Wordless Wednesday: 9/11

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

• Total number killed in attacks: 2,819
• Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60
• Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115
• Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1
• Bodies found "intact": 289
• Body parts found: 19,858
• Number of families who got no remains: 1,717
• Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609
• Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051
• Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

Introduce Yourself

Hotep! My vision for the Electronic Village is simple. I want you to feel that you have entered a warm and welcoming enclave where you can rest for a moment under our baobob tree and share libations with fellow villagers. Just relax for a moment in your hectic surfing through cyberspace ... relax and enjoy the vibe of our Electronic Village.

We hope that our voice is a worthy one in the blogosphere. The Electronic Village strives to share information that uplifts people of African descent throughout the diaspora. There are a number of ways that you can hear our drumbeat in a timely manner. However, we realize that it is your drumbeat that makes us better. Please comment freely on any post that you read here in the Electronic Village.

If you have any questions, or want to promote your blog then you can do this here! Just leave a 'comment' to this post.

Twitter Thursday! - What Is Your Twitter Name?

Drumbeats from Vincent Wright gave us the idea to see if there are any villagers who want to Twitter with us?

Tell us your Twitter name!
To get things started, here are mine:

Personal Twitter name: twitter.com/Villager
My Non-Profit Twitter name: twitter.com/BDPA
For those of you that don't know ...Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application such as Twitterrific or Facebook. For SMS, four gateway numbers are currently available: short codes for the United States, Canada, and India, as well as a United Kingdom number for international use. Several third parties offer posting and receiving updates via email.

There are millions of registered Twitter users. Do you have one of them?

What is Juneteenth?

Originally posted: 6/19/2008

The discussion about the African American flag created by UNIA and Marcus Garvey reminded me of other dates on the calendar that impact African Americans differently than others in this country. For example, I wonder every year on the birthday of our nation ...why do Blacks celebrate July 4th?

It is historically accurate to recall that nothing about Independence Day back in 1776 brought a smile to the people of African descent living in America. White folks were ecstatic to overturn the yoke of the monarchy ... but, they weren't so ecstatic that they let go of the whips and chains used to enslave African Americans. Just a random thought floating thru the village today.

On the other hand, African Americans in most of the country do take time on Juneteenth to celebrate independence.

What is Juneteenth? Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all slaves were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863.

The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger's regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another, is that the news was deliberately withheld by the slave masters to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another, is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All or neither could be true. For whatever the reason, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory.

Click here to learn more about Juneteenth if you have time/inclination. We encourage you to share information on this aspect of Ourstory as part of your Juneteenth 2008 celebration.

For now, I encourage you to share your comments on the significance of either June 19th or July 4th in your part of the diaspora? What say u?

Happy Birthday, Malcolm X

One of the points of transformation in my life occurred when I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I imagine that most Blackmen from my era recall reading this very thick book. Every Blackman could empathize with a brother that evolved from Malcolm Little to Detroit Red to Malcolm X to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Each of us hoped that we would be transformed as well in our lives.

My son is 9-years old. There will come a time when I share this book with him as well. The messages that Malcolm taught us back in the day still need to be shared today in the 21st century.

As such, the Electronic Village is honored to recognize this heroic figure on the weekend of what would have been his 84th birthday. The legacy of Malcolm X has moved through generations as the subject of numerous documentaries, books and movies. I imagine that there was a surge of interest in 1992 when director Spike Lee released the acclaimed Malcolm X movie. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Costume Design. Most people recall the hospital scene in that movie.

However, it is often best to hear directly from Malcolm. Here are some YouTube clips of Malcolm that I thought you would enjoy:

• Who Are You? - A few simple questions that we are still asking today.


• An Early Interview with Malcolm X by Mike Wallace, where Malcolm explains the position of the Nation of Islam.


• You're Ready to do Something, Aren't You?" - "...many of you thought that we should go right on out then and make war on the white man. You wanted to do it yourself, didn't you? Cause you don't like the idea of white people shooting Black people down, do you? And you're ready to do something about it, aren't you?"


• The White Man Brings Drugs into Harlem - "Stealing runs rampant in Harlem. Gambling runs rampant in Harlem. All types of evils and vices that tear apart our community run rampant in Harlem. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad doesn't condemn the victim, he goes to work on the victim."


