OURstory: George Poage, First Black Olympic Medal Winner

On this date in 1904, George Poage became the first Black Olympic medal winner. Poage won a bronze medal in the third Olympic games in St. Louis, Missouri.

George Poage grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In high school, he ran in track meets, winning in various competitions. After graduating in 1899, he began attending the University of Wisconsin. This is photo of the 1903 University of Wisconsin track team. Poage is on the bottom row to the left.


In 1904, Poage competed in the Olympic games. Four hundred ninety-six athletes from eleven countries competed. Poage won two bronze medals, one for the 200-meter hurdle and the other for the 400-meter hurdle.

We need to tell OURstory more often. We won't hear about people like George Poage if we simply listen to his-story.

Billboards and Voter Suppression Roaches in Ohio and Wisconsin

Ordinarily when you turn on the lights the roaches in the room begin to run for the exists. That isn't the case with the folks trying to steal the 2012 presidential election. This week the roaches responsible for an outrageous voter suppression scheme in communities of color in Ohio and Wisconsin. The roaches this time around are trying to say anonymous as they have paid for devious billboards designed to scare Black and Hispanic people away from voting.

Melissa Harris-Perry and Ohio state Senator Nina Turner were on the case about this issue yesterday.

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With less than a month to go ... an anonymous advertiser tries to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins in Ohio and Wisconsin. I encourage all 'villagers' to sign an online petition demanding that demanding that Clear Channel immediately take down these offensive and dangerous billboards:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/billboards.

These billboards are clearly designed to intimidate voters, and they're part of a coordinated right-wing attack on the voting rights of people of color. The billboards are hosted by Clear Channel, a media conglomerate owned by Bain Capital — the same company that Mitt Romney co-founded. Clear Channel has tried to avoid any responsibility for the ads, saying that the group who paid for them is responsible for the content. But Clear Channel has rejected billboard ads at least three times in the past.

The myth of widespread "voter fraud" has been used to justify voter suppression efforts again and again. As a result, we've seen new restrictions on voting and voter registration, including discriminatory voter ID laws and voter roll purges. The fact is that voter fraud rarely occurs. In fact, voter fraud happens as infrequently as death by lightning.

Clear Channel syndicates some of our country’s most conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and now it is allowing the myth of voter fraud to intimidate Black and Latino voters. Please join us in demanding that Clear Channel immediately remove the billboards, it only takes a moment.

Taser Death: Gregory Kralovetz (Kaukauna, WI)

It happened again! This time a 50-year old man was electrocuted-to-death by Kaukauna (WI) police officers. The man, Gregory Kralovetz, was reported to police for allegedly "yelling for help". I'm unsure when "yelling for help" became punishable by the death penalty ... but, then again, the police in Wisconsin may be operating under a different set of laws than the rest of us.

Kaukauna police said Kralovetz behaved strangely when officers approached him, possibly exhibiting signs of a drug overdose. Have you noticed that it never takes long for the police to mention 'drugs' whenever there is a taser-related killing?

On the way to the scene, officers spotted Kralovetz running nude down the street. Police called for an ambulance to provide Kralovetz immediate medical attention, but he became agitated when the ambulance arrived and ran away.


Officers were initially unable to physically restrain Kralovetz and used a Taser to subdue him while medical personnel treated him. Am I the only one who thinks that the police simply didn't want to put their hands on a nude 50-year old man? Instead of showing compassion and finding a way to help this unarmed citizen ... the police pulled out their taser guns and electrocuted Kralovetz with 50,000 volts of electricity.

He was knocked down and out. The paramedics were able to take him to the local hospital at 5:15 am on Saturday, August 6. He was declared dead within the hour.

The police then went to Kralovitz's apartment. Of course, the police were giddy to tell reporters that they found evidence of recent drug use at the apartment. The type of drug and quantity will be confirmed through testing.

It could just be me ... but, I think that the police are simply to trigger-happy with their taser guns. This was the 3rd person to be killed on Saturday, August 6th in America from taser-happy police officers. When will we figure out that something is wrong when tasers are killing unarmed people on a weekly basis in America?

Shaletta Porterfield Resigns Miss Wisconsin USA Title After Arrest for Identity Theft

We were sad to learn that one of the few African American beauty queens in the nation ... Shaletta Porterfield, Miss Wisconsin USA ... resigned her position after being charged with three counts of identify fraud. [SOURCE]

Porterfield allegedly faked signatures on advertising contracts while working with a marketing company last year. She is scheduled to go to court on this matter in July.

