Politics: McCaindoleezza??

ABCNews’ Mary Bruce Reports: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is actively courting the vice presidential nomination, Republican strategist Dan Senor said.
“Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this,” Senor said this morning on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
According to Senor, Rice has been cozying up to the Republican elite.
“There's this ritual in Washington: The Americans for Tax Reform, which is headed by Grover Norquist, he holds a weekly meeting of conservative leaders -- about 100, 150 people, sort of inside, chattering, class types,” Senor said. “They all typically get briefings from political conservative leaders. Ten days ago, they had an interesting visit -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- the first time a secretary of state has visited the Wednesday meeting.”
Senor explained that Rice’s history in public office would make her a prime candidate, especially in light of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s emphasis on experience throughout his campaign.
“What the McCain campaign has to consider is whether or not they want to pick a total outsider, a fresh face, someone a lot younger than him, a governor who people aren't that familiar with," Senor said. "The challenge they're realizing is that they'll have to have to spend 30 to 45 days, which they won't have at that point, educating the American public about who this person is.
“The other category is someone who people instantly say, the second they see that announcement, 'I get it, that person could be president tomorrow,'" Senor added. "Condi Rice is an option.”

What the Devil?!! ERYKAH BADU IS TEACHING AT A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL????

Speaking of Erykah Badu...

MediaTakeOut.com has learned that when the soulful R&B singer isn't on tour - she's teaching at a Christian school. Here's an excerpt from a Vibe magazine article on Erykah:
For the first seven years of his life, Badu homeschooled Seven. Now 10, he attends a private Christian school in the Dallas, Texas area where Badu says she teaches when she's not touring (an ironic twist, perhaps, for someone who still peppers her lyrics with references to the Five Percent Nation).
I know good teachers are hard to find, but does a Christian school have to resort to the "Poor Righteous" ones??

Music 360: Rapper Common, Christian or 5%er?

Recently, Common surfaced to support Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright after the firestorm of controversy surrounding the pastor's statements.  Common revealed that he is actually a member of that church, which is a Christain ministry.  He just perfomed there in January for their Watch Service (see below)

It was previously believed that Common was a 5%er, and was afiliated with a crew of bonifide 5% Nation of Gods & Earths followers.  The 5% doctorine is based a great deal on Islam.   So what gives?  Is he a Christian or 5%?   I dug a little deeper and here is an interview that I found:

Common's crew was/is called Soulquarians.  (below)

From Left to Right: Talib Kweli, Common (kneeling), Mos Def, James Poyser, Erykah Badu, ?uestlove, D'Angelo, Q-Tip, J Dilla (kneeling), Bilal

Here is the answer that I found from an interview with Barnes & Noble Music, in his own words:
B&N.com: I love the song "Heaven Somewhere." It's such a spiritually uplifting song. Where does your sense of spirituality come from?

C: I try to be in tune with God and in tune with myself as much as possible. The spirit is what carries us a lot. So I respect the spirit of the ancestors and my spirit. And I try to be respectful to and considerate of other spirits too. My spirituality stems from me being raised as a Christian, but then being introduced to Islam, and then understanding that God is God. There's only one God. Different religions may take different paths to get to God, but doing right to human beings and to yourself -- God is always gonna love that.

B&N.com: Has Erykah influenced your sense of spirituality?

C: I built that as a child -- having a strong spiritual base. It then developed from my own experiences in life. But of course Erykah enhances it. That's my mate. That's my queen. So she better enhance it. She definitely does that.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE INTERVIEW

Bottom Line:  Common is not dating Erykah anymore (who is DEEP into 5% Doctrine), but the influences are still there.  Soulquarians are also still an influence.  You cannot serve two masters, and this is a classic case of being unequally yoked not only with mates, but also with religions.  What do you think?

POLITICS: MCCAIN TRIES TO WOO, GETS BOOED

Sen. John McCain said HE WOULD COURT THE BLACK VOTE AND CAMPAIGN IN PLACES REPUBLICANS OFTEN SHUN. On Friday, he spoke in Memphis to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The video shows McCain apologizing for opposing a holiday for King with boos and interruptions from the audience. It doesn’t help that he has a black man holding an umbrella for him.

“I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support for a state holiday in Arizona,” he said. “We can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing, and Dr. King understood this about his fellow Americans.”

According to a press release from the DNC, in 1983, McCain voted against passing a bill to designate the third Monday of every January as a federal holiday in honor of King. In 1987, Arizona Gov. Even Mecham rescinded “what he termed an illegal executive order by his predecessor, Democrat Bruce Babbitt, to establish a state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” When asked about Mecham’s decision to rescind the holiday, “McCain said that he felt Mecham was correct in rescinding the holiday.” In 1994, McCain voted to prohibit federal funds for the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, which was established in 1984 “to encourage the observance of King’s birthday.”

