I know that I have been M.I.A. I am extremely sorry. I have been extremely busy with school, work, and work. These aren't excuse, just the truth. Promise starting this week ima get back on my blog grind :-)
DON'T FORGET TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE!!!!!
~j.o.writer
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
NOW YOU CAN HAVE OBAMA WAFFLES WITH YOUR AUNT JEMIMA SYRUP
Nothing surprises me anymore, but maybe this will be a shocker to you. On display at the Values Voters Summit, which was hosted by a conservative Christian group, were "Obama Waffles." And, yes I did say "Christian" group.This picture to the left is not political satire, it is unacceptable racism. The phrasing and the imaging is reminiscent of the hatred and animosity towards African-Americans during the days of slavery and the civil rights movement.
While this product reminds you of the Jim Crow racist images that we saw back in the day, there is one problem. This is not back in the day, it is 2008 and we are still seeing things such as this in the United States of America. I guess some things will never change.
Motown's Got A New Leader: Ken Cockrel Jr.
The place where Motown was born, Detroit, swore in its new Mayor on this past Friday. 42-year old, Ken Cockrel Jr. was sworn in as the temporary mayor of Detroit. The Democrat "officially" became the city's Mayor at 12:01 a.m. Friday.Crockel, a former newspaper reporter and Detroit's City Council President, has already began to hire new people. He has hired a former federal prosecutor to be his deputy mayor along with choosing a new police chief.
Hopefully these new changes will allow for a new beginning in Detroit. Detroit should now be able to put the scandal of previous Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick behind them and look to better days.
"This is our time for hope and also for renewal," Cockrel said. "It's our time to breathe life back into the city."
"From this moment on, the past is the past," Cockrel said after the ceremony. "Because of the events of the past several months, it's critical that we find closure, mend our wounds, treat our bumps and our bruises and heal as a city."
Friday, September 12, 2008
NOT THIS TIME
&
ATTENTION, ATTENTION BLOG READERS!!If you are not registered to vote and you care about your life, the life of you family and friends, GO REGISTER NOW!!!!! Now if you are registered, please check and make sure that they have not mysteriously taken you off of the list. You do not want November to come when you go to the polls just to find out that they can't find your name, or that you "aren't registered." No matter which state you live in, you can go to sites such as rockthevote.com or nationalactionnetwork.com and register or you can go to your official State website and find voter registration information, or you can go to the post office or your local motor vehicle administration. Google it if you have to. Please find a way to register, and if you have any prolems, you can even email me and I will help you with the process.
I think that it is fair to say that this election is probably one of the most important elections that you will vote in. No matter who you vote for or which party you belong to, VOTE!
Take a look at the article below, and make sure that you do everything in your power to register, make sure that you are still registered if you have registered in the past, and help others to register. I can not stress it enough people, but we have to ALL get out and vote. This is not a BLACK or WHITE thing, female or male thing, or rich or poor thing, this is a SAVING OUR COUNTRY and it's people thing.
REV. AL SHARPTON AND NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK TO EMBARK ON BUS TOUR THROUGH KEY SWING STATES FOR "NOT THIS TIME" CAMPAIGN BEGINNING NEXT WEEK IN OHIO
New York (September 10, 2008) - Reverend Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN) will embark on a bus tour of the key swing and battleground states beginning next week to register and protect voters in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina where thousands of Blacks are currently unregistered. The trend in presidential elections is that their outcome is determined by a handful of swing states by razor thin margins where questions of voting irregularities have been raised. The "Not This Time" voter education and registration campaign is a non-partisan effort designed to eliminate voter fraud and ensure that every vote counts in several of the swing states in this year's presidential election.
National Action Network's "Not This Time" voter registration campaign will conduct a series of 3-5 day bus tours through swing states to educate, register and protect already registered voters from being bounced from the voter rolls. Then, once the voter registration period has ended, the final phase of the effort will be to protect voter participation, particularly in swing states that have early voting components.
Each day of the tour will consist of meetings with community members, civil rights groups, students, and religious leaders to brief them on how they can join the "Not This Time" campaign and become on the ground partners in the effort beyond the five day tour. "Not This Time" will set up in two or three prominent places in the particular city to conduct voter education and registration throughout the day. In each city, Reverend Sharpton will broadcast his nationally syndicated radio show to promote the voter registration sites and discuss how to protect one's right to vote. Reverend Sharpton and "Not This Time" will do student rallies at the local colleges where Not This Time will seek volunteers to conduct voter registration, protection and education. Reverend Sharpton and Not This Time will also hold rallies at local churches where Not This Time staff and volunteers will register voters and take names to check that they are on the voting rolls and where they should vote.
