Ode to Nerdland

It didn't start with Beyonce's Formation, but that is reported to be the final straw that precipitated Melissa Harris-Perry's exit from MSNBC. She wanted to discuss it on her show, but MSNBC executives wanted her to focus only on presidential politics, given the network's double-digit ratings deficit. Of course, Melissa is eminently qualified as a Ph.D. in political science to do that, but her professional work has lead her to apply her expertise to the politics of black womanhood. And so that was the catalyst for her interest in Beyonce's new song.

First, Melissa felt slighted. "After four years of building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced. Now, MSNBC would like me to appear for four inconsequential hours to read news that they deem relevant without returning to our team any of the editorial control and authority that makes MHP Show distinctive."

Then, it got worse: MSNBC's executives ignored her. As Dr. Steven Taylor, Ph.D. explained in Psychology Today, "Psychologists call slights ‘narcissistic injuries' - they bruise our egos, make us feel belittled. Ultimately, all types of slights boil down to the same basic feeling: of being devalued or disrespected."

Her words confirm Dr. Taylor's explanation. "I have hosted a weekly program on this network for four years and contributed to election coverage on this network for nearly eight years, but no one on the third floor has even returned an email, called me, or initiated or responded to any communication of any kind from me for nearly a month. It is profoundly hurtful to realize that I work for people who find my considerable expertise and editorial judgment valueless to the coverage they are creating.

While MSNBC may believe that I am worthless, I know better. I know who I am. I know why MHP Show is unique and valuable. I will not sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will return — not a moment earlier. I am deeply sorry for the ways that this decision makes life harder for all of you. You mean more to me than you can imagine."

As Melissa said, disrespecting by disregarding her communications is a form of betrayal. “It is perfectly fine, 100 percent reasonable and perfectly acceptable for MSNBC to decide they no longer want the MHP show,” she told the Times. “But they should say that, they should cancel the show, they should stand up. And maybe it would be rewarded with huge ratings, but they shouldn’t kill us by attrition and take us off the air without telling anybody, including us. That, for me, is what’s painful and difficult.”

As David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement observed, "In treating an amazing talent like Melissa Harris-Perry in this manner, MSNBC is revealing just how little respect it has not only for an incredible journalist and host, but for its viewers."

Melissa held the MSNBC executives to account, while acknowledging that she didn't know if they were directly involved in how her show has been handled recently. “I will not be used as a tool for their purposes,” she wrote. “I am not a token, mammy or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back.”

And here is the crux of the confrontation, the conflict between how Melissa sees her mission, and how MSNBC see theirs.

"That's the privilege of having a public voice," she said. "The issues that we want to advocate for, we can get an audience for." Having granted Melissa editorial autonomy, she felt a loss and an insult when MSNBC removed it. It was more than that; the event proved the thesis of her book, Sister Citizen:

“…this book makes the claim that the internal, psychological, emotional and personal experience of black women are inherently political.

They are political because black women in America have always had to wrestle with derogatory assumptions about their character and identity. These assumptions shape the social world that black women must accommodate or resist in an effort to preserve their authentic selves and to secure recognition as citizens. This is less a book about what black women do to become first class American citizens than one about how they feel while they are in the struggle.”

Melissa wrote about how black women feel in the ongoing struggle for personal fulfillment in the glaring light of historical, societal injustice. Each slight cuts into her spirit like a knife, and yet, perhaps a mixed metaphor is permissible to explain how she must continually refresh her spirit, as dripping water smooths a stone.

Melissa’s words echo the black woman's endless pursuit of being recognized for her own personal humanness, value and integrity of character, uniting her mind and soul in often hostile and threatening environments.

"The black woman's fight is on all fronts. Sisters resist the ways that black male leaders try to silence women's issues and squash female leadership. At the same time, black women challenge white women who want to claim black women's allegiance without acknowledging the realities of racism. They will not be drawn into any simple allegiance that refuses to account for their full humanity and citizenship."

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her book, "This Is My Story," that "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Melissa Harris Perry is not consenting.

