Saturday, May 31, 2008

African American Political Pundit Credentialed and will Blog LIVE at the 2008 Democratic National Convention


OK, my email box has been on full blast over he past few days. Thank you everyone for the congratulatory emails.


I'm a man of faith, and my mother taught me to always thank God for the blessings you receive. So today I want to thank God for the blessing I received. I am appreciative and proud of the fact that the Democratic National Convention staff have chosen me and other members of the AfroSpear (black blogger think tank) and the larger Afrosphere (black bloggers around the United States & World) to cover one of the most significant events in over 400 years of African American history.


A special congratulations and shout out to
Jack and Jill Politics, Pam's House Blend, What About Our Daughters?, culturekitchen, Dallas South blog, Oliver Willis, RaceWire who are also credentialed and will also blog at the convention. Like you I commit myself to providing the best coverage possible.

Factoid: In 2004, the DNCC credentialed about 30 blogs to cover the Convention in Boston - the first Convention to credential bloggers. Recently, the DNCC announced that 55 blogs focused on state and local politics were selected to be members of the DemConvention State Blogger Corps.

AAPP: I'm still concerned about the lack of
diversity in the State Blogger Corps, and will discuss it (giving my own opinion and not the opinion of the afrospear black bloggers think tank) in an upcoming post.

Again, I'm proud to have been selected, with afrospear bloggers and the over
120 bloggers for this historic event. I believe the DNC still has some work to do in order to truly make things right with the larger black bloggers community, and larger black democratic constituency. I will talk about possible constructive corrective action in my upcoming post. I'm sure black bloggers attending the convention and those activist interested in a constructive conversation about diversity, we will keep the lines of communication open. We can meet and resolve this issue, as America works to take back the White House.

NOTE: Altogether, the DNCC will credential more than 120 blogs for the Convention and many more individuals will blog the Convention via credentials issued through the U.S. Congressional Press Galleries.

The complete list of blogs credentialed blogs are listed at:
DemConvention.com/credentialed-blogs or check it out below:

To all the bloggers selected congratulations.