Wisconsin is one of the least successful states when it comes to the Miss USA pageant. The highest ranking for a Miss Wisconsin in the national pageant occurred in 1974 when Mary Cook was the 2nd runner-up. The state hasn't finished higher than 15th place in over 30 years!

I guess that Shaletta Porterfield was trying to diversify her sources of revenue since it wasn't likely that the whole beauty pageant thing was going to work out for her.  Her replacement as Miss Wisconsin USA is Jordan Marie Morkin.

Momentum Builds for Recall of GOP Legislators in Wisconsin

There is a strong effort to recall eight of the Republican leaders who supported Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) in passage of state law that strips collective bargaining rights from most public sector unions. If at least three of these folks get recalled .. then it is possible to put an end to Walker's legislative majority. Here is a video that is being shared in Green Bay and other places inside of Wisconsin.








Elections have consequences. It would have been so much easier to combat these GOP initiatives last November during the mid-term elections. We need to ensure that we register and vote each and every time we have a chance to do so.

American Workers vs. Multi-Billionaires (Jasiri X)

Jasiri X

Soulclap to Jill Tubman for pointing us to the latest Jasiri X video, "American Workers Vs Multi-Billionaires". The video was filmed on location in Madison, Wisconsin, where thousands of hard working Americans came together in unity to fight back against Governor Scott Walker. It is apparent to many of us that the Wisconsin governor is bought and paid for by billionaires like the Koch brothers. Walker and his GOP cronies seek to break up unions and deny workers collective bargaining and a living wage.

Rap music can be a positive force in the political discourse. I think that Jasiri X got it right with this video and this song. Please take a moment to check it out:





LYRICS
Scott Walker works for multi billionaires
John Boehner works for multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Sarah Palin works for multi billionaires
American workers vs multi billionaires
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare

Can main street get a bailout
Tell the president our checks weren't mailed out
Tell the house of representatives and senate
And whatever business got the stimulus and spent it
Now they getting record profit that's tripling with no limits
But they cutting jobs and unemployment benefits have ended
How we gone live with no income coming in
And the little help we get is cut from the budget then
What's the role of government
Do workers stand a chance if multi billionaires are running it
Oh now you worried bout the deficit and cutting it
But when them banks needed billions you had enough for them.
Them car companies you had bucks for them
2 wars rebuilding 2 countries guess we stuck with them
the average citizen just ain't lucky then
cause we be getting pimped so I guess we getting fucked again

Rush Limbaugh works for multi billionaires
Bill O'Reilly works for multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Sean Hannity works for multi billionaires
Crazy Glenn Beck works for multi billionaires
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare

When did the American worker become the enemy
Why is wanting a living wage such a penalty
What happened to justice and liberty
These billionaire haters wanna crush us literally
On the box is Murdoch and his foxes
And if you watch it you might as well be an ostrich
They terrorists cause they hold facts hostage
24 hours straight of we hate what Barack did
If you want to unionize your a communist
But if you buy a congressman they just call you a lobbyist
It's so obvious but here's where the problem is
they act like regular Americans but they sloppy rich
Why you think they wanna cut taxes
cause every single one of them in the higher brackets
This ain't white or black it's class warfare time for action
Just look at wide the gap is

American workers vs multi billionaires
The middle class vs multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Rupert Murdoch is multi billionaires
the Koch brothers are multi Billionaire
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare

Show Solidarity with Wisconsin; Rally in All 50 States on Saturday, February 26

Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in Wisconsin and Ohio over the past week to protest over attacks being made on the American Dream. The call is being made for concerned citizens in all 50 states to join the protests on Saturday, February 26 @ noon in front of your state's capital building.

Many villagers will recall that the Republicans won the mid-term elections last November with a battle cry of "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs". Instead of creating much needed jobs, it appears that these right-wing wackos are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich all while cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services.

We learned during in November 2010 that elections have consequences. It is time that we wake up and realize that the effort by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is only the first battle in the right wing’s attempts to destroy the American Dream. We must stop it before it spreads to other states.






Show Solidarity with Wisconsin! Join the Saturday rally to save the American Dream.

This Week in Blackness: Black Dude at McCain's Wisconsin Rally

Villagers are aware that we've been supporting the comedic efforts of Elon James White.

My hope is that we will get backstage passes when the brother does Carnegie Hall or perhaps an invitation to the 'red carpet' premiere of his first feature-length movie.

For now, we share the latest edition of his comedy series, 'This Week in Blackness'. This week he hits it out of the park with his rant on James T. Harris ... the Black Republican wannabe at recent Wisconsin rally of John McCain.

Check it out:




What say u?