will remain here until March 21, 2010.

"I will tell you that we are projecting stronger admissions for the Brogan Museum than ever before," said Chucha Barber, the Brogan's CEO. "We have generated significant sponsorship for this exhibit, even more so than we had for the blockbuster Our Body — The Universe Within."

The list of corporate partners is a business Who's Who: Visit Florida, The Walt Disney Co., Target Stores, Progress Energy, State Farm, Edison Electric, the Anheuser Busch Foundation and AT&T, among others.

Local partner A.M.W.A.T. Moving & Storage volunteered to truck the exhibit here from Los Angeles and will take it to Washington, D.C., for its next venue, the Smithsonian Institution.

Barber said the biggest outreach is a cooperative effort with tourism marketer Visit Florida and American Express, which will promote the exhibit to more than 7.4 million people through the company's communications with its cardholders.

In Florida, the Governor's Office will join in marketing the exhibit with emphasis on February, Black History Month, she said.

Besides Los Angeles, the Kinsey Collection has been on display in Cincinnati, Chicago and in Bernard Kinsey's hometown of West Palm Beach, where it was housed at the Norton Museum of Art.

"We have had about 200,000 people see the collection, 12 to 15 million people have seen it on television, and about 2-plus million will see it at the Smithsonian," Bernard Kinsey said. "But what we're trying to do is a little different."

Continue

The Kevin Ross Show Takes On The "Evil" Barack Obama, The "Strange" Van Jones, The "Disturbed" Maia Campbell and The "Bizarre" Kinsey Collection

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:16:00 +0000

NOT!

Although now that we have your attention, make sure you tune in Wednesday 09-09-09 as Boss Ross talks all about the controversial issues everyone's buzzing over.

What's your reaction to the insanity surrounding Barack Obama? What's next for Van Jones? How is Maia Campbell doing after the video tape looking not quite herself went viral.

Plus, we'll take you inside The Kinsey Collection, debuting this week at the Mary Brogan Musuem in Tallahassee, Florida. That's 7:00pm PST tonight, only on Blogtalkradio.

Chris Brown Doesn't Heart Oprah, But It's Hollywood That Still Has Some 'Esplainin To Do

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Young Black Actors Get A Few Crumbs At ABC, NBC

Chris Brown Upset with Winfrey Over Rihanna

Is Politics or Race Behind Obama's Education Speech?

Innocent Man Gets $1.8 Million After 23 Years in Jail
350,000 Hit by West Africa Flooding

Williams Sisters Reach 4th Round at US Open

Celebrated Kinsey Collection Makes A Black History Connection

Perry Bringing 'Colored Girls' to the Big Screen
Amnesty Urges Sudan to Withdraw Charges in 'Trouser Trial'
Toronto's 1st Africentric School Set to Open
Sheree Whitfield's Divorce Details Emerge
NC Man Sentenced for Threatening to Kill Obama
A Black Woman Poised for Presidential Candidate in Brazil

Costco Apologizes For Little Monkey Doll

Glenn Beck 1, Van Jones 0 as The Obama White House Strikes Out In The Game of Hardball Politics!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Black Environmental Czar Done After Beck Boycott, "A-hole" Uproar

Van Jones, a newly minted policy adviser who specialized in "green jobs", has called it quits after a crescendo of criticism over his previous affiliation with a September 11 conspiracy group. But was that the real reason the brotha was "swiftboated"? Well, calling Republicans "assholes" didn't help.

After weeks of being embroiled in what Jones himself termed a "vicious smear campaign," concerning past inflammatory statements, the San Francisco based author and lecturer relinquished the desirable DC gig just as President Obama fights to regain his campaign swagger on the contentious health care debate that has even Democrats failing to get in lock step.

Jones, appointed as special adviser at the White House Council on Environmental Quality in March of this year, apologized earlier after digital content of him "keeping it real" in describing Republicans went viral. Marry to a Caucasian woman, Jones has been very outspoken nevertheless on environmental race issues that many believe have caused urban areas with a large concentration of Blacks and Latinos to suffer at the hands of eco-friendly Whites.

Adding gasoline to the blazing controversy were subsequent revelations that Jones had the audacity to signed a petition suggesting that the U.S. government was involved in the 2001 attacks in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington.

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation letter. "I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future," he wrote.

But did this character assassination of Jones, 40, really have more to do with the pounding Fox cable talk show host Glenn Beck has been receiving from the Color of Change organization concerning statements that Obama was racist?

In all likelihood, yes, especially since Color of Change was co-founded by Jones and to date, they have successfully convinced 57 companies to not advertise on Beck's show. Not that the polarizing media figure's ratings have suffered because of the issue. In fact, their soaring!

And now that Beck has one scalp that he can put on his mantle, things are just starting to heat up.

Source

Gardena Councilmember Steve Bradford To Join The California State Assembly

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:19:00 +0000

The Distinguished Gentleman Heads To Sacramento

He made the announcement on his Facebook page just before midnight. With 100% of the precints reporting, Gardena city councilman Steve Bradford convincingly defeated five challengers in a Special Primary election to become Assemblymember-elect for the 51st Assembly District.