Footnote:

   

Update~ Free Your Mind Friday, Facing an "Inconvenient Truth" #BlackHistoryMonth2016

As Super Tuesday draws near EYE have to face an inconvenient truth. Regular readers know EYE am conflicted about which democratic candidate will get my vote in the primary.  To be honest, at one time EYE considered not voting in the primary and supporting the winner in the general.  But that would be the cowardly thing to do.  EYE can't ask our elected officials and others to be brave when EYE am not willing to do the same.  So, EYE am facing my fears and voting with my gut. Despite some (not to be confused with all) of his supporters, EYE will vote for Bernie Sanders.

Who/What helped me come to this decision? The actions of a brave young activist named Ashley Williams 



And the tragic death of an activist named Viola Liuzzo.



Ironically EYE made this decision on the anniversary of the murder of Trayvon Martin.  The reason police shoot first and ask questions later is because they see black men/women/children as Predators/Thugs.  The 1996 Crime Prevention Bill created the environment of today.

“She said that ‘We need to bring them to heel.'” Williams said. “And in this quote she is pathologizing and demonizing and also criminalizing black youth and other youth of color in terms of how they participate in criminal activity or how they are involved in criminal activity. I found these comments really racist and inappropriate. And also untrue.

Let me be clear, my decision to vote for Bernie Sanders is not a vote against Hillary Clinton. EYE trust her, and if she is the democratic nominee I will support her %100, but on Tuesday, EYE must stand with the young people who are our HOPE for a FUTURE we can believe in.

"So all these folks now want to apologize for the role they played in making us the most criminalized population on earth. "

 The new generation of civil rights activists never accepted "trickle-down economics" from conservatives. Today they are rejecting "trickle-down justice" from the liberals" .~Van Jones on CNN

Ashley Williams demonstrated the power, not only of Black Lives Matter, but also individual acts of courage. With social media, a single voice can trigger an avalanche.

RedEye

Update: "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" and "Well Done Protest is Always Inappropriate" #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Update:  Clinton apologizes for 1996 remarks on 'super-predators' after encounter with activist.

In case you haven't heard, the woman who is attempting the break the already cracked glass ceiling to  become the first female President of the United States of America was confronted by a young, black, female activist at a private, $500.00 per person fundraiser in Charleston, SC last night.  Yes, the interruption was rude and disruptive, but so was Hillary's response.

For those who have been living under a rock, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are in a fight to the finish for the black vote.  Both of them, as my Daddy used to say, are N-wording up.

With the Democratic candidates’ first test in the South approaching, a battle of high-profile surrogates is intensifying as Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders vie for the support of African-American voters, who are expected to make up more than half of the primary electorate in the Palmetto State.

As Super Tuesday draws near EYE am still undecided which democratic candidate EYE will vote for.  Just when EYE think my mind is made up, one of the candidates, or their supporters, do or say something that brings me right back to being undecided.

 

EYE don't know who is advising Hillary, but EYE HOPE it's not the same people who advised President Obama and others to pander to those who might vote for them at the expense of those who did, and will vote for them.  It was  not a good look to be campaigning with the Mothers of victims of gun and police violence one day and marginalize their daughters the next day.  

Listen up Bernie and Hillary, the young people are sick and tired of photo ops and lip service.

Pulley said Thursday she was not interested in being a part of what she called "a photo opportunity and a 90-second sound bite for the president."
"I was under the impression that a meeting was being organized to facilitate a genuine exchange on the matters facing millions of Black and Brown people in the United States," Pulley wrote in an op-ed piece. "I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it. For the increasing number of families fighting for justice and dignity for their kin slain by police, I refuse to give its perpetrators and enablers political cover by making an appearance among them."

The young people aren't the only ones who are sick and tired of being sick and tired. If either of you really want to understand the fear, yes EYE said fear, of being black in America, and the significance of the Black Lives Matter Movement, yes, EYE said Movement, as in the Civil Rights Movement both of you like to use as props, watch last nights' episode of black-ish, then go out and earn the Black vote.

We want our HOPE for Change we can Believe in Back.

