Alternative News: W.E. A.L.L. B.E.

Planning and Preparing for College in a Swift and Meaningful Way

Guys, I have updated my blog, with a lot of new opportunities and there are many current opportunities for scholarships, internships, fellowships, etc. The blog is located at http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com. Please share the blog with your friends, co-workers, church members, etc so that they can grow and prosper. We should never say because I don't have children, then I don't need the information. The key is that we are "our brothers' keepers" and what I know, I will share with others. In the end, we grow with the children or our legacies grow. We must always be in the "each one teaches one" mode because it does make differences, if someone makes it or not.

For those who may not know how to use the blog, below is a link to guide you on how to do so:

http://ctherd.blogspot.com/2006/11/notes-on-reading-blog.html

Another link is "How to Prepare for College Correctly":

http://ctherd.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-prepare-for-college-correctly.html

For those who may have students interested attending UT Knoxville, their competitive scholarship deadline for admission is November 1, 2009. Regular admission deadline without is on December 1, 2009. It is important that you communicate this to students and parents along with asking them to take the next ACT exam scheduled in the Fall.
It is my hope that you all will go on this wonderful journey of College Preparation and help me to put others and you on the correct time lines so that no one will be left behind.

I will be using Facebook to bring out notice, but if you want to be informed at all times, please subscribe to my blog and you will get all the wonderful updates.

We are in a season of overflow and what we do will it will determine how big the harvest will be.

I attended the TSU event on Thursday and was very hyped and excited by the attendances and the thirst for knowledge. Many full-time scholarships were given out and that always great. I felt like a rock star talking to his or her fans and loving how they were absorbing every minute of our encounter.

Until next time, let us change the world together.

C. Herd

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio* I-Witness History: The Complete Interview With Renowned Emmett Till Case

Celebrating 2 Full Years In The Biz: Ain't No Stopping Us Now!!!

September 2009 Theme: I Got The Will & The Power...

Air Date: Weds. September 9, 2009

E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

Time:

9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P

Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Exclusive*

I-Witness History: The Complete Interview With Dr. Hugh Stephen Whitaker, Pioneering Emmett Till Murder Case Researcher

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions."
~Carter G. Woodson

The Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/10/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Summary:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/09/992009we-all-be-radio-i-witness-history.html

Michael Holman On Jean Michel Basquiat...

 

This Past Wednesday (May 9, 2007) On Tha Artivist Presents...W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio I Had The Honor And The Privilege Of Interviewing Renaissance Man Extraordinaire Michael Holman http://www.michaelholman.com...He Was Very Close Friends With Another Phenomenal Renaissance Artist Jean Michel Basquiat...He Wrote The Film Screen Play For The Biopic About Jean Michel Basquiat Entitled "Basquiat"...He Also Produced, Wrote And Recorded Music For As Well As Acted In The Classic Art Film "Downtown 81" Which Starred The Real Jean Michel Basquiat...Please Listen To This Important Interview By Clicking On The Following Link:
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/blogtalkradio/show_24502.wax

*Check Out Mr. Holman's Classic Debut On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio*
Also Please Listen To The Instant Classic Sunday May 6, 2007 Installment Of Tha Artivist Presents... W.E. A.L.L. B.E Radio Where The Brilliant And Loquacious Mr. Michael Holman "Broke Bread" With His Peers, Planted Seeds And Discovered Jewels!!! This Show Was Two Hours "Short"And Is Considered By Many To Be One Of The Best Shows Tha Artivist Presents...W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Has Ever Produced!!!
You Can Check Out The Show By Clicking On The Following Link:
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/blogtalkradio/show_22840.wax

As Always Please Spread The Good News...

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Waiting For You!!!

Was Jackie Robinson A Pawn For The White Power Economic Structure??? Tha Artstorian Weighs In...

April 15, 2007 will mark the 60th Anniversary of one of the most seminal moments in the history of American sports: Jackie Robinson officially breaking the color line in modern major league baseball...

