Ummm Imus strikes again. WTF!

credit to
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/06/23/imus-at-it-again/

IMUS AT IT AGAIN

Less than 15 months after losing his gig on WFAN and MSNBC for making racially charged comments regarding the Rutgers women’s basketball team, radio icon Don Imus has danced dangerously close to, and arguably over, the line again.

On Monday, Imus had the following exchange with Warner Wolf:

Wolf:  “Defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys.  Here’s a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club.”

Imus:  “Well, stuff happens.  You’re in a night club, for God’s sake.  What do you think’s gonna happen in a night club?  People are drinking, they’re doing drugs.  There are women there, and people have guns.  So, there, go ahead.”

Wolf:  “He’s also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”

Imus:  “What color is he?”

Wolf:  “He’s African-American.”

Imus:  “Well, there you go.  Now we know.”

Last time around, the comments represented a partial effort at humor.  This time around, it was a matter-of-fact statement, with no chuckles, yuks, tee-hees, or ha’s.  As we see it, if the comment wasn’t overtly and blatantly racist, then what the hell was it?

Maybe we’re wrong on this one.  Even so, it was nothing short of stoopid to fly so close to the flame that already burned him once.

MTV Sucks for thinking that their horrible round table discussion about who the hottest MC’s in the game right now is relevant. I am just amazed about how these commentators view Hip-Hop! Big Daddy Kane, KRS 1, Rakim, Kool G. Rap are constantly disrespected via this mainstream Hip-Hop nonsense.

Their arguing who the Hottest MC is and have the nerve to have a serious debate about Soulja Boy. Like are you serious, now all of the sudden Soulja Boy is a staple in Hip - Hop. Lyrics were at the bottom of their discussion every time. This debate alone destroys the credibility of this list.

AND WHERE THE F*** IS COMMON ON THE LIST? MTV SUCKS

HOTTEST MC’S IN THE GAME

10. T.I.

9. Andre 3000

8. Young Jeezy

7. Lupe Fiasco

6. 50 Cent

5. Snoop Dogg

4. Rick Ross

3. Lil Wayne

2. Jay-Z

1. Kanye West

CONGRATS TO YEEZY, I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW COMMON IS NOT EVEN ON THE LIST. THE NUMBERS ARE ALL MESSED UP!

The year was 1968, on this day of April 4th a great man and pillar of our nation was snatched away from us due to discrimination, racial hate and fear mongering. Today we pay hommage to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We must recognize that Dr. King would rather us spend less time idolizing him, and more time practicing his teachings creating a plethora of men in God’s image rather than his own. Here is a clip from his last speech before he was assassinated, he knew then that he may not get to the promise land with us, but he truly believed that we would get there. Let’s get there!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8&hl=en]

Earlier this morning a federal court ruled that Mumia Abu-Jamal cannot be executed for the alleged murder of a white police officer in the early 1980’s. This charge stems from the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981 in Philadelphia. The facts of the case have been heavily disputed over the years and many believe that Mumia is a political prisoner imprisoned by the United States Government because of his outspoken views against the United States and their terroristic activities and his involvement with The Black Panther Party.

Today marks a milestone in this case where the federal government admits that there were errors in the instructions given to the jury during this case. They therefore held that an execution would be improper without a proper penalty hearing. I totally disagree with the death penalty and feel that it perpetuates a savage, uncivilized, cruel and unusual type of punishment that our Constitution seeks to protect us against. However this is not the first time that there has been hypocrisy within our governmental structure. Stay tuned for more information!

For more information on Mumia, feel free to look at the following link, http://www.freemumia.com

Over the past few weeks we have been bombarded with media distortments of Pastor Jeremiah Wright and his statements made during his tenure as Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Questions of race, which deeply divide this country though many of us would like to believe that it doesn’t have been wedged into our news coverage of this historical moment in our country. Of course I am speaking of the fact that the two front-runners for the Democrat Presidential nomination are a black man and white woman; two unequivocal minorities.

Why is it that a black Pastor who has no formal role in our Political process has received so much coverage based around his comments? Yet, Patrick J. Buchanan, a well know Republican, columnist, and at 3 different points in his career sought the nomination to be Commander in Chief of the United States of America can make divisive comments centered around race. Comments that are quite insulting and there is no uproar in the media, there is no condemnation of his language. Could this be the type of oppression that Jeremiah Wright was speaking about, the interesting way in which our media sets the agenda for what we think and how we think about it. Is it ok to think about racism when it negatively depicts a black minister, but when this privileged man; whom to many represents the views of our government invokes incendiary language about the history and culture of a people we turn a blind eye to it?