According to election results reported by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Assemblymember-elect Bradford, the Democratic Party´s endorsed candidate, won the open special primary election in the 51st Assembly District with 52.9% of the vote.

His closest competitor was Democratic Party candidate Gloria Gray, who garnered 19.2% of the vote, and Republican Party candidate David Coffin with collected 17.1% of votes cast (with 100% of the district´s 158 precincts reporting).

"We engaged the voters with a clear agenda for change in the 51st Assembly District. The voters wanted a legislative representative who would focus on creating new jobs, provide residents with greater access to healthcare services at private and public hospitals, and work diligently to solve the state´s ongoing budget mess and cut the massive state deficits that inflict pain on local governments struggling to provide essential local services," said the Black pol who replaces Curren Price who now is the State Senator for the area.

Gardena Councilmember Steven Bradford is serving his fourth four-year term on Gardena´s City Council. He has been a four-time Mayor Pro Tem in more than 12-years on the city council. In March 1997, he became the first African-American to be elected to represent the people of Gardena on its city council.

Steve Bradford is the senior member on the Gardena City Council. He is widely regarded in Gardena municipal government for holding quarterly ´Up-Close´ meetings and ´Open Council´ office sessions to provide local residents and business people regularly scheduled opportunities to offer citizen´s input on Gardena city affairs.

Hot New Actor Jesse Williams Is Making People Go Terrence Howard Who?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Brooklyn native Jesse Williams is intentionally trying to seduce you with those piercing hazel green eyes. Is it working???

Hollywood's new "it" guy has quite a lot on his plate, causing the Black actors IMBD page to be up almost 20% in popularity. Two films, The Cabin in The Woods and Red Tails are currently in production, he's in Sarah Jessica Parker's The Washingtoniene, and Jesse is also makingr hearts flutter in Brooklyn's Finest (Yes he is!)

Keep your eyes on this one ladies. We likey!

STOP SAYING NBC STANDS FOR NOTHING BUT CAUCASIAN, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:22:00 +0000

NBC's 2009 Fall TV Season Promo.

THOUGHTS???

For All You Sistahs Who Smoke, This One's For You Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Did I Just Win $54,443?

by Isidra Person Lynn

I asked the young Asian USC student behind me in line how much a pack of cigarettes were these days. He had Newports, my former brand that I quit when the kids rolled in some 27 years ago.

He had been tapping the turquoise box,tugging at the cellophane. As I packed my groceries, he fished out his receipt and said "I'll tell you exactly: $5.99."

In horror, I shrieked "For one pack? They were $.36 a pack when I was your age in Virginia!" His eyes bugged. We made more small talk about cartons being like over $40 bucks. When he left , I was still packing my groceries in shock when the next customer, an older black woman, pushed her cart close and motioned for me to come near.

I could barely make out her words, but she said in the most gravilly voice lower than a whisper: "I wish I could have let him hear me talk". Her voice came from a hole in her neck she pointed to. You've seen the kind on that anti smoking commercial, right?

The woman went on to say she was 75. She was still robust, still beautiful. I said "Well, he may not think it pertains to him, you know how the young are." She managed to eek out "Well, he should. I have been like this since I was 40."

Wow. Now, what are the odds the very next person I would speak to would be her--a survivor of such a life-changing cancer??

Yes, I felt as if I had just won the lottery because if I had continued smoking for the last 27 years, I would have spent roughly $54,443 dollars and who knows how many doctors visits. I thought I would die with a cigarette in my hand, but as I take this deep breath in, it feels so good to exhale.

How did I do it? The month before New Years one year (No, I really don't remember which) I smoked on purpose like a chimney, so much so I was just tired of it--even sick of it. I told myself that on New Year's Eve I would cut up whatever cigarettes I had on hand, flush them down the commode and when the New Year came that would be it. And it was.

Why Actress Anne-Marie Johnson From "What's Happening" And "That's So Raven" Deserves To Run The Screen Actors Guild

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:24:00 +0000

Is Tyra Banks Already Married to John Utendahl, Or Is This Just Her Post Emmy Winning Glow?

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Former supermodel and current TV personality Tyra Banks was recently spotted at a restaurant in Los Angeles (Little Next Door), which isn’t all that interesting. However, who she was spotted with was: her elusive, yet longtime boyfriend John Utendahl.

Even more interesting though? What she was spotted with: a big ol’ rock on her left ring finger.

So, is Ms. Tyra and Mr. Utendahl are looking to tie the knot. According to the new second time Emmy winner, this is not true. Given how Tyra recently packed up her bags and moved her and her two shows – The Tyra Banks Show & America’s Next Top Model – to New York, there may be some fire behind all this smoke.

And just who is this guy? John Utendahl is the founder and owner of Utendahl Group, the largest African American-owned investment banking group in the United States . Mr. Utendahl is considered to be one of the most successful African Americans on Wall Street. Mr. Utendahl was born in the borough of Queens in New York City. Mr. Utendahl earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus and acquired an MBA from Columbia University.

