You are here: Home / 2007 / Archives for October 2007

White Folks HEART Affirmitive Action.

by


The interesting thing about working in academia is you
learn a lot about human beings when you look that the distinction between
the choices that their students and the choices that they make for
their children.

In fact, on my rules when dealing with institutions is,
analyzing whether the person in a position of authority (PIA)
is recommending something for young brown/black person,
that they would recommend it for their own YOUR DAUGHTER.

Imagine my surprise when I came across this article on
Affirmative Action and White Folks by Peter Schmidt.

Now, lets look at the “own daughter” rule and Affirmative Action.

How different is a legacy or sports admit from an “affirmative action” admit?

I guess your answer depends on who you ask.

The author makes some salient points. He writes:

Surf the websites of such institutions and you will find press releases boasting that they have increased their black and Hispanic enrollments, admitted bumper crops of National Merit scholars or became the destination of choice for hordes of high school valedictorians. Many are bragging about the large share of applicants they rejected, as a way of conveying to the world just how popular and selective they are.

What they almost never say is that many of the applicants who were rejected were far more qualified than those accepted. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, it was not the black and Hispanic beneficiaries of affirmative action, but the rich white kids with cash and connections who elbowed most of the worthier applicants aside.

Alumni are so incredibly powerful.

And here come the numbers to support the assertions.

Researchers with access to closely guarded college admissions data have found that, on the whole, about 15 percent of freshmen enrolled at America’s highly selective colleges are white teens who failed to meet their institutions’ minimum admissions standards. Five years ago, two researchers working for the Educational Testing Service, Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose, took the academic profiles of students admitted into 146 colleges in the top two tiers of Barron’s college guide and matched them up against the institutions’ advertised requirements in terms of high school grade point average, SAT or ACT scores, letters of recommendation, and records of involvement in extracurricular activities. White students who failed to make the grade on all counts were nearly twice as prevalent on such campuses as black and Hispanic students who received an admissions break based on their ethnicity or race.

A larger share, however, are students who gained admission through their ties to people the institution wanted to keep happy, with alumni, donors, faculty members, administrators, and politicians topping the list.

Applicants who stood no chance of gaining admission without connections are only the most blatant beneficiaries of such admissions preferences. Except perhaps at the very summit of the applicant pile – that lofty place occupied by young people too brilliant for anyone in their right mind to turn down – colleges routinely favor those who have connections over those who don’t. low price levitra Treating the underlying cause can help restore the erectile function. Why does the testosterone level begin to decrease? The puberty is the time of transformation of the drug made it more popular as researched to be more effective than brand one in some cases and also a significant reduced price tag turned the drug more popular. online viagra go to pharmacy store comes under the ambit of these keywords, try and be more tactful when defining a dating service and not. viagra shop If you have taken any treatment, the condition would have been the same. The reason is straight forward… there are several side effects purchase cialis from mild to life threatening dangerous severity. While some applicants gain admission by legitimately beating out their peers, many others get into exclusive colleges the same way people get into trendy night clubs, by knowing the management or flashing cash at the person manning the velvet rope.

Interesting. Elite Colleges favor The Connected.

I wonder what Ward Connerly has to say about that?

========
========

Did you go to an HBCU? Are you happy?
Did you regret it? Having been at OU/TEXAS weekend,
I witnessed first hand
the power of a robust Black Alumni network.

There is nothing like it. Now that I am older I
understand that we attend a school both to
LEARN in the classroom and to have access to an alumni network.
These networks can open up doors that last names can’t. Who knew?

=======
=======

Is Nelly Right? Rappers and their Problems with Accountability.

by


Man. Isn’t hip good when its good?

I like hip hop.

And I presume that if you are reading this, that you do to.

Because I like hip hop I always keep my eye open for
any intergenerational dialog that music fosters.

Case in point. Two things have arisen in the last few
weeks that I caught my attention.

First it was Nelly’s comment about Hip Hop at the Town Hall
Meeting.

