cuz if I was the communications director this never would fly...and i'm only a couple months in the PR game!
anyways...look at this foolishness:
NEWS ALERT : PELOSI TELLS HASTINGS NO ON INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMANSHIP
After meeting with House Speaker-elect Pelosi this afternoon, Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., issued a statement confirming he will not serve as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "I have been informed by the speaker-elect that I will not serve as the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 110th Congress," he said. "I am obviously disappointed with this decision."
Hastings won election to Congress in 1992, after having been impeached and removed from office as a federal judge. He concluded his statement by saying, "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet."
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
RIP Bebe Moore Campbell.
About a year ago my aunt gave me a signed copy of Bebe Moore Campbell's children's book, Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry. That story almost moved me to tears. I was just thinking about this story when I saw the following report.
Author Bebe Moore Campbell dies at 56
Mon Nov 27, 4:35 PM ET
Bebe Moore Campbell, whose many best sellers such as "Brothers and Sisters" touched on America's ethnic and social divides, died Monday. She was 56.Campbell died at home in Los Angeles from complications due to brain cancer, said publicist Linda Wharton Boyd. She was diagnosed with the disease in February."My wife was a phenomenal woman who did it her way," husband Ellis Gordon Jr. said in a statement. "She loved her family and her career as a writer.
Her books, largely fiction and based on real-life stories, included the perspective of many ethnic groups.
One of her first novels, "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine," was published in 1992 and spanned a 40-year period. It dealt with prejudice in the United States. The book earned her an NAACP Image Award for literature. She followed the book with "Brothers and Sisters," which focused on race relations in the corporate world after the 1992 Los Angeles riot.Among her other novels were "Singing in the Comeback Choir," "What You Owe Me" and "72 Hour Hold," the latter dealing with a mother coping with her daughter's bipolar disorder. Her 2003 play, "Even With the Madness," also focused on mental illness.
She also wrote children's books, including "Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry" in 2003, which won the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Outstanding Literature Award. Another children's book, "I'm So Hungry," will be released next year.
As a journalist, her articles appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Essence and Ebony.Campbell, whose full name was Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon, was born in February 1950 in Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971.
Campbell is survived by her husband; a son, Ellis Gordon III; a daughter, Maia Campbell; her mother, Doris Moore; and two grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.
Author Bebe Moore Campbell dies at 56
Mon Nov 27, 4:35 PM ET
Bebe Moore Campbell, whose many best sellers such as "Brothers and Sisters" touched on America's ethnic and social divides, died Monday. She was 56.Campbell died at home in Los Angeles from complications due to brain cancer, said publicist Linda Wharton Boyd. She was diagnosed with the disease in February."My wife was a phenomenal woman who did it her way," husband Ellis Gordon Jr. said in a statement. "She loved her family and her career as a writer.
Her books, largely fiction and based on real-life stories, included the perspective of many ethnic groups.
One of her first novels, "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine," was published in 1992 and spanned a 40-year period. It dealt with prejudice in the United States. The book earned her an NAACP Image Award for literature. She followed the book with "Brothers and Sisters," which focused on race relations in the corporate world after the 1992 Los Angeles riot.Among her other novels were "Singing in the Comeback Choir," "What You Owe Me" and "72 Hour Hold," the latter dealing with a mother coping with her daughter's bipolar disorder. Her 2003 play, "Even With the Madness," also focused on mental illness.
She also wrote children's books, including "Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry" in 2003, which won the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Outstanding Literature Award. Another children's book, "I'm So Hungry," will be released next year.
As a journalist, her articles appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Essence and Ebony.Campbell, whose full name was Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon, was born in February 1950 in Philadelphia. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971.
Campbell is survived by her husband; a son, Ellis Gordon III; a daughter, Maia Campbell; her mother, Doris Moore; and two grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.
Monday, November 20, 2006
From my cold, dead hands.
We're privileged to have Omar Woodard, a very good friend of mine, to bring his thoughts on gun violence in our communities to Ignorant Art this evening. Omar is an MPA candidate at The George Washington University and a Philadelphia native.
Where I'm from, gun crimes are typical. In Philadelphia, there have been almost 360 gun homicides alone since January 1. It was nothing for us to lay down and hear not firecrackers, but the sound of 45's clapping in the air. But recently, in the past year I've lost too many friends and family members to guns. One is too many, five is unbearable.
On my birthday, my best friend and prom date, Ardyce Hogan was shot and killed. My cousin was shot and killed just last night, over an Eagles jersey. An Eagles jersey that he didn't want to give up, so he gave up his life. This isn't a black issue, either. White folks have been killing each other for a long time now, I'm not sure if anyone has noticed flipping through your history books. But in America, our gun related homicide rates in major cities and rural areas are high every year. In PA, averaged over the past ten years, 70% of ALL homicides involved a gun. (source below)
I say that to say this: there are forces at work in our country that are actively opposed to the cessation of gun violence. ACTIVELY. OPPOSED. In my native state, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the legislature refuses to pass a one-gun-a-month law. They refuse, on the ground that it is unconstitutional to bar citizens from their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. So they can circumvent existing law to wiretap Americans, under the auspices of keeping America safe, but they can't bar someone from buying more than 12 guns a year that may actually go a ways to keep Americans safe?
