Category Archives: Print, Digital and Corporate Media

Bill Duke, a Q&A With a Legend, Pt. 1 : Mother of Color

by

Bill Duke, a Q&A With a Legend, Pt. 1

Bill Duke, a Q&A With a Legend, Pt. 1

He is one of Hollywood’s most prolific and powerful directors, with acting credits that span multiple mediums, genres and generations. Whether you’re a fan of drama, action or comedy, Bill Duke is a man who’s portrayed all of the above with depth and aplomb, and since his mainstream debut in the classic 1976 film, Car Wash, the Poughkeepsie, NY native has maintained a flourishing career both in front of (Commando, Predator, Action Jackson, Menace II Society, Get Rich or Die Trying) and behind the camera (Hill Street Blues, A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover, Hoodlum, Not Easily Broken), serves on the Board of Trustees at the American Film Institute and donates both resources and time to his community to educate youth in the craft of acting (“Boot Camp Hollywood”), as well as supplemental education alternatives for at-risk youth in his home base of Los Angeles (“Educating Young Minds”).

In  part one of a recent chat with DSN, the 67-year-old activist and Director’s Guild of America Award recipient spoke with passion about his latest projects and how societal issues reflect in his film and humanitarian work.

via Bill Duke, a Q&A With a Legend, Pt. 1 : Mother of Color.

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s Electronic Bully Pulpit – The Daily Beast

by

President and Founder of the National Action Network Rev. Al Sharpton (R) speaks news conference in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

While MSNBC showcases a slew of reporters, contributors and anchors with strong liberal views, Sharpton offered a level of authenticity with his keen understanding of both race and politics that hadn’t been seen before on cable news. His on-air presence quickly attracted a large number of minority viewers, and Politics Nation now ranks as the network’s No. 1 show watched by African Americans. According to a recent Neilsen ratings report,  Politics Nations also surpassed the ratings of its CNN competitor John King’s USA by more than 200,000 viewers.

Much in the same way the 58-year-old ordained minister used Politics Nation to shift the country’s attention to the tragic shooting death of Martin, he also insisted daily that people of color and those who believed in fairness fight back against Republican-sponsored voter suppression laws that threatened to derail Obama’s push for a second term as well as turn the clock back on civil rights.

This summer, Ohio, Florida and several other states declared that they would ask voters for additional IDs to vote in the presidential election, and that they would shorten the dates for early voting. Both restrictions hurt minority voters, a group that turned out in large numbers during the 2008 Presidential campaign to support Obama.

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s Electronic Bully Pulpit – The Daily Beast.

<<< "Black Women in the Prism . . . Unleashing the Power,Fury in the Light" TruthWorks Network October 30, 2012

by

“Black Women in the Prism . . . Unleashing the Power,             

Fury in the Light”

A Series of LIVE Radio Forums in Collaborative Partnership with TruthWorks Network and The Black Women’s Blueprint

LIVE and CALL-IN  (914)338-1610                        

RECLAIMING OURSELVES

“Black Women in the Prism . . . Unleashing the Power, Fury in the Light”

Amplifying the voices of Black women in politics and the Black political agenda. Examining economic equality is the unfinished business of the civil rights struggle; raising the issues of racialized and sexualized criminal justice violence that affect our Sisters. Working to end the invisibility and devaluation of Black women and girls in public spheres, in our homes and in our community. Evaluating our relationships and transforming the way we love each other.

Series BROADCAST SCHEDULE

          October 30, 2012        Voter Suppression and Black Women as Voters

          November 6, 2012        OUR MOTHERS, OURSELVES

          December 20, 2012      A Black Women’s Political Agenda

 

October 30, 2012   10 pm ET

Voter Suppression and Black Women as Voters

This episode of “Black Women in the Prism . . . “ is hosted by Kalima DeSuze Outreach Coordinator, Black Women’s Blueprint

She will discuss voter suppression and Black female voters through a historical and current lens. Join us while we explore voter suppression as Black female voters who have historically been removed from the voting booth.

 

The presidential debates are alive and well and with only several days to go, the political fate of the United States for the next four years will soon be decided, but by who? According to the American Civil Liberties Union, voting rights are under attack lessening the access of African-Americans, the elderly, students and people with disabilities. This country has passed voter suppression laws nationwide through state legislatures under the guise of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These voter suppression laws take many forms and are strategies for a political party to reduce voters that are unlikely to vote for their presidential candidate all at the cost of removing the constitutional and human rights for citizens to vote.

