written by Esfac’e Black returns with HOT FIRE.  The Boondocks Season 3 kicked off with one of the most pertinent issues in the Black community: Barack Obama and YOU. I won’t spoil the episode if you didn’t see it, but the moral of the story is simple: Barack Obama is the President, and he’s Black.  He’s not the Black President.  Get it?  Because if you haven’t gotten by now, you lose….. (outdated Kanye West reference).

Aaron McGruder

The episode begins with a German filmmaker producing a documentary on Huey Freeman.  The filmmaker can’t figure out why Huey isn’t excited about Obama becoming president.  At the same time, he interviews every other outlandish character in the Boondocks universe and you get the full gamut of true-to-life reactions.
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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.
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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.
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by Ajani Husbands

Let’s say you’re an artist. I need you to paint 1,000 paintings for me in one year. That’s about three paintings a day with thirty free days scattered in between. Can you do it?  Is it possible? Your answer to this might determine whether painting for you is a hobby of something you happen to be good at, or if you have the drive to be a definitive reference point in the art world.

Right now I’m in the middle of reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers and the question persists: what does it take to be an outlier? Passion and drive? Perhaps it is one’s circumstances and upbringing? Pure luck? No matter the case, one thing has already one thing has been made clear: Outliers aren’t just talented. They WANT to be outliers.
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Join Esface in celebrating another Social Shopping situation presented by Urban Stitch.

Come support local designers with some good music, good people and live DJ’s spinning on the 1’s and 2’s.

Sunday, Feb. 21st. | 330 Ritch St., SF | 2 pm - 7 pm

An Ipod touch on steroids? Can you see a purpose for it? I’ve heard cases on both sides…what do you think?
Will offer a 3G internet plan for $30/month which is quite reasonable in my eyes…you be the judge..

By the time I got to work this morning (8 time zones ahead of DC), it had already been at least 6 hours since the earthquake struck Haiti.  By that time, I saw a few updates on facebook, and a few links on how people could assist the victims.  I joined my friends in posting links to helpful sites as my status update.  8 hours later, at the end of the workday, I donated money to the Red Cross.

Wyclef Jean left for Haiti that day and put out a call for donations for the earthquake relief via his foundation, Yele Haiti.

President Obama sent rescue teams less than 24 hours after the earthquake.

The United Kingdom sent 61 firefighters in roughly the same time frame.

What is your response time?

Right now the opportunities to be usefully involved are amazing.  There are several ways one can help in the immediate and in the long term.  There are also several ways one can NOT help.  You decide what type of impact you will have when the human cause arises:

How to have an immediate impact:

1) Send a text message.  Right now you can actually text to the Red Cross or to Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean’s humanitarian foundation) and it will automatically send money to the organization.  You’ll get the charge via your cell phone bill.  This is probably the BEST and MOST EFFECTIVE way to be involved.  The money goes straight to humanitarian relief efforts and not to administrative expenses.  How do I know this?  It’s because emergency relief doesn’t have a line item for administrative costs.  That’s what makes it emergency.  But if you’re still concerned, you can go to www.charitynavigator.org to find out how much of an organization’s total budget go to administrative expenses (for the Red Cross, it’s 6%). 

You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross.  You can text “YELE” to 501501 to send $5 to Wyclef’s Yele Haiti Foundation. 

2) Be MLK.  Monday we celebrate the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Most people I know, including myself, will use at least part of the extended weekend to party.  But how about BEGIN the weekend by having a fundraiser for one of the organizations listed above?  For years, we let this historic Monday pass us by without doing any service.  Now, in 2010, it’s easier than ever to positively impact someone’s life.  So let’s begin the weekend by reaching out to our friends and making sure each person donates before the weekend begins.

3) Social Networking.  If you find information on how others can donate, post it on facebook.  Tweet it.  That’s how I found out about the Red Cross and the Yele Foundation.  Maybe you’ve got friends that are unaware of what’s going on.  Change your status message AND let people know that you’ve done something by donating. 

Think about it… American Idol received 78 million text messages last year.  How many will you send to save a life?

4) Next Vacation? Rebuild.  The Port-au-Prince airport will reopen soon, and it’s not expensive to get to Haiti.  If you were looking for your next spring break service project, you’ve found it.  In the medium term, Haiti will need able bodies dedicated to heavy lifting.  Houses need to be rebuilt.  Meals need to be delivered.  Hospitals need willing volunteers.  Hit up Google and find out which organizations are doing what on the ground, and then organize 3-5 friends and get out there for a week. 

How NOT to Help Haiti

1) Change your facebook status.  A link by itself will not do it.  Lead by example.  If you are one of the ones who is simply changing a facebook status without any action behind it, it’s an empty gesture.  Haitians don’t need a facebook status. 

2) Watch TV.  If you’re watching tv and going “wow,” you’re not helping Haiti.  Changing from a spectator to an activist could be as easy as sending a text message WHILE watching television.  That’s 15 seconds of time I think everyone can afford.

3) Be Political.  Rallies, petitions, marches.  That’s not going to help Haiti right now.  Nuff said.

4) Take a shot of Patron.  When the weekend hits, I envision a group of friends at the club in half-drunken slurs “hey, we gotta keep it real.  This one’s for Haiti.”  Don’t let that group be you.

Though hardly Nastrodamus, Lil Wayne made an excellent point when he singled out celebrities who sang and made speeches for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  “You weren’t helping the people of New Orleans.”

I came across this article at Ballerstatus.com, never ceases to amaze me the way my man Diddy the entrepreneur is able to slap his brand name on the widest range of products with instant success…you have to respect how he’s able to market himself and his brand to maintain one of the most powerful names in the urban market. Details below…

“First it was Dr. Dre, and then Lady Gaga, and now Diddy has become the latest music superstar to team up with Monster Cable and Beats By Dr. Dre for his own line of headphones.

The hip-hop mogul has been working with Dre and Jimmy Iovine on the Diddy Beats, a stylish in-ear headphones set developed in collaboration with Monster.

“We designed some ear buds called Diddy Beats that will be out next year,” Diddy said of the Diddy-Dre collabo. “We also have an iPod speaker base for your house coming out. That experience as a whole was good, we [Dr. Dre and I] had a great chemistry with each other.”

According to a press release, the headphones will retail for $149, will be available in black or white, with a sleek black and silver chrome finish, and boast the Beats By Dr. Dre bass and sound quality…”

Read more here.

Got the following clip from my LA associate G.Vitte at www.gvitte.com, take some time out to be inspired by one of the most successful entertainers in Hollywood…my man Will Smith.  Be Moved. Stay Esface.