Slave Catcher of the Week: Rev. Al Sharpton The "Refined" Agitator, Mascot, & Sellout

Usually when I feature who deem to be slave catchers or anyone exhibiting slave catcher behavior, I do so without apology. Having said that, it sorta pains me to present Rev. Al Sharpton in this light. Yes many of you Negroes have talked shit about the man in the past, and yes I've defended him and deemed him very necessary in the struggle. However, I caught his interview on 60 Minutes last Sunday, and well, let's just say I saw some things about the man that well, doesn't sit too well with me. The brother was in slave catcher mode.

To put it mildly, he has become, in fact, the "Black Mascot" of the White House as Dr, Cornel West warned him of becoming a few weeks ago. And it's sad that he's happy to be just that in "post-racial" America as it is today.

Don't believe me? OK, well checkout the interview for yourself and tell me I'm wrong. Uh-huh, pay attention to where he says "America has changed and therefore Al Sharpton has changed." And if that doesn't convince you, pay attention to his justification on not critiquing the president on anything ever and especially in the face of double digit black unemployment. I could be wrong, and maybe you can convince me, but Rev Al Shapton has truly sold out.

Sorry Al, but sitting around smoking cigars every week with very wealthy white men in Manhattan is a long way from the days of wearing track suits and carrying a bull horn. And while Negores are still hungry and jobless, that's not a good look. But g'head and get your corporate on while you can. Obama ain't gon' be there4 forever. And lucky for you, cops are gonna shoot yet another innocent Black body in the future. We in the hood are watching you, pimp.

Vote For Sarah Palin, She Knows The Words To "Rappers Delight", & Loves Black People

You know at first when I heard and wrote about the right-wing media generated beef surrounding my man Common's invitation to read poetry at the White House, I thought it was funny. No seriously, it was almost as funny as the accusation of Barack Obama being in the "Whoomp, There It Is" music video. So yeah, I laughed at the notion of Common being this "thug rapper" from Chicago and well known cop killing advocate. But then I saw the following interview with Sarah Palin via Fox, I got pretty heated:



OK, before I continue, first off, I'd like to give a big shout out to Common and Michelle Obama for getting Fox to bring on more Black folks on air in one week than they have all year (click here, here, and especially here to see a slave catcher at work). Alright, so now that I've got that out of the way, allow me to get back to Sister Sarah by asking: when the hell did Sarah Palin's media whoring ass ever listen to a Hip Hop album, much less listened to anything Common has ever done? And this spectacle of American embarrassment had the nerve to say she's "not anti-rap," because she "knows the words to Rapper's Delight." Yes, that Rapper's Delight; uh-huh, "to the hip hop, the hippy to the hippy," rap song from back in the day. Yes, she said she knows the words.

Well Gee, I'm sure Grandmaster Caz of The Cold Crush Brothers really appreciates that, Sarah. Of course I couldn't help overlooking the slick way you threw in the "there's no way I'm racist because I have Black friends," line. Because well, you obviously can't be white and "down" with Black people unless you can recite the words of that particular song. Which is really messed up, because now I have to call up all my white friends and ask them if they can spit Big Bank Hank's verse just to be sure they're not affiliated with the Klan.

Glen Ford on Barack Obama, Bill Daley, & the Neutralizing of the Progressive Movement [VIDEO]

"Black America is so psychologically invested in this president that the discussion is not about whether his policies are impacting negatively upon us, but how the president can be protected, who is trying to bring him down, rather than how his policies are crushing us as well." - Glen Ford 

Not that I expected Obama to hire cashier number five from Big Lots to run the White House. But damn, why did he have to hire a Wall Street insider, one time pusher of NAFTA, and yet another neoliberal Clintonite. Appearing on The Real News Network with Paul Jay is my man, Glen Ford, the co-founder of one of my favorite sites: BlackAgendaReport.com. Check it out and tell me what you think about his views, will you? Personally, this is especially interesting to me, because he says what many of our folk aren't trying to hear.