If You Would Like To Join This Historic Movement Right Now Click Here
We invite the media to get on the bus with Rev. Sharpton and NAN! For more information and to submit interest in writing, please contact Rachel Noerdlinger at revalmedia@yahoo.com.-- Rachel NoerdlingerVice President of CommunicationsReverend Al Sharpton Media(212) 876-5444/revalmedia@yahoo.comor Rita AbrahamsCommunications Associatesharptonmediateam@gmail.com
New York (September 10, 2008) - Reverend Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN) will embark on a bus tour of the key swing and battleground states beginning next week to register and protect voters in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina where thousands of Blacks are currently unregistered. The trend in presidential elections is that their outcome is determined by a handful of swing states by razor thin margins where questions of voting irregularities have been raised. The "Not This Time" voter education and registration campaign is a non-partisan effort designed to eliminate voter fraud and ensure that every vote counts in several of the swing states in this year's presidential election.
National Action Network's "Not This Time" voter registration campaign will conduct a series of 3-5 day bus tours through swing states to educate, register and protect already registered voters from being bounced from the voter rolls. Then, once the voter registration period has ended, the final phase of the effort will be to protect voter participation, particularly in swing states that have early voting components.
Each day of the tour will consist of meetings with community members, civil rights groups, students, and religious leaders to brief them on how they can join the "Not This Time" campaign and become on the ground partners in the effort beyond the five day tour. "Not This Time" will set up in two or three prominent places in the particular city to conduct voter education and registration throughout the day. In each city, Reverend Sharpton will broadcast his nationally syndicated radio show to promote the voter registration sites and discuss how to protect one's right to vote. Reverend Sharpton and "Not This Time" will do student rallies at the local colleges where Not This Time will seek volunteers to conduct voter registration, protection and education. Reverend Sharpton and Not This Time will also hold rallies at local churches where Not This Time staff and volunteers will register voters and take names to check that they are on the voting rolls and where they should vote.
If You Would Like To Join This Historic Movement Right Now Click Here
We invite the media to get on the bus with Rev. Sharpton and NAN! For more information and to submit interest in writing, please contact Rachel Noerdlinger at revalmedia@yahoo.com.-- Rachel NoerdlingerVice President of CommunicationsReverend Al Sharpton Media(212) 876-5444/revalmedia@yahoo.comor Rita AbrahamsCommunications Associatesharptonmediateam@gmail.com
Thursday, September 11, 2008
TYLER PERRY GIVES US ANOTHER SMASH HIT
Laughter & Tears, a great combination no matter what mood you are in. Tyler Perry is sure to bring out both of them every time you watch one of his films. Today in theaters across America Tyler Perry opens his sixth full-length feature film, The Family That Preys. This movie brings together heavyweights such as Academy Award nominee Alfre Woodard, Academy Award winner Kathy Bates, Sanaa Lathan, Taraji P. Henson, Robin Givens and many others. Both Woodard and Bates star as the matricarchs of two completely different families being broken due to scandal and greed. This film chronicles the lives of the two families, one wealthy, and the other working class, and how scandal and greed links them both together. "While paternity secrets, marital infidelity, greed and unsavory business dealings threaten to derail both families, the matriarchs decide to take a breather from it all by making a cross-country road trip in which they rediscover themselves and possibly find a way to save their families from ruin in Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys."
Check it out and tell me what you think!
IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL, WE STILL FIND JOY IN KNOWING THAT "IN GOD WE TRUST"
For the past two weeks, for some strange reason, I have been overly concerned with September 11, 2001. Not that I should not be concerned, but out of all seven years, this year in particular I have really been into the stories surrounding that horrific tragedy that took place seven years ago. Starting two weeks ago, I began to watch footage from that day and the days following, I watched several documentaries, read pages and pages from newspapers, magazines, memoirs, and essays. It got to the point where I had to make myself get away from it all. I could not understand why I was so curious about what happened that day. I felt a deep pain for those affected, much different from the pain that I felt for them seven years ago. Maybe it is the fact that I have lived a little as an adult, and I now see how important life is, and how easily you can be here today and gone tomorrow. I'm not sure what it was, but I just found myself praying for the families affected, and thinking about those who lost and risked their lives on that day, much more than I have in the past.As survivors remember their lost loved ones today and every other day, I would like for them all to remember that NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THEIR LIVES, God will never put more on them than they can bear.
I found the following to be very moving, inspiring, and heart-felt. Please take the time to read.
FROM CNN'S BLOG
Editor’s Note: We are devoting many posts today to the anniversary of 9/11, with first-hand accounts, insight, and commentary dedicated to that day seven years ago that changed our world. Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of themuslimguy.com and Contributing Editor for Islamica Magazine in Washington DC.