Now many people will confuse Jackie Robinson as being the first Black man to play organized professional baseball with white folks...Well this isn't the case...Bud Fowler and Moses Fleetwood Walker were the first African Americans to accomplish that feat in the post Civil War 19th Century America...Jackie was the first to cross the line in the modern era...Now many Americans as well as folks around the world praise Jackie Robinson as a trailblazer, humanitarian and hero and rightfully so...

However, in spite of Jackie's personal motives he was still used as a pawn by the White Power Economic Structure...Many people don't realize today that at the time when Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson that the Negro Leagues were generating more revenue and sold out games than the so-called Major Leagues...They were selling out Yankee Stadium when the damn Yankees couldn't!!! Both Whites and Blacks were in attendance during those games...Another overlooked fact is the fact that all the Negro League baseball teams were owned by Black people except for the Kansas City Monarchs which was owned by an innovative and forward looking business man from Iowa named J.L. Wilkinson (he was the first person to popularize baseball games at night with the help of lights)...This was the same team that Jackie Robinson played for when he was "discovered" by the Brooklyn Dodgers...Is this just a coincidence that a player on the only white owned team in the Negro Leagues would be used to integrate the predominantly White major leagues...However, there were exceptions to White segregation...American Indians were allowed to play, the great pitcher Chief Bender and versatile Jim Thorpe come to mind...

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Barack Hussein Obama Ain't No Adam Clayton Powell Jr.!!!

Tha Artstorian/Artivist Responds...

I Was Recently Sent An E-Mail About Barack Obama Which Contained Three Different Articles Concerning Him As Well As The Actions Of His Campaign Handlers...Much Love And Thanks To Crutch For Including Me On The Mailing List... 

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Meet Picasso's Talented Black Cuban Cousin...

Strom Thurmond And Thomas Jefferson Ain't The Only Ones With Talented Black Relatives In Their Family ~ Tha Artivist

HAVANA (Reuters) - Being a distant cousin of the father of Cubism doesn't help when you are trying to make a start as a painter, even if you share his name. Juan Antonio Picasso, a Cuban mulatto descendant of Pablo Picasso's grandfather, opened an exhibition of 15 watercolors at a Havana gallery during the weekend.

"I'm proud to belong to the family of a great painter, the greatest of the 20th century," the budding artist said.

"At times the name is a burden, though," the 30-year-old bank clerk added.

His great-great-grandfather was Francisco Picasso Guardeno, who vanished in 1864 from Malaga, Spain, leaving behind his wife and four children, including Maria, the great artist's mother.

Like many Spaniards at the time, Francisco Picasso headed for Cuba, fell in love with the daughter of freed slaves, settled down and started another family.

His descendants had no clue they were related to Pablo Picasso until Cuban historian Barbara Mejides found the link in 1998, finding members of the black branch of the family who bore an amazing resemblance to the artist. A documentary film "The Black Picassos" further established the connection.

Researchers say Pablo Picasso knew he had relatives in Cuba and mentioned it to Cuban painter Wifredo Lam in Paris in the 1940's, but it is not known whether he showed any interest in tracing his Cuban cousins and never visited the island.

Juan Francisco has no pretensions of emulating his famous relative and says he prefers figurative to abstract art.

"I don't try to copy Picasso. I have studied his work a lot and would never try that. It is impossible. He is unique."

Finding Picasso In Havana:

http://matadortravel.com/travel-writing/cuba/music-art/finding-picasso-in-havana

Historically Black Colleges Do The Right Thing...Divest From The Sudan Now!!!

Copyright by r2c2h2

Black Colleges Slow To Divest From Sudan Smaller Endowments Often Limit Options, School Officials Say

By Michelle S. Keller
Tribune staff reporter

April 25, 2007

Though the movement to divest from Sudan has swept U.S. colleges and universities, historically black colleges have remained on the sidelines of the issue -- until recently.

In recent months, Hampton and Howard Universities divested fully from companies that do business with the African nation, where violence has claimed more than 200,000 lives in the Darfur region.

The decision by two of the nation's most well-known black universities was widely applauded. But their late entrance into the divestment movement, which began at Harvard University in 2004, raises questions about why historically black colleges have been slow to respond to what the U.S. government has deemed genocide in Darfur.

