Support the 2012 Movement to Stop Joseph Kony

This is one of the most inspiring stories I have heard this year and the Stop Kony cause is worth supporting. Watch the video below and spread the word to everyone to make a difference!

Notable Tributes at Whitney Houston's Funeral

Donnie McClurkin - STAND

Tyler Perry: 'Whitney loved the Lord'

Kevin Costner: " You'll be good enough" 

BeBe Winans: I'll miss 'Crazy Whitney'

Alicia Keys sings "Send Me An Angel"

Stevie Wonder sings Ribbon In The Sky

 Clive Davis: "Whitney was one of a kind"

Rev. Kim Burrell sings A Change Gonna Come

R. Kelly Sings 'I Look To You'

CeCe Winans

The Winans Family Singing

Rev.Marvin Winans 

I had to the chance to view the live3 hour service yesterday on tv and it was a beautiful home coming. The world felt Whitney's presence. #RIP

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Haiti Needs Our Help

As you almost certainly know, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of people or more are likely dead, and a third of the country's residents may need emergency aid.^1,2

As we watch images from the region, it's hard not to think of the shock and helplessness we felt after Hurricane Katrina when we watched the lives of large numbers of people, largely Black, torn apart by natural disaster, and in another poverty-stricken and neglected part of the world

In response to Katrina, ColorOfChange members stood up by the thousands to help. Today, we're asking you to consider doing so again. Partners in Health is one of several organizations doing good work, and we're confident that dollars contributed to them will go far in providing direct, immediate aid. Click the link below to get started:

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/13?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=4

Haiti was the world's first independent Black republic, and many of us feel a special pride in the country's origins. Haiti's former slaves took on Napoleon and declared their independence from France in 1804, decades before the U.S. and the rest of the Western Hemisphere would end slavery. In those years, the small island nation was seen as a thorn in the side of its neighbors in the Americas and Europe. With their act of defiance, Haitians proved that Black people could govern themselves at a time when leaders of the world's most powerful countries considered Africans and African descendants less than human.³

Since that revolutionary moment, the country's residents have often suffered. Haiti is the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, with four out of five people living in poverty even before disaster struck. More than 3,000 people died because of hurricanes and tropical storms in the last decade, and thousands more were left homeless.⁴

Tuesday's earthquake dealt the latest and most devastating blow for Haiti. The recovery will be long and hard. And like the Gulf, it will take a long-term commitment. The financial support we give today needs to be just the beginning, but it is a crucial start. Please consider giving what you can, either to Partners in Health or another organization that is providing critically-needed services.

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/13?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=6

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
January 14, 2010

References

1. "Tens Of Thousands Feared Dead In Haiti Quake," The New York Times, 1-13-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/11?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=8

2. “Even Haiti’s president is homeless,” The Miami Herald, 1-13-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=10

3. "Saving Haiti," The Root, 1-13-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/8?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=12

4. "Haiti, Hopeful Yesterday, Suddenly Plunged Back Into Chaos," Newsweek blog, 1-13-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/9?akid=1323.622358.VVM_-2&t=14

Bill O'Reilly Attacks Michael Jackson's Memorial Coverage

If you haven't realized it by now, Bill O'Reilly can never keep his quiet and give due respect to a successful Black Man. I can say so much about this one, but Enough said!

The Pitfalls of the Native Bourgeoisie

When it comes to the topic of post colonial nations, many are perplexed by the actions of the native bourgeoisie. Intellectuals have long recognized that native bourgeoisie, also known as the national middle class, have fundamental flaws. In his book, The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon in particular identifies the middle class, as a pseudo class that is in no way commensurate with the bourgeoisie of the mother country which it hopes to replace. Through an analysis of this native vs. colonial bourgeoisie power struggle presented by Fanon, it can be argued that the pitfalls of the native bourgeoisie are their parochial attempts to identify with the economic, educational and political standards of the colonial bourgeoisie.

Those unfamiliar with post colonial economies may be interested to know that the colonizers created an economic system that functioned to support the colonizing country, commonly known as the mother country. For example, the settler is concerned with the groundnut harvest, with the cocoa crop and the olive yield. Admittedly, this system exploits the indigenous peoples. However, once the colonizers abandoned the colonies, the native bourgeoisie with social capital continue the outmoded colonial methods instead of inventing a new system. Fanon agrees when he writes, "the psychology of the national bourgeoisie is that of the businessmen, not that of a Captain of Industry." Fanon's point is that the native bourgeoisie lack the innovative mentality that is abundant among the colonial bourgeoisie. This assertion is significant because it reveals that the national middle class fails to advance the national economy beyond colonial standards. However, this is not to say that the native businessmen lose profits, rather they mismanage their financial gains.

As an illustration, Fanon insists that,

"The enormous profits which it pockets, enormous if we take into account the national revenue, are never reinvested. The money-in-the stocking mentality is dominant in the psychology of these landed proprietors. Sometimes especially in the years following Independence, the bourgeoisie does not hesitate to invest in foreign banks the profits it makes out of its native soil. On the other hand large sums are spent on display: on cars, country houses, and all those things which have been described by economists as characterizing an underdeveloped bourgeoisie."

In making this comment, Fanon is insisting that the native bourgeoisie isolate their monetary gains from the nation and spend lavishly on non progressive commodities. What is more important is that these findings shed new light on the economic pitfalls of the national middle class.