2008 Democratic Convention Watch http://demconwatch.blogspot.com
43rdStateBlues.com http://43rdstateblues.com
AFL-CIO NOW Blog http://blog.aflcio.org
African American Political Pundit http://aapoliticalpundit.blogspot.com
AMERICAblog.com http://americablog.com
Asian American Action Fund Blog http://aaa-fund.com
Badlands Blue http://badlandsblue.com
Bagnews Notes http://bagnewsnotes.com
Beliefnet http://beliefnet.com
Bitch Ph.D. http://bitchphd.blogspot.com
Blogger News Network http://bloggernews.net
Blogging For Michigan http://bloggingformichigan.com
BlogHer http://blogher.com
Blue Hampshire http://bluehampshire.com
Blue Indiana http://blueindiana.net
Blue Jersey http://bluejersey.com
Blue Mass. Group http://bluemassgroup.com
BlueGrassRoots http://bluegrassroots.org
BlueNC.com http://bluenc.com
BlueOregon http://blueoregon.com
Buckeye State Blog http://buckeyestateblog.com
Burnt Orange Report http://BurntOrangeReport.com
Calitics http://Calitics.com
Campus Progress http://campusprogress.org
Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com
Change to Win http://changetowin.org
Colorado Confidential http://coloradoconfidential.com
Cotton Mouth Blog http://cottonmouthblog.blogspot.com
CracktheBell.com http://crackthebell.com
Crooks and Liars http://crooksandliars.com
culturekitchen http://culturekitchen.com
Daily Kingfish http://dailykingfish.com
Daily Kos http://dailykos.com
Dallas South Blog http://dallassouthblog.com
DCist.com http://dcist.com
Democracy Arsenal http://democracyarsenal.org
Democracy for New Mexico http://DemocracyForNewMexico.com
Democratic Party of the U.S. Virgin Islands http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democratvi
Democratic Underground http://democraticunderground.com
Democrats Abroad Argentina http://yanquimike.com.ar
DemoOkie http://DemoOkie.com
Digby’s Hullabaloo http://digbysblog.blogspot.com
Disaboom.com http://disaboom.com
Doc’s Political Parlor http://politicalparlor.net
DoubleSpeak http://doublespeakshow.com
Eschaton http://atrios.blogspot.com
EverydayCitizen.com http://everydaycitizen.com
Fired Up! http://firedupmissouri.com
Firedoglake http://firedoglake.com
Florida Progressive Coalition http://flaprogressives.org
Future Majority http://futuremajority.com
Georgia Politics Unfiltered http://georgiaunfiltered.blogspot.com
Green Mountain Daily http://greenmountaindaily.com
Grist Magazine http://grist.org/
Group News Blog http://groupnewsblog.net
HispanicTips.com http://hispanictips.com
HorsesAss.org http://horsesass.org
HummingbirdMinds Blog http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com
iLind.net http://ilind.net
Indianz.com http://indianz.com
Jack and Jill Politics http://jackandjillpolitics.com
Jusiper http://jusiper.blogspot.com
Keystone Politics http://keystonepolitics.com
KnoxViews http://knoxviews.com
Las Vegas Gleaner http://lasvegasgleaner.com
Left In Alabama http://leftinalabama.com
Left in the West http://leftinthewest.com
Michigan Liberal http://michiganliberal.com
Minnesota Monitor http://minnesotamonitor.com
MOMocrats http://momocrats.typepad.com
My Left Nutmeg http://myleftnutmeg.com
MyDD http://mydd.com
New Nebraska Network http://NewNebraska.net
NewsOne.com http://newsone.com
No Rest for the Awake http://minagahet.blogspot.com
NorthDecoder.com http://northdecoder.com
Obsidian Wings http://obsidianwings.blogs.com
Ohio Daily Blog http://ohiodailyblog.com
OliverWillis.com http://oliverwillis.com
Open Left http://openleft.com
Pam’s House Blend http://pamshouseblend.com
Political Base http://politicalbase.com
Political Wire http://politicalwire.com
PoliticalLunch.com http://PoliticalLunch.com
PolitickerNJ.com http://politickernj.com
PoliticsOnline http://politicsonline.com
Pop and Politics http://popandpolitics.com
Prairie State Blue http://PrairieStateBlue.com
RaceWire http://racewire.org
Raising Kaine http://raisingkaine.com
Raw Story http://rawstory.com
Rhode Island’s Future http://rifuture.org
Room 8 http://r8ny.com
Rum, Romanism and Rebellion http://rumromanismrebellion.net
RuralVotes http://ruralvotes.com/thefield
Scholars & Rogues http://scholarsandrogues.com
Seeing the Forest http://seeingtheforest.com
Sepia Mutiny http://sepiamutiny.com
SquareState.net http://squarestate.net
Talking Points Memo http://talkingpointsmemo.com
TalkLeft http://talkleft.com
Taylor Marsh http://taylormarsh.com
The Albany Project http://thealbanyproject.com
The Center for Emerging Media http://centerforemergingmedia.com
The Iowa Independent http://iowaindependent.com
The Natchez Blog http://natchezms.blogspot.com
The Seminal http://theseminal.com
The UpTake http://theuptake.org
The Utah Amicus http://utahamicus.com
The Washington Independent http://washingtonindependent.com
Think Youth http://thinkyouth.org
Thought Theater http://thoughttheater.com
TommyWonk http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/
Tondee’s Tavern http://tondeestavern.com
Towleroad http://towleroad.com
Turn Maine Blue http://turnmaineblue.com
Under The Dome.com http://underthedome.com
Uppity Wisconsin http://uppitywis.org
USAmerica Vota ‘08 http://usamericavota08.blogspot.com
VivirLatino.com http://vivirlatino.com
West Virginia Blue http://wvablue.com
What About Our Daughters? Blog http://whataboutourdaughters.com
Working Life http://workinglife.org
Zennie’s Zeitgeist http://zennie2005.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton Staying In Race Just In Case - Is She Involved In subliminal messaging RFK # 2

Have you all been checking out how it's now cool for news outlet talking heads to laugh about the assassination of a presidential candidate. Yes, this assassination stuff - started by Hillary Clinton it's getting real ugly. You know what I'm talking about, her sending out a a subliminal message, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. unrecognizable by white America's conscious mind, but understood by the conscious mind of black America. The message - knocking off a black presidential candidate. Read more: Clinton on "Assassination" -- Defending The Indefensible

No folks
Hillary's RFK comment was not a merely making a 'careless' comment, her message was calculated.

As reported in the NY Times,
Clinton Could Face an Uneasy Return to the Senate.

AAPP: And well she should receive an uneasy return. Too bad black politicians don't get it.

