Colin Powell discusses African American Fathers

On the first anniversary of the historic 2008 election, retired Gen. Colin Powell, the first African-American secretary of state, talks one-on-one with CNN’s Don Lemon about on the most pressing issues facing black men in the age of President Obama. Read the interview by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Read the Contorversial Morehouse dress code

Check out the controversial Morehouse dress code which basically ask it’s young men to dress as if they are in the professional world. It of course bans doo rags, grillzs, and sagging pants but it was very surprising to see it had to ban women’s clothes and shoes?!?!

Read the list here:
http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

MISTER Scholarship grooms African American male teachers

Only about 2 percent of teachers nationwide are African-American men. But experts say that needs to change if educators expect to reduce minority achievement gaps and dropout rates.

American teachers are overwhelmingly white (87 percent) and female (77 percent), despite minority student populations of about 44 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read the entire story here:
http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

How comapnies make money off prisoners

Dr. Byron Price is a black scholar with a mission. His book, ‘Merchandizing Prisoners’ opens the door for a discussion on how the African American community is being financially pillaged by the prison industry. You may not know this, but private corporations earn money from inmate incarceration and have a direct financial incentive to house more. This is a problem, since unfocused profit maximization does not leave much room for prisoner rehabilitation. Dr. Price is one of the leading scholars in America, and he has taken it upon himself to help solve this problem.

 

Read his interview with Dr. Boyce Watkins here: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Affluent black males have real fear of racial profiling

As many African American men move up the economic ladder they are faced with a real dilemna when it comes to racial profiling.

Many of these men have moved to more afflurnt town which are predominantly white and although they may be doctors, lawyers, or judges have had to deal with racial profiling.

There dilemna is do they just take the abuse or do they fight back and risk losing everyting. Read more here:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Black on Black Crime

I wrote this poem after seeing another story about a black man being shot by police. While the outrage was justified I wondered why we don’t see the same level of outrage when one young black man kills another.

While police shootings and brutality are not the isolated incidents many try to make them out to be there is no comparison when it comes to the fact that black on black crime takes far more young black lives.

Until we ourselves show that we care about this issue there will be no way to stop it.

BLACK ON BLACK

We march when the cops beat us
We cry when our young men are attacked
But where is the outrage
When the attacker is black

Where are the “Civil Rights Leaders”
Where is the black press
When we are the cause
of a sad and tragic death

Where are the bloggers
When it is us that sow the pain
Where are they at
When some us don’t act sane

Maybe the truth is
We just don’t care
Maybe it’s okay for us to kill each other
But a white cop better not dare

George Cook 2009
From the eBook  Let’s Talk Honestly: One Black Man’s Thoughts
www.letstalkhonestly.com

Black women seeking their ideal black man, their “Barack”

Monica Weeks has met many men, but at age 51 she says she still hasn’t found her “Barack.”

Among Weeks and her friends, President Barack Obama’s name has become shorthand for a black man with integrity, character and spirituality, one who loves and values his wife and makes his family a priority – in other words, the kind of man that many black women had despaired of finding.

Weeks said probably every single woman she knows is looking for her “Barack.” Read the entire article by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Job losses hit black men the hardest

At a time when America has elected its first black president, more African-American men are losing jobs than at any time since World War II.

No group has been hit harder by the downturn. Employment among black men has fallen 7.8 percent since November of 2007, according to a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. Read the entire article by using the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Why are so many black men in prison?

Why are so many of our black men in prison. Reasons range from lack of education to lack of fathers involved in a child’s life. Over 70% of men who don’t get a high school diploma wind up in prison. Learn more by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/LTHWEEKLY.html

Black Woman Walking, black men please watch this

Many of us black men have wondered why some black women always look mean walking done the street or just don’t respond. A documentary “Black Woman Walking” answers those questions and may make many men want to check their behavior when approaching a woman. Believe it or not at many times women feel threatened althugh I’m sure that’s not the man’s intention. Watch the 8 minute video by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html