The Wire

Blake Leeper:  an athlete who is changing people’s perspectives on people with disabilities and who is vying to compete at the Paralympic Games this year in London.  Adam Holland: a 16 year-old young capitalist who started a highly successful shaved ice business to help pay for his sister’s education.  Adele Taylor: a 16 year-old who launched a book donation program called Adele’s Literacy Library that has distributed more than 5,000 books in her hometown.  Today, leading African-American news site The Root unveiled this year’s 2012 Young Futurists List– an annual list spotlighting the top young African-American leaders and innovators of the future.

The Young Futurists are between the ages of 16 and 22 and are committed to making the world a better place in which to live.  Each year, The Root conducts an open nomination process, seeking candidates who are not only achievers but also innovators in the worlds of green innovation, science and technology, arts and culture, social activism and business enterprise.  Past Young Futuristshave started non-profits and invented unique technologies, among other creative and praiseworthy ventures.  Nominations are submitted from across the U.S. and only 25 are selected each year.

“The Young Futurists list honors trailblazing African-American leaders under 21 who will shape our future, our communities, and our daily conversations with work that matters,” said Managing Editor Sheryl Huggins Salomon. Their range of talent, drive and commitment is so inspiring and they are clearly having an impact on our lives and our communities.”

Other Young Futurists include green innovator Kendyl Crawley-Crawford, a 2012 Marshall Scholar who has traveled to the South Pacific to document environmental issues; Sydney Shaves, a 16 year-old who filmed a documentary “Elvira’s Eyes” that chronicles a genealogical journey through 106 years of her slave ancestor’s life; and Brandon Turner, a Wake Forest University senior whose investigation into the molecular structure of proteins for future drug development led him to be one of just 30 U.S. students named Rhodes scholars this year.

The 2012 Young Futurists list including biographies, photos, and details on why each honoree was selected can be found atwww.theroot.com/young-futurists-2012.

The White House has released a number of ways for Americans to connect with the President’s State of the Union address as well as participate in the conversation through social media.  You can watch a stream of the President’s speech here or through the White House Live App on Facebook , YouTube  and their Google+ page.

Tomorrow I’ll share information about a State of the Union interview that will take place with President Obama on Monday through a Google Plus Hangout.

Streaming Schedule for Tuesday evening: 
7:00 PM EST  Pre-program video begins with 2011 highlights

9:00 PM EST  The President’s State of the Union Address

Immediately after a Live Panel from the White House to answer public questions (45 minutes)

The Twitter hastag for tonight’s event will be #SOTU.

I write a column for Sunday’s Dallas Morning News (on stands now) that talks about the relationship between Generation X and Millennials.

The context is how some of those before us have refused to “pass the torch” and the point is coming where we may have to take it.

I’ve watched our elders hold on to the keys of the church, the family reunion and the mantle of public office. It’s not just because they enjoy the perks of authority, which they do. It’s also that they don’t trust us.

While we grew up in a wait our turn world, Generation Y seems to be content in creating their own world, (see Mark Zuckerburg).  Meanwhile Gen X is caught between the realities of getting older but feeling younger.

While many of us still look and feel youthful, the reality is we’re really not that young. It’s the ultimate moment of transition for us. I have classmates who are new grandparents while others are still welcoming their own newborns into the world.

 

The full column is available behind the pay wall in the subscriber content portion of the website.  If you buy a paper or have access to the premium content please take a moment to check it out.

That’s right, Blogging While Black is now available on the Kindle!  As stated at Amazon.com, “Start reading Blogging While Black on your Kindle in under a minute.”

Blogging While Black is available for $3.99 on the Kindle which includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet.  Let me know if you decide to check out the Kindle version.

The Wire

The Root, The Washington Post Company’s African American news and commentary site announced the promotion of Associate Editor Lauren Williams to Deputy Editor.

Joel Dreyfuss departed The Root at the end of November 2011 and was succeeded as Managing Editor by Sheryl Huggins Salomon, who had been The Root’s Deputy Editor.

Lauren has been Associate Editor of The Root since the Fall of 2010. Having previously been an editor at AOL Black Voices, Stereohyped, and MenuPages, as well as a reporter at The Daily Press in Virginia, Lauren brings a wealth of experience in journalism, online media, and editorial management to her new role as Deputy Editor.  Lauren will be based in The Root’s DC office.

