Election Day 2010 Prediction

It’s Election Day 2010 and the pundits have been buzzing predicting yet another “Republican takeover” similar to that in 1994 under the Newt Gingrich regime. I remember that year oh so well. I had just relocated to the Washington DC area and had the great fortune of landing a job as the campaign press secretary for Congressman Albert R. Wynn from Maryland’s 4th Congressional district. (I initially thought that I would go to DC and eventually work for North Carolina’s Congressman David Price (coincidentally the representative from NC’s 4th Congressional district) but he was a casualty of the Republicans. I earned my first battle scars as a campaign aide working for a US Congressman in a highly volatile political climate; the stakes were high and the Dems fought hard to hold on to their seats and to protect the party’s hero and “rock star” President Bill Clinton from becoming a lame duck.
When it was all said and done and the votes were all counted, 38.8% of the eligible American voters turned out. It was estimated that 108,000,000 eligible Americans failed to turn up at the polls and cast their vote. Lack of enthusiasm was again being blamed like it is today as the grim reaper after a bitter fight for guess what—health care reform. All in all, the Republicans garnered 19.0% of the eligible vote for Congress, exceeding the Democrats (16.6%) for the first time since 1946 (http://archive.fairvote.org/reports/1995/chp3/gans.html). And after the smoke cleared—34 incumbents, all Democrats lost their seats and the Republicans took control of Congress winning 52 seats in the House and 9 seats in the Senate. Needless to say the Democrats were sorely disappointed and shamed as the Republicans launched a massive far-reaching political war, “taking no prisoners.”

The speeches on the campaign trails and rhetoric during this election cycle were probably just as divisive and scary as they were in 1994 however I don’t recall them being nearly as sinister and hate-filled. I think that although President Obama’s level of intelligence and charismatic appeal is similar if not exceeds that of President Clinton, he has several forces working against him: (1) his race (Black man) although few people will openly admit it; (2) the miserable economy and the fact that we are in a recession that has flat lined as far as jobs recovery and growth goes; and (3) the matchless money machine of the right that is fueled by the spoils of Corporate warfare against the working class.

The pundits are predicting we are going to see a replay of 1994 even without a unified Republican Party and an clear republican agenda like the “Contract with America”—and despite the fact that the Republic party is splintered and broken into hostile factions –with the Tea Party on one side and ultra conservative old-guard Republican partiers on the other. They do however share in the enormous money coffers and have all seemed to rally behind one common battle cry—to politically disable and ultimately prevent the reelection in 2012 of President Obama. Case and point, current Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell sent out a rallying cry to the Republican Party admonishing them that their main goal is to “make sure that Barak Obama is a one-term president.”

The Democrats are not so much splintered as they are handicapped by out-dated political strategies and timid, if not spineless, leadership.

While it is 7:33 p.m. as I conclude this first posting on Election Day 2010 and most of the polls in the east have just closed, there is still much uncertainty. Nevertheless, the pundits on MSNBC and CNN are continuing to predict a Republican sweep. Part of their over confidence with their predictions may have served the Democrats well by forcing people to realize the high stakes of this election when they otherwise would have stayed at home.

I am going to take a gamble and predict that the Democrats will still hold on to the House and Senate although by a narrow margin. I am not as positive about the race between Elaine Marshall (Democratic candidate) and Richard Burr (incumbent Republican). My pessimism is largely due to the lack of support it appears that Elaine Marshall received by the NC Democratic Party. Furthermore I am ever so mindful of the fact that North Carolina didn't send the late former Senator Jessie Helms back to Washington over and over again on the votes of Republicans alone.

What is certain is that the nation as a whole is sickened by the lack of real political leadership by both parties and the abysmal lack of protection of everyday, hard working Americans. Both parties have failed to lead with courage, moral conviction and any sign of intelligent public policy making.

I predict that there will be some upsets but I am hopeful that the outcome will not be as dire or devastating as folk who are getting paid a lot more money that I make are prognosticating.

And the tallying of the votes has begun…let’s see if tomorrow we will have a Congress that is hell bent on taking our nation backwards or if we have a Congress that has a renewed commitment and stronger will to move us forward.

