The Black Informant

I started this site about 4 years ago (4 years in July) using blogger. Right at that time blogger was having too many outages for my taste, so I made the move to paying for my own hosting space for the remaining 3 1/2 years. Blogging is something I do because I enjoy it, which is why I never have asked my readers to help with the ’cause’ (this still does not rule out the possibility of paid advertising in the future).

Having some extra time on my hands the other day, I discovered by talking with the WordPress support team that that I could move this site to WordPress’ free hosting service and still keep my domain name of blackinformant. com. Makes sense to me.

There are going to be two things you will notice when this move is made (hopefully by this weekend): A. The template will have to change. WordPress.com currently does not have the ability to import templates they do not offer with their free service (as far as I know). So the layout of the site will look a little different. B. While you still will be able to use access the site by using blackinformant.com, the actual address will be blackinformant.wordpress.com. Either one will work.

Because of this pending move, I am going to try to keep posting pretty light. For today at least, any new ‘posts’ will appear right under the line below.

Thanks to all of you who make blackinformant.com one of your regular stops on the information highway.

D~

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Because she can

Russell Simmons To Pay $40,000 A Month In Child Support
Words by Allen Starbury
ballerstatus.com

Russell Simmons’ divorce from Kimora Lee Simmons is gonna cost him a pretty penny in child support — $480,000 per year to be exact.

In court documents, obtained by TMZ and filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (June 24), it looks like the hip-hop mogul is to pay $20,000 per month for each of his two daughters, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, beginning in July.

While Kimora maintains sole custody of the two children, Russell will get visitation rights. He will get his kids every eighth week from Saturday until the following Saturday when they are to be returned at 6:00 p.m., according to the documents, which will take place in Los Angeles, where Kimora resides. However, holidays, summers, and vacations, are also options. (more…)
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>>Should there be a movement to put an end to women who use their children to make a living? I think so.

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Stop killing our children

Black Pastors to Call on Parties to Reject Planned Parenthood Money
foxnews.com

A coalition of black pastors plans to call on the Republican and Democratic parties to reject campaign spending from Planned Parenthood, claiming the abortion provider promotes a racist agenda.

The pleas, to be made in a demonstration outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, are the latest effort by the group to clamp down on Planned Parenthood, after an undercover inquiry by a college group revealed an alleged effort to target minority women for abortions.

The pastors are amplifying their argument that abortion, which its members call genocide, is a civil rights matter.

“We are very concerned that Planned Parenthood is targeting African American communities and African American babies,” said Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. (more…)
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>>Other than to save the life of the mother, I am against ending the life of unborn children just because they were not “planned”. Mankind in general can really be full of himself. While the earth is BILLIONS of years old, we have been on this planet for only thousands of years. Yet we believe we can control the weather (nevermind the fact we cannot accurately predict it for the next week). A child that could possibly grow up to find the cure for cancer or better yet, be a good example for others does not fit our “plan” in life, so we get rid of it.

Now will either party listen to this group? Not if it hinders them from getting votes.
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Looking for “inspiration” in all the wrong places

Obama should inspire black youths
Rev. Jim Holley
freep.com

{excerpted}

[...]

We as a nation will never be the same. Our horizons have been broadened and our belief in what is possible has been expanded. For a young black child in Detroit, the mere image of an Obama should provide ample fuel for optimism and motivation.

[...]

“The remarkable life journey of Sen. Obama represents a ray of hope for all of us, particularly for the young, and most especially for African-American children in cities like Detroit. Through excellent performance, continuous professional growth, and through dedication to the proposition that God Almighty intended for them to be here and do some good, Obama represents proof that we can truly rise as high as the wings of our ambition will take us.” (source)
+++++++

>>This article represents another one of those sentiments I have been ignoring for a while.

I am old enough to remember when the same sentiments were made about Blacks becoming mayors of major cities like Philadelphia. Having a Black mayor was part of the Utopian dream that suggested if leadership ‘looked like us’, somehow everything will fall into place. That came and went with the same (and in some cases worst) results. The same was applied to police officers. Next it was police chiefs. Did I mention teachers, school boards, city council boards?