• The Problem is Still Here - is speech where Malcolm rejects the non-violent approach of Martin Luther King,


• Who Taught You to Hate Yourself? - "Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?"


• We are Africans, Not Americans - "Our forefathers weren't the Pilgrims. We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was landed on us."


• The Black Man's History - Malcolm X explains how the true history of Black people was erased during slavery and because Black people do not know their own past, thye have no confidence in themselves.


• House Negroes vs. Field Negroes - "Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn't kill 'em, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said."


• Our History was Destroyed by Slavery - Malcolm X appears on television in Chicago on March 17, 1963.


• You Will Never Get Protection from the Government - "You never will get protection from the federal government. That's like, King is asking Kennedy to go to Alabama to stand in the doorway, put his body in the doorway. That's like asking the fox to protect you from the wolf. "


• Roundtable Discussion - In a clip from a roundtable discussion, Malcolm X explains why the bourgeois, hand-picked Uncle Tom negro leaders will never solve the problem for the masses of black people.


• Malcolm X Explains Black Nationalism - "If you're interested in freedom, you need some judo, you need some karate--you need all the things that will help you fight for freedom...They can give us the back pay. Let's join in. If this is what the negro wants, let's join him. Let's show him how to struggle, let's show him how to fight. Let's show him how to bring about a real revolution. You don't need a debate. You don't need a filibuster. You need some action."


• Oxford University Debate - "I read once, passingly, about a man named Shakespeare. I only read about him passingly, but I remember one thing he wrote that kind of moved me. He put it in the mouth of Hamlet, I think, it was, who said, "To be or not to be." He was in doubt about something. Whether it was nobler in the mind of man to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, moderation, or to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. And I go for that. If you take up arms, you'll end it, but if you sit around and wait for the one who's in power to make up his mind that he should end it, you'll be waiting a long time. And in my opinion, the young generation of whites, blacks, browns, whatever else there is, you're living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there's got to be a change. People in power have misused it and now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built and the only way it's going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone, I don't care what color you are, as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth."


• Ballot or the Bullet was a speech by Malcolm X mostly about black nationalism delivered April 12, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan.


• By Any Means Necessary - "...our African brothers have gained their independence faster than you and I here in America have. They've also gained recognition and respect as human beings much faster than you and I."


• Return from Mecca (1 of 2) - "When I was on the pilgrimage, I had close contact with Muslims whose skin would in America be classified as white and with Muslims who would themselves be classified as white in America, but these particular Muslims didn't call themselves white. They looked upon themselves as human beings, as part of the human family and therefore they looked upon all other segments of the human family as part of that same family."
  
• Return from Mecca (2 of 2) - "African nations and Asian nations and Latin American nations look very hypocritical when they stand up in the United Nations, condemning the racist practices of South Africa and that which is practiced by Portugal and Angola, and saying nothing in the U.N. about the racist practices that are manifest every day against Negroes in this society."
  
• American Can't Solve Our Problem" - Malcolm X explains that it is necessary to take the problem of African-Americans to the world court in order to get them solved.
  
• 'I am probably a dead man already' - In an interview shortly before he was killed, Malcolm X declared, "I probably am a dead man already." He was aware of the fact that the NOI wanted him dead and understood that he was in serious danger.
  
• My Death Has Been Ordered - Malcolm X puts the blame for the firebombing of his home directly on the Nation of Islam and explains other ways in which his life is in danger.
  
• The assassination of Malcolm X - Silent clip of the Audobon Ballroom immediately after the assassination of Malcolm X on February 21, 1965.
  
• Mos Def Reads Malcolm X - Hip hop, rap and spoken word artist Mos Def reads Malcolm X's "Message to the Grass Roots" on November 9, 2006.

Happy Birthday Malcolm! Today El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz would be 84 years old. I thought many villagers would enjoy to share some of his speeches and thoughts over the course of his life.

Many in the current generation only know of the man through the phrase, 'By Any Means Necessary'. He was much more complex and interesting than that simple phrase.

Anyhow, I would love to hear village voices on Malcolm X. What did you think of the man? Did you read his autobiography? What say u?