#BlackHistoryMonth2016

In honor of Black History Month and since South Carolina is Ground Zero for the battle for the hearts and minds of Black voters, here an excerpt from a previous post reminding us about the history of South Carolina.

So now it's on to the racist, I mean conservative, Christian, red, republican, Confederate, slave state of South Carolina. Which may explain why Willard starting slinging red meat in his victory speech,accusing President Obama of not knowing what it means to be an American, who wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. Code for birth certificate, welfare, food stamps. 

Here are some facts about the conservative state of South Carolina, which according to the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads, is known for it's bare knuckles politics.

South Carolina is the home of The Orangeburg Massacre at South Carolina State University where three black students were shot and killed by police during a peaceful protest. 

South Carolina is the home of former republican U.S. Senator Strom Thurmon, racist by day, hypocrite by night. 

South Carolina is the home of current republican U.S Senator Jim "Waterloo" Demint. 

South Carolina is the home of U.S. Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson. Speaking of Congressman Joe "You Lie" Wilson, he will address a group of defense and military leaders at a $1,000.00 per person luncheon in Huntsville, AL today. Dale "voter suppression with the state seal of approvall" Jackson will introduce Congressman Mo "I will do anything short of shooting them" Brooks who I'm assuming will introduce Wilson. What's up with out of state/city Congress Critters raising money in North Alabama? 

South Carolina is the state vowing to sue the United States Department of Justice, to enact a state voter ID law, which they have already said punishes black voters.
South Carolina is the state where republican Governor Nikki Haley rejects the NAACP push to remove the Confederate Flag from atop the Statehouse. 

I can't wait to see which candidate will emerge victorious in the Battle for South Carolina.

RedEye

Note:  The quotes in the title are by  Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Matthew Williams

The #PoorlyEducated People Have Spoken! Mission Accomplished #MainstreamMedia

"In one statement, Trump explains how he can promote the most vicious racism, misogyny, & bigotry—& win the GOP"

The Power of the Press is Awful and Awesome

EYE sure do miss the good old days when the media informed the public and kept public officials from lying to us instead of enabling them.  Democracy demands an informed electorate.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 89)
". . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 88)

 

Making America Great Again, one #poorlyeducated voter at a time.

You won't see this on TV, but, 20 percent of Donald Trump supporters disagreed with freeing the slaves after the civil war.

According to P.P.P., 70 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters in South Carolina wish the Confederate battle flag were still flying on their statehouse grounds. (It was removed last summer less than a month after a mass shooting at a black church in Charleston.) The polling firm says that 38 percent of them wish the South had won the Civil War. Only a quarter of Mr. Rubio’s supporters share that wish, and even fewer of Mr. Kasich’s and Mr. Carson’s do. Nationally, the YouGov data show a similar trend: Nearly 20 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters disagreed with the freeing of slaves in Southern states after the Civil War. Only 5 percent of Mr. Rubio’s voters share this view.

 Donald Trump expected to draw more than 10,000 at Huntsville Rally

State Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, who is working with the Trump campaign in Alabama and is also on the ballot Tuesday as a candidate to be a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, said he expected more than 10,000 people to be at the rally.

EYE understand the Fear in Sweet Home Alabama 

This sort of racism has been prevalent in Republican politics for decades. Trump is just saying out loud what other Republicans merely suggest.

We have already established there are two kinds of republicans, millionaires/billionaires and Suckers. Suckers are the people the millionaires/billionaires convince to vote against their self interest.

RedEye

Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley vs the KKK #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Forty Years ago this week, a democratic Attorney General in Sweet Home Alabama cared more about doing his job, than keeping his job.   That Democratic Attorney General was Bill Baxley.

In 1970, Bill Baxley became the youngest person in the United States to hold a state attorney generalship. Within one week of being sworn in as Attorney General of Alabama, 29-year-old Baxley reopened the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. “Now I could do what I had sworn to do,” he remembers thinking. “Within two months in office I had set one goal for myself: to solve that bombing case.”

