Check out the latest from the Guys of Pulp Secret and Something else....

Actually I missed two episodes of The Stack from Pulp Secret, your premiere comic book/fantasy news source. So take a gander at the 2 episodes in question as the crew discuss Heroes, the latest issues of Spiderman and the Green lantern Corp and comic news from the previous week. Enjoy!




Last week's episode:






And here is a completely unrelated nugget revolving around a radio DJ prank that goes in a totally different direction. Let's just say that it is a Karrine Steffans moment:

What Do You Think-Self Defense or an Execution? Texan Kills Burglars during call to 911

Well this could only happen in Bush country and I must confess that I am indifferent about the outcome. It appears that yet again we have a never-ending scenario of premature Black death due to gunfire. The progressives will undoubtedly look at this as a racially motivated execution over property-the two suspects were Black men of Latin extraction. I'm not going to discount the assertion that the incident didn't have racial overtones. But before I go any further into this-here is an excerpt from an article on the story, courtesy of cbsnews.com:

The 911 call came from a Pasadena, Tex., resident, who alerted police to two burglary suspects on a neighbor's property. Before he hung up, two men were dead by his hand.

Joe Horn, 61, told the dispatcher what he intended to do: Walk out his front door with a shotgun.

"I've got a shotgun," Horn said, according to a tape of the 911 call. "Do you want me to stop them?"

"Nope, don't do that - ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?" the dispatcher responded.

"Hurry up man, catch these guys, will you? 'Cause I'm ain't gonna let 'em go, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not gonna let 'em go. I'm not gonna let 'em get away with this ----."

Shortly after, Horn said he sees one suspect was standing in front of his house, looking at it from the street.

"I don’t know if they’re armed or not. I know they got a crowbar 'cause that's what they broke the windows with. ... Man, this is scary, I can't believe this is happening in this neighborhood."

He gets more agitated. The dispatcher asks if he can see the suspects but they had retreated into the target's house, out of view: "I can go out the front [to look], but if I go out the front I'm bringing my shotgun with me, I swear to God. I am not gonna let 'em get away with this, I can't take a chance on getting killed over this, OK? I'm gonna shoot, I'm gonna shoot."

And better yet, here is a clip of the 911 call unfettered:



What's going on here folks? Again, I'm not one that gets some kind of joy when I hear that young men of color are getting killed (although I have been accused of it) but there are some people that are tired of crime. There must be a strong message sent to our youth informing them that there are certain expectations if they seek to commit criminal acts-death or incarceration. What do our readers think? Let's hear your thoughts.

Before there were "Niggas" and "Gangstas"......there was such a thing as Fly Black Folks!

Soul Train - Soul Train Line - 1974
Uploaded by cyrildac

Another Afronerd Makes the Transition.........Damn You Tay!

Check out the latest from Tay Zonday:

Hat Tip to Passive Aggressive Hater

Three Times Always a Charm.......and then there's the Funk!

Well it's that time again...interview time on Sunday's upcoming Afronerd Radio broadcast. I conferred with Mr. Shane Taylor earlier (of the counter protest against Rev. Sharpton) so be prepared for a fiery and informative program. We will not only discuss his recent endeavors but also the deaths of Sean Taylor, University of Chicago doctoral student, Amadou Cisse and of course Dunbar Village. You know the drill-call us "live" at 646-915-9620 or IM/email via afronerdradio@yahoo. And remember it's 8pm eastern. And it wouldn't be the weekend if I didn't lace you guys with some superior funk and musicianship. You know who it is.....Maceo Parker and His Royal Badness:

Maceo Parker and Prince
Uploaded by Petales

It's Going Down......Introducing MAD DADS

Jon M. Fletcher/The Times-Union
MAD DADS national President Eddie Staton (left) and Patrick Hadley, founder of the Florida chapter of MAD DADS, laugh during a news conference Thursday to announce the organization's sponsorship of the Florida Cares Initiative to recruit 100,000 black mentors for youths.


