A Tribute to Educators....

Donny Hathaway " To Be Young, Gifted and Black " 1970

...sure 'nough where it's at....

Register to Vote by October!

I can't stress enough the importance for youth to come strong this election! Read my other articles about the generational paradigm that will define this election and subsequent power dynamics.

The deadline to register to vote is early October...

If you live in Texas, please support this voter registration drive featuring hip hop artists!

LINK = http://www.texasstandup.com/Welcome.html


If you are already registered to vote, do your part and spread the word :-)

For those that do not live in Texas, I posted other voter registration links below. See post titled Soon Come for links.

In the Meantime....

Ok, consider this a "catch up" post. here are a number of articles and videos that you should definitely peep! And leave comments ;-)

Playahata.com has a new and improved layout and is always a good source for information.

Daveyd.com is also a very good source of information and his MySpace blog is a great place for dialogue.

On it right now are a few important posts, including:

1. It'll Take More Than a T-Shirt for Obama to Win-It's On You
By Davey D

2. This is Your Nation on White Privilege
By Tim Wise

3. How a Texas Senator Ruined Our Economy (And Can Ruin it Some More)
by James Moore


There's a new in depth study about the effect of racism on the election:

Poll: Racial views steer some white Dems away from Obama

And a funny Bill Maher video about the same topic:




On a related note, my initial analysis of the Palin pick three weeks ago seems correct. It was obviously political but probably will backfire in the end..for some of the reasons discussed here:






And finally, on the economic nightmare unfolding:

Economists see financial bailout as necessary

Home foreclosures reach record high

World's richest got even richer last year: report


And finally, a very important article and study regarding the better economic plan:

Would Obama’s Plan Be Faster, Fairer, Stronger?

By ALAN S. BLINDER

Published: August 30, 2008

Media Matters

Much of my work focuses on media analysis. This election is yet another example of the power of media. As I tell my classes, media does not reflect reality, it defines it. And they define it with an agenda in mind. Jon Stewart exposes the spin well in this clip:






The result of this election will depend greatly on how the media frames the next few weeks. What the media focuses on matters. If you look at polling for the last few weeks, there seems to be some support to the idea that media framing affects polling. When media focus was on Obama during DNC convention, Obama pulled ahead. Then when media focused on RNC and the Palin phenomena, McCain pulled ahead in polls. Now that the eocnomy is the story of the hour, Obama is back in the lead. So what the media decides to focus on may definitely have an effect on polling.

View polling trends here:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html

"Privatizing Profits, Socializing Losses"

Given the "biggest federal intervention" since the great depression, I have to share some thoughts. Not only not surprised but saw it coming...and have said so to my classes for the past few years.

I even made a comment during my interview in August for my new job at LASC that might have seemed a bit off the cuff. I had to do a brief presentation on "Sociological perspectives on the global economy" and after i completed my presentation I added a comment that the irony of the overreaching of the Bush administration and corporate capitalism these last few years is it may have ushered in socialism....lol...right now we have part one...the socialized bailout..we'll see what happens this election..will voters get mad enough and demand universal health care and better wages and distribution of wealth? Or will they let this government use their taxes to bail out corporate elites and leave them suffering? Time will tell.

I've heard many commentators make reference to socializing losses after private industry made record profits as a travesty... No doubt. But I also have heard many say the bailout was necessary, and the sad part is that's probably true too. The parts of the economy are so interdependent that if a market crash occured, the results for all would be devastating...millions hurt by job, housing and 401k losses. The global economy would be affected as well. So unless people stand up and DEMAND better, wall street will get away with taking the world economy to the brink of collapse and getting off scott-free to exploit the labor market again. Hopefully people will finally wake up and recognize that free market neoliberals are only for small government and no regulation when they are raping everyday people, but as soon as they need a bailout, government is their ally. Bamboozled again.

Join the Urban Teacher Network (UTN)!

While I have to postpone the major push to initiate the Urban Teacher Network (until after this semester), I am still committed to getting the word out and getting others on board to help get this initiative moving and growing...so please continue to spread the word!

More information including data form can be found at the following Google docs link:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ds5grvn_0d58tnxfr&invite=9cfmh8


Please send completed data forms to UTN@hiphopcongress.com.

Personal Update

First an update on my schedule and how it will affect blog updates. I am officially now a true Jamaican with 10 jobs :-D ...well officially seven classes and they'll be kicking my ***!

On the positive side, I am ecstatic about my new position as Sociology faculty at Southwest College in LA (LASC). It is a full time tenure track position and it takes me back to da community which is where I want to be. But of course there are costs. One, the commute...ugh! Luckily, I have family that loves me and lives in LA so i can stay with them from time to time to make the commute less often and painful :-). This semester will be particularly hectic because the job was a last minute addition and my schedule for fall was already set. So this fall I am teaching at three schools all over the map - UCI, OCC, and LASC!

So while I will have no life for a few months, I really can't complain. Gerald is being very supportive...he's helping by getting the kids to/from school since i gotta be up at the crack of dawn and don't get home til late at night...basically he's just happy I finally have a real job...lol :-p

So I won't have much time for the million other things I usually do...including timely updates to this blog..but I will try to at least add some links to good articles to peep and videos to watch etc. because this election is quite historic and we still need to be as engaged and informed as possible.

And please continue to leave comments...I definitely could use some words of encouragement to get through these hectic months...fo' real. One.

Soon Come...

I know I've been M.I.A...the school semester started and with a new gig and an extremely crazy schedule this fall I've barely been able to take a breath! But, I will try to post some updates this weekend, because as I'm sure many can imagine, I have lots to say about the media, this election, the economy, and the role of hip hop and youth at this unique time in history. For the meanwhile, make sure you register to vote by October 1st and consider voting absentee or early via a mail-in ballot.

http://www.naacp.org/vote/

or

http://www.hiphopcaucus.org/respectmyvote

or

http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_register.html


Thanks also to all that have left comments. I have read them and definitely want to continue the dialogue so I hope to reply to comments this weekend as well.