From the Office of the President Top News H1N1 Flu Guide Helping Community and Faith-based Organizations across the Country To help keep communities healthy during the flu season, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (Partnerships Center) led by Alexia Kelley and with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released an H1N1 Flu guide specifically targeted to help community and faith-based organizations.  Flu season is in full swing, and communities are finding innovative ways to spread awareness through community outreach programs. LINK Initial Results Show Pregnant Women Mount Strong Immune Response to One Dose of 2009 H1N1 Flu Vaccine Healthy pregnant women mount a robust immune response following just one dose of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, according to initial results from an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.  LINK H1N1 Flu Resources for Parents/Educators ED has issued new guidance for school officials regarding the disclosure of personally identifiable information when addressing an H1N1 flu outbreak. See this and other guidance, videos, Q&As, and more.  LINK Green Jobs Grants, Seizing the Opportunity of a Clean Energy Economy Today the Department of Labor announced nearly $55 million ...

Here are the contents of a letter written by U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson to David C. Williams, Inspector General, United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General.  I actually retyped it (tech issues on my part), so any typos or mistakes are mine. The letter is dated July 23, 2009 and expresses Congresswoman Johnson's concern about reports that all or part of mail operations at Dallas' Main Post Office will be transferred to Coppell. Dear Mr. Williams: My constituents have serious concerns about the proposed changes to the Dallas, TX Processing and Distribution Center.  The recommendations in the recently conducted Area Mail Processing study would transfer outgoing mail and processing operations and approximately 117 employees from Dallas to the North Texas P&DC in Coppell.  These changes have the potential to significantly affect both postal employees and local customer service.  As such, I am formally requesting that the Office of the Inspector General perform an independent review of the postal service's plan to consolidate these operations. The Office of Inspector General is pivotal in maintaining the accountability and integrity of post office operations.  An independent review by your office will ensure  that postal employees are not unnecessarily transferred and that service is not ...

Eric Johnson may be new to politics, but he seems to already have one of the key elements down: fundraising. Johnson reports that his campaign raised over $60,000 in monetary contributions between June 5 and and June 30, 2009. Eric Johnson is the guy on the right "I am humbled by the level of support we received from our friends and family," says Johnson who co-founded the Si Se Puede Political Action Committee with his wife Nakita. "I think a lot of people genuinely appreciate the fact that I have been working for years on issues that are important to the residents of House District 100," he says. In addition to the $60,000 in monetary contributions, Johnson's campaign received nearly $5,000 of in-kind contributions in June. And he's using a familiar strategy from the 2008 campaign, a large number of people contributing small amounts. Over 300 individuals have supported Johnson thus far, and 70% of those individuals contributed less than $100. Eric Johnson is running against Democratic incumbent Terri Hodge for the Texas District 100 House seat.

I wanted to share the contents of an email sent out by Color of Change Director of Grassroots Mobilization, James Rucker, to their massive member list regarding the plea of "No Contest" by the defendants in the "Jena 6" case late last week. Color of Change was at the forefront of the internet movement to secure justice for the young men back in 2007. I've had a chance to correspond with James and meet some of the Color of Change staff.  They are utilizing 21st century tools to combat injustices that have persisted for generations.  It's cool to see that they haven't just rested on their involvement in Hurricane Katrina justice and with the Jena 6, but continue to stay engaged, even taking the fight to Fox News.  They remain relevant and functional as many such organizations have the tendency to fall off into the abyss of irrelevancy.  Kudos to C of C. Dear Shawn, Friday, nearly two years after more than 320,000 of you stood up to protect them from Jim Crow justice, the Jena 6--Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Bryant Purvis and Mychal Bell--are all now free to move ahead with their lives. We ...

After I wrote this article I thought, wouldn't a Johnny Taylor themed restaurant look good in Deep Ellum (or South Dallas)? Some of ya'll entrepreneur types should be able to take that one and run. Anyway, here's the article I wrote for the Dallas Morning News almost in its entirety. To see the few parts I didn't paste, click here. Thanks to Sharon Grigsby for the space. From DallasNews.com To borrow a phrase from legendary musician Robert Johnson, Deep Ellum has the crossroad blues. The path toward the future may mean taking a look back. With the possible exception of the city's preaching tradition, the blues scene in the early part of the last century represents the biggest mark left on this city by African-Americans. But the community is letting that rich history die by allowing the place where it all went down to lose its soul. It's part of a trend nationwide where the African-American community neglects history that is not intimately tied to the civil rights movement. This is even more pronounced in our city, where not only is the history ignored, it's all but forgotten. Deep Ellum should be the same type of cultural destination as the 18th and ...