McCain said HE REVERSED HIS DECISION AROUND 1990 AFTER HE LEARNED MORE ABOUT KING’S ACHIEVEMENTS. His home state of Arizona was the second to the last state to recognize the holiday. Shout out to CL Readers Kimberly and Diabolical for the info.

Throwback Video: BeBe & CeCe & Whitney 'Hold Up The Light"

1989 BeBe & CeCe Winans killed it with this performance at the NAACP Image Awards! Even Whitney was on point. But it was so ironic what her verse was:
"Boys and Girls! Can't you see? The kind of friend, 'CRACK' can be?"...My mic is off. Enjoy!

This Week's Top Foolywang: 3rd Graders Plot To Get Teacher

Some of you may or may not have heard this:

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.
The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.
"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."
The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.
School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school, Tanner said.
Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher, Tanner said.
Nine children have been given discipline up to and including long-term suspension, said Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system. She would not be more specific but said none of the children had been back to school since the case came to light.
The purported target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.
The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.
"We're not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher," Tanner said.
The parents of the students have cooperated with investigators, who aren't allowed to question the children without their parents' or guardians' consent, he said. Authorities have withheld the children's names.
Police expected to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors, Tanner said.
Children in Georgia can't be charged with a crime unless they are at least 13, District Attorney Rick Currie said.
Martin told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla., that administrators would follow school system policy and state law in disciplining the students.
"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."
Four mothers of other third-grade students at Center Elementary called for the immediate expulsion of the suspected plotters.
Stacy Carter and Deana Hiott both cited school system policy stating that any student who brings "anything reasonably considered to be a weapon" is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.
"We don't want our children around them," Carter told the Times-Union. "The one with the knife could have stabbed my child or someone else's child at lunch or out on the playground."
"This is an isolated incident, an aberration. ... We have good kids," Center Principal Angie Coleman told the newspaper.

I say, if they are old enough to plot, they are old enough to get some type of pre-juvenille somethin'!

Today Is The 40th Anniversary of Dr. King's Assasination

His words are as poignant today, as they were then:

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this date, 40 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. It's a day when many of us will celebrate his legacy, the values he espoused, and his vision for a better America. Some will talk about the King who challenged America's unlawful war in Vietnam, who found common ground with Malcolm X, and who became more aggressive in his push for improving America. But the media will likely focus a great deal on politicians who give speeches where they try to align themselves with his legacy.
We wanted to make sure that today when Senator McCain speaks, you and your friends and family know who's talking.
McCain will bring his "Service to America" tour to Memphis on Friday, but many people don't know the service he touts includes voting against the federal holiday honoring Dr. King. In August 1983 he fought the holiday, voting to block a piece of bipartisan legislation honoring him that was supported by even conservative Republicans--including Dick Cheney--and signed into law by President Reagan. McCain went on to resist recognizing a King holiday in his home state of Arizona. When Arizona's state legislature failed to pass a bill recognizing a holiday honoring Dr. King, the governor at the time, Bruce Babbit, created the holiday by executive order. Babbit's successor, Gov. Evan Mecham rescinded the order as his first act in office, doing away with the holiday. John McCain's response? He defended the governor, not Dr. King. (After undoing the holiday, the same governor went on to publicly support referring to Black people as "pickaninnies").
In 1990, seven years after his initial vote, McCain went along with establishing a King holiday. On the campaign trail in 2000, facing questions about his history on this issue, McCain declared he had "evolved." Looking at the rest of McCain's public record, even recently, it's hard to see much evidence of an "evolution". In fact, McCain has consistently opposed a civil rights agenda:
He voted an amazing FOUR times against the Civil Rights Act of 1990--a bill designed to make it easier for employees to prove job discrimination and imposing harsher penalties on bosses who discriminated.
In 2004 he opposed affirmative action in college admissions--a key component of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that is among King's key legislative victories.
He has voted at least 8 times against raising the minimum wage.
And as recently as last month, he argued against federal intervention to help Americans, disproportionately Black Americans, who have faced foreclosure during the housing crisis.
If John McCain has evolved, he hasn't evolved much. Instead, we see a consistent and troubling pattern. From campaigning against Dr. King's holiday to undermining important civil rights laws, John McCain has not stood side by side with King's vision, he has stood in its way.
Today, we hope that everyone will take a moment to pause and remember Dr. King's legacy, recognizing his contributions of words, deeds and ultimately his life. And we hope that all can see past political posturing (regardless of who it comes from) and embrace the bold, challenging vision that King actually projected. We believe that in doing so, we honor both his legacy and his sacrifice.
-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, Mervyn, Andre, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team April 4th, 2008

For more on his Assasination Click Here