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Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Student Murdered, 11 Injured at Omega Psi Phi House Party
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Two men opened fire after an argument occurred at an Omega Psi Phi fraternity house in Youngstown, Ohio this weekend. The two men shot multiple rounds into a crowd of people, killing a student and critically injuring a 17-year old with a head wound. The student who was killed was shot while trying to break the two disputing groups apart. The university said six of the injured were students.
The murder victim was 25-year old Jamail E. Johnson of Youngstown. Most of the 11 injured were shot in the foot. The men were arrested and charged with aggravated murder, shooting into a home, and felonious assault, according to Chief Jimmy Hughes of the Youngstown Police Department.
"These guys were in the location for a little while before the shooting occurred," he said. "Something happened that they became unhappy. They had some type of altercation."
The Pepsi Max Super Bowl Ad with the “Angry Black Woman” – Take a Look
Are we overreacting to the Pepsi Max portrayal of the “Angry Black Woman?”
Were you Offended by the Pepsi Max Super Bowl Ad Featuring the “Angry Black Woman?” Dr. Boyce’s Facebook page speaks up
OK, was I the only person who noticed that Pepsi Max commercial with the black woman who beats the hell out of her husband the whole time and then hits the white woman in the head with a can of pepsi? The commercial ends with the black couple running away after knocking the white woman unconscious. Interesting.....
59 minutes ago · Like ·-
Herbert Whitehead, Maurice Stewart, Miz Deb Wells and 5 others like this.
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Georgette D Brown no, hot mess! they trying to say we ride or die for each other? hmmm still a hot mess
58 minutes ago · Like
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Veda S Stanley Her weave was horrible. The creaming of twg not a good look, running off even worse
57 minutes ago · Like
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Patrice Johnson Dad I swear me and my mom were just talking about that...lol
57 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert I was waiting. Don't you need to put this under Nikki Manaj! lol Could you give us a running commentary on all of the commercials? lol
57 minutes ago · Like
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William Atkinson perpetuating the "angry black woman" syndrome...
56 minutes ago · Like ·
2 people
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Georgette D Brown The weave was a DISASTER!!!! They tried to cut cost on the commercial as a whole. It shouldn't have cut it on her hair.
55 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert True to one of the comments. lol
55 minutes ago · Like
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James Milton Is good that you are noticing this Boyce, I have not turned to the game yet. I am recording it, so I can watch it later.
55 minutes ago · Like
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Martin Gardner Wow! I was thinking the exact same thing.
54 minutes ago · Like
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Tracy Jones Billups Pepsi products not good for us anway..no more of my money going to them
52 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert Something like that happened to me at an O'Charley's resturant. lol
51 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert What about this Doritos one with the brotha?
50 minutes ago · Like
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Craig Varnado Yep..there they go again.....A.B.W. syndrome a repeat from last year!!!!
50 minutes ago · Like
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Gretta Michelle' WHAT was wrong with the Doritos commercial? Personally I thought it was funny!
35 minutes ago · Like
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Boyce Watkins The Doritos ad was hilarious, but we should take some kind of note when an ad overuses stereotypes. This Pepsi ad was also funny, but whoa!
30 minutes ago · Like
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Tracy Jones Billups That Doritos commercial was freakin disgusting. But it captured attention and marketing is not about being right it's about capturing people's attention.
29 minutes ago · Like
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Gretta Michelle' Disgusting? Well, I guess everyone has their own views on things. But I am totally with Boyce, it made me crack up, yes, hilarious!
25 minutes ago · Like
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Erika Blackwell-Wilson No, Boyce. You were not the only one who noticed that...
25 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert Telefora i think it is hmmmm. I just sent flowers on thurs. I did not say that. I said "Sweetheart Get some rest and Relax" anonomous. But she still knew it was me. I'm sticking with Proflowers!!
24 minutes ago · Like
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Tracy Jones Billups yes. disgusting. If my coworker sucked on my finger I would be completely horrified. that is NASTY. and on top of that he sucked his finger for a very long time just freakin nasty.
22 minutes ago · Like
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Peter J. Furbert I must say the running commentaries on facebook is better than the commercials. I should be in my bed because of injury but I don't want to miss the critiques all ova facebook. !! :) Wow!!
19 minutes ago · Like
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Shaketa Brown See you were just supposed to be grateful they used some black folk in the commercial and then ran right out and bought some soda. Stay focused on the small picture if ya know what I mean...