Once Again America Is Faced With The Fierce Urgency of Now: Why We MUST March on October 2

August 28th 2010 marked the 47th anniversary of the historic 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” It was during that momentous event that Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in which he made a provocative appeal to America’s collective conscience to create a society in which people were judged on “the content of their character and not on the color of their skin.” Unfortunately, people often get caught up in the mesmerizing delivery of King’s “call to conscience” and fail to respond to his call to action. Many people often ignore the first part of Dr. King’s speech where he criticized America for defaulting on the promissory note “to which every American was heir…a promise that all men would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’” Dr. King admonished:
“America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.”
Fast forward to 2010 and the promissory note Dr. King referenced still has not been honored and once again we are in a critical moment in history faced with the fierce urgency of now. Although some argue that the election of our country’s first Black president is evidence that we are now living in a post-racial society, a close examination of several major indicators of social and economic progress reveals otherwise. Some individuals are indeed living the American dream, however far too many Americans, especially Blacks and the poor of all race and ethnic groups, are living social nightmares struggling to survive.
According to 2009 US Census data, the poverty rate climbed from 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million people, in 2008 to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people in 2009. Among the working-age population (ages 18 to 65), poverty rose from 11.7 percent to 12.9 percent, which is at the highest since the 1960s, when the government launched a war on poverty that expanded the federal role in social welfare programs from education to health care. Poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, but was particularly higher for blacks and Hispanics. The number of Hispanics in poverty increased from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent; for blacks it increased from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent. The number of whites in poverty rose from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent and child poverty rose from 19 percent to 20.7 percent.
The unemployment rate for the last 12 months (August 2009 to August 2010) has been between 9.5 and 10% for the general US population, the unemployment rate for the same period for Blacks has been between 15.2% (August 2009) to 16.3% (August 2010). Although poverty rates among Blacks declined during the 1990s it is now on an upward turn. While 4.5 percent of white mortgage borrowers lost their homes to foreclosure between 2007 and 2009, Black and Latino borrowers had 7.9 and 7.7 percent foreclosure rates, respectively and high-income black borrowers were 80 percent more likely to lose their homes to foreclosure than their white counterparts, while Latino borrowers were 90 percent more likely (Center for Responsible Lending). Gentrification is eroding historically black neighborhoods and black owned land tracts and residential segregation--a primary mechanism for reproducing race and class-based social inequality is becoming more widespread. The American criminal justice system and prison industrial complex are ensnaring people of color especially Black males into legally sanctioned systems of oppression, social control and exclusion that are tantamount to the Jim Crow era as pointed out by Dr. Michelle Alexander.
The gains in upward social mobility that many people made before the Bush years (e.g. moving into the middle class) are being demolished by the effects of a worsening recession caused by years of outrageous and uncontrolled greed on Wall Street, senseless spending on wars that we should have never engaged, and a government gone wild—tending more the interests of the extremely wealthy and corporations than to meeting the needs of the workers, middle class and poor families and children in our country.
And, yet the voices of outrage over the direction that our country is heading that are the loudest are the ones representing the most outrageous and vitriolic minority including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, to mention a few.

It appears however that the masses are awakening a new civil rights movement. On October 2, 2010 the national NAACP, the AFL-CIO, National Council of La Raza, United for Peace and Justice and many other organizations from around the country will assemble in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC to show the real face of the American majority. Unlike the Tea Party movement’s factions e.g. Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin’s followers, the “One Nation Working Together” movement on 10.2.10 will galvanize people from diverse race/ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds into a united front representing “one nation, indivisible” fighting for “liberty and justice for all.” On that day Americans will stand together and demand that Congress refocus its priorities to put unemployed Americans back to work, stimulate the economy in our local communities, ensure the protection and civil rights and liberties of ALL people, and invest in a sound high-quality education for ALL youth.

Like faith without works—words without action are dead—inconsequential or of no effect. Romanticizing Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech without fighting to turn its core principles in reality diminishes its worth. Dr. King’s warning is just as significant and relevant today as it was back in 1963. We are yet again faced with the “fierce urgency of now” and “this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism; now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”

For more information on how you can sign up to participate the One Nation Working Together 10.2.10 visit the national website at www.onenationworkingtogether.org.