Arsalan Iftikhar BIO Founder, themuslimguy.com
Mahatma Gandhi once said that, “I have nothing new to teach the world…Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.” Since time immemorial, our human experiment has revolved around the enlightened advancement of collective human thought. Within the current ungodly global mix of perpetual war, everlasting human poverty, extremist terrorism and global racism; our human race has completely and utterly lost its collective mind. Since our world has gone completely bonkers, the unquenchable thirst for social justice of this young American Muslim human rights lawyer and public diplomat must be positively channeled at this juncture of infinite global sadness towards a purpose-driven life guided down an untaken road called Islamic Pacifism.
9/11 was ten days after my twenty-fourth birthday. As a second year law student at the time, even though I had already lived more than two decades; in many ways, my life only truly began at 8:46 am EST on September 11, 2001.
Arsalan Iftikhar BIO Founder, themuslimguy.com
Mahatma Gandhi once said that, “I have nothing new to teach the world…Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.” Since time immemorial, our human experiment has revolved around the enlightened advancement of collective human thought. Within the current ungodly global mix of perpetual war, everlasting human poverty, extremist terrorism and global racism; our human race has completely and utterly lost its collective mind. Since our world has gone completely bonkers, the unquenchable thirst for social justice of this young American Muslim human rights lawyer and public diplomat must be positively channeled at this juncture of infinite global sadness towards a purpose-driven life guided down an untaken road called Islamic Pacifism.
9/11 was ten days after my twenty-fourth birthday. As a second year law student at the time, even though I had already lived more than two decades; in many ways, my life only truly began at 8:46 am EST on September 11, 2001.
Because as an American Muslim, that would be the day that my country was attacked by people who would also infamously hijack my religion.
Since that fateful day seven Septembers ago, my life as a human rights lawyer, media troubadour and public diplomat has now become one big absurd game of television musical chairs and YouTube video clips. From CNN to The TODAY Show to BBC World News, I have spent a dizzying chunk of the last several years on the proverbial ‘hot seat’; as a global Muslim public intellectual for over a billion mainstream Muslims who never want to be represented by the bobble-headed terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
So alas, with my trusty ThinkPad and red Swingline stapler, that day began my never-ending quest to condemn terrorism as an international media spokesperson, defeat hate crimes as a leading American Muslim civil rights lawyer, educate the general public about Islam and help create a millennial version of Islamic Pacifism for our entire global community today.
This revived gentle giant of global pacifism shall welcome all people; regardless of any race, religion or socioeconomic status. Whether you are white, black or purple, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or celebrate Festivus; our next generation of youthful global pacifists can help reclaim our culture of humanity from sinister warmongering dinosaurs with names like Osama, Coulter, Hamas and Cheney.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” By giving global pacifism a millennial makeover, we shall use the witty humor of Jon Stewart, the humanistic nuance of Noam Chomsky and the fearless determination of Nelson Mandela to quench our collective thirst for social justice.
With the hipster slyness of Danny Ocean to the groovy idealism of John Lennon, for anyone in the world who has ever earnestly prayed for a Muslim Gandhi; you can sleep peacefully at night knowing that the life memoirs of this young Muslim pacifist shall one day be playfully entitled ‘The Autobiography of Gandhi X’.
Since that fateful day seven Septembers ago, my life as a human rights lawyer, media troubadour and public diplomat has now become one big absurd game of television musical chairs and YouTube video clips. From CNN to The TODAY Show to BBC World News, I have spent a dizzying chunk of the last several years on the proverbial ‘hot seat’; as a global Muslim public intellectual for over a billion mainstream Muslims who never want to be represented by the bobble-headed terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
So alas, with my trusty ThinkPad and red Swingline stapler, that day began my never-ending quest to condemn terrorism as an international media spokesperson, defeat hate crimes as a leading American Muslim civil rights lawyer, educate the general public about Islam and help create a millennial version of Islamic Pacifism for our entire global community today.
This revived gentle giant of global pacifism shall welcome all people; regardless of any race, religion or socioeconomic status. Whether you are white, black or purple, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or celebrate Festivus; our next generation of youthful global pacifists can help reclaim our culture of humanity from sinister warmongering dinosaurs with names like Osama, Coulter, Hamas and Cheney.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” By giving global pacifism a millennial makeover, we shall use the witty humor of Jon Stewart, the humanistic nuance of Noam Chomsky and the fearless determination of Nelson Mandela to quench our collective thirst for social justice.