Our Prayers are with Ted Kennedy

Our Prayers are with Senator Kennedy! [re-published from 5/21/2008]

Old School Friday: Bootsy Collins and Parliament Funkadelic

I invite you to enjoy some 'grown-folks music'! Ms Grapevine and MarvalusOne have teamed up to create a weekly meme that we call, Old School Friday. It is our effort to post some music from the last millennium to relive some memories and to educate or just entertain each other.

The theme this week is Music From The Year You Graduated High School. I graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1976. My afro was large and life was good. I decided to share two of my musical favorites from that year with you.

My young 'uns know about Bootsy Collins because he lives in Cincinnati and did some promotional work last year for the Cincinnati Bengals. My memories of Bootsy come from 1976 when he was Stretchin' Out with his Rubber Band. They don't know nothing 'bout that!

I wish that I could end this post right now. But, 1976 was also the year that Parliament Funkadelic landed the Mothership Connection. Villagers, if you hear any noise ... it's just me and the boyz!

Could You 'Buy Black' For a Year?

Our country is in the midst of an economic crisis. One response ... demonstrated by the debate over the auto industry bailout ... is that we should 'Buy American'. Nothing radical about the idea. The concept is simple and effective. Spend discretionary funds in your own community in order to climb out of an economic downturn.

Can we do the same thing in the Black community? Can we recognize that the 20% unemployment in our community is a symptom of an economic crisis? Do we have the strength of mind and purpose to focus the 'Buy American' response into a more targeted 'Buy Black' campaign?

We have plenty of income in the Black community ... but, our inability to keep more than 5% of our spending with Black-owned businesses means that we have very little wealth in the Black community. Not surprising. If I give you 95 cents out of every dollar that I earn ... I'll be poor and you will be rich. The Black community gives 95 cents of every dollar to white-owned businesses. We are poor. They are rich.

One family in Chicago ... the Andersons ... plans to flip the script. For the Ebony Experiment, the Anderson Family publicly commits to exclusively ‘Buy Black’ for one year. They will live their lives as they normally do, except that each time they make an expenditure – from consumer goods to professional services to real estate and travel – they will make an exhaustive attempt to utilize Black businesses and Black professionals. In addition to actual new purchases, the Andersons will endeavor to convert any standing contracts (e.g. loans, bills, subscriptions, etc.) to adhere to their 'Buy Black' pledge.

Are you willing to support this effort? Can you find ways to 'Buy Black' in the coming weeks and months? Ken Bridges advocated for internal reparations ... and the Andersons appear to be doing it on a family level.

Please share your village voice on the 'Buy Black' concept. Will it work?

Nguzo Saba: The Seven Principles

Villagers, I created this blog in order to inform and uplift people of African descent. Too often we are bombarded with negative images of what it means to be Black in America and throughout the diaspora. My hope is that the Electronic Village provides an outlet for us to share some self-love, self-respect and self-determination. I am hopeful that you will become engaged through your village voice to share your thoughts on the posts that we provide each day.

While the Nguzo Saba are commonly linked to the yearly Kwanzaa celebration, they have year-round applicabilty. I'm sharing these seven principles in the hopes that we can refer to them often over the coming weeks and months.

1. UMOJA (00-MOE-JAH) UNITY - The first principle is a commitment to the idea of togetherness. This principle is a foundation; for without unity, neither the family nor the community can survive. National African American unity begins with the family. Open discussions of family problems and their probable solutions are very important.


2. KUJICHAGULIA (CO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-AH) SELF-DETERMINATION - The second principle is a commitment to building our lives in our own images and interests. If we, as a people, are to achieve our goals we must take the responsibility for that achievement upon ourselves, for self-determination is the essence of freedom. This day calls for a reaffirmation of our commitment to struggle for all people of African descent, particularly those of us here in America, to build a more meaningful and fulfilling life.


3. UJIMA (00-GEE-MA) COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY - The third principle encourages self-criticism and personal evaluation, as it relates to the common good of the family/community. Without collective work and struggle, progress is impossible. The family and the community must accept the reality that we are collectively responsible for our failures, as well as our victories and achievements. Discussions concerning each family member's responsibility prove helpful in defining and achieving family goals.