With that said, let us now focus our attention on the educational pitfalls. At first glance, the native intellectuals appear to be properly educated to mobilize their nation. But on closer inspection it is clear that they misuse their mother country education. According to Fanon, "In an underdeveloped country an authentic national middle class ought to consider as it bounden duty to betray the calling fate has marked out for it, and put itself to school with the people." In other words, to put at the people's disposal the intellectual and technical capital that it has gained when going through colonial universities. Unfortunately, this is not the case in third world countries. For instance, an Algerian intellectual educated in France will send his children to French Universities and transfer his knowledge exclusively with his family. Furthermore, this pattern is continued by future generations. As a result, the populace remains uneducated while the intellectuals amass helpful knowledge. This is a clear pitfall because whereas the colonial bourgeoisie educate their countrymen to foster nationalism, the native bourgeoisie selfishly use their educations to deter nationalism.

Socially, the native bourgeoisie continue policies equally unsophisticated as their economic and educational tendencies. The national middle class have long assumed that a dictatorship is required to govern the people. The precursor to this thinking was created by the colonizers that ruled the natives by forceful dictatorship. To this end, the natives develop political parties to supervise the masses. The ruling party enlists the aid of the police and the military to hold the people and opposing parties in a constant state of fear. Fanon reminds us that "In these conditions, you may be sure, the party is unchallenged and 99.99% of the votes are cast for the government candidate." Moreover, he observes that,

All the opposition parties, which are usually progressive and would therefore tend to work for the greater influence of the public matters, and who desire that the proud, money-making bourgeoisie should be brought to heel, have been by dint of baton charges and prisons condemned first to silence and the clandestine existence.

Fanon's point is that the self-indulgent political parties spearheaded by native bourgeoisie subjugate the progressive masses to social paralysis. However, some may question how this is a pitfall of the national middle class?

Anyone familiar with the peaceful transfer of political power in the mother countries should see that, in contrast, the third world countries are akin to violent coup d'états. Accordingly, it is the dictatorships supported by the national bourgeoisie that give rise to the violent transfer political power. This is a pitfall because the progression of country is slowed by each uprising indirectly caused by the oppressive political parties.

With that point as an example, this discussion of native bourgeoisie's short comings is in fact addressing the larger matter of post colonial nations. What is more important is the illustrious examples from Fanon's, The Wretched of the Earth, add weight to the argument that the pitfalls of the national bourgeoisie are their economic, educational, and political actions that remain tendentious to colonial standards. Ultimately, the obsolete colonial leftovers are badly maintained by the native bourgeoisie.

Final Designs Hours

Judgment day is scheduled for 8:00AM tomorrow morning and the group is working diligently to complete final tests. With regards to the robot and the program, everything is complete. The robot moves forward, left, and right. The back function works but due to motor failures, it momentarily moves back then starts spinning in circles since one motor dies out. The light sensors are fully functional and calibrated to meet search and rescue standards. Out last issue that is close to being out of our reach is the arm mechanism.

The joystick successfully moves the arm but the arm does does not fully rotate 360 degrees. We have concluded that the problem is the motor strength, not the arm design. To solve the problem, the group is working with a number of different solutions.

Ultimately, we are confident in our design. The Robot will be ready for tomorrow!

ColorOfChange.org Takes Strong Stance Against New York Post Cartoon

Fellow members of the younger Black generation,

Last week, the day after President Obama signed his stimulus bill into law, the NY Post ran a cartoon depicting the bill's "author" as a dead monkey, covered in blood after being shot by police. You can see the image by clicking on the link below.

In the face of intense criticism, the Post's editor is standing by the cartoon, claiming that it's not about Obama, has no racial undertones, and that it was simply referencing a recent incident when police shot a pet chimpanzee. But it's impossible to believe that any newspaper editor could be ignorant enough to not understand how this cartoon evokes a history of racist symbolism, or how frightening this image feels at a time when death threats against President Obama have been on the rise.

Please join me and other ColorOfChange.org members in demanding that the Post apologize publicly and fire the editor who allowed this cartoon to go to print:

http://www.colorofchange.org/nypost/?id=2191-865505

The Post would have us believe that the cartoon is not about Obama. But on the page just before the cartoon appears, there's a big picture of Obama signing the stimulus bill. A reader paging through the Post would see Obama putting pen to paper, then turn the page to see this violent cartoon. The imagery is chilling.

There is a clear history in our country of racist symbolism that depicts Black people as apes or monkeys, and it came up multiple times during the presidential campaign.

We're also in a time of increased race-based violence. In the months following President Obama's election there has been a nationwide surge in hate crimes ranging from vandalism to assaults to arson on Black churches. There has been an unprecedented number of threats against President Obama since he was elected, with hate-based groups fantasizing about the killing of the president. Just a week ago, a man drove from Louisiana to the Capitol with a rifle, telling the police who stopped him that he had a "delivery" for the president.

There is no excuse for the Post to have allowed this cartoon to be printed, and even less for Editor Col Allan's outright dismissal of legitimate concerns.

But let's be clear who's behind the Post: Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, the Post's owner, is the man behind FOX News Channel. FOX has continually attacked and denigrated Black people, politicians, institutions at every opportunity, and ColorOfChange has run several campaigns to make clear how FOX poisons public debate.

I don't expect much from Murdoch. However, with enough public pressure, we can set the stage for advertisers and subscribers to think long and hard before patronizing outlets like the Post that refuse to be held accountable.

You can help, by making clear that the Post's behavior is unacceptable, and by asking your friends and family to do the same. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/nypost/?id=2191-865505

Be the Change