People of African descent are bigtime victims of pollution and environmental mismanagement. Be aware of what's being done to our people locally and globally and do what you can to act and/or speak out against this outrageous treatment.
Remember.... African-American children are three times as likely to die of asthma-related causes.
I scanned google for a few sites to get you started.
And of course, there is Lisa Jackson, who in January became the first African-American head of the EPA. Before joining the Obama administration, Jackson was New Jersey’s commissioner for environmental protection, where she proved that a tough administrator can use environmental law to save African-American lives. She pushed for tough new legislation against the trucks and ships that ruined Newark’s air quality, and she led over 1,000 compliance investigations in Camden and Paterson, cities that had been ignored by previous commissioners.
"How to drive more of the Black collective to the internet and the Black blogsphere?"
My feeling is with you, I never stop thinking about ways to reach the Black masses. One important way to get answers is to broaden the question. So we can add ----How to deliver the contents of the internet and the Black Blogosphere to the Black coillective?---- to the original question.
I think we shouldn't forget that while we have been many moons in America, we are still more of a verbal culture than a written one. Griots have always been an important factor in African communication, history and genealogy many generations of information was passed on unbroken by this means. Up until the point where many of us, in the diaspora, were hijacked and thus pulled completely out of the loop, this means of communication was working for us.
Even then, after several centuries our young folks are coming full circle with Rap. A rapper may be compared to a griot telling stories of the things that folks in the village want to know about. It is another spoken word means of communication which has proved to be very effective. So much, that millions have been spent in America to divert and circumvent the original form, in an attempt to subvert the output and once again minstralize our image while at the same time raking in tons of money.
Rap reaches so many people around the world, that it truly is a force to be reconed with. People of all cultures find it appealing but especially those of the African Diaspora . Outside the US I have seen quite a few progressive presentations and productions being utilized by young people to express their impression of how they perceive and are determined to respond to their sociopolitical environment.
African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal
We have to work together to inform our people that Black folks around the world are ready, even sometimes a personal risk to speak out for the cause of liberty and justice. While we may appear to be separated, we are not alone.
Cuban hip hop group protests racism and injustice
Brazil Official Estilo Hip Hop Trailer
Closer to home People like DaveyD, Professor Jared BAll, Rosa Clemente, Sista Souljah and other Media Activists are working to bring us together. Black bloggers have to get on board and back these brothers and sisters up.
Media Activist Davey D on media consolidation ncmr 2005
http://www.voxunion.com/ VoxUnion.com is a fantastic site that IMO all Black bloggers would benefit plugging into. My favorite feature on this site is the Freemix Radio concept, that suggests we all create mixtapes of music, news, current events and such and listen then pass them on and if we have the resources create more add to it and pass that along too. I could see this model working for e-mail newsletters as well.
There are others also out there working and we all have to somehow communicate with one another in order to consolidate and or coordinate at least some of our efforts in order to take advantage of the fact that right now we have potential access to millions of people. In the last ten years I have seen a number of excellent productions come and fall by the wayside because of lack of support and the people producing them just couldn't maintain their level of output while working alone.
Blogging, youtube, podcasting, skype and more resources are available, in various combinations for those of us who will challenge our imaginations. Never before and (when this window closes) possibly never again, will we have such a fantastic opportunity. We have to talk about it, we have to learn real fast how to combine efforts for maximum use of input.
And yes, I think we have to do everything we can to drag the collective, (even if kicking and screaming) right along with us.
I'll close with this message from Davey D at the NCMR 2007
I found this on story uprisingradio.org. I'll add an excerpt and if you're interested in the on going story of young Black men that are being gunned down by police without any consequence do go read the whole article or you may alternately listen to the podcast available on the site.Read more at..
In the early morning hours of October 28th 2008, a 20 year old named Julian Alexander was fatally shot by an Anaheim police officer. Alexander’s crime: he was standing in his own front yard, attempting to protect himself and his pregnant wife with a stick in hand. Oh, and he happened to be black. The white officer, Kevin Flanagan had been chasing a group of juveniles who allegedly broke into a department store when he encountered Alexander. The newly married Anaheim resident had come out of his house to investigate the ruckus. After shooting him twice in the chest, Flanagan handcuffed him to the ground. Julian Alexander, who had just gotten married 9 days earlier, died after being taken to UCI Medical Center - his family claims he was delayed medical treatment as a result of being handcuffed. Within hours of the shooting, the Anaheim Police department issued an apology for the shooting, calling it a “tragic situation,” and clearing the victim of any wrong doing. Now, the Orange County District Attorney’s office has decided not to press charges against the police officer. Kevin Flanagan has been back on routine patrol duty since mid-December. There are currently two federal civil-rights lawsuits, filed by separate family members set to begin next month.
Aron Ranen has put together a documentary about the Black Hair industry. Check it out and see what you think about how we Black folks are spending our money.
I am not ready to come to the defense of the Obamas just because some big-mouthed, white, lesbian, twit, who works for Fox wants to be offensive. On the other hand I welcome the opportunity to evaluate whether or not her attack goes that next step and offends all of us. I also welcome any opportunity to slip it to Fox, which seems to me keeps a stable of these folks. I know she (Bruce) pissed me off and I'm not feelin' particularly protective of Barack and Michelle just yet. I know exactly what MO meant though, when she said our people thought she talked funny, like a white person. Obviously Bruce, like many other white (and some Black) folks, is totally unaware of the fact that we have our own language, which while we may use words that are found in the standard English dictionary we attribute different meanings and nuances to these words. Those of us who are bilingual in Black - White English, will I'm sure, agree with me. Funny you'd think white folks would be hip to this fact by now, since a significant number of the new words in the dictionary come straight outta the hood.
I think I'm drifting. Anyway I do find Bruce's willingness to speak out so ignorantly on a subject which she obviously knows nothing about, to be offensive. Also if she wants to call names she should remember that, it takes trash to know trash.
If you, like myself is not happy about this , for whatever reason The Daily Kos had this to say.
Now, it is patently obvious superior individuals are running circles around the failed ideology of the Right - and they are predictably screaming like petulant children. Fine, I say - scream to your little hearts' content. I don't care if you seek therapy for your insecurities or buy a penis pump to improve your self-esteem. But don't you dare insult the First Lady of the United States of America like you did today. If you do, you can count on me and every progressive like me to wait in the tall grass for you. That means calls to have Bruce fired from Fox News - which are already in the works as I write this. That means journalistic hit pieces from every angle aimed directly at anyone who dares to launch insults of this classless nature at one who demands your respect. That means protests and boycotts of sponsors who allow smear scum like you to remain on the air. These are not threats, Right-wingers. They are promises. Clean up your act and keep the dissent at least moderately civil - or our side will give you a media war from Hell you won't believe. http://democratictribune.com **UPDATE** List of Fox News sponsors...and this is just the beginning: Crest Whitestrips Delphi Mercedes Benz Comcast Subaru GMC Suv's Best Buy Travelocity Capzasin New Phase Orbitz Ditech.com eloan.com Dawn Toyota Centrum Nextel Vehix.com Gold Bond Aspercreme webmd.com via email or webmd.com via other American Express Holiday Inn Express M Professional priceline.com