There is talk of a vice-presidential slot for Clinton, but guess what that prospect hopefully won't happen after Clinton’s remark last week about the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, which highlighted fears about Mr. Obama’s safety. Candidly this AAPP feels she needs to resign the Senate. One has to wonder why blacks on the CBC are not calling for her resignation ? Jimmy Carter seems to be showing more common sense the the Congressional Black Caucus. Black folks should be making her uncomfortable.

Now as reported by CNN we learn the Bill Clinton is at it again, this time throwing more garbage out into the Democratic primary season saying there is a
'Cover up' hiding Hillary Clinton's chances. Whatever Bill Clinton, Whatever!

art.bclinton.sun.ap.jpg


Bill Clinton says his wife is ahead in popular votes, and Democrats will lose in November without her.

Hat Tip Electronic Village



Hat Tip Francis L. Holland

Liz Trotta, a conservative white woman commentator, was asked to comment on Hillary Clinton's suggestion that the word "assassination" is relevant in the 2008 presidential campaign. Trotta responds:
"and now we have what ... uh...some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama ...uh..um..Obama [after being prompted by the FNC anchor]....well both if we could [laughing]"




Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Color Divide - Democratic National Convention and black bloggers

AAPP says: Karen Brooks of The Dallas Morning News is reporting on the problems involving the selection of Democratic National Convention bloggers. Check out the link to her article below. Ms. Brooks provides a great overview on the issues involving the Democratic Party and how they are treating black bloggers. I know Native Americans and the Angry Indian must be wondering why Native Americans seem to be excluded by the DNC as well.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/colored-only-sign.jpg

Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized
By Karen Brooks,
The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN — Democrats consider affirmative action a cornerstone of their national agenda, but some minority bloggers say the party isn’t practicing what it preaches.

Last week, the national Democratic Party announced that 55 online writers had been chosen for the “State Blogger Corps,” to cover the convention in Denver in September.

But some members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president.

“OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.

Party leaders said the factors in determining state bloggers were readership, Internet ratings and focus on local and state politics, not race. The Texas representative, the Burnt Orange Report, has several writers, including at least one Hispanic contributor.

A second round of blog credentials will be announced before the end of the month, party leaders said, and minority bloggers will be purposely included in that selection.

It’s unclear exactly how many of the state bloggers are white and how many are minorities because the bloggers weren’t required to identify their race when they applied.

But the blogs don’t appear to be self-identified as written or owned by African Americans, as opposed to blogs like the African American Political Pundit or attorney Francis L. Holland’s numerous blogs, which feature his picture. More HERE

Contact Karen brooks at: kmbrooks@dallasnews.com

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Handkerchief Head? Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou Race Traitor?

AAPP: I'm with Brown Sugar who says:

"Sigh. I'm done. I'm so tired of Black folk with slave mentality's I don't know what to do. This is just ridiculous. I supposed if Clinton had called her a Nigger to her face she'd still be talking about, "She is able to look through complexion and see community."

AAPP: Yes, Maya Angelou is a great poet and a aging house negro icon who feels her new calling is to be a 21st Century Handkerchief Head for Hillary and Bill.

OK, she is 80 years old, Icon in the black cultural movement, but I know some 80 year old woman who will not disgrace our people, and they are not Icon's.

Yes, she has a right to endorse anyone she wants too. I only wish she used the common sense of
Tom Hanks.






Monday, May 5, 2008

Nelson Mandela on U.S. Terrorist Watch List.

AAPP: Everything has changed in America, and nothing has changed. This story is an American disgrace.

Source; USA Today - 89 year old - Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela is flagged on U.S. terrorist watch lists and needs special permission to visit the USA. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls the situation "embarrassing."

Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

AAPP: And there are some folks that want Condoleeza Rice to be Vice president under John McCain? - Whatever!

The requirement applies to former South African leader Mandela and other members of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC), the once-banned anti-Apartheid organization. In the 1970s and '80s, the ANC was officially designated a terrorist group by the country's ruling white minority. Other countries, including the United States, followed suit.

Because of this, Rice told a Senate committee recently, her department has to issue waivers for ANC members to travel to the USA.

"This is a country with which we now have excellent relations, South Africa, but it's frankly a rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela," Rice said.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, is pushing a bill that would remove current and former ANC leaders from the watch lists. Supporters hope to get it passed before Mandela's 90th birthday July 18.

