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This weeks LTH Weekly Talk Show: Does Pres. Obama need a black agenda? LTH WEEKLY
President Obama calls for education overhaul
The Obama administration on Saturday called for a broad overhaul of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law. Watch the presidents's statements below:
Natalie Randolph, first female head coach of high school football team
WASHINGTON — The new high school football coach in the nation's capital says being a woman has nothing to do with her getting the job.
Natalie Randolph was introduced Friday before cheering players and staff as the coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Washington. She is believed to be the only woman coaching a high school varsity football team in the U.S.
Her news conference drew the kind of attention usually reserved for the Washington Redskins. It was delayed nearly two hours so Mayor Adrian Fenty could attend and proclaim "Natalie Randolph Day" in the city.
Randolph is a 29-year-old biology and environmental sciences teacher. She played receiver in a women's football league and was an assistant coach at another D.C. school.
Wal Mart selling black barbie dolls for less than the white dolls?!?[ SOURCE ]
Walmart stocks Mattel’s fair-skinned Ballerina Barbie dolls and its darker-skinned Ballerina Theresa dolls at many of its stores, but the chain has now been criticised for “valuing blackness less than whiteness” by cutting the price of the black doll.
A spokeswoman for the chain said the price change was part of efforts to clear shelf space for new spring stock.
“To prepare for spring inventory, a number of items are marked for clearance,” she said. “Both are great dolls. The red price sticker indicates that this particular doll was on clearance when the photo was taken.”
But critics have said Walmart should have considered the implications of its pricing decision more carefully.
“The implication of lowering the price is that it’s devaluing the black doll,” said Theresa Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development.
“While it’s clear that’s not what was intended, sometimes these things have collateral damage.”
Other experts agree. Walmart should have decided that “it’s really important that we as a company don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Last year, Mattel introduced a new line of African American dolls, “So In Style”, designed to reflect the facial features of black women more accurately.
“I wanted to make sure that the make-up and face and skin tone was true to girls in my community,” Stacey McBride-Irby, who designed the doll, said.
A spokesman for the Barbie manufacturer reported a “great response” to the “So In Style” dolls and said they were apart of its 2010 catalogue.
Winnie Mandela says Nelson Mandela let blacks down
Nelson Mandela's ex-wife has bitterly criticized the 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon as having "let us down," prompting outrage Wednesday in South Africa.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she could not forgive him for accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 alongside F.W. De Klerk, according to Tuesday's Evening Standard, a British newspaper. The white president released Mandela and went on to participate in negotiations that ended apartheid.
Black all boys school entire graduating class going to college!
Chicago's only public all male, all African-American high school reached an extraordinary accomplishment-- getting all 107 seniors accepted to four-year colleges. The students were accepted to a total of 72 schools across the nation.
Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood got a surprise visit from Mayor Daley and Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman to congratulate them on their success.
Hi this is George Cook and I wanted to share with the readers of LTH this article I read by Taylor Trammell. She is a senior in High school at Detroits Mumford High School. The article deals with how it feels to be told that you "speak white"
I Don't "Speak White" by Taylor Trammell
Throughout my life, the phrase “speaking white” has been used to describe the way I talk. I am an African-American, but they say I “speak white.”
Since elementary school I have been teased for the way I talk. It used to hurt to know that I wasn't accepted by my race. I didn't understand what they meant by “talking white.” Worse yet, I was light-skinned. I was not accepted because of these things. I just did not fit in. I found myself hating my voice and the complexion of my skin.
White teachers make mockery of Black History Month
Audio: Clash between Smiley & Sharpton
If you have not heard it yet check out this fascinating and heated exchange betwwen Tavis Smiley & Al Sharpton as they argue over the need for Presidet Obama to have a black agenda
PBS host Smiley calls meeting to urge black agenda
By JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer Jesse Washington, Ap National Writer
Two months after ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, Tavis Smiley is gathering African-American advocates to press the case for a "black agenda."
The decision was motivated by what Smiley called recent statements from some black leaders downplaying the need for President Barack Obama to specifically help African-Americans.
"I was compelled to do it because of this debate," the activist and PBS talk show host said Wednesday.
The panel discussion will be March 20 at Chicago State University. Panelists include advertising pioneer Tom Burrell, professors Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux.
The meeting is free and open to the public. Negotiations to televise the event are in progress, Smiley spokeswoman Leshelle Sargent said.
Some black politicians and activists have recently begun to question Obama's longtime stance that helping the overall economy will improve the fortunes of blacks who are disproportionately poor and unemployed.
West, for example, gave Obama a grade of C minus on policies and priorities focused on poor and working people, saying, "He has really not come through in any substantial and significant way." Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have blocked some legislation until their demands were met.