 

As you can imagine the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) wasn't to happy with Bill Baxley.  Our rich southern history teaches us the worst thing you can do is stand up for the rights of black folks. 

 the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) dubbed Alabama’s then-attorney general an “honorary nigger” and basically threatened to kill him. 29-year-old AG Billy Baxley promptly issued his response on official State of Alabama letterhead: “kiss my ass.”

Former Democratic Attorney General Bill Baxley is one of the unsung heroes who need to be acknowledged for their contributions during #BlackHistoryMonth. Not only did he get justice for the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, he appointed the state's first African American assistant attorney general, Myron Thompson, who later became a U.S. District Judge.

Again

the reason I oppose the republican party has nothing to do with me being a democrat, and I don't oppose republicans just to support democrats. I oppose republicans because the people who perpetrated the 16th Street Baptist Church bombings and other terrorist acts joined the GOP.

RedEye

RedEye's Rundown #BlackHistoryMonth2016

White America's Broken Heart 

Much of America’s past is the story of white people benefiting from a system that white people designed and maintained, which increased their chances of success as it suppressed those same chances in other groups. Those systems persist to this day in some disturbing ways, but the current, vociferous naming and challenging of those systems, the placing of the lamp of truth near the seesaw of privilege and oppression, has provoked a profound sense of discomfort and even anger.

SaLuTe #BlackLivesMatter

Black Struggle is Not a Soundbite

Here we go again.

You know the drill. 

Mass shooting

Thoughts and prayers. 

President offers condolences.  

Legislators shrug, do nothing.

Repeat. 

#gunsense

#BlackHistoryMonth2016

Today is a day of remembrance as we celebrate the life of #MalcolmX! 51 years ago today Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ball Room in Washington Heights!


“No, I don’t worry,” Malcolm X said. “I tell you, I’m a man who believes that I died 20 years ago and I live like a man who is dead already. I have no fear whatsoever of anybody or anything.”

Sound Familiar?

RedEye

The Best #BlackHistoryMonth Ever! #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Aisha Adams:  5 Reasons This Has Been The Most Unapologetically Black Black History Month Ever

 This has been the blackest and most unapologetic Black History Month ever, and it isn’t even over yet. I am personally here for every melanated moment of it. All this Black excellence and Black power… As much as I love “Lift Every Voice & Sing” and enjoyed writing Black history reports, it could never compare to the ebony joy I have felt since the start of the month as a Black woman. A lot has happened, and I may actually have to do a part two post because we still have 11 days to go. For now, here are five reasons why this has been the most unapologetically black Black History Month ever.

“As the cofounder of Black Lives Matter Chicago, I was issued an invitation to this event, and various news outlets have already listed me as an attendee. But as a radical, Black organizer, living and working in a city that is now widely recognized as a symbol of corruption and police violence, I do not feel that a handshake with the president is the best way for me to honor Black History Month or the Black freedom fighters whose labor laid the groundwork for the historic moment we are living in.” — Aislinn Pulley

RedEye

About that Hank Sanders Robo Call "Reaching Democratic Voters" #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Remember the Mad as Hell robocall made by Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma)  during the Alabama Democratic Primary?



Well A Modern Day Slave Plantation Exists, and It's Thriving in The Heart of America.

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

Can you hear him now?


#BlackHistoryMonth2016

Slavery has been in the news a lot lately. Perhaps it’s because of the increase in human trafficking on American soil or the headlines about income inequality, the mass incarceration of African Americans or discussions about reparations to the descendants of slaves. Several publications have fueled these conversations: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Case for Reparations in The Atlantic Monthly, French economist Thomas Picketty’s Capital in the Twenty First Century, historian Edward Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism, and law professor Bryan A. Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.

Why Reparations? 

"Republicans think President Obama should only get 3/5ths of his term". #SCOTUS #BlackHistoryMonth2016

There is a mean spirit on the loose.  Remember when Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D.Selma) said those powerful, provocative words, and was accused of "race baiting".... among other things?  Well, can you hear him now?

The message is clear: Making America Great Again means purging everyone who isn’t white and Christian.

There can be no more pretenses.  The mean spirit is manifested in Voter ID laws, Republican Gerrymandering, and Citizens United.  

