African American celebs looking for their Roots.

New technology, the digitization of statistics and the popularity of  genealogical programs on TV have stimulated many African Americans to seek out their roots. While it can be very difficult to trace family lineages through paper trails back to the mother land, DNA testing does enable the discovery of ethnic origins in Africa. Watch and see some of the interesting results.

If we look carefully we'll find that we all go back to one source.

#Ferguson - Cornel West, Faith Leaders and Activists Arrested

Monday October 13, 2014

Cornel West, Faith Leaders and Activists Arrested as Ferguson October Continues

#Ferguson Means so many things to so many people.

1. Riot-torn Ferguson awaits grand jury finding in Michael Brown shooting

   
   

   

   
   
2. Ferguson is a Scottish surname and given name. The surname is a patronymic form of the personal name Fergus. The name Fergus is derived from the Gaelic elements fear ("man") and gus ("vigour", "force", or "choice").

   

   
   

    All of the elements of the meaning of the root name Fergus are extremely significant here in the US, whichever angle you approach it from. Today in this suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, Americans are yet again confronted with the opportunity to get it right or get it wrong, to come together or come apart.  The country is going to be weak and divided or strong and united. The decision is our to make (for now), the rest of the world is not waiting around for us to get it right either. It may well be that some are even now trying to take advantage of the apparent disunity and inequities of American life in order to advance their own agenda and why wouldn't they?

    The element known as ISIS is made up of people from all over the world who are coming together as a unified force and giving us a demonstration of just what's possible when folks of different backgrounds work or fight together for a common goal.  Now I'm not endorsing anything they do because frankly I don't have enough knowledge about their motives to judge them one way or the other but I can see that whatever their motivation, the fact that they are willing to act in unison seems to be getting them a lot further in that part of the world than the west has been able to do in recent years.  

   

   
   

    I feel like North America would be a whole lot more effective, if before we strike out to defend the rights of people in other countries, we would ensure that the citizens of our own country are all subject to the same rights and privileges. This way we can at least not be seen as a bunch hypocrites who only want to step into other peoples space in order to exploit their resources. We have to lead by example if we want to hold others to some higher standard of behavior. We can't have the state condoning the extrajudicial executions of any of our citizenry by it's agents while criticizing other Nations or nationals for the same acts. Any Americans who sit idly by while this atrocious killing continues should not be surprised on the day that outsiders are able to exploit these foolish acts to their own advantages.  
   
   

   The Mike Brown Shooting and The Police State

                                                                   

   Read in "The New Yorker" What Does It Mean to Compare Ferguson to Iraq?

   BY ELIF BATUMAN

   
   

Police smash window, stun passenger

 This does seem to be excessive force for a seatbelt violation. When is the last time you were asked for ID when you were a passenger in a car where the driver was stopped for a minor traffic violation?

This is the terrifying moment police drew their guns, smashed a car window and tasered a passenger during a routine traffic stop.
Lisa Mahone, 47, was driving with her boyfriend Jamal Jones and two children, Joseph, 14, and Janiya, seven, in Hammond, Indiana, when she was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt.
Officers collected her license and insurance card, before asking to see Jones's ID, which he said he did not have because he had recently received a ticket.
(See article)

NAACP wants cops in Taser incident pulled from street

Hammond police officers Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner were named in a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District court Monday, alleging they used excessive force when they broke a car window during a traffic stop for a seat belt violation Sept. 24

The 14-year-old boy who filmed Hammond, Indiana police breaking his mother’s car window to stun her passenger with a Taser is speaking out about the “scary” police brutality he witnessed.

What do you think about this Indiana traffic -stop case from 2009?

Court: refusal to identify law applies to passengers | The Indiana Lawyer

Although state law allows police to request identification from passengers inside a car that they’ve stopped, two Indianapolis officers shouldn’t have arrested a man for refusing to identify himself when there was no reasonable suspicion he’d done anything wrong.


The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed that issue in a six-page opinion today in Adam Starr v. State of Indiana, No. 49A04-0912-CR-677, which overturned a ruling by Marion Superior Judge David Certo.


In September 2009, officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrested Adam Starr for refusing to identify himself, a Class C misdemeanor as defined by Indiana Code 34-28-5-3.5. Two officers pulled over a vehicle driven by Starr’s girlfriend, who’d made an illegal turn. After determining her identity, the officers questioned Starr about his identity. He denied having any ID, claimed he could not remember his Social Security umber, and said his name was “Mr. Horrell.”

Historic London Conference - First Voice: Dialogue with the Diaspora*

On Saturday 25 October 2003 The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone presented a conference for Black History Month 2003, which was in my opinion an historic event in itself. The title was 

FIRST VOICE: Dialogue with the Diaspora

The presenters were historians and scholars and the descendants of Africans from the diaspora who distinguished themselves throughout the 20th century with their efforts to uplift and unite the peoples of Africa the world over.

I found the videos that follow on the youtube channel of Donovan Fontaine so I don't know if the speakers represent all who spoke at the conference or not. I do know, that everything he has shared with us is definitely worth watching and sharing. I only hope that all of these presentations will be available for many people to see for a long time to come(ie. archived), so that this info can continue to be of use to coming generations. Props to Mr. Fontaine.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone

Dr Runoko Rashidi Chapter 1


Dr Abdul Alkalimat Chapter 2.


 Dr Hakim Adi Chapter 3


Dr. David Graham Dubois Chapter 4


Dr Gorkeh Gamal Nkrumah Chapter 5


Paul Robeson Jr, Chapter 6