While Obama’s candidacy has clearly left an positive mark on American history, it will no more inspire the proverbial kid in the ghetto than any other Black person in a leadership role in government. What the Rev. misses here is that government is a public institution that survives on bureaucracy–it is not an extension of the family. If Obama does become president, I, along with many Black Americans will savor the moment as a great milestone in Black history. The personal “optimism” and “motivation” he is hoping for, …well that comes from the home–not government.

Ask the kids!!

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Biofuel use ‘increasing poverty’
BBC

The replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty, an aid agency report says.

Oxfam says so-called green policies in developed countries are contributing to the world’s soaring food prices, which hit the poor hardest.

The group also says biofuels will do nothing to combat climate change.

Its report urges the EU to scrap a target of making 10% of all transport run on renewable resources by 2020.

Oxfam estimates the EU’s target could multiply carbon emissions 70-fold by 2020 by changing the use of land.

The report’s author, Oxfam’s biofuel policy adviser Rob Bailey, criticised rich countries for using subsidies and tax breaks to encourage the use of food crops for alternative sources of energy like ethanol.

“If the fuel value for a crop exceeds its food value, then it will be used for fuel instead,” he said.

“Rich countries… are making climate change worse, not better, they are stealing crops and land away from food production, and they are destroying millions of livelihoods in the process.” (more…)

And its cold too???

NUTZ!

This is a prime example of Global Foolishness.

What politicians can do when they have a lock on your vote.

House leader raising money for Richardson
WASHINGTON (AP) - The majority leader of the U.S. House is holding a fundraiser for Southern California Congresswoman Laura Richardson despite reports about Richardson’s history of defaulting on home loans and failing to pay off debts.

A spokeswoman for Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, says the Wednesday evening’s fundraiser was scheduled many weeks ago.

Richardson, a Long Beach Democrat, was won a special election to Congress last summer to replace the late Juanita Millender-McDonald. She is running unopposed for a full term in November but has about $330,000 in campaign debt.

That includes some of the $77,500 she loaned herself last year even while falling behind on payments on a Sacramento house that was eventually sold into foreclosure. (source)

This was one of those stories I was just going to ignore here on this site. But after reading this, she and her party just took it way over the top.

Someone please confirm this story.

[Link]

“We have proudly seen the community take to the streets in defense of Black men who have been the victims of police violence or racist attacks, but that righteous outrage only highlights the silence surrounding this verdict.

We believe that our judgment has been clouded by celebrity-worship; we believe that we are a community in crisis and that our addiction to sexism has reached such an extreme that many of us cannot even recognize child molestation when we see it.

We recognize the absolute necessity for Black men to speak in a single, unified voice and state something that should be absolutely obvious: that the women of our community are full human beings, that we cannot and will not tolerate the poisonous hatred of women that has already damaged our families, relationships and culture.

We believe that our daughters are precious and they deserve our protection. We believe that Black men must take responsibility for our contributions to this terrible state of affairs and make an effort to change our lives and our communities.

This is about more than R. Kelly’s claims to innocence. It is about our survival as a community. Until we believe that our daughters, sisters, mothers, wives and friends are worthy of justice, until we believe that rape, domestic violence and the casual sexism that permeates our culture are absolutely unacceptable, until we recognize that the first priority of any community is the protection of its young, we will remain in this tragic dead-end. ” (William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of History at Spelman College as he encourages Black men to sign his petition to protect Black women. You can read all about it here.)

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While shopping with my wife and kids the other day, my wife ran into a former co-worker that she had not seen in a long time. This woman (Black) I would say was probably in her late 30’s to early 40’s. She had her daughter with her as well (I would guess was between 13-15). Our kids were starting to get a little out of hand, so I took them with me while my wife and this woman caught up with each other.

As we were driving away from the store, my wife told be about how this woman was constantly abused by her husband. She even gave him a second by allowing him to move back in (either he was kicked out or he left on his own–not sure). He blew his second chance resulting in an eventual divorce. Long story short, her story ends on somewhat of a good note as she flashed my wife an engagement ring. Apparently she found another man that will treat her like a lady.

Now when I hear stories like this, I typically have two responses:

#1 - Anger over the fact that some man would abuse the very person he has committed to “loving, cherishing, and honoring” for life. When I find out that kids are involved, my anger goes up another level.