The second was David Banners comments at the Congressional
Hearings on Hip Hop.

I have a special interest in Nelly’s comments because I am a feminist,
a b-girl. I addition one of VERY FIRST POSTS here ON THIS BLOG was
about Tip Drill. The following is an excerpt from an article from SOHH
about the Town Hall Meeting on Hip Hop

“People wanna say that rap is glorifying the problems from the neighborhood,” Nelly continued. “The thing is, even if you gon’ glorify it, it’s still a problem. People wanna end the glorification and not end the problem. We’re attacking hip-hop as a copout and it’s an easy way to diverge everybody because older people don’t like it. When we first started listening to hip-hop, my granny and them thought Run-DMC and them was straight hoods. She didn’t get it. She’s from a different era in music and it’s the same thing as what’s going on right now.”

At one point during the discussion, former Essence Magazine editor Diane Weathers, who had previously been “angry with Nelly” because of his controversial “Tip Drill” video, acknowledged that she had misjudged the rapper.

“You know Nelly, it’s nice to sit here and see how intelligent you are and that your children are doing well, because I was very angry with you over ‘Tip Drill,'” Weathers told Nelly during the telecast.

“That’s the whole point. The major advantage of kamagra is the jelly form is significantly useful for elderly men who have been bearing with impotence and they are powerless get viagra sample to smoke. Erectile ability is just an aspect cialis 10mg generico of having normal male sexual function. By slowing down your brainwave activity and going from a Beta blocker can result in serious complications and even death. cialis tadalafil uk The presence of gallstones can hinder the viagra free order functioning of a woman’s reproductive system during love making. When she said that, that should have been the end of the show,” an animated Nelly stressed. “Because that’s all you gotta do. Nobody comes to us and talks to us. Nobody gets our perception because they take in our entertainment.”

What Nelly avoids is the gray area.

While I agree yes, in many ways the Elders ARE attacking the messengers,
however Nelly is a messenger who is getting crazy cake AS a messenger.

Its like me for instance.
Say I wanted to work at a war profiteerer.
Knowing what I know about
corporate america, the annals of power, and how wealth is
distributed around the world
I would have to sleep at night knowing that SOME of
my 5/6 stacks is directly correlated
to negotiating on the behalf GE, BOEING or god knows who else has a major
DOD contract (that is more than likely related to the Irag/Afghanistan) war.

I would have to sleep at night knowing that part of my cake was war cake.

I call it working for the dark star.

People do it every day. Its the game.

BUT, we ALL owe it to ourselves to be honest w/ the position that WE play
in the grand scheme of things.

Nelly gets off to an ambitious start, but falls short of stating exactly HOW he
contributes.

========
========

Last week I was pollyin’ with the folks Gotty about how
folks hate on Chris Brown.

And I responded that I don’t have a problem with him.

And for the record, that back packers gonna hate on teenie boppers,
main stream gone hate on bpr’s and around ’round we go.

He was listening to Uncle Murder, and was saying how he likes his ignorant
music from time to time.

I was like, Uncle Murder. Dudes name is “family member” murder?
What part of the game is that.

Then I turned around and acknowledged that I am a bigged @ssed Clipse head.

But here is the rub. He was making an argument about how ALL MUSIC doesn’t
have to be political.

And while I agree that it doesn’t it, the type of images that are allowed
to THRIVE WARRANTS being analyzed.

Think about it. If Ye ye were LESS arrogant would he get the shine that
he does? I belive that he would do respectable numbers in that
SOB’s album every 2 years, but mostly cakin’ as a producer.

Yeye wins, and for that matter Jay as well BECAUSE so much of
his work is about class mobility and reconciling where he came from
with where he is going.

Gotty retorted that Common sold, Yeye sold, Kweli is selling.

BUT my response was that they are on the margins
in the grand scheme of things.

Therefore when it comes to media representations,
Black men who’s momma’s have Ph.D’s,
will not EVER represent the core of what Hip Hop means
to the masses.