4. UJAMAA (00-JAH-MAH) COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS - Out of the fundamental concepts of "African Communal Living" comes the fourth principle of Kwanzaa. In a community or family, wealth and resources should be shared. On the national level, cooperative economics can help African Americans take physical control of their own destinies. On this day, ideas should be shared and discussed for cooperative economic efforts to provide for needs as related to housing, education, food, day care, health, transportation and other goods and services.


5. NIA (NEE-AH) PURPOSE - The fifth day of Kwanzaa is a day for reviewing our purpose for living. Each family member should examine his/her ability to put his/her skill or talent to use In the service of the family and community at large. Take time to reflect on your expectations from life: discuss your desires and hopes with family and friends. On this day you should try to determine if this purpose will eventually result in positive achievements for family and community.


6. KUUMBA (KOO-M-BAH) CREATIVITY - The sixth principle of the Nguzo Saba relates to building and developing our creative potential. It involves both aesthetic and material creations. It is essential that creativity be encouraged in all aspects of African American culture. It is through new ideas that we achieve higher levels of living and a greater appreciation for life. Each family member should find creative things to do throughout the year that will enhance the family as a whole. On this day, poetry reading, songfests, dance exhibitions and the like, can aid in promoting the importance of Kuumba.


7. IMANI (E-MAH-NE) FAITH - The seventh principle is belief in ourselves as individuals and as a people. Further, it is a commitment to the development of the family and the national African American community. African America's goal of freedom rests significantly on our belief in our own ability and right to control our own destiny. Without Imani (faith), there is no possibility of victory.

Villagers, we will discuss each of these seven principles throughout the coming year. Perhaps you can begin the discussion by sharing your village voice on the Nguzo Saba. What say u? Which principle(s) are particularly meaningful in your life?

Wordless Wednesday: The Great Escape (Panda Version)

Top Ten Black Blogs (Dec 2008)

Our apologies for being absent with the Villager's Black Blog Rankings (BBR) last month.

We began this monthly effort BBR with 75 Black blogs in Sep 2007. This month we publish almost 1,500 Black owned & operated blogs. Also, we note that there are some changes in the Top Ten this month.

We don't have all Black owned & operated blogs on this list. If you see any that are missing ... please let me know in the COMMENTS section.

Here are BBR posts from the past five quarters:

• October 2007 - 300 Black blogs
  
• January 2008 - 602 Black blogs
  
• April 2008 - 1,045 Black blogs
  
• July 2008 - 1,269 Black blogs
  
• October 2008 - 1,440 Black blogs

Anyhow, with no further ado, here are the Top Ten Black Blogs for Dec 2008:

1. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 1,196 / Rank: 1,530) - [Politics] Pam's blog continues to maintain a commanding lead as the top Black blog in the universe. Much of the buzz on her blog over the past month relates to the unfortunate defeat of Prop. 8 in California. Pam's House Blend is the go-to location for anything related to the lesbian and gay community. Pam has been dealing with the backlash against the Black community for the Prop. 8 defeat.


2. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 854 / Rank: 2,650) - [Entertainment] Bossip.com moved up to BBR #2 slot this month ... becoming the top-ranked gossip or entertainment blog on our list. This is the second month in a row that Bossip.com has risen in the rankings. I wonder if Bossip.com can continue the climb to the BBR #1 slot? Does anyone know if The Bossip is male or female? One thing is certain ... this blog isn't beloved by progressive woman of color judging from response to Bossip.com posts about Elizabeth Acevedo and Maya Angelou. Click here to see index of the people that are blogged about on Bossip.com.


3. Ahsmi Rawlins: Nah Right (Authority: 801 / Rank: 2,894) - [Entertainment] Ashmi (a.k.a., ESKAY) has been blogging since May 2005. Both his name and job are based on phonetics, literally and figuratively. The name – eskay – is the phonetic spelling of “SK,” the tag he used as a graffiti writer years ago. His blog (job) focuses on up-to-date information on the verbal artistry we have come to know as hip-hop. And although Nah Right has been proclaimed one of the best (or the best, depending on who you ask) hip-hop blog sites on the web, not much else is known about him. You can learn more from an interview he conducted with Format Magazine earlier this year.


4. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop (Authority: 695 / Rank: 3,550) - [Entertainment] Angel Laws is the young sister who who owns and operates this dynamic entertainment blog. She created the blog back in 2005. Recently, she published pictures of her time spent in the studio with Kanye West. I encourage you to see the list of the last 50 posts on her blog.


5. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 630 / Rank: 4,061) - [Politics] Oliver has been blogging since April 2005. He is having a rough time right now as the Washington Redskins are not currently on track to be in the NFL playoffs this year. However, his distress as a sports fan is counter-balanced by his remarkable success as a top-ranked Black blogger. Oliver has been profiled in Huffington Post. He attended Florida Atlantic University and is a member of the Technology and Online Community Department at Media Matters for America.


6. Natasha Eubanks: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 614 / Rank: 4,204) - [Entertainment] Natasha Eubanks said, "Young, Black and Fabulous was started three years ago out of my passion for celebrity gossip and was the first blog of its kind to focus on Black celebrity gossip and entertainment news.” One of her 'YBFchicks' shared thoughts on the rise of YBF from nothing to something.


7. Baratunde Thurston and Cheryl Contee: Jack and Jill Politics (Authority: 587 / Rank: 4,469) - [Politics] Baratunde (a.ka. Jack Turner) and Cheryl (a.k.a. Jill Tubman) were both featured recently on Meet the Bloggers, a weekly podcast sponsored by Brave New Films. I encourage you to follow both Jack and Jill on Twitter. If you're really serious ... you can learn more from Baratunde from his other blog, goodCRIMETHINK.


8. La Shawn Barber: La Shawn Barber's Corner (Authority: 380 / Rank: 8,116) - [Social Commentary] This top-ranked blog was launched in November 2003. La Shawn was last in the Top 10 back in June 2008. La Shawn comes at things from a unique point of view. She writes about politics, faith, culture, digital technology and, occasionally, how these things intersect. By the way, don’t call her "African American." She hates that term. If you must refer to her race, call her “Black.” And contrary to popular opinion, La Shawn is not a Republican. She’s an independent conservative.


9. Sandra Rose: Sandra Rose (Authority: 365 / Rank: 8,523) - [Entertainment] Sandra is a world class photographer who has morphed into a top-ranked blogger. It seems that Sandra is feuding with BBR #4 blogger Angel Laws. In any case, she earned her way back as a Top Ten Black Blogger for the first time since August 2008.


10. Wayne Bennett: Field Negro (Authority: 363 / Rank: 8,585) - [Social Commentary] I should start by saying that I'm not an unbiased observer. In my view, this is the best blog ever written. Period. The Los Angeles Times said it better than me when they interviewed Field last year. Simply stated, I think that you should read this blog every day. Period. Check out Field's post-election thoughts. I seem to recall that he was going to streak buck-naked down a Philadelphia street if Obama won the election. Somebody let me know if he paid off on that bet!

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HONORABLE MENTION (11-25): Crunk & Disorderly, Necole Bitchie, AfroBella, What About Our Daughters, Ill Doctrine, Raw Dawg Buffalo, Womanist Musings, How To Split An Atom, Angry Black Bitch, SheGeeks, The Black Snob, Living Life Abundantly, Rod 2.0:Beta, Why Does Everyone Suck? and The Angry Black Woman.

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This ranking is open to any blogger of African descent. We invite all Black bloggers to apply for membership into The AfroSpear or join our Facebook group known as the Afrosphere Bloggers Association.

Black Blog Rankings lean heavily on the Technorati Authority and Rank score for each blog. The Technorati authority and rank numbers are shown in parenthesis. The authority figure includes a number of factors including the number of blogs that are linked to this blogger over the past six months. The rank number indicates how many blogs are between the one listed and The Huffington Post, which is the #1 overall blog in the universe.

We do think that these Black blogs are important spheres of influence. Let them know that you appreciate the work they have put in over the past few months and years to get on this list.

I encourage all bloggers to provide some link-love to this post so that your readers can learn about the Villager's Black Blog Rankings! Next step is yours ... what say u?

Wordless Wednesday: 5 Obama Hair Don'ts

[SOURCE]

Mississippi Officials Tell Kids Not To Say 'Obama'

Did you see where school officials down in Mississippi threatened children with expulsion from busses and classrooms if they uttered the word, "Obama"?

