Last week the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke at The Faith Community of St. Sabina, which is pastored by Father Michael Pfleger. The May 25 speech was Min. Farrakhan's first time speaking publicly since Mother's Day. See Chicago Sun-Times coverage here. See CBS 2 Chicago coverage with video here . This was great to see because it brought together two  people who I admire greatly. Minister Farrakhan who was on his death bed from cancer last year, reportedly spoke for an hour at St. Sabina and in a powerful way. Pfleger spent many hours with Min. Farrakhan during his illness. Father Pfleger and Min. Farrakhan have shared an long friendship as they both have labored to uplift the African-American community in Chicago and throughout the country. Anyone who actually listens to the Minister as opposed to relying on sound bites knows that if his heart has any hatred, it's a hatred of evil and injustice. The Muslim minister and Catholic priest know that what matters most is doing God's work, especially for the least of these, my brethren. See Dallas South coverage of Father Pleger's Dallas visit here .

I was contacted by Lydia Bean, who is part of the grassroots organization Friends of Justice that has helped bring light to the case in Jena, Louisiana.  Friends of Justice was formed in response to the 1999 Tulia, Texas  drug sting; where 47 people including 39 African-Americans were arrested based on the false testimony of an undercover agent. See Dallas South Jena story here.  See Chicago Tribune story here.  Anti-Essentialist Conundrum coverage here.  The group is now working for justice on behalf of The Jena Six, six Jena High School students charged with attempted second-degree murder in a December fight at the school.  (The trial of three of the men was continued until June 25). Friends of Justice would appreciate any donations that will help with local organizing efforts in Jena. Visit the Friends of Justice website for more infomation. Donations can be made via Pay Pal here. Donations can also be mailed here: *Friends of Justice 507 N. Donley Ave. Tulia TX 79088

DSB: Have there been any noticeable changes in the mood of the city since Paris, Texas gained nationwide attention? BC: OhhhYes. It has made a lot of those in the African-American community hopeful. It has angered many in the white community and some people are on the attack.  There is an ever increasing siege mentality, fostered by the newspaper and those few radio stations in town. They have shifted the responsibility, avoided and denied complicity in their being the cause of the problem in the first place. The victim ShaQuanda and her mother has, instead, become the perpetrator of a greater “crime” of degrading of the city and its people, by not shutting up. So the misinformation and lies surrounding her conviction are now being multiplied and justified with more new lies and slander about her and her mother. And these are accepted as being ‘true’ without one question ever being raised. They should have just accepted the injustice and moved on with their lives or so goes the popular thinking. And now, because others did not come forth and tell their story, other families are now coming under attack in the same way, but with ...

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For anyone who watches 'Lost', there was a scene in the season finale where Jack goes into a funeral home to view a body.  The director of the episode made a point to show that Jack was in a predominantly Black neighborhood.  I immediately wondered what he was doing in this part of town and who was he going to see. When he enters the empty funeral home, the casket was sitting up front with no one else in the room.  A black man, who seemed to be a preacher or funeral home director comes out from the back.   There are two places where white folks and black folks truly don't trust one another: barbershops and funeral homes. (I'm cutting church a break on this one).  I can't imagine there being a white body in that casket.  What white person do you know who was buried in a black funeral home or vice versa?  There is a lot of internet speculation that John Locke or Sawyer (both white characters) were being funeralized in the future during the show's season finale.  There are a few strange things about this scene however, one being the fact that no one showed up ...

Dallas South Blog: What is the purpose of Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality? Brenda Cherry:   We formed CCFRE in 2003 after we filed complaints regarding PISD staff calling black children names such as stupid and lazy. We also noticed that on a daily basis, approx 90% of the students sitting in detention and OCS were African-American. We asked one of the assistant principals why Afican-American children were punished at such a higher percentage than white children. He said it was because black parents are not able to be proper parents because black parents come from a lower socio-economic status and have single parents households. He stated that his family “was poor when he was a child but his family was clean”. When the school board disregarded our complaints, we asked the Paris NAACP to look into it. Robert High was Vice-President of the NAACP as well as an assistant to the PISD superintendent. His response was “I’m not going to sit here and let you talk bad about my school”. The chief of police also blew off any complaints we filed. The same for complaints regarding housing. That lead us to form CCFRE, because we realized that there ...

