Donna Brazile Comes to Atlanta Sunday February 27th

Political Strategist Donna Brazile serves as the Keynote Speaker on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at the opening session of the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (SAEOPP) 2011 Conference*. It seems like this is a Registration Only event.

I got wind of it because Atlanta City Council will also be presenting a proclamation to Ms. Brazile on this day as well.

All I can say is this has been a great month for Atlanta: Michelle Obama a week ago and now Donna Brazile.

*More about SAEOPP:
The Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel [SAEOPP] is an eight-state southeast regional Association dedicated to the professional development and support of TRIO professionals and to the advocacy of the TRIO Movement. With membership, SAEOPP is your vehicle to become more involved in this important national effort.

The Mission of the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel, Inc. (SAEOPP) is to promote and support equal educational opportunity and access to postsecondary education. Through professional development, networking, research and advocacy, SAEOPP provides TRIO personnel and others with the necessary skills and techniques to assure that the least advantaged have equal access to higher education.

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Burger Cartoon Not Racist: Let's Move On

Picture Source

The Huffington Post reports a cartoon where Michelle Obama is depicted as overweight and binging on hamburgers , Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website.

The cartoon, which also appeared on Breitbart's Big Journalism site over the weekend, references LET's MOVE, Michelle Obama's campaign to encourage healthy eating and fight obesity. In it, she is drawn with a double chin and plump cheeks. She is drawn saying, "I've stepped up my efforts to control America's eating habits by telling restaurants to lower portion sizes and fat content." While she says this, she is eating one of a plateful of hamburgers.



Some have called this depiction racist, but I am not sure why. Is it the fact that she was drawn fat, or is it the fact that she is a black woman who was drawn to be fat.... If she were eating a plate full of fried chicken and collard greens with a glass of "RED JUICE", I might agree with that statement...



But all in all, it just seems like another attempt to "spoof" the Obama's... I understand that Barack and Michelle AREN'T WHITE, but that doesn't mean that every cartoon created about them is racist.

So in the spirit of Michelle O, LET's MOVE ON!

Representative Lewis receives Medal of Honor TODAY

Georgia Rep. John Lewis on Tuesday afternoon will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom the country's highest civilian honor. Lewis is one of 15 people who will be getting the award.

But for Lewis, known as a key foot soldier of the civil rights movement, the honor has a special significance because it comes from the nation's first African-American president. President Obama called him personally to let him know the news.

The 2010 honorees include former President George H.W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, poet Maya Angelou, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and sports legends Stan Musial and Bill Russell. The medal is given to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

The ceremony, to be held in the East Room of the White House, can be seen live at http://www.whitehouse.gov/.


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FASHIONISTAS BEWARE: CLOTHING PRICES on THE RISE

BEWARE!!!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!

Well, not really. But, the era of falling clothing prices is ending. That's about as bad as the sky falling, isn't it?

According to the Associated Press, clothing prices have dropped for a decade as tame inflation and cheap overseas labor helped hold down costs. Retailers and clothing makers cut frills and experimented with fabric blends to cut prices during the recession.

But as the world economy recovers and demand for goods rises, a surge in labor and raw materials costs is squeezing retailers and manufacturers who have run out of ways to pare costs.

Cotton has more than doubled in price over the past year, hitting all-time highs. The price of other synthetic fabrics has jumped roughly 50 percent as demand for alternatives and blends has risen.

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Our love for fashion will not end.... therefore our pockets must continue to grow. Brace for the impact ladie and gents, start saving that money now! That's what is smart and fashionable!

Happy Political Valentine's Day

Feb 14th is Valentine’s Day all around the world. For some people it’s more important than others. One’s feelings towards the holiday are usually matched with whether one has someone to share it with or not. The following cartoons below will get you in the spirit! Laugh a little. Spread politics and love!

Glad, I bought my "OBAMA" card special order

Glad he's calling his package of chocolates a STIMULUS package, and not his "other" one.

Teens across the world are sending love through their SMARTPHONES. How many love messages have you received today?



Valentine's Day wouldn't be itself if we didn't mention the love between the nation's largest political parties and its membership....

Don’t fret if you are single this Valentine’s Day. We’re pretty sure this day will come around again in about 364 more days.

Happy V-Day from POSH!

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Rep Sheila Jackson Lee Disagrees with Pepsi Max

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) took to the House floor Tuesday night to criticize what she called a "demeaning" Pepsi ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

In the ad for Pepsi Max, a black woman sitting on a park bench gets angry with her husband after an attractive, white female jogger sits down next to the couple and smiles and waves at the man.