What does voter suppression mean for targeted communities who are losing their rights to choose a president that best reflects their political and personal lives? What does voter suppression mean for Black women who in this country were excluded from the women’s suffrage movement because of their race and the civil rights movement because of their gender who still had trouble in many southern states to vote until the 1960s, yet continued to fight for their civil and human rights to simply vote for a candidate that best reflected their needs?  What does voter suppression mean for Black women who have been incarcerated and in 2009 represent 32.6 percent of the incarcerated female population that increased 850 percent in the past 30 years (Women’s Prison Association)? How does the insidious and strategic removal of their right to vote, reflect their right to choose a better social and political world?

In 2008, Black women were often told to choose between their gender and their race yet they have historically not been allowed to vote because of their gender and race. Black women’s multi-dynamic lives are often removed from the voting experience and we must remind ourselves that in this current political state between Romney and Obama, Black women as a group are not sure on whom to vote for especially around the issues of gay and abortion rights. Therefore, we must consider that as Black women we were never supposed to vote and that the right to vote was won through extreme struggle and exploitation. Whomever we may vote for this upcoming election, we must uphold the rights of all of us despite our political differences because our human rights declare that all of us should choose a presidential candidate that fits our needs and desires and that no political parties have the right to exploit any of us.

NOVEMBER 6, 2012   10 pm ET

OUR MOTHERS, OURSELVES

 

Hosted by Janice Graham, host, OUR COMMON GROUND, in a discussion with Dr. Christine W. Thorpe.

Dr. Thorpe is the Chairperson, Human Services Department New York City College of Technology, CUNYBrooklyn, N.Y.

 

 She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse University and a doctorate in health education and master’s in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University.  She is also an assistant professor, teaching undergraduate courses as child welfare, women’s health issues, HIV/AIDS counseling, community health, and child and adolescent health.

DECEMBER 20, 2012   10 pm ET

A Black Women’s Political Agenda

Hosted by Black Women’s Blueprint

Join us with Black Women’s Blueprint as our special guest host of this urgent dialogue on TruthWorks Network on October 30th and December 20th, 10 pm where the discussion voter suppression and Black women as voters.

About Black Women’s Blueprint

Black Women’s Blueprint, Inc. is a civil and human rights organization of women and men. Our purpose is to take action to secure social, political and economic equality in American society now. We work to develop a culture where women of African descent are fully empowered and where gender, race and other disparities are erased. We engage in progressive research, historical documentation, support movement building and organize on social justice issues steeped in the struggles of Black women within their communities and within dominant culture.

An organization committed to amplifying the voices of women of African descent in all their diversity, Black Women’s Blueprint provides the personal and political spaces as well as the resources needed for women to engage in intersectional advocacy at the grassroots and societal level.

ABOUT TruthWorks Networks The Black Voice Collaborative

TruthWorks Network offers programming which values, maximizes and includes the special perspectives of Black American.  Ours is a platform and microphone for the “Black truth” on the air waves, serving as an inspiring and safe place to “speak and hear our unique American experience”.  It is a place where we come to examine, declare our injury, heal ourselves and prepare for new battles with new solutions.  At TruthWorks, we dare to believe in the Power of Truth.

Contact Information

 

 

Black Women’s Blueprint

P.O. Box 24713

Brooklyn, N.Y. 11202

P: 347.599.2682 | F: 347-750-1652

Email: info@blackwomensblueprint.org

On the Web:  http://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/

Find BWB on Facebook and Twitter @BlackwomensBP

TruthWorks Network Internet Radio

Email:  twn@truthworksnetwork.com

http://www.truthworks.ning.com

http://www.truthworks.wordpress.com

Find TWN on Facebook and Twitter   @TWNtalk#TalkthatMatters

 TruthWorks Network is a broadcast product of OUR COMMON GROUND Communications, LLC   All Rights Reserved.

Shuffering and Shimiling: Race, Degradation and Apathy in the Netherlands

by

Yet another example of the consistency of white supremacy and how it operates around the globe.

Degradation and Apathy in the Netherlands

Only Decent People

Still from the film Alleen Maar Nette Mensen (Only Decent People).

On December 19, 2011, Jackie, a popular Dutch lifestyle magazine ran a piece entitled “NiggaBitch.” It was then translated anonymously and sent to Parlour magazine, who uploaded the English-translated article in its entirety. In reaction, mass international outrage ensued. The article suggested that Dutch parents could opt to dress their daughters in the ghetto fabulous style of the so-called “ultimate niggabitch,” Rihanna, who reigned supreme with her “ghetto ass.”   However, parents were warned that once dressed this in this manner, their little princesses turned niggabitches, would probably get into fights at daycare. [Yes, it’s ok. You have my permission to insert the appropriate WTF? here.]

