Let’s Recap 2009 – Wake Up America!
1. The American people elect a president with a total of 142 days experience as a US Senator from the most politically corrupt state (city) in America whose governors have been ousted from office. The President’s first official act is to order the close of Gitmo and make sure terrorists civil rights are not violated.
2. The U.S. Congress rushes to confirm a Attorney General, Eric Holder, whose law firm we later find out represents seventeen Gitmo Terrorists.
3. The CIA Boss appointee, Leon Panetta, has absolutely no experience, has a daughter Linda, we find out, who is a true radical anti-American activist and a supporter of all the Anti-American regimes in the western hemisphere.
4. We got the second most corrupt American woman (Pelosi is #1) as Secretary of State; bought and paid for.
5. We got a Tax Cheat for Treasury Secretary who did not properly file his own taxes for 12 years.
6. A Commerce Secretary nominee who withdrew due to corruption charges.
7. A Tax cheat nominee for Chief Performance Officer who withdrew under charges.
8. A Labor Secretary nominee who withdrew under charges of unethical conduct.
9. A Secretary HHS nominee (Daschle) who withdrew under charges of cheating on his taxes.
10. Multiple appointments of former lobbyists after an absolute campaign statement that no lobbyists would be appointed.
All this occurred just during the first three weeks – but who’s counting?
America is being run by the modern-day Three Stooges – Barry, Nancy and Harry and they are still trying to define stimulus…”it’s spending!!!”
The congress passes the $800,000,000,000 **(that’s $800 billion)** pork-laden spending bill where the government gives you a smidgen of your tax dollars ($13 per week), making you feel so good about yourself [stimulated], that you want to run out to Wal-Mart and buy a new Chinese-made HDTV and go home and watch Television!
Here’s the good news though – Obama took Air Force One to Denver to sign the stimulus package, wasting as much as 10,000 gallons of fuel OR 24 JOBS FOR ONE YEAR.
Obama has now been president for twelve months, and yet he and Michelle (the first lady), the Christian family they claim to be, have not attended church since the inauguration.
KFAI-FM: WAVE Project – “Is a Spoonful of Integration enough for the rest of us?” Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 6 p.m.
“By listening and watching local media, you would think that Valentines Day was the only event going on in the month of February. With CNN’s special, featuring Soledad O’Brien’s “Black in America 2,” – a watered down version of what it’s like to be Black America is skewed for a White audience, it misses the mark at every turn. The issues for those who are forward thinkers are jobs, economic development and education. Tune in KFAI on Sunday for the real State of the Union about Black America.”
Minneapolis, MN Feb. 12 / IBNN/ — Tune in Sunday, February 14, 2010 to KFAI-FM Radio at 90.3FM (Minneapolis) & 106.7 (St. Paul), 6 p.m.-7 p.m. to KFAI’s Wave Project. This program will feature Springboard Economic Development Corporation’s CEO Lennie Chism; Don Allen, the editor and chief of The Independent Business News Network and USA Radical Black with along with Kelechi Jaavaid, better known as KJ the comedian, will be live on KFAI to discuss the topic “ Is a Spoonful of Integration enough for the rest of us? That is the remaining 37 Million African Americans in the United States.”
You can also tune in nationally by going to www.kfai.org for the live streaming broadcast.
On Sunday February 14, 2010, from 6-7 p.m. KFAI Radio 90.3 FM (Minneapolis) and 106.7 (St. Paul) will air an exclusive segment on race relations and generational progress produced by Lennie Chism, Executive Director of Springboard Economic Development Corporation. Chism’s program, titled A Spoonful of Integration is Not Enough for the Rest of Us explores the Civil Rights Movement through music pinpointing cultural anthems such as “We Shall Overcome” to Tupac’s “Ghetto Gospel” as indications of change.
Chism says, “My motivation was to get people to critically look at the 1947 integration of baseball and begin to ask whether integration helped. I wanted to show how integration was not as successful as people thought. Thanks to integration, The Negro League was completely dismantled by 1963, blacks went from running leagues and teams to just being players. Jobs and industry were lost because of integration for blacks. Hence, A Spoonful of Integration is Not Enough for the Rest of Us,” Chism explains. Chism adds, “However when you look at the music industry, that has been dominated by African-Americans for years, with absolutely no desire to integrate, there are countless success stories, hip-hop culture did not bow down, sell out nor attempt to assimilate.”
Chism believes the struggle for Civil Rights continues in the current day hip-hop movement. “I chose to end the segment with Tupac because he is one of the greatest street lobbyists ever,” explains Chism. “He spoke of another culture that the establishment would want to see removed. But in reality that culture became an industry that is creating jobs and a new wealthy class of African-Americans.”
