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Six months ago, the world seemed united with commitments to help Haiti recover. Now, half a year later, the rubble remains and misery blankets the refugee camps. July 12th marked the six-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed as many as 300,000 people and left much of the country in ruins. Up to 1.8 million people are living in unlivable tent cities, with inadequate, if any, sanitation, no electricity, and little protection from the intense heat and the worsening rains. Rape, hunger and despair are constant threats to the people stranded in the camps.

I am not surprised that Haitians are angry. I join them in questioning where the billions of dollars donated in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake have gone. The Disaster Accountability Project found that of the 197 organizations that solicited money following the earthquake, only six had publicly available reports detailing their activities.

From the “international donor community,” more than $9 billion was pledged, but to date, only Brazil, Norway and Australia have paid in full. Most of the United States’ pledge of $1.15 billion is held up in Congress.

According to The Washington Post, only 2 percent of promised reconstruction aid has been delivered. The hurricane season is active in Haiti, and millions there are counting on all of us making good on our pledges.

If you want to support Haiti and her people please consider supporting the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
and to stay up to date please visit Haiti Action

Credit Denis Moynihan and Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now!” who have been providing on going coverage on relief efforts in Haiti and were referenced for this article.

Cross-posted on Ella’s Voice

Washington, DC – The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR) issued the following statement about President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens:

As women leaders, we greatly respect Solicitor General Kagan’s intellectual capabilities and highly accomplished record in the Administration and academia. Nonetheless, Justice Stevens distinguished himself on the Supreme Court as a leader in protecting and defending civil rights. We look forward to learning more about the Solicitor General’s record as it relates to civil and women’s rights issues.

The Black Women’s Roundtable supports efforts to maintain a proper balance on the Supreme Court that protect the interests of all while simultaneously ensuring the Court is finally representative of all Americans in this society. Needless to say,  we are disconcerted by the perceived lack of real consideration of any of the extremely qualified African American women as potential nominees.

As we have throughout history, African American women played a significant role in the 2008 election because we were especially aware of the impact this presidency would have for generations to come. As the late Dr. Dorothy I. Height, founding board member of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and co-convener of BWR, stated in our previous meeting with the Administration, we believe it is time for African American women to be represented in all sectors of government – including the Supreme Court of the United States, which in its 221 year history has not had a Black woman nominated to serve on our highest court in the land.

The Black Women’s Roundtable network comprises an intergenerational membership of Black women civic leaders of international, national, regional and state-based organizations and institutions that works collectively to advance policies and strategic initiatives that help to improve the lives of underserved women and girls. BWR members work in a wide range of social justice, civic, corporate, labor, academic, women and youth organizations.

As America passed a new mile stone in health care, some of our ugly history resurfaced with a vengeance. Nigger, Faggot, were just some of the words yelled at democratic congressional members as they made their way into the capital. One member, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, was even spat on while he made his way down one of the congressional halls. They were signs posted around the district threatening violence, and angry mobs posted outside the capital stairs. The scene was grim at best, dangerous at worse. This all because of health care reform right, really?

Since the 44^th President took his oath one cold Jan 20^th, the country has been regressing into the underworld of polarization. Not between conservatives and liberals or democrats and republicans, that’s what some would want you to believe. It’s between racist and non, or better yet it’s, between the future of this country and our past.

From healthcare to immigration, the public debate on policy issues, well, has never been debated. The public discourse has boarder on insanity and sometimes crossed the line all together. Are people really this opposed to healthcare reform? Or are just some opposed to the President…the Black President.  If it’s the former, than can someone explain to me why Nigger, Baby Killer and Faggot has anything to do with health care reform. Right now American is in a fight for its life. It might be disguised as just some fringe, but the future is in the balance. The comments shouted at members of congress, the death threats against the president, is a direct message to future of this country. WE WILL DIE AND TAKE THE COUNTRY WITH US BEFORE WE ARE LEAD BY THIS PRESIDENT. Now the question is, what is the future of this country willing to do for change?

Well found this on the starkreports.com… I’m at a lost for words here…This has been one hell of a Black History Month…. I wonder what is going to happen during International Women’s Month… a congressional bill that states women need to fulfill household duties..

By Sam Sanders, check out his blog at The Not So Angry Black Man

I’m not usually one to defend Harry Reid. He’s ineffective and a horrible Senate Majority Leader. (AND he has really bad posture.) But in light of “Negro-Gate” 2010, I’ve felt the need to come to his rescue, at least as much as this one, lowly blog will allow.

I’m sure you’ve read about it by now. Mark Halperin’s new Campaign-2008 gossip-blog masquerading as a book details Harry Reid’s rather awkward words on race. He said that Barack Obama’s light skin and lack of a “Negro-dialect” made him more electable. Since the book’s release, the GOP has been calling for Reid’s departure from his seat as Senate Majority Leader.

