AIDS Awareness Ribbon Originally uploaded by Auntie P

 This Saturday is World AIDS Day.  AIDS/HIV is affecting the African American community most.

The HIV epidemic has grown drastically and continues to grow. In 1995 8 million people were infection. In 2007 there are 33 million people living with HIV.

Among many places in the United States Washington D.C has a high rate of African Americans suffering from the AIDS/HIV.  Stats are showing that 80 percent of  3,269 cases reported having HIV are African American men, woman and children. 9 out 10 who test positive are African Americans.

 This is clearly an epidemic that will not go away over night or even in a months time. It is affecting our world.

It’s time we start taking a stand against this infection. It’s time to get tested, educate and protect ourselves.  Most importantly we need to learn to love ourselves.  Get tested! Stay safe!

Sean Taylor / 1983 – 2007

Originally uploaded by Timothy McIntyre

  Today the world of football players and fans are overcome with tragedy and sadness, with the lost of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor. Taylor a former All-American at the University Miami was only 24-years-old. After an intruder broke into his Palmetto Bay home and shot him in the artery in his upper thigh.

After seven hours of surgery Taylor showed signs of recovery, but at 3:30 a.m he was pronounced dead.

Detectives are trying to figure out if the intruders who came in and shot him on Monday are the same intruders who tried to break into his home earlier this month. Detectives also want to figure out if the intruders are connected with the  group of men he had a dispute with in 2005 over his terrain vehicles.

But until the Detectives find out more, we are left to mourn and will always remember the young talented star Sean Taylor.

How will the people vote? African American women are in favor of education, health care, employments and childcare. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been in favor of the African American community since the beginning. However, Clintonis said to be more experienced while Obama is said to be more honest. Clinton may have the upper hand in the African American community, because of her husband former president Bill Clinton. When Bill Clinton was in office he was highly favored by the African American community. He was dubbed the “the first black president.” The same goes for his wife Hillary Clinton who has the support from the African American community as well.

When it comes to Barack Obama the people question his “blackness”. Although the people trust him they feel he lacks in experience, especially when it comes time to clean up the Bush Administrations mess.

Although Obama has the support from Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, and Sidney Poitier the new question is will it be enough to win?

Sorry about any confusion.

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Nigger or Nigga

Originally uploaded by peraltatv2728

From the time the first slave boat arrived in the new world, blacks were stripped of their homes, children, husbands, wives and names. However, the names were replaced with derogatory names such as coon, monkey and most offensive one of them all nigger.

Some of the other names over the years have died down in some cases, but the word nigger seems to still be very present.

In the black community some blacks have taken the word nigger (negative) and tried to turn it into a positive by saying nigga, meaning friend.

However, it has confused many non- African American people who think it is cool to use the N word to refer to their friends who maybe black or white.

Recently on Camillionaire’s latest album “Sound of Revenge” he has refused to use to the word N word because he says it restricts his creativity. On Celeb Krack he was quoted saying,

“On my new album I don’t say the word n***a, I don’t curse nowhere on my whole album,” Chamillionaire told AllHipHop.com. “People are not even gonna know it. I guarantee if I don’t go out and say it in the media they’re not even gonna realize that. People go back and listen to all of my old mixtapes and don’t even realize that I wasn’t even doing all that type of stuff. I was saying n***a, but I wasn’t saying the ‘f’ word or [the] ‘b’ word. I was never saying those types of things…I hear that so much and it restricts your creativity and how far it can go.”

This is a positive start for the hip hop community. However other rap moguls such as Nas plans on releasing a new album this year called, “Nigger.” If record label Universal decides to release his album it will cost them $84 million dollars. It is disturbing that rappers can say the N word on their albums, but can’t place it on the cd cover as a title.

So the question is… are we saying it is ok to use the N word so long as we don’t see the actual word in stores?

In recent months the Jena 6 has sparked news headlines all over the world. Although it has seemed to die down a little there are still many kinks left to work out.

In September a state appeals court ruled that Mychal Bell should not be charged as an adult, he is still due to juvenile court next month.

According to the Washingtonpost.com, One judge has disqualified himself from hearing a request from news media to open juvenile court proceedings for a black teenager charged with beating a white classmate in Jena.

District Judge J.P Mauffray Jr. Tuesday assigned his colleague Thomas Yeager to decide if the case of Mychal Bell should be open to the public.

In Louisiana, criminal cases involving teenagers are usually sealed, but news organizations lawyers are arguing that a case that involves aggravated second-degree battery is one of the violent offenses that would allow a juvenile court case to be opened.

“Charges against three other teens _ Robert Bailey Jr., 18; Carwin Jones, 19; and Theo Shaw, 18 _ also have been reduced from attempted murder to aggravated second-degree battery. Bryant Purvis, 18, has not yet been arraigned, and a sixth suspect was charged as a juvenile.”

The fight in Jena, Louisiana is not over yet.

Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Yesterday, Wilson spoke about getting released from prison and what he learned from his experience. He said, “It’s definitely taught me valuable life lessons. “It would be good to get in anywhere and pursue my education.”

The harsh 10 year sentence created wide protest. Wilson’s supporters say the sentence was related to his race. Although both of the teenagers at the time were both black.

Wilson was sentenced based on a 1995 law that changed in 2005 making consensual oral sex between teenagers close in age a misdemeanor.

Frank Lucas who is played by Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe plays the detective Richie Roberts who desperately wants to bring Lucas down. This film has gotten great rating from critics.

I hope the black community will embrace this film to support the black actors. I hope the movie teaches the black community that as a people we need to try and learn from others mistakes to have a brighter future.

IMG_0791

Originally uploaded by aphyd

At many universities across the nation are recognizing and are participating in a ceremony called the black graduation. This graduation recognizes the African American population on campus and those who are graduating. It is said to be an extra pat on the back for the African American students, but it does not take place of the traditional ceremony. The statistics for blacks graduating are very low.

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education says, “Nationwide, the black student college graduation rate remains at a dismally low 43 percent. But the college completion rate has improved by four percentage points over the past three years. As ever, the black-white gap in college graduation rates remains very large and little or no progress has been achieved in bridging the divide”.

Universities such as Berkeley, Michigan State and USC are just a few who acknowledge the black ceremony. USC has created a mission statement to give a better understanding of what the graduation is  on their campus.

Although, the ceremony exists the graduating rate for African Americans is still very low. The number of enrolled blacks has increased over the years, but the graduation rate has fallen. Many are not completing their degrees.

At some universities the black graduation rate is higher then others. This happens because some schools like Hampton or Grambling State which are historical black institutions favor the black population. Compare to other schools that are diverse like USC and Michigan State. There has been race turmoil at University of California, Berkeley, which has created an unwelcoming feeling to the African American population on campus. These issues have caused a low black graduating rate and have raised serious concerns.

The black graduation at some universities is recognized as an organization on campus that allows students to participate in. This was not created to generate division on universities, but it is an event that the people in this organization can feel apart of. At Stephan F. Austin State University, the black graduation is put on by a black organization on campus.

“Black Graduation, which has been renamed the Black Congratulatory Ceremony (BCC), was originated at SFA by The African American Student Association (TAASA)”This ceremony is to give recognition to the organizations graduating members,” Urisonya Roberson, Multicultural Center coordinator, said. “Other programs such as the nursing program, the School of Social Work and many others usually have a special thing they do for their graduating members too.”