On Monday, October 22, presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton made a campaign stop in the
Four black leaders were on the platform in front of
Where is Brother Barack?
As the campaign proceeds and Senator Clinton continues to command strong support national wide by African-American voters, the question is— where is Brother Barack? Given Senator strong showing, will he reconsider visiting Valleycrats, who tend to be more conservative than their counterparts in the Bay Area and
Heard this one:
"The P.O. will DESTROY all remaining African American Heritage stamps at the end of the month instead of following their usual procedure of selling them"
This internet urban legend dates back to 2000, stating that the US Post Office will stop selling stamps depicting black American heroes and leaders and destroy the remaining in possession. The Post Office has made several official statements indicating that it has no intention of taking such actions against the Black Heritage Stamp series. On the contrary, on January 8, 2007 it issued its 26th consecutive stamp commemorating Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
But in the word of Reading Rainbow's Levar Burton, "don't take my word for it":
Snopes.com
(see the various forms of the hoax and the Post Office's multiple counter memos)
| Black on Black Mentorship. Collaborate with local universities and colleges, to set-up an African-American male mentorship programs to provide psychology and social guidance outside of the campus environment. Where do we recruit these mentors? United Black of Men, Fresno Black Peace Officers Association, Black churches, and other local black professional organizations. Community-campus networks. Black community organizations and concern citizens should connection to college athletic departments to create a social networks for the many black students recruited to our campuses, especially from outside the area who lack those relationships. Black Enterprise. Invest into the athletes' academic and professional development with internship and employment opportunities with black-led organizations and businesses. Outside of the approximately 10-15 individuals who will continue with a professional athletic career, the remainder have an immediate need to focus on preparing themselves life outside off the field. |
Black athletes and crime—Who’s responsible?
There are countless stories of black college athletes posed with celebrity, potential wealth and promising professional careers only to have those opportunities taken away due to criminal behavior and/or poor decisions. From the recent FSU football player, Jason Shirley and convicted murder Terry Pettis to even the
Here are some responses to an article on www.blackprof.com . I though to extract information from the comments but I think some of the issues could not be better stated.
Personal Responsibility
“Why are we supposed to feel sorry for them when they break the law? Are they not adults? Are they not over 18? See, I have a hard time feeling sorry for them when they go out there and break the law. It should be common sense, after all, they do live in
“I get it. They screwed up!!! They deserve whatever punishment they receive!!! You can't possibly see my posting as an apology for them. I always call for personal responsibility. But when schools make millions, they have a strategic opportunity to stop these boys from getting into trouble.”
Parents & Families
“Most people thus far as saying there need not be any community solutions because this is a ‘personal problem’. If they were raised properly by their parents by 18 they should be able to make some intelligent decisions. Some of the stuff these fools do is asinine.”
“Parents need to do their job. But let's deal with the reality on the ground. It's fair to call parents to do their job.”
In the recently published Come on People, co-authored by Bill Cosby it speaks to the lack of parenting and that many of the problems in the black family stem from absence of father and positive male figures. But is that the only possible response?
Universities
“Some believe universities have failed to supply young athletes with proper mentoring and active monitoring to protect them from over exposure and poor decision making. Of course, these young men bear responsibility for their actions as well. Yet, given the psychology of superstar status, celebrity and the rags to riches stories, most of these young men have in common, they are not nearly equipped to handle the transformation without guidance. Moreover, these young men generate, untold dollars in revenue for their respective schools. Surely, they can afford to expend a few dollars counseling and guiding them.”
“But, I also blame the colleges. The colleges need to have, on retainer, a hard middle-aged Black man that sits these folks down at the beginning of the semester and tells them the rules of
One reader, gave the following recommendations for colleges and universities to avoid further loss of life and livelihood:
1) Assign a guidance counselor and require check-ins.
2) Require counseling to explore their minds and make future recommendations tailored to their needs.
3) Require athletes to live on-campus in monitored facilities, in terms of going and coming. This would assist universities ability to limit the gift culture, access to alcohol, drugs and women.
4) Implement random drug testing and rehab for violations, not suspension.
It Takes a Village…
Why should young people be allowed to go down the wrong path because their parents' failed them? If others around them can see the problems ahead and take a few measured corrective steps to avoid calamity, where is the harm? It's wrong to watch someone go the wrong way if you can offer a word to steer them in the right direction.
I want you bloggers to consider the measured steps that can be taken to assist young athletes whose parents have failed them before they get into trouble. Remember when these young men go down, they take, in part, the dreams of many younger and older black boys and men with them. When we work together to help them, we help ourselves as well.
Darling Intl. is seeking to expand the capacity of their West Fresno rendering plant (795 W. Belgravia, Fresno, CA 93706) from 855,000 lbs to 1,500,00 lbs per day. It has been a long time standing odor nuisance in southwest
The SJV Air Quality Control District allowed Darling to install the equipment in 2006 but they weren't given permits to increase capacity as they are requesting now after public outcry. Since those permits were given, the HUD and City-funded HOPE VI housing development sponsored by the Fresno Housing Authority is slated to invest nearly $60M of housing surrounding the plant including the newly constructed LEED-certified preschool & community center. In addition, there are hundreds of new privately-funded housing units planned within 1 mi. radius of the plant.
We were initially told that the City has no legal jurisdiction in the matter though
In August 2007, the Air Board approved their new Environmental Justice Strategy. Ray Leon (Latino Issues Forum/Asthma-Air Advocate) , Kevin Hamilton (Sequoia Healthcare/Asthma-Air Advocate), Metro Ministries, the
The Concerned Citizens of West Fresno that includes advocates such as Mrs. Mary Curry (former FUSD school board member) and Harlan Kelly (former vice-chair of Edison Planning Advisory Cmte and an origin FWCED board member) requested an 30-day extension of the public comment period from the Air Board, which was granted. That new deadline for public comment will end November 5th.
Councilmember Sterling office is coordinating a community meeting that is scheduled to take place before the November 5th deadline.
SJVAQCD Environmental Justice Policy