Courtesy of Jacksonville.com:

Black men's group seeks to save a generation

MAD DADS is working with Essence magazine to register 100,000 mentors for African-American youths in Florida.


By Charlie Patton, The Times-Union

Saying it's time to act or risk losing the next generation of African-America boys to drugs, crime and violence, a group of Jacksonville leaders announced a new Web site Thursday where people in Florida can sign up to become mentors.

People who sign up via www.floridacares.info will receive e-mail responses telling them how to find local organizations that will train and match them with mentees, Eddie Staton, the Jacksonville-based national president of MAD DADS, said during a news conference at Eugene Butler Middle School.

MAD DADS stands for Men Against Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder.

Those signing up will be referred to the Kesler Mentoring Connection for training and then matched with a mentee through organizations such as Project Reach and Big Brothers Big Sisters, Staton said.

MAD DADS is a partner in a national initiative launch called Essence Cares, which was launched last year by Essence magazine. The national goal is to sign up 1.2 million African-American males by 2010 to serve as mentors. The goal of the Florida Cares Initiative is to sign up 100,000 new mentors, Staton said.

Staton said there's a great need for "strong, drug-free, God-loving" black men to serve as role models to black boys, offering an alternative to "pimps and hustlers and gang-bangers."

In calling specifically for African-American men to sign up as mentors, Staton said "we're not shunning anyone."

"But we need to take responsibility for our own," he said.

"If we want change, we have to make that change happen ourselves," said state Sen. Tony Hill, who said he has gotten his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, to agree to make the mentoring initiative a national project.

Roy Mitchell, a Jacksonville native and retired educator who once served as principal at Butler, will be one of the co-chairman of the Florida Cares Initiative.

"I am a product of what we are talking about," Mitchell said. "Community-minded adults put their hands on my shoulders."

Raised by a single parent, Mitchell said he was guided by a couple of key mentors, one of them Earl Kitchens, a legendary high school football coach in Jacksonville for whom Mitchell played when Northwestern, now a middle school, was a high school.

Claudette Williams, president of Edward Waters College, said her students have a role to play, both as mentors and mentees.

"We have already lost a generation, I'm sure," she said. "We can't afford to lose another."

Staton said Thursday's news conference was called to bring attention to the new Web site. Sometime in early 2008, he said, he expects Susan Taylor, the editor-in-chief of Essence, to come to Jacksonville for a formal kickoff of the Florida Cares campaign.

While there have been a number of recent efforts to recruit more mentors, this campaign will benefit from the involvement of Essence, which is extremely popular among blacks, Hill said.

The Question Really is what are YOU going to do about Black on Black crime BLACK People? CNN/Youtube debates

A quick hat tip to NPR's News & Views blog for the above clip. By just doing a cursory review of what's being said about this particular portion of the Republican debates-one can find a number of progressive bloggers/commenters incensed over Governor Romney's response. I suspect invoking Cosby didn't endear himself to the Black victimization set either. What bothered me the most was not Romney's response but the question. How is one to answer a question that has an internal behavioral element attached to it? The question is analogous to a stranded person having a flat tire with a spare and a jack in his/her possession and then asking a passerby how are we going to get this tire fixed? Again, we understand structural socio-economic hindrances but let's use the late Sean Taylor as an example. Taylor was given money, opportunity and access(or is it excess) and he was still killed in the same manner as a poorer counterpart-except his demise took place in a mansion and not a street corner. If I were Romney (responding to Black people regarding a Black problem) I would have done what Jerome Benton has been doing for Morris Day for the last twenty plus years...hold up that mirror:

The Time - Jungle Love (morris Day)
Uploaded by coolfunk

If You haven't Already Guessed Our Show was Cancelled......but there is a reason...and riffing on Jason Whitlock and the Black KKK