Rural folks say that people in urban areas need to stop shooting each other. Would that it were that simple! It isn't about the urban and rural divide anymore, it's about priorities; it is about doing what is appropriate to keep kids safe on their streets. The Bush Administration thinks we should fear terrorism from Islamic extremists? We should fear the continued inaction of our state and national government. That is a far cry from being safe, from real "homeland security" - whatever the hell that means.
A single father of five was shot two weeks ago in Philadelphia, the victim of a stray bullet. It hit him in the head and killed him instantly. And we are scared of terrorism? Families are fearful to step outside their homes!
There are forces at work that actively oppose the cessation of gun violence in America. All the while, people are dying. Why won't we stand up to them? Why won't we demand that enough is enough? My family, my friends are being killed by guns, not bombs. They are not being killed by bearded Muslims, but by clean-shaven Americans.
Charlton Heston, the famous actor who once played Moses in the film The Ten Commandmants, and who walked with MLK Jr. in the March on Washington, uttered the now famous words, "They will pry this rifle from my cold, dead hands." Ironic, isn't it? The man who played Moses, the man who offered the Ten Commandments, one of which said, "Thou shalt not kill" - was President of the NRA?
There are forces at work that actively oppose the cessation of gun violence in America. People are dying. I'm not talking about taking anyone's guns away. But if 70% of ALL homicides over the past ten years in a state with 12 million people in it involved a gun, maybe we should reduce the number of guns available to people who shoot other people. Common sense measures can be adopted.
1. Limit purchases to one-gun-a-month
2. Renew and make permanent civilian ban on assault weapons
3. Increase age to buy guns through private sales to 21.
4. Allow local authorities, like Philadelphia, to set gun regulations
5. Adopt a national registration system, like for cars. We know what car you could hit someone with, why not know what gun you could shoot someone with?
2. www.nra.org
3.www.ceasefirepa.org
*To my friends who worry about a career in politics, don't worry. I'm not.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Homecoming.
This Christmas will actually be the first one I spend with my east coast fam since I was at least 7 years old. I'm excited, but I think I'm also a little sad. My childhood friends like to say, "You're so east coast!" whenever I come back from DC. Sometimes I wonder if it's because I've been away for that long or if it's really that I've "adapted" to life in the DC Metro. Have I REALLY traded my flip flops for timbs and hightops? Nah, not really. I'm still a Cali girl at heart. I miss the Chuck Taylors with the fat white laces. I get hype when they play old school Snoop in the clubs out here. I like my latte with soy milk. I still get slightly irritated when it's below 60 degrees outside. And sometimes I am still amused with how many people don't drive out here. As comfortable as I am with Washington, I find that I miss home a lot, even when I don't want to admit it. I miss Los Angeles "staples"--Venice, In and Out, Coffee Bean, Roscoes, Poetry and jazz sessions in Leimert, Watts Towers, stilettos and cellphones in Beverly Hills. I miss palm trees in the middle of December. I even miss the long bus ride on the 210 to my high school sometimes.
But the more I think about it, it may have been easier to adjust to DC since much of my family's roots are here. My mother grew up in Southeast, my father in Northwest. I mentioned in my last entry that I was contacted by my cousin, who has been researching his family history for ten years. I learned some things I hadn't known about before, and a few things I had wondered about but hadn't gotten answers about. For instance, it was confirmed that my father's side of the family had migrated to DC from the Carolinas and Virginia, respectively. Talking with my grandmother and with my cousin about our family history, I learned we can trace our family as far as Frances Simmons, who was a sharecropper like many Blacks after the Civil War.
Some of my relatives live in a house in Northeast Washington DC. When I was there for a small family gathering in April, it was mentioned that the house had been in the family since the 1890s. My great-great grandmother owned that house in during those years; she was a stenographer, while her husband was an insurance broker.
All of this begs the question--knowing that my great-great grandmother moved to Washington circa 1919-1920 (the tail end of the Great Migration)...knowing that my fam has roots in Virginia and the Carolinas...knowing that some of us got to the Carolinas by way of Haiti...where were we before then? The easiest answer is Africa, but I can't help but wonder where in Africa. It's one thing to guess or hypothesize, it's completely different to really know.
When I spoke with my cousin, I asked about if he had been able to research past the late 1800s. He said that the hardest part is the disconnect caused by slavery--before Reconstruction, most Black folks were recorded as "property" so birth records and Census data would not have accounted for that. Family units were divided again and again as slaves were bought, sold and sometimes killed. As a result, the familial bond was oftentimes broken. "It's possible though," he said in a more hopeful tone. "It would take more work, but if your Grandmother and I keep talking and researching--and if you keep doing the same and keep learning more--maybe we can get more questions answered."
