Omaha shooter vs. Sean Taylor's killers

Am I sensing something here? I was just listening to ABC Nightline where they labeled the Omaha shooter as being troubled and trying to figure out where they went wrong.

Yet, the killers of Sean Taylor are being labeled thugs and everything under the sun.

Why aren't they all being labeled one in the same: if one is troubled, then they all should be troubled. If one is a thug, then they all should be a thug.

It's just the usual example of a double standard to me. They (the media, we know who its controlled by) is always going to make "their stories" seem different than they make anyone else's. Not just blacks, but any other minority for that matter.

As a people (you know, before we disintegrated into the beasts that we've unleashed today) were civilized before slavery. We weren't savages. Everyone got a fair chance.

Who Are the Predators Teens Should Be More Worried About??

I was listening to the radio station on one afternoon while I was driving. During the week, I like to listen to the talk radio because they usually discuss some interesting things. On this particular afternoon, the topic was kids/teens having sex with teachers and other men/women of authority that the community looks up to and respects. Also, these are the people that you hope are helping you to look after your children and keep them on the right path. Anyway.

As people kept calling in, there was the story of where a girl talked about a minister and her having sex when she was 16 years old. She said that this man had her doing the freakiest things and that he had turned her out. He later had went on to get married and invited her to the wedding.

Another caller said that he had been injured in a game and his teacher was helping to bandage him. As she was wrapping the bandage around him, she was going lower and lower until she was in territory that she had no business being.

Another guy was talking about all the things the "Sisters" had done at the Catholic school that he attended. He actually lost his virginity at the age of 17 to someone who was supposed to help guide and mentor him.

I know the Catholic church has been under a lot of scrutiny lately, but this is not only happening in the Catholic church. I hate that I didn't get to hear the whole program because it sounded like it was really interesting. Not only were they talking to the teens who where going through these ordeals, but also trying to get the teachers and ministers, preachers, or whomever to call in and help shed light on the issue and give their thoughts. Also those who would have been bold enough to admit that they had sex with someone underage.

This is starting to become a bigger issue everyday. We have seen this with the lady, whose name I cannot remember right now, that had sex with her 13 year old student and had his child, and now they are in a relationship together. Not to mention the other lady who had gone to trial for having sex with her student, but got off because she was too pretty.

Now we all give R. Kelly and the likes hell, but what about this? What do you do? How do you handle it? How traumatic is it for the child that went through it. Yes, there are teens out there that look much older than they look. People don't buy it with R. Kelly. They say he should have known better still. Some say these girls these days are spreading their legs just as fast as a woman over the age of 18-25. Still, people don't buy it with R. Kelly. Is there an age where a teen can be held responsible for their sexual actions even if it is with an adult that is over 18? We all know the law is not always right or fair for that matter.

This is a very disturbing issue for me. I guess it is because there is so much that goes on in the community and it is never talked about until things start to boil over, or it is swept under the rug so much that those dust balls have turned into something so huge under that rug that you can no longer ignore it.

Seriously, what do you do? So much of the faith that Black people have comes from their religion. You have to send your children to school, unless you home school them. If you are not home schooling them, then you run the risk of being arrested for not allowing your child to get an education. That is funny to me because it feels like yesterday when we would talk about how Blacks had to fight to get an education. That is another issue for another time.

Point being, if Black people cannot trust to send their children to school because it is the teachers that they have to worry about and not the other kids, what do you do? If Black people cannot trust their spiritual father or spiritual mother, nuns, priests, or whomever and start to lose faith. what is left? Is it a possiblity that this could get so out of hand that Black people will question faith. Of course you can always go to another church, but the damage has been done. It would always be at the back of your mind what happened. Of course their is forgiveness and moving on, but can you really move on from that?

This post is just my mind thinking. I have no answers but only questions. Really, what do you do? What would you do? Are you worried or concerned? Has someone you know had this problem? How do you know your kids, cousin, niece, or nephew aren't going through this now and just haven't said anything? Who should we worry about more? The people closest to us? Or someone that they meet on the streets?

Forum tackles black-on-black crime

Police, leaders worried about rise in gang violence

By HECTOR CASTROP-I REPORTER

Seattle's African American leaders have watched with alarm in recent years as crime by blacks against blacks continues to plague their community.

"This is an issue that we'll have to solve," said the Rev. Harriet Walden, who has been working on what has been dubbed black-on-black crime since 1999.

Locally, other leaders also have stepped into the discussion, and Tuesday, as part of the annual Juneteenth observances commemorating the end of slavery in Texas, many will attend a community forum at Rainier Beach High School titled "Black-on-Black Crime: What are we going to do?"
FBI statistics show that in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, the victim and offender were both black in 63.5 percent of the more than a half-million crimes reported nationally.

Locally, Seattle police have been increasingly concerned about a rise in violence between rival gangs, particularly in the Central District and South Seattle. In the majority of instances, the drive-by shootings, assaults and other gang-related crimes involve the city's black gangs, but the impact of the violence is widespread.

Walden and a colleague set up a Web site, silentwar.org, to addresses the problem.

They began by talking to people about violence in the community and surveyed about 1,000 people.

"Most people in our community know somebody who has been hurt," Walden said.

Part of the problem, she said, is that drugs and guns are too easily obtained by young men and woman of all races.

"As adults, we have not figured out a good way to be able to confront the bad guys and win," Walden said.

At the same time, boundaries for youths are no longer clear, she said.
Local activist the Rev. Donovan Rivers, who plans to attend the forum, said he is not only concerned about crime, but also wants to keep young black men out of jail.

With gang activity, in particular, expected to rise this summer, Rivers
said he expects police enforcement to be equally tough.

"The police are not going to play this year," he said. "They're going to hit hard."

Rivers said he hopes the community will come through with youth programs this summer to help keep children out of trouble.

When are our violent black youth going to realize that we are only hurting ourselves. Sometimes I feel like every year or everyday rather that we are setting ourselves back.

What People Are Saying About...