With the hipster slyness of Danny Ocean to the groovy idealism of John Lennon, for anyone in the world who has ever earnestly prayed for a Muslim Gandhi; you can sleep peacefully at night knowing that the life memoirs of this young Muslim pacifist shall one day be playfully entitled ‘The Autobiography of Gandhi X’.
Finally proving that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, everyone can rest easy knowing that Barack Obama is not the only brown civil rights lawyer from Chicago with the audacity of hope running through his every vein. Do not worry, ladies and gentlemen, a billion Muslim pacifist sisters and brothers continue to challenge those who hijacked Islam and we will spend our lives serenely hijacking it back; by any peaceful means necessary. Even though some Americans may mistakenly think that Muslims only know recipes for Molotov cocktails; here are some other societal contributions of Muslims to modern civilization: For example, it was Muslims who invented algebra. Most people would also probably be surprised to learn that it was a Muslim who designed the Sears Tower in my sweet home of Chicago. Even more surprising is the fact that 4 out of 57 Muslim nations on earth have already elected female heads-of-state; something that we as Americans have been unable to do thus far in history. Additionally, the greatest American boxer ever, Muhammad Ali; and the funniest dude in America, Dave Chappelle, are both Muslims. Most importantly, 3 out of the last 5 Nobel Peace Prize winners have been Muslims; one for fighting poverty in Bangladesh, one for disarming nuclear weapons and Shrin Ebadi, the Iranian Muslim human rights lawyer valiantly fighting for the rights of women worldwide. But more important than Nobel Peace Prizes, Muslim culture has brought crunchy falafel, henna tattoos and yummy hummus to our American shores.
But all because of one terrorist cave-dweller, 1400 years of Pan-Islamic cultural and societal progress goes down the drain.
Thanks a lot, Osama…
Your ‘Gandhi X’ has also been cast in an upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio Hollywood spy movie thriller (Body of Lies with Russell Crowe) and has also emerged victorious at The Doha Debates in front of 300 million BBC World television viewers.
Honoring the fact that two Nobel Peace Prize winners and an American president (Bill Clinton) had also previously graced that same stage in Doha; this Muslim pacifist used that same global stage to call for the complete eradication of every form of global racism in the world, including Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism.
Black. White. Muslim. Jew. It doesn’t matter. It’s all wrong.
Nonetheless, I still get called a ‘terrorist’ by knucklehead racists because of my unabashed love of Islam and am still called a Muslim ‘hippy’ by knucklehead extremists for my unabashed platform of peace.
But all because of one terrorist cave-dweller, 1400 years of Pan-Islamic cultural and societal progress goes down the drain.
Thanks a lot, Osama…
Your ‘Gandhi X’ has also been cast in an upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio Hollywood spy movie thriller (Body of Lies with Russell Crowe) and has also emerged victorious at The Doha Debates in front of 300 million BBC World television viewers.
Honoring the fact that two Nobel Peace Prize winners and an American president (Bill Clinton) had also previously graced that same stage in Doha; this Muslim pacifist used that same global stage to call for the complete eradication of every form of global racism in the world, including Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism.
Black. White. Muslim. Jew. It doesn’t matter. It’s all wrong.
Nonetheless, I still get called a ‘terrorist’ by knucklehead racists because of my unabashed love of Islam and am still called a Muslim ‘hippy’ by knucklehead extremists for my unabashed platform of peace.
Monday, September 8, 2008
THIS SISTER IS BAD
Congrats to Serena Williams for winning the U.S. Open yesterday. The sister is definitely one of the greatest tennis players ever, and not to mention her and her sister just came back from Bejing with U.S. Olympic gold medals. Congrats to the Williams family!
Monday, September 1, 2008
THE NAKED TRUTH: YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL, AND HIV (POSITIVE)
Have you ever thought that you could take a look at someone and notice that they were infected with HIV? If you have thought that, take a look at a young woman who is young and beautiful with no sign of sickness whatsoever, and when you look at her know that she is infected with the HIV virus. Marvelyn Brown, a former top track and basketball star, was young, beautiful, and at a pivotal stage in her young life. She had everything going for her, health, beauty, education, and like most young 19 year-old feamles she was "in love." On one fateful day, when a sudden illness landed her in intensive care, myriad tests revealed that the then 19-year-old had acquired the HIV/AIDS virus.Now at 24 year's old, she has accepted her status, and is committed to educating and empowering others. Brown's new memoir, ''The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive' (Amistad/HarperCollins, August 2008) reveals her very intimate and personal journey of living with HIV/AIDS.