"It unfortunately has not been on the radar screen for many," said Hampton President William R. Harvey. Hampton started the divestment process in July.

African-Americans traditionally have been a reliable lobby for humanitarian and political causes in Africa. But some alumni and university officials say most of the colleges are less likely to divest because they have smaller endowments than their white counterparts.

"Howard University can afford to do it because its endowment is among leading endowments in the country," said Ron Walters, professor of political science at the University of Maryland in College Park. Walters helped spearhead the U.S. anti-apartheid movement in the late 1970s.

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Eddie Robinson:The Patron Saint Of Coaching Excellence...

The Last Of The Legends: Eddie Robinson

APROPOS-The coach is made into a literal work of art.

A Limelight Exclusive

By Byron Lee

"The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife."

A LASTING LOVE-Eddie with Doris, his wife of 67 years.
This quote perfectly encapsulates the philosophy of late coaching legend Eddie Robinson. The statement, referenced in a recent retrospective article by the Associated Press, has clear implications of passion and loyalty that no doubt were the foundation of his legacy.

He is one of the most victorious coaches in college football history. He gained immense respect from those outside of his community. For this edition of the limelight, we will profile former Grambling Football Coach Eddie Robinson.

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Buy Artivist Stuff A New Clothing And Accessories Line By R2C2H2

(For W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Subscribers To View Slideshow Please Click On The Following Link: http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/04/buy-artivist-stuff-new-clothing-and.html)

Express Yourself With Artivist Stuff By R2C2H2

http://www.cafepress.com/r2c2h2

The Good Dr. Spence Responds To Tha Artstorian/Artivist's Essay On Class Warfare In Black Lit. And Theater...

Dr. Spence The Originator of This Discussion Responds To My Take On His Post "Class Warfare In Black Lit. And Theater"...To See What I Originally Said Please Go Click On The Following Link:
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/04/tha-artstorian-responds-to-class.html

Dr. Spence's Words Are In Red While Tha Artstorian/Artivist's Words Are In Blue:

Dr. Spence Says...
"Bro. Herd I believe there is some miscommunication here. On the one level I think you are right in that Cruse would probably have a great deal of respect for Perry's project, because of the relative autonomy he has been able to carve out for himself. But on the other Cruse was interested not solely in autonomy but in the development of the art itself. And this is where Perry, and many self-published writers fall short. Perry and some of the self-published artists have been able to make a great deal of money...but have they pushed the ART forward? What new techniques have they developed? What aspects of the black experience have they done a better job of delving into than their peers? They do own the means of cultural production, but what are they doing with those means? Now Perry and others argue--as you do--that he is reaching a group of people that no one else is reaching. And for this we should applaud especially because these people are working class black folk. Lil John routinely sells more than ten times the cds that any straight ahead black jazz artist sells. Does this mean that we should have kids listen to more Lil John?"

Tha Artstorian/Artivist Says...
"Prof. Spence, i definitely appreciate this extended dialogue...Jesse Jackson once said that he did not have a problem with the Amos and Andy Show when it first came out..His problem was that it was the only Black show on television at that time..I do think we should have a range of Black images available in all artforms, but I also believe like the Imus incident illustrates that until we can control our own instituitons and revenue we will never have the chance to have innovation that's going to be commercially successful... Oscar Micheaux once said that in order to be successful you must have access to talent, finance and distribution...He went on to say that if you control one out of the three you had a voice, but if you controlled two out of the three you are a force...We are too busy asking for acceptance when we should be creating our own value codes and standards...Why is it that Picasso is more valuable than a Romare Bearden??? Who makes those value calls??? When we attack each other, we are not really attacking the enemy...What qualifies as art and innovation are truly subjective calls...All of our most important art came from the so-called lower classes...Jazz and Ragtime were looked down upon by even our most distinguished scholars such as W.E.B. DuBois...It came from the brothels of American life...But now we have Jazz @ The Lincoln Center and we have National Jazz Appreciation Month in April...So history and time will only tell what was truly innovative and original...
Tha Artivist."

