There seems to be a lot of hateration in the universe towards black bloggers these days.  First it was Michael Biasden, then Stephen A. Smith.  Now locally James Ragland has taken on Mike Davis at Dallas Progress.  I thought I'd combine my thoughts on two events in one post.   The USA Today posts an article on their website by Yolanda Young titled Blacks' protests lack unity of purpose.  In the brief article, Ms. Young speaks on black leadership, the need for cohesion and transparency in the civil rights movement, and protest overkill She devotes 1/3 of her short piece to discrepancies surrounding money donated for the legal defense of the Jena 6.  Ms. Young says that pictures have surfaced of a defendant "with $100 bills stuffed in his mouth and two others posing like gansta rappers."  How do you pose like gangsta rappers?  She also talks about Bell's lawyers not being paid.  What does that have to do with the civil rights movement? Imagine that, 1/3 of all funds allocated for rebuilding Iraq are unaccounted for, and a few thousand dollars at odds in Jena, Louisiana continues to make headlines.  This is what I mean when I talk ...

The following is a press release from the AfroSpear.  The AfroSpear community now includes over 90 blogs, each demonstrably furthering the goals and objectives of the AfroSpear in ways both common and unique.   The AfroSpear has developed into a think tank with Diaspora-wide influence.  It focuses on the discussing issues, exchanging ideas and creating strategies, with the objective of developing concrete and viable solutions to tackle the concerns relating to those of African descent worldwide.   1).  “AfroSpear bloggers and our audiences will continue to assert our role as forceful advocates of equal justice for Blacks in the American justice system.” 2.  "Although the charges against Mychal D. Bell have been reduced, it still is not equal justice when a Black student receives an eighteen month prison sentence while the white students are not penalized at all for their offenses." 3).  "We will continue to insist that ALL ADULT AND JUVENILE CHARGES AGAINST ALL 6 DEFENDANTS  be dropped and foreclosed for the future, and that de jure and de facto segregation be ended at Jena High School." 4).  "This victory shows that Blacks armed with blogs can confront injustice and ...

I'm going to post this Howard Witt story from the Chicago Tribune in its entirety.  It was posted to the Tribune's website minutes ago. By Howard Witt Tribune Senior Correspondent Chicago Tribune   The district attorney in the racially-charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana agreed to a plea bargain Monday that sharply reduced the charges against the first of the six black teenagers who was facing trial, while attorneys for other defendants said the prosecutor appeared eager to avoid taking their cases to court as well. LaSalle Parish District Atty. Reed Walters, whose initial decision to charge the black teenagers with attempted murder for beating a white youth was condemned as excessive by civil rights leaders, dropped a conspiracy charge against Mychal Bell, 17, and agreed to let him plead guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery, with a sentence of 18 months and credit for time he has served in jail over the last year. District Judge J.P. Mauffray approved the plea agreement Monday afternoon, just three days before Bell's trial in juvenile court was to have begun. Bell's attorneys said Walters offered them the plea agreement last Thursday, a week after a coalition of U.S. ...

See News media win suit to open Jena 6 case, an article that appeared in Thursday's Chicago Tribune.  Some of the highlights from the Howard Witt article: A judge ruled Wednesday that the public and the news media should have full access to all legal proceedings involving Mychal Bell...whose prosecution had been shrouded in secrecy on orders of the trial judge. ...Rapides Parish District Judge Thomas Yeager ordered that Bell's upcoming criminal trial, as well as any pretrial hearings, must be open to the press and the public. Yeager also ordered that the court record and transcripts of any closed proceedings held so far be made available to the news media, and that attorneys for Bell be released from the trial judge's gag order... It was the second major setback for Mauffray in the Bell case. Last June, Mauffray presided when Bell was convicted as an adult on the battery and conspiracy charges. An appellate court later vacated that conviction, ruling that Jena District Attorney Reed Walters and Mauffray had improperly tried Bell as an adult rather than a juvenile. "It's not discretionary, it's mandatory," Yeager said. "[Mauffray] should open the proceedings ...