First off folks, I really do get a kick out of doing our weekly broadcasts but if it's a matter of time constraints or if I feel the quality of the show will be hindered then rest assured I will always take a break and then regroup. That was the case this evening. I was working behind the scenes to get some interviews lined up so I had to opt out this evening. Once again, I conferred with Mr. Shane Johnson and we should be good to go for an interview this Sunday at 8pm-so stay tuned. Now on to matters that are somehow tangentially related. I have received numerous emails regarding sports columnist, Jason Whitlock's recent remarks (more specifically, his column from yesterday) regarding the untimely death of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor. In my estimation, Mr. Whitlock's (hell, if you haven't guessed I'm definitely a supporter) comments couldn't have been anymore poignant, concise and prescient. But what disturbs me the most are the emails I received that didn't like what Whitlock stated. I'm really beginning to understand what Charlton Heston's character felt like in the above clip. Let me share with the class an example of one of the emails in question:

Email Heading-

The Black KKK-What are we going to do about Jason Whitlock?

Come on now, someone should say something from a Black perspective.

If Don Imus can be run off the television screens of America, if not the radio, someone should call Jason Whitlock to account. Yesterday on Fox Sports, for whom he is a columnist, characterized those who represent as a class the brothers who presumably shot Washington linebacker Sean Taylor, as the Black KKK.

Personally I find that far more dangerous than the Imus account. This encourages every white man and woman in america to carry a gun and open fire on us all! The Black Caucus, if only they were up to it, should call Fox and that fascist jerk who lives in New York and owns Fox, on the carpet and answer to some form of accountability.

Wow! Several questions come to mind. What exactly must be done with or to Jason Whitlock? Why is he being compared to Imus? And why aren't Whitlock's comments Black? Folks, it's time for honest talk. Matter of fact-it's emergency time for transparency in Black public discourse. Let's take a look at an excerpt from Whitlock's column and flesh it out thereafter:

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.

Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.

The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.

OK. Who are these people that have a problem with Whitlock's remarks? What is it that he is saying that is not factual? We will definitely discuss this and other related issues during this Sunday's broadcast. It's time to bring back the honesty people because our young Black/Brown men are paying the price for our feigned indignation-shout out to the excuse merchants! For the article in its entirety, click on the link below:

Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all

Afronerd visits Lightning Strikes on Blog Talk Radio today at 4pm eastern

Rod Amis host of the new live podcast, Lightning Strikes has developed a roundtable show and he was gracious enough to invite yours truly to participate. It should be a festive exercise where we (hosts Rod and Christina talk with Dr. Christopher Bell, and fellow blogger Field Negro) will be discussing the events of the day. Check us out at 4pm eastern-and the call in number is 646-595-3863.

Lightning Strikes

Guess Who's Back? Star & Bucwild Return to the Airwaves.......

This is really local/tri-state area news but I thought that it is interesting nonetheless-Troi "Star" Torain appears to be returning to NY radio. I did not support his statements that ultimately led to his dismissal from Clear Channel but I did like his irreverent wit, conservative political leanings and his notorious criticisms of the minstrel/gangsta element in commercial hip hop. Here's more on the return of Star, courtesy of Allhiphop.com:

Hip-Hop shock jocks Star and Buc Wild of the "Star and Buc Wild Morning Show" are returning to New York City airwaves, after being yanked off the air for making lewd comments about his rival, DJ Envy, in 2006.

The pair will hold a press conference tomorrow (November 28) at the posh Bryant Park Hotel in the Screening Room, where they will announce details of their return to morning radio.


While it is not confirmed, sources told AllHipHop.com that Star and Buc Wild will be broadcast on Island Broadcasting Company’s WNYZ 87.5, which has been airing Russian content since July of 2005.

WNYZ is a also low powered television station Channel 6, which is currently broadcasting audio over the 87.7 FM frequency.

The station is expected to switch from Russian programming to Top 40.

A representative for WNYZ 87.5 could not confirm whether or not the pair would be airing from WNYZ 87.5, but admitted to AllHipHop.com that she wouldn’t have knowledge of such matters.

Star & Bucwild started their radio career in 2000 along with Miss Jones on the Star & Bucwild Morning Show on Hot 97.

The controversial morning show drew high ratings, frequently beating shock jock Howard Stern in key demographic markets.