17 minutes ago · Like
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Vera Richardson I hated that commerical for all the things recaped by you Dr Watkins. In fact the first few commericals were too violent for me.
2 minutes ago · Like
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Super Bowl Pepsi Max Ad and Black Female Stereotypes: The Angry Black Woman
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
There is no bigger corporate money-maker than the Super Bowl. That's when potential sponsors are lining up to pay amazing amounts of money to advertise, primarily because they know this is the only televised special of the entire year when consumers actually enjoy watching the ads.
In addition to being able to promote their wares to the world, advertisers often find themselves caught in the middle of controversy. Sometimes, the controversy is hilarious, like the little black boy who slapped the man dating his mother for taking one of his Doritos. This year's most interesting ad may have come out early in the game, and it has been brought to you by Pepsi Max. You may want to call this ad "The Angry Black Woman."
In the commercial, a black woman is keeping her husband on a diet. When he eats the wrong food, she gives him an evil look and kicks his leg hard under the table. When she sees him standing over a pie about to eat it, she angrily slams his face into the pie. When she catches him sneaking a bite of fattening food in the bath tub, she violently grabs the food from his hand and stuffs a bar of soap into his mouth.
The LeBron Effect: Cavs are Losing at a Record Pace
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
One year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were at the top of the NBA, on their way to possibly winning the finals. Everyone had high hopes for the Cavs, and we all marveled at the talents of the "chosen one," LeBron James.
My what a difference a year makes. The Cavs have now lost 24 games in a row, tying the NBA record for the most consecutive losses. Given that Dallas is next on the schedule, they will most likely break the record.
Since last year, the Cavs have lost their superstar to the Miami Heat, who are now title contenders themselves. The loss of LeBron was especially painful for Cavs fans, who were disgusted by the way he publicized his exit to the world. Then, there was the outburst of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who called James a quitter and said that James had engaged in a "cowardly betrayal" of his city.
Black Professors are Missing from Most Campuses, Including HBCUs
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
During a four-year college career, most students take roughly 40 courses. Personally, I went to graduate school for another 7 years after college, taking an additional 40 - 50 more classes. During my entire undergraduate, masters and doctoral experience, I never had one single African American professor.
This experience made the educational process incredibly uncomfortable for me. I never experienced the privilege of my white classmates, who had teachers they could relate to, work with and connect with on a meaningful level. I did meet one African American professor (I never took his class) named Dr. Tommy Whittler. He is the sole reason I became a professor today because he was the first faculty member who'd ever taken time to mentor me as a human being.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
White Father Threatens Black Boys for Talking to his Daughter: Should He Go to Jail for that?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Millry, Ala., is a town where racial tensions have allegedly been running high for a very long time. The boiling point was hit recently, when a white father came to the town's high school and threatened one of the black players on the basketball team.
The infuriated parent told one of the boys that if any of them made contact with his daughter, he would "kill him and his black friends," at least that's what was reportedly told to Latisha Mitchell, the step-Mother of one of the players.
Mitchell claims that her son was only friends with the man's daughter and that they would text message each other. TheNAACP took notice of the man's racial threats, and the town is in an uproar. There is even conversation about the Ku Klux Klan planning a retaliation against local residents who held a meeting to discuss what had occurred.
Since the incident, the father has been banned from school property, but some parents are saying that the father should be arrested for his public threats.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Sil lai Abrams: Dealing with Financial Insecurity
by Sil lai Abrams – Sepiaprocess.com
When times are difficult for us financially, we can become paralyzed by fear. As the fear grows in our mind we often get stuck focusing on the problem and not actively searching for a solution. Our attention becomes fixated on our creditors and as we look at our mountain of debt we can become weighed down in despair and shame. “I’m never going to get through this” or “This is more than I can handle” begins to play on a constant loop in our brain. Some of us respond to our problem with denial. Instead of facing our lack of money, we spend as if we have unlimited resources, compounding our original financial instability. Or, we may isolate from others and numb ourselves with food, alcohol or television. Sometimes we avoid dealing with our situation by throwing ourselves into a relationship that takes up all of our time. None of these counterproductive behaviors do anything to bring us closer to a solution. They only keep us stuck in our problem by postponing or delaying our eventual day of financial reckoning.