Fighting Back Against the Reproduction Social Inequality in Our Public Schools

The well-being and life outcomes of children are immutably tied to the social status of their family. The social status of families are strongly correlated to levels of educational attainment of parents or adults.  North Carolina State Representative Alma Adams once said during a press conference on poverty that “children are poor because they are connected to poor families.” I would like to add to Representative Adams’ astute observation that most poor families are headed by poor women.  Women, who for example, can’t afford to attend a school board meeting at 3:00 in the afternoon on a weekday to fight for equity and fair treatment of their children in school. Or, women who are often mischaracterized as being apathetic about their child’s education but who, to the contrary, are limited in the flexibility they have over their work schedules or the type of work they must do to provide the basic necessities for their children. 

It is with these women in mind that I—along with 18 other courageous social justice fighters representing a mosaic of race/ethnicity, age, profession, and socioeconomic statuses—elected to take a stand against the regressive practices and policies of the Wake County School Board on July 20, 2010.   For the record, I, like the others who make up the group I  refer to as “The Courageous 19,”  did not go to the Wake County school board meeting looking to get arrested but to participate in a democratic process called an open public meeting.  However, by the heavy presence of police—some on foot others on horses and the two prisoner-transport buses that were parked outside upon our arrival—it became apparent that our presence as peaceful and concerned citizens was not welcomed by some board members but instead met with trepidation and hostility.

While it wasn’t a pleasant place to stand, it was through moral conviction that we knew standing on the sides of justice and equity for ALL is always the right place to stand. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his famous “Letter From A Birmingham Jail:”

“An unjust law is no law at all…one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”

Our act of civil disobedience was not novel but modeled after the examples of great Civil and Human Rights advocates who helped to make democracy a lived experience and not merely words on paper—including Henry David Thoreau, the Boston Tea Partiers, Gandhi, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the students in the People’s Republic of China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, to name a few.  History reminds us that democracy comes with a heavy price.  We have come too far to turn back the hands of time by instituting policies that will deepen racial and class divides instead of uniting us as “one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” 

The decision of the Wake County School Board to eliminate the district’s diversity policy takes us to a place that reminds us of a frightening and not too distant past. It is reminiscent of a time when Americans, in particular southerners, were forced to live the lie that separate was also equal and when seemingly innocuous terms like “neighborhood schools” or “choice” were codes for the preservation of white privilege and the sociopolitical disenfranchisement of Blacks.

Contrary to the assumption that after electing our nation’s first black president, that we have been catapulted into a post-racial society, empirical evidence suggests that racism  in the 21^st Century is just as real and pernicious as it was in the 19^th and 20^th century. Instead of manifesting in conspicuous ways like de jure segregation, implementing poll taxes at voting sites, or terrorizing neighborhoods by extremist hate groups like the KKK, the new racist practices are manifested in things that are all too easy to take for granted or that are disguised as harmless, necessary, or conventional e.g. racially polarized neighborhoods or residential segregation, gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the  academic achievement gap, or racial disparities that plaque our prison system. 

Dr. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, renowned race scholar at Duke University, argues that racism today is very much a part of the American social and political fabric and extends beyond the realms of how people feel or what they think; it is a structure or network of social relations at social, political, economic and ideological levels that shapes the life chances of the various races.  I argue that we can not relent on our fight for equity and justice in education because it is through education as an institution that these networks of social, political, and ideological relations are shaped, reinforced, and reproduced. 

Dr. Ron Haskins, with the Brookings Institution wrote in the introduction of his report on Education and Economic Mobility (Economic Mobility Project:  An Initiative of the Per Charitable Trusts, 2009), “most Americans believe that the road to achieving the American Dream passes through the schoolhouse door.”  Unfortunately, for many children the road to the schoolhouse is similar to the yellow brick road that Dorothy had to travel on her way to OZ—filled with unleveled terrain, blocked paths, and threats, while for other children, the road is paved with golden opportunities and enriching excitement.

