(Akiit.com) THE miscarriage of justice at Jena, La. — where five black high school students arrested for beating a white student were charged with attempted murder — and the resulting protest march tempts us to the view, expressed by several of the marchers, that not much has changed in traditional American racial relations. However, a remarkable series of high-profile incidents occurring elsewhere in the nation at about the same time, as well as the underlying reason for the demonstrations themselves, make it clear that the Jena case is hardly a throwback to the 1960s, but instead speaks to issues that are very much of our times.

What exactly attracted thousands of demonstrators to the small Louisiana town? While for some it was a simple case of righting a grievous local injustice, and for others an opportunity to relive the civil rights era, for most the real motive was a long overdue cry of outrage at the use of the prison system as a means of controlling young black men.

America has more than two million citizens behind bars, the highest absolute and per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Black Americans, a mere 13 percent of the population, constitute half of this country’s prisoners. A tenth of all black men between ages 20 and 35 are in jail or prison; blacks are incarcerated at over eight times the white rate.

The effect on black communities is catastrophic: one in three male African-Americans in their 30s now has a prison record, as do nearly two-thirds of all black male high school dropouts. These numbers and rates are incomparably greater than anything achieved at the height of the Jim Crow era. What’s odd is how long it has taken the African-American community to address in a forceful and thoughtful way this racially biased and utterly counterproductive situation.
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(Akiit.com) “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
–Frederick Douglass, 1857

*It is no secret to anyone with a brain that men and women in America are nearly at war. At best, there is a major void of misunderstanding. At worst, there is a huge struggle over power.

And, in the struggle over power, there is a basic misunderstanding of the actual nature of power. In some ways, that struggle can be seen in relationships where traditional roles are being embraced by some and abandoned by others, resulting in confusion for most. In other ways, that struggle can be seen in the changes in social behavior.

For example, women who wish to wear revealing clothing without being looked at ostensibly seek to exercise power over men, forcing them to look away from that which they desire to see.

In a variety of ways–some good, some bad–women are seeking to garner greater control over their bodies and their lives, including their personal relationships with men. The problems come if men are not consulted with for cooperation or compromise.

Society has bound the evolution of women beyond their identification and consistent implementation of the metaphysical mother.

Society today also binds man’s evolution beyond the smothering influence of the metaphysical mother. The metaphysical mother may be our real mother, or the mothering that we receive from society’s reestablished mores, based on the desire of women to have greater freedom.

Following the thrust of that movement some twenty-five years ago, women and men began to redefine the traditional gender roles. The result has been a great deal of confusion and a struggle over the very basic elements of relationships.
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(Akiit.com) Be Our Guest

Dear brothers (do you mind if I call you brothers?),

Have you heard about the movement to ticket and fine people - meaning, people like you - for wearing sagging, underwear-revealing pants? It started in a small Louisiana town, where you can now get up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for exposing your undergarments. Proposals have since popped up from Atlanta to Baltimore to Trenton, and last week even in Yonkers. It’s only a matter of time before some enterprising City Council member puts it on the table here in New York.

And in every city, the most vocal critics of the saggy pants ban - groups like the ACLU - argue that it is a form of racial profiling that unfairly targets African-American males for what supposedly is just a type of cultural expression.

Enough of this “cultural expression” argument. Those who want to ban sagging pants (who, by the way, in most cases happen to be African-American lawmakers) are onto something. And it’s more than just about indecency. It’s about your self-image as young black men - and our self-image as African-Americans.
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(Akiit.com) He was a Dandy Dinmont, we were told. Long with a short tight gray coat.

A bushy white Fu Manchu on his snout and a white Afro on his head. He went by the name Harry and was a favorite to win the Westminster dog show back in February.

He was co-owned by America’s favorite black father figure, Bill Cosby.

In the wake of the disgusting Michael Vick dog fighting case, it was easy to think that black people, black men in particular, don’t care much for man’s best friend. The 53 pit bulls bred for fighting found on the NFL quarterback’s Virginia property are facing euthanasia.

But at least 17 others weren’t that lucky. Their remains have already been found. Some were electrocuted or drowned with Vick’s help because they didn’t fight ferociously enough.

Then sheriff’s deputies found three dog carcasses and several malnourished pit bulls on rapper DMX’s Arizona property. Ving Rhames had to defend himself, his English bulldog and three bull mastiffs against charges the dogs killed a housekeeper while Rhames was out of town.
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(Akiit.com) Washington DC — Determined to stop the entertainment industry from portraying negative images of black men and women, the “Enough is Enough!” Campaign will hold its first rally and demonstration at the Washington DC residence of Debra L. Lee, Chairman and CEO, Black Entertainment Television Networks.

The demonstration will take place this Saturday, September 15th, at 1:00 p.m.

A press conference will be held at the site of the rally, 2800 McGill Terrace, NW, Washington, DC at 2:00 p.m.

Community leaders are fed up with derogatory media images of black men and women. People of conscience and concern are encouraged to come out in support of this effort.

The global marketing of negative images and stereotypes has created an environment in which portrayals of black men as “pimps, players, gangsters, thugs, drug dealers, etc…,” and black women as “strippers, whores, and objects for sexual exploitation” are becoming mainstream, acceptable images in the American popular imagination.
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