(Akiit.com) St. Louis, MO June 2007 — Author/ Freelance Writer Zekita Tucker brings you the new and more powerful revised edition of her highly controversial children’s book titled “Don’t Call Me N!gga”. This daring and critically honest book has kept both children and adults in amazement at the shockingly open display of emotions and the realistic language used by this books’ characters.

Already, “Don’t Call Me N!gga” has generated an enormous buzz across the country throughout many African American communities. Since its first publication in March 2006, “Don’t Call Me N!gga” has been featured by ABC World News on the very popular news site ABCnews.com, has made cover stories in African American newspapers and websites. Zekita Tucker has been interviewed by a Black Enterprise reporter for her courageous work on “Don’t Call Me N!gga” as well as the very popular The Ave. Magazine, and she has also been a guest on the Roland S. Martin Show, who is a CNN News commentator (Chicago) and The Intersection w/ Rebecca Roberts (DC).

Teaching your children about the affects of language is a great way to help them conquer some unforeseen battles in their lives. “Don’t Call Me Nigga” now published and reprinted by Zeniam Publications, written by Zekita and illustrated by Matthew Schultz, is a perfect tool for parents who want to combat the use of the ‘N’ word with their children but may not have other effective tools or resources. It is a perfect tool for children of all ages and is recommended for 8 years old and up.
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Racial gap widens as survival rate improves only for white women

(Akiit.com) Black women with advanced breast cancer are faring no better now than they were two decades ago despite improved survival by white women — and the gap appears to be widening, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

Dr. Sharon Giordano of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center studied breast cancer survival in women between 1988 and 2003.

What she found was that in general, women with advanced breast cancer were living longer.

“But when we looked separately by race, we found the improvement seemed be to limited to white patients and the survival for black patients had remained flat over time,” Giordano said in an interview.

“What is really concerning to me is that the difference is getting bigger,” Giordano said.

She and colleagues identified 15,438 patients with a median age of 62 from a National Cancer Institute database who were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer between 1988 and 2003.
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(Akiit.com) As the product of a single-parent home, I always have mixed feelings when Father’s Day rolls around.

What could I understand about the importance of fathers when my own formative years were shaped by the absence of one? Much has been written about the negative effects of fatherlessness on black children, and I definitely have some insights to share on how important fathers are and how misguided government policies undermined black families - including my own.

Historically, the black family was strong and intact. Even in the worst of times, when racism dominated our society, our community was still dedicated to keeping families together. Not only did we survive in the face of adversity - we excelled.

What happened?

Ironically, it was LBJ’s “War on Poverty,” which began shortly after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1963 and marked the turning point for many black families. It created a welfare state that engulfed black America and proved to be devastating to pre-existing black economic and social progress.

A government bureaucracy was created that basically subsidized irresponsibility and social dysfunction. Unmarried black women were financially rewarded for having children out of wedlock and weak-willed black men were excused for being lazy, irresponsible losers - siring as many illegitimate kids with as many women as they pleased. Why not? The government would take care of their progeny.

Having survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, the black family began a rapid moral disintegration under a program that was sold as an emergency rescue but was transformed into a way of life. No wonder so many blacks just sat on their hands and did nothing after the civil-rights movement.
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(Akiit.com) ATLANTA, GA There are fears in Atlanta’s black community that its declining presence in the population could shrink its political influence and endanger social policies that support diversity, Mayor Shirley Franklin said Friday.

“It’s not spoken about much, but there are concerns that we will lose, as African-Americans, our political base, which has largely been the city of Atlanta for major leadership within the state,” Franklin said.

She spoke in Manhattan as part of a panel discussing urban issues and the middle class.

“We are more diverse, but less black and white than we were 30 years ago,” Franklin said, noting the influx of Hispanics and Asians and the migration of blacks to surrounding areas. “African-Americans are choosing to live outside the city for the same reasons everyone is, which is bigger house, so-called better schools.”
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(Akiit.com) It seems that Africa is once again becoming important. There has been a subtle shift in focus on issues concerning Africa. From the genocide in Darfur, to South Africa’s triumphs and struggles as it builds a new country free of the burdens of apartheid, to cracking down on the conflict diamond trade, and the growing concern about the political instability in many of the developing countries on the African continent.

There are both economic and strategic reasons for this interest. One is the large amount of untapped natural resources that the rest of the world needs to run their industrial engines, i.e. Oil, and the growing influence of the Peoples Republic of China in the region. China’s increased presence and influence makes the U.S. and it’s allies very nervous. Some believe that China has been able to gain a foothold because of the willful neglect by the United States and it’s allies to the complex and unique problems faced on the continent.

This is a special and very important time in the relationship between the U.S. and the countries that make up the continent. The nature of the relationship between African Americans and native-born Africans is a complex one. Both sides look at each other with both admiration and distrust. Regardless of these conflicting feelings, the future of Africa is important to the future of African Americans. In the global world we live in now, our futures are tied together.
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