The duo left Hot 97 in May of 2003 to "pursue other interests."

The Star & Bucwild show was picked up New York’s Power 105.1 and syndicated by Clear Channel in 2004.

In May of 2006, Star was fired for making lewd and racist comments about DJ Envy’s wife and 4-year-old, daughter, who he said he wanted to urinate on.

In the aftermath of the controversial statements, Star was fired and even charged with child endangerment after making the comments over public airwaves.

The charges were eventually dropped, but Star filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit against the city, which was also eventually thrown out of court.

Come On, People! The Review

Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors

"In 1950, five out of every six black children were born into a two-parent home. Today, that number is less than two out of six."

The above quote comes from Drs. Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint's latest treatise, Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors-a must read for a community that despite immeasurable success also possesses grave failings that must be addressed with the greatest urgency. This harrowing quotation (which is just one of a number alarming statistics the book highlights) encapsulates the crux of what Cosby has been exclaiming since he gave his now infamous NAACP gala speech in 2004.

It is perhaps no secret that this writer owes a great deal of gratitude to Dr. Cosby for being bold enough to expose and analyze the rampant dysfunctionalism (colloquially known as "dirty laundry") that currently plagues the African-American underclass. Suffice it say, Afronerd.com gets its "bite" from the seed that the Cos planted three years ago. Come On People is essentially a codified version of Cosby's call-outs (townhall-esque forums hosted by Dr. Cosby and held in the troubled communities/cities in question) that reads like a doctor's manual for the socio-economically infirm. The book also allows Cosby to bluntly address his critics who have lambasted the educator/comedian for either being "out of touch" or elitist-simply for stating irrefutable evidence that factions within the Black community are failing-resulting in societal exclusion and death.

Within Come On People's 265 pages, the reader gets an opportunity to not only attend Dr. Cosby's nationwide call-outs (in a virtual sense, courtesy of the authors' narrative prose) but also hear from some of the "at-risk" citizens themselves. Case in point, check out this excerpt from Come On in which Krystal Gary, a young woman on track for college studying cardiac nursing tells her story:

"I did not have my mother. My mother was incarcerated. She was on crack cocaine. So I chose the streets. The streets were there for me. It was everything that I couldn't find in parents. It was people who were there to listen. I skipped school. I did drugs, alcohol, shoplifting, gangbanging, hustling, everything. I was in and out of jail for long periods of time. I didn't have any goals for myself. I didn't see myself graduating from high school."


Ms. Gary further opines:

"You can't expect to change just by yourself. You need somebody there, especially when you're young. These young kids need you. Even though I am twenty years old, and just now graduating from high school, I'm proud because I did not in a million years think I would graduate. I thought that I was going to be dead somewhere. I thought that I was going to be nothing. I thought that I was going to be a crackhead out on the streets. And I'm doing it."

Both Cosby and Pousssaint have painted a literary picture that is both dire and triumphant. Their tract contains a plethora of stories like Krystal's where our youth are in need of discipline, love and instruction. Ultimately, the good doctors have provided the African-American community with their best diagnosis-tough love, hard facts and honesty. It's time to clean up that dirty laundry folks. Come, On People!

Beware of the "Shopocalypse" & Reverend Billy

Under normal circumstances, I would suggest to steer clear of a minister called “Reverend Billy” BUT….if he is preaching the gospel of frugality and modesty especially during this holiday season-he has my devoted attention. Take a gander at the clip above and then click on the link below to check out his website. Encountering a minister that is against frivolous spending is about as rare as an eclipse-let’s see what he has to say.


Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping

It's a Madhouse!!!! Don't name your teddy bear Muhammed in Sudan.....UK Teacher charged!

My analysis will be available momentarily.....but in a nutshell...it's pure madness.


