Blackle

Search the web a greener way. Check out google sponsored http://www.blackle.com/ or read the FAQ here.
According to the website; a black screen uses less energy than a white one.

Race Fatigue

Sorry all , I have not been posting lately because the black economist has come down with a severe case of race fatigue.
Maybe it was all those crabs in a barrel I ate, the profound stupidity of Michael Vick or the utterly depressing state of hip hop.

Where Wealth Lives

Selected quotes from the BET Jazz Documentary on the African American wealth experience:

"Owning personal property or land is a sign of freedom"

John Hope Franklin

"....but also because they had a stream of income independent of the white folks"

Tom Hanchett on the success of funeral home owners

Emmitt Smith on Capitalism

"People ask me what my sport is these days, and I tell them as far as I'm concerned I'm in the ultimate arena of competition, It's called free enterprise, and it's the most competitive thing I've ever attempted."

Emmitt Smith

Glover and Chavez

The Venuzuelan congress has invested somewhere between 18 and 20 million dollars with Danny Glover to produce films on the lives of Simon Bolivar and Toussaint L'Ouverture.
The press release is available here in spanish or translated into english by google here.

What happened to BlackLiberty?

Black Liberty has been down the past few weeks as i try to transfer it to its own domain, www.blackliberty.com.

Believe it or not there is no one to call for help on blogger and GoDaddy support is not getting the job done.

Still, I know all my loyal readers are eager for commentary. I hope to have the technical issues resolved soon.

Until I will no longer forward this address and focus on writing.

Thank you for your support.

Gore's Revenge

Tipper Gore's and C. Delores Tuckers revenge actually. Their efforts to censor and limit the expression of artists such as Tupac Shakur led to a public condemnation against their assault on the first amendment. It would seem they lost that battle but not the war.
The Rutgers 10 struck a chord that said you may be like that but I'm not like that. Imus crime was showing that he was influenced by popular culture and no longer a leader of it.
As previously mentioned his present value was high but his future value was quite low.
The gumbo of sex and race is too irresistible for many so Ann Coulter says Imus could have called her a flaxen-haired ho and Michelle Malkin points the finger at the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Chart.
In fact, if there is a smoking gun it is rap music as more and more columnists are saying.
So now an already embattled music industry is receiving renewed attention to the point where Russell Simmons and Snoop Dogg are issuing statements.

Blacks and Globalization Part 2

The line between consumer and professional goods has become blurred as competition has spurred innovation and falling prices. Technology has allowed anyone with a computer, software, and a camera or microphone to become a dj, journalist, musician or what have have you. That alone would not seriously challange traditional media if not for the new means of distribution that the internet offers.
Traditional media outlets have lost market share as consumers have used the internet to seek out products that are more customized to their preferences.
This Long Tail as its called is the reason for the fall in sales of the large record companies. When Michael Jackson had 'Thriller' it was the only game in town. Now musicians, authors, etc. can produce and distribute without the consent of a minority.
This will inevitably lead to a change in consciousness of black media as artists use the new outlets to express themselves.
In particular the 'tone' of hip-hop and R & B should change as more artists find that they do not have to make concessions to record companies to enjoy success.

Digging a Ditch

If Imus first remarks were not bad enough these are certainly food for thought.

"that phrase originated in the black community. ... I may be a white man, but I know that these young women and young black women all through that society are demeaned and degraded by their own black men and that they are called that name."

What do you think?

Calling the Kettle Black

He's one to talk about nappy hair.

Nappy Headed Hos

Referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as a bunch of hos on a nationally syndicated media program is low down and dirty.
A casual glance at their website affirms they are anything but Hos.
They beat out a number of good programs to reach the Final Four (ECU, LSU, Duke, Arizona, Michigan State) and came up just short of a championship. They are competitive and that is encouraged in our society.
I know, I know... will Imus be fired?

