I'm getting behind on a lot of these interesting articles I come across, so I'm going to overload today.
WHERE WILL THE D.C. POOR LIVE?
Good
one in The Washington Post on the poor and how the housing situation in
D.C. is affecting them. On a recent trip to Ben's Chili Bowl, I got a
good glimpse of the U Street Project and the new condos are pretty
sweet. I don't need to know how much they cost because I'm sure it's a
price that the current residents of that area can't afford. The saving
grace for this particular project is that the new places are being
bought up by affluent blacks as well as whites, so we aren't being
completely kicked out, but this doesn't solve the problem.
Lori
Montgomery's article is on the attitude of advocates for the poor,
including blaming Mayor Williams for tossing the working class aside
for the realty opportunity. In a market-driven world, where do you draw
the line on moving forward with opportunity?
WAPO: Some of D.C.'s Poor Question Their Place in Housing PlanDEMS AND THE BLACK VOTE
Conservative
Thomas Sowell writes about liberals, race and history for the Jewish
World Review. He discusses how Democrats must keep black folks scared;
believing that they are their only hope because if the move to vote
Republican gains momentum, the Dems are gonna be ass out. They've lost
the white male vote and the female vote is going back and forth.
Thomas Sowell: News & OpinionSowell
suggests the Dems have to distort the present and past situation of
things to manipulate us under their wing. Like many black
conservatives, he doesn't seem to think very highly of black folks. If
Dems really want to hold on to the black vote, they need to stop
pouting about their current bad fortune, stop obsessing over blaming
the Right for everything, kick the liberals to the curb and let the
centrists and moderates take center stage. If they do that, they'll
lock up the female vote and might get a few of those fleeting white
males to come back.
BOSTON'S OBAMA
Andrew Varnon writes
about Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick in
The Valley Advocate. He wants to know if Patrick is
Boston's Obama?.
"For
people looking for a quick reason to dismiss a candidate, Deval Patrick
provides more than a few. He's black in a state that, although it
prides itself on its history of supporting equality, has never seen a
black candidate for governor nominated by a major party. He's an avowed
progressive in a state that, although steadfastly Democratic, has
elected Republicans to the corner office for the past 14 years. Throw
in the fact that he's never held elective office in the state, and
you've got plenty of reasons to sum up Patrick in two words: long shot."Despite
this, Varnon likes Patrick's story, style and network. Does he have a
chance? I doubt it. Honestly, I don't want to dog Boston, but let's be
honest about the race thing. It's supposed to be this bastion of
liberalism, but when it comes to race, well...it's no Illinois. I'll
give it to the brother; he shoots high and you can't fault him for
that. I wish him luck.
WOMEN, WHITE NEGROES & HIP HOP
Out
of left field comes an article in Left Hook, a liberal bloggish type of
thing with a collection of essays, poems and what not. This article, by
Julie Southerland discusses the slight of women in the hip hop world
and white folks who identify with the mood behind the music.
A Radical Youth Journal Based in the U.S.: A Discussion of Women and the “White Negro” in Hip-Hop I'm
not a big fan of hip hop because of it's violence and pornography and
mostly because of it's portrayal of black women, so I don't have a lot
to say on this, but I think the "white negroes" issue is an interesting
one, worth discussing.
BLACKS STILL MAD AT MEXICO
At BlackAmericaWeb.com, Black Enterprise (best magazine ever) Publisher Earl Graves says
Black Consumers Should Boycott Mexico
in response to President Vincente Fox's comments about how blacks,
clearly the lowest of the low in America, won't do the jobs that
immigrants do. This is the first time I've heard this suggested and
it's only relevant because Fox's refusal to apologize for his
ridiculous comments.
It's not going to happen, we all know
that. Trips to Mexico are too cheap for folks to boycott, but the idea
is a good one. Black folks need to stop complaining and crying about
thos ewho wrong us and start using our substantial dollars and
influence to speak for us.