NYC as a model for effectively addressing the national dropout crisis

"Kids who quit school don't just suddenly drop out; it's more of a slow fade. Typically it begins in the ninth grade, if not earlier, often when life hits a particularly nasty patch and racking up credits in class no longer seems especially compelling or plausible. Ernestine Maisonet started fading in eighth grade, when the grandmother who had raised her died...Tanya Garcia, 19, of Brooklyn also went off track at the end of middle school. A fire destroyed her family's apartment and left them homeless for four months....Against all odds, Maisonet and Garcia are slated to graduate in New York City's class of 2007. They are among some 13,000 students who dropped out or were on the verge of doing so but have been recovered in the public school system. The city's secret? Finding out who was dropping out and why and offering a variety of paths-complete with intensive social support and personalized instruction-back to school." - "Stopping the Exodus," Time Magazine, May 3, 2007


Continued improvement in NYC Public School graduation rates

"By Mills' count - not the count of Bloomberg or Klein - only 44% of the students who entered high school in the city in 2000 wound up graduating in four years, but 50% of the kids who started in 2002 successfully completed their studies in four years. For comparison purposes, the graduation rate fell in New York's next four largest cities and remained static across the state.


Equally encouraging, when students who took five years to get through were counted, the graduation rate stood at 57%. All the arrows, in fact, were up, and if trends continue, the five-year graduation rate could well top 60% in 2007. Although that's still below the state average, we're seeing sustained upward progress - along with a vindication of Bloomberg and Klein's policies, such as shutting big failing high schools and replacing them with smaller schools.


Many have attacked the reforms, and many have doubted whether students were actually learning more... but Mills has now certified the trend. And it is happily up. So much so that Mills pointed other districts to some of the techniques now in use in the city's schools, virtually all of which hinge on constantly measuring the progress of individual students and tailoring teaching to their needs. The approach is at the heart of the drive by Bloomberg and Klein to hold everyone in every school accountable for producing results, as opposed to moving students along on a conveyor belt of failure. It's very basic, and it's working. Well done. - New York Daily News, April 26, 2007


Worth reading:

"School reform could also play a major role in fighting poverty and spreading opportunity. One sound proposal is to pay substantial bonuses to get the most effective teachers into schools with low-income students. It's simply unfair for America's neediest students to be continually assigned to the weakest teachers, perhaps consigning them to another generation of poverty. Higher pay will help recruit and retain excellent teachers." - Nicholas D. Kristof, "Gold Stars and Dunce Caps," New York Times, May 1, 2007

The Don Imus Controversy

A lot of people have never heard of Don Imus, but I had. He had been embroiled in controversy in the past where he insulted gays, Arabs and yes, Blacks. Some people wonder what’s different this time. He insulted African-American women who have bright futures ahead of them. They’re working hard, future career women who a preparing to become doctors, lawyers, etc. They were attacked for no reason at all. Not only that their glory was stolen from them by Mr. Imus.

I must commend two women one is Vivian Stringer, the Head Coach of Rutgers University ladies basketball team and Essence Carson who is the captain of the team. These women and the entire basketball team has conducted themselves in an intelligent and dignified manner.

Do I think Don Imus should be fired? At first I thought he should, but then I thought well he’s a shock jock. This is what a shock jock does. In a way, he has allowed the Black leaders to look at the influences from our black cultures. Oprah Winfrey had a Town Hall on her show to discuss these issues. This should have been done a long time ago. Come to think of it, he is not thing only one who has done this. Where was the outrage when Howard Stern was doing all this? Today, he continues to degrade women.

I do think that Don Imus should be ashamed of himself. He insulted women he knew absolutely nothing about. I refuse to believe that he was just being "funny" as he said. Don Imus is old and smart enough to know that what he said was wrong. He’s lived in America long enough to know what’s considered offensive.

Now, the coach and the young women has forgiven him. I don’t believe it is the end for Don Imus. I believe that he will be bigger and richer than ever. Think Howard Stern getting $50 million for Sirius Radio. Don Imus has since apologized, but we will only find out if he means it when he gets another show and doesn’t make anymore derogatory comments. That remains to be seen.

This issue also is allowing music executives to discuss the rap lyrics.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-04-18-imus-rapmusic_N.htm

Hiring crisis for U.S. black youth

Hiring crisis for U.S. black youth

August 9, 2005
Seth Sandronsky


U.S. employers added 207,000 new jobs in July, while the national unemployment rate remained at 5.0 percent, the Labor Department reported on August 5. Yet for one group of workers in America, there is little to cheer about when it comes to being hired by employers.
The July jobless rate for America's black teens was 33.1 percent, up by 0.7 percentage points from June. In other words, black teens are out of a job at nearly seven times the overall national rate!
Skin colour matters in the U.S. labour market, which is promoted as the global model for other nations to follow. Under American capitalism, employment opportunity is supposed to grow when the private sector is freed from government regulation.
That is one theory. Social reality is another matter entirely for black teens living in the U.S. Their employment plight was apparently hardly deemed newsworthy in mass media reporting on the July jobs report – another failure of mainstream American journalism.
Black teens across the U.S. are experiencing joblessness at rates comparable to those experienced by the overall adult labour force during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
As my father told me, folks then had greetings that fit the hard times they lived. One common example was, "Are you working?"
Seven decades ago, he was one of the lucky folks who gained employment that paid him wages, labouring in rural areas for FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps. People’s organized resistance to the hardships they faced forced the federal government to respond when the private sector failed to create jobs.
Currently, the U.S. economy is growing. New jobs are being created in many sectors of the economy, including construction, real estate, restaurant and retail. At the same time, there is a festering jobs crisis for America’s black youth. They are living in depression-like times concerning employment opportunities, with their absence from payrolls failing to make front-page news.
Where is the outrage?
Seth Sandronsky is a member of Sacramento Area Peace Action and a co-editor with Because People Matter, Sacramento's progressive paper.