Is Obama a man of the people, or Wall Streets man?


BIO: Glen Ford is a distinguished radio-show host and commentator. In 1977, Ford co-launched, produced and hosted America's Black Forum, the first nationally syndicated Black news interview program on commercial television. In 1987, Ford launched Rap It Up, the first nationally syndicated Hip Hop music show, broadcast on 65 radio stations. Ford co-founded the Black Agenda Report. Ford is also the author of The Big Lie: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of the Grenada Invasion.

An Open Letter to Chris Rock

Ole Scraggly

by Dr. Goddess

Dear Chris Rock,

Like America’s conscience, I want to erase this moment in history but I can’t.

You’ve disgusted me to no end. I cannot believe I just witnessed your tasteless, callous, immature, disrespectful and unfunny “comedic tribute” to Oprah Winfrey. It was already borderline for you to joke about her money on such an occasion but you went way too far by cracking a sex joke about Oprah on the day she received her highest honor for the arts in the nation, by the President of the United States of America, in the Kennedy Center Honors.

The Presidential honorees, in total, were country singer Merle Haggard, composer Jerry Herman, choreographer Bill T. Jones, Sir Paul McCartney, and Oprah Winfrey.

Now let’s review your jokes, shall we?

Chris: Oprah’s SO rich…

Audience: How rich is she?!

Chris: Oprah’s so rich…that China owes HER money!

Audience: (laughter)

*There’s really no need to focus on Oprah’s money either but we can at least let this one pass, if nothing less, to remind Americans that their xenophobia and white supremacy are unjustified. But I digress…

Chris: Oprah’s SO rich…

Audience: How rich is she?!

Chris: Oprah’s so rich…that if she had sex with Paul McCartney, the SEC would have to approve!

Audience: (uncomfortable laughter, shifts in seats, polite smiles to neighbors)

HOW DARE YOU?!

White House Black Media Liaison Quits, But Why Was He Hired?

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

After scouring the internet to read the bio of recent and abrupt White House resignee, Corey Ealons, I am totally not impressed by his credentials for the position he was appointed.

When I read an article, I was like, Corey Ealons who? Who the hell is this guy, and what sky did he drop out of because it is not the chitlin' circuit black press that I know and study.

As of Monday, the former black press liaison announced his departure from the Obama Administration. However, his presence will not be missed if you read his experience. He doesn't have a lick of practice or knowledge of the black press and the negroness that it operates under.

According to the White House site, Ealons bio reads:

Corey Ealons, Director of African American Media and Coordinator of Special Projects
Ealons served as director of African American Media during the General Election for the Obama-Biden campaign. Prior to joining that operation he was deputy chief of staff and communications director for U.S. Representative Artur Davis of Alabama for six years. A communications professional for nearly 15 years, Ealons’ experiences include three presidential campaigns and active duty service as the public affairs director and photojournalist for the 3rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard), the Presidential Honor Guard in Washington, D.C. Ealons graduated from the University Of Alabama School Of Communications with a concentration in public relations and political communications. (source)


Yaaaaawwwwnnnn.

I've worked for some black papers and frankly, he didn't have the pimp juice to deal with the "niggeration" (excuse my French) and back-handed bullshit that goes on in African-American papers.

Have you heard about the iron hand that Desiree Rodgers has to use to deal with the Tom-coon foolery @ Ebony. She had to bust them out for paying a white firm goo-gobs of money to upgrade their image and robbed them of their money. Then they hired a junior flip of an executive who was just a fresh face without the backbone to create real change.

Or maybe Desiree has found some twisted way to get back under the thumb of Obama by getting in through Ebony. She is quite the cunning little diva. I absolutely love her. Go get your man Desiree, but be careful. Michelle looks like she will blacken your high-yella tell with a South-side right hook.

