diversifiedminds

I sat down on Saturday and watched Michael Steele on DL Hughley Breaks the News (that show is great. Consider it fully recommended by yours truly). I had to admit that I really started to like Steele. His description of the Republican Party that he learned to love growing up really sounded like the party that I could support or at the very least understand. I was even more impressed with how he was willing to stand up to Rush Limbaugh and admit that some of his stuff is "ugly" "divisive" and "entertainment". It was a profound comment coming from as he put it "the de facto leader of the Republican party." But alas the love affair with Steele was short lived yet again. On Monday morning Mr. Limbaugh decided that he wanted to attack Steele on his radio show. Limbaugh essentially gave Steele orders as to what he needs to do to bring back the GOP. And what did Steele do later that day. He apologized to Rush and in the same token offended many peopl...

So as race has become front and center during the past week, Attorney General Eric Holder has entered the fray. In a speech given to commemorate Black History Month last week Attorney General Holder made some very interesting commentary regarding race matters in the United States. "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards...On Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not, in some ways, differ significantly from the country that existed some 50 years ago. This is truly sad." Eric Holder showed a huge level of courage to make this comment. Now many people may take exception to the use of the word "coward." I can understand most people's apprehension to the word. Having looked at the comment in its entirety, it can not be denied that there is some merit to the term. During the course of this country's history ...

To my readers, In my last post I made a careless mistake. It was brought to my attention that I used a term that has been historically viewed as racist. At the time I was writing I was not aware that the term (call a spade a spade) had racial connotations. After researching the term and its meaning, I sincerely offer my apology. My intentions were merely to use a colloquial statement to illustrate a point. If my use of the phrase was viewed by anyone as the wrong use of words at best, or racially intolerant and/or insensitive at worst, then I apologize. While I don't believe in censorship, in the future I will use better judgment when using words or phrases. Especially when those words or phrases can be used to offend the people that I aim to advocate for. Thanks for understanding Now see New York Post, this is a proper apology. What you all put out last night stands as one of the most disrespectful mea culpas that I ever have seen. I would have accepted the ubiquitous "we ...

In today's edition of the New York Post, there was a cartoon in the editorial section that can only be described as racist. I am warning those who feel that this is not that I am about to go in hard on this article. I expect people to be offended, just as I was offended when I awoke to this disgusting cartoon in the newspaper this morning. Admittedly the cartoon on its face does not appear racist. Had the image of the cops shooting the chimp been left alone, it would have been viewed by many animal lovers as insensitive, but that would have been the end of the furor. Its the accompanying text combined with the imagery that is causing the uproar around the country. Now I must be a downright fool to believe what Col Allan, editor in chief of the New York Post said in his comments today. "The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy." I urge ...

Let me be one to applaud the RNC on their selection of Michael Steele as RNC Chairman. While there may be countless liberal naysayers who will say that Steele's selection is a way to appease the populace. I for one tend to think otherwise for a multitude of reasons. I believe that if the RNC wanted to continue down the path that they have been going, they easily could have. There was no compelling reason that the voting members had to select a black chairman. While keeping a white man would have been viewed by many as keeping the party status quo , I do not believe that there would have been as much of an outcry against it. In fact I believe that by selecting a black chairman, the RNC has stepped out in a huge way, making it known to conservative people of color that the time to hear their voices is now. Picking a moderate conservative is also a huge move for the RNC . Many had debated since the election about the path that the Republican Party should choose to go. Some people ...

The mighty Rush Limbaugh strikes again! One day after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Mr. Limbaugh was already up to his old tricks. The story goes that a few days before the end of Bush's term, a newspaper publication asked Bush to mark the end of his term with 400 words on his hope for the Obama administration. Mr. Limbaugh took this moment to define his own hope, or lack thereof for President Obama. The following is what he said. "My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, 'Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance.' Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want ...

So I have been delaying this post for some time. For the first time in my life I feel that my words are inadequate to describe an experience. For those that know me well, that is a rarity. But after many requests, here goes my experience on Inauguration Day. My true inauguration experience began Monday night. My friends and I decided that we wanted to head downtown and see some of the monuments and the sights of the city. As we got off at the Smithsonian stop, the amount of people mulling around was amazing. It was well after sunset and thousands of people were milling around the Mall, taking in the moment that was a few hours away. We walked around, took pictures, saw the Capital and the Washington Monument and just breathed in the air and energy that was around us. After dinner we headed back to the station to head back and prepare for the day. While in the station we saw many people with blankets, pillows and sleeping bags heading in the direction that we were coming from. They all ...

