A 2008 DNCC Credentialed Democratic National Convention Blogger
An old school brother who gives his thoughts, opinions and insights on political and social issues of the day.
He shares this blog platform with others interested in candid, honest reciprocal conversation about political and social issues impacting our diverse American communities.
AAPP is available for political conversations, speaking engagements, panel discussions, interviews, academic discussion groups and other events.
NOTICE: This blog represents the authors' personal political views, observations and opinions. This blog and the -Blog Talk Radio Program,
African American political Slugfest, does not represent the views of the authors' employers, contractors or agencies.
Copyright 2008 - 2012
If you use any material, it is requested that you please link back to this blog or credit African American Political Pundit.com for the material that you use.
African American Political Pundit owns, and will always own, the intellectual property rights to material I post herein (excluding external content and links). All external content and links that are used in this blog are to external sites and cannot be verified. I cannot be held responsible if any of the links used in this blog are changed or modified in any way.
He leans to the left and right for balance - calling it the way he sees it. He is a former Democrat, turned Republican, now an Independent "swing voter;" who is politically biased, pretending to be neutral.
I'm proud to say this blog has received national and international coverage and recognition. The Washington Post's Antonia Vargas has noted that African American Political Pundit.com along with Anderson at Large, Field Negro, Jack and Jill Politics are the more prominent blogs in the growing Afrosphere and are must-go-to sites. More HERE
Also in The Washington Post Darryl Fears points out "The new black revolution, as singer Gil Scott-Heron famously predicted, is not being televised - It is raging online. More HERE
Check out what other news outlets are saying about African American Political Pundit.com
Blogger LN Rock of africanamericanpoliticalpundit.com predicts the blogosphere will have a "significant" role in deciding the election in November. "It tells the story when you have 120 bloggers coming to the convention," he says. "Millions of people listen, watch and hear what the bloggers say. There is a disenchantment with the traditional media." He spares the BBC his criticism, saying we are "creative media." Cheers, LN.
Another blog that was given credentials to attend the Convention, African American Political Pundit, sites its owner as “an old school brother who gives his thoughts, opinions and insights on political and social issues of the day.” The blog is shared with various other contributors who write about social issues affecting their community.
Another police beat-down of a black kid. Another case caught on tape. How many don't get caught on tape? There is something going on with this folks, there is a "national beat down of the black community" and no one in the civil rights community is saying much of anything.
What does it mean to be a black blogger? Farai Chideya takes a closer look at the "Blogging While Brown" conference in Atlanta, Ga. Plus, a new study suggests "sounding black" can affect your salary. Our bloggers join in an experiment to see if they can decipher race by voice alone. The panel includes Danielle Belton of Black Snob, L.N. Rock — also known as the African American Political Pundit — and Richard Graves of DJ Black Adam.
"I don't get the excuses they make. It's almost insulting. All they'd have to do was do the outreach," said blogger L.N. Rock, known online as the African American Political Pundit. "It's almost as extreme as 'we couldn't find any black people for that position.'"
The rhetorical shots fired at the Democratic Party have quickly escalated. Rock, and Francis L. Holland, who runs the Francis Holland Blog, are two vocal representatives of the black blog organization known as the Afrosphere who feel strongly that the blogger pool has been skewed. Both likened the Democratic National Convention Committee's credentialing process to the Jim Crow laws that mandated segregation in blog entries and press releases sent to readers.
Is DNC Excluding Black bloggers? Since the Democratic National Committee announced its state blogger corps two weeks ago, critics have been charging that the selection process is flawed. The group of 55 bloggers, they contend, is not diverse enough. While the DNC says race wasn't a factor, the Washington Post reports that some aren't satisfied. L.N. Rock, a Silver Spring-based information technology professional and founder of the African American Political Pundit blog, likens this "black shut-out" in the State Corps to an "I'm sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired" Fannie Lou Hamer moment. The civil rights activist and Mississippian challenged her state's all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic convention.
[S]ome members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president. “OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.
Democrats consider affirmative action a cornerstone of their national agenda, but some minority bloggers say the party isn’t practicing what it preaches. But some members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president. “OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.