Tavis Smiley doesn't know it, but he's been a mentor to me since I read his book Doing What's Right back in 2000. Much of what I do today is based on seeds that were planted in his book who's subtitle is "How to fight for what you believe-and make a difference. " I called my cable company threatening to leave when BET and Bob Johnson relieved Tavis of his duties. And I followed him to NPR and listened to his commentary on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Unbeknownst to Tavis (how could he know since he doesn't know he's my mentor), we've gotten crossways over the last couple years. I probably couldn't put my finger on exactly why for the most part, but I just haven't been able to latch on to his message like I used to. Still, I always try to make it out to see Mr. Smiley when he's in town and I always try to pick up his latest book. When he started (what I feel like was) questioning the legitimacy of Barack Obama's candidacy, I wondered if Tavis had lost the pulse of Black Americans that he had been so ...

Here are the sights from the Belmont Hotel Dallas and "Get Into the City" last week.  Plenty of food, plenty of fun, and congrats to Starsky and Kristin Hall who won a free night stay in a Garden Suite.  They are celebrating an anniversary this week.

One of my biggest frustration in the three years I've been blogging is my inablility to connect with the local black media. I'm not sure if Dallas South is seen as a threat or just insignificant, but most of my attempts at outreach to local black papers and radio have been rebuffed. Though I've found plenty of champions in the mainstream media that the I'm so critical of, there are only two members African-American outlets that have been excited about working with us : Willis Johnson and Gordon Jackson. I first met Mr. Jackson while he was at the Dallas Examiner. The very first time I exchanged cards with him was at Friendship-West's Faith Summit on Poverty during a session on media. Since then I've bumped into Mr. Jackson at numerous events including last summer at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He even asked me to participate in the Examiner's Monday night political forums during the November election cycle. When the Examiner decided to relieve Mr. Jackson of his Managing Editor duties (economy related savings measure), I was befuddled. But I still saw Jackson covering events while he waited for his next opportunity to show itself. ...

Petition for Congressional Hearings against Taser Torture According to Amnesty International, 351 people have died for one reason or another after being stunned with Taser guns since June 2001 (Star-Telegram). Most recently Michael Jacobs Jr., 24 years old died after being stunned with a Taser in front of his Ft. Worth home. .And yet this issues of stun gun deaths has yet to make even a blip on the national radar screen. We are not against the use of Taser guns. We are against the indiscriminate use of the weapon and for the recognition that it is deadly. Delivering a 50,000 volt to the human body without knowing what issues that the person might have is not a proper use of justice. The weapon has a place it trying to avoid shooting a suspect. But officers sometimes use tasers when they aren't even threatened. Just look at the cases that I've written about in the last couple of years regarding this weapon. Taser Death in Winfield, Louisiana - August 14, 2008 Black Couple Tasered While Shopping (December, 2007) Dallas Area Man Tasered after he calls 911 - (December 2007) Wichita Police Taser Deaf Man (December 2007) Black Man Tasered in Austin on Traffic ...

On Friday, members of the AfroSpear will participate in "Day of Blogging for Justice: Standing Up Against the Police Pre-Trial Electrocution." This effort is open to all bloggers who would like to see law enforcement recognize the deadly nature of this weapon and use it properly. This is in response to the taser death of Michael Jacobs, Jr. in front of his Ft. Worth home last Saturday. Ft. Worth police chief Police Chief Jeff Halstead promised a thorough investigation of the incident. The rules of Blogging for Justice are simple: Share a post on your blog focused on your concerns about the tasering of Blacks folks. Send an email to AfricanAmericanPoliticalPundit@gmail.com so that we may document everyone's participation. This is not the first time we have tried to highlight the lethal nature of Tasers, and it probably won't be the last. But hopefully each time more people will become aware of the misuse of tasers across the country.