God Damn The Black Community

APP: H/T Brother Peace Maker - Check out afrospear member Brother Peace Maker's most recent post of the Afrospear's blog. He has a lot to say about the Rev. Wright situation and what black folks should be saying and doing. He has an interesting perspective that needs to be part of the conversation. Check out his post:

God Damn The Black Community

“God helps those who help themselves!” – Benjamin Franklin

Reverend Jeremiah Wright is in the news again and is said to be a distraction to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, by far his most famous former parishioner. Reverend Wright has spent the last week or so giving his side of the story. Mr. Wright feels that he has been personally attacked and also feels that the institution of the black church has been attacked by the dominant American culture. He’s been referred to as a kook and described as trying to knee cap Mr. Obama’s presidential bid. Mr. Obama tried to minimize his relationship with his former pastor. But when that didn’t put the issue to rest, Mr. Wright conveniently comes back on the scene to give Mr. Obama a second chance to sever the relationship cleanly in the public’s eye.

The overwhelming majority of America never knew Mr. Wright prior to the networks airing of the infamous recording of Mr. Wright saying that god should be damning America instead of blessing America. People refer to Mr. Wright as a blatant racist although he never once said white people were the problem. Mr. Wright said black and white people are different with neither one being better than the other. But this is too racist a concept for most. White and black people are actually saying that Jeremiah Wright is the problem. No one of any prominence has given Mr. Wright any understanding or support, with the possible exception of Bill Moyers when he hosted Mr. Wright on his PBS show Bill Moyers Journal and allowed the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ to defend himself without adding fuel to the fire of controversy. Mr. Moyers doesn’t have a political agenda to push so it is no surprise that he isn’t condemning Mr. Wright the way that the typical network pundit would.

But nevertheless, for the most part, when it comes to the black community, Mr. Wright is standing alone. Other than Mr. Moyers, I have yet to see any high profile support. Where are the leaders of the black community? Where are the people who claim to the welfare of the black community a top priority? It is a given that white people would want take the five or ten minutes of Mr. Wright’s sermons that have captured America’s attention. When Mr. Wright says god should damn America white people take this personally for America is white America. America is baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. America is the corporate environment where white people rule the upper management, white people make up the vast majority of middle workers, and black people make up the bottom rung of the corporate ladder in janitorial services and the mailroom. To say America is messing up is to say that white people are messing up since they are the ones in control of 98% of America’s institutions. And these corporate institutions are using their resources to pick Mr. Wright apart and make him an example of what happens when you bad mouth America.

And with an election coming, and with the chance that a black man could actually obtain the highest office in America’s land, America will push with all of its corrupt corporate capitalist might to find anything and emphasize anything to keep Mr. Obama from obtaining the title of President of the United States. It is truly understandable why the dominant community would work so hard to keep the status quo of white only from being broken. Black man might become president and try do something positive for the black community. White America just can’t take that chance. So I can understand why the Tucker Carlsons and Sean Hanitys and Pat Buchanans of the world to persecute Mr. Wright, and therefore Mr. Obama by association. These are the type of people who would be content to see the despair of the black community continue without end. But where are the people who say that they have a vested interest in the uplift of the black community?

Where are the people who are more likely to defend Mr. Wright? Barack Obama tried to distance himself from Mr. Wright without outright rejecting him and it nearly cost him his lead in the presidential nomination race. There is too much to lose. So regardless of what Mr. Obama says to the contrary it is relatively easy to see how his highly visible divorce from Mr. Wright can be considered politically advantageous. So it doesn’t take much of a brain to see that there will be no comfort there. Where are the other high profile blacks who sit in black churches on a weekly basis and can relate to what Mr. Wright says about being black in America? Are we in the black community are supposed to believe that Jeremiah Wright is a lone exception with a totally unique perspective of the relationship between America and what she has done for and what she has done to the black community? Are we to believe that no other black high profile black celebrity has any idea what he is referring to? Comment and Read More HERE


Saturday, May 3, 2008

Election 2008, Breaking News: Hillary Campaign attempted to mold black political blogger support

AAPP: Black Political and Internet Activist Francis L. Holland breaks his silence with a blogging post titled Billary & Me: Time to Break the Silence. This is a must read post that exposes how critical Hillary and her team thought the black vote would be (early in the campaign) and wanted black bloggers like Francis Holland to blog in support of her campaign. Francis was a die-hard supporter of Hillary for some time. I respect Francis L. Holland for breaking the silence.

Check out what Francis Holland has to say:

Photobucket

This is the seal I designed
to show my blog's support
for Hillary's candidacy.