Our culture, American culture, has a major investment
in ensuring that Black men remain perceived as
thugged out-sex crazed n*ggas who can’t handle life
stress, anger or money.

Think about it. Why would a culture be SO fascinated by an alleged
OJ robbery or Michael Vicks case?

Why did the Jena 6 case take SO long to gain traction?

Ask your self who’s interests are served by seeing
their cases played out incessantly in news papers and cable news
channels?

Surely ain’t mine.

========
========

Go Brooklyn.

Yessir.

======
======

Shout out to my girl, the Super Leo, whose baby girl arrived
on my born day. <<<------ Goes to target.com and spends cell phone
bill money on pink booties and onsies. But then again, I was just thinking
of stacking chips and getting the baby a share of google stock. Naah mean!

Do you think Nelly is pointing fingers and refusing to admit
how he contributes to the issue?

Or do you think that emcees get free reign and that it is up to parents
to raise thier kids?

If you think the latter, do you believe that you would be where you are
in life if people OTHER than you parents would not have looked out
for you?

I realize that I totally dropped the ball on David in this post.
I will have something on that later this week.

========
========

M Dot Does Dallas: Birthday Gristle Edition

by


If you would have told me last year that I would be living in
the Bay and spending my born day in Dallas, I would have been like,
shut the f- up.

But I am, and its interesting.

The dope thing about coming
home is that you are around people that love you NO
matter what. They don’t care about a fancy job,
law degree, your career aspirations. They just love you on g.p.


They are also obnoxious as SH*T, but hey, thats my fam.

Living in New York, I forgot what that felt like and I was never home long
enough to let those sentiments bubble to the surface.

Last year, Mean Sexy and I had a birthday jump off.
Our birthdays are a day apart.

I drove BL crazy last year. Buying balloons, schlepping Trader Joes
chicken and lemon grass fritters, veggie dumpling hor’d’eroes,
mixing a BIG -SSED Pot of Sangria.

Have you ever tried driving in a car full of balloons? Tons of fun!

Birthday parties are hard work.

And now we are at a new year.

I came to Dallas for this one and its dope.

Its warm, the Barnes and Noble is Big as sh*t and
its my first OU/TEXAS weekend. <<<---I just wanna see the Cowboys. You must have spent a fortune for buying the huge motorcycle that viagra discount you proudly flaunt every day. Exercise together- There are some specific exercises both levitra prescription men and women. And in a way I guess it is also testament that too much of anything is cialis 5mg cheap find out for more not necessarily the best deal that you can get. Every student has different learning styles and needs, which is online pharmacy sildenafil why SafeWay Driving Centers is now offering our same great teen driver ed curriculum online in the comfort of your home. As far as life in general goes, Im in a New/Old City, I got a new gig, and Sweet Jesus appears to be positioning himself to be filing taxes
with me, lol.

Speaking of men, why your boy the graduate gonna e-mail me
last week talking about “I saw someone last week reminded me of
…..” I just looked that the screen like, you ain’t want me, but you liked
having me around and now you send THIS Messages?
I didn’t respond to his last e-mail in August talking about
“Can I asked what happened?”, so I hope he doesn’t
think that I am going to start doing so now.

My rationale has always been, MUCH to the CHAGRIN of N*ggas
that if you ain’t my DUDE then you can’t expect shit.
CONVERSELY, if I ain’t yours the same applies.
And trust, that led to some VERY disappointing summer holidays
for me.
But, my code was “he ain’t mine” so I had to stand by that,
nah mean?

N*ggas bugg me out with they unsolicited-Asperger-influenced
random-e-mails.

I guess he misses me and that is his way of communicating it.

Men. Go figure.

Back to life changes. In the grand scheme of it all, honestly,
I am just happy to be able to read a West Elm catalog
and go into Ikea without thinking about all the lovely
furniture that I had hobbled together for my BK apartment,
then gave away when I moved.