Make no mistake about it—the process of schooling is far more than just teaching children to read, write and do arithmetic in order to become productive adult members of society.  Education systems are the seed beds whereby cultural capital and social capital—two essential mechanisms that are used create and reproduce social inequality--are planted and nurtured.  Douglas Massey (2007) defines cultural capital as manners, behaviors, speech, and knowledge that enable individuals to be effective as actors within a particular social context i.e. elite settings (which are often homopholous e.g. same race/ethnicity, class, gender).  Massey contends that the possession of cultural capital makes an individual more productive not because he or she can perform a given operation better or faster (e.g. high scores on a standardized test), but because he or she can navigate structures of power with greater ease, feeling relaxed and comfortable in certain social settings and thus interacting with persons of influence and power to get things done.  Massey (2007) further submits that cultural capital represents a symbolic resource that privileged groups can manipulate through opportunity hoarding and social closure  to perpetuate stratification and increase inequality.  For example, teachers who attend the same social functions or routinely interact  with the same groups as the children they serve are particularly vulnerable to acting in ways that place these children and parents at a greater advantage than the children and parents they only see or relate to within the class room setting.  I argue that the same applies to children if they are not redirected as is the case with the tendency of children to self segregate in educational settings, i.e. sitting in segregated groups in the cafeteria (see Tatum 1997).    

The bottom line is that our children learn from us—the adults.  Unfortunately, integration and equality doesn’t happen naturally but requires adults acting for the greater good and not our own self interests to create a humane and socially just society. Today’s political climate doesn’t afford persons the luxury of a free ride in our Democracy but it demands protest (when warranted) and civic engagement at all times.   Dr. King warned that civil disobedience is a type of “constructive, nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.”  If we are to grow into a “more perfect union,” we can’t be afraid to stand up and push back against ultraconservative factions or segregationist who seek to promote racial discord and division and white supremacy or elitism as natural laws. For our children and the preservation of our democracy we all must stand up and declare “forwards ever, backwards never.”

African Americans and the Fourth of July

I know I am taking the lazy way out by not writing my own perspective about what it means to celebrate the Fourth of July from an African American perspective. I did write a piece several years ago and promise to post it when I return home from my mini vacation with family in Virginia (of all places)--the place where, earlier this year (2010) the state's Governor Bob McDonnel refused to recognize the significant contribution of slavery as part of the Confederate history in his proclamation designating April as "Confederate History" Month.  In the mean time here are two really interesting perspectives about African Americans and the Fourth of July that you may find a worthy read. 

Curious to hear your thoughts after reading, which you can post below.

Enjoy both the holiday and the reading!


http://www.theroot.com/views/meaning-fourth-july-21st-century-negro

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/opinion/04rich.html

Happiness: 6 Myths and Truths

Happiness: 6 Myths and Truths

Special Guest Interview with Malik Yoba

Special Guest Interview with super star Malik Yoba on his rise to stardom from the streets of Brooklyn including his role in Tyler Perry's new movie,Why Did I Get Married Too?, super cool and sexy cop J.C. on New York Undercover, his BET webseries Shop Talk, fatherhood, relationships, and women.

And a discussion with relationship counselor and expert Peachie Williams, creator of the highly acclaimed relationship blog Peachie's Nectar--to discuss the complexities, joys, and struggles of relationships.

Black Women and the Black Church: Saved and Sanctified or Under A Spell?

CLICK ON THE ABOVE TITLE HEADER TO LISTEN TO A DISCUSSION OF THIS TOPIC ON THE WORD ON THE STREET

From slavery through freedom, the “Black” church has played a prominent role as the life line of the African American community. In their seminal work, Lincoln and Mamiya (1990) proffered “The Black church has no challenger as the cultural womb of the black community.” While not a monolithic institution, and one characterized by diversity in religious ideologies, doctrines, and demographics and notwithstanding its resonate history as a powerful mobilizing spiritual and socio-political force, the Black church has nurtured and helped to define the collective identity and culture of the Black community. However, an objective and scholarly interrogation of the Black church will reveal evidence of a social institution whereby class, gender and race/ethnic inequalities are manifested, reproduced and defined.

The Black church has always been a centre for economic productivity and market activity. This is most evident by the surge of what are referred to as “mega churches” in contemporary American society, many of which that have memberships in excess of tens-of-thousand congregants and an average net income of $4.8 million (Kroll 2003).

