Michael Steele Goes for GOP RNC Chairmanship

It's official. Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a prominent African-American GOPer, declared his candidacy for chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

As reported on The Hill website, Steele launches bid to run RNC By Susan Crabtree, Steele had decided to enter the race earlier last week and "had privately told close associates about his intentions. He spent the last four days making phone calls to RNC members to make a personal appeal for their vote."

“I want the gig,” he said. “I’m ready to lead this party. I think we have been kind of wandering and doubting ourselves for far too long. I think this past election was the culmination of that self-doubt, which has to end.”

Steele currently heads the conservative grassroots group GOPAC, founded by Newt Gingrich, and formerly served as chairman of the Maryland Republican party.

Hmmm . . . perhaps Mike Tyson's ex-brother-in-law is feeling the strength of the Obama chi in spite of his right leanings.

I wish him luck, although he couldn't curl his lips around that phrase for Obama. He was too busy saying that Palin was an appropriate candidate, all the while knowing that he (Steele) was much more qualified.

Read the rest here.

Woo Hoo! I voted!

Took 1 hour and 27 minutes in Marlton community of Upper Marlboro, MD.

My step daughter waited from 6:40am to 9:30am in Largo, MD.

Loving life right now!

Who REALLY Fought Media Bias in this Election?

The November 2008 issue of Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=media-bias-presidential-election) reports that:

"Despite popular accounts, researchers found that Barack Obama got more negative press coverage than John McCain did in the early summer."


Hmmm . . . news flash. Conservatives are always whining about media bias while steadily dishing it out.

Read the full story by Vivian B. Martin - Media Bias: Going beyond Fair and Balanced

Writers & Thoughts on the Eve of the Election

Couldn't resist on the eve of such a momentous election:

Poet E. Ethelbert Miller gives us the words of Walt Whitman for Election Day on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and his E-mag Early Election Edition which features writers from around the nation chronicling the election happenings in their surrounds .

Author Tananarive Due demonstrates the importance of family in this election with her blog entry: "Why Does Grandma Wear Dark Glasses?": My Family & the 2008 Election

Style versus Substance on Obamesque

Thank you Charles Alexander
"Everybody my age is dying off. Everybody. Next four or five years, I probably won't be around. These young people are gonna take the lead. That's what I love seeing about all these people sitting here as volunteers - 'cause they are our tomorrow."

What I Love About Mississippi

The Blues.
Pure and simple poetry.
Here's Poor Black Mattie from R.L. Burnside (1926 - 2005):

And I Thought I Liked McCain Back in 2000 . . .

Well, at least respected him as opposed to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre that was hoisted upon us. Now it seems that "Grampy McSane" (thanks Stephanie Miller) went along to get along and is just like the folks he claimed to be different from back in the '00.
Now he desperately chooses "Caribou Barbie" as an insult to all women.

This man has lost all respect and has many of us questioning his sanity. But of course, ambition makes people do ridiculous things. Forget what is good for the country and it's inhabitants, let's just get the pandering going strong.

It's unbelievable, but now I even agree with Peggy Noonan's off-screen remarks.

Graphic from the Liberal OC.com

Wow - I've Lived Long Enough to REALLY See Myself in America

Everyone in that stadium tonight is just like me - fiercely proud Americans that want to take back our country. This is OUR tea party. And what a party!

When is the last time you heard The Impressions (Movin' On Up), Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now, Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Holliday at a political convention? The DNC has outdone themselves. I'm loving this and I'm so ready to BaRack the House!

Tonight we are all rock stars. McCain is about to be crushed by our collective celebrity. Too bad for him.

Can A Black Blogger Get a Break?

Ann Brown reports in Black Enterprise on how members of the Afrosphere act on the lack of Black Bloggers on the DNC floor.

blackenterprise.com - New Media Dilemma for Democratic Convention

"Of the blogs covering the convention, black blogs will be 7.2% of the
blogs present," says Francis L. Holland of the Afrosphere Action
Coalition. According to Holland, many states with a strong black
Democratic presence and population are either underrepresented or not
represented at all, even though black bloggers from these states did
apply. "The state of Tennessee, which often has over 25% blacks among
its Democratic primary voters, will not have a single black blogger at
the Democratic National Convention, for example. The District of
Columbia, which is 60% black, will be left out. Louisiana, which is
32.4% black, will be left out. Illinois, the presidential nominee's
home state, which is 15% black, will be left out."