Black History Month Presented by AOL Black Voices
Things to Consider in the Police Beating of Chad Holley
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
The video-taped beating of 16-year old Chad Holley had me fuming. It's one thing when police use excessive force, but this video was startling for at least a couple of reasons. First, the kid is only 16-years old, and kids that age don't deserve this kind of treatment. While he appears to be a viable suspect for burglary (he was convicted of his crime), the truth is that we must move beyond a society that believes that any child who makes a mistake is beyond redemption. Black children tend to be the ones most likely to be sentenced as adults, and those kids who are lost at an early age can be thrown to the wolves as if they are worthless commodities with abolutely no long-term potential value. Secondly, it appears on the video that Holley does nothing to warrant any form of physical retaliation by officers. He has his hands behind his back and surrenders to the police immediately when they surround him. Yes, Holley might have broken the law, but police officers should not be the judge and jury of this young man, as well as the ones to administer his (cruel and unusual) punishment.
Here are a couple of other things to consider as the nation thinks about the Chad Holley beating by police:
Ephren Taylor Issues Statement in Response to Eddie Long’s Youtube Appeal Alleging Financial Mismanagmeent
Bishop Eddie Long did a Youtube appeal to former Capital City Corp CEO Ephren Taylor about members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church who allegedly lost money as a result of their investments. Taylors reps have responded with this statement below:
FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
January 31, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT:
Candace Reese J.
Envision Global
(678) 367-3117
C.Reese@EnviGlobal.com
STATEMENT FROM EPHREN W. TAYLOR ON BISHOP EDDIE L. LONG
YOUTUBE VIDEO APPEAL AND NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH WEALTH TOUR 2009
ATLANTA, GA (EnviGlobal.com) – Business Accelerator and entrepreneur, Ephren W. Taylor releases the following statement regarding the recent Youtube.com video appeal posted by New Birth Missionary Baptist Church pastor, Bishop Eddie L. Long:
Due to many inaccuracies, and based upon what I view as a direct character assassination and an attempt to paint a picture of an inability, on my part, to take responsibility for the actions of City Capital Corporation during my tenure as CEO, I am extending facts relative to the aftermath of the Wealth Tour at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
Shocking Video of Teen Being Beaten by Houston Police Officers
Chad Holley is brutally beaten by police, although he’d clearly surrendered before the beating. Click here to see the video.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Diddy Speaks Up on Behalf of Kelley Williams-Bolar
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
It appears that the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar is getting the kind of traction that can make a difference. Since we first wrote about Kelley on AOL Black Voices, the entire nation has taken notice. Change.org and ColorofChange.org have launched petitions that have garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures. Also, the story has gained national attention as a clear example of all that's wrong with the educational system in America.
In case you haven't seen the story, Kelley Williams-Bolar is the single mother of two who was sent to jail for sending her children to a school outside their district. In addition to being sent to jail, Williams-Bolar would have a felony record and not be able to ever teach again in the state of Ohio.
Sarah Palin and the Tea Party are Part of Black History Too
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
It might surprise you to hear me say this, but I believe this statement to be fundamentally true: While most of us think of Black History as a celebration of black achievement and the recognition of meaningful historical figures, the reality is that the Tea Party Express, Sarah Palin and other peculiar figures in the Right Wing are a part of black history as well.
Black History is not just a collection of names, dates, places and faces. It also tells stories of triumph for people of color as we've worked to achieve equality in a society that was trained to hate us. In order for us to have heroes, there must sometimes be a deadly villain.
In the past, those villains have been the Ku Klux Klan, slave owners who didn't want us to learn how to read, men like Bull Connor and even the federal government itself. As black people have had to fight for what is ours, we've often had to confront those who worked overtime to sabotage, distract or even kill our greatest heroes in the struggle for Civil Rights. The Tea Party and their associates, for right or wrong, are perceived by millions of African Americans to be a continuation of the legacy of Civil Rights villains who will be written about in Black History textbooks for many decades to come.
Stephen A. Smith Returns to ESPN Radio
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
One of my favorite television personalities is the great Stephen A. Smith. I met Stephen a few years ago when I appeared on his ESPN show, "Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith." Smith's show was my favorite in all of television, primarily because it was a place where black men could be men on the national stage and discuss the issues that mattered most (to us). I told Stephen A. that his show was effectively "The Black Man's Oprah," and we needed more like it.
It was Stephen's deep commitment to the black athlete in America that led me to realize that his television days were numbered. There is no way on God's green earth that a show so seriously committed to the black male would last on any of the major networks. Stephen's show should never have been canceled, but his show should probably have been on BET or TV One.
