Jill Scott nominated for 3 Grammy Awards

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Shawn Williams

Jill Scott is nominated for 3 Grammy Awards . Her latest album The Real Thing has been a hit with fans as well as critics. The openness and vulnerability displayed in song by J. Scott answers the question posed by her first album, Who Is Jill Scott?

Ms. Scott is nominated in the following categories:

Best R/B Album
THE REAL THING: WORDS AND SOUNDS VOL. 3

Best Female R/B Vocal Performance
“HATE ON ME”

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“DAYDREAMIN” Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott

For those who anticipated The Real Thing, we weren't dissappointed. Hate on Me is one of Jill Scott's best recordings to date. The album itself explores themes introduced previously in greater detail. The 50th Annual Grammy awards will be held February 10, 2008 and will air on CBS at 7 pm CST.

Dallas area man hit with stun gun after calling 911 for seizure

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Shawn Williams

Jon Nielsen of the Dallas Morning News tells the story of a Waxahachie man who was shocked twice by a stun gun after police responded to a diabetic seizure call. This event occurred last April, as more and more stun gun abuses are coming to light.

According to Nielsen, court records claim that police entered the home in the 700 block of Perry Street in Waxahachie without a search warrant, twice shocked Mr. Nelms with a stun gun, laughed at him and left him on a bedroom floor.

Mr. Helms story is not at all unique. There have been a number of taser incidents this year involving African-Americans. Just a few examples:

Wichita, Kansas police tased a deaf man coming out of the shower.

Eugene Snelling was tased in Austin, Texas during a traffic stop.

A pregnant woman was tased by an officer in Trotwood Ohio.

Visit the Tasered While Black website by clicking here.

Nielsen goes on to say that police handcuffed Mr. Nelms until firefighters arrived and checked his blood sugar. In addition, the complaint states that Mr. Nelms was not treated for his wounds from the stun gun, nor was he taken to the hospital for further treatment after his seizure.

See Jon Nielsen's entire article by clicking here.

I call upon the U.S. House of Representatives to convene hearings to investigate the improper use of taser/stun guns against African-Americans. If officers are using the weapon on pregnant, deaf, and epileptic Americans, imagine what they are doing to those who are deemed a moderate threat (see New Orleans public housing protests).

The United States should follow the lead of Canada. Last Friday (December 14), Canada's national police force said that they will restrict its use of Taser stun guns to suspects who are combative or actively resisting arrest. This statement followed a report criticizing the force's excessive use of the weapon. There are too many good cops out there to have their reputations tarnished by those who indiscriminately use taser guns, especially on non-combative suspects.

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) still promoting literacy to America’s children

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Shawn Williams

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about an Omnibus Appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. As I was reading through some of the projects that the bill will fund, one that stuck out was Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) which was allocated $25,043,000.

I remember RIF commercials from back in the day but I wasn't really up on what the group actually did. In recent years I've heard RIF as a punchline on TV and in movies more than anything else.

In 1966, former teacher Margaret McNamara brought a bag of used books to four boys in Washington, D.C., whom she tutored in reading. When she told the children they could each pick out a book to keep, their astonishment and delight led her to discover that these children, and many of their classmates, had never owned any books.

Today, through its contract with the U.S. Department of Education to operate the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP), now supplemented with private funds, RIF programs operate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.

For over four decades, Reading Is Fundamental has provided new books free of charge to more than 300 million children. Last year alone RIF gave 4.5 million children over 16 million books.

I would recommend taking a look at RIF's Leading to Reading website aimed at children 0-5 years old. It is part of their Multicultural Literacy Campaign. The site is full of games and activities for kids, as well as articles and advice for grown ups. You know what they say, reading is fundamental.

White separatists sue Jena, Louisiana over planned rally

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Shawn Williams

There's more news out of Jena, Louisiana as a white separatist group has sued the city over a rally they plan to stage next month.

According to the Associated Press, The Nationalist Movement which is planning a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Jena, is suing the town claiming officials are violating the Constitution by asking participants not to bring firearms, changing the parade route by one block and requiring the posting of a bond.

The Associated Press also reports that the group filed the federal lawsuit Dec. 14 and is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the town from interfering with the Learned, Miss.-based group's "Jena Justice Day" rally. Group officials claim the town's rules violate their 14th Amendment rights to due process.

"When a group of, say, minorities or homosexuals want to have a parade, they aren't usually required to put up a bond or pay for police or pay for cleanup," said Barry Hackney, a spokesman for the organization.

Click here to read the entire AP story.

The Associated Press goes on to say that this is not the first time The Nationalist Movement has filed suit over a rally. They successfully sued York, Pa., over fees the city tried to charge it for a rally the group held in 2003. That rally drew a total of five members.

