Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dr. Boyce: Getting Out of Your Own Private Prison

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I just spoke to my friend Ryan Mack about our “Never Going Back” initiative to attack the problems of mass incarceration and recidivism in America. During the conversation, I had a revelation: Most of us are just a step away from being incarcerated, or have yet to understand what it truly means to be free. Sure, the US incarcerates more of its citizens than any country in the world, but it might be deeper than you think.

The United States Constitution doesn’t abolish slavery for everyone. Actually, if you’ve been convicted of a felony, the 13th Amendment actually says that it’s OK to force one into slave labor (please go take a look). Given that we are slapping felony convictions on individuals like Kelly Williams-Bolar, the otherwise law-abiding mother in Ohio who was sent to jail for sending her kids to the wrong school district, we can see just how easy it is for that arbitrary label to be applied.

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Latest from Dr. Boyce Watkins at Your Black World

Disturbing Study: Black Men Get Better Healthcare, Protection in Prison than Out

July 16, 2011 By Staff 3 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. Many of us have seen the dismal statistics for black males in America.  African American men are at the bottom of the barrel in nearly every category of life, including healthcare, education, incarceration, and unemployment.  Many of us raise our black boys with little to no understanding of how many of [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Politics, Sports, Uncategorized, Your Black World Tagged With: black men, black scholars, dr boyce watkins

Dr. Boyce: Yes, The Music We Listen to Does Affect Our Thinking (Video)

July 15, 2011 By Staff 6 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. When I spoke on the problems with mass promotion of violent and misogynist hip-hop music through BET and other media, the response from the public was interesting.  On one hand, there were those who’d been waiting for someone to speak openly about the problems with BET giving awards to artists like [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle,Politics, Uncategorized, Your Black World Video

Dr. Boyce: How Sports Teaches Black Men to Marginalize Themselves

July 15, 2011 By Staff 3 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins I was driving out of Atlanta the other day, speaking to my baby sister.  She listens to me ramble, and that’s why I love her.  Our topic for the day was black men and sports.  I mentioned how I turned on ESPN in my hotel room (all 10 million channels) and saw [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Politics, Sports, Your Black WorldTagged With: black athletes, black news, black scholars

Should Essence Magazine Have a White Male Managing Editor?

July 12, 2011 By Staff 118 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins Essence Magazine has made the interesting and controversial decision to hire a white male as its managing editor.  I cocked my head to the side when I heard about the move by Editor-in-Chief Constance White to let Michael Bullerdick, a white male, run the day-to-day operations of a magazine which prides [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Black Women, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment,Featured, Lifestyle, Money and Business, Politics, Uncategorized

Why CNN, HLN and MSNBC Won’t Have a Black Prime Time Anchor for a While

July 11, 2011 By Staff 33 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins I recently noticed that the NAACP joined the call of other civil rights public figures (I’m not sure how I feel about the word “leaders”) in asking CNN and other networks to open the door for African American representation in nightly prime time news slots.  I was happy to see them [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Money and Business, Politics,Uncategorized Tagged With: ben jealous, black anchors, cnn, naacp,roland martin

Beware of Politicians and Media Seeking to Control Your Thinking

July 11, 2011 By Staff 3 Comments (Edit)

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Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action I saw a headline today involving Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  The headline stated the following: “Jeremiah Wright’s Church Denomination Banishes ‘God the Father’ for Gay Inclusion.”  The headline was interesting in that it almost seemed to imply that Jeremiah Wright had made the decision himself. What was most peculiar [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Money and Business, Politics,Uncategorized, Your Black World Video Tagged With: black news, black politics, jeremiah wright, karen wallace

Dr. Boyce: Dallas Cowboys Star Roy Williams Gets Ring Back From Ex-Girlfriend – Hmmmm

July 10, 2011 By Staff 50 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. Dallas Cowboys star Roy Williams got the world’s attention when he sent a $75,000 engagement ring and videotaped proposal to former Miss Texas, Brooke Daniels.  Daniels had been Williams’ girlfriend for a year, but she turned down the player’s engagement request.   She did, however, decide to keep the ring. A [...]

Filed Under: Black Women, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle,Sports, Uncategorized, Your Black World Tagged With: black love, black relationships, black women, dr boyce watkins, roy williams

Man Jailed, Loses Car, Job By Trying to Cash Legitimate Check at Chase

July 9, 2011 By Staff 15 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. You wouldn’t think that one of your worst nightmares would start with trying to cash a check for thousands of dollars.  But this is what happened to 28-year old Ikenna Njoku, who found that simply trying to cash a legitimate check would put him in jail for four days and cause [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Featured, UncategorizedTagged With: african american news, black news, dr boyce watkins,Ikenna njoku

Dr. Boyce, Michael Eric Dyson, Steve Perry, Marc Lamont Hill Sign on For New Film

July 8, 2011 By Staff 7 Comments (Edit)

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Dr. Boyce Watkins, along with other leading black male scholars have all agreed to take part in “Hoodwinked,” a documentary about the state of the black male in America. According to the filmmaker, James “Janks” Morton, describes the film in the following way:   Hoodwinked will be an exploration of the most recent data being [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle,Politics Tagged With: armstrong williams, black men, black scholars,janks morton, marc lamont hill, michael eric dyson, steve perry

Why Would CNN Anchor Piers Morgan Ask Beyonce About Her Booty?

