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Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

History

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Rosa Parks Centennial

by rmrd0000 2/4/2013 - 2:01 am

Rosa Parks was born February 4, 1913. Today would have been her one hundredth birthday. Mrs. Parks passed away on October 24, 2005. She is often remembered solely for being the woman who was the symbol for the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up her seat to a White person in December 1955. She and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are remembered as icons of non-violence. This emphasis on passivity ignores the steadfast resistance Mrs. Parks had against injustice. In a past moment of verbal clarity, Prof. Cornel West described the media as participating in the Santa Clausification of King. Mrs. Parks has become akin to Mrs. Claus in this media fiction of the passive participant in the Civil rights movement.  The truth is that both Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were much more combative than the current media portrayal would lead one to believe. [Read more]

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Reflections on 2013, MLK Jr and Obama

by rmrd0000 1/21/2013 - 2:44 pm

2013 represents a remarkable period for reflection on the past and a clarion call to continue the struggle I have previously noted January 1. 1863 was the date of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.  On January 21st, we will honor the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (actually born on January 15th).  Former Democratic Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA) and Democratic Congressman John Lewis co-authored a bill calling for a National Day of Service to honor Dr. King. [Read more]

News Year's Day 2013, the Sequicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation

by rmrd0000 1/1/2013 - 12:11 pm

Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation 150 Years ago on January 1, 1863. As noted by historian Harold Holzer in an article at the Daily Beast, 4 million African-American slaves and thousands of white abolitionists awaited word of the signing of the document. The signing was delayed by a New Year’s party held in the White House was attended by the diplomatic corps, military elite and members of Congress. When the official party was over, White House guards opened the doors to allow several thousand members of the general public join in the revelry. [Read more]

Barack Obama Jr Threatens Mitt Romney

by rmrd0000 10/19/2012 - 9:41 pm

If President Obama had a son who felt the urge to punch Mitt Romney in the face for disrespecting his father during the second debate and told the host of a Black media radio show about that urge, media outlets would have pounced on the threat. The major news networks, newspapers and magazines would have blared the story 24-7.

Obama would have to personally apologize for his son's remark. The son would have to apologize publicly. The parenting skills of Barack and Michelle  would have been questioned. How could the Obama's be an example for family life in America? Why were the Obama's disgracing the United States?  [Read more]

Goodbye Ron Paul.

by rmrd0000 9/1/2012 - 11:26 pm

Ron Paul failed to become the Republican nominee for President despite having an enthusiastic group of supporters. I was never a Ron Paul supporter although some of his supporters told me how great Paul's program was for the Black community. Paul would end the Federal War on Drugs, releasing thousands of African-Americans from prison. He would end the Middle East worlds thus preventing more African-American from becoming cannon fodder for the war machine. [Read more]

John McCain at NAACP Convention (Bill O'Reilly Lied About the Audience Response)

by rmrd0000 7/14/2012 - 12:30 am

The negative response that Willard Romney got to some aspects of his statements at the NAACP convention is well known. The impression left is that the members of the NAACP would be hostile to any white Republican who came to talk to the organization. In fact, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly had Hilary Shelton the NAACP communications director on his program yesterday. O'Reilly stated that he had been present when John McCain spoke at the 2008 convention and personally heard booing.

Here is the video tape of McCain speaking at the 2008 convention. Notice that there was polite applause. There were no boos. Bill O'Reilly either has a poor memory or is a liar. McCain even took questions from the audience. [Read more]

Mitt Romney To Denounce Birtherism and Voter Suppression At NAACP Convention.

by rmrd0000 7/9/2012 - 12:38 am

Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak at the 2012 NAACP National Convention in Houston on Wednesday June 11, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. I have received an advanced copy of Romney's speech, and I am flabbergasted. Romney will publicly denounce Donald Trump as a racist birther and will state that he refuses to appear in public with Trump again.

Romney will also criticize those Republican officials who are using a snipe hunt for voter fraud as a means of suppressing minority votes. Romney says this harkens back to the days of the poll tax used to keep minorities from voting.

......Oops! 

My mistake, I was reading from an advanced copy of Joe Biden's speech to the NAACP on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Never mind.

Juneteenth 2012 The Struggle Continues

by rmrd0000 6/17/2012 - 11:21 am

On June 19 ("Juneteenth"), 1865, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, which read in part, "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor." The tidings of freedom reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas gradually as individual plantation owners informed their bondsmen over the months following the end of the war. The news elicited an array of personal celebrations, some of which have been described in The Slave Narratives of Texas (1974). The first broader celebrations of Juneteenth were used as political rallies and to teach freed slaves about their voting rights. Within a short time, however, Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state, some of which were organized by official Juneteenth committees. Slaveholders in Texas had been able to keep the news of Emancipation from their slaves until 1865. There was a period during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s when the celebrations fell out of favor. [Read more]

The End Of Black on Black Crime

by rmrd0000 4/10/2012 - 9:49 pm

The reign of Black-On-Black crime is over, but first an update:

NEWSFLASH

It seems that George Zimmerman's lawyers have quit because they cannot contact their client. Simultaneously, Zimmerman has set up a website requesting contributions  for his legal defense. Zimmerman defied his lawyer's advice and personally called the Special Attorney. The ex-lawyers believed that Zimmerman spoke to Sean Hannity of Fox News. Hannity confirmed the conversation with Zimmerman on his radio show. Hannity, at least, for now, refuses to state what he was told by Zimmerman. Reuters is reporting that the State's Attorney is holding a press conference within 72 hours.

Wonder who gets the money from the website? Wonder if the money will used to support a lifestyle in exile?

Now to the discussion at hand

Zimmerman's defenders have used the diversion of black-on-black crime in an attempt to stem criticism of the admitted murderer. The question goes up how can blacks focus on Zimmerman when Trayvon Martins are killed across the county everyday by blacks. Black on Black crime negates any murder of a black youth by anyone from another ethnic group. [Read more]

Fulton County (Atlanta, Ga) Deputies Refuse To Evict 103 Year Old Woman

by rmrd0000 11/30/2011 - 10:44 pm

You read that right, a bank wants to foreclose on a 103 year-old-woman, Vinia Hall, and her 83 year-old daughter. The Fulton County deputies and movers who arrived on the scene refused to enforce the eviction after gazed upon the frail woman. The loan is held by Deutsche Bank, but is being locally enforced in Atlanta by Chase. [Read more]

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