Tavis Smiley to Moderate GOP Presidential-Candidate Debate on PBS
For the first time, Republicans running for the presidential nomination will face Tavis Smiley and a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color on Sept. 27. Smiley, along with journalists Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ray Suarez of PBS and NPR's Juan Williams, will pose questions on issues ranging from healthcare and housing to Katrina relief, the economy and the environment. Questions will be derived from Smiley's book, The Covenant With Black America. Read more. (See also: Tavis Smiley Gets Presidential Candidates to Focus on Black America)
Director John Singleton Says Comedies Stereotype Blacks
When asked if his use of violence in movies about black men perpetuates stereotypes, John Singleton, who directed "Baby Boy," "Shaft," and "Boyz in the Hood," said, "Nobody who has ever asked me about that has ever complained about the successful movies that are coming out that feature men with dresses on" (such as "Norbit" and "Big Momma's House"). Perhaps the message in Singleton's films is too obscure. "You watch 'Baby Boy,' and that film is real ghetto but the way that I'm doing it, unless you had a background in literature, you wouldn't know that there's Greek tragedy in there," said Singleton. Read more.
Obama Guarantees Southern, Black Votes
Speaking to Democrats in New Hampshire, Sen. Barack Obama guaranteed that if nominated for president by his party, he would carry the South on a swell of black votes. "I guarantee you African-American turnout, if I'm the nominee, goes up 30 percent around the country, minimum," Obama said. Obama used Mississippi as an example of a potential surge in black voters because blacks comprise more than a third of that state's population while making up a smaller share of voters. He said Georgia would also turn Democratic and South Carolina would be in play. Read more. (See also: Who Really Is Barack Obama?)
But Obama's claim that he can carry the South is what Democrats always say before they lose, some argue. FOX News commentator Martin Frost says Florida could go Democratic this year because of its growing non-Cuban Latino population. It is also one of the few Southern states with a Democratic senator, Bill Nelson. Which other states could go Democratic? Read more.
Women, LBT Businesses Join Forces
The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) are teaming up to increase opportunities for lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women-owned businesses that are certified as such and want to partner with corporations. LBT women-owned businesses that are also WBENC-certified will be able to obtain their NGLCC certification. "This agreement will expedite the process of NGLCC certification and gives qualified businesses an additional tool to make the connection with corporate partners," said NGLCC CEO and Cofounder Chance Mitchell. Read more.
Barnes & Noble, Borders to Do Soft Sells of O.J. Simpson Book
Don't walk into Barnes & Noble to buy O.J. Simpson's book If I Did It. The book seller is not going to carry in its stores Simpson's book where he writes about what he would have done had he killed his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The store will, however, carry the book online. Barnes & Noble rival Borders will stock the book on its shelves but won't market it. "The marketplace will determine whether they are right or not," Eric Kampmann, the owner and president of Beaufort Books, the new publisher of If I Did It, told The Associated Press.
Foreign-Born Latinos Increase Wages
Foreign-born Latinos saw an increase in wages for the 10 years between 1995 and 2005. The percentage of foreign-born Latino workers in the lowest portion of the wage distribution decreased to 36 percent from 42 percent, according to the Pew Hispanic Center's new analysis of Census Bureau data. Wages for foreign-born Latino workers increased in part because many are older, better educated and more likely to work in construction rather than agriculture, the report said. Read more.
Levi's Ad Is Gay and Straight
A Levi's ad featuring a man pulling on a pair of jeans to find the entire street below rising into his apartment, complete with a beautiful woman, is being aired on mainstream stations as well as MTV's LGBT station, called LOGO. In the LOGO version, when the street rises, it brings the guy putting on the jeans a handsome man. Levi's says it plans to air the ad on other cable channels as well. Robert Cameron, Levi's vice president of marketing, said the company should have done this type of marketing earlier. Read more.
10 Questions on Michael Vick
USA Today attempts to answer the pressing questions surrounding the NFL's fallen star, Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Michael Vick. The story reveals why Vick is planning to plead guilty, what sentence Vick will get, if he can return to the NFL, etc. Here's a preview: Can Vick still be a spokesperson? The answer is no. Read more. (See also: Race and Sports: When Fast-Moving Objects Collide)
Military Recruiters Aim at Latinos
The military is aiming to recruit more Latinos by running Spanish-language recruitment ads, offering English-as-a-second-language classes and fast-tracking citizenship applications. As a result, the percentage of Latinos in the active Army increased to 12.6 percent in fiscal year 2006 from 10.5 percent in fiscal year 2001. Critics decry the military's Latino-recruitment effort, saying it focuses on poor, uneducated Latino families whose children are then used as cannon fodder. The Pew Hispanic Center reported in 2003 that Latinos were overrepresented in the most deadly frontline positions, making up nearly 18 percent of personnel who handled weapons directly. Read more. (See also: Military Recruiting)
L.A. to Get Its First Black Fire Chief
Hoping to end the discrimination, sexism and hazing that have become staples of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa named Douglas L. Barry, 54—a black firefighter and 32-year veteran of the department—to the chief's post. Fire- and police-department harassment and discrimination cases cost L.A. taxpayers nearly $15 million since 2005, including a record $6.2 million judgment last month to Brenda Lee, a black lesbian firefighter who said she was taunted and retaliated against for complaining. Other major lawsuits are pending, including the case of black firefighter Tennie Pierce, who said that white colleagues spiked his spaghetti with dog food and that he suffered retaliation for reporting the incident. Read more.
Questioning Transgender Motives Brings Scientist Severe Critiques
J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, argues in his 2003 book, The Man Who Would Be Queen that some males who become females do so to satisfy an erotic fascination with themselves as women and not because they were supposed to be women. Since Bailey's book was released, several prominent academics who are transgender accused him of ethics violations among other things, and a transgender woman he wrote about accused him of sexual impropriety. Alice Dreger, an ethics scholar and patient-rights advocate at Northwestern and a longtime advocate for transgender people concluded that the accusations against Bailey were essentially groundless. Dreger, whose report can be viewed at www.bioethics.northwestern.edu, says Bailey's book is not scientific research because he used the people in his book as anecdotes, not as the subjects of a systematic investigation. Read more.
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