Crazy, Profane, and Always Entertaining - George Carlin Dies at 71

The first guest host of the now iconic 'Saturday Night Live', George Carlin died yesterday at the age of 71. The contemporary of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor acquainted us with the "seven words you can never say on television."

Carlin was slated to receive the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor November 10th from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Read more on Boomers Primetime Primetime - Life After 40 Is The Best!

A Real Guitar Hero Gets A Rockin' Goodbye

After a stroke and a heart attack, 79 year old Bo Diddley was laid to rest today in Florida. A true rock and roll pioneer, the Chess Records guitarist never made it big like other names: Little Richard, Fats Domino or Chuck Berry. It took a new generation of musicians to bring this founding father's signature riffs to light in their new brand of rock and roll.

Listen to Bo Diddley on NPR
Uncut.co.uk - News
Rock Pioneer Dies At 79

Uncut Magazine Interview by Simon Goddard

AP Photos:B.B. King and Bo Diddley in 2002 at the opening of King's Blues Club and Grill in New York.Square guitar in hand, Bo Diddley performs during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York, March 14, 2005.

Black Community Is Increasingly Protective of Obama - washingtonpost.com

Black Community Is Increasingly Protective of Obama - washingtonpost.com

Further Proof that Gangsta Rap is either Dead or Sold Out

"Llanview, what it do?"
Snoop Dogg on the daytime soap One Life to Live today. Says the dawg "I have been a fan of ONE LIFE TO LIVE since I was a baby," reveals Snoop Dogg. "My momma always had it on the tube in the crib growing up.The opportunity to change up the theme song and give it some of my flavor will make the show the Life of The Party."

He performed two songs from his new album, ’’Ego Trippin’,’’ at the fictional Ultra Violet club.

Artist Synthia Saint James "Woman of the Year"

We've all seen her works on book covers,greeting cards, in magazines, in and on buidings, even on the Cosby show; and now the California 26th Senatorial District has chosen to honor her as Woman of the Year. Synthia Saint James is an internationally recognized self-taught artist and author with over over 50 commissions for major organizations, corporations and individual collectors; along with over 60 book covers (remember Waiting to Exhale?)to her credit.

Visit her website: The Creative World of Synthia Saint James for a bio and a very weighty body of work.



Reported on Afro European Sisters Network: Afro European Sisters Network (www.aesn.eu): "Woman of the Year" Synthia Saint James

Amazon's Kindle is Sold Out!

The winds of change are rolling again and the tried but true book, darling of the Industrial Revolution, may be going the way of a piece of coal and a cave wall. 22nd Century Press publishers (22nd Century Press: Amazon's Kindle is Sold Out! Is it the iPod of Reading? ) blogged on the sold out state of Amazon's new Kindle book reader. Granted it's not the first or only ebook reader out there, but the buzz on this seems to be a bit different from when Sony announced their reader earlier this year.

Comparisons to the noble iPod abound. However, this is not what excites me. As a boomer, I'm looking at some of the first real change in human reading and communication habits. The speed of technology during my half century of life easily surpasses that of any 19th century industrialist. This is an exciting time to live in . . . just think, before I kick it for the last time I might get to see those books from a hologram that originates from my watch (so old school, but so Dick Tracy-like).

Back to the present, I'm still sticking to books. At least for a little while. Check out the review here: 22nd Century Press: Amazon's Kindle is Sold Out! Is it the iPod of Reading?

Toni Morrison weighs in:

FEELING FINE AND FABULOUS AT FORTY-SOMETHING!

Not feeling the love for your slightly older, just a little creeky body? Well you'd better not let Sheritha Bowman know about it. She's a Washington, D.C. author and playwright that is laying it down for anybody not quite in the mood to feel fabulous. Oh yeah, she is kickin' some butt and not bothering with taking names.

Okay. You scared me. I'm leaving this blog RIGHT NOW to walk the dog.
Sometimes we just need a kick in the pants.
Thanks Sheritha.

FEELING FINE AND FABULOUS AT FORTY-SOMETHING! - Black Author Showcase

The Black Baby Boomers American Dream - Do We Even Have One?