Any conscientious observer of a Sunday morning worship service in most Black churches today will find that women make up the largest proportion of church attendees. The absence of Black males is conspicuously consistent across denominations represented in the Black Christian church community. While women ubiquitous or every-present in myriad of roles in the Black church including as evangelists, missionaries, stewardesses, deaconesses, lay readers, religious commentators and writers, teachers, musicians, ushers, choir members and directors, secretaries and clerks and in honorific positions including “mother of the church” and “First Lady” (the title of the pastor’s wife), their social status is not as fluid and evenly distributed. In other words, in many churches across denominations many women are relegated to lower status positions. Although rooted in the sacred ideology of God as the head and He (God) has no respective of persons, the Black church like its white counterpart was historically organized as a patriarchal hegemony—with men at the top of the church’s institutional hierarchy as leaders and women in lower positions as lay congregants in various relatively subservient positions as church volunteers, event organizers, etc. Both historical and contemporary evidence underscore the fact that black churches could scarcely have survived without the active support of black women, but in spite of their importance in the life of the church, the offices of preacher and pastor of Black churches remain a male-dominated position, and generally unattainable to women (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). A plausible explanation points to a patriarchal heritage that legitimizes a gender order in which women are viewed as subservient to men and is held in place by a gender regime. Ideologies that explain why a particular ordering of advantage is natural or desirable often support the legitimacy of inequalities; inequalities that stem from hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy (see Acker 2006). These ideologies have endured through many sociocultural changes and continue to pervade many religions, especially Christianity.

As Women’s History Month comes to an end, our guests will examine through sociocultural historical and contemporary lenses the symbiotic and dynamic relationship between Black women and the “Black” church. Have Black women been unwitting pawns in a hegemonic and patriarchal scheme of exploitation within the Black church? Or have Black women used their power through the by males leaders to extract and maintain a steady pool of valuable resources e.g. volunteer service and financial support or has the church played a positive and vital role in the preserving and helping to promote the social, emotional and economic wellbeing of women and families. Have women's roles and statuses changed over time? This segment also addresses two questions Dr. Daphne Wiggins set out to examine in her ethnographical research whose findings were published in her book Righteous Content: Black Women’s Perspectives of Church and Faith. Why are women so faithful to the Black church? How is the Black church faring in the eyes of women?

The show features Elder Gloria Agougah, M.A.Div., Duke University and candidate for the Doctorate of Ministry from the Samuel Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union; author, play writer, producer; founder and Executive Director of The Vision of Generation 2000 Ministries; and one of few women elders in the Western North Carolina District of the United Holy Church.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW BY CLICKING ON THE TITLE LINK IN THE HEADER AT THE TOP OF PAGE

Women in the Civil Rights and Social Justice Movement Today

Women in the Civil Rights and Social Justice Movement
Even before Sojourner Truth delivered her famous "Ain't I A Woman" speech in 1851 women have played a prominent role in the Civil Rights and Social Justice Movements. We will engage in provocative discussion with women who have been and remain at the forefront of the Social Justice movement today. Why is the woman's voice so necessary in advancing the movement? Is there still male domination at the top of contemporary social justice and civil rights organizations today?
Listen to an enlightening discussion by my special guests include: Mrs. Carolyn Coleman, one of the remaining matriarchs of the Civil Rights movement, former COFA youth Civil Rights worker in the 1960s; member and secretary of the NAACP national Board of Directors; First Vice President of the N.C. State Conference of the NAACP.
Ms. Erin Byrd, identified as one of the most effective 30-something community activists and organizers in the Southeast; member of Black Workers For Justice and Fruit of Labor Ensemble, and Political Action Chair for the N.C. NAACP.

Are Social Justice Movements Still Relevant today? Why HKonJ?

Click here to listen to the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, President of the North Carolina NAACP explain why social justice movements are still relevant today? Why is it necessary to mobilize people across political interests to fight for a common agenda of issues related to health, education, economics and racial equality.