She states: "In this month of African-American history where we’re trying to celebrate what is good and great, it certainly seems ridiculous that Pepsi would utilize this kind of humor. It was not humorous. It was demeaning — an African-American woman throwing something at an African-American male and winding up hitting a Caucasian woman."



Seeing dark - skinned "Keisha" with her weave and all through a Pepsi Max and blond haired "Becky" in her pink shirt and all is very blatant. There is no doubt that the ad is "racially" charged.

What does this mean in an era post-Obama?

SEE the most RACIST commercials in AMERICA (from AD Savvy)

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Nat'l Black HIV/AIDS DAY 2011: GET TESTED

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was founded by five national organizations funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 to provide capacity building assistance to Black communities and organizations. The founding five organizations are: Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia; Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Inc.; Jackson State University - Mississippi Urban Research Center; National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council; and National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, February 7th of every year, is a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: education, testing, involvement, and treatment. Educationally, the focus is to get Blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that Blacks will mark February 7th of every year as their annual or bi-annual day to get tested for HIV. This is vital for those who are sexually active and those at high risk of contracting HIV. When it comes to community and organization leadership, getting Blacks involved to serve is another key focus. We need Black People from all walks of life, economic classes, literacy levels, shades and tones as well as communities (large and small) to get connected to the work happening on the ground in their local areas. And lastly, for those living with HIV or newly testing positive for the virus, getting them connected to treatment and care services becomes paramount.


Find HIV/AIDS events in your community

source: http://www.blackaidsday.org/

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SUPERBOWL MVP could RUN for OFFICE

(Reuters) - Last year's Super Bowl winning quarterback and MVO Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints says he could pursue a career in politics once his playing career is over.

Brees told Reuters that he was intrigued by the challenges of politics and that he would find such a career stimulating.

"Definitely, politics fascinates me, I find it very interesting. I guess, when you look at all the issues and certainly in the current economic times, at times you hate to see both parties going at each other like they do. "

Read more here

It seems like many crossovers are happening between sports and entertainment and politics. Is politics the new PLAN B? In my opinion - yes. Either that or reality shows.... At least coming from the entertainment/sports side, one would assume that you already have the funds to fuel your campaign.

Ah well, he seems genuine. He also has a foundation that according to the website, has committed and/or contributed more than $6,000,000 to charitable causes and academic institutions in the New Orleans, San Diego and West Lafayette/Purdue communities.

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A 9 Year Old Hair Weave Story

picture taken from Sesame Street video "I love my Hair"

So I was sitting at the salon earlier today looking to get cute for the weekend and next to me was a 9 year old and her mother. The 9 year old was telling her mother that she wanted to wear her hair long and that's why she wanted a weave. Her mother had 3 packs of hair sitting next to her.

I preceded to jump on my blackberry and take this incident to the social media world, posting it as a "facebook poll" and a profile tweet. Needless to say, I couldn't believe that a 9 year old was about to get a weave... And neither could many of my friends, followers, and commenter’s...


Many felt as if this little girl's weave was like a cry for help. They saw it as a bigger problem involving self esteem issues, parenting, influences from the media, and more. I have to agree. In fact I could not agree more.

This posting is not an attempt to "blast" the mother or talk about someone's parenting skills, but it is an interesting cultural conversation. Beyonce has long hair, so does Nicki Minaj, so does Miley Cyrus, and so does Willow Smith. These are the current influences for young African American girls today. So in essence , what other choice do they have?

This incident also took me to previous pictures of the "arguably" most famous "young black girls" in the world: Sasha and Malia. When President Obama initially ran for office, their hair was in braids and cornrows. Now their hair flows just as softly as MY weave (I'm well over 9 yrs old) . I'm not implying that they wear weaves. I am stating that "image" and "perception" is important within our communities-even for little girls.

As the world continues to embrace the proliferation of "personal" enhancements, this may increasingly become a problem. As parents, mothers, friends, sisters, sorors, and the like, it is our job to step out to educate these young girls. We were all young once. We all have been influenced by a magazine, television show, or picture. And even though we personally may not have the political PR machine that Beyonce and Willow Smith does, we do have personal stories, experiences, and influence.