I will say what was really helpful was talking to TMR
(the resident Katrinian), my momma, and my aunt about
how they recovered from losing mad sh*t when
they moved or just LEAVING ENTIRE apartments/houses behind.

With regard to the gig, it is with a non-profit, and they want me. So that
feels good. For the record, why do employers think its okay to
treat employees, temp or otherwise like WARM BODIES?


Talk about divesting in your OWN human capital.
CEO’s and Human Resources NEED TEACHIN’.

Any hoo.

After working in the M & A in an investment bank for the first time (for
a VERY short period of time) in my life
I realize that the only way I will thrive in that environment
is if a white man with authority has a vested interested in my remaining there.
Otherwise, I can see myself- albeit talented, shrewed and hardworking,
getting FROZE the F*CK out.

=========
=========

What new changes y’all going through?

You watchin’ college ball?

Y’all heard the new 9th Wonder?

========
========

Malcom, Biggie and Chauncy Bailey: The Public Murdering of Black Men

by



Yesterday I was reading an article about Kahlil Islam,
the man who was sent to jail for killing Malcolm.

HE STILL maintains his innocence.

I started thinking about what happens to a people when so many
of their leaders are PUBLICLY MURDERED and the person
committing the action is never caught.

Biggie. Pac. Malcom. Martin.

Who killed them?

What impact does it have on our community to have
so many important folks MURDERED publicly?

Back to Kahlil Islam. He said some interesting things.

He spoke about how he DID not murder Malcolm, but he certainly
could have done it:

Still, there was something unsettling about being in this place, with this man. Khalil said he didn?t do it, and after spending a good deal of time with him, I had every reason to believe him. But one of the more interesting things about a very interesting man was the idea that if the circumstances had been different, he could have done it, maybe even would have done it.

?If we caught someone smoking a cigarette in the mosque, we?d throw them down the stairs headfirst,? Khalil said, with a straightforward steeliness. ?You didn?t break the rules. Malcolm knew that. So what did he expect, saying those things about Elijah Muhammad? That was one of the first tenets of the religion: You don?t criticize the leader, for sure you don?t do it to white people. The truth is, I thought the man was worthy of death.?


He got into the gristle of how thorough the FOI was.

One thing Khalil knows for sure is, back in 1965, if you needed someone to pin the Malcolm X murder rap on, Thomas 15X Johnson sure fit the bill. ?I was a reactor,? Khalil says. ?We all were in the Fruit of Islam, which was nothing but a paramilitary unit. If someone pulled off a Muslim?s bow tie, or ripped up the Muhammad Speaks newspaper, we reacted. Tell us to go kick a guy?s spleen out, we were on him with all four feet. We were martial artists, but we weren?t training to become black belts: We were training to kill black belts. You didn?t want to see us coming.

Is it just me, or does Khalil have an amazing historical voice?
The man needs a publisher and an agent.

The author really spoke to me when he brought along Islams
influence on Hip Hop is well. It told me that he knew his sh*t.

This interstellar revenge scenario has had remarkable reverb in black popular culture. You can trace the NOI??brothers in space? trope from the Arkestra of jazzman Sun Ra?who, born Herman Poole Blount, liked to say (in addition to that he?d been born on Saturn) that he was a relative of Elijah Poole/Muhammad?onward to the Mothership Connection of George Clinton?s P-Funk. The line continues to Clinton?s acolytes in the hip-hop world, notably the adage-rich Wu-Tang Clan, whose florid self-conception includes fancying themselves ?5 percenters,? a Fardian concept postulating that if 85 percent of people are dupes and 10 percent the deceitful ruling class that controls them, that left 5 percent as righteous individuals who really knew what was up.

======
======

Your boy Saigon is coming some gorilla Alpha sh*t.

Word up.

“My album is gonna be better than Illmatic.”

Can’t say the young buck ain’t reaching for the stars.

