Does A Child's Name Matter?

I had an interesting conversation with a young woman today regarding her children's names. She stated that she intentionally gave her children "race neutral" names so that their race wouldn't be identified by human resource decision makers during a potential hiring process. This young woman works for a major university in our country, and stated that she sees name discrimination every day during the hiring process.

It was an interesting discussion, so I just wanted to make a written note of it. Should we think twice before naming our children? I'm not sure, but perhaps it's worth pondering.

Laura Ingraham Calls Ludacris a "Thug"

I'm usually pretty tolerant of commentator opinions on topics and individuals. However, I was really appalled when on two separate occasions this week, while appearing on the Bill O'Reilly show, conservative political commentator Laura Ingraham called rapper Ludacris a "thug" in response to the rap song that he released last week reinforcing his support of Barack Obama. Ingraham arrived at this opinion based on the lyrics of some of the rapper's songs.

Perhaps Ingraham should address the record label that releases the music, instead of attacking the artist. Ludacris is expressing himself through music, which is his right, and obviously there is an audience for his music based on his phenomenal success, which he has parlayed into a career as a respectable actor, philanthropist and businessman.

I only hope that Ingraham would also place Eminem in the same category as Luda.

The Promise of Baldwin Hills

BET's reality show Baldwin Hills debuted it's second season a few weeks ago, as it continues to monitor the lives of black teenagers in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Hills. On the surface the show can be described as showcasing the bourgeois aspect of black teen life as most of the teens live in middle to upper middle class households. Peering deeper into the respective personalities of the teens, we discover that all of them have distinct personalities that make their interactions coffee talk for even adults who watch the show.

This season's breakout personality appears to be Lor’Rena, who from the first episode made it clear that Moriah Johnson, son of former NBA star Marques Johnson, was the object of her desires. Only 17, Lor'Rena's aggressive motives can be questioned, but if she stays on the straight and narrow, her loquaciousness and quick wit will serve her well into adulthood.

Another newcomer, Justin is also an interesting personality. Having overcome some legal issues, Justin works as a youth pastor, and is part of a writing trio called BRW (Black Writers Bureau). The trio co-wrote the chart topping song, "Damaged" by pop group, Danity Kane.

A holdover from last season, Staci comes from the "other side" of the tracks. Instead of taking a job as an intern in the fashion industry, she's forced to take a job that pays because she simply needs the money. The dynamics of Staci's personal life are complicated, but watching her manage the myriad of issues is quite compelling.

The promise of Baldwin Hills is watching teenagers navigating the pressures of being young and black in America. Successfully handling these pressures will bode well for them as they move into young adulthood.

Work It All Out This Lifetime

I was driving home last night, anxiously awaiting my arrival to watch CNN's final installment of it's Black In America" series, when Maxwell's classic song, "Lifetime" came on the radio.

Maxwell's song is a love song, but the words can easily be applied to the plight of the black male. It starts off with, "I was reborn when I was broken". The chorus goes into, "I can let my life pass me by, I can get down and try, work it all out this lifetime".

CNN's final installment absolutely "bamboozled" me. I was expecting the lead segment to focus on professor Michael Eric Dyson, and Dyson's story wasn't covered until the final 15 minutes of the show. The first 90 minutes was an absolute waste of time with host Soledad O'Brien focusing on all of the negative stereotypes that are typically associated with black males, something I didn't need see.

The final 30 minutes of the show were interesting, focusing on Spike Lee talking about the lack of expectations for black males. Michael Eric Dyson's segment for me was the best part of the documentary. Dyson, was a verbal prodigy and the age of 12, but his younger brother Everett succumbed to the pressures of the street and is serving a lifetime prison term for murder. Everett Dyson, who stated correctly that he made bad choices, appeared to accept responsibility for his actions and the resulting consequences.

Everett Dyson admitted that he made bad choices, and this really is the bottom line for black men, make better choices and better results will occur. Continue to make bad choices and the black male will continue to spiral towards genocide. Please, black men, "try to work it out this lifetime".

CNN's Black In America "The Black Woman & Family"

As I waited for the beginning of the first installment of CNN's Black In America series, hosted by Soledad O'Brien, I expected the worst, but hoped for the best depiction of Black America: the good, the bad and the ugly.

The documentary began with a focus on the Rand family traveling to their family reunion in Atlanta, GA. Their families roots originated from a married slave owner who had a black mistress, which is very typical of our origin in this country.

The show then moved to the topic of education. The statistics continue to be startling, beginning with the fact that only 50% of black students graduate in 4 years. Again the program shifted to the Smith family, who are part of the Rand family tree. The Smith's are business owners who enrolled their children in Magnet Schools and have found success with their children attending institutions of higher learning as diverse as Julliard. This segment also profiled Harvard Professor Roland Fryers' "pay to learn experiment" which has 5000 students participating in the program with similar programs initiated in the cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, and Dallas. Fryers spoke from experience about the intoxicating lure of the streets. This segment closed with the startling statistic that 33% of black kids live in poverty. Nothing about this segment was new, but there's an obvious correlation between being economically advantaged and having success in education.

The disparity in health care was then profiled, and focused on the stress of poverty, and the fact that black people are more likely to die from cancer, stroke, asthma and heart disease. The void of healthy food choices in the inner city was also discussed.