Ok…back to this story. And keeping it brief because this situation begs for simplicity and logic:

And I’m going to make this simple. This horrendous and alleged faux pas on the part of this poor educator should be a billboard sign for other western civilians to steer clear from these theocratic and oppressive nation-states. Our sensibilities are just not in tune with countries that still govern the same way they did circa 1500. Let’s pray that her consulate can work magic and come to some kind of agreement with the disagreeable. And as the article has clearly stated, Ms. Gibbons gave her students the option to name the bears Muhammed-a name that is common as John in the West. What’s next, the mispronunciation of a Koranic scripture insights the beheading of a tourist Texan grandmother? Don’t laugh.


This just in from the AP:

British teacher in Sudan questioned over naming of teddy bear Muhammad

KHARTOUM, Sudan: Sudanese authorities on Tuesday questioned a British teacher who could face charges of insulting religion — a crime punishible by up to 40 lashes — after she allowed her young students to name a teddy bear Muhammad in a class project.

Gillian Gibbons, of the private Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested Sunday after one of her pupils' parents complained, accusing her of naming the bear after Islam's chief prophet. Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but giving the prophet's name to an animal would be seen as insulting by many Muslims.

Several Sudanese newspapers Tuesday ran a statement reportedly from Unity High School saying that Gibbons had been "removed from work at the school" and apologizing for any offense, though it said the incident was a "misunderstanding."

But the Arabic statement was not officially confirmed by the school. A person reached by phone at the school who identified herself as an administrator said the statement was correct but would not confirm details in it. She refused to give her name, citing the sensitivity of the situation.

She said the school has closed for at least the next week until the controversy eases. The Unity High School, a private English-language school with elementary to high school levels, was founded by Christian groups but 90 percent of its students are Muslim, mostly from upper-class Sudanese families.

Today in Africa & Middle East
Seeking a Mideast path, Bush offers a nudgeU.S. and Iraq will negotiate agreement on long-term relationsSudan accuses teacher of Islam insult over teddy bear
The school's director, Robert Boulos, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the incident was "a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Gibbons, 54, was teaching her pupils, who are around 7 years old, about animals and asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear, Boulos said. She asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in the end the pupils voted to name it Muhammad, he said.

Each child was allowed to take the bear home on weekends and write a diary about what they did with it. The diary entries were collected in a book with the bear's picture on the cover, labelled, "My Name is Muhammad," though the bear itself was never labelled with the name, he said.

A former colleague of Gibbons, Jill Langworthy, told The Associated Press the lesson is a common one in Britain. "She's a wonderful and inspirational teacher, and if she offended or insulted anybody she'd be dreadfully sorry," Langworthy, who taught with Gibbons in Liverpool, said.

The case brought widespread calls in Britain for her release. The Muslim Council of Britain calls upon the Sudanese government to intervene in the case.

"This is a very unfortunate incident and Ms Gibbons should never have been arrested in the first place. It is obvious that no malice was intended," said Muhammad Abdul Bari, the council's secretary-general.

British opposition Conservative party lawmaker William Hague called on the British government to "make it clear to the Sudanese authorities that she should be released immediately."

"To condemn Gillian Gibbons to such brutal and barbaric punishment for what appears to be an innocent mistake is clearly unacceptable," he said.

Omar Daair, spokesman for the British Embassy in Sudan, said embassy officials were in touch with Sudanese authorities and had met with Gibbons. He said he expected authorities to decide whether to bring her to court, and on what charges, within a few days. "Her lawyer is trying to get her released on bail in the meanwhile," he said.

Gibbons was being questioned on suspicion of abuse of religion — a charge that is punishible by up to six months in prison, a fine or flogging of up to 40 lashes under Sudan's Islamic law-based legal system.

The case recalled the outrage that was sparked in the Islamic world when European newspapers ran cartoons deriding the Prophet Muhammad in recent years, prompting protests in many Muslim countries. The Prophet Muhammad is highly revered by Muslims, and most interpretations of the religion bar even favorable depictions of him, for fear of encouraging idolatry or misrepresenting him.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month suggested he would ban Denmark, Sweden and Norway — where newspapers ran the cartoons — from contributing engineering personnel to a planned U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

But Sudanese authorities appeared so far to be playing down the incident of the British teacher. Her case has not been mentioned in state media.

