Mary J. Blige - Just Fine
I'm a firm believer that one day there will be a church erected in honor of Mary J. Blige similar to San Francisco's Saint John Coltrane Church. Until that day comes we will have to continue watching in awe as St. Mary's devotees unexpectedly vocalize their prayers to her.
And although, I'm sure she's not reading this, I'm dedicating this post to the woman in the green jacket on the 3 train who shared her devotion to St. Mary with us all on the ride home this evening.
Ferentz
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Vita's Garden
Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya has produced another eloquent visual meditation entitle Vita's Garden. This time, Shalini tells a story about a young girl named Vita seeking to nurture something else in her neighborhood besides neglect. Shalini's short vignette draws the reader in hopes that our imaginations, like Vita's garden, shall also blossom. See it here and submit your vote for her this worthwhile project. Quick Links
Jeff Chang has a post about recent ICE raids at public schools in Berkeley and Oakland that is well worth reading. As Jeff rightly suggests, we can not let the attention garnering presidential campaigns distract us from other ongoing issues:
The political campaigns may have become a cartoon, but real issues are still exploding in the streets.
This past week, ICE sent agents to elementary schools in Oakland, shocking and scaring students, parents, teachers, and city officials. Parents reported that the agents intimidated students by patrolling outside the school after being denied entry at Stonehurst Elementary. ICE followed up with arrests of parents at their homes in Oakland and Berkeley. Read More...
NPR has launched a new show, The Takeaway, hosted by Adaora Udoji and John Hockenberry that's a Morning Edition and BBC News hybrid. It has a faster pace than most NPR news programs and tackles a pressing issue of the day without getting bogged down. I've only listened once, but I could see it becoming a part of my media diet.
WRGradio's Afrobot offers a review of the documentary unnatural causes on his blog:
This documentary draws attention to a fascinating area of public health research that charts the correlations among socio-economics, race and health. One study of thousands of British civil servants showed that the lower on the hierarchy a worker was positioned, the worse their health was. Read More...
Finally, over at the Huffington Post, yours truly weighs in with a response to Clinton and McCain's gas tax holiday proposal.
MXGM 15th Anniversary Celebration
Please join me this Friday May 16th in celebrating the work of this critical Brooklyn organization.
Friday, May 16, 2008 -- 6:30 pm
1199's Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center
310 W. 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Aves
The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) cordially invites you to attend our 15th year celebration and fund raiser to be held on Friday May 16, 2008 from 6:30 – 9:30 pm at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor Center located at 310 West 43rd street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
For 15 years the MXGM has worked tirelessly to defend the human rights of people of African descent. To date we have raised over $100,000 for political prisoners in the United States; we have organized an ongoing cop watch and know your rights program to combat the proliferation of police brutality in our communities; we work with young people on a weekly basis, through our New Afrikan Scouts program, to teach those youth about the richness of African culture and the resistance movements that shape our history.
Register for this fundraiser online here..