National Read A Book Day on September 6, 2016

September 6, 2016: National Read a Book Day Highlighted Book of the Month The Adventures of Tume The Tug Boat: Tume Visits New York City with his new friend Speed by Monique Brown, ISBN: 978-1534980655: Tume’s Tug Boat Adventures series was created for children of all ages and will help readers understand other cultures, develop an…

July/August 2016: African American Mentions, News, and Articles of Interest

Malcolm X was invited back to London by the African Society to address a large audience in the Old Theatre at the London School of Economics. In both addresses, Malcolm X moved the political discourse from civil rights to human rights and stated clearly and unequivocally that the Black liberation struggle had to be internationalized rather than ghettoized….

June 2016: African American Mentions, News, and Highlights

In Native Son, Wright writes: “Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like living in jail.” Vince Staples reminds us that the inner city still imprisons many. We should never forget that for some…

April 2016: African American News, Highlights, and Mentions

“The book itself is a landmark of political protest and eloquent articulation of the demand for freedom for people of African descent in the United States,” says Pellom McDaniels III, curator of African American Collections in the Rose Library. “It is as important for African American political and social history as Thomas Paine’s ‘Rights of…

Black History 1: Art, Psychology, Law, and Sports

The African Blood Brotherhood for African Liberation and Redemption (ABB) was a Marxist communist and black nationalist organization that emerged in response to the violent race riots of the Red Summer of 1919. Founded in 1919 in Harlem by Cyril V. Briggs, a West Indian immigrant, the organization was structured as a secret fraternal society…

Journal Article: Democracy Came From Africa

Democracy (rule of the people) originates from Africa: is a statement of fact that many western scholars and general public predicated on racist and exploitative foundations seek to refute daily. It is conveniently forgotten that Solon the fore-father of Athenian democracy visited Egypt to learn about the tenets of the system there which he subsequently…

A Change of Perspective on Women: Malcolm X

One thing that I became aware of in my traveling recently through Africa and the Middle East in every country you go to, usually the degree of progress can never be separated from the woman. If you’re in a country that is progressive, then woman is progressive. If you’re in a country that reflects the…

March 2016: African American News, Highlights, and Mentions

Follow the links to the appropriate articles, books, or businesses I mention this month.  Hope you enjoy!! – AcademicHustler1975 ‘Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo’ meaning (you strike the women, you strike the rock) These words from the famous resistance song have come to symbolise the courage and strength expressed at the Women’s March of 1956 as South…

Midnight Basketball: The 1994 Federal Crime Bill…22 Years Ago

Better Shaq than Crack – Never mind that in a $33 billion crime bill, heavily tilted toward prisons, cops and death penalties, midnight basketball is a mere $40 million item. That’s 12 cents for every $100 in the bill. Never mind that Republicans, despite the elephant as party symbol, are suffering from amnesia. They forget that on…

Black Megachurches: The Class Migration

Those who expect the activist black megachurches to fill the gaps left by the Civil Rights Movement should be aware that these churches struggle with prioritizing their activities given limited capacity and limited political capital. For example, when churches form CDOs and accept government funding, the leaders and representatives of these churches are limited in…

Race & Crime: The Ku Klux Klan’s Hostile and Deadly Reign in America

At the time of the killings, the police special agent in charge of the Klan informant was at the back of the caravan, having trailed it to the site. He did not intervene, or radio for help, or trip a siren, or pursue the killers as nine of their vehicles got away. Arrests occurred only…

Books: From J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders to the Misappropriation of African American Popular Culture

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. – Haruki Murakami   Sometimes we need to branch out and read additional books that give us a better understanding of our history, present, and future.  To keep quoting the same individuals is to be closed-minded….