Thanks to the Associated Press and Slant Truth for the heads up.

Dallas would benefit from a Convention Center Hotel

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Shawn Williams

Here's an Op/Ed piece that I wrote which ran in the Dallas Morning News on Monday. Since then I have heard from a number of people, mostly telling me why they feel the hotel hasn't been built. Momentum seems to be building from all sorts of places, but there also seems to be some of the power players who don't want to see this thing built. I'll keep you posted.

The only thing to debate about a proposed convention center hotel is why it has taken so long for the city to formulate a plan. A hotel built near the Dallas Convention Center is essential in helping Dallas gain ground on other cities when vying for convention business.

Some have argued against the proposed hotel, citing the high number of unoccupied rooms that often exist in or around downtown Dallas. While it's true that the "vacant" sign is out at many of our city's hotels, too often this is because the buildings are outdated, poorly located or no longer meet the needs of today's hotel patrons.

New hotels are sprouting up all over the place. Spots like the W, Hotel Palomar, The Belmont and Hotel ZaZa have found a niche as "boutique" hotels.

These posh spots are not the ones concerned about the city moving forward with a publicly subsidized convention center hotel.

The hotels that have the most to lose would be the Adam's Mark, the Hilton Anatole and the Hyatt Regency Dallas. One has only to look at the upcoming Super Bowl headed for the Dallas area in 2011 to see why these businesses aren't eager for a new competitor.

Each is competing to serve as NFL headquarters, which will require a block of 900 rooms.

If a new hotel were built close to the convention center, it seemingly would have the edge because many of the NFL's big events could be held at the convention center with the new hotel as a convenient host headquarters.

The last two times the Super Bowl visited San Diego, that city's Marriott Hotel & Marina served as the headquarters hotel. The Marriott property is within walking distance of San Diego's convention center, as are two other major hotels.

Over the years I have wondered whether Dallas City Council members have ever really left the city. Why? Their view that Dallas is a destination city – an opinion I see as both naive and premature.

Dallas is full of potential, thanks to its climate and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, but it's far from what I would call a first-rate convention locale.

I have attended conventions in all the major cities Dallas fights tooth and nail with for bookings, and here's my assessment: Many of them offer amenities that Dallas does not, but our city could make up ground quickly if it would focus on those factors that are important to conventioneers.

Priority No. 1 is a convenient hotel. Sure, the Dallas Convention Center exhibit space is nearly identical to that of competitor cities such as Orlando, San Diego and Chicago. But there is much more to winning a bid than big rooms and cushy chairs.

A convention center hotel will help close the gap with those cities and serve as the linchpin for more downtown successes. Convention visitors judge a host city by what goes on each day after the meetings are over. Where do we eat? Is there anywhere to shop? How long does it take to get to the hottest night spot?

Las Vegas and Orlando are in a different league when it comes to entertainment for convention visitors. Orlando's Disney and Universal offerings and the world-famous Las Vegas Strip are destinations for travelers from across the world.

We will never have the beaches and near-perfect weather that San Diego offers. But consider the city's Gaslamp Quarter, within walking distance of the convention center. There conventioneers find top-notch dining spots, shopping outlets, night clubs and live music spots.

After a day full of workshops and meetings, the Gaslamp offers a great place to unwind.

Yes, downtown Dallas has a long way to go. But without a convention center hotel, all the other attractions – some of which have sprung up despite the existing convention business – won't make much of a difference.

Public financing directed toward the new hotel complex would be well spent. Before the spigot attached to Dallas City Hall subsides to a trickle, let's spend some of what's available to help construct this hotel.

Electronic Village shares “America Has Lost a Generation of Black Boys”

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Shawn Williams

I wanted to share with all of you an essay that I found at Electronic Village by way of Phillip Jackson that has made its way around the AfroSpear. There are some very interesting observations along with a few suggestions as it relates to our boys.

"There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.

Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.

Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.

The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global Black community.

Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.

Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economics of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black Boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and inexpensive, but they are not easy or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society."

Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education.
Provide positive role models for Black boys.
Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers.
Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base.
Control the negative media influences on Black boys.
Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women.

Long term

Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men.
Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future.
Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations.
Build a positive peer culture for Black boys.
Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history.
Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning.

Congresswoman Johnson successfully secures over $126 million in federal funding for North Texas

Posted on December 18, 2007 by Shawn Williams

Washington, DC – (Monday, December 17, 2007) – Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson tonight announced that the House of Representatives passed the fiscal year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill which included federal funds for programs and projects that will benefit the 30th Congressional District of Texas. The Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations bill includes eleven appropriations bills for fiscal year 2008

"The residents of the 30th Congressional District will truly benefit from the projects and programs funded in this bill," said Congresswoman Johnson. "Overall, this bill will improve our region's infrastructure, provide more and better opportunities throughout our state to conduct important and innovative research, help keep our communities safe, make proactive investments in our environment, and bring opportunities to our region so that North Texas families can benefit for years to come,“ Congresswoman added

Congresswoman Johnson helped secure funding for the following projects that will benefit the 30th Congressional District.