As I got out of the chair, the young girl said: “Mommy, is mine going to be long and look like hers? Is mine going to be sew-in like hers.” For a second, I felt a twinge of guilt, helping to perpetuate an image that this young girl already wanted so bad. Her mother said: “We shall see.” The girl then turns to me and says, “you hair is so pretty, did it hurt?” and I said “No it didn’t, but your hair is pretty too.” She says, “right now? No it’s not, it’s like a …. an um… an afro”.

I say, “But afros are pretty too.”

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The FLOTUS comes to ATLANTA

First Lady Michelle Obama is planning a trip to Atlanta next week to talk about childhood obesity prevention and her new "Let's Move" initiative.

Learn more on 11Alive News

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Uncle Luke for Mayor in MIAMI

source: http://www.courtneyluv.com/

Uncle Luke [Campbell] officially announced that he is looking for your vote this upcoming March to become the Mayor of Miami-Dade County. When asked why he was running, he stated:

"The current administration of Mayor Carlos Alvarez hasn’t created any new jobs, yet we keep these government employees who have been around for decades and aren’t doing anything. Then there’s affordable housing. People in the James E. Scott projects have been kicked out of their homes and forced to move to other parts of the county. The same has happened in other parts of the county. Places have been knocked down and never rebuilt. Folks were displaced because of politics and scandal. Instead of this massive incompetence, we need to build gated communities with security-guard entrances in the inner city. Then people would feel just as safe as those wealthier folks who live in Fisher Island and the Kendall suburbs. When I take Mr. Alvarez’s job, I’ll review the county budget with a fine-toothed comb. When I ran my record company, every year we would first go over what was making revenue for us and beef that side up. Then we would cut the areas where we were not generating revenue. The first place we looked was payroll. I’ll do the same with the county budget. I’d also address the situation at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Miami-Dade has the highest number of uninsured people in the state. We can’t allow the public hospital to crash, or we are going to have sick people in the streets. My last resort will be raising taxes. We have a long laundry list of things that need to change with the county. We need someone with vision. I believe I have the vision."

Did Luke really use the phrase "massive incompetence"? Um, I digress....

Many people use the term, don't talk about it, be about it. Mr. Campbell definitely follows this example and mantra. Now, if I were a constituent in Miami, I am not sure I would trust "Uncle Luke" as my mayor. It's not just the strippers and the bootie shakin and the liquor and the..... It's more than that. It takes a lot to run a local government system effectively, and I just hope he understands that. In a recent interview, he later compares his "run for office" to his "running a company"... I am sorry but, it is not the same thing. Trust me, I work for local City Government... I know...

Anyway, OBAMA said we do "BIG THINGS" in his State of the Union address, right? Stranger things have happened. I'm sure Luke's campaign WILL definitely be interesting.

The full interview is listed on my fellow blogger Courtney Luv's site: http://www.courtneyluv.com/

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Barbara Bush and GAY MARRIAGE

Former first daughter speaks on GAY MARRIAGE



Don't you just love it when politician's children step out on their own? Whether speaking for the RIGHT or the LEFT, it takes guts to speak FOR or AGAINST an entire Administration.

Some may argue being a "politician's child" is worse than a "preacher's child"

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Atlanta Mayor Meets with Rap Mogul Jay Z

According to celebrity blogger, SandraRose, and AJC Buzz, Jay Z was seen smoozing with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. For some reason, I am sure that this is not their first encounter together. Working in entertainment law gives you a certain amount of connections, I would think.

The purpose of the meeting would be to discuss the possible placement of a new 40/40 Club in Atlanta. Atlanta is apparently on the rap and business mogul’s short list of locations. I love the idea, but popular concepts that work in other places, like BED, have failed in Atlanta. Even Jermaine Dupri’s restaurant, which HAD the BEST fried green TOMATOES is closed.

Anyone who lives here knows that businesses open and close in months and at any given time, one restaurant location could have had 5 different names within the last year. But, we shall see as the weeks go by. Ludacris’ Straits and Diddy’s Justin’s concepts are still holding on.

The 40/40 Club is a chain of sports bars and lounges owned by hip hop mogul Jay-Z and partners Desiree Gonzalez and Juan Pérez. The name is borrowed from the baseball term. Jay Z’s Vegas location came under fire when it went belly up about 2 and a half years ago.

Photo-J Glenn Photography

More details about the 40/40 club are forthcoming. Atlanta is listed as a "club site" on the 40/40 website with a press release about a recent partnership with Delaware North Companies.

They don’t call Kasim the “Hollywood” Mayor for nothing…. Oh wait, maybe I just call him that, whatever, same thing.

Good stuff Kasim!

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