Barack Obama was right; we do need to have a serious conversation about race in this country if we ever plan to move forward. Slavery ended in the 1800’s, however the oppression black people face still exists today. This is not an issue against white people; white people are not the government, white people are not the institutions that impose on the civil liberties of minorities. I think that a genuine conversation about race and oppression in this country will show both sides this point. Until we open up this dialogue and speak about these topics responsibly we can expect eloquent comments like the one you will read below from privileged, white men, who run this country.

“America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.”

“[N]o people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.” - Patrick J. Buchanan

To read more just click the link below.
http://www.buchanan.org/blog/

Brittany Spears, Amy Winehouse, and Lindsay Lohan are just a few of the names who grace our newspapers with drug riddled stories and pictures of them visibly high off of controlled substances. The media has been extremely reckless in their portrayal of these people who actually have serious problems that need to be addressed. A close friend of mine inspired me to write the piece “Our forgotten family” about reclaiming our people who are lost to drugs and substance abuse. I challenge the media to start tackling the issues of drug abuse in our society in a much more responsible manner. Whether it’s a celebrity or the local garbage man, the horrifying reality of drug abuse needs to be discussed responsibly. R.I.P. to the saxaphonist of Haggist Horns, Jason Rae, the husband of Corrine Bailey Rae; he recently died of an alleged drug overdose. This is not a white issue or a black issue, this is a people issue, let’s reclaim our forgotten family.

Our forgotten family

“What’s going on”, these are the words sang by the late great Marvin Gaye in the 1970’s. Here in 2008 this question still needs to be addressed and this time we need to move toward solving the many ills that face our communities. I had a conversation the other day with a close friend of mine and we were discussing substance abuse in our society. Drugs are raping and ravaging our communities of our brightest and most beautiful minds at a rate that leaves us dazed and confused and desperately searching for a resolution.

I thought about the negative images that are bestowed upon drug abusers, the disrespect that they face daily. Everyone has a vice, but these people are treated as if they are sub-human. Do we not all know someone who may be addicted to drugs or someone who may have had a problem with substance abuse in the past? What’s even more amazing is how we turn our backs on our own people in a time when they need us most. Is a crack head, or junkie not someone’s mother, father, sister, brother or maybe just a friend? Why do we leave our people at their weakest times and allow them to fall even deeper into their despair, helping them sink to even more desperate measures to obtain that “high”.

I started off this piece with adults in mind, I thought about all of the adults that I see in urban areas addicted to drugs looking for their next fix. But then I looked at some startling statistics and to my dismay I saw the increasing numbers of young teenagers who are smoking crack. No longer can we push drug abusers to the outskirts of the community and the abandoned houses in the neighborhood. Drugs are infecting the brilliant minds of tomorrow at record numbers and if we continue to ignore this problem we may be looking at the destruction of our communities as we know it.

Of course it is not our fault that people resort to drug abuse, however what we forget is it is often not their fault either. We all handle hardships and pain differently. Some feel the need to escape using alcohol; others resort to hard drugs, while some of us use promiscuity as a way to alleviate our stressful lives. None of these vices are correct but we have no right to neither judge nor condemn these people. In fact our judgment becomes a part of the problem rather than the solution.

Imagine it is your own mother who’s abusing drugs, or your little brother. Because these people are somebody’s brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts and so on and so on. The first step in helping to solve this situation is to embrace those with drug problems, perhaps volunteering your time at a local rehabilitation center. The effects of drug abuse are very dark; when people feel abandoned they only crawl deeper into a space where no one can see them. It is in this space that addicts become violent stopping at nothing to reach their high because that high is where they feel comfortable amongst others who feel just as lonely. We need to reclaim our brothers and sisters who have fallen by the waist side. If not for them and their benefit, then for the benefit of our children who see this lifestyle and attempt to emulate it. It happens more often than we would like to believe.

Our approach to drugs can no longer be to sweep this taboo under the rug because it is seeping into our living rooms like a poison and killing entire families in our communities. Besides volunteering and drug rehabilitation programs, the way that we address people who have substance addictions needs to change. Drug user or not these people are human beings who deserve to be treated respectfully and encouraged to get back on the right track. A simple hello, can I get you something to eat never hurt anyone, in fact it may save someone’s life. Lets take the lid off of this problem that is so drastically raping our communities and be proactive in speaking the message of drug prevention. Let us volunteer at programs, and if they do not exist create programs that help to teach job skills, programs that address the depression issues that may have started someone down the path to illegal drug use in the first place. Let’s reclaim Our Forgotten Family, let’s Make It Happen!