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Stop Spreading The Lies...There Are More College-Aged Black Males In College Than In Prison!!!

Copyright By R2C2H2

Accentuate College's Positive, Not Rap's Negative
By Dr. Michael L. Lomax

Special To The Commercial Appeal
April 22, 2007

True or false: A college education is more important than ever.

True or false: There are more African-American men attending college today.

True or false: There are more college-age black men in prison than in college.

Give yourself credit if you marked the first question true. People who get ahead in today's economy start by getting a college degree. Almost all the fastest-growing careers require at least a college degree. The college graduate makes twice as much as the high school graduate.

You can also give yourself credit if you marked the second question true. More black males than ever before are applying to college, enrolling and getting their degrees.

The third question? That one is false -- 179,500 black men ages 18 to 24 are in prison. But 469,000 -- more than two-and-a-half times as many -- are enrolled in college.

You often read that there are more black men in prison than in college. But that misleading statistic compares the number of black men in college, almost all of whom are in their teens or twenties, with the number of all black men, of any age, in prison. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

But what about those 179,500 young black men who are in prison? As president of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), an association of 39 private historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and America's largest minority college scholarship provider, I'm concerned about what we can do to keep them out of trouble and out of jail.

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Legendary Grambling Coach Eddie Robinson Dies

Photo By Dave Martin, AP
Legendary Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson died late Tuesday night. "For the Grambling family this is a very emotional time," former player and NFLer Doug Williams said. "But I'm thinking about Eddie Robinson the man, not in today-time, but in the day and what he meant to me and to so many people."

By Roscoe Nance, USA TODAY

Eddie Robinson taught his players to believe in the American dream.

He lived it.

"America is the greatest country in the world," he often said. "We try to get our guys to understand the system. You've got to understand the system.

"I tell them, 'You're not living in Germany. You're not in Spain. You're living in America. If you dream these dreams and work at them hard enough, they can come true. But you've got to work at it.' "

Robinson, who died Tuesday at 88, lived by that advice. He worked exceedingly hard for 57 years as football coach at Grambling State in Louisiana, where he won 408 games, most in history at the time he retired in 1997.

MOST WINS: Winningest college football coaches

"I'm rather embarrassed when people talk about 'the winningest coach,' " he said. That sort of humility made Robinson well-respected among his peers.

"He was like Mount Fuji in Japan. He was always there, and he was always majestic," said Marino H. Casem, former football coach and athletics director at Southern and Alcorn State universities.

Robinson said one of the high points of his career came following the 1992 season when he became the first black coach and first from Division I-AA to win the Bobby Dodd Award as coach of the year.

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Artivist and friends put the art in "artivism"

Thursday, November 9, 2006 The Junior League House Art For Hope Welcomes Local Artists For Exhibition By Gaelle Llambi article appears courtesy of The Memphian newspaper

Memphis, TN — When the Memphians open their heart to people, they do it BIG. About 60 artists from Memphis and its area decided to participate in the charity night at the Junior League Community Resource Center on Thursday, November 9. Everyone had the possibility to show their art and sell it. The artists generously gave 40% of their sales to Hope House. The Memphian was there to meet those talented people and see those one-of-a-kind paintings, ceramics, pottery, photography, jewelry and more.

photo courtesy of Ms.Wilma Potts

Among those artists, I met three artists that are worth talking about. First, let me introduce you to Ronald Herd II. Maybe you know him under the name of the “artivist”. “My job as an artivist (artist + activist) is to actively promote understanding, love and appreciation for the creative arts as well as creative people. I use my art in particular to break down all types of walls and barriers that people put up either to justify their hatred, prejudice and indifference or because of their ignorance and naïveté towards certain issues and topics concerning people, history and cultures. One of my main objectives in my profession is to teach the world how to love not just tolerate black people and other beautiful beings and things,” said Ronald. If you want to know more about his art, check out this website: www.r2c2h2.com.