In March, the internet was ablaze with comments and opinions regarding the story of 14 year-old ShaQuanda Cotton. ShaQuanda was sentenced to a Texas Youth Commission facility after an incident involving she and a teacher's aide in Paris, Texas - which happens to be my hometown. A little over two-weeks later after a Chicago Tribune article brought nationwide attention to the situation, ShaQuanda was released from TYC back to her mother. Brenda Cherry, who leads the Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality in Paris, was with ShaQuanda and her mother Creola Cotton during the legal proceedings as well as subsequent protests and petitions for ShaQuanda's freedom. I will post a two (or three) part interview over the next few days that Ms. Cherry gave to Dallas South regarding ShaQuanda and how things are going in Paris. Dallas South Blog: Ms. Cherry, how is ShaQuanda doing after all that she has gone through over the last few months. Brenda Cherry: ShaQuanda has been doing OK considering all she went through and is going through right now. People keep spreading rumors about her and the Paris News keeps publishing nasty articles about her and her mother. The District Attorney Gary Young and Allan Hubbard ...

On Tuesday we found out that North Texas will be hosting Super Bowl XLV in 2011.   Jerry Jones made it very clear that this was a regional effort during his acceptance speech.  Also during the speech, Mr. Jones acknowledge the mayors of Arlington and Ft. Worth by name while the words "Laura Miller" were never uttered. Listening to local sports talk, you would think that Dallas lost the bid.  I understand some of the curbed enthusiasm for fear that the city will wilt under the pressure of hosting the event.  But these guys get paid to be negative, and they obliged the listeners with plenty of negativity throughout the afternoon. The shows did bring up some good questions about area's ability to host the Super Bowl.  I went back to the proposal that the bid committee made to the City of Dallas soliciting their support in the effort to land the big game.  See the presentation from the Dallas City Council Briefing soliciting Dallas' support here. A couple of interesting points stood out as I thumbed through the presentation:  Six Cities were asked to participate in the regional effort - Dallas, Irving, Arlington, Grapevine, Ft. Worth, and Grand Prairie. ...

Bahama Beach, marketed as "the first inner-city waterpark in America", was officially re-branded to Hawaiian Falls/Dallas on Monday. David Busch, President and CEO of Hawaiian Falls, hosted a group of business and community leaders to celebrate the re-branding and provide a glimpse of the $250,000 in upgrades currently underway at the waterpark, including adding an abundance of shade. "This park is a great example of a successful partnership between a private enterprise and the City of Dallas.  We are both committed to serve the people of Dallas by providing quality, affordable family-friendly entertainment," said Busch. "Hawaiian Falls Dallas provides a wholesome, fun environment to meet their needs." Read Hawaiian Falls/Dallas press release here.  I had a chance to attend the re-branding celebration and I was extremely impressed.  I have passed by Bahama Beach hundreds of times, yet Monday was my first time stepping foot on the property.                Upon touring Hawaiian Falls/Dallas, I can't see why every family in North Texas isn't trying to get to this place.  Just think of a half scale Hurricane Harbor (or Wet 'N Wild for us old timers), that charges $12.99 for adults and $6.99 for ...

Many of you may remember Howard Witt, Southwest Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, who's coverage of the ShaQuanda Cotton case garnered national attention for she and her situation. Mr. Witt now has a story out of Jena, a small town in Louisiana that has experienced heightened racial tensions over the last few months. See Mr. Witt's Chicago Tribune story here. In his May 18, 2007 story, Mr. Witt tells of an incident that happened at the local high school in Jena where black students decided they wanted to sit under a tree whose shade had been reserved for white students only for years. When campus officials gave their blessing to the students request to sit under the tree, a series of events began that have apparently launched the town into a downward spiral. According to Mr. Witt's article the following events have occurred since the initial action by the black students last September: * The next day three nooses were hanging from the tree * Once three white students were identified as having hung the nooses on the tree, the school superintendent suspended them for only three days. (The principal had suggested expulsion). The superintendent felt the nooses ...