Embracing the Truth
By Marvelyn Brown
Writing a book about your life is probably one of the most difficult and challenging things one can ever do. It requires you to open up in a way that forces the recollection of memories you'd probably prefer be left in that forgotten mental vault. Writing a memoir also means being open and honest, first and most importantly with yourself. The process can strip you bare, leave you emotionally spent, yet happily free and cleansed. The title of my memoir couldn't be more relevant and appropriate to my experience – 'The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive'.
My name is Marvelyn Brown and I am HIV positive. It took me so long to look in the mirror and be able to utter those words. When I look at myself today, I don't see HIV. What I see instead is a young, beautiful, worthy and positive woman. It is for this reason that I chose to place HIV in parentheses for the title of my book. Why is this important? Because we exist in a world where we continue to define the disease as only affecting people with a certain look or belonging to a certain socioeconomic group. I'm living proof that nothing is farther from the truth.
I was 19 years old, a normal teenager who'd met a guy that I really liked. We had unprotected sex. It only took one time, one impulsive moment, and my life was forever changed. Rather than looking forward to what should have been the "hey day" of my twenties, I was given a death sentence. Suddenly, many of the people I loved and who'd cared about me were afraid to touch me, hug me, kiss me. Many refused to believe I was HIV positive, so the topic was avoided altogether. To be able to look in the mirror and state the truth, what is fact, that I am HIV positive, was a major step for me. It's also the moment when I realized that I do not live with HIV, rather HIV lives with me. And no matter how negatively the world views this virus, I will always love myself, no matter what.
One of my chief concerns is that HIV-positive people may not pick up the book because they are fearful their own HIV status will be revealed by merely purchasing or reading the book. I also fear that HIV-negative people may look at the book and feel sorry for me. Or worst, not read the book at all because they feel HIV is not an issue for them. Might I add, a feeling I likely shared before being diagnosed with HIV. The reality that I pray 'The Naked Truth' brings to light is that HIV is everyone's problem-it is a human disease.
Despite all of the stigma and ignorance surrounding HIV/AIDS, I finally quit living my life for everyone else and started living it for me. 'The Naked Truth' is about my journey of finding self-love, self-worth and self-acceptance despite this devastating virus.
The Naked Truth Book Signings
Wednesday, August 27, 20085:- 07:00 PM Virginia State University Foster Hall University Avenue Room 300 Petersburg, VA
Wednesday, August 27, 20085:- 07:00 PM Virginia State University Foster Hall University Avenue Room 300 Petersburg, VA
Wednesday, September 03, 20087-8:30 PMDAVIS-KIDD BOOKSELLERSTHE MALL AT GREEN HILLS
2121 Green Hills Village Dr Nashville, TN 37215
Saturday, September 06, 20081-3:00 PMDAVIS KIDD BOOKSELLER
387 Perkins Ext Memphis, TN 38117
Wednesday, September 10, 20087-8:30 PMBORDERS BOOKSTORE6081 Center Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Friday, September 12, 20086:30- 8 PMMARCUS BOOKSTORE 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. WayOakland, CA 94609
Thursday, September 18, 20085- 7:00 PMHOWARD UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE 2225 Georgia Ave NW Washington, DC 20059
If Martvelyn comes to your area, please check her out, she's quite a powerful young BLACK sister, with information that our community needs.
GAS PRICES HAVE AFFECTED MR. "TAKE THAT, TAKE THAT" HIMSELF, AND HE MUST NOW FLY COMMERCIAL
Apparently, Diddy just found out that gas was too high. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, P. Diddy, or whatever he goes by these days is no longer using his personal jet, he says, "I'm actually flying commercial."
The hip-hop mogul said he is now flying on commercial airlines instead of in private jets, which Combs said had previously cost him $200,000 to $250, 000 and up for a roundtrip between New York and Los Angeles.
Diddy called out to all his "Saudi Arabia brothers and sisters" and to "any other country that has oil" to send him some free oil. I wouldn't be surprised if Diddy received some oil next day mail. LOL
Peep the video blog from the man who thinks its a big deal to fly commercial below. I'm sure this video is completely for humor, but in all seriousness, if you never realized how much money he has, please just listen to him talk about $250,000 like its a few thousand.
The hip-hop mogul said he is now flying on commercial airlines instead of in private jets, which Combs said had previously cost him $200,000 to $250, 000 and up for a roundtrip between New York and Los Angeles.
Diddy called out to all his "Saudi Arabia brothers and sisters" and to "any other country that has oil" to send him some free oil. I wouldn't be surprised if Diddy received some oil next day mail. LOL
Peep the video blog from the man who thinks its a big deal to fly commercial below. I'm sure this video is completely for humor, but in all seriousness, if you never realized how much money he has, please just listen to him talk about $250,000 like its a few thousand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