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"Why Community Service?" event serves purpose

On November 4 from 9am-1pm 200 plus people received the answer. "Why Community Service?" was an event organized and visualized Ms. Callie Herd, the founder of I. A.M. (Inspiring Academic Motivation) educational services and the award winning http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com which lists millions of dollars worth of opportunities in scholarships, internships and jobs. Over 20 plus representatives from colleges such as Rhodes College, Christian Brothers University, Knoxville College, http://www.utk.edu, Southwest Community College, Tennessee State University, my alma mater Wash U. to community organizations such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Memphis, Alpha Memphis Youth Leadership Development Institute, Youth United Way Program of the Greater Mid-South, ARIZE and NIA…Even the U.S. Army was on hand to recruit…

Click Here to To Read More on "Why Community Service?"

Never Forget...

Wilmington Star: 1898 Remembered. The effects of what transpired here in 1898 extend far beyond the city limits. This special section looks back at Wilmington's race riot of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy.

Visit The Website of The Wilmington Race Riot Commission.

Keep Hope Alive

Educators with purpose driven lives: Dr. Franklin with Ms. Callie Herd the founder and visionary of http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com

Legend and Legend in the making: Tha Artivist meets Dr. John Hope Franklin...Dr. Franklin an avid music lover is holding an art work named "Money Jungle" which is Tha Artivist's tribute to Duke Ellington,Charles Mingus, Max Roach and their phenomenal album "Money Jungle"..The small pic Tha Artivist is holding is entitled "Black Gabriel" which is Tha Artivist's tribute to jazz trumpet players.

Keep Hope Alive!!! Tha Artivist Reports

I had the pleasure of meeting the one and only historian extraordinaire Dr. John Hope Franklin at the Southern Books Festival on Saturday Oct. 14,2006 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center…In my nearly three decades on earth I have met my share of celebrities and famous people…However on that beautifully bright and warm autumn day meeting this particular celebrity was a necessity...You see one of my favorite subjects is African American History…Dr. John Hope Franklin is one of the preeminent scholars on this subject…You could probably consider him the Living Dean of African American Scholars…His seminal work "From Slavery to Freedom" has been in print and taught in American classrooms and universities since its first publication in the 1940s…At the young age of 91, Dr. Franklin can be considered the bridge connecting early 20th Century historians and scholars such as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. Carter G. Woodson with their later 20th Century counterparts such as Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.

Dr. John Hope Franklin's academic and scholarly prowess is so revered that he was asked by then U.S. President Bill Clinton to serve on his special commission on race relations to find out the root causes of racism and to create solutions to eradicate the social virus once and for all…For his life's work in 1995 Dr. Franklin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. I pride myself on being an "artivist" (one who uses his/her art and talents to promote and bring about change) and "artstorian" (one who uses his/her art to document history).

So in many ways Dr. John Hope Franklin is a hero to me for what he has been able to endure and achieve in his 91 glorious and peaceful (he said he has only endured one headache in his entire lifetime and that happened when he was about 5 or 7 years old!!!) years on this earth.

I remember seeing Dr. Franklin on the Tavis Smiley show back in February of 2006…He was there promoting his newly released autobiography Mirror to America…Watching and listening to Dr. Franklin has always been a source of "edutainment" (educational and entertaining) for me…This time on t.v. he didn't disappoint being very vivid and candid about his nearly century old existence on earth…My supportive mother, Ms. Callie Herd creator of ctherd.blogspot.com also saw the episode and suggested that I send Dr. Franklin a portfolio package about me and my activities detailing my aspirations, achievements and so forth with the hopes that I can get a chance to meet and talk with the man himself…She even went as far as to write an e-mail to the man and got a response from Dr. Franklin's handlers at Duke University in less than 24 hours on what to do and where to mail whatever we were going to send…Although I had a lot of respect for Dr. John Hope Franklin, I truly had no desire to pursue this...I have tried and failed or came up short on many occasions to meet with influential, well known and paid individuals like Mr. Franklin…The results for the most part have been mixed, indifferent if not totally disappointing…At this point I wasn't in the mood to waste more money, hope and time with unreceptive celebrity types… However, after much "harassing" by my insistent, but well meaning mom I finally put together a nice size packet that seemed to include every newspaper clipping and article that included a mention of my name and activities…I assembled everything in the packet myself except for the cover letter which was provided by my seemingly omnipresent mother (after all it was her idea why not leave it to her to provide the explanation)...I also send Dr. Franklin an autographed copy of the newspaper article a great friend of mine Mr. Byron Lee did on me for the St. Louis Limelight Newspaper…Well we send it off and waited…And waited and waited.