New survey reveals unexpected duality in attitudes of black youth in America Black youth want to be politically active but believe government ignores them; they back sex education in schools and practice safe sex; they’re top consumers of rap music but disapprove of its violence and portrayal of women

Author Unknown
Feb. 1, 2007


Although African-American youth are just as politically motivated as Hispanic and white youth, believing that they have the skills to participate and can make a difference, they are skeptical of the political process, asserting that, “leaders in government care little about people like me.” This conclusion is the result of a new comprehensive national study of youth opinions, which also shows that black youth are more likely than Hispanics and whites to use protection during sex, are critical consumers of rap music and videos, and are more conservative in their social attitudes than other youth.
The study, titled the Black Youth Project, was launched to provide a more comprehensive and complex perspective of African-American youth, said Cathy Cohen, leader of the project and Professor in Political Science at the University of Chicago. “There has been a lot of talk about African-American youth from people like Bill Cosby. Unfortunately, most of these comments are not grounded in any type of empirical reality. Similarly, there have been a number of other studies of African-American young people, largely focused on the outcomes of their behaviors that do not include the voices and views of young black people.
“The Black Youth Project is committed to making the ideas and attitudes of young people our central focus. By asking young people themselves about important issues like sex education, police discrimination, abortion or same-sex marriage, the Black Youth Project is able to provide data that will help build effective policies that can significantly improve the lives and prospects of young black people. This study is about research, not ranting,” said Cohen.
The team surveyed 1,590 black, white and Hispanic youth nationwide between the ages of 15 and 25 to ask them about their sexual behaviors and attitudes, about their views on social and cultural issues, and their opinions on government and politics, as well as other topics. The researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with about 40 young black people who completed the survey.
On political issues, the team found both hopeful and discouraging signs of political engagement among black youth. For example, the study found that 79 percent of young blacks feel that participating in politics can make a difference, a figure similar to that of Hispanics and whites. At the same time, a majority of young blacks and Hispanics agreed that leaders in government care very little about people like them. Similarly, nearly half (48 percent) of black young adults and adolescents agreed with the following statement: “The government treats most immigrants better than it treats most black people in this country;” while only 29 percent of white youth and 18 percent of Hispanic youth agreed.
“Black young people are trying to reconcile two conflicting perspectives. One perspective is based in the rhetoric of the government and other institutions, which suggests that we now exist in a color-blind society where everyone is judged merely on merit. The other perspective is rooted in the reality of discrimination that confronts far too many young black people. Given their reality, it is not surprising that a majority of black respondents also said that it is hard for young black people to get ahead because they face so much discrimination,” said Cohen.
The study also found young people embracing newer forms of political involvement. A quarter of black youth, nearly the same amount as those in the other groups, reported “buycotting” during the last 12-months (buying a product because of the company’s social or political values). Smaller but significant percentages of all young people reported signing either paper or e-mail petitions, and sending an e-mail or posting on a political blog.
When asked about their sexual attitudes and behaviors, the team found that most young people have positive attitudes toward sex and feel relatively in control of their sexual activities. Consistent with previous studies, the overwhelming majority of young people ages 18 to 25 in each racial/ethnic group reported having had sexual intercourse. About one third of the young people ages 15 to 17 reported having sex. Among all black youth, 77 percent reported using protection every time or almost every time they had intercourse, compared with 64 percent for Hispanics and 66 percent for whites.
A majority of young people, mostly young African Americans (76 percent), reported feeling very sure they could tell their partners what they felt comfortable doing sexually. Nearly 90 percent of young people in each ethnic and racial group felt they could convince their partners to use protection before having sex, the survey showed. More than 90 percent of all young people surveyed agreed that sex education should be mandatory in high schools.
Young people also reported confidence in their ability to pick up on negative messages in rap music, which is listened to daily by 58 percent of black youth, compared with 45 percent of Hispanic youth and 23 percent of white youth.
“The overwhelming majority of young people agree with the statement: ‘Rap music videos contain too many references to sex,’” Cohen said. The study found that 72 percent of black and Hispanic youth agreed with the statement, which was supported by 68 percent of white youth. Similarly, the majority of all youth agree that, “rap music videos portray black women in negative and offensive ways,” with black women and girls more likely to strongly agree with this statement. The study showed that 62 percent of black youth, 54 percent of Hispanic youth and 62 percent of white youth think rap music videos are degrading to black women.
On social issues, the surveys found that African-American young people are more likely to agree that homosexuality is always wrong (55 percent for blacks, 36 percent for Hispanics and 35 percent for whites). A majority of African-American youth also opposed legalizing same-sex marriages, (58 percent for blacks, 36 percent for Hispanics and 35 percent for whites).
More information about the survey is available at http://blackyouthproject.com. The Ford Foundation financed the Black Youth Project. The data was gathered by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

'Our young men are dying' Pt 2

BY ANDREA ROBINSON
arobinson@MiamiHerald.com

Dwight Jackson longs for those days 30 years ago when young black men settled their disputes the old-fashioned way: with loud trash talk and occasional fisticuffs. When the dust- ups were over, the combatants walked away and went home.

Not anymore. Simple disputes now too often turn deadly.

Jackson, 47, sees it in the back room of the Liberty City mortuary where he makes mangled bodies presentable for public viewing. Jackson, owner of Richardson Mortuary, receives at least 10 young, black homicide victims a month; that's more than there were, say, 20 years ago, other longtime employees there remark.

''Inner-city [boys] are being killed over silly stuff . . . built on hate and envy,'' he said, shaking his head.

Forty years after the Kerner Commission report -- in the wake of the Watts riots in Los Angeles -- tried to sort out why young black men were killing each other, Jackson keeps wondering how things could have gotten so bad in South Florida and the nation.

A new, first-time Florida initiative seeks to find the answers and save at-risk black males -- who state Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, calls ``an endangered species.''

''This goes beyond public safety and prevention. It's public health. It goes to our mental condition,'' said state Rep. Frank Peterman, a St. Petersburg Democrat.

Peterman and Wilson sponsored legislation to create the Council on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, which former Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law last June and which first met in February. The council, located in the Attorney General's office and budgeted at $200,000 per year, will study a litany of condi- tions that negatively affect black males: escalating homicide, arrest and incarceration rates, poverty, violence, low income, the breakdown of the family structure and school performance and health issues.

And it will produce yet another report -- like so many other commissions have done around the nation over the past 40 years -- that will propose ways to change the driving forces that have left so many black males in prison or dead from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and Jacksonville.

Wilson said the council will recommend legislative action to address the issues of concern. The first report is due by the year's end.

Peterman promises the Florida commission won't be a ''touchy-feely exercise'' and said it will examine the breakdown in the black family and the heavy toll it is taking on males. To do that, it will need solid information of the sort requested by council chairman Levi Williams last week. In a teleconference on Wednesday, Williams, a Fort Lauderdale attorney, asked the heads of state agencies for data on racial and ethnic disparities.