Haitian Native Daniel Auguste Talks About His Native Land, Haiti-It's Past Present and Future

President Obama: One Year Later

Listen to "The Word On The Street" blogtalk radio program and an interview with Curtis Gatewood, 2nd Vice President of the North Carolina NAACP and co-founder of S.T.O.P --Securing The Obama Presidency grassroots campaign.

To listen click on the following link (allow a few minutes for program to load)
President Obama: One Year Later

Something else to ponder:

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, African-Americans remain "extremely supportive" of President Obama, but nearly half of the African American respondents who participated in the survey say that they are "happy but not thrilled" about Obama's presidency compared to 42 percent who say they are "thrilled." The 42 percent who reported that they are thrilled with Obama's presidency is down from 61 percent in January following the President Obama's inauguration.

The survey data, released on Tuesday December 29, 2009, also indicate that Obama's presidency appears to have resulted in more optimistic views by African Americans about race relations, however, less than one in five of the survey participants responded that they believe President Obama has "ushered in a new era of race relations in the country."

Even more interesting is the differences in opinion of the President's approval rating by race/ethnicity. The CNN poll found that more than than nine in 10 African Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing compared to 42 percent of whites who approve of his performance as president.

What is the word on the street? Where do you stand in your approval rating of President Obama's first year as President of the most powerful nation in the world? Is his waning approval by African Americans and the rest of Americans for that matter, hype propagated by sensational media coverage or fact, supported by the feelings of Americans on the ground and out of the Washington DC political circuit?

Go to following link to access full story from CNN
CNN Poll Finds Obama Still Popular Among Blacks But Thrill Is Gone

And a genius of a tribute put together by

Something Inside So Strong: Tribute to Black History

Joe Madison Interviews on Crisis in Haiti

Washington, D.C. – January 13, 2010 – SIRIUS XM Radio talk show host Joe Madison interviews Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States Raymond Joseph, President of TransAfrica Danny Glover, and political activist Ron Daniels about the earthquake in Haiti.

Ron Daniels – calls for a Marshall Plan in Haiti

Ambassador Raymond Joseph – urges Americans to organize locally and wait for further information from Haiti

Danny Glover – “We cannot abdicate responsibility..”

Efim Shapiro
Associate Producer
Joe Madison Show
Sirius XM Satellite Radio

202-380-4084

Interview with Dr. Tim Tyson, historian and author Blood Done Signed My Name

Dr. Tim Tyson on Race In America: Past and Present

Interview with Joe Madison, "The Black Eagle"

Interview with Joe Madison, "The Black Eagle"

Marianne Williamson Asks "Where Does A Democrat Go?"

Fascinating article by Marianne Williamson questioning the moral compass, political foresight and social agenda of the current Democratic Party and its leadership.  I concur with her every word!!!! I have also posted a comment to her article at the Huffington Post.  What do you think?  Has the Democratic party lost its commitment to advancing a social agenda for everyday people?  Has the Dem. Party lost the moral compass that once guided and shaped its political platform? What about its connection to the people who gave them the majority in Congress and helped the world to realize the historical election of President Barack Obama? What say ye, the people on the street?

Click the link bellow to access Marianne's article:

Marianne-williamson Asks "Where Does A Democrat Go?"

Top News Stories of the Decade

After listening ad nauseam to the various cable "snooze" networks (snooze because most of them tend to sleep, either selectively or unwittingly, on news that truly matters), I couldn't stomach another list of the top news stories and newsmakers of the past decade that include the likes of Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Paris Hilton, the Octomom, Jon and Kate plus their eight, Levi Johnson, Tiger Woods,  the balloon-boy dad hoaxer, and the White House party crashers. The reality is that the sordid activities that placed these people on anyone's "top newsmakers" list had very little impact on the greater good of humanity and in no way made significant contributions to the advancement of our society. Understanding why so many hours of national media coverage were wasted on these people and their lives is beyond me.


Here are my picks for the more worthy top news stories of the decade.