Source

The Kinsey Collection Takes Black Art To A New Level At The Brogan Museum

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Philantropists Bernard and Shirley Kinsey have spent a lifetime amassing an unprecedented collection of African American art and artifacts.

The Florida A&M Unversity grads will once again allow the public a rare glimpse when The Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science on Kleman Plaza hosts "The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey"

With the theme, " Where Art and History Intersect, " the exhibition will include works by such significant artists as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sam Gilliam, Henry O. Tanner and others, as well as historical documents and other artifacts from Frederick Douglass, Alain Locke, Malcolm X and more. The exhibit kicks off Sept. 10, when patrons can meet the Kinseys at a lavish catered reception. Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door. The exhibit will be up through March.

Visit The Brogan Museum.

Behind Bars, Black LA Activist Najee Ali Still Advocating For The Voiceless... Himself Included!

noreply@blogger.com (3BAAS Media Group) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Early Release Candidate No. 1

By Annette Stark

It didn’t take long for Najee Ali to start advocating again — even behind bars. This time it’s for the early release of California’s nonviolent prisoners, specifically himself.

“The conditions are horrible and unsanitary,” says the hated-and-loved L.A. human-rights activist, speaking from Avenal State Prison, where he’s serving four years for witness tampering.

On a typical day, “I exercise, study and tutor inmates — many can’t read — and just try to keep a positive attitude.

“The worst thing I’ve seen?” he says. “Someone was stabbed last week and died in the hospital. He was targeted for being a child molester. Rapists and child molesters are pariahs here. I’m not advocating for the early release of hardcore gang members, rapists or child molesters.”

A year ago, Ali pled guilty to witness tampering involving a 2007 road-rage incident in which six motorcylists surrounded a car driven by Ali’s daughter, Jasmine Eskew, on a freeway. Eskew was accused by county prosecutors of crashing her car into one of the motorcycles — but the D.A. lost that case in court. At the pretrial hearing, Ali says he approached the bikers merely to “beg for mercy for my daughter” — a claim he sticks by today. But the bikers accused him of trying to bribe them, and county prosecutors again believed their version.

Ali, a former Crip who turned his life around, was on parole with two suspended sentences for a 1992 robbery, and a 2004 felony hit-and-run involving perjury. According to court records, prosecutors intended to charge him with attempting to dissuade a witness — a potential third strike that could have put him away for years. Instead, he pled to a lesser charge of “tampering,” and got four years.

Ali is at Avenal in the Central Valley, and with good behavior he is likely to be out within the year. But “based on the governor’s criteria” for cutting state spending by releasing prisoners, Ali now figures he would qualify for early release as of next month.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed letting nonviolent inmates serve their final year under “house arrest” with GPS monitoring. A federal court ordered California to cut its prison population by almost 44,000 over two years, using the savings to provide remaining prisoners with better health care. A few days later, 1,300 prisoners at the jam-packed California Institution for Men in Chino rioted.

Schwarzenegger last week described it as bedlam, with prisoners trying “to find anything they could to just hit each other, or stab each other with broken glass ... and entire housing units were burned.”

Ali says things are bleak at the Avenal: “We have eight toilets for 250 people, and the toilets back up. ... I think God put me here so I could see these Third World conditions. The only reason I haven’t gotten sick is that I can afford to buy my own food.”

He buys tuna, $1 per can.

In recent years, the extrovert Ali became an omnipresent voice, continually slamming the powerful. He was arrested for protesting what he saw as a racist Mexican stamp, he slammed Chief William Bratton as having failed to acknowledge organized hits on black children by Mexican Mafia, he called out Jesse Jackson for ignoring his illegitimate daughter, he got a restraining order against Congresswoman Maxine Waters for blocking him from entering a church.

He also advocated against the early release of heiress Paris Hilton by L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, who complained that his jail was crowded. “I do regret that now,” Ali says. “I’m not afraid to say I made a mistake.”

Even more ironic, the man who openly courted controversy left for prison without a word to the media. That lull is over. “At the end of the day,” he says, “my accusers were all ex-felons, and one was a convicted child molester.” The attorney for his daughter, Anthony Willoughby, says: “I impeached all her accusers on the stand with their criminal records. The one guy who didn’t testify had a conviction of lewd acts on a child under 14.”

Now doing time for an incident that lacked independent eyewitnesses, Ali says today, “If I had been convicted of drugs or robbery, my credibility as a leader would be over. But I get letters from across the nation from people who are outraged at my situation.”

He says he’s received messages through outside contacts from state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jermaine Jackson (“a very emotional moment for me”).

Before his incarceration, he was everywhere, holding press conferences, brokering gang truces, calling singer R. Kelly a “pedophile.” He doesn’t feel at particular risk from race-based gangs in prison, he says, because, “Gang members in the black, white and Latino population knew my gang work . ... In the Long Beach case, I supported three white young women who were victimized by a mob of black youths. There’s my support for the Latino woman who was set to die on the floor of the King Drew Emergency Room. ... I think even the Mexican Mafia respects me for standing up for justice.”

The story continues...