I was recently alerted to the UM Alumni Assocation Magazine's running an ad for New Life Church. New Life is known to explicitly have anti-gay messages . James Leija has a site on his page that includes action info on having the ad removed from the magazine. Check it out.

UPDATE: THE INFORMATION POSTED EARLIER TODAY ON NEW LIFE IS QUESTIONABLE, TO SAY THE LEAST. A colleague of mine, who shall remain nameless, sent me an email regarding the church and its messaging. Unfortunately, the Jim Leija's page which was up earlier today has been removed. I'll work on finding out more details! Dumi

So the 700 Club, one of the most comical programs on TV, recently had Pat Robertson request that people pray for the "retirement" of 3 Supreme Court Justices . In response, Africana has responded by constructing a prayer circle for Pat Robertson's "retirement." Hilarious!

Here's an excellent commentary on why the US should intervene in Liberia from a legal perspective. Not only do I like the argumentation but I also like the person- Noah Leavitt a U of M Law School grad (and general all around nice guy).

Oh no, it's here. That's right, a website sure to get a lot of traffic in the next two years, Ward Connerly's soapbox aka Michigancivilrights.org. The site itself is in its early stages, but you can see the growth of propoganda. The website, unfortunately, features a letter that Rep. John Dingell sent to Ward Connerly. Connerly and croanies in turn ripped into Dingell and are retaliating with a "moral" and "constitutional" appeal to be heard. Time for us to get savy! How about someone launching www.realmichigancivilrights.org ?

The progressive community in California is making some big steps. The Colorblind Racism National Conference will take place October 2-4 and will explore the impacts and implications of a racial classification ban. The conference will take place at Stanford. For more information contact Allegra Churchill at ejs@lccr.com or (415) 543-9444.

Earlier this month, the Michigan GOP said it would not come out in support of Ward Connerly's Ballot Initiative. What that really meant is that they wouldn't say anything on either side pretty much. Connerly has recently announced that 1/3 of the state's Republicans have signed on in support of the ballot initiative that would ban the use of race (affirmative action) in higher education. Outright opposition has to come forth, not silent disagreement. As Audre Lorde said, "Your silence will not save you."

Liberia is not in a good state. In the throes of a 13 year civil war, both rebel and government forces are calling for intervention. I do not support US imperialism, but Liberia's condition is not going to get any better, only worse. There certainly will be an increase in loss of life on both sides if no one intervenes. Africana has established a letter campaign for intervention in Liberia .Contact the Congressional Black Caucus also to pressure the US governement to intervene as peacekeepers. Dire times, call for dire measures!

In continuing on the international thread, I recently recieved this article from a good friend about Bill Gates and his "philanthropy." I have not verfied all the facts, but if nothing else, it should get you thinking about Gates and AIDS in Africa.

Lastly, a US Civil Rights landmark (and location of some good food) is slated to be closed. Paschal's , meeting place to great leaders such as MLK, Bond, you name them, they ate there will be closed forever next Monday. Clark Atlanta University is closing Paschals' for financial reasons. So where will tomorrow's great leaders gather?

Okay, one of the earth's most scathing commentaries on hip-hop,Michael Eric Dyson, and Todd Boyd is up on Blackcommentator by Martin Kilson. It is a sad, sad day when our intellectual "forefathers" speak with such hatred towards "their sons and daughters." I definitely feel like I am going to wager a response that addressess his point, but making sure to make clear that I do not necessarily stand with Boyd. It's a must read.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Americans for a Fair Chance are spearheading a letter (or email) writing campaign to Michigan political officials to oppose Ward Connerly's proposed Michigan Ballot Initiative to remove the use of race in higher education admissions. An outward political statement of repudiation of Connerly's initiative could really aid in mobilizing "fence sitters" and the uninformed. Don't be fooled by other petitions (trust me, they're glorified email lists). Take some action!!!!

Discussions about Affirmative Action continue at the NAACP convention. Unfortunately, the NY Times managed to find one of the only people who is against race as a factor . . . go figure!

A new study of the Census data finds that Latinos that identify themselves as Black Latinos have lower economic standing, higher unemployment, and poor marks on a number of other social indicators. This simply points to the continuing significance of skin color, whether African-Americans or Latinos are the largest "minority" group.

The Times ran a piece on the Black middle class and unemployment. In case you didn't notice, our rate of unemployment is increasing faster than other groups!

Bush's recent visit to Africa has also stirred up discussion of a possible apology for slavery, I'm not holding my breath!

In New Haven, my neighboring hometown, police brutality was dealt a blow. In 1997 Malik Jones was gunned down by an East Haven officer at a traffic stop. Malik Jones' mother, Emma Jones, took the city of East Haven and the officer to court and last week the court found Officer Flodquist used excessive force. Flodquist was not held liable (in testimony he recounted he couldn't remember the details of the event!), but East Haven was ordered to pay 2.5 million to Emma Jones. On Saturday, a victory rally was filled with ugly racial tensions. This is a must read if you still want to know about race, the police, and the Northeast!

Today at noon, Ward Connerly delivered this speech to announce the "Michigan Civil Rights Act." The ballot intiative is a strategy to locally overturn federal legislation. Ward Connerly is also recieving heat from the FCPP for not properly disclosing funders for the 1.5 million dollar intiative racial privacy initiative in California.

Michigan Republicans has actually stepped up and said they will not support Connerly on the "Michigan Civil Rights Act." Don't get too happy though, organized party statements do not mean individuals will not support it!

Well it's official now! Ward Connerly is coming to U of M on July 8th to announce his next steps in producing a ballot intitiative to eliminate race in Michigan. Though I hate to link to them, the co-sponsors of the press conference are the Michigan Review. The press release is available on their site. In case you forgot, back in 1999, Connerly also discussed pushing a ballot in Michigan that was like Prop 209 in Cali.

Black Commentator was certainly not pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling about Affirmative Action. This piece makes a lot of good points about Affirmative Action's origins and where it is at now. What do you think?

BBC has a funny(?) story up about Colin Powell and the folks in Zimbabwe calling him an "Uncle Tom" for his remarks regarding the land seizures and Mugabe. But are we really glad to see name calling as part of our legacy to the diaspora?

And New Jersey has successfully ended Amiri Baraka's tenure as Poet Laurette. Baraka caught tremendous flack for his poem about September 11th that indicted Jewish people. Glad to see free speech is still on everyone's mind as we approach the fourth of July.

Lastly, four men are going to trial for their role in the Benton Harbor uprisings. Dang.