The reported statement from the school said the administration "offers an official apology to the students and their families and all Muslims for what came from an individual initiative." It said Gibbons had been "removed from her work at the school."

The statement underlined the school's "deep respect for the heavenly religions" and for the "beliefs of Muslims and their rituals." It added that "the misunderstanding that has been raised over this issue leads to divisions that are disadvantageous to the reputation of the tolerant Sudanese people.

And if you just crawled out from Osama's cave-recent updates denote that there are protestors that are asking for this woman to be put to death. Mind you, in some of these Islamic states women are being jailed (or worse) for being the victims of sexual assaults. Remember victims not perpetrators of such crimes. Again, word to the wise-the attraction to the exotic is not always as enlightened as one would be lead to believe.

DOH! How did I forget this gentleman.....Introducing Leland Martin

Another hat tip.....actually a belated hat tip to fellow conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel for highlighting the achievements of scholar/athlete/astronaut Leland Martin thanks to her recent blog entry. Do me a favor and check out two of her entries-one on Mr. Martin and the other (once you scroll down) is a review of the new movie, This Christmas. I'm curious to see what our readers think about her spot on review of this latest celluloid effort. Is it truly a positive film portraying a slice of Black life? Or is it doling out the same tired stereotypes? Tell us what you think.

Debbie Does the Movies

And let's also take a look at the latest review of last week's comics from the guys over at Pulp Secret:

Dr. Cosby is delusional? I don't think so.......let's take a look at MSNBC's Week long special on Black women....

More black women taking care of business

It really is something to behold when so many folks absolutely refuse to accept certain facts. And then there are others like yours truly (and a whole host of socially/politically conservative bloggers) who have become empowered to discuss some of our realities ever since Dr. Cosby gave his catalytic and infamous 2004 NAACP speech. It appears that MSNBC is running a week long investigative piece centered around women of color addressing the fact that Black women statistically are out performing their male counterparts. I do not know if this news special will discuss what I have always surmised as perhaps one chief cause for the stark disparity in gender achievement-the drug-like affect that street life induces in Black men. And then there is a profound statement that noted educator and author Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu has exclaimed over the years-Black women raise their daughters but love their sons. Dr. Kunjufu's simple mantra is quite telling-Black women appear to be adept at giving their daughters the proper guidance to seek excellence but their sons are being coddled and loved to their detriment. Here's more on the MSNBC special, courtesy of EURweb.com:

NBC 'NIGHTLY NEWS' TO EXPLORE BLACK WOMEN: Week-long series includes health, dating prospects, politics, hip hop and more.

*Beginning tonight, "NBC News with Brian Williams" will examine issues facing African-American women across the U.S. in a new series "African-American Women: Where They Stand."

The series will cover a wide-range of topics - from their role in the
'08 Presidential race, to the increased health-risks that have been of longtime concern.

Monday's installment will discuss the progress of African-American women in the field of education. Nearly two-thirds of African-American undergraduates are women. At black colleges, the ratio of women to men is 7 to 1. And that is leading to a disparity in the number of African-American women who go on to own their own businesses. Rehema Ellis will talk to educators, students and businesswomen about the reasons behind the disparity.

Tuesday, Ellis will look at the relationships of African-American women, and how the gender disparity in education and business has an affect on relationships sought by African American. Some even say the implications could redefine "Black America's family and social structure." In the past fifty years, the percentage of African-American women between 25-54 who have never been married has doubled from 20% to 40%. (Compared to just 16% of white women who have never been married today). Ellis sits down with the members of a Chicago book club and talk about this difference and how it impacts them.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman will discuss the increases risks for breast cancer for African-American women on Wednesday. Mortality rates for African-American women are higher than any other racial or ethnic group for nearly every major cause of death, including breast cancer. Not only are African-American women more likely to die from breast cancer, but they're less likely to get life-saving treatments. Dr. Snyderman will profile one of the only oncologists in the world who specializes in the treatment of African-American women with breast cancer.