Finally my mom, not I, grew restless and decided to contact Dr. Franklin's handlers at Duke…They said that he was currently on the road promoting his book and will get back with us shortly…In the meantime they told us to send them a fax detailing what we wanted with Dr. Franklin...My mom almost followed through on the request when she realized that we already sent him a nice size package detailing all that stuff and so she e-mailed his handlers telling them what was the purpose of faxing when we already send you all a package detailing my background and requests??? Finally after six months of waiting I got a reply.  [Read More]

Mr. NoBody meet I'm Rick James B***h!!!

Dave Chappelle is the New Bert Williams… by R2C2H2 Tha Artivist

Dave Chappelle, one of the hottest comedians and entertainers around, dead or alive, in spite or because of his questionable (to some) career choices...He is the closest thing we got to the original Mr. Nobody himself Mr. Bert Williams…Sounds absurd??? If it does to you that means you are not really thinking about the comparison… Bert and Dave were among the most famous American entertainers, Black or White, during their careers and time… Both men were and are very knowledgeable about the history of Black folks in the African Diaspora…For example, Bert Williams had a personal library of about 800 to over a 1,000 books pertaining to Black World History while Dave's mom was the first person to create a Ph.d program for African American Studies in the United States and was an assistant for the legendary African Congo Prime Minister Patrice LaMumba… Both were paid very handsomely for their talents...Dave signed a lucrative 50 million dollar contract for extension of the Chappelle Show and Bert Williams was one of the highest paid entertainers in the country at one point getting paid more than the President of the U.S.… Both men were pioneers in the comedic/entertainment field…Bert Williams was one of the first recording stars (Black or White) in the then newly formed music recording industry and the first Black entertainer to appear in the legendary Ziegfield Follies and was hired in 1916 by the Biograph Company to write, direct, and star in "Natural Born-Gambler", based on a character he created in vaudeville, and a film called "Fish", also for Biograph..This made Bert Williams one of the first black film directors in history!!! In August of 1920 Bert Williams became the first African American member in the Actors Equity Union...Dave Chappelle was the first Black person to have had a self-titled and episodic t.v. comedy show, Chappelle's Show, on the pre-dominantly white Comedy Central cable channel and currently has the record for the biggest selling t.v. series DVD (Chappelle's Show: The First Season) of all time… Both men were gifted comedic writers who wrote their own material which gave their shows such an innovative and original quality...As a matter of fact Bert Williams was so good at this that many of his fellow white entertainers although they respected his gifts became intimidated and insecure around him, so much so that they openly and publicly complained that his material was better than theirs!!!…Because of the universality of their writing and exceptional performing abilities Williams and Chappelle were able to gain a wider and Whiter audience for their gifts, reaching people that many of their peers could not a.k.a. mass or mainstream appeal… Africa both played a significant role/theme in both men's lives…Bert Williams did plays and comedic musicals about the motherland ("In Dahomey") while Chappelle basically ran away to the continent to South Africa…Both embraced the controversial words coon and nigga as terms of endearment…Bert Williams and his comedy/business partner George Walker both used the term "The Two Real Coons" to promote their act while Dave is (in)famous for using the word nigga to address people of all colors in his t.v. show and throughout his stand up routine… Both turned down college to pursue their comedy/entertainment career ...Allegedly Bert was planning to go to Stanford University to be a civil engineer and Chappelle shocked his family (both of his parents were college professors) by his decison not to go… Both went to "school" to learn their craft…Dave Chappelle went to the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as well as spent time doing stand up in D.C. area clubs while Bert Williams spent time performing Shakespeare in a travelling troupe throughout California and hit the road doing various vaudeville shows throughout the U.S….