1. The inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.
I feel extremely blessed to say that my husband and I were among the fortunate hundreds of thousands of people who attended this historic event. We arrived on the Saturday before the Inauguration and were able to attend the free concert on the mall on Sunday and the N.C. Society Inaugural ball on Monday. The feeling in the air can best be described as euphoria of unity, love, hope, and pride all mixed together. If only that feeling had lasted until the end of President Obama's first term in office. Who would have predicted what would follow—outrageous Tea Partiers ascending on the nation's capital propagating hate and fear mongering; irate and obnoxious Congressman refusing to honor and reverence the position of our President as Commander in Chief yelling "you lie" or alleging that our President is an illegal alien; unscrupulous and imprudent decisions made by key Cabinet members who have repeatedly put the public's trust and faith in the President's ability to lead in jeopardy; and a constant roll call of critics and dissenters from all sides of the political isle (Republican, Democrat and Independent).

2. The death of Dr. John Hope Franklin on March 25, 2009
Dr. Franklin was the foremost historian and scholar whose life works included "From Slavery to Freedom" and chairing former President Bill Clinton's Commission on Race in America. Dr. Franklin used scientific thought and skilled documentation to record and bring to the forefront of the public conscious the truth about America's history of slavery and its precarious race relations between Blacks and Whites. Dr. Franklin's work was used to advance the civil rights movement and provided the necessary scholarship to win the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that outlawed public school segregation. Although he could have easily succumb to a life of self grandeur and untouchable elitism with his numerous accolades and honors i.e. becoming the first Black professor to hold an endowed chair at Duke as the James B. Duke professor emeritus of history, Dr. Franklin was a stately yet humble and inspiring man who gave so much more than he took to advance not himself but society as a whole.

3. The confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on August 6, 2009.
Not only has this awesome woman defied all odds--making it out of a Bronx housing project as a young Latina girl being reared by a single mom, earning a scholarship to Stanford, graduating at the top of her class, finishing law school with honors and serving with distinction as a judge, Justice Sotomayor is a role model for all women and young people who face similar and even greater challenges. She withstood the harsh and at times demeaning grillings of the predominantly White-elite-male controlled confirmation hearings, kept her poise and dignity and remained calm and cool under pressure and came out victorious. She proved that women can be just as smart as men and remain calm under pressure without given up the characteristics that make us human and keep us connected to humanity.

4. Death of Senator Ted Kennedy on August 26, 2009.
Marked the end of the Kennedy men from the "Camelot" era and America's "Royal Family." Senator Ted Kennedy's life was a testament to how perhaps the best path to redemption is a life committed to public service and remembering "to whom much is given much is required." He also was a testament to that the Lord will and can restore the years that the locus have eaten and cause a person to ascend the hurt and regrets of a past marred by unbearable losses and irreversible mistakes.

5. Murder of Five Year Old Shaniya Davis who was sold as sex slave November 11 2009.
Again, sad and tragic. Who in the heck is watching out for helpless children? Drug addicted mother needed help? Yes, and. Father wanted to give mother another chance. Yea, and. Department of Social Services overburdened? Yea, and. Nothing excuses this heinous crime and no one should be let off the hook. The mother, the sick man who would even want to have sex with a five year old, the DSS workers who neglected to consider this mother a high-risk case even after other reported incidences of severe child neglect and abuse were documented. It is clear that we need stronger and harsher penalties for child predators and people who abuse and neglect children. I think that life without the possibility of parole for child molesters and abuses is a good place to start.

6. The four children found dead in a Southeast DC home in January 2008.
Sad and tragic case that speaks more to the break down in community than the apparent mental illness of the mother who stayed in the home while her children's bodies decayed. Didn't anybody miss the children, who were between the ages of 5 and 17? What about the school officials? Why is it business as usual for children to go absent from school for extended periods of time or out of view of neighbors and NOBODY notice?

7. Murder of UNC--Chapel Hill student Eve Carson March 5, 2008.
Take the perpetrators in numbers 5 and 6 above and replace them with the fate Eve Carson suffered; now that somehow seems just. Eve Carson by all accounts was a wonderful soul--an angel on earth seeking ways to give back unselfishly, with a commitment to dedicate her life to advancing the greater good of humanity. She was a light whose "candle burned out long before her legend ever will" (Sir Elton John). The perpetrators however epitomize what happens to young black males who for a multitude of reasons become hardened to the core and void of empathy and any moral conviction. We have to remember that there is very little evidence to suggest that violent and heinous criminals are born; most of them turn out to be products of their environment and society.