Black Men Angry After Nun Falsely Accuses Them of Rape
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University - Scholarship in Action
The Onion does a hilarious skit about a blond white woman accused of killing her classmate. The punishment administered by the judge is not the death penalty, a long prison sentence or even community service. Instead, she is punished by forcing her to go on trial as a 300 pound black man. The skit goes on to show the girl's parents crying in court over the judge's cruel and unusual punishment. "No one in this country deserves the horror of being treated like a black man," they say in front of a group of news cameras.
While the skit was certainly funny in its own right, it was built on a very serious set of functional inequities in America's justice system: black men are more likely to be searched, arrested, convicted and incarcerated for crimes, even when they didn't do anything wrong. While we've heard about the cases of the Scott Sisters and Kelley Williams-Bolar, there are thousands of other men and women in prison after being found guilty of simply being black.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Dr. Boyce speaks with Prof. Khalil Muhammad from the Schomburg Center
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
One of the men for whom I have a great deal of respect is Dr. Khalil Muhammad, the new Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Professor Muhammad is currently a scholar of African-American history at Indiana University.
Professor Muhammad's selection for the post was not without controversy. Some thought he was too young and unknown to be granted such a serious and prestigious post. I don't agree with the criticism, but only time will prove us all correct. From my meetings with Professor Muhammad, I found him to be sharp, insightful and down-to-earth. He is a scholar who fully understands, respects and appreciates the gravity of his appointment and the importance of The Schomburg.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Steve Harvey’s Ex-Wife Keeps On Talking…….
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
One of my favorite on-air personalities is Charlamagne Tha God, one of the members of "The Breakfast Club" with Power 105.1 in New York City. Charlamagne was also the co-host of The Wendy Williams Experience, arguably the most popular radio show in New York at one point in time. I appeared on the show six times between 2006 and 2009 and it was a great experience each time.
Charlamagne is known for his raw, in-your-face and borderline insulting interview style, likely something he picked up from working with Wendy Williams for so long. I have no doubt that he's made a few enemies in the industry, but I also doubt that he gives a damn. The man fears no one, and neither did Wendy.
CNN Has New Black Managing Editor: What Does that Mean?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Heads were turning this week as CNN announced that it was hiring Mark Whitaker as it's new Managing Editor. Whitaker, who is African American, once served as the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News. He took his position at NBC after the sudden death of Tim Russert in 2007. He was also editor at Newsweek from 1998 - 2006.
The Managing Editor position was created when the CNN/US President, Jon Klein, left the network in September of last year. CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton said that Whitaker would be chosen as "an executive vice president and managing editor of CNN Worldwide to lead collaboration across all platforms and elevate CNN's unique journalism and analysis."
"Our aim is to position a strong managing editor, working closely with the head of each CNN network and Web site, to generate reporting and analysis that consistently stands out, sparks conversation and captures the true meaning and relevance of the events in the news," Walton said in a public statement. "Mark is a distinguished journalist and news executive who is experienced in leading large enterprises, and I am pleased that he will help direct our long-term editorial approach and strategy."
Dr. Boyce Video: Depression and Denial in the African American Community
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Many of us are familiar with author Terrie Williams and her popular book "Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting." I decided to bring Terrie back into the studio last month to discuss the black community's denial when it comes to dealing with mental illness, specifically when it comes to managing the spike in depression during the holiday season.
The video was shot before the holidays, but was delayed due to production problems. But the holiday season will always be here, and so will depression. The video is below, enjoy!
Bishop Eddie Long Goes to Youtube About Alleged Investment Fraud within His Church
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in action
Bishop Eddie Long has made yet another public appearance, this time on Youtube. Rather than discussing his own legal issues, Long spoke about an investment company that allegedly left many of his members on the brink of financial ruin. In the video, Long discussed a dispute that his church is having with City Capital Corp, a company that came to the church to convince members to invest money with their firm back in 2009.
In the video, Long said that since City Capital Corp. came to visit his church, some members have faced bankruptcy, foreclosure, or significant losses in their retirement accounts. Bishop Long made a public appeal to the company's former CEO, Ephren Taylor, and the rest of the company to do the right thing and return the money to those who've been hurt.
In a press release issued on Monday, Bishop Long informed the media that several members of his church alerted him to concerns they had about City Capital. Roughly 20 members of the church invested with the company, according to published reports.
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