Christians in general, and Black Christians in particular are beginning to abandon the recognition of Halloween.  Many churches, like my own, offer Halloween alternatives where kids can dress up and play games without going door-to-door begging for candy.  A friend recently told me he doesn't recognize Halloween because it is a pagan celebration.  My question to that response is generally this: Do you put up a Christmas Tree during the Christmas season?  The Christmas Tree was derived from pagan observances and celebrations. See Wikipedia or this Origin Site.  I think it's great to give children a way to celebrate the day indoors or in one place rather than driving around searching for a sugar rush.  But we must realize that we pick and choose what we recognize and celebrate. We need to recognize that HIV and AIDS are affecting our black youth and black women at alarming rates.  We need to recognize that black men are killing each other every day, in cities all across the country.  We need to recognize that our kids are dropping out of school at an all time rate. We need to stop celebrating music artists who degrade our women in song and on videos, and then thank their "Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" at the awards ...

Black Churches in Southern Dallas led their members out to the polls in record numbers this Sunday.  Voters at the Oak Cliff Sub Court House waited up to 3 hours to cast their votes, on a historic day for Dallas County.  A number of candidates used the event as an opportunity to gather last minute support for their campaigns.  Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Chris Bell was among those who visited the Oak Cliff polling place, pressing the flesh with voters who stretched throughout the courtyard of the municipal site. Mr. Bell visited a number of black churches in Dallas on Sunday, including Inspiring Body of Christ, Central Pointe Church of Christ, Kirkwood CME Temple, and a second trip to Friendship-West Baptist Church. Other politicians on hand were U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, State Senator Royce West, and Dallas City Councilman Don Hill.  Dallas County District Attorney hopeful Craig Watkins was also present and accounted for, as were  Dr. Jerry L. Christian, Sr., Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, Lynn Flint-Shaw, and Willis Johnson.  But today was not about personalities; it was about the people.  On a beautiful fall Sunday afternoon, men and women, boys and girls, were all out on one accord. There were a few media outlets there, but I’m sure most of them ...

The Dallas Morning News has a story in Saturday's paper on the effects Black Talk Radio has on local politics, written by Scott Farwell.  I'll have comments on this for Monday.

Anyone who listens to Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, has noticed a new voice going out over the airwaves from noon to three.  Donovan Lewis has been added to BaD Radio, and is on the air with Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell.  He is the 1st black daytime personality since Chris Arnold left the station some years back.  I had a chance to ask Donovan a few questions about his first 5 months at The Ticket.                                          DSB   What brought about your move from 93.3 The Bone to The Ticket? DL     The company was sold to Cumulus Media Partners in early May and the guy I was hosting the morning show with on The Bone was let go to make room for a new morning show. Since I was doing sports on The Bone, management thought that it would be a good fit to move me over to The Ticket, particularly BaD Radio since they didn't have a third person working with them at the time like the other shows and since I've sat in with them on previous segments before it seemed to be a good fit. DSB    How would you describe your role on BaD Radio? DL      Usually they refer to a ...

A number of churches in Southern Dallas will caravan to early voting locations this Sunday, October 29th.  The caravan will travel to the following locations: Martin Luther King Jr. Center @ 2922 Martin Luther King BLVD Oak Cliff Sub-Courthouse @ 410 S. Beckley Samuell Grand Recreation Center @ 6200 E. Grand AVE Friendship-West Baptist Church will welcome anyone who would like to caravan following the 10:45 a.m. service.  The service will end around 1:00.  Even if you don't live in Dallas, vote on Sunday as a show of support. For more early voting locations in Dallas County, visit Dallas County Elections.

Republican Senate Incumbent Bob Corker unleashed a Controversial Campaign Ad over the weekend, in his race against Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (see ad here).   The controversy centers around a highly made up blonde white female in the commercial who claims to have "...met Harold at the Playboy party," and at the end winks at the camera asking Ford to call her.                              Many, including Republicans have denounced the ad as racist.  If nothing else, the commercial is tasteless, and shows just what the GOP will do in their bid to retain control of Congress.  Then on Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh accused Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, of "acting" in a campaign ad running in Missouri.  Limbaugh claims Fox was "...exaggerating the effects of the disease." and that his "...moving all around and shaking..." was purely an act. It amazes me how dirty and crooked these people are, and yet they always claim the moral high ground.  What's even worse is those who choose to join this so-called "conservative movement" and align themselves with these people over one or two issues.  Is this what American politics has come to?