Last week, Smiley and the Rev. Al Sharpton had a fierce argument about the issue on Sharpton's radio show, with Sharpton taking heated exception to Smiley's claim that the reverend was giving Obama a pass on black issues.
When Smiley ended the State of the Black Union after 10 years, he said black issues were now being addressed elsewhere.
Apparently, however, not enough to his liking.
"This is not about Obama. It's about us," Smiley said in an interview.
He said that the Obama campaign and black leaders asked African-Americans for help during the election, but that "now that he's elected, what are black people being asked to do to hold him accountable to our agenda?"
Eric Deggans, who writes about the media and race for Florida's St. Petersburg Times, said Smiley's new event is consistent with his record of criticizing Obama's race-neutral stance. But there is a perception that Smiley is personally invested in the issue, he said, because Obama declined to attend Smiley's 2008 State of the Black Union event during the presidential campaign.
"It could be hard for people watching this to see Tavis as an honest broker," Deggans said. "He's playing an odd game," he continued. "He's trying to make great television and also present something that effects social change. That's often two different things."
Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. He is reachable at jwashington(at)ap.org or http://www.twitter.com/jessewashington.
President Obama's speech on HBCU's
Watch President Obama's speech on HBCUs and as he signs an executive order to strengthen the capacity of and increase access to Federal funding for the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Meet Roslyn M. Brock, the new NAACP Chairman
The NAACP elected a health care executive as its youngest board chairman Saturday, continuing a youth movement for the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
Roslyn M. Brock, 44, was chosen to succeed Julian Bond. She had been vice chairman since 2001 and a member of the NAACP for 25 years. Hear what her view is for the future of the NAACP in the video below:
Magic Johnson to buy Johnson Publishing?( Ebony & Jet Magazine )
Magic Johnson in Talks to Buy Publisher
Earvin Magic Johnson, the Hall of Fame basketball player, is in talks to purchase Johnson Publishing Co., the publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines.
“There have been discussions,” Eric Holoman, president of Los Angeles-based Magic Johnson Enterprises, said in an interview. “There’s no definitive agreement.” He declined to comment further.
The 58-year-old publishing company’s Chicago headquarters would be included in the sale, said a person with knowledge of the situation. The former Los Angeles Lakers star would make the company a part of his Magic Johnson Enterprises, which includes partnerships with Starbucks Corp., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. and T.G.I. Friday’s Inc., the person said.
Johnson Publications, founded in 1942 by Linda Johnson Rice’s father, John H. Johnson, targets African-American readers and owns archives of photos documenting more than a half century of black life and culture. Advertising revenue at Ebony magazine declined 38 percent to $35.5 million last year on a 39 percent drop in ad pages, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
Michael Wright becomes first black diver to win US title
USA Diving officials say Michael Wright's national championship win in the men's 1-meter springboard competition makes him the first African-American national champion in USA Diving's history.
Wright, a 22-year-old senior at Tennessee, won the title at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. He was third after the preliminary round but outpointed David Bonuchi 390-360 on the judges' scorecards in the final.
Wright is the first black member of Tennessee's swimming and diving team.
Four black doctors all from same family
The Ross family (from left to right): Dr. David Ross, Ruthie Ross, Dr. Nathaniel Ross, Dr. Rebekkah Ross and Dr. Rachael Ross.
At a clinic in Gary Indiana if you walk in and ask to see "Dr. Ross", the response would be "Which one?"
That's because four African American doctors, a father and his three kids, all practice medicine here.
The Negro Leagues Baseball stamps, to be issued in June, pay tribute to the all-black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960. Drawing some of the most remarkable athletes ever to play the sport, including Satchel Page and Josh Gibson, the Negro leagues galvanized African-American communities across the country, challenged racist notions of athletic superiority, and ultimately sparked the integration of American sports.
The Negro Leagues Baseball stamps pay tribute to the all-black professional baseball leagues that operated from 1920 to about 1960. The two 44-cent stamps comprise one scene painted by Kadir Nelson.
In 1920, Andrew ?Rube? Foster (1879?1930)?who began his baseball career as a pitcher?established the Negro National League, the first successful league of African-American teams. Nicknamed ?Rube? after defeating major-league pitcher George Edward ?Rube? Waddell in 1902, Foster is considered the ?father? of Negro leagues baseball. He is featured on the stamp.
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Here are the top 10 HBCUs for 2010 as judged by the US News College Report. The usual suspects are there, Spelman, Howard, Morehouse. Is your college in the top 10. Read the list below and click the link below that to see the entire top 25.