Chism hopes multiple generations tune in for the special program, special guests include Donald Allen editor in chief of two international read controversial blogs and Kelechi Jaavid, local comedian to lighten the air.
Donald Allen, a blogger, Republican and outspoken critic of Minneapolis’ political processes and non-profit watchdog as it relates to communities of color and the delivery of services states, “This is an opportunity to mention names, agencies and politicians who for the most part are more celebrity-based then actually making sure the community is healed. This is an opportunity to let America know that agencies like the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minneapolis Urban League and the NAACP have lost their mojo.”
Tune in on Sunday, the revolution continues.
Michael Jordan won’t be reappointed as civil rights director for Minneapolis. Are we suppose to like Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak now?
This video tells the “whole” story!
“The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights has not been a community player since 1998. The investigators have a high sense of “southern stratification” and frown on serving the poor and misrepresented in Minneapolis.”
From the murder of Fong Lee to the taser death of Quincy Smith by the Minneapolis Police Department, the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights “leadership” and “investigators” barley lifted a finger until R.T. Rybak and Betsy Hodge’s proposed cut of the MDCR Investigative unit. Cases that automatically should have been on the radar of the MDCR went ignored.
“LEADERSHIP.”
On Tuesday, February 2, 2010 as reported by Steve Brandt, Michael Jordan won’t be reappointed as civil rights director for Minneapolis.
Under Michael Jordan’s “leadership,” the department has seen a rise in inner-office relationships; promotions for the least qualified – but most cooperative, and a long series of “oversights” by the departments lack of wanting to assist the community.
“Most of the time I walk in there, they (the investigators) look at me like I’m a germ. They treat me like I’m stupid and have always made it very hard for me to file my case,” says Terry Drakes of Minneapolis.
Mr. Drakes was one of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights cases that IBNN alleges was mishandled, under handled and for the most part given to someone to work on with no experience – like the Fong Lee case.
Terry, who was an employee at the Rainbow Foods on 26th and Lake Street in Minneapolis who’s job was to push the shopping carts from the parking lot back into the store was injured on the job. During his tenure at Rainbow Foods it became evident to Mr. Drake that the company wanted him out. A long time Rainbow Foods shopper reported to the manager that Terry cut her off in the parking lot with his row of carts. The shopper spit in Mr. Drakes face and called him a Nigger. Terry reported this incident to management and things got worse.
Co-workers accused Drakes of waiting in his car with a gun planning to shoot a co-worker. The fact is – Mr. Drakes hasn’t owned a car or driven for over 20 years.
Rainbow released Mr. Drakes.
Mr. Drakes filed a claim over 4 years ago with the MDCR – he’s been hit with “by the book tactics” and a less than cooperative investigation staff.
58-year-old Terry Drakes is a disabled man. On one visit to the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, Drakes was escorted by City Hall security to the civil rights office and then escorted out. The next morning, Minneapolis Police arrived at Mr. Drakes house and arrested him for “terroristic threats” against the MDCR investigators.
Mr. Drakes was released from the Hennepin County Jail with no charges. Mr. Drakes was set up by MDCR Investigative employees – remember, Drakes was escorted by security in and out of the building, there was no threats made.
Drakes said, “I asked the guard: did I threaten anyone?” Drakes said the guard told him “no.”
Sources tell IBNN that Michael Jordan made the call to have him arrested to “get rid of him” from bothering the investigators.
Terry says, “It’s been real hard for me. I’ve been trying to get someone to listen to me for more than 4-years. I have been eating oatmeal everyday for the last month and I’m getting ready to lose my apartment. What Michael Jordan and those ladies did to me was wrong. All I wanted to do was work and they made my life a living shit hell.”
This is just one of many examples of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Investigative Units intended over-sights under the leadership of Michael Jordan and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.
For Terry Drakes: His case was found to have “no probable cause.”
Why The US Owes Haiti Billions
The Briefest History…
By Bill Quigley / Originally posted on the Dissident Voice
(Editors Note: Bill Quigley represented Pere Jean-Juste many times in Haiti along with the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux in Port au Prince and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Bill is on leave from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans serving as Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He can be reached at: quigley77@gmail.com. Read other articles by Bill, or visit Bill’s website.)
Why does the US owe Haiti Billions? Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, stated his foreign policy view as the “Pottery Barn rule.” That is: “if you break it, you own it.”
The US has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either – that is Powerball money. The US owes Haiti Billions – with a big B.