For Black families, researching family history can be both frustrating and painful. Frustrating because our history of slavery and opporession makes it even harder to reach conclusions about where our roots really begin. Painful because--as with any family of any race--there will always be questions that some family members would rather be left unanswered. But just beginning to talk about things as simple as when your grandmother moved into her house or where your aunt went to college can spark a conversation about why your family is the way they are. Taking the time to talk about things that are not-so-pleasant as well as the good memories and anecdotes is just part of the "healing process" if you will. It's one of the first steps in strengthening the familial bond that we've lost in our past.
But the more I think about it, it may have been easier to adjust to DC since much of my family's roots are here. My mother grew up in Southeast, my father in Northwest. I mentioned in my last entry that I was contacted by my cousin, who has been researching his family history for ten years. I learned some things I hadn't known about before, and a few things I had wondered about but hadn't gotten answers about. For instance, it was confirmed that my father's side of the family had migrated to DC from the Carolinas and Virginia, respectively. Talking with my grandmother and with my cousin about our family history, I learned we can trace our family as far as Frances Simmons, who was a sharecropper like many Blacks after the Civil War.
Some of my relatives live in a house in Northeast Washington DC. When I was there for a small family gathering in April, it was mentioned that the house had been in the family since the 1890s. My great-great grandmother owned that house in during those years; she was a stenographer, while her husband was an insurance broker.
All of this begs the question--knowing that my great-great grandmother moved to Washington circa 1919-1920 (the tail end of the Great Migration)...knowing that my fam has roots in Virginia and the Carolinas...knowing that some of us got to the Carolinas by way of Haiti...where were we before then? The easiest answer is Africa, but I can't help but wonder where in Africa. It's one thing to guess or hypothesize, it's completely different to really know.
When I spoke with my cousin, I asked about if he had been able to research past the late 1800s. He said that the hardest part is the disconnect caused by slavery--before Reconstruction, most Black folks were recorded as "property" so birth records and Census data would not have accounted for that. Family units were divided again and again as slaves were bought, sold and sometimes killed. As a result, the familial bond was oftentimes broken. "It's possible though," he said in a more hopeful tone. "It would take more work, but if your Grandmother and I keep talking and researching--and if you keep doing the same and keep learning more--maybe we can get more questions answered."
For Black families, researching family history can be both frustrating and painful. Frustrating because our history of slavery and opporession makes it even harder to reach conclusions about where our roots really begin. Painful because--as with any family of any race--there will always be questions that some family members would rather be left unanswered. But just beginning to talk about things as simple as when your grandmother moved into her house or where your aunt went to college can spark a conversation about why your family is the way they are. Taking the time to talk about things that are not-so-pleasant as well as the good memories and anecdotes is just part of the "healing process" if you will. It's one of the first steps in strengthening the familial bond that we've lost in our past.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Knowing where you came from
I received the following email today from a cousin I haven't even met:
I am your cousin.
I am going to do a relationship chart to show you how we are related:
James and Bessie Dixon
children:
Miriam =Sisters=Bessie
Michael =1st cousins= Jacqueline
Anthony = 2nd cousins= John
Angel =3rd cousins= Lauren
I just wanted to contact you because we are cousins and we are the same age. you were born in Feb. and I was born in April. Just give me a call so we can stay in touch.
all this time I was thinking that I didn't have any cousins who were the same age as me, and then I find out that I actually do and not only that, we used to live practically around the corner from each other! He's been researching his family lineage for ten years now; his father is my grandmother's cousin. Apparently, he can trace our family back to Norfolk, Virginia in the late 19th century. This is very exciting and it makes me want to learn more about my family's history; I only know bits from talking to the older relatives and from my own research on my great-grandmother's life.
He's coming to DC in a few weeks, so we'll actually be able to meet face to face.
This will be continued...what a way to end the night...
I am your cousin.
I am going to do a relationship chart to show you how we are related:
James and Bessie Dixon
children:
Miriam =Sisters=Bessie
Michael =1st cousins= Jacqueline
Anthony = 2nd cousins= John
Angel =3rd cousins= Lauren
I just wanted to contact you because we are cousins and we are the same age. you were born in Feb. and I was born in April. Just give me a call so we can stay in touch.
all this time I was thinking that I didn't have any cousins who were the same age as me, and then I find out that I actually do and not only that, we used to live practically around the corner from each other! He's been researching his family lineage for ten years now; his father is my grandmother's cousin. Apparently, he can trace our family back to Norfolk, Virginia in the late 19th century. This is very exciting and it makes me want to learn more about my family's history; I only know bits from talking to the older relatives and from my own research on my great-grandmother's life.
He's coming to DC in a few weeks, so we'll actually be able to meet face to face.
This will be continued...what a way to end the night...
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Wednesday is only one step closer to Friday.
but until then...a little humpday humor. a friend shared this with me and it made me chuckle a bit.
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