I imagine that there are still some folks who will have difficult time dealing with a Black president. I imagine it will hurt some of the officials and judges that run federal buildings and federal courtrooms when they have to place a portrait photo of the incoming president on the walls.

I share this Obama collage in an effort to help these hard-headed folks in Mississippi and elsewhere get used to the idea of a new POTUS. As the youngsters in Mississippi school busses and junior high school classrooms are saying, "Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama and Obama!"

Wordless Wednesday: America's First Family

Wordless Wednesday: October Surprise?

Racist McCain Supporter Hangs Obama in Effigy in Ohio Neighborhood

It turns out that I'm living a few miles away from a racist guy in Fairfield (Ohio) who decided that it would be a wonderful sight for children on Halloween night to see an effigy of Barack Obama hanging from his tree.

Mike Lunsford is the racist fool who decided to hang this display at his home over on Symmes and Hicks Road in Fairfield.

A local reporter spoke with Mr. Lunsford. He isn't shy about what the make-shift ghost, hanging from a noose above the 'McCain-Palin' sign. A Barack Obama sign attached upside down. Obama's middle name: "Hussein" spray painted and misspelled.

Mike Lunsford hung the ghost in his yard. He says make no mistake: He doesn't want an African American running the country.

Lunsford says he believes Barack Obama is not a "full blooded American." And he says the United States is a white, Christian nation - and only with white Christians should be in power.

Villagers, do we not remember what it means for the spectre of lynching to be raised? Can we afford to fan these flames of racial hatred in the 21st century?

When will we learn?

Wordless Wednesday: Weight Watcher

Stay of Execution: Troy Davis

UPDATE: STAY OF EXECUTION!! The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed Troy Davis' execution until Monday, September 29. You can read more here.

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Troy Davis was scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Take action right now to stop this execution!
Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused". The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Tell Sarah Palin that I Am a Community Organizer

Last week during her speech to the Republican National Convention, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sought to play up her experience as mayor of a small town in Alaska by mocking community organizing:

PALIN: I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

I was upset at Sarah Palin for her comments about community organizers. I sat around a kitchen table with four others in 1998 when decision was made to rejuvenate a defunct organization in Cincinnati. We presented ourselves to the community in January 1999. Our group grew from those 5 people to over 200 members by the next year. We were recognized as 'chapter of the year' for our work in 2000 and again in 2001. We trained over 200 high school students with volunteers on weekends and after school in the past decade. These students competed in regional and national computer competitions each year. Over 50 of these students earned scholarships to help them attend colleges. Community organizers made a difference for BDPA Cincinnati chapter.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

I took over a struggling non-profit small business incubator in 2003. The incubator had 17 small business owners as clients when I came on board. Over the course of the next five years we grew the incubator to upwards of 50 clients. One of our clients is challenging to become the top Black-owned business in Cincinnati. The clients at our incubator provided over 300 jobs per year. We were named the 'non-profit of the year' in 2006 by the local chamber of commerce. Community organizers made a difference for the Cincinnati Business Incubator.

And Sarah Palin pissed all over our efforts with her comments.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Montgomery Improvement Association - the community organization run by MLK that launched and supported the Montgomery bus boycott. Sarah clowns, 'No responsibility there'.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the network of community organizations and churches that MLK co-founded, that proved so crucial to the civil rights movement. Apparently no responsibility there, either.

Sarah Palin pissed all over the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom that the Republicans like to wrap themselves up in, the shared work of countless community organizers and activists. Sarah doesn't see responsibility here, huh?

Sarah Palin wanted to mock Senator Obama. Instead she mocked many of us here in America ... including former President George H.W. Bush.