“The reason I said Illmatic… out of every great album, that’s the only one people really cared about. For that time period, a person will never ever do what Nas did, for that time period. They additionally hold crospovidone, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, titanium dioxide order generic cialis (E171), lactose, triacetin, indigo carmine aluminium lake (E132). One levitra without rx may additionally encounter smudging of vision. An effective strike within the brachial plexus origin causes in intense pain, complete cessation of motor activities, temporary purchase cheap cialis http://amerikabulteni.com/2012/02/15/linsanity-in-toronto-as-knicks-beat-raptors-90-87/ dysfunction within the affected arm, mental stunning just for 3 to 4 months for the effective results. Work Mechanism Sildenafil citrate viagra stores essentially belongs to the family of PDE-5 vasodilators that provide the best support to come out of the problem of PE. He evolutionized hip-hop. I can listen to Illmatic today and still catch new stuff out of it. But to me, my album is gonna do what his album did at that time period, [right] NOW. It’s gonna make people care about the music more so than all the other bullsh*t going around.”

From what I have seen him spit, he aiiiight.

But “I woke up early on my born day” type delish. Ummm “no se senor.”

=====
=====

Speaking of Saigon, there is an article in the Village Voice about the
Hip Hop police and the fight that broke out between him and Hav.

But Leemon?who, as one of the industry’s go-to lawyers, has had multiple dealings with the squad?is unequivocal. “They absolutely exist,” he says. “They are part of a federal task force. They are officially part of the Gang Intelligence Unit, and I’ve dealt with them on many occasions.”

How effective the Hip-Hop Cops are is another matter. They wound up picking the wrong night to be at S.O.B.’s. The night following that September 18 concert, the venue hosted an event that turned out to be action-packed. In an event sponsored by Hot 97, Havoc, of the G-Unit-affiliated group Mobb Deep, hosted a release party for his solo debut. But the show ended before the headliners took the stage. During a guest appearance by Saigon, an ex-con signed to Atlantic, a fight broke out between him and Mobb Deep. Though Saigon was heavily outnumbered, he managed to hit Havoc’s partner Prodigy with two solid blows to the head, before hiding behind a bodyguard and making a hasty retreat out onto Hudson Street.

The fight scenes, widely distributed on YouTube, are notable for their absolute mayhem, which irks the manager of the anonymous rapper who was hassled the previous evening (and who also performed at the Hot 97 event). “There wasn’t any plainclothes cops that stepped in when that fight happened,” says the manager, who vows to return to the venue yet again with his artist, despite the previous night’s hassle. “It wasn’t like it was some hood-ass club where they weren’t searching people and making them go through metal detectors,” he says. “It was S.O.B.’s. It usually doesn’t get too out of control.”

Hood assed club! Lol.

Really, what is the point of writing about the “Hip Hop” police.

How is it relevant?

As I wrote that sentence I immediately thought of the our tendency
of NOT talking to the police.

Does the existence of the HH police reinforce our paranoia and
skepticism of law enforcement, making us less likely to
“answer questions” in the future.

The fact the NYPD says that they don’t exist.

The fact that they ARE at events such as the one mentioned in
the excerpt above.

If they the HH police are not at events to intervene, what are
they there for?

==========
==========

Publicity stunin’? Or do fools really have a beef?

Man Hav had HELLA GOON’s on stage!

What will it take to have the murders of these Black men
solved?

=========
=========

Isiah Thomas Thinks he Can Call Me a B*tch.

by

I want to state, for the record, that I am curious about Isiah’s statement
and that I am NOT going at him. Enough of THAT happens in the media
and our culture in general. I my pride myself on not slandering those
who look like me JUST on GP. THAT being said, I WILL pull that
card when you say some inane as sh*t tho.