The only thing "unprecedented" about this Supreme Court vacancy is the race of the President who gets to fill it. We see you, Republicans. Elections have consequences.

RedEYE

#BlackHistoryMonth2016

Two Blast from the Past Re-Post about the Supreme Court, Affirmative Action, and Black Women

Kamala Harris (Kevork Djansekian/Getty); Janice Rogers Brown (Win McNamee/Getty); Leah Ward Sears (Schiff Harden LLP)

In light of the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scala, Presidents Obama's vow to fill the vacancy ASAP, and the GOP's promise to obstruct him,  EYE invite readers to read these post written the last time there was a vacancy on the supreme court.

I thought Affirmative Action and Quotas were behind us. 

Seriously, I thought with the election of Barack Obama, America had entered a "post racial" era, and the country had "moved past race" (what ever the heck that means)? Evidently it's not about being the most qualified, or the "content of ones character" when it comes to United States Supreme Court nominees. Evidently it's about being white, attending Yale or Harvard, and being Catholic and/or Jewish. Qualified, competent, protestant/atheist, African Americans, male or female need not apply. Especially if you didn't matriculate at Yale or Harvard.
During the selection process, Obama reviewed the writings of two dozen potential Justices. That list was narrowed to 10 for more research. Obama and Biden spoke with four candidates privately, including both Kagan and Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Wood, who were both finalists last year for the open seat that went to Sonia Sotomayor. Klain said Obama heard from several Senators about a desire to find someone, like Kagan, who had not already served as a judge.

Update:  According to Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, Justice Antonin Scalia rooted for Elena Kagen's nomination.  Who knew?

Less than a day after Scalia's death, David Axelrod, in a CNN blog post, shared a little-known anecdote about the 79-year-old justice: He was pulling for the nomination of liberal Justice Elena Kagan.
As President Barack Obama's senior advisor at the time, Axelrod recalled Scalia bending his ear over who should replace the retiring Justice David Souter while the two were tablemates at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Affirmative Action is for white women only 

I find it troubling President Obama cites the trials and tribulations of the late civil rights activist Dr. Dorothy I. Height when she was refused admittance to Barnard College because they already had their quota of African American women, then over looks highly qualified Judge Diane Woods in favor of the less qualified Solicitor General Elana Kagen.

RedEye 

With the death of Antonin Scalia, President Obama has the opportunity to nominate the first black, female justice. (originally published July 8, 2013)

"A change IS coming! Will you be on the right side?" BlackHistoryMonth2016

If Sam Cooke were alive to update “A Change Is Gonna Come” for the current political scene, he might be tempted to rename it “The More Things Change.” Photograph by AP

The Unlikely Story of "A Change is Gonna Come"

Half a century ago, on March 7, 1965, state troopers knocked down, gassed, and beat a number of men and women who were participating in a peaceful march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama. That same day, radio listeners around the country might have heard Sam Cooke singing a lyric he’d written and recorded several months earlier, but which could have been describing the “Bloody Sunday” confrontation on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Then I go to my brother
And I say, “Brother, help me please.”
But he winds up knockin’ me
Back down on my knees

RedEye

Neither Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders "deserve the black vote." They have to earn the black vote. #BlackHistoryMonth2016

 Michelle Alexander, who EYE admire and respect, wrote a scathing article outlining why Hillary Clinton doesn't deserve the black vote.  She made some valid points in regards to former President Bill Clinton's Three Strikes Crime Bill, which led to the mass incarceration of black/brown/poor folks.  To be fair, Hillary was First Lady, and not the President of the United States.  She did not vote for or against the crime bill, but Bernie Sanders and The Congressional Black Caucus did.  It's not fair she be held responsible for the actions of others, including Bernie and the CBC.

 WASHINGTON -- With the switch of at least three votes, the Congressional Black Caucus made clear yesterday that it would come to President Clinton's rescue on the crime bill. 

After a meeting at the White House with Mr. Clinton, three Black Caucus members who had voted against bringing the $33 billion measure up for final House vote last week announced that they had succumbed to his appeals to save not only the crime bill but perhaps his presidency.