Boomers have a very interesting take on the American Dream notion. For some Black Boomers it means more than a white picket fence with a mom dressed in pearls. It has come to mean mini-mansions, kids with cars, shoes that cost more than a week of meals and enough electronic play devices to run a small country. It means succumbing to being the ultimate in consumers, but also not able to pass this fleeting 'wealth' on to their heirs.

What this will mean is yet more generations starting from scratch. Is this a good thing that breeds integrity and ambition or does it increase the circle of poverty? Beverly Mahone runs the stats on this phenom in her blog entry Black Baby Boomers and the American Dream and places the blame on institutional racism.

Perhaps its time for us to 'pull up' and take a good look at our lives and the alleged legacy we intend to leave (if that is the intention at all). Will the fact that we can afford a blinged out SUV or the largest HDTV available really matter if our grandchildren still endure the indignities of the Jena 6 or the brevity of life of the Newark/Delaware State victims?

It's time to re-tool the dream.

Color and Money - It's another green day

So you think you've overcome? Check out Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War Over College Affirmative Action for a wake-up call you may have chosen to ignore. Peter Schmidt's got the study's and he's not afraid to use them in this informative book.

Don't debate affirmative action without it.

Color and Money

African-German educator speaks out on AfroEurepean History

Here in the U.S. of A. we complain about the lack of history inclusion and education in our country. Obviously this is not just a problem here. Ever since biological racism was formulated in the 17th and 18th centuries, the real history of peoples of color has been mashed, rehashed, mis-told, and purposely forgotten.

As many of us have found, if we don't write it - it won't come. Bill over at Jewels in the Jungle has written a good introductory treatise on AfroGermanic history. I found it inspiring and it sparked my imagination, giving me several ideas for Afro-historical fiction.

My spouse Levon, is always saying that "history is created and remembered by the works that are written about it." How many times have we seen a Cleopatra movie? Or books about Alexander the Great? A perfect example was last season's HBO hit Rome. It used historical fact to underlie a good story about two Roman soldiers.

In my life, those soldiers could have easily been two Nubian warriors . . . and it should have been. And if I have anything to say about it, it will be.

Jewels in the Jungle: Black History in Germany & Europe (English version): An African-German educator speaks out

"Read A Book" - Bomani

You Never Know Who's Behind the Mouse - Floyd Norman to be named a Disney Legend

According to the official site, the Disney Legends award program was established in 1987 to " ... acknowledge and honor the many individuals whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney magic ... Since its inception, (this) program has honored many gifted animators, Imagineers, songwriters, actors and business leaders as having made a significant impact on the Disney legacy."


Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

An animation industry legend, Floyd Norman worked on the Walt Disney animated features Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book along with various animated short projects at Disney in the late 50's and early 60's. He and business partner animator/director Leo Sullivan co-founded the AfroKids animation studio in 1966.

In recent years he has contributed creatively as a story artist on films such as Toy Story 2 and Monsters,Inc. for Pixar and Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame for Walt Disney Animation.

In one of his columns on the Jim Hill Media site, He laughs at how he was described as as "The lone Negro" by former screenwriter Charles Shows in his memoir of his time at Disney entitled "Walt."

You can find his books 'Faster! Cheaper!' , 'Son of Faster, Cheaper!' , and 'How The Grinch Stole Disney' - collections o cartoons inspired by his lifetime of experiences in the animation industry on the AfroKids web site. He is also a regular columnist on the Jim Hill Media website.

Jim Hill : Toon Tuesday : Floyd Norman to be named a Disney Legend

Adrienne & Floyd Norman

Journey to Health with Annette Larkins

Now don't even tell me you don't care if you age and look like a dying wilderbeest. We all care, otherwise Clairol would not be making so much money off of covering the gray! Author Annette Larkins says she has the solution . . . and it's in your cupboard and refrigerator!

She's written to booklets title "Journey to Health" and "Journey to Health2". She's a raw foods proponent and I'm not mad at a sister! We should all look so good at 60. She's among a growing list of people who have switched to raw foods and have avoided diabetes, wrinkles, obesity and more.

She claims an 18 inch waist and was 59 years old when this photo was taken in 2001.

Check out her website at:
Journey to Health with Annette Larkins