In recent years, there has been more discussion about the need of having Black History Month. Especially since Barack Obama’s election last year, this debate has only intensified.
Newsweek columnist Raina Kelley recently argued the case for why the annual February ritual is still necessary.
The relationship between African-Americans and the Military has been a rocky one, to say the least. The nefarious stories of the struggles blacks faced when trying to serve their country and the lack of representation of black soldier’s on Television, in Movies, and in Textbooks is enough to put knots in anyone’s stomach.
Bling-bling is back. Or, I guess it never went away. Maybe I was being naïve when I thought that black folk had left bling-bling back in the late nineties along with the thong song, the Puff Daddy moniker and shiny suits. Guess I was wrong.
Previously Google’s mobile application had the best service for voice recognition and search capability. That is no longer the case with the introduction of Siri. A virtual personal assistant has been born and they should be hired after the first interview. A quote from Siri’s website offers some interesting information on the birth of this app.
“Siri was born out of SRI’s CALO Project, the largest Artificial Intelligence project in U.S. history. (CALO stands for Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes). Made possible by a $150 million DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) investment, the CALO Project included 25 research organizations and institutions and spanned 5 years. Siri is bringing the benefits of this technology to the public in the first mainstream consumer application of a virtual personal assistant.”
Powered by Nuance’s voice recognition software, this free application is legit. Despite the fact that Siri is optimized for the iPhone 3GS, it was impressive on my jailbroken 3G. A few days ago, I was looking for the nearest soccer store to my home. I opened up Siri and asked where the nearest soccer store was. Within 20 seconds, I had a list of six different stores with 4.2 miles of my location. One “tap” further and I can call the store, see reviews via Yahoo Local, send the info about the store to a friend, or get the navigation results as well. Very cool.
A Walk Through Fort Greene is a documentary discussing the Black and Hispanic art movement that began back in the mid 80’s through the early 90’s. Narrated by Nelson George as he takes a look into the catalyst for the movement as well as its development and unfolding. Some influential entertainers make appearances including Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Rosie Perez, Vernon Reid, Carl Hancock Rux, Saul Williams, Lorna Simpson, Alva Rogers, Kevin Powell, and Bill Stephany among others.
In recent years, there has been more discussion about the need of having Black History Month. Especially since Barack Obama’s election last year, this debate has only intensified.
Newsweek columnist Raina Kelley recently argued the case for why the annual February ritual is still necessary.
…The contributions of famous black Americans, from Frederick Douglass to Oprah Winfrey, are widely known. Martin Luther King Jr. has his own federal holiday. The president of the United States is black. If tens of millions of white people voted for Barack Hussein Obama, the lesson has been learned, right? As if. Despite the election of Obama, African-Americans still live in a culture that is overreliant on stereotype and slow to explore the complexity of racialized issues such as the ghetto or Haiti. So you can complain about Black History Month all you want. But there’s still work to be done…
A new article in this month’s Essence Magazine by Keith Murphy says the Dominican Republic has overtaken Brazil* as the new hot spot for young, black, successful men looking for love, sex and a little fun in the sun. [Fool’s Paradise, February 2010] These men tout all sorts of reasons as to why the tiny island has become the new hotspot for—it’s cheapness, proximity to the U.S., it’s gulf courses are a few…but the main reason? The beautiful women. Many of the men quoted, some of whom were married or boo-ed up, said Dominican women give them the love and respect that sista’s in the states just won’t, can’t or don’t give. All for a price of course. Murphy sums it up:
The relationship between African-Americans and the Military has been a rocky one, to say the least. The stories of the struggles blacks faced while attempting to serve their country and the lack of representation of black soldier’s on Television, in Movies, and in Textbooks is enough to put knots in anyone’s stomach.
Anyone who knows Sean “Diddy” Combs would say that he is one of the hardest working men in entertainment. Known by many as the man that never sleeps, Diddy was one of the five entertainers honored at BETs Honors Ceremony. In his heartfelt and emotional acceptance speech,
Bling-bling is back. Or, I guess it never went away. Maybe I was being naïve when I thought that black folk had left bling-bling back in the late nineties along with the thong song, the Puff Daddy moniker and shiny suits. Guess I was wrong.
Last week while I was watching that new Tatyana Ali show on TV One, an ad for the 2010 Census came on. It’s the second time I’ve seen it on that station. All I remember is that there were black folk as well as other racial groups shaking and dancing to a slow paced hip-hop track that urged people to participate in the upcoming Census.
Barack Obama leaped into mainstream view shortly after making one of the most memorable speeches of the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The speech instantly propelled him from virtually unknown Illinois Senate candidate to “the future” of the Democratic Party. Just few years later Barack started his bid to become the 44thPresident of the United States, where he continued to awe many, by delivering some of the greatest and most memorable speeches in recent history including; his “A More Perfect Union ” speech in Philadelphia, his “Democratic Nomination Acceptance Speech ”, and of course, the most memorable, the Presidential Acceptance Speech at Grant Park.
The whole world has been concerned over the recent earthquakes in Haiti. We’ve prayed, donated what we can (I hope you’ve donated what you can…), and stayed informed about the recovery efforts. We’ve given sympathy to Haitian friends and acquaintances, and been horrified by the pictures and news of destruction.
I’ve refrained from discussing the damage that Haiti has suffered, either on or offline. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I don’t want to think about the staggering number of lives lost to that nation… the irreversible destruction, and the history and culture that cannot be replaced. Right now, I just can’t deal.
se Advanced Research Projects Agency) investment, the CALO Project included 25 research organizations and institutions and spanned 5 years. Siri is bringing the benefits of this technology to the public in the first mainstream consumer application of a virtual personal assistant.”
