The Essence of Freaknik
by Ajani Husbands

You can’t be offended when the same rappers we promote and approve of start creating ignorance on another level. That’s my end thesis at the beginning of the article (for those just skimming). And now to the real article:

Have you seen Freaknik? And by Freaknik, I mean the animated 1-hour special on Cartoon Network, recently aired last week Sunday. Freaknik The Musical, is “the story of a party that turned into a ghost,” according to Cartoon Network. T-Pain featured as the voice of Freaknik. The movie also featured a dozen or so other notable rappers, including Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Kelis, Lil Jon, and many more. Overall, the cartoon undeniably featured an undesirable element in Black America, which provided ample fodder for Essence Magazine to produce a “10 Most Offensive Things” list. And perhaps contrary to Black intellectuals across the country, I enjoyed the cartoon. But I think I liked it for a far different reason than Essence Magazine hated it.
Read more..

I stopped watching the news a long time ago; it’s terrible.  I mean… there’s no other way to put it.  If I’m not being fed partisan politics, I’m being given filler stories (i.e. “the world’s largest or most popular dog”) or scare stories (i.e. “tune in at 6 to find out what foods at the grocery store can, and WILL, kill you”).  It’s just aweful.

And then I stumble onto this blog article about Stephen Stafford.  And that’s just the thing, it’s not on the news.  I mean, this kid’s story is just about NOWHERE on the national news.  Seriously, where is his 15 minutes?  30 minutes?  Even his 10 minutes on Oprah (equivalent to about 5 hours of television exposure elsewhere… do the math).

The fact alone that he’s a motivational speaker at age 13 is newsworthy enough.  But you add to that him going to college at 13, triple majoring, and getting ready to go to med school, and he’s phenomenal.  Most REGULAR college students can’t do that.

So where is his story?  Well, as much to blame as is the news, I’m going to blame you, the reader.  Us, the community.  If we’re not demanding more stories like Stephen Stafford be shown, then what really do we want?

KRS-One once said “the people really have the government they want.  If they were dissatisfied, they’d be out rebelling right now.”  Let’s substitute “government” for “news.”

Let’s face it.  The only consistently positive coverage we’ve seen of Black people on the news as of late is people getting rescued from rubble in Haiti.  And even that momentum has changed with the news coverage of the missionaries arrested for attempted trafficking.

So what can we do? No one ever writes to their news station.  I’m going to write to my television stations in Washington, D.C. and demand for more coverage of stories like Stephen Stafford.  Stay tuned for a draft letter that YOU can send to your TV stations.

Being that I recently attended my first Bar Mitzvah, when I came across this article it was especially intriguing.  Very interesting topic with some valuable historical information, relevant as we just exited our Black history month which always seems to fly by in a flash.

Article from the Huffington Post

“There is no question about the well-documented history where the Black and Jews have stood together in their fight for civil rights, equality and political power. But not so much is said about the creative alliances in business where Blacks and Jews are and have been forging new businesses and ideas that have helped enable Blacks and Jews to enter the mainstream in American business. These are the partnerships that have and will create goodwill and change the future.

There are many examples of how Blacks and Jews have come together to fight against hatred and bigotry. In fact, as my friend Rabbi Marc Schneier at The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, often states (and he even wrote a book about it called Shared Dreams), Dr. King was an ardent supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, including taking part in efforts to ease discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union and the safety and security of the State of Israel. Dr. King also spoke out strongly against anti-Semitism in the United States. We all know that no segment of the American population provided as much and as consistent support to Dr. King and to African Americans as did the Jewish community.
Read more..