DART Green Line – $84,500,000

Vital funding for DART's continued build-out of the much anticipated Green Line. The Northwest/Southeast (NW/SE) extension will ultimately link Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Love Field and Downtown Dallas with Fair Park and Pleasant Grove. The expansion will add approximately 60,000 daily riders to the system.

Reading is Fundamental $25,043,000

For over four decades, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has provided new books free of charge to more than 300 million underserved children. Dallas ISD offers one of the nation’s largest RIF programs serving almost 50,000 students in grades pre-kindergarten through eight. In Texas, RIF operates in more than 1,300 sites and serves more than 500,000 children.

Dallas Floodway Extension – $12,700,000

Flood Control Project on Trinity River in Dallas, Texas, which includes levee improvements, wetlands development and land preservation reducing flooding for 12,500 structures in the Central Business District and area neighborhoods.

Upper Trinity River Basin Feasibility Study – $1,400,000

Continue assessment of how best to maximize flood control on upper Trinity River region thereby reducing flood risk for more than 10,000 structures in the vicinity of downtown Dallas. This funding will complete the general investigation work of the Dallas component.

Phoenix House $564,000

Since opening the Dallas residential treatment facility in 2002, Phoenix House has increased access to treatment services for medically indigent youth, improved early engagement and retention of youth in treatment, and implemented family programming to educate families on how to support their adolescent in treatment and recovery. Even with these efforts, the need for available treatment has remained high. With the introduction of ‘cheese’ into our community, the need has become ever more critical.

Dallas Wastewater Reuse Study – $492,000

Funding for the continuation of a study to determine the feasibility of wastewater reclamation that could serve the Trinity Lakes, irrigation, wetlands, and other recreational components of the Trinity River Corridor project. The recycling of water has proven to be an innovative and environmentally-friendly tool for municipalities, as it frees up freshwater for domestic needs.

UT Southwestern for facilities and equipment for the sickle cell program – $487,000

The funding would be allocated with specific regard to the sickle-cell research program at UT Southwestern. The program is currently leading the way in disease management and it has been designated an National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Anemia, one of only a few in the world. Furthermore, in a collaborative partnership, UT Southwestern and the University of Texas at Dallas have been designated by the NIH as one of ten Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers nationwide and the only one in the southwest.

Dallas re-entry programs $470,000 & Dallas re-entry imitative $352,500

The City will expand current legal, casework, job training and other assistance to ex-offenders who are coming to Dallas upon release from state prisons in order to reduce recidivism.

Baylor Research Institute – $343,000

The funding is designated to the confocal microscope which will be used to support several research programs at the Baylor Research Institute. In particular, BRI is developing vaccines based on targeting antigens to human dendritic cells (DC) via monoclonal antibodies directed against DC cell surface receptors.

The funds will be able to add and improve equipment and infrastructure to support the research, as well as, produce improved clinical therapies and ground-breaking findings that will ultimately provide a cure for sickle cell disease.

Martin Luther King Family Center in Dallas: $250,000

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Clinic of Dallas has been serving the Dallas County community since 1985. This service area has been designated as a Medically Underserved Area and as a Health Professional Shortage Area. The clinic provides services such as pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, immunizations, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, social services, family planning, WIC, HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, dental, health education, nutrition counseling, and transportation assistance.

The purpose of this request is to assist the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Clinic of Dallas to expand its current services so that it can better serve the community of Dallas. If approved, these appropriations will increase the capacity of the Center to implement additional services and augment our competitive edge in obtaining external support.

Dallas Police Technology $94,000

In an effort to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of public safety and allow for coordination within the department, regionally and nationally, the City of Dallas will use these funds to purchase needed e-citation equipment and systems. The City of Dallas has purchased approximately 600 e-citation systems that are placed in each police vehicle. The remaining equipment and/or complete systems would equip all squad cars, the motorcycle division and the mounted patrol.

Dallas Morning News making good on promise with Bridging North/South Gap Series

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Shawn Williams

Sharon Grigsby and the Editorial Staff at the Dallas Morning News are keeping their word of helping to bridge the gap between North Dallas and Southern Dallas. This morning the entire left page of the editorials is devoted to 10 suggestions to improve Southern Dallas neighborhoods.

See "10 Drops in the Bucket" by clicking here.

Here are a few of the suggestions made in this mornings paper.