It appeared that it was highly unlikely that I was going to make it down to DC this weekend for inauguration festivities. Financially things were tight and I did not see a clear way of me making this happen. My mom asked me Thursday if I thought I was going down. Clearly things did not look promising... But a divine intervention would have it, I awoke Friday to a check in the mail from my grandfather. It was the Christmas money that he had promised. The way I saw it, it was destined for me to make it to DC. I scrounged together some more last minute cash and booked my ticket. Nothing was going to stop me now. As I awoke Saturday morning and began the trip to the bus station, there was an interesting feel in the air. I had made a few trips to DC for a few big events, the most recent being the Million More March and the Affirmative Action March. But there was a decidedly different feel this time. With those times there was a sense of anger and frustration in the journey. Anger and frust...

The murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland this past New Year's Day has struck a cord unlike any case of police misconduct that I have seen in quite some time. Essentially Mr. Grant and a group of people were stopped and removed from a train based on the belief that they were involved in a fight. This on the surface seems fine and in compliance with departmental guidelines. What occurred next is the inexcusable part. Mr. Grant sat along a wall and as the police attempted to handcuff the young man, he appears to put up somewhat of a struggle. As one cop is trying to hold him down, the other cop tried to handcuff him. What shocked me next was what that officer did. As he is trying to subdue Mr. Grant, he reaches into his right side and pulls out his service revolver and fires his gun into the back of Mr. Grant. Ultimately that was the shot that killed him. What separated this case from many recent police misconduct cases was the fact that everything was caught on tape. The aftermath of th...

Last week a member of the Republican National Committee member Chip Saltzman sent out a CD to all the members of the RNC as a Christmas gift. The CD, according to Saltzman was supposed to be a parody of sorts, aiming to poke fun at some of the members of the Democratic Party, as well as issues pertaining to democratic politics. Among the names of some of the songs were "Love Client #9" as well as "Down on the Farm with Al Gore." The song that drew the most reaction was entitled "Barack the Magic Negro." The song, which was set to the beat of Peter, Paul and Mary's famous "Puff the Magic Dragon" created a stir not only for its message, but for the voice on the CD. The singer of the song clearly sounds like a white man trying to imitate a black voice. Now this song is by no means new. It appeared on the Rush Limbaugh show during the campaign and was roundly criticized for its insensitive nature. Clearly Saltzman forgot about this. Saltzman ...

Let me begin by saying that I have never seen the impact of racism in modern-day America so blatantly practiced than in the state of coaching in Div-1 college football. I have always believed that racism today is much more institutionalized than in your face. College football has not only proved that. It is my belief that college football has become the equivalent to the old-boy's club. And one of the only ways to join this network is to be a white man. In 2004 Tyrone Willingham was fired from the University of Notre Dame. At the time I thought he was given an unfair deal. In 2002, his first year at Notre Dame Willingham began the season 8-0 and won 10 games becoming the only first-year coach in Notre Dame history to win 10 games. For his efforts he was named the ESPN/Home Depot College Coach of the Year, the Scripps College Coach of the Year, the Black Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year and the George Munger Award College Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Football C...

President-Elect Barack Obama has decided to have the pastor of Saddleback Church in California deliver his invocation at his inauguration. Rick Warren has one of the best selling books in history, The Purpose Driven Life and is regarded as one of the leaders of the Evangelical Christian movement. His role at the inauguration would be fairly minimal. He would be blessing the ceremony and essentially that would be it. While his role is minimal, it is regarded as an important one by many. Gay rights activists and others have become enraged at Obama's selection of this man to deliver the invocation. Many regard his stance against homosexual marriage as the number one issue as to why they are against him. Others decry his stance on abortion as another reason that he should not deliver the invocation. My opinion is that anyone Obama picked to deliver his invocation would be a huge issue. As long as you are picking someone who is a religious figure, more often than not their stance on ...

Now I have resisted putting in my two cents on the current state of legal affairs that athletes have found themselves in during the past two weeks. Well the time for this is over. The gloves are off! O.J. Simpson: What the hell! Now if I got off on two counts of first-degree murder, when all of the evidence in the case either pointed to me doing it or knowing who did it, I would probably join a religious order and keep my ass quiet. Not this guy. He ends up trying to rob people of merchandise that technically he would have to sell anyway to pay off his settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit. Once he got arrested it became increasingly clear that he was going to get the punishment he deserved. Once I saw the make-up of the jury (all-white with the only blacks being selected as alternates) I knew he was done. And I could not be more happier. God doesn't like ugly. And O.J. represented all that was ugly. I think the funniest thing about this case is that O.J. was willing to take a...