8. The Devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005
"'Bring me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free' and when calamity strikes we will watch them die and sit in anguish waiting for us to send relief" best describes the response of the US government to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. On August 28th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through the gulf coast of the United States with calamitous effect resulting in the deaths of more than 1,800 people, displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and more then $81 billion dollars in damages to private and public properties. This event unlike any other, revealed to the rest of the world America's dirty little secret--its woeful neglect of its poor and underprivileged.

9. Death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009; Death of Ray Charles on June 11, 2004; Death of Richard Pryor on December 10, 2005; Death of Luciano Pavarotti on September 6 2007; and Death of Rodney Dangerfield in 2004)
Legends and geniuses who did what they did in ways that no one else could and probably ever will. Michael Jackson was the GREATEST musical genius to ever breathe bar none.

10. Election of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States
I don't have words to describe the shameful moments of history under his presidency. The best things he contributed was providing credible evidence that legacy admittances into Ivy League universities is REAL; proving that you really don't have to be smart to be president, just surround yourself with smart sycophants; and if you tell the American people a lie long enough (even with a smirk on your face) we tend to believe it e.g. Sadam Hussein IS manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, Bin Laden IS the mastermind behind 911, and it IS necessary to infringe on the American people’s civil liberties and ABSOLUTELY critical to invest billions of taxpayers' dollars to fund homeland security (which to this day is a joke). I am sure I missed many more incredible lies that make up this President's legacy.

11. Terrorist Attacks on American Soil on September 11, 2001(911)
A dark day in America yet a reminder that we are not invincible and if you make enemies in the world they are bound to come after you and loved ones and some are just brazen enough to come into your own home. I remember the bumper stickers that read "God Bless America" showing up all over the place. The one that was most befitting however was the one that showed up on occasion that read "America Bless God." It is perhaps our sense of entitlement and hubris and reckless exploitation and disregard for our neighbors around the world that perpetuates hate directed towards us and places our nation at high risk of terrorist attacks. We bless God when we seek to resolve world conflicts through peaceful means and not by brandishing our military power as our preferred and only means of defense.

12. Jena Six Case in 2006/2007
This case was a sobering reminder that perhaps the conclusions of The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders' report (known as the Kerner Commission) established in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson was to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots in the United States are still relevant and a reality. We have two (now maybe three if you include Hispanic/Latino immigrants) societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal. Today however class is a powerful factor that is creating an even greater schism between the lived realities of race/ethnic groups which is most notable in our legal/judicial systems and schools.

13. Congressional probe of mega ministers and televangelists in 2007
In 2007 Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee create quite a stir when he called for the investigation and audit of six mega televangelists and their ministries: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Others would be added included Joel Osteen. While I am not in a position to question their legitimate "calling" by God to preach his word, actually some of them are pretty good, I am ever so mindful of several key scriptures that would call into question their outlandish lifestyles and extravagant profiteering that many of them seem perfectly comfortable enjoying. There are several others that could and probably should be added to this list. I do believe that God desires as He says in His word that we prosper even as our souls prosper however many of today's mega ministries have taken this scripture to another level that borders on the side of profane secularism. They have proven that preaching can be lucrative and that even among "evangelists" money and power can become intoxicating and lead to absolute corruption. The sad fact of the matter is that many of these ministers lead people who are either living in poverty or are not far from it. What we need are more pastors and mega ministers like like Pastor Rick Warren, the author of the Purpose Driven Life who reports that he and his wife reverse tithe--living off 10% of his earnings and tithing the rest. Now that would be an impressive sign of which God these mega ministers are serving--Jehovah or mammon.

14. The deaths of Lady Bird Johnson (July 11, 2007), civil rights heroine Ms. Rosa Parks (October 24, 2005) and the first lady of the civil rights movement, Mrs. Coretta Scott King (January 30, 2006).
These women proved that you don't have to proclaim that you are a feminist in order to fight for the liberation, equality and just treatment of women and all people. They were courageous and dignified women of great moral conviction and resolve to fight for what is right without compromise.