July 7, 2011 By Staff 38 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins I was a bit shocked when I received an email from a friend citing an article by Roy Metoyer out of Atlanta regarding a recent interview by CNN’s Piers Morgan with Beyonce Knowles.  During the interview, Morgan did the usual celebrity probing, which was to be expected.  But surprisingly, he pressed [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Black Women, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment,Featured, Lifestyle, Uncategorized Tagged With: beyonce piers morgan,black celebriites, black women, booty, shaunie oneal

Dr. Boyce: JP Morgan Nows Owns a Chunk of Ebony/Jet – The Death of Black-Owned Media

July 7, 2011 By Staff 81 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. One of the last holdouts in the onslaught of major corporations seeking to take over the black-owned media space was the Johnson Publishing Company, which runs Ebony and Jet Magazines.  As Essence Magazine, BET and other outlets found themselves running into the arms of a financial white knight, the Johnson family [...]

Filed Under: Black Women, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle,Money and Business, Politics, Uncategorized, Your Black World Tagged With: black media, black scholars, dr boyce watkins, ebony magazine,essence magazine, jet magazine

Mother of 5-Yr Old Shaniya Davis Charged with Murder, Selling Child on a Drug Debt

July 6, 2011 By Staff 22 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. The mother of a 5-year old girl who went missing in Fayetteville, North Carolina has been indicted on murder charges.  Antoinette Nicole Davis has been charged with the murder of Shaniya Davis, facing charges of first degree murder, indecent liberties with a child, felony child abuse, felony sexual servitude, rape of [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Featured, Lifestyle, UncategorizedTagged With: antoinette davis, black news, mario mcneil, shaniya davis

Survey: 86% of African Americans Think Casey Anthony Would be Guilty if She Were Black

July 6, 2011 By Staff 26 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. In a recent Your Black World survey, readers were asked to ascertain the racial implications of the case of Casey Anthony, a mother who was recently exonerated in the death of her two year old daughter, Caylee.   After the surprising not guilty verdict, people across the nation were wondering if [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Featured, Politics, UncategorizedTagged With: casey anthony trial, dr boyce watkins, what if casey anthony were black

Dr. Boyce: Why You Should (or Should Not) Go Planking

July 6, 2011 By Staff 10 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins. I found myself in what some would call “an SMH moment” (Shaking My Head) when my daughter exposed me to the growing trend of “planking”: laying out with your body still and arms to the side in some of the oddest positions imaginable.  The goal is to compete with your friends [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Uncategorized, Your Black WorldTagged With: black scholars, black youth, dr boyce watkins, planking

Dr. Boyce and Wilmer Leon: Was Tom Joyner Wrong to Reference Tavis and Cornel’s Sexuality?

July 6, 2011 By Staff 31 Comments (Edit)

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In a recent article expressing his frustration with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, Tom Joyner spoke to his belief that West and Smiley had directly created the environment under which men like Mark Halperin felt comfortable referring to President Obama as a D*ck.  Joyner then made matters quite personal by referring to Cornel as Tavis’ [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Politics, Your Black World, Your Black World Video Tagged With: barack obama, black politics, cornel west,tavis smiley, wilmer leon

Dr. Boyce Video: Not Letting the Power of Money Control You

July 5, 2011 By Staff 3 Comments (Edit)

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins As a Finance Professor, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and learning the power of money.  I began studying money in college because I never had very much growing up.  My parents worked hard to provide a good living and experienced social mobility through time, but we were definitely [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Money and Business, Politics, Your Black World, Your Black World Video Tagged With: african american money, african american wealth, black money, black scholars, black wealth,dr boyce watkins

Dr. Boyce: Tom Joyner’s Tasteless Assault on Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

July 4, 2011 By Staff 422 Comments (Edit)

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I love Tom Joyner.  In case you’re wondering, in “black political speak,” when a commentator mentions that they love someone, that means that they are about to crack a walnut over their forehead.  I remember Tavis Smiley telling Al Sharpton that he loved him right before he proceeded to attack him with the ferocity of [...]

Filed Under: Black News, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, PoliticsTagged With: barack obama, black politics, tavis smiley, tom joyner

Dr. Boyce: Why Black People Have Little Right or Reason to Celebrate Independence Day

July 3, 2011 By Staff 61 Comments (Edit)

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When I think about the fourth of July, my mind is motionless.  I don’t get happy, sad, angry or thoughtful.  As a 40-year old man, I can’t even get excited about the fireworks anymore.  The holiday means as much to me as the birthday of my biological father who abandoned me at birth.  In fact, [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Featured, Politics, Uncategorized, Your Black World Tagged With: african americans, black politics, dr boyce watkins,fourth of july

Dr. Boyce Video: Essence, BET and the Images of Black Women in Media

July 2, 2011 By Staff 8 Comments (Edit)

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In this video, Dr. Boyce Watkins gives his inside take on why Shaunie O’neal was chosen by CNN to speak on black female images in media.  The video explains how media works and what happens when black media is taken over by large corporations. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO           [...]

Filed Under: Black Women, Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle,Politics, Your Black World, Your Black World Video

Dr. Boyce: Why is Shaunie O’neal a Spokesperson for Black Females in Media?

July 1, 2011 By Staff 8 Comments (Edit)

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In a CNN article that appears designed to promote her upcoming appearance as an “empowerment speaker” at the Essence Music Festival, Shaunie O’neal, executive producer of the hit show, “Basketball Wives,” was given the solemn task of analyzing the complex issue of black female portrayals in American media.  Choosing Shaunie to represent the disappointing images [...]

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle, Your Black World Tagged With: basketball wives, dr boyce watkins, essence music festival, shaunie oneal

Dr. Boyce & Towanna: The Psychological Impact that Hip-Hop Has on Our Kids (Video)

July 1, 2011 By Staff 2 Comments (Edit)

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In this video, Dr. Boyce Watkins speaks with Dr. Towanna Freeman about the impact that negative hip-hop music can have on young women. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO     

Filed Under: Dr. Boyce, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle, Your Black World Tagged With: bet awards, black girls, black women, dr boyce watkins, hip hop, lil wayne, towanna freeman