The US has worked for centuries to break Haiti. The US has used Haiti like a plantation. The US helped bleed the country economically since it freed itself, repeatedly invaded the country militarily, supported dictators who abused the people, used the country as a dumping ground for our own economic advantage, ruined their roads and agriculture, and toppled popularly elected officials. The US has even used Haiti like the old plantation owner and slipped over there repeatedly for sexual recreation.
Here is the briefest history of some of the major US efforts to break Haiti.
In 1804, when Haiti achieved its freedom from France in the world’s first successful slave revolution, the United States refused to recognize the country. The US continued to refuse recognition to Haiti for 60 more years. Why? Because the US continued to enslave millions of its own citizens and feared recognizing Haiti would encourage slave revolution in the US.
After the 1804 revolution, Haiti was the subject of a crippling economic embargo by France and the US. US sanctions lasted until 1863. France ultimately used its military power to force Haiti to pay reparations for the slaves who were freed. The reparations were 150 million francs. (France sold the entire Louisiana territory to the US for 80 million francs!)
Haiti was forced to borrow money from banks in France and the US to pay reparations to France. A major loan from the US to pay off the French was finally paid off in 1947. The current value of the money Haiti was forced to pay to French and US banks? Over $20 Billion — with a big B. Read more
Part 4: Affirmative Action is no “Action Jackson” at MnDOT
By Donald W.R. Allen,II – Editor in Chief/IBNN and USA Radical Black
Last week at MnDOT and internal email was sent to select employees at MnDOT regarding the recent stories posted on IBNN.
The email read: (Unedited):
From: Prescott, Mary (DOT)
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 10:47 AM
Re: Part 3 – Who signs off on 0% goals and 0% goals achieved at MnDOT?
FYI for internal use only – this will be discussed at the DBE and Workforce Development Collaborative Group meeting on Friday. Specifically, hopefully, 1) Lennie Chism bringing Donny Allen a newsperson who seemed only there looking for a story and he did not state that this is why he was there; and 2) it was agreed to “no surprises” at the last meeting and this has been the fourth surprise from Mr. Chism; ground roles for media and the hard work going forth with all the project teams.
Note: The email above is just another example of bigotry at MnDOT for the acting civil rights director to single out two Black men, asking questions about a 17 year trend of failure in an attempt to address, solve and recommend a plan of action. This top-of-mind attention is not wanted at MnDOT, hence, 1% in federally funded contracts to minority contractors.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation employee base is a “protected class” of the government workforce. They have the “Cadillac” of benefits that aren’t affected by the current economic status of non-government working-class Minnesotans. Read more
Part 3 – Who signs off on 0% goals and 0% goals achieved at MnDOT? “A message to Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Director Bernie Arseneau, Commissioner Thomas Sorel and MnDOT’s (Acting) Civil Rights Director Mary Prescott
By Donald W.R. Allen, II Editor in Chief-IBNN and USA Radical Black
“Black contractors were award less than 1% of $600 Million on highway heavy projects. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has awarded less than $1 Million in contracts to African-American Contractors of the $600 Million in Federal Transportation Stimulus Contracts.”
Dear Tom, Bernie and Mary:
Do you see the heinous results from the actions by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in regards to the above statement? Read more
The top 12 “Community Pimping” incidents of 2009: Thou shall not Pimp the Community in 2010!
2009 had its share of examples where “self-appointed” leaders, big name companies, human service agencies and politicians took the opportunity to pimp the community at the community’s expense. This article is dedicated to all of those people who thought they got away free and clear in 2009. In 2010, IBNN will continue to report in real-time on the issues facing the Twin Cities Black community and those involved. Until then, Happy New Year’s!
By Donald W.R. Allen, II Editor in Chief/IBNNNEWS and USA Radical Black
1) In January 2009 the General Mills Foundation in collaboration with the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) repeated the actions of 2008 by refusing to allow minority-ethnic media outlet the opportunity to have a table in the lobby at the MLK Breakfast. The table was a way to let the attendees of the MLK breakfast pick-up a copy of their favorite Black, Hispanic-Latino, Asian and African newspaper. IBNN launched the boycott against General Mills which continues today…are you still buying Cheerios?
2) Also in January, IBNN posted the story, “The Real story why Senator Norm Coleman, the MN GOP and the Republican Party of Minnesota got thrown under the Democratic Bus.” A play-by-play of the 2008 election cycle from a point of view that will make you wonder, “What was the MN GOP thinking?” Read more
Introducing USA Radical Black – the New “Brother” Blog of IBNN
By Kandis Style – Staff Journalist/IBNN
London, UK/Minneapolis, MN. – Nov. 12 / IBNN News/ – USA Radical Black is pleased to announce the launch of its controversial new web site www.usaradicalblack.com . The site is the result of the massive demand for information related to the American Black experience. Our goal is to provide our visitors with a virtual experience that is compelling and life altering and to inspire the marginalized, and voiceless.
