Beer Summit

It all goes down this evening in Washington,D.C.--the Beer Summit with
Officer James Crowley, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and President Obama.

The media will not be able to broadcast it live, but I'm sure we'll
see some pictures from "the meeting" that will be on the evening news
and on various websites/ blogs.

Cheers!

Wailing on Whalen

Lucia Whalen, the woman that placed the telephone call to the Cambridge Police Department to report the possible break-in taking place at Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s home, is now being barraged with telephone calls at her place of employment, Harvard University.

I'm pleased to read that she would like the 911 calls released to the public, so that everyone in Massachusetts and the media will hear that she never used race when she placed that telephone call. It's being reported by Boston.com.

May I swim here? NO, because you're.......

The weather has made it difficult for some of Worcester's youth to swim, and the lack of open pools also pose an issue as well, but at least we don't have blatant discrimination situations such as that which took place in Philadelphia, PA taking place in Worcester.

Sixty (60) Black camp goers from The Creative Steps Camp of North Philly were turned away by John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club because "there was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion ... and the atmosphere of the club."

What?!


Read the full story here.

People: Black Folks

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend about the
latest scandals involving Chuck Turner and Dianne Wilkerson and my
friend asked me very candidly,"Do you think that because they're both
Black, it will have a negative impact on other Blacks that choose to
run for office?".

It took me awhile to gather my thoughts and then I responded that it
will have an impact on any Black person who decides to run and folks
will be asking some very pointed questions, as they should of any
person running for a public office. Also, it will take a very
"special" (read into that however you'd like) to run for office in
Boston.

Yes, with the latest "pay to play" shenanigans taking place in
Illinois with Governor Blagojevich, I've always assumed it was taking
place, but now we're seeing folks, of all colors, going down for being
Greedy Geniuses.

Being a public servant takes a certain make-up and some folks enter
politics to stroke their ego, even though they say they're entering
"the ring of fire" because they want to help make changes and what
better way to do so, than from the inside. Yeah, it sounds good when
it's coming out of their mouth, but there is a level of cynicism to
not get your hopes up. Maybe that's why so many folks jumped on the
Obama bandwagon?

We talk about change and the need for more Positive Innovators (PIs),
and some of us may even pray for the "good people" but it's still hard
not to become numb to politics, especially when it affects us all so
deeply.

So, with Wilkerson and Turner fighting to clear their respective
names, I say if you got caught, admit it and then move on. You've
already put a crack in the foundation and there is no need for the
wrecking ball to be called in. And if you did nothing wrong then
"Fight The Power" like Public Enemy!

Tim Wise: Creation of Whiteness

This is a clip from The Pathology of Privilege: Racism, White Denial & the Costs of Inequality, the newly released video from the Media Education Foundation. The video is of a speech given by Tim Wise at Mt. Holyoke College, October 1, 2007.

Family & the President

(Taken as a excerpt from Mr. Ballentine's website Reparations: The Blog......)
(Mr. Ballentine pictured on the right.)

Tonight I watched the documentary: Meeting David Wilson on MSNBC. After the documentary they had a discussion on race in America. Now, it was only a start. And, some may be slighted that they were not chosen to be on the panel. But, this is only a start. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I applaud MSNBC: not because anything profound was stated, but because a barrier was cracked.

Reparations are found in discussions on race in America.

No, these discussions are not the end...they are only a means to the end - a start point or foundation from which we may proceed. As David A. Wilson (Black David) stated, the conversation tonight was very academic. The conversation threw around Ph.D-level terms that average Americans will not understand. And, understanding comes not at collegiate levels but amongst common sense circles.

Read the rest of the story at Reparations: The Blog

Black History Month Spotlight: Oklahoma

A little known fact about Oklahoma is the Greenwood neighborhood was known as "Negro Wall Street" (commonly referred to today as "the Black Wall Street") due to a number of prominent black businessmen and families.

The oil boom of the 1910s were very good to many and blacks benefited as well.

Race

When a farmer leaves the doors to his barn open, the animals get out and the wolves typically enter. Well, such seems to be the case today, a day after “Black Thursday” where there were many people in Jena, LA supporting the famously-known Jena 6.

People made their way to Jena, Louisiana, population 2,867 in 2006, to show their support for the 6 black male high-school students who beat-up a white male high-school student due to their being a beef over the self-marked white-only-tree, that white students hung nooses on after black students decided to cool out under the tree.

Now, we at Worcester Is MAJOR! ™ do not condone violence or excessive use of force to make a point, so we go on record to state that the Jena 6 should be punished for their actions, but certainly not to the extent to which they’ve been prosecuted.

The pundits have hit the airwaves and are condemning those that marched in Jena, LA, Washington, D.C. and in any city were there was a gathering of people showing their support for a fair trial.

After yesterday’s news coverage and visible sign of solidarity, are the young men in Jena, LA going to get a “fair” trial? I certainly hope so, now that the world has seen the case on national television. But the question that begs to be asked still remains…. what is going to come of race relations in the United States?

This is the million dollar question that no one seems to have an answer for, especially in this day and age when there are more and more family that are multi-ethnic and multi-racial in their make-up.

People in the United States have been able travel more and have become exposed to more and more people of various backgrounds and cultures, thus there are more opportunities to learn and become more worldly.

Do you believe that cases such as the Jena 6 set us back in race relations? Feel free to post a comment or email us here.

News: A hate crime in WV?

On Wednesday (Sept. 12th) it was reported that the six white suspects accused of torturing Megan Williams for almost a week will not face federal hate crime charges. Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said his office would pursue other charges first because they carry stiffer penalties. West Virginia’s hate crime law carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

It was also reported that Megan Williams dated one of her attackers, Bobby Brewster. This may undermine the hate crime law, which applies to crimes motivated by racial hatred and not by non-race-related conflicts.

It was widely reported that Williams was assaulted with a knife, while being taunted with racial slurs. So, just because she dated and knew the attackers this isn’t a hate crime? Some people are saying that this is a good/bad thing.

What do you think?

Related Links:
Hate Crimes Decision Causes Stir (ABC News)
Family Calls For Hate Crime Charges in Rape and Torture Case (WOWK-TV)