George Cook of the website Let's Talk Honestly did a special report in which he interviewed myself and other bloggers.  The interviews revolved around Black Bloggers' reaction towards Michael Baisden and comments he made by towards the organization Color of Change . Click here to listen to the interviews. Other Bloggers who were interviewed include: Dwight Hunter Exodus Mentality Yobachi Boswell blackperspective.net Garlin Gilchrist II thesuperspade.com Gina McCauley What About Our Daughters 

  Obsolescence - the state of being which occurs when a person, object, or service is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. I was president of the Texas A&M Chapter of the NAACP from 1994-1996 and I count Dallas President Casey Thomas as a friend.  The organization is quite dear to me.  With all that said, I see the NAACP, especially the national organization, as losing touch with the very people it is charged to serve.  As the realities of race in America has evolved, the NAACP has changed very little in how it addresses the issues of the day. If the NAACP is not leading (I said leading) the effort in cases like the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson, and Tyrone Brown that what are they doing? The group is really trying to find its way right now, that's evident in the change in leadership that occurred earlier this year. It was a surprise to say the least when the NAACP broke with conventional wisdom and hired executive Bruce Gordon to lead the organization.  Only 19 months into the job, Gordon resigned his post as president (last March). Gordon's vision as president did not ...

Somebody else from the Chicago Tribune is picking up on the web movement.  This time it's columnist Clarence Page.  Page focuses on a Chicago resident who staged a counter protest to Friday's hate crime rally.  See Focus on hate crime is far too narrow . Some of the highlights from Page's column.  Shane Johnson, 32, a social worker by day and Weblogger on the side, staged a nearby dissent with a few sympathizers. He supported the prosecution of hate crimes, he said, but thinks Sharpton's definition of "hate" is too narrow. I share Johnson's outrage. Why, I often have wondered, do we black folks get so much more agitated about white-on-black insults than the black-on-black assaults that constantly terrorize certain neighborhoods? Sharpton wants tough federal prosecution of hate-related crimes, like the hanging of nooses. Fine, says Johnson. But Johnson also asks why national black leaders have paid so little attention to a more recent campaign in the black netroots: the beating and rape of a 35-year-old Haitian woman and the beating and sexual assault of her 12-year-old son by up to 10 assailants in West Palm Beach, Fla. Instead, civil rights leaders ...

Today in a conversation regarding Friday's march, a friend of mine extolled Rev. Al Sharpton's ability to organize.  I believe Friday will show us the true extent of this widely held opinion and offer a glimpse where Black activism stands as a result of the Jena 6 activities. Rev. Sharpton's National Action Network is leading a March on the United States Department of Justice.  "We feel that the federal government has failed to intervene in the cases of hate crimes — swastikas and nooses," Sharpton said on the groups website. "Since the federal government won't come to the people, we're going to bring the people to the federal government." I'm at a loss on this one.  I'm not in the predicting business, but I'm trying to figure out where the marchers will come from.  Maybe some of the people who missed out on Jena want to get involved and will show up in D.C. To be real, this march has been a non-factor on the internet.   The only exception is a counter-protest by one blogger for what she perceives as silence by Shaprton regarding the Dunbar Village rape case. Rev. Sharpton promoted the march on radio -Michael Baisden ...

It seems the La Salle Parish has conceded a major point in the case of one of the Jena 6 defendants.  Judge J.P. Mauffray has decided to open the juvenile trial of Mychal Bell to the public. A lawsuit filed by the Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, CNN and others seeks the reversal of Mauffray's decision to close all the proceedings in Bell's Case.  According to a story that will appear in Friday's Chicago Tribune, the lawsuit is set to be heard next Wednesday while Bell is scheduled to go on trial Dec.6 on charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. Read the Howard Witt's Tribune story here. 

Michael Baisden issued an apology to Color of Change regarding statements that were made on The Michael Baisden Show.  I couldn't find the information on his website, but the response is available at his Mingle City Forum. Below is Mr. Baisden's Response to Color of Change followed by comments that I left on the Mingle City site. The Michael Baisden show and staff were given inaccurate information regarding donations made by the public and David Bowie. We apologize to our listeners and to ColorofChange for not seeking more reliable sources. According to documentation provided by the organization through their web site, all the funds collected by ColorofChange have been distributed to the families as promised. We do, however, respect the right of four of the Jena 6 families who have insisted that ColorofChange discontinue collection of any monies on their behalf. But this should not reflect on the integrity of this organization which has collected and distributed over $200,000 to their legal defense. Any insinuations that were made about me wanting to be the sole fundraiser for legal defense is ridiculous. I am too tired after my radio gig to take on that responsibility, and furthermore, it ...