Black community increasingly protective of Obama - Smiley "did a disservice to the black community," said L.N. Rock, the blogger known as the African American Political Pundit. He noted that Smiley billed the New Orleans gathering as an event for the people. But while the people agreed with Obama's compromise of dispatching his wife, Michelle, to speak in his stead, Smiley balked. "He should have been hammered for that," Rock said.
Today at 10 AM ET, The LiberalOasis Radio Show was broadcast on WHMP-AM in Western MA. My special guests were the African-American Political Pundit who discussed the upcoming primaries in Virginia and Maryland.
7. ArtCareer.net A resource for careers in the visual arts.
8.ArtJobOnline.com A resource to find comprehensive, up-to-date national listings of jobs, internships, fellowships, and other employment opportunities in the arts.
57. Youth Development Job Listings Positions available for those looking to work with youth compiled by the National Youth Development Information Center.
African American Political Pundit An old school brother, who gives his thoughts, opinions and insights on political and social issues of the day. He shares this blog platform with others interested in candid, honest reciprocal conversation about political and social issues impacting our diverse American communities
Custom Search
Subscribe to African American Political Pundit's Discussion Group
It's interesting that Europe in sending two missions to promote a cease-fire and America is doing nothing as world leaders, diplomats converge on Israel in push for truce. Now we learn that foreign press are being barred from Gaza. I guess to try to cover up that Israel continues to destroy mosques and homes of Hamas activists. It's becoming clear that Israel may just be a strategic liability for the United States. As Sydney J. Freedberg recently noted, As Israel escalates its efforts to root Hamas and its rocket launchers out of Gaza, the global reaction is increasingly negative -- except in the United States. Washington provides Israel with diplomatic backing, U.N. Security Council vetoes of "anti-Zionist" resolutions, and of course $3 billion a year in military aid. But what does Israel provide in return? Yes, Israel and America cooperate on counterterrorism, but how many of the groups on which Israel provides intelligence would be gunning for the United States if it wasn't supporting Israel? Setting aside for a moment the emotional and religious anchors of the U.S.-Israel alliance, what is its value to the United States in practical, realpolitik terms?
WaPo and Reuters reports: Combat between Israeli troops and Hamas militants raged on Monday as Israel pressed home its ground assault in Gaza in the face of French-led diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire. The offensive will go on until communities in Israel were safe from Hamas rocket strikes, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. But Hamas said militants were justified in attacking Israeli schools and synagogues in response to the Israeli onslaught, in which about 530 Palestinians have been killed in 1O days. The death toll in besieged Gaza mounted on Monday. Victims included three children and their mother when a tank shell hit their home in Gaza city, Palestinian medics said. More Here
AAPP asks: What do you think. Is Israel a strategic liability for the United States?
It looks like the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate really dont like black people. oh, they may like a Mutt, but blacks folks need not be selected.
AllahPundit also says, he Harry Reid) also warned him away from Rep. Danny Davis and State Sen. Emil Jones but assured him that Tammy Duckworth and AG Lisa Madigan would be acceptable.
Fun fact: Jackson, Davis and Jones are black, Duckworth and Madigan aren’t. Over to you, Bobby Rush!
Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election…
Sources believe that at least portions of the phone conversations are on tape…
“Congressman Jackson was encouraged that two independent statewide polls confirmed that he was the most popular Democrat to succeed Barack,” Jackson spokesman Rick Bryant said. “The polls also showed he was in a strong position to win reelection in 2010, drawing strong support from virtually every demographic group.”
AAPP: In many ways this is just another modern day concentrated attempt to restrict real black men from the Senate. It reminds me of the election of the first black US Senator, Senator Revels who met with opposition from Southern conservative Democrats. How things like color arousal never change. More HERE
The Chicago Tribune, and other media outlets are reporting on when Barack Obama places his hand on a Bible to be sworn into office on Jan. 20, Barack Obama plans to use the holy book used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861.
The selection maintains the Obama practice of encouraging historical comparisons with the 16th president, who was the first from Illinois and one of the next president's longtime favorites.
.