The Dallas Zoo is an attraction that should lure visitors from across North Texas to the southern part of the city. But for families exiting Interstate 35E one of the first businesses they'll see is the ramshackle Dallas Inn. One look at the broken windows and the bombed-out-looking building, and zoo-goers might be tempted to turn around and head home.

You can't pull up a chair and enjoy your Frosty in the Wendy's at Lancaster Road and Kiest Boulevard. The drive-through-only restaurant wants your money but won't allow you to take a seat, leaving pedestrian patrons to eat on the sidewalk. In the future, the city should take a hard look at requests to build eating establishments that lack tables and chairs.

The intersection of Hampton Road and Ledbetter Drive has become a popular destination with a Fiesta supermarket, a Subway sandwich shop and an assortment of specialty stores. But the surrounding landscape is littered with old-fashioned telephone poles and exposed lines. These relics of the past are a rare sight on the north side of town. This busy corner and plenty of other southern Dallas neighborhoods would benefit from having the lines buried.

The car wash near Sunnyvale Street and Ledbetter Drive has become a big draw – for people who arrive on foot. Neighbors report seeing open drug use and constant loitering. But despite their complaints, the car wash continues to draw a crowd.

These are solid recommendations made by the editorial staff. Residents would say that none of these are new or Earth shattering, but as the news suggests this is only a start.

The News has also created a page that contains all of their articles relating to the North/South Gap initiative. You can view that page by clicking here.

Big T Bazaar Press Conference Monday Morning

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Shawn Williams

FYI from Mike Davis

On Monday, there will be a press conference with Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, District 4 City Plan Commissioner Michael Davis, the owners of Big T, and other high-ranking city officials.

As you know, inside the Bazaar there was a violent shooting last month which resulted in the death of Mr. Jonathon Hopkins. Since then, Mr. Caraway and others have worked to reduce the chance of such crimes taking place at this shopping center.

The focus will be safety at the Big T Bazaar, and steps taken since the murder.

Time: Monday 12/17 at 9AM

Location: Big T Bazaar; 4515 Village Fair (just west of NWC I-35 & Ledbetter), front entrance.

How will media treatment of Roger Clemens allegations compare with Barry Bonds coverage?

Posted on December 16, 2007 by Shawn Williams

For months, actually years now, I've listened to Black folks call in to talk radio shows to assert that the media's treatment of Barry Bonds has been excessive and over the top. Whenever this assertion is made, media types bristle at the possibility, saying that Bonds is covered so harshly because he is a bad guy.

Now that Roger Clemens is alleged to have used steroids, it gives us a chance to see how another Hall of Fame baseball player is portrayed by the same media. Let's examine the following quote I ran across this weekend.

Readers are right to wonder whether Clemens will get the Barry Bonds treatment from the media. Both reputations are forever sullied if the allegations are true. Here's the difference: Clemens allegedly sought performance enhancers to maintain a standard. He didn't get any better. Bonds, a Hall of Famer before he suddenly grew into the Michelin Man, wanted to elevate his game and succeeded, and in the process broke two of baseballs most revered records.

I got the quotes above out of SportsDay (Dallas Morning News) on Sunday and there is no author attributed to them. So someone is actually arguing that Clemens was not trying to gain a competitive advantage, just "maintain a standard."

The spin control for Clemens has been non stop since rumors began circulating on Thursday that his name would appear in the Mitchell report regarding steroids in baseball. While the last two years have been Bash Barry all the time, the press has already started making excuses for Clemens. He and friend/teammate Andy Pettitte were linked to performance enhancing substances in 2006, but those rumors were swept under the rug.

Meanwhile Bonds has been investigated by the media to no end, and a book was written about his alleged steroid use. All the while Clemens has flown under the radar. A sports talk guy I heard on Friday said he knew in his heart that Clemens had probably taken drugs, but he just wouldn't let himself believe it.

Another talk show host said that the reason Bonds is covered differently was because he has legal implications in his situation. That's another excuse because he was a target of the popular press long before he was indicted for perjury. It's pretty cut and dry: Bonds is Big, Surly, Black and therefore portrayed as an uppity cheater. Clemens is Big, Surly, White, and is portrayed as "maintaining a standard."

As for the actual acts that Clemens is accused of, steroids were not against the rules in baseball when he reportedly took them. Major League Baseball (MLB) was unwilling to stand up to the Players Union to enforce stiff penalties for drug use, in part because increased home runs were resulting in publicity for the league. So my beef is not with what he did so much as how the media has treated Bonds and how they will treat Clemens.

We will see if Clemens fades into the sunset as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have. Sammy Sosa came back to baseball and Bonds never left while all of these allegations have dogged them. Andy Pettitte has already responded by admitting to using HGH to help him heal from an injury. What will Clemens say? How will the media respond? There going to claim steriod fatigue and kill the story.