Back when I was infamous in the anti-Clinton whitosphere for my tireless and infuriating diaries in support of Hillary Clinton, and before she announced her candidacy for the presidency, I got an e-mail and then a telephone call here in Brazil from Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton's Internet coordinator. Peter asked me to blog for Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy, and I agreed to help in any way that I could. He asked me not to divulge Hillary's decision to run for the presidency before it was officially announced and I kept my promise not to do so.

I took a look at Hillary's new beta site for blogging, but I quickly decided that expressing my firebrand opinions there would do her more harm than good. Moreover, I decided that my loyalty lay with the Black People and the development of our AfroSpear, not with any particular presidential campaign.

Peter Daou never offered me employment with recompense and I never request or accepted any.

When Barack Obama joined the race, I immediately perceived that this could cause problems for Hillary. Within days of Hillary's announcement of her candidacy, I sent the following e-mail to Peter Daou, warning him (and Hillary's campaign) that if she took the color-aroused scorched earth approach to Barack Obama that she is presently taking, then she would lose all hope of winning the Black vote. Well, apparently they ignored me, and it's about time I told the public about it.

Here's the e-mail I sent to Peter Daou on Wednesday, January 17, 2007, because I foresaw and wanted to help Clinton avoid the very troubles with the Black electorate that have prevented her from winning the nomination: More HERE


Friday, May 2, 2008

"Theft - By -Taking" - Don't Let the Clintons or The DNC Superdelegates Steal this Election



Dear African American Political Pundit readers:

Some leaders in the Democratic Party are playing with fire. They think
that they can betray the will of millions of voters--and choose Hillary
Clinton as the nominee, regardless of whether or not she is the choice
of the voters. We can't let this happen. It would be the largest
disenfranchisement in modern history, and it would mean the Democratic
Party giving their stamp of approval to a clear and consistent pattern
of race-baiting by the Clinton campaign.

If we make our voices heard, we can stop it. Please join us in signing
an open letter to leaders in the Democratic Party -- DNC Chair Howard
Dean, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, and all superdelegates -- demanding that they reject an outcome
that involves trampling voting rights and legitimizing the politics of
division and fear:

http://www.colorofchange.org/dems/?id=2054-503311

By the time the last vote is cast on June 3rd under the rules of the
Democratic Party, it's unlikely Hillary Clinton will beat Barack Obama
among voters. But there's a chance that superdelegates will hand
Clinton the nomination anyway.

This would be a shocking attack on democracy, and it would destroy the
Democratic Party's credibility on protecting the right to vote. Black
people have a long history of fighting against voter suppression, and
now the Democratic Party will be the enemy in that fight. As bad as
that would be, there's another reason that a coup by party insiders
would threaten racial progress.

Senator Clinton's plan to have superdelegates hand her the nomination
doesn't make sense without a parallel strategy -- she has to stoke
enough division and race-based fear among Democratic voters to
convince superdelegates that white voters will not vote for Senator
Obama in the general election. One of Clinton's key arguments to
superdelegates is that America won't elect a Black man, and therefore
she's the better choice for Democrats to beat John McCain. While
she makes that argument in private to superdelegates, in public
Clinton's campaign and her surrogates are doing everything they can to
damage Barack Obama by ginning up fear and division and playing to the
worst instincts of our society. It's an insult to Black people and
all Americans, Obama and Clinton supporters alike.

The pattern has been clear and consistent to some party leaders. Last
week, according to the Washington Post, James Clyburn -- who as House
Majority Whip remains neutral and is the highest ranking Black member
of Congress -- accused the Clintons of marginalizing Black voters.
Referring to this strategy in another interview, Clyburn said that
"Nothing in this campaign has been by accident."

Congressman Clyburn warned that "black people are incensed" over the
divisiveness of the Clinton strategy and that it threatens an
irreparable breach between Black people and the Democratic Party.
He's right. And if superdelegates hand Clinton a victory despite her
defeat among voters, they will be condoning and rewarding that
strategy.

Some party leaders have expressed strong concern about superdelegates
overruling voters. But as a whole, superdelegates have not made it
clear that they will respect the will of voters. Today, we want to
send a clear, unequivocal message to superdelegates and other party
leaders: Reject the idea that the nomination can be won with a
strategy that preys on racism, sows division, and disenfranchises
millions of voters.

Please join me by supporting the proactive actions of The Color of Change.

http://www.colorofchange.org/dems/?id=2054-503311

Thanks.

African American Political Pundit