In announcing his presidential bid in February 2007, Obama picked the Old State Capitol in Springfield, where Lincoln had served. He also plans to follow Lincoln's example by taking a train to Washington for his inauguration. More HERE
The bible Abraham Lincoln used on Inauguration Day in 1861 was on display Tuesday in Washington. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
AAPP: As quiet as it may be kept, many African Americans are wondering whether Barack Obama is continuing Americanmythology that Abraham Lincoln was "the great emancipator" who freed Blacks with a stroke of the pen out of the goodness of his heart?
Is Lerone Bennett right when he writes, "the mythology of "the great emancipator" has become a partof themental landscape of America. Generations of schoolchildren have memorized its cadences. Poets, politicians, and long-suffering Blacks have wept over its imagery and drama."
Yes, Lerone Bennett, and others are having none of this, About.com notes that in his book, Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream, black American author, Lerone Bennett, presents historic evidence supporting the theory that Abraham Lincoln was, in fact, a devoted racist harboring a life-long desire to see all black Americans deported to Africa. Bennett suggests that as a young politician in Illinois, Lincoln regularly used racial slurs in speeches, told racial jokes to his black servants, and vocally opposed any new laws that would have bettered the lives of black Americans.
Key to Bennett's thesis is the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation which, Bennett argues, Lincoln was forced into issuing by the powerful abolitionist wing of his own party. Bennett asserts that Lincoln carefully worded the document to apply only to the rebel Southern states, which were not under Union control at the time, thus resulting in an Emancipation Proclamation that did not in itself free a single slave. At one point, Bennett quotes William Henry Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state, who referred to the proclamation as a hollow, meaningless document showing no more than, "our sympathy with the slaves by emancipating the slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free." Henry Clay Whitney, a close friend of Lincoln, is quoted by Bennett as saying the proclamation was "not the end designed by him (Lincoln), but only the means to the end, the end being the deportation of the slaves and the payment for them to their masters - at least to those who were loyal."Bennett asserts that Lincoln often put forth plans for deporting the slaves to Africa both before and during his presidency. More HERE
Note: as reported by Nathaniel Turner.com Lerone Bennett's work at Ebony resulted in Bennett's first book, a seminal work, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, 1619-1962. The book, with its comprehensive examination of the history of African Americans in the United States, gave Bennett a reputation as a first-rate popular historian. In his eight subsequent books, Bennett has continued to document the historical forces shaping the black experience in the United States. His other works include, What Manner of Man?, Pioneers In Protest and The Shaping of Black America. More HERE
I feel really angry about Isreal's attacks on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip - so angry that I cannot read the newspaper reports about the hundreds of children and their parents being killed there, as well as the utter devastation of the Palestinian Homeland. And I feel angry that US dollars and political support are fundamental in these attacks.
I agree with African American Political Pundit that this obliteration of Gaza is motivated more by cynical domestic Israeli politics (elections coming up) than by any need to confront Hamas militarily at this level.
Now that Blagojevich has snubbed everyone in his state the courant.com reports that the U.S. Senate leadership has developed an elaborate set of contingency plans Wednesday to keep Roland Burris from taking over Barack Obama's seat, the disputed appointee promised not to "create a scene" when the Senate convenes next week.
There is more, as reported by enotes, Perhaps. The Senate has the right to expel a member of the Senate but whether they can refuse to seat a legally appointed new member is open to question. The argument rests on two parts of the Constitution.
Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution states that "Each house [Senate or House of Representatives] shall be the judge of elections, returns and qualifications of its own members . . ." In addition, "Each house may expel a member." During its entire history, the Senate has expelled 15 members. But these were members who were already part of the Senate.
The 17th amendment to the Constitution states :"When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies." In other words, the governor shall appoint a successor when a vacancy occurs.
Refusing to seat a new,duly appointed Senator may only be possible if the Senate has some indication that his appointment was corrupt. Since they have no such knowledge that Burris' appointment was corrupt, many constitutional experts say that to refuse to seat him would deny the citizens of Illinois proper representation in Congress. According to ABC news," . . election law attorneys said that senators may not have the constitutional power to refuse to admit Burris into the Senate without some indication that his appointment was corrupt." Thus, it is unclear what will happen if Burris attempts to take his seat. More HERE
If Burris shows up Tuesday to claim the seat given to him by disgraced IllinoisGov. Rod Blagojevich, the potential outcomes range from a denial of entry to a limbo where he can hire staff but not vote.