"He was selling his presidency, the party and the fact that we will not get a better bill than this," said Rep. Charles B. Rangel, a New York Democrat who found Mr. Clinton persuasive. "Every step forward in a positive way renews the confidence the people have in the president."

Now that the Angry White Primaries are over it's time for the Angry Black Primary, and believe me Black folks are mad as hell.  We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.  It's going to take more than soundbites, photo ops,  coat tails, and endorsements, to earn our vote this time.  We are not going to be a firewall , nor will our votes be taken for granted, for either democratic candidate.  That said, either candidate is better than the alternative, but neither will be the democratic nominee without the black vote.

The fight over the African-American vote is central to any Democratic candidate getting elected,” said Todd Shaw, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina.
Though polls show Clinton has the overwhelming majority of the state’s black voters, Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said after New Hampshire, she needs a big win to sustain the notion that she has a wider appeal than Sanders.

Which brings me to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations', not to be confused with the Congressional Black Caucus, endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  Words matter.  The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is not the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) is an American educational foundation. It conducts research on issues affecting African Americans, publishes a yearly report on key legislation, and sponsors issue forums, leadership seminars and scholarships. Although linked with theCongressional Black Caucus (CBC), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is a separate nonprofit group that runs programs in education, healthcare and economic development.
Established in 1976 by members of the CBC, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) began as a non-partisan research institute. Today, the Foundation is organized as a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy, research and educational institute with an office located near Dupont Circle inWashington, D.C., as well as a Board of Directors and two Advisory Councils. R. Donahue Peebles is the Chairperson of CBCF and A. Shuanise Washington is its president and chief executive officer.
Fundraising events and corporate partners support CBCF programs. The CBCF funds many of its activities by hosting an Annual Legislative Conference each September.[1] The Foundation often works with the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses, a group of wives and husbands of the African American members of the United States Congress.

The headline should read;   The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation endorses Hillary Clinton. See it's media enabled, GOP style stuff (for lack of a better word) like this, that turns me off.  That, and the fact the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation doesn't speak for the masses as is implies.

A New York Times article that investigated the caucus’s connections to corporate interests reported that from 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions.[2]
The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.[2]
In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records showed.[2]
The Dallas Morning News reported in August 2010 that congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson had awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children using foundation funds. The recipients were ineligible under anti-nepotism rules of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provided the money, and all of the awards violated a foundation requirement that scholarship winners live or study in a caucus member's district.[3]
The foundation's former chairman, Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said that neither the foundation nor the Congressional Black Caucus "will allow unethical behavior in the awarding of scholarships or any programs that are designed to benefit the community." [4]

Another reason the distinction is important is because member of the CBC PAC and some (not to be confused with all) black leaders who support Hillary Clinton slam Bernie Sanders on race issues. Implying Bernie Sanders didn't start supporting black folks until he wanted to be the President.  Well that's not factually correct.  Bernie Sanders filibustered the Sugar Coated Satan Sandwich, aka The Debt Ceiling  Compromise, and the Congressional Black Caucus, not to be confused with the Black Caucus Foundation, joined him.  

"You can call what I am doing today whatever you want, you it [sic] call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech," said Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. "I'm not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides."

"We are simply here to say that we want a fair deal," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.). "You know, there was the New Deal under Roosevelt, and then there was a Fair Deal under Truman. Every new deal is not necessarily fair, and we see this new deal as not necessarily fair."
Payne was joined by other members of the Congressional Black Caucus - considered President Obama's most loyal backers - who announced that the "vast majority" of caucus members would oppose the plan as it is currently drafted.

So no, EYE am not impressed, or moved, by the Congressional Black Caucus PAC's endorsement of Hillary Clinton.  As a matter of fact it's a turn off.   EYE am still undecided which candidate will get my vote in the democratic primary, but EYE will support the democratic nominee, because the alternative is terrifying.