On Thursday, Ron Allen will take viewers to South Carolina -- the first southern primary state -- and ask the question: Will race trump gender or gender trump race? In South Carolina, black women made up nearly 30 percent of all democratic primary voters in 2004. This year, polls show a significant number are undecided, torn between choosing the first African-American or first female Presidential candidate. Allen talks with the undecided, as well the state directors for the Clinton and Obama campaigns, who happen to be African-American women.

To close the series on Friday, Dr. Snyderman will raise the frightening statistic that African-American women are 85% more likely to get diabetes, a major complication for heart disease. And, like breast cancer, more black women die from heart disease than white women. Dr. Snyderman will profile a leading expert and a unique church-based outreach program in South Carolina that seeks to spread the word about heart disease risks to black women congregants.

Meanwhile, Mara Schiavocampo, Digital Correspondent for "Nightly News," will address two hot topics in the African American community:
interracial dating and the impact of hip hop music on black women.

. An Essence.com poll found that 81% of participants approved of black women dating non-black men. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report in 2000, 95,000 black women were married to white men. In 2005, that number increased to 134,000. Schiavocampo will talk to experts about the trend and discuss how this defines the "Black family" of the future.
. Schiavocampo will convene a panel of leading black men and women from the hip-hop industry for a discussion on whether hip hop lyrics and videos positively or negatively affect black women. The roundtable also will address how these portrayals are affecting relationships between black women and black men.

A hat tip to our regular commenter, Sergio for informing me about this crucial news piece. And as added treat, click on the above link for a video snippet of the Brian Williams special. Let's hear your thoughts on this as well-what can the brothers do about this dilemma? Or is Dr. Cosby truly the HSIC (Head Soothsayer in Charge) when he told Spelman students that the women are going to have to carry the torch as our men have come down with a case of penal dysfunction. What say you?

Let's try a Part 2: the Shane Johnson interview, Are Blacks really 2 races and is it time for new leadership-Next on Afronerd Radio

Unfortunately due to a scheduling mix-up our interview with Mr. Johnson fell through but we are working to set something up-hopefully by Thursday in time for the next show. Nevertheless, Sunday's program went forward and it was so lively that we are going to do a part 2 for this Thursday's broadcast. Perhaps due to last night's show in which the debunking of the Black monolith was discussed (in conjunction with Johnson's counter-protest efforts) I have been thinking more about the sometimes debilitating role that the African-American church plays in the lives of melanated people. First off, I must clearly state that I do have a historical appreciation for the Black Church's involvement in providing leadership as well implementing dire social and political change for the greater part of a century. Where would heroes such as Dr. King and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. have come from if it were not for the church? But this type of "no holds barred" life-risking leadership just does not appear to exist in the new millennium. Case in point-check out what some deem as the standard in Church leadership:








And perhaps the alternative:




For the uninitiated, the two videos are of Reverends Juanita Burnam and Harry Jackson-more on these two and their differences at a later date. Meanwhile, let's flesh out Afronerd Radio Par Deux on Thursday the 29th at 9pm eastern. Call us "live" at 646-915-9620 or via IM/email at afronerdradio@yahoo. Share your opinions with us and as always Be there and Be square.

Team Justice vs Bizarro Team Justice: Discussing counter-protest efforts with Shane Johnson-Sunday's Afronerd Radio at 8pm eastern

Sharpton: 'No Justice, No peace' & No mention of internal BS like Dunbar Village

I hope you guys are enjoying the holiday break as much as I am. Well to top things off, we will be interviewing Mr. Shane Johnson of the Black Sapience blog who gained recent notoriety for initiating what has been dubbed a counter-protest against members of the Civil Rights elite. To many it would appear that some African-American leaders are not addressing intraracial crimes with same intensity as interracial transgressions. So drop by at the same Afronerd channel (afronerd radio dot com) and the same Afronerd Radio time (Sunday, 8pm eastern) to add your 2 cents to this conversation. Drop us a call "live" at 646-915-9620. And as an added Thanksgiving treat, let's take a walk through memory lane and check out one of Sharpton's classic hits:



I kid....I kid. It was definitely in poor taste for CORE's Roy Innis to actually push Reverend Sharpton (in this infamous clip from the Mort Downey show) over ideological differences but perhaps it can be viewed as the early stages of diverging political viewpoints coming to a boil in the present-not all Black folk are on the same ideological page. To take a page from fellow conservative blogger Cobb, it's time to fight the monolith.