My defense, after the jump…

I think a reaction that harsh is too much. We have to understand Reid’s words in context. While the word “Negro” might not be as PC as some like, it should not be thought of as a slur, particularly in the way Reid used it. Keep this in mind: There’s been a move from using the word “colored” to “Negro” to “Black,” and now to “African-American” to describe the descendants of African slaves in America. At times, each of these words were the preferred term of Black people, as evidenced by the existence of organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), both founded and maintained by African-Americans.

“Negro” may be out of date, but it is definitely not the same as calling me a N!&&@

Secondly, an honest discussion about politics in the United States will acknowledge that Reid’s sentiment was true. It IS easier for a light-skinned Black person who speaks “well” to get ahead – not just in politics, but in the corporate world and so many other spheres. America’s light-skinned preference is well documented and studied.

But the worst part of all of this is to compare Reid’s words to those of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, when he supported Strom Thurmond’s segregationist bid for the Presidency. After those remarks, and Lott’s incredibly awful BET interview asking us for forgiveness, he was forced to step down. (Yes, Trent Lott really did go on BET News. At least he didn’t bring collard greens and corn bread as penance…)

Lynne Cheney and other Republicans are saying that Dems who wanted Lott out are hypocritical when they don’t demand Reid’s ouster. But Reid was really denouncing close-minded Americans who might look for any excuse to not vote for a Black man. On the other hand, Trent Lott was actively supporting segregation, which he had done several times before. And lest we forget, Harry Reid was actually a big, early, and powerful supporter of our nation’s first Black president.

When I see folks like Lynn Cheney yelling about “hypocrisy” at the top of their lungs, what I really hear are Republicans implying that Reid got a pass just because he has Black friends. That’s not the case. Reid gets a pass because what he said was more about the bigotry of voters, not about his racism towards any Black politicians. He doesn’t get a pass just because he’s cool with the CBC. But my bigger question for the GOP as a whole is this — why don’t YOU have more Black friends? (Michael Steele, alone, is not enough.) It might look a little better if the folks making your case were a little more diverse.

From TheGrio.com

Opinion written by: Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.

It keeps getting deeper by the second. I was on television the other day to discuss the recent incident during which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated that Barack Obama might have had a chance to become president because he is “light-skinned” and doesn’t speak with a “Negro dialect”. But the real bombshell was the statements allegedly made by former President Bill Clinton.

According to a new book (called “Game Change”) to be released this week, Bill Clinton told Ted Kennedy that, “A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,” referring to then presidential candidate Barack Obama. Clinton also griped that Kennedy was only supporting Obama because he is black.

To say that the black community should be offended by Bill Clinton’s words would be an understatement. If the allegations in “Game Change” are true, this is going to destroy the already wounded relationship between the Clinton family and the African American community. Early on in the 2008 presidential campaign (back when no one thought Barack Obama could seriously challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination), African-Americans were excited by the idea that we no longer had to have a “sugar substitute,” and could instead taste the very real sweetness that comes with having meaningful access to the White House. Although I have critiqued President Obama on multiple occasions, I am quite proud of his accomplishment.

For many years, Bill Clinton proudly accepted the false label of “first black president,” which offended real black men in America who wondered if someone who looks like us could ever be considered capable enough to possess that kind of power. By allowing himself to be proclaimed to be a surrogate for blacks, Bill Clinton was upholding the implicit argument that blackness must be stealth and that African-Americans could only have access to power through advocacy from well-intended whites. Many in the black community felt patronized and disrespected by the Clintons, who almost seemed to feel that they were doing us a favor by even caring the slightest bit about African-American issues.

Hillary Clinton’s “Gone with the Wind” attitude began to reveal itself as she unraveled over the course of the 2008 Democratic primaries, using nasty racial references to undermine Obama’s bid for the presidency. Bill put icing on the cake by publicly comparing Obama’s campaign to that of Jesse Jackson in 1984, arguing that Obama had no chance to win because he was a black candidate. Bill Clinton’s remarks remind us quite clearly that white supremacist thinking also victimizes those who support the African-American community. Black people could have a seat in the car of American politics, but we should never have the ungrateful audacity to actually ask to be the driver.

While black America is certainly appreciative of the contributions of Bill and Hillary Clinton, a new day has come. Black people are no longer interested in second-class citizenship, and I conjecture that we will be more liberated to lay our expectations on the table. We are not to be constrained by secret alliances and pressures toward assimilation; rather, this century should be one where blackness is no longer proclaimed to be a liability, and can instead be a source of pride and power. While even our friends might see us as coffee servants and (as Rod Blagojevich alluded to) shoe shine boys, we see ourselves as leaders, thinkers and high achievers. Small-minded behavior like that of former President Clinton cannot and will not be tolerated, and in our quest for a national conversation on race, such issues should be laid out for all to discuss. Now Bill, please go get me a cup of coffee — I take my coffee black. Just kidding Bill, I would never disrespect you by referring to you as a coffee boy — too bad you don’t feel the same way.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.

Dr. Dyson coming with the fire…..

Comments anyone?