Currently Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in Sweet Home Alabama, to be honest,  that worries me. How can a self described democratic socialist be leading in red, republican, Alabama?  EYE think it's more about hating Hillary than supporting Bernie.  If Bernie is the winner and carries Alabama, it will prove me wrong. If Hillary is the winner, and Alabama remains solidly conservative, it will prove me right.  Pun intended.

#BlackHistoryMonth2016


RedEye

Hatred and Bigotry in the name of The Lord #Black HistoryMonth2016

See the "Closed on Sunday" sign?  Check out the Picture of Jesus in the window

Meanwhile down in Sweet Home Alabama...

Dana Jones, a found member of the FTC, said it made perfect sense for the flag to be there at the first capital of the Confederacy. Her reasoning? She wants it to spark interest in the role the state of Alabama played in the Civil War. According to Jones, as descendants of the Confederacy, their Confederate lives matter just as the lives of blacks.
When asked if she didn’t think the flag was a “slap in the face” against the predominantly black university, Jones responded: “I’m not prejudiced (or) racist, I am a Christian.”

BlackHistoryMonth2016

On this day in 1965 Martin Luther King Jr. met with President Lyndon Johnson to discuss Voting Rights for African Americans which the Supreme Court struck down in 2013 because Obama.

RedEye 

Be a Sucker. Vote Republican.

There are two kinds of republicans.  

H/T jobsanger, who reminds us there are two kinds of republicans, millionaires and Suckers. If millionaires convince you to vote against your self interest you are a Sucker. The millioniares are betting against America .  Suckers always fall for the Okey Doke .  Suckers can be counted on to hate President Obama more than they love themselves.

RedEye

Paging President Obama, Vice President Biden, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Somebody please help us #BlackHistoryMonth2016

Dear All,
EYE know you like to come to Alabama to take pictures,  raise money, and give speeches , but we are in desperate need of some some substantive help down here in Sweet Home Alabama.

The White House announced President Obama plans to visit #Selma on March 7, 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted under his administration, but I digress.

EYE hate to say it, but your election seems to have bought out the worst in white Alabamians.  Because we dared get out and vote for you twice, EYE fear they have lost their collective minds.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy. Even in the white-majority Wiregrass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs. Had Bob Riley needed to worry about a U.S. Attorney with integrity in Montgomery, he would likely not have earned his Mississippi Choctaw bribes by shutting down the bingo halls, and the Legislature would probably have put a bingo referendum on this November’s ballot. As it is, there is no way to know when, or if, these businesses will reopen. At some point, even the President’s biggest supporters have to ask if he’s paying attention.

EYE know you are busy with ISIS and all but could you spare us some of your time and attention too? There is a mean spirit on the loose with our Governor leading the pack.   EYE need you to come to Alabama and do for the people who did vote for you, what you did for the people who didn't vote for you.  And could you please hurry?

Because Bentley has refused to accept assistance from the federal government, almost entirely out of political posturing, many working Alabamians — people with jobs, trying to do their part — who are caught in the so-called health care gap have to go without coverage of any kind.

#BlackHistory2016

How the children of Birmingham changed the Civil Rights Movement

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Stupid is as Stupid does in #SweetHomeAlabama #BlackHistoryMonth2016

EYE am still fuming at Governor Bentley's "bold ideas" for Alabama outlined in his annual State of the State Address.  If you don't read another thing EYE post, please read:  Governor Bentley thinks the Grinch is Santa Clause by Stranger in a Strange Land. The analysis is on point.

I think the Governor, like little Cindy Lou Who (who was no more than two), is fooled by the Grinch legislature’s Santa Claus costume.
The governor’s speech was ideologically all over the place. I’m beginning to question whether Bentley is the same rock-ribbed Republican who opted not to bring expanded Medicare and Medicaid money into the state under the Affordable Care Act because, well, Obama (who is black).

#BlackHistoryMonth2016  

On this date, in 1956, Autherine Lucy became the first African American student to attend the University of Alabama. #History #BlackHistoryMonth

University of Alabama students burn desegregation literature to demonstrate against enrollment of first African American Student, Autherine Lucy in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 6, 1956 Courtesy of Library of Congress.

 The more things change, the more they don't .

RedEye