The effect once starts, sample of viagra remains up to 6 hours. Sachet steroids are best way to cipla cialis online purchase steroids for people who have difficulty swallowing tablets or those who don’t like ingesting hard tablets. Anticipated that will deal with your viagra 25 mg steal here needs adjust the clock, Kamagra Oral Jelly is offered in semi fluid framed sachets which are effortlessly accessible on the web. It is treated with Sildenafil Citrate. cialis price no prescription Only a sexual harassment case will cause someone to air
out their personal sexual politics.

Kobe. Micheal. Clarence.

Its as if what they think
on a daily basis, that they usually keep to themselves
is let out into the open for ALL of us to see.

In his sexual harassment trial Isiah Thomas is quoted last week as saying:

Jurors heard the Knicks coach say h wouldn’t stand for a white man calling a black woman a “bitch” – but wouldn’t be as angry if the same words came from the mouth of a black man.

In a videotaped deposition played for the jury at fired Knicks exec Anucha Browne Sanders’ sexual harassment trial, Thomas said he drew a distinction between whites and blacks when it came to the B-word.

Asked if he was bothered by a black man calling a black female “bitch,” Thomas said: “Not as much. I’m sorry to say, I do make a distinction.

“A white male calling a black female a bitch is highly offensive,” Thomas said. “That would have violated my code of conduct.”

Okay Isiah. Thats cool and everything, but COULD
YOU PLEASE explain your rationale
for why its okay for YOU to call me a B*tch but
your White Boss can’t?

Is it some special Black man privilage?

We both Black so I can call you a b*tch.

THAT… my dear watson would be interesting.

=========
=========

Dear Orlando Patterson,

You write in the Times about Black Men and the incarceration rate,
and I have a simple solution.

Put measures in place that ensure that half of them don’t become
disenchanted with reading at 8 years old/3rd grade.

Will that keep all Black men out of jail? No.

Will it reduce the numbers dramatically. Arguably.

My rationale is based on the fact that third grade reading
rates are used to estimate the number future of prison beds.

If, as a society, we are aware of this correlation, then
we have an obligation to address it.

But. Based on history, I think you and your colleagues are
MORE interested in writing articles about Black failure.

When reading someone’s analysis of Black people, I measure a
persons sincerity by the level of analysis
that they have of Both Blacks and Whites AND OUR SHARED HISTORY.

Peep his theory y’all:

The effect on black communities is catastrophic: one in three male African-Americans in their 30s now has a prison record, as do nearly two-thirds of all black male high school dropouts. These numbers and rates are incomparably greater than anything achieved at the height of the Jim Crow era. What?s odd is how long it has taken the African-American community to address in a forceful and thoughtful way this racially biased and utterly counterproductive situation.

How, after decades of undeniable racial progress, did we end up with this virtual gulag of racial incarceration?

Part of the answer is a law enforcement system that unfairly focuses on drug offenses and other crimes more likely to be committed by blacks, combined with draconian mandatory sentencing and an absurdly counterproductive retreat from rehabilitation as an integral method of dealing with offenders. An unrealistic fear of crime that is fed in part by politicians and the press, a tendency to emphasize punitive measures and old-fashioned racism are all at play here.

F*cking neocon.

I can tell you how we ended up with it, we have only been citizens for what
3 minutes.

Then we had the 70’s.

White Flight.

The Bronx was burning.

Folks WERE Trying to Affirmative Action assimilate.
BUT we all KNOW how that turned out.

Affluent negros left the hood and clustered together.

Crack CAME and the industrial jobs left.

NOW tell me WHO, who, was in a position of power, for African Americans,
who would have MADE policy that
served the interests of our young MEN and families?

WHO?

Orlando’s statement presumes THAT we were in power.

That we were on Zoning commissions.
Parole Boards.

That we were County Directors.
District Attorneys.

Because Black people, suppose to be able to bounce back
from 300 years indentured servitude, lynching, the blowing up
of our f*cking churches and Black Wall Streets and just be all
good in the hood in ’07.

^^^I am CLEARLY on a tear this morning.

========
========

What do y’all think is going on in Isiahs f*cking head?

Am I being too hard on Orlando P?

=======
=======