“The virtual world can never match being present at a protest, or a rally; however, we strive to ignite a cyber movement “in real time” every day,” say Don Allen, Editor in Chief of IBNN and Minister of Information for USA Radical Black.
User can easily access archival and cross-referenced information and use our links and references for researching issues and forming their own opinions. The upgraded site also enables our online visitors and members an easy, instant, and secure way to register for programs, make donations, and purchase products from USA Radical Black online store.
The site allows our visitors to create individual profiles indicating specific topics of interest for communications and specialized website content. Users will also enjoy that their profiles will be securely saved for future transactions and can be updated at any time by logging in. Bookmarking and social media tags are also embedded throughout the site so that visitors can share USA Radical Black news and information with others on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Del.icio.us.
In the future, expect to see live webcasts, high profile interviews, watch dog activities, and strategic alliances with progressive organizations that truly make a difference in people’s lives.
About USA Radical Black
“USA Radical Black – Truth to the People/Power to the People…Now!”
USA Radical Black was created by the Independent Business News Networks editor in chief Donald W.R. Allen, II to address disparities in Black and minority-ethnic leadership roles in the United States.
USA Radical Black also covers News and Information about Politics, Education, Money, Community, Religion, Race, Status and Class as it relates to us.
USA Radical Black is themed to be a “wake-up call” to people of color in the United States who have done the same thing the same way, creating insanity by electing the same party officials that have created problems over-and-over again while in the background tasking people they feel comfortable with to “solve” problems for pay and political favors.
We will explore the changing of the Black Church as it pertains to us as a people of color getting back to our roots with God, Family and Prosperity. Does a well funded Foundation or Social Service Agency have more power than GOD?
Join USA Radical Black for Truth to the People and Power to the People – if not now, when?
Green Job Politricks to North Minneapolis…Return to Sender, Address Unknown
As reported by Insight News on Friday, June 5, 2009: Democratic Rep. Margaret Anderson Keliher, Speaker of the Minnesota House, praised the work of HIRE-MN, the expansive network of community service and environmental advocacy groups that succeeded in passing a bill directing $2.5 million for training and outreach for green jobs and infrastructure stimulus spending.
According to Alex Tittle, about 7,000 jobs in infrastructure repair and renovation will be created from federal stimulus spending in Minnesota. (Tittle is responsible for training programs at Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization Centers-SAOIC and one of the partner stakeholders in HIRE MN).
…Fast forward to September 8, 2009. “Where are the 7,000 jobs related to the passing of the bill for $2.5 million?”
How about this, “Where is one job” created in North Minneapolis from the passing of this bill? Why are local north Minneapolis news outlets reporting a “win” when in fact the journey has just begun?
“Self-interest journalism” in north Minneapolis misleads the community into thinking that because it’s a front page story, it must be true. Example: Stories about the “great accomplishments” of the Minneapolis Urban League appearing in one particular north Minneapolis based newspaper, when the MUL is facing a possible scandal concerning the numbers of people it actually serves, compared to those it claims to serve. Is it possible that this newspaper is getting money from the MUL for advertising, and therefore has a vested interest in publishing “fluff” rather than “fact?” Would this not add to the already-corrupt practices in north Minneapolis’ Black community, where some “self-appointed” leaders have positioned themselves as gatekeepers for stimulus dollars, state construction contracts, politics, jobs and community interests – clearly working outside of their field of expertise.
Okay, back on point: Let’s take a closer look at why no jobs have been created in north Minneapolis since the passing of this bill.
Sources from the Minnesota Department of Commerce-Office of Energy Security say they are pushing for the $2.5 million to be routed through the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MSCU), which is comprised of 32 state-supported technical colleges, community colleges and state universities.
Students that receive training through MSCU are more likely to succeed in their careers than those who attend a non-accredited colligate institution. In some cases, students that are paying for Green Job Training could in fact receive the same training for free at technical colleges.
The MnDOT Piece:
Interestingly, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is currently within compliance standards based on the ethnic breakdown information that has been supplied by the City of Minneapolis. However, there is a problem here: the City of Minneapolis has not completed, or commissioned, a Disparity Report (which would provide current figures on minority hiring) since 1997 (!).
MnDOT’s contractors are required to make a “good faith effort” to use DBE’s (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) and WDBE’s (Women Disadvantaged Business Enterprise). This clause is problematic however, as it implies no obligation to actually contract with a minority-owned business, instead allowing MnDOT to define what a “good faith effort” means.