Lauren has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. She also studied cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and loves to show off her cooking skills to friends and family — when she can find the time!

When news outlets began to report earlier this week about content contained in newsletters supposedly written by Ron Paul, he used the excuse that the letters did not contain a byline, so he wasn’t sure who wrote them.

Those letters reportedly referred to the Martin Luther King Holiday as “Hate Whitey Day,” called Dr. King a ”world-class philanderer,” and criticized President Ronald Reagan for recognizing the leader with a federal holiday.

Yesterday a video of Dr. Paul from 1995 surfaced where he talks about his newsletter, saying it “covered a lot about what was going on in Washington,” as well as monetary policy (check minute 1:40).

In a 1996 interview reported by the Dallas Morning News, Ron Paul did not deny or disavow the racist language in the newsletters.  Like saying that “If you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet of foot they can be.”

Paul said the comments were taking out of context.  ”If you try to catch someone that has stolen a purse from you, there is no chance to catch them,” Paul said in ’96.

Now Rueters has a story that links Paul even more closely to the newsletter.  In a typed 8 page document that has Congressman Ron Paul as it’s header, the frontrunner in the Iowa caucus seems to talk in first person.

There are lot’s of I’s throughout the newsletter as in “I swore to uphold the constitution or “I publish the Ron Paul Investment Letter and Ron Paul Political Report.”  Then at the end is the signature of Ron Paul.

See the 8 page Ron Paul Newsletter at Reuters where

So as the Congressman disavows the content of the newsletter, can he deny that he wrote the content?  The rest of the views in the newsletter as it relates to monetary policy are very much consistent with the Ron Paul way.  How are we supposed to separate phrases like “The Israeli Lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica”?

I did not however find the phrase “coming race war in our big cities” as reported by Reuters.  I did see a passage that said “I fear there will be welfare riots in big cities,” and we all know that’s code.  If anyone finds the “coming race war” language let me know.  Maybe it’s in another newsletter.

Please join me at one (or more) of the following events for Blogging While Black.

Christmas Eve Booksigning
Southwest Center Mall
Saturday, December 24, 2011, 2-4:00pm

Champagne and Strawberries Book Release Part II
December 30, 2011
Chocolate Secrets
3926 Oak Lawn Avenue Dallas, TX 75219

Jokae’s African American Book Store & Framing
Saturday, January 7, 2012, 3-5:00pm

The Dallas Institute
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.

New Year Book Jubilee
Saturday, January 28, 2012, 11am-4:00pm
SW Center Mall, Dallas, TX 75237

Just a while ago House Speaker John Boehner tweeted that his party would bend on the payroll tax holiday two-month extension that has already been approved by the Senate.

Agreement reached to ensure families’ taxes don’t go up on 1/1 & stop Senate bill provision that’d hurt job creators http://j.mp/uRXzvi

@SpeakerBoehner

This is good for the people and a late but needed move the the Speaker. CNN’s Dana Bash reports that Boehner told his caucus that he had reached a deal with Senate Leader Harry Reid and that was it.

The Speaker made a brief statement at a press conference which didn’t contain the normal bluster and theater we’ve gotten used to. Boehner said “I don’t think it’s any time for celebration…”  I’m sure you don’t Mr. Speaker.

My sister Sheila Washington with a copy of Blogging While Black

If only it were this easy.......

House Republicans pulled a bit of a fast one when they voted for a “motion to reject” the Senate bill which was passed last Saturday extending the payroll tax holiday for two months.  They called for a committee with members of the Senate to work on a new tax extension deal.

Why not call a committee prior to the week before Christmas?

Why does it have to always come down the very last second before House Speaker John Boehner wants to get anything done?

Why not vote up-or-down on the bill passed by the Senate, a bill which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell helped put together?

Senate Republicans worked with Senate Democrats to produce a bill they thought would pass the House.  The bill is not perfect but few are.  The Senate added the provision that would require President Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline Project within 60 days.  The provision is not popular with the White House or President Obama’s base, but it’s called compromise, something the House is unwilling to do.

Mr. Speaker I know that you know better than this.  I think I see your puppet strings showing, the Tea Party is playing you like Pinocchio.

The problem in America is not wealth distribution, it’s income distribution. The income has been distributed from the bottom to the top. Contrary to the false narrative in Congress, taxing this individuals at higher rates does not hurt their ability to create jobs. They should find another argument. This is a real problem.