"I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good."
- George H. W. Bush, 1989

Many of the nation’s leading organization’s responded to Palin’s attack. Over the past few days I have heard from many bloggers and online activists that proudly proclaim, "I Am a Community Organizer". Perhaps one day Sarah Palin will find this list and apologize for her obnoxious comments on community organizers:

1. 411Mania.com
2. African American Opinion
3. African American Political Pundit
4. African Path
5. Afro-Netizen
6. Allegory in a Chokehold
7. Anali's First Amendment
8. Ancestral Energies
9. Appetite for Equal Rights
10. A Slant Truth
11. BarackObama.com
12. Black Looks
13. BlackPerspectives.net
14. Black Political Thought
15. Brave New Films
16. California Now
17. Citizen Jane
18. Community Organizers Against Sarah Palin
19. Corey Booker via Huffington Post
20. CripChick's Weblog
21. Dallas Progress
22. Dallas South Blog
23. Dre Politic: Words by Adrien Salazar
24. Dwight A. Moody
25. Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)
26. Elaine Vigneault
27. Electronic Village
28. Elle, PhD
29. eVIPlist
30. Feministing Community
31. Fort Wayne African-American Independant Woman
32. Francis L. Holland Blog
33. From My Brown Eyed View
34. greenUPGRADER
35. Hey Shae!
36. I'll Offer You Eternal Bliss
37. Illvox: Anarchist of Color
38. InkogNegro 1.75
39. Jack & Jill Politics
40. Jump Off The Bridge
41. Karen Waters via Augusta Free Press
42. Keith's Space
43. Labor Is Not a Commodity
44. Living Life Abundantly
45. MicroBrother
46. MOMocrats
47. Monroe Anderson
48. NYCweboy
49. Pacifica Election Central
50. Pirate Satellite
51. PlanetSave
52. Production Not Reproduction
53. Professor Kim's News Notes
54. RaceWire
55. Radical Russ via Pam's House Blend
56. Regina's Family Seasons
57. SerenityLife
58. Something Within
59. Springer's Journal
60. Sojourner's Place
61. The 'D' Spot
62. The 'D' Spot Redeux
63. The Hillary 100
64. The Jesus Blog
65. The Jose Vilson Blog
66. The Safer Blog
67. The SuperSpade
68. This is Not My Country
69. UltraVioletUnderground
70. USA Today
71. Vanessa Unplugged
72. We Are All Community Organizers
73. What If
74. What was I THINKING?
75. Where the Revolution's Gonna Begin
76. Wichita NAACP Blog
77. WoC.PhD
78. Write Black
79. Young Black Professional Guide

I am very interested in feedback from all villagers that read this post. What is your honest take on Sarah Palin's comments about community organizers? What say u?

Joe Biden is Obama's Running Mate

Barack Obama tapped Joe Biden as his running mate, bringing to the Democratic ticket a veteran senator with deep expertise in international relations. Personally, I had been hoping that General Wesley Clark would be the nominee. However, Biden is a great choice from a strategic perspective.

"Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee," the text message said. "Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3 p.m. ET on http://www.barackobama.com/. Spread the word!"

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden could help offset Obama's relative inexperience in foreign policy. Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator, has been ridiculed by his Republican rival, John McCain, as too naive to be president.

A Roman Catholic born to a working-class family in Scranton, Pa., Biden might also help Obama draw blue-collar Catholic voters who formed a core constituency for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in her primary battle with Obama. I hope that we see some visible support from Clinton supporters with this VP selection.

The senator also offers a compelling personal story. His first wife, Neilia Hunter, died in a car accident in 1972 as she was driving their three children shortly after his election as U.S. senator. Their infant daughter was also killed but their two sons -- Beau and Hunter -- survived their injuries.

Biden, then 30, was sworn in as a first-term senator at his sons' bedside.

Biden has long harbored aspirations to be president himself. He ran this year, but dropped out of the Democratic presidential race in January after a lackluster showing in the Iowa caucuses. "I'm not a superstar," he said while stumping in Iowa. "People say they like me, people tell me they think I'd be a good president but that they just don't think I can win."

Along with his Senate Foreign Relations post, which recently took him on a trip to Georgia after the Russian invasion, Biden has been chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has had a hand in legislation on crime, terrorism and drug policy.

One issue that could prove problematic is that Biden supported the 2002 resolution in favor of military action in Iraq. Obama has made his opposition to the war a centerpiece of his campaign. But Biden has become a persistent critic of the handling of the war.

One of the main roles of the Democratic vice presidential nominee will be to attack McCain and his running mate. The Arizona senator is expected to name his No. 2 after the Democrats end their national convention in Denver.

Villagers, what is your take on the Biden selection? What say u?