Hey Robert Gibbs, the "Professional Left" Would Like you to Turn Off your TV

In one simple interview and subsequent article in The Hill, the White House, via Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, has managed to send a clear message to members of the electorate - something it has long had a problem of doing. Unfortunately, not intended for the public at large, and specifically targeted for the progressive base of the Democratic Party, the words were clear:

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as healthcare reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”

The White House, constantly under fire from expected enemies on the right, has been frustrated by nightly attacks on cable news shows catering to the left, where Obama and top lieutenants like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have been excoriated for abandoning the public option in healthcare reform; for not moving faster to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay; and for failing, so far, to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Liberals have criticized Obama and his staff for moving to the middle and bargaining on healthcare reform, as well as the financial regulatory overhaul and even the $787 billion economic stimulus package, which some liberals said should have been larger.

[...] Gibbs’s tough comments reflect frustration and some bafflement from the White House, which believes it has done a lot for the left.

In just over 18 months in office, Obama has passed healthcare reform, financial regulatory reform and fair-pay legislation for women, among other bills near and dear to liberals.

Obama is also overseeing the end of the Iraq war, with the U.S. on schedule to end its combat operations by the end of this month.

He’s also added diversity to the Supreme Court by nominating two female justices, including the court’s first Hispanic. Yet some liberal groups have criticized his nominees for not being liberal enough.

“There’s 101 things we’ve done,” said Gibbs, who then mentioned both Iraq and healthcare.

Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama.

Progressives, Gibbs said, are the liberals outside of Washington “in America,” and they are grateful for what Obama has accomplished in a shattered economy with uniform Republican opposition and a short amount of time. (SOURCE: The Hill)

There's no doubt in my mind that being the president of the United States of America is a pretty tough job. And as jacked up things were when Barack Obama came into office, it's a wonder he hasn't grabbed two cans of beer out of the fridge and slid out of a White House emergency exit window.

But be that as it may, does the White House really do itself any good by pissing off the base of its party three months prior to midterm elections? See what I mean about them not being able to control the message?

In a year pivotal to democratic incumbents whose political lives are threatened by the right-wing noise machine, Gibbs' reaction seems a bit ill timed. As many distractions as the White House has had in recent weeks (if not months), is this good political strategy?

Just recently in the wake of the Shirley Sherrod fiasco, president Obama sought to shift blame by indicting the 24/7 news cycle from the culpability of the White House in the firing of Shirley Sherrod. I wonder just what he has to say about this one...

The High-Tech Lynching of Shirley Sherrod: What's worse, Right Wing Lies, or Liberal Fears?

By Tracie Powell

The only thing worse than right-wing conservatives who lie, mislead and consistently play the race card are liberals who jump to wrong-headed conclusions.

Such is the case in this week’s saga of Shirley Sherrod.

Sherrod is the former USDA employee who was fired after conservatives, including those over at Fox News, aired an edited video clip of her speaking at a NAACP event in March about an experience that happened 20 years ago. First publicized by right-wing zealot Andrew Brietbart, the video clip duped many – including the NAACP – into believing Sherrod had used her position of authority to hurt a white farmer in Georgia, when in fact she simply chronicled a very powerful and personal journey of transcending race in America when helping a white Georgia farmer two decades ago.

That white farmer and his wife were first to publicly praise Sherrod for helping them save their farm.

As a child of the South, having been born and raised in Georgia, I can state with authority that life is viewed through a racial lens of black and white. My parents, both black, had me bussed to a mostly-white high school because they believed - as many did in years past and some still do now - that white meant better: Better teachers, better books, better future. That’s all Sherrod was saying. She sent a white farmer to a white lawyer, thinking “his own kind would take care of him.” I don’t anticipate Brietbart, anyone at Fox News, few in the mainstream media or even a certain someone inhabiting the White House to relate to the invaluable lessons Sherrod spoke of or my upbringing; such thinking is a distinctly Southern thing and those folks probably wouldn’t understand.