Williams in character

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And speaking of Black Folks and Chanticler I mean Chicken...

"White Folks call it Chanticler, but it's plain ole chicken to me": Bert Williams plucking it up for laughs in the 1910 Ziegfield Follies.

Ms. Peachez - Fry That Chicken

White Folks call it Chanticler, but it's plain ole chicken to me...Some thoughts about the Chappelle's Show pixie skit...

Where's the quality control??? A special commentary from the Outraged Negro

This summer I had the misfortune of seeing the Chappelle's Show Lost Episodes skit involving  the by now infamous skit that allegedly caused Dave Chappelle to run away from 50 million dollars and into the arms of Mother Africa…Overall, to me it wasn’t one of his best or most controversial skits (in my opinion some of  Carlos Mencia's comedic skits are more offensive and edgier than this  poorly executed piece of comedic buffoonery)…Nevertheless I can see how the skit might have been done in poor taste if  not only done in by poor editing,execution and mediorce writing….These stereotypes  have already been played out to their predictable conclusions millions of times over…To me the most offensive part of the skit isn't the Black face, but that it wasn't well executed or presented and somebody had the nerve to pass this mess off as true comic genius…This skit wasn't even worthy to make it out of the editing room let alone on to t.v. where millions of people were actually wasting their time looking at this crap…I know Chappelle said he wasn't using drugs during that time, but EVEN Bobby Brown could see that Dave was on the ish when he wrote and produced that…I am pro choice and I believe that Dave should have aborted that skit idea as soon as it fertilized in that brilliantly skewered mind of his…I actually expected something more cutting edge and innovative, something that is always expected and befitting of the greatest of talents of their generation no matter their occupation or station in life…However, even Marlon Brando and Picasso and Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan have had their bad days so this sin of making unfunny material is a pardonable offense…[More]

Billionaires stealing billions on Katrina recovery

Profiting from Disaster Fraud, scandal and greed has crippled the Gulf recovery -- but made some very rich. By Jordan Green source: Reconstruction Watch Monday August 28, 2006 It had been over three weeks since Katrina made landfall, but when David Bailey and his group of Virginia firefighters arrived in St. Bernard Parish to help, it looked like the storm had only hit days ago. “The whole parish is a soup bowl,” said Bailey, battalion chief with Chesterfield Fire and EMS. “It’s under sea level.” St. Bernard, a mostly white, working-class community immediately east of New Orleans, was hit by the infamous “wall of water” that forced residents to hack through their attics to survive after a storm surge combined with breaches in the Industrial Canal and Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet to inundate the community. Given the level of destruction, the Virginia volunteers were astonished to discover members of the St. Bernard Fire Department already working full-tilt. Local firefighters, many who had lost their homes, were taking four- or five-day shifts and then rotating out to recuperate and join families evacuated further from the coastline. “I don’t know how they held up like they did,” Bailey said. “Your family’s devastated and you’re still making the rescues. They saved a lot of lives.” But soon after Bailey’s team arrived, another group entered the picture, seemingly out of nowhere. On Sept. 18, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $5.2 million contract to Gary Heldreth, a West Virginia pastor, and his company, Lighthouse Disaster Relief, based on the company’s assurances that it could set up a base camp within 48 hours to support 1,000 first responders in St. Bernard Parish. The results were disastrous.

[Read More]

Check out 2Pac's lost 1992 interview...The Thug Life Holy Grail!!!

Ten years ago today — on September 13, 1996 — hip-hop lost one of its most prolific, inspired and influential voices: Tupac Shakur. It's incredible to imagine how much he achieved in such a short time, which is why the long, involved interview here is such a treasure. It was rare that Pac stood still for long enough to get as in-depth as he did in this 1992 conversation, and when he did, you just wanted to stop and soak it all in. In celebration of Tupac's life, we're rolling out this rarely-aired interview. Enjoy
[Please note: The interviewer's questions have been paraphrased because they could not be heard clearly on the tape.]

[Click Here to Read the Interview]