On Wednesday, Burris' lawyers took the first legal action in what could be a prolonged court fight, seeking to force a reluctant Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to certify Blagojevich's paperwork making the appointment.
Should Burris appears in Washington without that certification, armed police officers stand ready to bar him from the Senate floor, said a Democratic official briefed on Senate leaders' plans.
Leadership also is considering the possibility of Blagojevich appearing in person to escort Burris. Ironically, the scandal-plagued governor would be allowed onto the Senate floor, since sitting governors are allowed floor privileges, while Burris would not without certification. Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said the governor had not decided whether he will appear in Washington next week with Burris.
Democratic leaders hope to avoid any standoff, and in an interview with the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Burris said he hoped to claim the Senate seat without added drama.
Well the good folks at Black commentator are reporting about a bond hearing in Berrien County, Michigan on December 24, 2008, in which Rev. Edward Pinkney’s was released from prison, but denied freedom of speech. Judge Dennis Wiley set Rev. Pinkney’s bond at ten thousand dollars. Dorothy Pinkney [Rev. Pinkney’s wife] was able to come up with the bail money and Pinkney was released Christmas Eve and arrived home in time for Christmas. More HERE
Michigan ALCU Director Michael Steinberg told BC: “There are a lot of restrictions.” According to Steinberg, Judge Wiley’s list of restrictions for Rev. Pinkney include the following:
24/7 curfew,
no use of a cell phone,
no speech making,
no campaigning,
and he can attend church only with permission from the court.
Furthermore, Rev. Pinkney must be “tethered,” that is, “fitted for a tether”. In short, Rev. Pinkney is to be shackled, in his home, and denied freedom of speech! The Michigan ACLU will follow up with appeals.
Honorable Jennifer Granholm Michigan Department of Corrections Office of the Parole Board Pardons and Commutations Coordinator P.O. Box 30003 Lansing, Michigan, 4890e link9
The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune are reporting on how the walls of the majestic Republican Palace in Baghdad's Green Zone have been stripped bare. The vaults that secured American cash and classified documents are gone, and the cement blast walls that protected the front entrance were taken down this week. The U.S. military dining facility inside what was once the American Embassy served its last meal New Year's Eve.
"This is the end of the world as we know it," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick McDonald, 47, who co-authored a guide to historic sites in the Green Zone. "It's not like everyone is shredding documents and fleeing Saigon. But we are stepping away from a building."
Saddam Hussein had the palace compound's main building decorated with giant busts of himself to demonstrate his hold over Iraq. After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the palace came to symbolize the American role in the country, first as the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority and later the U.S. Embassy. American civilians and troops held "salsa night" dances around the pool behind the palace before retiring to trailers sheathed in sandbags. Read More HERE and HERE
It's time to shift our priorities from police departments taking on homeland security duties back to community policing. Maybe black voters can get the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to be relevant and get some funding for our U.S. Neighborhoods and communities like they voted for the bail out.
You remember that $700 billion dollar bailout supported by the CBC, in which banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year. MORE HERE
I hope the Obama administration will place more attention to community policing and crime prevention programs in local communities. We also need to increase funding for programs that work to fix broken families, broken schools, and broken communities. We need a Green Zone in black neighborhoods of America.
PS: For those authors like Steven Levitt, a University of Chicago economist and author of "Freakonomics," who is dismissing a study by Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox indicating a sharp rise in homicides by black teens as "Fear Mongering," they need to be less critical. No it's not fear mongering, it's really bring the conversation to the national stage. I have a feeling Steven Levitt's does not live in the black neighborhoods that have become black youth killing fields. I'm sure Steven Levitt would be talking differently if he or a member of his family died at the hands of black teen gun violence. At that point it would not be "fear mongering" it would be to sound the alarm and set up a Green Zones here in the U.S.
