Award-Winner Black Blogger Reports from the Democratic National Convention

Award-winning blogger Adrianne George, from the Black Women in Europe blog, will be joining me on my "Success Strategies" radio show tomorrow (Tuesday) night.

Adrianne was given credentials to attend the convention. Blogging has become very important in this presidential election, giving ordinary people a voice in a way that has never happened before. But there has been a struggle to allow African American bloggers to attend the convention as credentialled bloggers. Click here for more information about the Black bloggers.

Adrianne will be joining the show live from the floor of the convention. You can join us by clicking here.

Click here to read my Obama blogs.

Direct from the Democratic National Convention

On Tuesday 26th August, 8 p.m. UK time, Adrianne George of Black Women in Europe will report direct from the floor of the Democratic National Convention on my Success Strategies radio show. Click here to join us.

It was difficult for Black bloggers to get the credentials to attend the convention, and very few will be there, with an overwhelmingly white presence amongst the bloggers. But Adrianne did it and she'll let us in on all the latest news on Tuesday.

Click here to read my Obama blogs.

Prisoners Provide Cheap Labour for Microsoft

Many large corporations, including Starbucks, JC Penny, Nintendo and Microsoft, use cheap prison labour to produce their goods in the U.S. For more information, see http://africanamericanpoliticalpundit.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=119

This practice began after slavery, when plantation owners used ex-slaves as free labour to harvest their crops. Specific laws were brought in which ensured that African Americans swelled the prison population, and were then made to work on chain gangs.

On Tuesday, 26th August, I will be interviewing Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, author of Race, Law and American Society 1607-Present, which explores links between modern-day racial injustices and slavery and post-slavery discrimination.

Plus, I will have a report from the floor of the Democratic National Convention by Adrianne George, of the Black Women in Europe blog, who has been credentialled as a blogger at the convention.

I hope you will join us. Please phone in with any questions or comments. Click here fore details.

Prisoners Provide Cheap Labour for Microsoft

Many large corporations, including Starbucks, JC Penny, Nintendo and Microsoft, use cheap prison labour to produce their goods in the U.S. For more information, see http://africanamericanpoliticalpundit.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=119

This practice began after slavery, when plantation owners used ex-slaves as free labour to harvest their crops. Specific laws were brought in which ensured that African Americans swelled the prison population, and were then made to work on chain gangs.

On Tuesday, 26th August, I will be interviewing Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, author of Race, Law and American Society 1607-Present, which explores links between modern-day racial injustices and slavery and post-slavery discrimination.

Plus, I will have a report from the floor of the Democratic National Convention by Adrianne George, of the Black Women in Europe blog, who has been credentialled as a blogger at the convention.

I hope you will join us. Please phone in with any questions or comments. Click here fore details.

Obama Phone-In Tomorrow (Tuesday)

As the author/publisher of Black Success Stories, I am very aware of the psychological importance of positive role models.

I would like to know, if Senator Obama is elected President, how will this impact on the lives of people of African heritage, both inside the U.S. and internationally? How will this affect our families, our jobs, our businesses, our health ?

Please join me for the Obama phone-in on my “Success Strategies" radio show tomorrow, Tuesday 19th August at 8:00 p.m. UK times. Your opinion matters! http://www.blacksuccess1.com/radioshow.htm

The End of Black Politics?

The first thing I thought when I saw this piece was, is this really the best idea for an article the New York Times can come up with?

Then I thought, when Obama proved he was a serious contender for the Presidency, and when he won the Democratic nomination, I don’t recall anyone asking if this signalled “the end of white politics”.

Actually, the article raises some interesting points, despite its absurd title.

There is a divide between the old guard and the new guard. Probably always has been.

Harriet Tubman had to deal with people who believed they were better off in slavery.

In my book, Black Success Stories, René Carayol MBE tells of an argument he had with Reverend Jesse Jackson, who insisted on the futility of trying to bring about change. Similarly to those quoted in the article, he had learned this negative view through his own bitter experience. Until recently, part of me would have agreed with him.

Like Senator Obama, I did not grow up in a slum. But on our TV screens when I was a child in th e’60s, there were scenes of people being beaten by police because they wanted to sit at a lunch counter. Being attacked by police dogs because they wanted to vote. These things were not happening to me or to anyone I knew, but they had an effect on me. In New York City, we experienced subtle racism of the kind we have here in London.

We have a similar generational divide in the UK. Some of the young people think they can fit in and be accepted anywhere they want to go. And to a certain extent, they are right. Some of the discrimination their parents and grandparents faced in the 1950s was the same stuff any group of first-generation immigrants has to deal with.

But some of it was racism.

Black children are still disproportionately being excluded from school, leaving school without qualifications, and as a result, getting involved with crime and entering the prison system.

The fact that Oxford and Cambridge, as well as many major financial institutions and other British firms, are now actively recruiting African Caribbean applicants does not alter these bleak statistics.

We must remember that we have made progress only because of the work, dedication and sacrifices of those who went before us. This is what the West African Adinkra symbol of the Sankofa bird tells us – we must learn from the past in order to progress towards a better future.

It may be that Obama will usher in a whole new era of possibility. I would not have said that six months or a year ago.

But I will never forget the contributions of those who went before me. It would be politically naïve to do so. Those of my generation, and those younger than me, including Senator Obama, only have the rights we enjoy because others were willing to fight for them.

To answer the question, of course this is not the end of Black politics. It may be a new beginning, but we must always remember and honour the past.

I hope you will join us for my Obama phone-in on 19th August. Click here for details.

Here are some other interesting blogs on this piece:

Black Spin

Jack and Jill Politics

Black Snob

Africa Will Never Abandon Zimbabwe

African leaders are working together to bring about peace in Zimbabwe. Surely this is wonderful news for everybody on this planet.

White people are criticising them? France will only recognise a government led by Morgan Tsvangirai?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - we need to stop worrying about what white folks think and concentrate on ourselves.

Having said that, I enjoyed this piece.

I am concerned about African people all over the world .

With regard to Senator Obama, what I want to know is, if he is elected President, will this make a real difference to the lives of African Americans? And to the lives of African people everywhere? And if so, what difference will it make?

Obama is sounding to me like he is asking us what we want, not telling us what to want or what to do. I am impressed by this, I must admit.

As the author/publisher of Black Success Stories, I know we can learn from the example of other successful people. What I want to know is, if we vote for Obama, are we really voting for significant change for African people?

I don't have any answers. I only have questions. I want to hear your views. Join my Obama Phone-In Tuesday 19th August. Click here for details.

New Review - The Key to Everything

I just received a wonderful review for my new ebook, The Key to Everything. I am completely blown away by this.

This version of the book is for everyone. The version for people of African heritage is called What They Don't Want Us to Know.

To read more, click here.

To download the books, click here.

Tasing in Hyde Park

When I said in my recent blog about the Day of Blogging for Justice that tasers had not come to the UK, I was wrong.

You have probably read in the papers that on Thursday, 31^st July, about 300 young people – most of whom didn’t know each other - attended a water fight in Hyde Park which had been organised on Facebook. All good clean fun. Until one young lady splashed someone who didn’t like it. He punched her. Knocked her to the ground. Then fights broke out, the police descended, arrests were made and someone was tased. I don’t know if the person was Black or white. But tasers are in use on these shores.