Yesterday I attended the second annual J. McDonald Williams Institute Conference. The Williams Institute is the research arm of The Foundation for Community Empowerment, whose vision is to "...catalyze Dallas into being a city where all residents have the opportunity to realize their full potential and live in vibrant, thriving communities."  FCE focuses most of its work in the South Dallas/Fair Park area. Dr. Marcus Martin, who serves as Director of The Williams Institute, hosted the conference.  Dr. Martin, along with Keynote Speaker Robert Weissbourd were recently featured in a Dallas Morning News article, The fix for URBAN BLIGHT?, which focused on community specific economics in "inner-city" neighborhoods. FCE President and CEO Marcia Page, and the group’s founder, J. McDonald (Don) Williams, set the tone of the meeting early.  Ms. Page described the institute's work as "democratizing information," and using the data to form solutions.  Mr. Williams, former CEO of Trammell Crow Company, talked about the widening gap between those who have wealth, and those who find themselves being left behind.  He stressed that systems don't change without data and information.  Highlights from the conference: State Senator Royce West Sen. West reflected on a period last year when there was a melee at a Duncanville/Cedar ...

What a pitiful shame the Cowboys are right now.  They are obviously bad at quarterback, but the offensive line was horrible.  And anyone who used the term "Doomsday III" to describe the Cowboy defense should forego his or her right to talk football the rest of the year.                                     Like the Philly game, the Giants allowed the Cowboys to hang around way longer than they should have been.  But the 2nd of 3 Tony Romo interceptions really sealed the deal. The Cowboys were driving in the 4th quarter with a chance to cut the New York lead to 3 points prior to Romo gifting the ball to the Giants on an attempted screen. The Bill Parcells Era of the Cowboys is looking pretty pedestrian at this point.   The Cowboys are 28-26 since he took over in 2003, and lost their lone playoff game.  Not exactly the 15-33 record Dave Campo compiled, but well below the expectations of Cowboy fans and Owner/G.M./Check Signer Jerry Jones.   Parcell’s love affair with players he's coached in the past (Vinny Testaverde, Dan Campbell, Ritchie Anderson, Keyshawn Johnson) may have gone too far with Drew Bledsoe, who he pulled in the 2nd half in favor of Romo.    It's still amazing, the most successful quarterback in the Bill Parcells Era: Quincy Carter.  The ...

The speculation that Barack Obama will make a bid for U.S. President in 2008 continues to gain steam.  The junior senator from Illinois is already the most widely embraced Democrat in the country, and only Hillary Clinton among in his party exceeds his star power.  This is nothing new for Obama. *  The senator was first asked about his plans for a run at the White House on November 4, 2004, just one day after being elected to the Senate.  The man hadn't even been sworn into office.  *  In January of 2005, The Chicago Tribune gave '08 Reasons Why Obama Will Run For President.  *  In September, Wolf Blitzer repeatedly asked Obama if a planned speech in Iowa was a testing ground for his presidential bid. *  And since his appearance on Oprah this past week, fuel seems to be continually adding to the fire. And Sunday, on Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Obama said for the first time that he would consider a presidential bid in '08.  He admitted that his priority now is gaining back the House and Senate for the Democrats in November, and he would spend more time exploring his options after the election. My opinion has been ...

In Thursday's Dallas Morning News, Tony Hartzel, who is by far the best writer at the news, wrote a piece (City may ax DART reps) about Laura Miller's desire to shake up Dallas' appointees to the DART board of directors.  The mayor threatened to replace the 8 board representatives with city council members if they did not start taking the city's interests into account. I'm with the mayor on this one.  DART rail is in its 10th year, and is now one of the model light rail systems in the country.  Although rail transit is now the rage of North Texas, many of the cities building trains stations were laughing at Dallas' foray into rail a decade ago. Now that riding the rail is ‘in’, the focus is on Carrolton, Plano, and Rowlett, and not Oak Cliff, where the Red Line and Blue Line made names for themselves. Dallas has a right to be upset.  The city contributes 51.5% of the sales tax revenue that makes DART run.  Thus the city is able to appoint 8 of the boards 15 members.  At stake is the future of rail in the area, including a vote on the authority's 2030 plan.  If Dallas' appointees are putting ...