The Black Church was profiled next. Again, nothing earth shattering, but the honest depiction clearly showed the major void in the black community. The church that was profiled consisted mainly of single black mothers, and the fact that the church has saved many lives through it's spiritual support. A single mother from the church working 2 jobs, and trying to raise 5 children was also profiled. Showing the mother juggling bills and deciding which bill to pay in what is a monthly occurrence. Again the statistics in this segment, 70% of all black children are born to single mothers compared to 25% in the 1960s. Whoopi Goldberg briefly relived her days living on welfare as Karen Johnson, and credited the the welfare system with giving her a chance at survival.

The plight of the successful, educated black woman was then profiled. Again, the statistics, 45% of black women have never been married, and black male partners simply not being viable options because of economics, education, and incarceration. The fact that there are 1 million more black women working than black men. Many black women making the decision to date outside of their race because of the lack of options. This is a real development for young black women, and one that doesn't appear to changing anytime soon.

HIV and AIDS within the black community was then profiled. Again, "crazy" statistics, 80% of new cases in Washington, DC are black, 9 times the national average. 1 in 26 people in the city are infected with HIV or AIDS. This segment also profiled the church's lack of involvement in this issue, with Bishop T.D. Jakes admitting that the church has not done a good job in this area. He discussed the church preaching ideas and only talking about the reality in terms of abstinence vs. being sexually active, and falling short of the idea. Bottom line, AIDS is the number one killer for black woman 25 to 34.

The last segment focused on violence within our community, and on the city of Baltimore, where 93% of homicide victims are black. The segment also profiled Dr. Carnell Cooper, who started VIP (Violence Intervention Project) to help victims of violence assimilate back into mainstream society by teaching basic life skills. The results of the the program so far are that participants are more likely to be employed than heading back to their reality of violence.

I know this has been long winded, but watching show made me at times wince in disgust and smile with elation at the diverse paths that black people have to travel. Although the struggles are different, whether affluent or disadvantaged the show displayed the fact that black woman continue to hold everything together on her broad shoulders.

Tonight's show focuses on the black male and in it's preview, which was riveting, contrasting Michael Eric Dyson and his brother who appeared to be incarcerated.

CNN's Black In America Series: Reclaiming The Dream

Last night CNN debuted a panel discussion that is part of it's "Black in America" series, sponsored in conjunction with Essence Magazine. As part of the panel, the usual suspects appeared, such as Dr. Cornel West, T.D. Jakes and Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President of Bennett College for Women.

The discussion started slow with the initial topic focused on responsibility in the community and the lack of fathers in their children's lives. This topic has gained a lot of steam in recent weeks with Barack Obama focused on the topic in his speeches to the black community. The lack of "baby daddy's" in the community is part of a vicious cycle that has engulfed the black community and worsened over time.

The next topic of discussion focused on education in the black community. It was at this point that the discussion started to gain some steam. Two young innovators, Roland Fryer, a black Harvard Economist and Jabali Sawicki, the principal of Excellence Charter School in New York gave real examples of success for black students in their respective areas of expertise. Fryer has instituted a pay for learning program and Sawicki's school is an all black male school.

The final segment focused on the ravages of HIV and AIDS in our community. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph led this discussion and gave some very real and disturbing examples of how HIV is ravaging our community, especially women. The scariest example used was of 11 year old twins being infected with HIV by the same man.

CNN is displaying a noble gesture in developing the "Black in America" series. It's just very disturbing to watch all of our "dirty laundry" being on display for all of the world to see.

The Swagger Phenomenon

"Swagger" seems to be the new buzz word in our community when a black female refers to a male who has arrogance, confidence or the "it" factor. Swagger has become the new term of endearment when a black woman now refers to a black male. Is it me, or are we becoming very shallow.

On the surface, there's really not a problem with someone having swagger, except that in many cases it's only referring to someone who is prominent in the hip hop culture. Lil Wayne is a recent addition to the swagger list. Diddy, Jeezy, Kanye, David Banner, Rick Ross all would be considered to have swagger. Barack Obama has swagger in some female circles, but not in all. Is it because he wears a suit everyday, and speaks with proper diction? We're in a pretty tough place when a young male who may be the next business leader, doctor, lawyer or just a productive citizen has no chance of having the "swagger" tag associated with him because of stereotypes.

The choices for black females are already slim, since in present day statistics, 50 percent of black males don't even graduate from high school. The choices become even slimmer when we begin stereotyping what's cool down to anyone associated only with the hip hop community. It's amazing that while all of these images are being perpetuated by music videos and supported by BET, that young black woman are readily accepting of these images as potential "baby daddies". By contrast, while a black male may view a scantily clad video vixen as sexually appealing, you can bet that he would not take the vixen home to Mommy.

Swagger is not a negative attribute by any stretch of the imagination, but black women need to look way beyond the swagger phenomenon and into the depths of the man's soul, and make sure that Mom's OK with you bringing him home.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all. African American Father's let's accept this day of celebration and reflect on our responsibilities as fathers.

We do have a responsibility to "raise" our children whether or not we're with them on a daily basis. The context of how we're ultimately judged as fathers will be based on the success or failure of our children. This is a daunting responsibility, and one that we can handle. Let's not allow the pressures of the world, and our imperfections to impact our real job in this world, which is assisting in the development of our children to become productive citizens in this world.

We made the choice to bring our son or daughter into this world, they did not have a choice in the matter. Let's step to the plate and earn our right to have a celebration day.