Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson issued the following statement today in response to the economic stimulus package announced yesterday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and House Republican Leader John Boehner:  “The most effective thing Congress can do is to create jobs and give the middle class a boost by putting money in the pockets of North Texans and families across America. I am pleased that, under this package, 35 million working families, who would not otherwise have been helped, will receive tax relief this spring, and that 117 million families will receive a stimulus check.  I am disappointed, however, that there was no aggressive plan for job training programs such as adult education and literacy, welfare-to-work, vocational education and vocational rehabilitation.” "The stimulus package will seek to alleviate some fiscal hardships at least in a short term and begin the process of moving our stagnant economy in a stable direction.” This comprehensive stimulus package will provide the following benefits: ·           Grant tax relief this spring of up to $600 for an individual and up to $1,200 for a married couple, plus $300 per child. A total of 117 million families ...

For Immediate Release January 24, 2008 Contacts:          * Lewis “Ski” Elliott: (972)228-5391 * Danielle Ayers: (972) 228-5226 * Shawn Williams: shawn@dallassouthblog.com Friendship-West to host Community Cinema Screening of documentary “Banished” On February 8, 2008, Friendship-West Baptist Church will host a free screening of the PBS documentary BANISHED @ 7:00 p.m.  BANISHED is part of PBS’ weekly Independent Lens series which is hosted by Terrence Howard. One hundred years ago in communities across the U.S., white residents forced thousands of black families to flee their homes. Even a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white. BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn their shocking histories. Through conversations with current residents and the descendants of those who were driven out, the film contemplates questions of privilege, responsibility, denial, healing, reparations and identity. Filmmaker Marco Williams said he wanted to make a film that explored prospective solutions to the racial divide.  “I do hope that the film will be part of the material for building bridges across the forces that divide Americans and people throughout the world,” Marco Williams said. After the screening of the documentary, there will be a ...

The America Jouralism Review recently published an article by Raquel Christie that takes an extensive look at how the mainstream media covered the Jena 6 story.  Raquel spent a lot of time pulling this story together and examines it from a number of different angles. There are a few AfroSpear blogs, including Dallas South, that were featured in this report.  Click here to see AJR's entire story titled Double Whammy.  All this awful bait, but the national media didn't bite. The story, instead, was the property of black bloggers and radio hosts, two local papers and activists. Only after they had interpreted it, only after they had dissected it, only after they had decided the right and the wrong of it – and dedicated a movement, the Afrospear, to it – only after big names like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stepped into the fray last summer did the news media give it to us. Soon, the blogs were afire with cries for justice in Jena – and for media respect. "I make a final plea to the American media," wrote black blogger Shawn Williams on the day of Blogging for Justice, ...

This is a column that I wrote which appeared in the Dallas Morning News on Thursday.  Dallas South readers saw most of this last week.  There are however a couple of points that I didn't make in last week's post. Plans for a Dallas Convention Center hotel are moving forward, and Mayor Tom Leppert would like to see it built before the Super Bowl comes to town in 2011. While the city looks into financing the project, the discussion will soon move to where the hotel should be located. For those who have dared to dream of a hotel constructed near the convention center, the vision usually includes a structure on the "front," or downtown side, of the building. I've always thought the same thing. But over the weeks since I wrote my first Viewpoints column on the hotel, another potential site has emerged. Imagine, if you will, a hotel erected on the southern side of the convention center. Use Eddie Deen's Ranch as a reference point. In that initial Viewpoints column, I made the following argument: Convention visitors judge a host city by what goes on each day after the meetings are over. Where do we eat? Is there ...

The Maynard Institute has a comprehensive interview with Howard Witt, Southwest Bureau Chief of the Chicago Tribune.  Anyone who has visited this site for any length of time is familiar with Mr. Witt's work on the ShaQuanda Cotton case and in the Jena 6 story. He was the first person in the national media to report on either issue.  The interview conducted by Reggie Royston is titled Black Blogosphere Proves Potent Force In Story of Race in the New South.  Click here to see the interview in its entirety. Here are just a few excerpts, please visit Maynard to get the entire picture. Were you encouraged or intrigued by the blogger reaction to your stories? I was. The whole experience was kind of an awakening for me as to the even existence this black blogosphere. I didn't really pay much attention to blogs until early this year. I think I shared the stereotype of bloggers that most mainstream journalists have, which is [that] they were this bunch of lunatics sitting in front of the computer screen at midnight in their underwear expostulating on things. I thought it was a bunch of navel-gazing and a waste ...

On Thursday January 31, State Senator Royce West will host the Grand Opening of his 2nd District Office.  The Deep Ellum office is located at 2612 Main Street in Dallas. The public is invited to come out an meet Sen. West and his staff, share in food and fun, as well as discuss ideas and concerns regarding the district.  The grand opening is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.  For more information call 214-741-0123.

South Oak Cliff was found to have used an ineligible player on the way to their 2nd state basketball title.  I continue to support Coach James Mays II and his program, and I continue to disagree with Brett Shipp's choice to sensationalize the story when he reported it on Channel 8 during sweeps week. 

Is Bill Clinton running for President or is Hillary?  Today we see more evidence that it's the former. After a town hall meeting held by the former President he went on a tirade after being asked a question by CNN's Jessica Yellin.  Clinton is accusing the media of doing what he is actually doing. Clinton is also ascribing Clinton campaign tactics to Obama.  Will American buy it?  "We fought hard and we won," said President Clinton of Senator Clinton popular vote win in Nevada.  That's what this is, a fight.  A fight for the Clinton legacy, a fight to get back into the White House, a fight to prove they are right and everyone else is wrong.  At a time when the country needs to come together, the Clinton's are tearing their own party apart.  All this and then flipping it around on everyone else.  Click here for video of President Clinton going off on Jessica Yellin.  "He put out a hit job on me," said (Bill) Clinton referring to Sen. Obama's campaign tactics. Then he tries to get Mrs. Clinton a posthumous endorsement from Dr. King.  Here are some more of Pres. Clinton's words. This is crazy...this rhetoric ...

      Thanks to Yobachi at BlackPerspective.net for the heads up on a recent article in Forbes magazine.  For the second year in a row the magazine has named Atlanta the most wired city in the U.S. Forbes used three factors to determine its rankings: Broadband Adoption: The percentage of home Internet users with high-speed connections. Access Options: The number of companies providing high-speed Internet access. Wi-Fi: Public wireless Internet hot spots per capita. Dallas ranked 19th for the 2nd consecutive year.  While the city ranked well in Broadband Adoption (6th), Dallas was 21st in Access Options and 26th in WiFi hotspots.  You can read Elizabeth Woyke's full article by clicking here.

Thanks to the North Dallas Gazette for selecting me as one of their three People in the News this week.  I was surprised when they told me I would be in the paper, but to see that I was featured with Elder Cathy Moffitt was extremely humbling. Click here to see a PDF of NDG's  January 17th Edition  Make sure to visit North Dallas Gazette's website and pick up a copy of the paper if you are out and about.