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Black males, Wilson said, are like Florida's panthers and manatees: dying young and at the mercy of human predators.

''We're so disproportionately affected by all of this [black-on-black male violence]. There are no men available to teach black boys how to become responsible men,'' Wilson said.

That sentiment is echoed by Beverly Colson Neal, executive director of the Florida NAACP office in Orlando: ``Our young men are dying. This didn't just start.''

Florida is among a handful of states, including Ohio and Indiana, to have panels looking for ways to stop the rising violence that is a festering national problem, one the U.S. Conference of Mayors also hopes to tackle. The mayors' meeting was held last month in Miami -- an appropriate venue to discuss violence because South Florida is a region under siege.

Consider:

• Figures provided by local law enforcement agencies lay out the scope of the carnage. Broward had 95 homicide victims in 2006, up 50 percent from the previous year. Miami-Dade had 258 homicides last year, up 40 percent from 2005. About 165 of those victims in Miami-Dade and Broward were black, the overwhelming majority male and younger than 35.

• Another telling figure, Wilson said, that spurred creation of Florida's council: Black males make up 51.2 percent of inmates in state prisons and 62 percent of the jail population. She cited figures from the Florida Department of Corrections.

• Nationally, it is difficult to determine overall numbers of black-on-black crime because police agencies do not keep such statistics. But in 2004 -- the latest year for which figures are available -- victimization rates for blacks were six times higher than rates for whites. Rates for black perpetrators were seven times higher.

THE CAUSES

There are a myriad of reasons, authorities say, for the uptick in local violence: poverty, a population spike for young men, police departments stretched thin on the streets, a proliferation of weapons. Police officials also lay blame on two key federal policy changes: the end of a ban on assault weapons, which put more high-powered guns on the streets; and the loss of funding for community policing and other programs that put more officers into neighborhoods.

Neal and fellow NAACP member Jamal Rose also blame much of the violence on the breakdown of black communities. Gone are many of the athletic and after-school activities that gave children something to do, Rose said. Gone too are many of the mom-and-pop stores, often replaced by chain convenience stores.

''The funds are being drawn out of the neighborhood but not being put back in,'' Rose said.

Too many successful blacks have left their old stomping grounds in favor of integrated suburban areas, Neal noted, leaving the poorest children often living among jobless felons recently released from prison.

Recognizing that, several successful blacks try to serve as role models for children. ''We know the challenges. Those stats are disturbing,'' said Willie Johnson, leader of a mentoring program at Koinonia Worship Center in Hallandale Beach's Carver Ranches community.

Johnson said the church and other segments of the black community must step up and fix the problem: ``The village ain't doing too good right now.''

For Jackson, the mortuary owner, the search for answers starts a lot closer than the mythical village: ``It's deep-rooted, and it starts in the home.''

Jackson sponsors and coaches Optimist football and basketball teams. He figures if boys are busy with school or sports, they have less time to get involved in seamier pursuits. Other civic leaders have hosted town hall meetings and teamed with local police departments in gun-buyback programs.

But individual efforts like these won't be enough to change things, social scientists say. What's needed, they say, is help from the system -- and that's something the new state council could eventually help.

For example, Harry Holzner, Georgetown University professor of public policy, says a sustained, comprehensive effort that begins with educating and mentoring boys as young as 3 years old is required so they don't fall off the radar screen when they reach adolescence.

''When they leave high school, you can plug them into services,'' he said.

FIRST-HAND VIEW

For young black men who have no formal job skills and no high school diploma, chances are slim of landing a job with a livable wage and benefits. Many of them don't expect traditional employment, said Miami native Gene Gesch, 27. Growing up in the inner city exposes them to deadly shootings. By the teen years, he says, they're desensitized to death and destruction.

Gesch should know. Instead of getting a low-wage job at a fast-food joint when he was a teenager, he opted for fast bucks. He started as a lookout for drug dealers, the way his Overtown and Liberty City friends did.

''That's the mentality of the youth,'' said Gesch. ``They want a Benz, a 745 -- the only way these young children think they're gonna get it is sell to work for someone else, selling dope on the corner or as a look out.''

Gesch came of age during the 1990s, when the infamous John Doe drug gang ruled the area. Gang members were his friends. He found a role model in a guy named ''Convertible Bert,'' a local drug dealer who drove around Liberty City wearing flashy garments. Gesch wanted the same things. He saw himself as a popular poet/rap artist who also had a fatalistic bent.

``I didn't care. I was Tupac . . . it was you and me against the world.''

That attitude landed Gesch in Florida's adult prison system at 16. He served five years for aggravated assault with a firearm. He was in solitary confinement a lot, he says, because he often got into fights with other inmates.

Salvation of sorts came when he transferred to the Dade Correctional Institution. A pair of older inmates believed he was better than his past behavior indicated, and they directed him to the prison library. There he was eventually inspired to turn his life around. He even became a mentor: He lectured middle- and high-school students in Wilson's 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, counseling them not to follow his path.

After prison, Gesch moved hours away from Miami, to St. Lucie County.

He said kids have to know they can make money legitimately instead of selling dope -- if they change their environment. In his former community, he said, ``they have no hope in their mind.

``They see people get robbed, get killed. A lot of people have been to prison in that community. It's real hard. It's an ongoing struggle.''

Success stories such as Gesch's are the ones that council member Christopher Norwood of Miami Lakes wants to highlight as the group does its work.

''Too often we concentrate on the failures of black youth and do our research based on the failures. We don't spend a lot of time focusing on the successes,'' Norwood said. ``There's not enough research on the resiliency in black men. That's what I want our research to focus on.''

'Our young men are dying' Pt 1

2-day summit tackles gang violence

A think tank convened in Liberty City on Monday, preparing for a two-day summit to battle gang violence and deal with the release of felons.

BY CHARLES RABIN

crabin@MiamiHerald.com

The set-up: two round tables on a small stage at the Carrie P. Meek Cultural Center in Liberty City. At one table, four concerned parents. At the other, drug dealers and gang members.

But who was who? As an audience of law enforcement agents and residents met Monday to discuss reshaping how South Florida handles gang violence and the hardships of felons returning to society, that was among the questions they faced.