#2 - After venting for a few moments, I then realize that somewhere down the line someone did not correctly teach this ‘boy’ on how to become a man. Mind you, what he did was still wrong, but what was it that gave him the idea that it was okay to verbally or physically attack his wife in the first place? Did someone drop the ball?

For the Black community, we can start off by looking at our generation of young men who are growing up without a father. I’ll spare you the lecture as most of us know full well about the plight of many of our young men who are growing up without a father in the home or Black male mentors that are willing to invest their personal time with them.

Just about each Sunday on this site, I feature young Black boys and girls who are stuck in our nation’s foster care system where I repeatedly ask the question: “Who will help groom this boy to become a man” (Same is asked about the girls as well)? To me, this is where it begins. Demonizing someone like an Robert Kelly (some of y’all know how I am when it comes to stage names) is easy. Mentoring a boy (regardless the age) to become a real man isn’t. At this stage of the game, the easy option should be the furthest thing from our minds.

The one unfortunate thing about initiatives like what Cobb has created here is that typically only attracts men who are already non-abuse and treat women with respect. I’ll never knock the first step–especially if it is a step in the right direction, but now we have to begin to demand more from ourselves and move beyond mere symbolism. Now we must develop ways as individuals to move into accountability that goes beyond handshakes, brutha-hugs, daps and pounds. In the meantime, let’s leave the demonizing to the press, because it does squat to address the overall problem of abuse.

The number of absentee ballots cast in some of Alabama’s Black Belt counties in the June primary is high - unbelievably high

al.com

{excerpt}

But it is astounding (and beyond belief) that 25 percent of a county’s voters are out of the county, sick, have work schedules that conflict with poll hours, or don’t have transportation to the polls - among the most common reasons for voting absentee.

Secretary of State Beth Chapman said allegations of voting fraud have been “pouring” into her office since the primary. Among them: that an absentee ballot had been cast for someone who hasn’t lived in Alabama for 15 years, and that someone paid for votes with cash and rewarded voters with driveway gravel, she said.

Anyone who has followed Black Belt politics even casually knows that large numbers of absentee ballots are nothing new, nor are allegations of (and sometimes convictions for) voter fraud.

(more…)

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My question: Which candidate (or party) benefited the most from these absentee ballots?

We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run,” said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. ‘He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?’“

[...]

“I don’t know, before I wasn’t black enough,” said Obama. “‘Now he might be too black. We don’t know whether he’s going to socialize – well, who knows what.’” (Read the full quote here

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Yep! This is politics as usual.

Both liberals and Democrats both White and Black in the media and in the blogosphere from DAY ONE of Obama’s campaign have been putting out commentary after commentary asking the question “IS–HE–BLACK–ENOUGH?“—->

>—> States like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and others in the final stretch of this campaign that did not go for Obama IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY were quickly dismissed by other Democrats as states that were full of “racist” Whites who would never vote for a Black man. Again, this was directed towards other Democrats by Democrats. Some Democrats even joked about the educational levels of Democrats that voted for Hillary in those states. —->

>—>The Clintons were the first in this campaign to play the race card and got hammered for it. Many within the Democratic fold who once religiously supported the Clintons now dismiss them as racists—>

>—>Now in order to solidify UNITY within the Democratic part, Hillary Clinton (the race-baiting, card playing “White” candidate) is seriously being considered to be Obama’s running mate—>

>—> A Democratic operative (Larry Johnson, supporter of Hillary Clinton) starts the rumor about a video tape showing Michelle Obama saying “Whitey” several times. Bob Beckel goes on Fox to fuel the speculation.—->END?

Given this track record, I think Obama should be directing his concerns to his own party—FIRST!

African American Males Needed in Mentoring Program

Reported by: Kim Betton, KARK 4 News

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas launches is “Men in Need Campaign.” Program coordinators say men, especially African American, are needed to mentor children who are registered in the Bigs Program. If you’re interested, call 501-374-6661. (source–with video)

According to the video, there are 236 Big Brothers in the program, 67% are White and 29% are Black.

HARD TIMES AT DOUGLASS HIGH A No Child Left Behind Report Card (HBO Special)

Now here I told many of y’all about it and I forgot to set my DVR to record it. Anyway, it comes on again tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you saw it, what are your thoughts?

P.S. I will be out of pocket for most of the day, so there will be very limited input from yours truly.