I'm proud to say this blog has received national and international coverage and recognition from the end of 2007, when The Washington Post's Antonia Vargas noted that African American Political Pundit.com along with Anderson at Large, Field Negro, Jack and Jill Politics are the more prominent blogs in the growing Afrosphere and are must-go-to sites. More HERE
Also in The Washington Post Darryl Fears points out "The new black revolution, as singer Gil Scott-Heron famously predicted, is not being televised - It is raging online. More HERE
Check out what other news outlets are saying about African American Political Pundit.com
Blogger LN Rock of africanamericanpoliticalpundit.com predicts the blogosphere will have a "significant" role in deciding the election in November. "It tells the story when you have 120 bloggers coming to the convention," he says. "Millions of people listen, watch and hear what the bloggers say. There is a disenchantment with the traditional media." He spares the BBC his criticism, saying we are "creative media." Cheers, LN.
Another blog that was given credentials to attend the Convention, African American Political Pundit, sites its owner as “an old school brother who gives his thoughts, opinions and insights on political and social issues of the day.” The blog is shared with various other contributors who write about social issues affecting their community.
Another police beat-down of a black kid. Another case caught on tape. How many don't get caught on tape? There is something going on with this folks, there is a "national beat down of the black community" and no one in the civil rights community is saying much of anything.
What does it mean to be a black blogger? Farai Chideya takes a closer look at the "Blogging While Brown" conference in Atlanta, Ga. Plus, a new study suggests "sounding black" can affect your salary. Our bloggers join in an experiment to see if they can decipher race by voice alone. The panel includes Danielle Belton of Black Snob, L.N. Rock — also known as the African American Political Pundit — and Richard Graves of DJ Black Adam.
"I don't get the excuses they make. It's almost insulting. All they'd have to do was do the outreach," said blogger L.N. Rock, known online as the African American Political Pundit. "It's almost as extreme as 'we couldn't find any black people for that position.'"
The rhetorical shots fired at the Democratic Party have quickly escalated. Rock, and Francis L. Holland, who runs the Francis Holland Blog, are two vocal representatives of the black blog organization known as the Afrosphere who feel strongly that the blogger pool has been skewed. Both likened the Democratic National Convention Committee's credentialing process to the Jim Crow laws that mandated segregation in blog entries and press releases sent to readers.
Is DNC Excluding Black bloggers? Since the Democratic National Committee announced its state blogger corps two weeks ago, critics have been charging that the selection process is flawed. The group of 55 bloggers, they contend, is not diverse enough. While the DNC says race wasn't a factor, the Washington Post reports that some aren't satisfied. L.N. Rock, a Silver Spring-based information technology professional and founder of the African American Political Pundit blog, likens this "black shut-out" in the State Corps to an "I'm sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired" Fannie Lou Hamer moment. The civil rights activist and Mississippian challenged her state's all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic convention.
[S]ome members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president. “OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.
Democrats consider affirmative action a cornerstone of their national agenda, but some minority bloggers say the party isn’t practicing what it preaches. But some members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president. “OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.
Black community increasingly protective of Obama - Smiley "did a disservice to the black community," said L.N. Rock, the blogger known as the African American Political Pundit. He noted that Smiley billed the New Orleans gathering as an event for the people. But while the people agreed with Obama's compromise of dispatching his wife, Michelle, to speak in his stead, Smiley balked. "He should have been hammered for that," Rock said.
Today at 10 AM ET, The LiberalOasis Radio Show was broadcast on WHMP-AM in Western MA. My special guests were the African-American Political Pundit who discussed the upcoming primaries in Virginia and Maryland.
But I'm not the only black political blogger who has received national and international coverage and recognition. Great Afrospear bloggers have been in the news throughout 2007 and 2008 as well.
Died of Colon Cancer - December 25, 2008. Born January 17, 1927. Best known as the 2nd Catwoman on the Batman TV series. Her best known song was the Christmas staple, Santa Baby.
Odetta
Died of Heart disease. - December 2, 2008. Born December 31, 1930. Best known as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement," Odetta was a folksinger and songwriter whose work influenced Bob Dylan.