In other words, MnDOT cannot stipulate that an all-White general contracting firm from St. Cloud, Minnesota must use a Black business for any project…that’s against the law.
Despite being fully aware that this law needs to be modified, and a new Disparity Report must be commissioned, Michael Jordan, director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights has failed to act. In our opinion, he continues to display a lack of true concern for the minority-ethnic workforce of Minneapolis.
Enter Representative Bobby Joe Champion.
Representative Champion’s committee assignments include, Civil Justice; Finance; Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division; Transportation Finance and Policy Division (Vice Chair) – with the ability to put fourth legislation to change the law, Rep. Champion has not acted accordingly, instead preferring to hold “circus style” town hall meetings with Congressman Keith Ellison.
Ellison and Champion have delivered neither jobs nor economic development to the Black community they claim to represent. Ironically, however, their “celebrity” status remains very high.
Three stories that all Black people should read from the Black Agenda Report
IBNN would like to thank Black Agenda Report for allowing the re-publishing of these very important stories. The following stories were written by Black Agenda Report’s executive editor Mr. Glen Ford. (Video posted by IBNN)
Katrina’s Legacy: Poor Blacks Have No Right to “Be”
Barack Obama’s Katrina anniversary remarks reveal a president who rails against bureaucracy while ignoring the savage race and class warfare at the heart of the (ongoing) disaster. The right of the Black poor to exist is at issue, but that’s way outside Obama’s radar.
“A black person’s perceived right to ‘place’ was snuffed out, along with more than 1,000 lives.”
On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Obama used his Saturday radio address to sum up his understanding of the lesson to be derived from the disaster inflicted on predominantly Black New Orleans. “No more turf wars,” he said. What a bloodless analysis of the forced and – it is becoming clearer by the year – permanent exile of much of the population of a quintessentially Black American city!
No question, there were (and remain) Katrina turf wars aplenty, but none of the official entities battling over funds for New Orleans ever fought for the interests of the African American poor and utterly dispossessed. Hundreds of thousands were hastily scattered to the four winds by common agreement among competing agencies, all of whom regarded the Black exodus as a god-send to be perfected, not corrected. First the “turf” must be cleared of the unwanted human presence; then, the battles could begin in earnest over who would next inherit the land and cash the “reconstruction” checks.
The Obama ‘08 Phenomenon: What We have Learned?
“This generation will have to learn from damn near scratch what a real social movement looks like.” Without question, the nation has experienced an election of historical significance, for reasons that go beyond the obvious “first Black” aspect of race. This has also been the most-hyped presidential campaign in U.S.history, if for no other reason than the simple fact that every presidential campaign is more hyped than the last, since hype is what corporate media sells. But what has the experience taught us?
We have learned that a large and decisive national minority of whites can be persuaded to vote for a certain kind of Black man for president if that Black man possesses the following characteristics: A family history that includes no African American lineage, and is thereby untainted by the negative cultural baggage associated with North American slave descendants. (This is similar to the special white dispensation afforded in past generations to Afro-Caribbean baseball players.)
FBI Provocateur on McKinney: Why Not Lynch an “Uppity Black Bitch?”
“By doing nothing, the FBI condoned Turner’s demand for the assassination of a federal lawmaker.”
There is every historical reason to believe that the FBI approved of – or at least, had no objections to – it’s own agent’s incitement to assassinate a sitting Black U.S. congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, in 2006.
The FBI’s deep and institutional involvement in promoting domestic terror is an abiding fact of American life dating back nearly a century. The Bureau was born as a secret political police agency that arguably manufactured or instigated far more crime than it legitimately uncovered. It’s core mission has remained unchanged since World War One, when the embryonic FBI was set loose as the federal attack dog to maul anti-war forces, labor, and the Left in general. Throughout its history, the FBI has considered all consciously Black politics to be inherently subversive – and the Bureau believed its mandate was to eliminate all subversives by any means necessary.
Read more stories from the Black Agenda Report here.
IBNNNEW- North Minneapolis: NAACP President “Uncovers” two of the North side seven and an estimated $4 million dollars Donald Allen
- Apology to the North Minneapolis Community. We don’t have leaders, we have self-appointed spokespersons Donald Allen
- The Death of North Minneapolis… Donald Allen
- IBNN Exclusive Report: Youth with weapon attempts to enter funeral of Alisha “Lele” Neely (Captured on Film) Donald Allen
- WCCO 4 (CBS) Television fails in journalistic integrity with “edited and spliced” tape of the Minneapolis Police Beating of Ira Stafford…rating F- Donald Allen
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