Well the ratings might just justify it. Imus is not drawing as many listeners and viewers as he once did due to the continuing fragmentaion and specialization of media. Studio execs or Imus himself may see this as an opprotunity to make a change. Grumpy old men appeal to a narrow demographic.

If Rutgers University calls for his resignation (which they have not publicly done from what I see) he's out.

Criminalizing Success

Recent stories concerning PacMan Jones and other NFL players demonstrate a surprising degree of racism.
I am not saying the players did not commit any crimes, but as mentioned previously, NFL players would have to commit many more to rank dead even with the general population.
What seems to be at work is a backlash against the Black Athelete. Their success makes them popular targets of ire & envy amongst the general.
"They must be punished" we read and yet most of them (over 99%) are law abiding citizens.
At its root is that successful African-Americans are viewed as threatening and worse yet as undeserving of what they get.

John Mcmillan

John Mcmillan was an economist. His claim to fame was organizing the market for spectrum for the FCC.
I read his book Reinventing the Bazaar. What I took away from it (along with other things) was that wealth can be created. That markets are created and regulated and that the players in these markets are awarded their positions by the political elite.
African-Americans have far more political power than we might know. We should use it to ensure our participation when these markets are created.

The NFL and Crime

This well written thoughtful blog post points out that NFL players are actually less likely to be involved with the law than the general population.
It would seem that the criminal athelete is all smoke and no fire.

Obama vs. Australia

Prime Minister of Australia John Howard says the terrorists are praying for a Obama win in 2008.
Obama says send more troops or shut up.

The Economist magazine

According to the economist magazine 1.1 million black people make more than $100,000 a year. In the article concerning Black Power they go on to note that ,"The era of affirmative action, or preferential treatment for blacks, seems to be drawing to a close."
Do tell? I was unsure that it had begun, most likely because of my age.
The economist has some wonderful articles but its strengths are also its weaknesses.
Being a foreign publication often allows it to speak with startling clarity concerning US domestic issues but it just as often misses the mark because they do not understand America.

Genarlow Wilson

Genarlow Wilson is doing the right thing and being denied his liberty. In this article by ABC news we find that of the group of men charged with sex crimes he was the only one not to have a previous criminal record.
The article suggests that if the prosecutor had not brought charges or if he had taken a plea agreement he would not have spent the last 23 months in jail.
Perhaps a third option should have been jury nullification. Any jury in the US can decide not to convict, regardless of what the law says. This incidentally, is why and how convictions were never brought in cases involving white defendants and black victims, such as rapes and lynchings. The jury simply nullified the charges.
Lately it has been a suggested strategy in the war on drugs.

Black Bowled

Congratulations to coaches Smith and Dungy for making the Superbowl. They are fine examples of managerial and organizational expertise.
On the surface their accomplishment says that race is no barrier to greatness nor is it an indicator of future success.
They represent the American dream of anything being possible through hard work and perseverance.
The danger is of their accomplishment being viewed not as superficial (it is sport after all) but as a 'given'.
True, social conditions had to change to allow them into the arena, but it is their abilities not preference or affirmative action that effects their successes.

Black Paranoia in America

Unsurprisingly, as government bureaucracy works slowly, we are just now seeing some of the post 9/11 security policies being enacted. New requirements that all who enter and leave the country have a passport and federal standards for drivers license put this post on Black Paranoia in Britain in new context.
Ironically, the biggest problem for blacks isn't what the government keeps in its database but getting into it. Provisions keeping parolees, deadbeat dads and convicted felons from gaining access to passports and licenses will affect blacks.

Information and the Digital Divide

Some economists say that the main problem in economics is information. Needed so that markets can clear and be efficient.
The number one concern filed by minorities in worker discrimination complaints is that their coworkers were "withholding information."
Is information power?
It would seem so. In today's modern world blacks should stress gaining access to information and deciding how to use it. The Internet places vast information at the fingertips for a relatively low cost.
If the mind boggles when considering black people were once killed for knowing how to read and white people were killed for teaching them, it totally breaks down when considering the "Digital Divide."