'Good afternoon. None of y'all know me -- but your kids know me. I been takin' care of your kids, scoopin' your daughters up, cuz guess what I need 'em to do?'' said one man, who identified himself only as ``Mr. M.''

The audience applauded. And ''Mr. B,'' at the other table, was infuriated.

''I'd appreciate it if y'all don't applaud these people. Y'all are sick,'' he said. Nobody clapped.

But the men had reversed their roles, for effect. Mr. B was former Philadelphia gang member Fabian Walker. Mr. M, Green Bay Packers strong safety Marquand Manuel.

The lesson: Perception often isn't reality. But for people like Francisco Guerra a former Latin Kings gang leader in Chicago, the reality is that once you become a convicted felon, jobs and acceptance are tough to come by.

Monday's gathering was a peek into a two-day summit that begins today in Miami that will be attended by more than 200 criminal-justice professionals from around the country. The goal is to create new strategies for helping felons reacquaint with society and for dealing with gangs.

FLORIDA FELONS

A recent study by the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Force concluded that Florida has the third-largest prison population in the United States, with more than 30,000 felons trying to reenter the workforce each year.

The task force determined that under current conditions, most ex-offenders will not abide by the law after they return home.

Guerra argued Monday that South Florida doesn't have a real gang problem. What it has, he said, is a debilitating drug problem that law enforcement fails to keep up with.

Guerra, 40, said raising two kids the past 16 years has been a struggle, with him often working odd construction jobs at low wages. For some, the struggle is too much.

''Everybody wants to get out. They just don't know how. There are a million reasons I can give you,'' he said. ``We need help, starting in our homes. Grab 'em and school 'em. Don't grab 'em and treat 'em like gang bangers.''

Artis Brown spoke of spending a decade in prison on drug charges. Two years ago, he got a criminal justice degree. He's still looking for work, he said.

''Give him a job in gang violence,'' Brown said pointing to Guerra. ``Give me a job as a motivational speaker.''

Then it was back to the Packers' Manuel, a local high school graduate and University of Florida alum who runs a mentoring program each year at Booker T. Washington High School.

One of 18 children, he told of how tough it was growing up in the inner city.

COCAINE AT 9

''I was holding cocaine at 9 years old. I didn't know what it was. My kids have to grow up here. I want to intervene before it gets to that point,'' he said.

Earlier Monday the same group met with inmates inside West Miami-Dade's Turner Guilford Knight correctional facility. Wayne E. Rawlins, who coordinates Project Safe Neighborhoods, a group that fights gun violence, said they spoke mainly with juveniles charged with adult crimes.

''There is no parent. There is no home. And foster care is not an option for them,'' he said.

Dead Teenagers

I don't have much to say today but this link says it all

http://www.realcities.com/multimedia/miami/news/archive/deadteens/index.html

Worst High School Graduation Rates

Worst High School Graduation Rates
Of the Nation's 50 Largest Districts

School District/Graduation Rate (percent)

Detroit 21.7
Baltimore 38.5
New York City 38.9
Milwaukee 43.1
Cleveland 43.8
Los Angeles 44.2
Miami-Dade County, Fla. 45.3
Dallas 46.3
Pinellas County, Fla. 46.5
Denver 46.8

Celebrities as Role Models?

People say sports figures, actors and actresses and singers are supposed to be role models. Really? Says who? It stuns me when a parent gets upset over when a celebrity does wrong and they say "I thought s/he was supposed to be a role model." These celebrities doesn't owe your child or children a thing. The celebrities jobs are to entertain and they get paid.

The parents are the one who brought the child into the world and it is their job to raise them the way they want. It is the parent's responsibility. The parents are supposed to be the role models for their children. The mother, father, grandmother, grandfather and a host of other family members are supposed to be role models. If you think the likes of Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton and Beyonce are supposed to be role models for your children then something is wrong with you.

Relationships of Teens and Lack of Respect

What happened to the black family? Back in the day, people got married for love and not convienience. Today you'd be lucky to find a couple who have been married for more than 5 years. It's hard to imagine what is going to happen to the children when they grow up. They barely have respect for themselves, so of course they don't have respect for others. Girls think they have to look like video hoes with European features. Boys think they have to be thugs, drug dealers, or just plain low-life nobodies and that is supposed to be cool and acceptable. How do you get these kids or blacks in general to realize that they are worth so much more than that?
To be honest, some black women worry too much about black men being with white women or women of another race period. If he isn't someone you would date, then why do you care? Also, women spend too much time fighting over someone that doesn't want them. It became the thing to do to let guys "run a train" or have multiple lovers without protection. These are the same girls who get mad when someone does call them out their name. They are ready to fight. The way these girls dress these days make me cringe and it is horrible that their mothers are the ones paying for these things.
When it come to the boys, it is cool to have all these girls fawning over them and chasing them. When they get burned, they want to punish every woman on the earth by spreading it to as many that are willing to lay with them and not tell them that they have an STD. Boys lie about how sexually active they are because they are afraid of being called gay or a punk or whatever other name is out there. Again lack of respect for self. Why is it so great to have females stalking you? When did that become cool? Then the guys sit around and talk about the girl and what she did, and tell them to get at her or whatever, and she is dumb enough to let it happen. She thinks it's cute.
I went to get Chinese food one night and there were these four guys that were still in high school. They were sitting there eating and actually not cursing for a change. Then this girl they go to school with walks through the door, and one says that she is so cute that she can have his baby. When did that become sexy? When did that become attractive? What happened to asking someone on a date, and being shy and nervous when you meet the parents for the first time? What happened to sitting up on the phone all night talking? The nights when you were talking and feel asleep on the phone? I'm not saying these things didn't happen way back when, but it wasn't out of control and running rampant. Like mentioned before, you felt ashamed when more than just the person you were with knew you were having sex. You never wanted your parents to know. Now days, you would be lucky to find out if the parents care. Then these are the kids having children as teens, and the cycle repeats and gets worse.

Bill Cosby: Self Hateration or Self Motivation?