Another Thanksgiving morsel to chew on.......Alicia Keys at Hollywood's Writer's Strike!

Hat tip to the LAist blog for actually filming Ms. Keys' November 20th performance at Hollywood Boulevard's writer's strike. I always thought that Keys just possessed the physical attributes that seem to undermine the importance of showmanship in today's musical landscape. But as of late I'm beginning to think that she is being groomed like the Black artist's of yesteryear to be a real talent. Check out "Go Ahead" the latest song from her current effort, As I Am.

Heck......you know what they say about "from the mouths of babes"-Infants judge too!

Even during my nascent years of political awareness when I espoused progressive politics (due to a sisyphean notion of tribalism)-I was always taught to use discernment in my encounters with strangers. You can't live in a major metropolitan city and not utilize some of the precepts denoted in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink treatise. Now that I have accepted my contrarian nature and having been emboldened by conservatism, sophisticated profiling has virtually become a pastime. Whether one calls this discernment profiling or judging, the implication is always the same-you're not supposed to do it. Would you want your daughter to bring home a young man in complete gangsta garb? And would you expect him to be a doctoral candidate? I have argued with girlfriends, colleagues and friends over this belief system and now a recent study shows that even infants judge. Take a gander at this excerpt, courtesy of MSNBC.com:

Babies as young as 6 to 10 months old showed crucial social judging skills before they could talk, according to a study by researchers at Yale University’s Infant Cognition Center published in Thursday’s journal Nature.

The infants watched a googly-eyed wooden toy trying to climb roller-coaster hills and then another googly-eyed toy come by and either help it over the mountain or push it backward. They then were presented with the toys to see which they would play with.

Nearly every baby picked the helpful toy over the bad one.

The babies also chose neutral toys — ones that didn’t help or hinder — over the naughty ones. And the babies chose the helping toys over the neutral ones.

“It’s incredibly impressive that babies can do this,” said study lead author Kiley Hamlin, a Yale psychology researcher. “It shows that we have these essential social skills occurring without much explicit teaching.”

There was no difference in reaction between the boys and girls, but when the researchers took away the large eyes that made the toys somewhat lifelike, the babies didn’t show the same social judging skills, Hamlin said.

The choice of nice over naughty follows a school of thought that humans have some innate social abilities, not just those learned from their parents.

Click on the link below for the article in its entirety:

Even babies judge their companions

An Update regarding 2 forthcoming interviews (God willing) and why

I think that it would be apropos during this holiday to give thanks for simply living a relatively stress free existence. Sure, many of us experience the usual daily trials and tribulations but there are a whole group of citizens whose lives have been ravaged by being in close proximity to crime and gang warfare. As I alluded to previously, I am working on an interview with Claude Johnson of the Black Fives website but I am also attempting to converse with Shane Johnson of the Black Sapience blog. Mr. (Shane) Johnson recently garnered media attention due to his counter protest efforts against Team Outrage's (Reverend Sharpton, specifically) focus on the rise of racial incidents ignoring the intraracial violence that plagues communities of color. I would like for you to take a look at exhibit A, the video posted above. I believe I addressed this in an earlier post as well but this video is so heart-wrenching that I thought it is worthy of an analysis. In a nutshell-any new civil rights movement should center around the issues of Black or Black/Brown internal strife. I refuse to make a distinction with the gang violence that is occurring between Latin and Black rivals because realistically there has been enough human collateral damage amongst African-American gangs that the Latin equation is inconsequential. So I support Shane's endeavors in this regard and it becomes even more crucial that despite our differences, bloggers must develop liaisons to address this internal dysfunctionalism. Stay tuned.