Many people internationally, particularly in the U.S. wondered exactly how a magazine, especially one run by women, would have the audacity to publish such an offensive piece.

Was the Jackie office political correctness alarm broken that day? Most of us (decent people) were bewildered and straight flabbergasted. Verbal sentiment can’t accurately describe what many people experienced around the world upon reading the use of what writer Ayana Byrd referred to as “the vilest combination of words that you can call a black woman.” Then after Eva Hoeke, Jackie’s then Editor-In-Chief, was forced to resign, she went on to say that the whole situation was blown out of proportion, intended as a joke and also that it was a blessing in disguise.

This incident, which ended in Rhianna not so politely telling the editor how she feltabout being called out her name, was appalling to many. It was also a wake up call of sorts or rather an introduction to the world of race and existence of racism in the Netherlands. Ironically, this incident occurred only a few weeks after the world was shocked by the footage of activist/artist Quinsy Gario, being dragged in the street and pepper-sprayed by police for wearing a shirt that said “Zwarte Piet is Racisme.”

Shuffering and Shimiling: Race, Degradation and Apathy in the Netherlands

The New Yorker’s Endorsement of Barack Obama : The New Yorker

by

COMMENT

THE CHOICE

BY OCTOBER 29, 2012

Read morehttp://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/10/29/121029taco_talk_editors#ixzz2A5Z61I45

 

 

The morning was cold and the sky was bright. Aretha Franklin wore a large and interesting hat. Yo-Yo Ma urged his frozen fingers to play the cello, and the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, a civil-rights comrade of Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s, read a benediction that began with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the segregation-era lamentation of American realities and celebration of American ideals. On that day in Washington—Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009—the blustery chill penetrated every coat, yet the discomfort was no impediment to joy. The police estimated that more than a million and a half people had crowded onto the Mall, making this the largest public gathering in the history of the capital. Very few could see the speakers. It didn’t matter. People had come to be with other people, to mark an unusual thing: a historical event that was elective, not befallen.

via The New Yorker’s Endorsement of Barack Obama : The New Yorker.

Cornel West, Tavis Smiley Join for New Radio Show

by

Cornel West, Tavis Smiley Join for New Radio Show

Date: Monday, October 18, 2010, 4:24 am By: Tonya Pendleton, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Princeton scholar and author Dr. Cornel West (above) and Tavis Smiley have now combined forces for a new radio show. They’re both authors and well-known for their communication skills. They both are committed to improving the African-American community. They are talk show host and author Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor and author Cornel West, and the talkative duo has now combined forces for a new radio show. “Smiley and West” premiered on Oct. 1 and will be broadcast by Public Radio International. The two will continue to operate on separate coasts, but will be heard together on the show.

For a 12-week test run, the show will replace the second hour of “The Tavis Smiley Show” on PRI. As always in these cases, response after the 12 weeks will determine if the collaboration will continue. “Dr. West is a long-time friend, and I am honored that he has agreed to go on this journey with me,” said Smiley. “This new venture, ‘Smiley and West,’ will not only set the pace for tomorrow’s news but will be a conduit for the insightful conversation that America is thirsting for. I’m excited that alongside one of America’s greatest thinkers, we will encourage, enlighten and empower the listeners together.” The show is interactive in nature, with a special segment called “Take ‘Em To Task” that invites listeners to do just that to the celebrated duo on a variety of hot topics.

“Many of America’s most important discussions aren’t necessarily happening in the boardroom or between the pundits on cable television,” West said. “Rather they’re happening at BBQs, cocktail parties, barber shops, and salons between real people. With this new endeavor, ‘Smiley and West,’ Tavis and I hope to really tap into the concerns of everyday people.” So far, “Smiley and West” have taken on New York State’s food stamp crackdown, the death of blues legend Solomon Burke, Glenn Beck, Bishop Eddie Long and the prayer life of Dr. Martin Luther King. While you might imagine that the two are so verbose no one could get a word in edgewise, Smiley and West are actually a pretty good tag team. Think Jordan and Pippen back in the Chicago Bulls’ championship heyday, but with both able to score major points.

 To listen to the show online, please visit http://www.smileyandwest.com, and for schedules for the Tavis Smiley Radio Show in your area, click here.