Can't Blame White People

They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English...
except these knuckleheads.
Mushmouth is what they speak!
You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education
and now we've got these knuckleheads throwing that all away.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting.
They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry
when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2?
Where were you when he was 12?
Where were you when he was 18?
And, how come you didn't know that he had a pistol?
And where is the father?
Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack . .
isn't that a sign of something?
They're walking around with their nasty underwear showing,
and holding onto their pants to keep them from falling to the ground!
Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up to her panty line
and got all types of needle piercings going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from?
We are not Africans.
Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa.
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed.
Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' --
or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players who cannot read.
We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs.
We as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids saying...
you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer.

It is not for media or anyone of this time anymore to say whether I'm right or wrong.
It is time, ladies and gentlemen, to look at the numbers.
Fifty percent of our children are dropping out of high school.
Sixty percent of the incarcerated males happen to be illiterate.
There's a correlation.

Tell the media to stop asking me what I think
about people who don't believe what I'm saying
or feel that I'm too harsh
or feel that I'm just running my mouth because I'm old.

Seventy percent of the teenagers pregnant happen to be African American girls.

Don't ask me to soften my message.

-Bill Cosby

Disrespectful Teens

I just have a small post this time. Remember back in the day when you played in the streets, whether it was hopscotch, basketball or football, or double dutch, whenever you saw a vehicle coming your way, you quickly and politely moved out of the way? These days, these bad asses expect you to wait for them to finish before they move or dare you to hit them. One of these days, I'm going to take them up on their dare!!

Ludacris and Jamie Foxx, the hypocrites

So I was with Ludacris when he was bashing Bill O'Reilly because at the time, I felt Bill had other issues to go against rather than Ludacris endorsing Pepsi. Sure, Luda has objectionable material on his album, as most rappers do (and that's another blog in itself) but hey, Ozzy was spokesperson and he worshiped the devil and bit the head off of a bat. But now, after he's repeatedly called out Oprah Winfrey for not having him on her show (it's her show, Chris, get over it. She can have whomever she chooses. And why would she have a man on her show whose lyrics degrade our African-American women?), and even called her out at the Grammy's, along with O'Reilly, our esteemed rapper is photographed with none other than... racist Paris Hilton!!!

Luda, give me a break, man. People claim you've grown on this album. I'm sure that's true. You have to shake your money maker to grow, don't you? You continue to call out Oprah because she won't have you on her show. Why should she have you on her show? What exactly have you done to be on her show? When she has other celebs on, it's to promote a film or recording they've done. And those recording stars she has on there don't exactly have bitches, hoes, niggas etc on their albums, do they? So why would she promote that? When she has people with their problems, she is there to get them the help they need and possibly deserve.

But you lost any points by posing and performing for Paris Hilton, brother. You're posing and performing with a white girl who sees you as nothing but a nigger. She's worst than Bill O'Reilly but you can't see that, can you? Get a clue, get a clue.

Hold on. I have to edit. Apparently, Jamie Foxx was there, too. He called out Michael "Seinfeld's Kramer" Richards racist rant and wanted to do some bodily damage to him but he also hangs out with racist Paris Hilton. Man, you two need to get a clue, for real, for real.

Teens Need A Curfew

Because of the killings of juveniles in Miami-Dade County, Florida, there is talk of bringing back a curfew. I don't think that is such a bad idea. These parents don't give a damn about their children, at least the law is doing something, although in the 'hood, the law is looked at as the enemy. To be honest, because of how the law has behaved towards those areas in the past, I can understand the attitude towards the law but not all police officers are grimy.

If we implement a curfew, that'll curb a lot of these teens from being out in the streets even considering being up to no good. If they are caught, then the punishment should be severe, or at least counsel them, to see why they aren't home, to see if their home life is appropriate for them. If it isn't, they need to figure something out. With all the budget cuts from our government, the money for this war could be used to bring back music into schools, could be used for arts and crafts, put toward putting underprivileged youth into sports. The money could be used to entice the youth from joining gangs or doing other things that would cause and bring them mischief. When are we, though, as parents, as adults, going to be the responsible ones and take back our youth? We need to be the ones to start it.

Justice for 14 year old dumped in garbage

Thank you dear Lord. You brought justice for Rod Williams. He may not have been an angel but he was 14 and I feel, a lost little lamb. His mom died of AIDS, he was shifting between aunt, dad and older sister, as if no one wanted him. His mom died when he was 7. Not saying he had a good life before she died but mothers are the ones who we bond with the most and dads are there for us to grow to be a better man and for male guidance but his mom dying probably had a lot to do with how he was before his death.

Anyway. Four of Rod's friends were arrested in connection with his murder. Apparently, they shot him and buried the body so they wouldn't get in trouble. The ages of the shooters were 13-16. One of the mothers saw the blood and they lied and said they were chased and beaten up. She believed it. The killers stories are different but either way, they won't have a life to live. That's the worst part of it.

Why is the mother of one of the teen boys accused of killing Rod Williams defending him? She said he was scared. Fine. But don't sit there and say he had nothing to do with it. If she knew the law, then she would know that because he helped clean up the blood, he's an accessory.

Maury Povich Syndrome

Yeah, you know what I'm referring to: these hot ass idiots who go on his show not knowing who they've slept with and putting their children in a precarious predicament. Some may say that these women suffered as children, never received help for it and their problems are now manifesting itself as adults. That could be the case, but not all the women on that show and who do this disgusting behavior have suffered abuses as children. They get on here and act like it's cute. Call the guys names, call the women names but yet you slept with each other. Then they pass this down to their children, who come out with nasty attitudes just like their parents. They are uneducated, they have no manners. They have no hope for the future and do not have an idea of what they want to be. When we were growing up in the 80s, we said we wanted to be police officers, doctors, lawyers, firefighters. Now, what do these children say they want to be? "I don't care." And that's a sad state of affairs. Where are the mentors at? These parents aren't doing jack shit.