Every now and again its important to take stock in the friendships that you have, and more importantly, why those friendships are important. I had the chance to come back to my university this past weekend and reconnect with some old friends. The dynamic is always interesting. Most of the people that I know who still attend my college were freshmen during my senior year and are now seniors themselves. I have kept in touch with them, been there as a resource when they needed and am quite impressed with where they all have reached. But coming back and really chilling with them is always interesting because it is sometimes easy to remember them for the young freshmen that they were and not the adults that they now have become. But after a few minutes the realization is there( lol ). We had the chance to chill, kick back, discuss life, and just live in the moment. What always impresses me about having gone to Boston College is the amount of respect and love that one gets when coming back, ...

This past weekend I decided to head up to my alma mater, Boston College, for the Voices of Imani Winter Concert. The Voices of Imani is a gospel choir that was founded over 30 years ago. Over time the choir has become one of the fundamental pieces for students of color and white students to come together and sing and praise. What struck me most about this year's concert was the true diversity of the choir. In years past there have been people of various races who sang with the choir. This year it was much more pronounced. I have always believed that the Voices of Imani served a much larger purpose than just bringing people together to sing gospel music. The choir was and is the reason that many students of color were able to complete Boston College. It served as a home away from home, the place to build and maintain a new family, as well as the fundamental unit for people who want a non-Catholic experience at Boston College to feel at home. These aspects are transcendent regar...

Yesterday was an historic day for Prep For Prep. The program celebrated its 30 th anniversary. The celebration took on two crucial components. A convocation was held at Columbia University where various key figures in the Prep community spoke, were honored and reflected on the impact of the program during the past 30 years. The program also received an official proclamation from Mayor Michael Bloomberg recognizing Saturday November 29, 2008 as Prep For Prep Day. A new award was even created in honor of Prep's founder Gary Simons . The other aspect of the celebration involved an alumni dinner at Riverside Baptist Church. It was a great time. Having the chance to reconnect with some crucial figures in my life, as well as create some new connections was amazing. It was great to see the community come together and really let loose in the spirit of the occasion . Every alumnus who spoke at yesterday's convocation was asked to describe their most important Prep memory and why it im...

As I awoke yesterday morning to the new Al Qaeda audiotape, I was shocked at the content in it. Now we all know that Al Qaeda is notorious for vitriolic messages, but there was something especially strong in this particular one. Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman Al- Zawahiri issued a taped message insulting Americans, and Obama specifically. He referred to Obama, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and their "likes" as "house slaves ( negroes )." He furthermore said that Obama was not an authentic black leader like Malcolm X. Let me attack this from a series of angles. 1) It is very clear that Al- Zawahiri has been reading some of the books that Malcolm X wrote. Clearly as one runs around and ducks the American and coalition forces in Afghanistan, living in caves and the like, there must be considerable time to read. And in all likelihood the way that he became attuned to Malcolm X was through an American member of the Taliban, as some of his recent taped mes...

It was announced today that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Eric Holder to be the next Attorney General of the United States. His selection marks the first time in history that an African-American has been selected to head this vital government agency. I believe that this selection will have far-reaching implications, the likes of which we may not know for some time. The role of the Justice Department is an important, yet slightly unknown role to most people. The role of the department is: "To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." This is a rather broad definition, but one that holds considerable amounts of weight in some key instances. When it comes to C...

A recent and rather disturbing trend has sprung up the New York area since the election of Barack Obama last week. Three major instances of hate crimes have sprung up, with direct ties to the selection of Obama. Two occurred on Staten Island and one occurred on Long Island. In the incident on Long Island as well as one of the incidents on Staten Island vandals spray painted swastikas, anti-Obama messages as well as racist commentary on signs, cars and property. In the Staten Island case the vandals referenced murdering Obama. As a result the State Department, Secret Service as well as the Department Of Justice has been called in. The second case on Staten Island is even more disturbing. On the evening of the election, an 18 year old black male allegedly was assaulted by four white men who shouted out Obama's name as they beat him with a baseball bat. The injuries were severe enough to require staples to close a head wound as well as crutches for an injured leg. The sheer violence...

Full disclosure: I am a straight man that supports gay marriage. While Tuesday was undoubtedly one of the seminal days in the history of America, especially significant to Black America, an event took place in California that concerns me. Proposition 8 was an amendment to the California Constitution that aimed to limit the legal definition of marriage to that between a man and a woman, thus banning gay marriage. The amendment passed with over 52% of the vote. I fully expected this to occur. It is clear that America is not a country that is ready for gay marriage (even our new president has stated that he is against it, but in support of "strong civil unions.") What concerns me the most is that 70% of the black voters who voted for President-Elect Obama voted for this amendment. In all likelihood the large number of black voters were the exact ones who allowed this amendment to pass. The ramifications of this move are quite jarring. As with everything I do I tend to look at th...