Parent's Association Hell

One of the many things that people may not know about me is that I am on the executive board of not one but two Parent's Associations. I am actually the President of the P.A. at one of the schools. From day one it has been an uphill battle to bring about any type of positive change at the school. I went into this with good intentions. To boost parent involvement. To have more events for the students. To force the schools to hear the demands of parent's with regard to their children's education. Instead I have been involved in so many arguments and political turf wars that at times I just want to give up. The principal at the school in question has a good heart. I do believe he really cares about the children. But he is saddled with a ghetto, blase administration who would rather work against the parents instead of partnering with the parents for the greater good. It really saddens me that there is such a marked difference in the P.A. at my 15 year olds school in Manhattan than my 13 year olds school in Brooklyn. There is significantly less involvement from the parents at the BK school. The only time I hear from parents is when they want to complain about something or other. They offer little or no help to the exec board who works tirelessly on their behalf. It is a real thankless job. I often wonder, what is the point? Nothing, absolutely nothing has been accomplished since October when I was elected to this position. There has been zero graduation planning. One fundraiser that is still going on because so many children were absent on picture day that we had to do a makeup. Which is a whole other issue. The Valentines dance that I suggested crashed and burned because, even though we decided to have the dance in December, even two months is not enough lead time for this disorganized school to pull themselves together to host a successful event. I can go on and on, but I will say this:

If the school is this all over the place when it comes to the PARENTS, I can't even imagine how they are educating our children. The teachers have the glazed over look of zombies every time I see them. I think they just show up to collect a check. The nasty neck swiveling demeanor of the office staff makes me want to lose every professional bone in my body and stoop down to their level of ghetto, which I know I can't do. The laws and regulations handed down from on high by the chancellor and mayor are self serving and do not protect the rights of the parents or ensure that our children are receiving a quality education.

This is why I have decided to put my children into private school from here on out.

It's sad when you pay out the behind in taxes, but can't use the services that your taxes pay for because they are gawdawful. It really scares me to think of how horrible things will be next year when there isn't a President there to fight the good fight. But I am tired of being the lone voice of sanity, struggling to keep my composure before my true colors surface. Me draping up some chick in the main office would not benefit my kid in the least. Which is why I grit my teeth, try to be the bigger person and try to FORCE the principal to see his staff for what they are- a bunch of uneducated, just there to get a check, ghetto, difficult to work with, needs to be fired, seat warming losers who don't need to be any where near any child but their own and who damn sure don't need to be in a learning institution. Black and brown people, let's stop settling for half assed education for our kids. Education is the only way for our children to succeed other than throwing a ball or cutting an album and the former is more realistic. Demand more for our children or take them to someplace else where subpar isn't the standard.

Saint Anthony's, here I come!

VALUING ENTERTAINMENT OVER LIFE

It boggles my mind how this generation tends to fight for the cause of an entertainer, and debate on whether or not people are "hatin" on said artist or if that artist has a higher range than another but when it comes to matters affecting them, they are nowhere to be found and come with that lame "I don't care" atittude. The fact that global warming will be affecting them, the fact that the war will consume them, the fact that they continue to die on a regular and consistent basis. It doesn't matter to them. Even when one of their own is killed, it's just... whatever. Will they have to be kidnapped and programmed in order to wake up and give a damn?

Black male, 14 years old, found in dumpster

Another day, another young black male murdered. This time, a 14 year old 8th grader in Miami, FL. Rod K. Williams attended Brownsville Middle School in the Brown Sub area of Miami, a smaller part of the Liberty City community. You can't call Liberty City a suburb but it does have its nice areas but Brown Sub isn't one of them. Rod began hanging with the wrong crowd in the Little Haiti section of Miami, a lot of older cats and his family didn't approve but you know once a teen, especially a boy hits puberty, then they start smelling themselves as if they are grown. Rod would go missing for days so this last time his family realized he went missing, they didn't think anything of it. This would be the last time he went missing as he was found dumped, his decomposing body rotting in a trash bin in Little Haiti. Police aren't stating the cause of death. His death brings up a bigger issue: why are there no role models for our youths, especially our males? Granted, Rod, had a dad but, for the most part, he was living with his aunt. His mom died in 2000 from complications of AIDS. Because there was no stable male influence in his life, he ran with the wrong crowd. Today's male youth: are all their heroes thugged out entertainers and athletes and local drug boys and they try so hard to emulate them whatever happened to the doctors, lawyers and police officers, firefighters that were there when I was growing up? We need to have more males in the white collar field to show our young boys they CAN be something other than drug boys. Look ahead to tomorrow, not just for today. Look at the Robert Johnsons, the Magic Johnsons. Check out Black Enterprises magazine for our heroes. Damn, this is getting too damn ridiculous.

We Accept Trash, Garbage and Mediocrity: Black people wake the f*&k up!

It amazes me how our black people have degraded themselves. Where it was once considered taboo to have a child out of wedlock, it's now common place; where it was once considered a good thing that a village helped raise a child, it's now frowned upon if anyone else disciplines a child other than the parent (and goodness help us if the parent then doesn't discipline that child). What has happened? Has our standards sunk so low that we will never see above sea level? Walking around, seeing grown ass men, in their 20s, 30s, and goodness sakes, 40s and 50s with their pants sagging below their asses like their getting ready to get fucked in prison? And then you have lil boys, from ages 5 on up doing the same thing. I disagreed with Bill Cosby on a lot of what he was saying but some of it is true. There is no reason why we continue to put emphasis on how expensive our clothing is, and how our vehicle looks and how we spend so much money making that vehicle, even if it's a clunker, look like it's 30k with rims. And why do we buy our children vehicles with rims? When are we going to focus on educating our children and ourselves to make sure we don't end up in situations where we have to struggle?

We are so caught up in this fake thuggery, that if a man isn't a thug, then he isn't a man. WTF kind of bullshit is that? And our women are just getting looser by the minute, my fellow man is getting more vile a minute (since when is it okay to just urinate out in the open instead of finding a damn bathroom?)

Our women are battling each other over some dude who just sees them as something to slide up in; nobody takes responsibility if a child is brought into the world. That's when names are called and it's like, you're calling her a hoe; you're calling him no good and a scrub who still lives with his mother but didn't you know that when you were fucking each other? Since when is it acceptable to call someone your baby's mother or your baby's father and not your husband, your wife, the love of your life, your boyfriend or your girlfriend? I see why we're going to hell in a handbag.

THE CHILDREN ARE OUT FUTURE? IF SO, OH BOY...

My vehicle needed maintenance so I had the unfortunate task of catching public transportation. That, in most cities, would be great but in Miami...but I digress. I walked from my stop to home and the middle school/junior high, however they are called today is behind it. So as I'm walking, there are a group of teens, maybe 8th graders, and they congested the entire sidewalk. Now most people would walk on one side to allow the path going the opposite way to clearly get through. No, not this crowd. Most folk would probably wait to allow this to subside. No, not me. They wouldn't move and neither would I so finally, some of them just gave way and were leaned over to the fence since I had my backpack on me.

What is up with these little juveniles thinking they can have their way? What happened to the days when, though teens rebelled, they still had respect for adults? I was a teenager just ten years ago. Granted, the youth in my time, we rebelled but for the most part, we still had to respect our elders. Just ten years later, that respect has melted away. That same school is where my nephew once attended. Because of the problems at that school, as with all black schools, we took him out but on the day we disenrolled (yeah, it's not a word, but hey lol) him from said school, there was a girl who was giving lip to one of the male administrators and instead of putting his foot down, he decided he wanted to laugh and joke with the girl. What kind of bullish is that? And that same girl, as she was walking to class, was giving lip to a female security guard who was advising her to get to class. The girl turned around and in her very eloquent way, told the security guard --who really wasn't, just the secretary doing someone else's job-- "Lady, why is you still talking?" I was appalled by two things: the teen's audacity to speak to an adult, a school employee as such and, "lady, why IS you still talking"? What exactly is going on with our schools that our kids cannot speak grammatically correct? And they are not ashamed that they cannot speak correctly.

What pisses me off more with this batch of youth is that they have the "I don't care" attitude when it comes to everything that will benefit them in the long run but if you argue with them over a souped up ride, or which entertainer is the best, or about some lame boy or girl cheating on them, chances are they'll end up dead by a gun shot or a knife wound. And for the most part, their parents aren't even around because they are working, two or maybe three jobs to support them or because of a single parent family household. Or in a lot of cases, these parents just don't give a f*ck. But they'll be ready to swing if their child commits a crime and claim they are innocent, no matter what the evidence may suggest.

And what about these teenaged parents? They are getting younger and younger. I was on the bus and heard a 7th grader talking about how a fellow classmate was pregnant... and may have AIDS. Correct me if I'm wrong but in 7th grade, the average age is what, 12? So when you're 24, your child will be 12. Wow. And where are her parents? It's sad that now parents aren't allowed to know when their child is taking AIDS test or about their sexual history but a parent can be found in neglect for not giving proper care for their sickly child. Our government is a wonderful thing, huh. I looked in the newspaper this morning to read the front page, then I read the local section, then sports, then the business section. On the front page of the sports, they had the high school football players who signed with national colleges to further their sports careers. This one young man, held a baby in his arms, about 13 mos-18 mos old. The boy has to be 17 or 18. But I assumed maybe it was his little brother or perhaps a nephew.

Why am I so naive? This college bound young man was actually holding his son. Where are his parents, or where were they to advise him on having sex, and unprotected sex at that? Back in my day, a child was shamed for having premarital sex and if a baby was borne of this, then that was double the shame. Like Fantasia said, it's like a badge of honor now. No it is not. When will we get out of the mentality that having a child as a child don't make you cute, nice, or any adjective close to those words? Me, I know I have goals in life and nothing will prevent me from achieving those goals. My parents made sure that I was properly educated in school and at home. They made sure to train me to have an open mind and to look at the broader picture in life. That is sorely missing with today's parents and their children. Sadly, it'll only get worse because if you tell these parents about their children, they get offended, want to curse you out and more often than not, the child will curse you out, too, as they are cussing like sailors these days IN FRONT OF THEIR PARENTS, no less. The fact that we have so many parents who had children when they were teens have given way to today's youth feeling like their parents are their friends and not the authoratative figures, which gives these little monsters leeway to talk to their teachers and administrators the way they do because they talk to their parents that way. And then, when you do chastise, or better yet, beat them, Child Protective Services are called for child abuse. This is another reason why these ingrates get away with so much because rights have been removed from the parents. What happened in the last couple of decades? I'm fed up with this.

A Phoenix rises from the ashes and his name is Obama

For many years, the African American community has wrung its pleading hands in the hopes of calling upon a new leader to follow in the footsteps of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Many have heeded the call; Rev.'s Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Both have proferred themselves to be the annointed successors to the legacy born of the Civil Rights Era, but as it is written in the mighty word of God we hold so sacred and so has come to pass, not all are chosen.

Sharpton and Jackson have not only failed at inspiring a new generation to walk the trail blazen past of our ancestors, but they have dropped the mantle in bids to become media darlings. At worse, they have sacrificed their credibility to remain relevant to a press that long ago saw no value in their pomp and circumstance. God don't like ugly; it's even more shameful that his representatives would cloth themselves in his righteousness and rage gainst the system by which feeds their ego. Pride before fall is a scripture they may have perused, but not entered into the consciousness. For there is no other reason than ego as to why Blacks have stilled in movement on the beaten path of racism, oppression, slavery, violence and crime.

Not only is the Devil a lie, but so is the media because GUESS WHAT?!

SLAVERY IS NOT OVER!

African Americans are still slaves to the insituionalized racism which permeates the very fabric of this alleged free society which trumpets opportunity but yet so many blacks are denied the priviledge. We are so much more than the stereotypes of ignorancewhich are used as labels; greater than the sum parts of those who feed into the notion that all hope is lost. Therefore, pimping and turning little black girls into symbols of lust warrant such a degradation of our race.

Our schools are in decay because of deficient funding, materials and teachers willing to step into the inner city and proivde solid education for fear they are marked for death at the hands of a black man. I suggest society fears more an educated Black man who knows his potential and chooses not to stay in his place, but rise to the forefront of the cause.

One such man is none other than Barack Obama. The charismatic young Senator from Illinois has come from an obscure background of good works to the forefront of the Democratic ticket. Many debates will spring forth as to whether or not he will earn the party's nomination for president, but yet he does more than pose for the money shot. He opposed the Iraq war long before it was in vogue, passed ethics reform and is leading the fight on other pertinent issues critical to the survival of the "Dream".

A dream that has turned into a nightmare as the theology of By Any Means necessary has been twisted to construte shooting up drugs, black on black crime, medicority and the loss of innocence before puberty.

Time will tell if Obama is the man to help fufill this dream. Or if he is simply the last man to eulogize living up to the credo of our race.

So far, so good.