Common Cents

Words are one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. They are the making and unmaking of nations, the triumph and downfall of communities, and the cure as well as the disease of the human condition. Individuals have died, ascended to power, been imprisoned, and lived all by words and, more often than not, words alone. Since the naming of Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, race has received a center stage platform for discussion. Unfortunately it seems that all anyone wants to talk about is the fact that it’s a problem. The next step however is taking responsibility, holding each other accountable, and truly thinking about the deconstruction of race as a way of life.

Recently the controversy on The View over the use of the n-word sparked a small skirmish of newsroom activity. For me, however it sparked yet another “head-in-my-hands-moment”. What was supposed to be a short segment on a mid-day talk show turned into a dialogue about race for the nation. It is extremely rare that women are seen speaking intensely about race, this conversation is usually reserved for panels of men scowling at rap videos on massive projector screens. This unexpected and heated debate unearthed a lot of confusion, misinformation, and perception than anyone really expected. Each side held valid points

• Children should not be taught hate-speech
• Everyone should be taught comprehensive history
• Cultural sensitivity needs to be apart of the societal conversation

No matter where you lie on the issue, it is more important to remember that one does not speak for all. This was a conversation between a handful of individuals and was the opening act to a fashion show. Not all of any kind of people uniformly think the same thing. That’s what makes debates like this so complex with shades of understanding that take so much more than the roughly 7 minutes The View spent on it. It would be irresponsible to take to heart everything heard on that episode.

Maybe you should go have your own conversation about race with your friends, your family, neighbors, coworkers, and most importantly yourself. Trust me, it makes the fashion show after a hell of a lot more interesting.

A bill allowing gas stations to sell gas below cost could ease pain at the pump but threaten small New Jersey businesses.Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, guided the legislation through the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on Thursday. It would eliminate gas price floors that require gas stations to sell above cost.

Enacted during the Great Depression, the regulations were originally intended to protect fuel sales from being monopolized by big business. Burzichelli said he no longer sees that as an issue.

“It is time for state gas pricing laws to catch up to speed with the times,” said Burzichelli. “New Jersey’s current law is a holdover from a time when consumers had few options as to where they could buy gas and monopolistic companies could manipulate prices to run roughshod over the marketplace. With the sheer number of choices available to motorists today, consumers should be able to decide for themselves the acceptable price of a fill-up.”

Some consumers agree. Sachin Ahuja, of Toms River, who was filling up at a Super Wawa in Egg Harbor Township, said that he is in favor of measures lowering gas prices. “Since gas is connected to everything, if gas prices go down, inflation will probably go down too,” he said.

However, small gas station owners see it differently.Ranjit Dhaliwal, owner of the Gulf on the White Horse Pike in Absecon for the past 19 years, is staunchly against the bill. “[Legislators] want to put small business out of business,” he said. He sees the convenience stores and repair shops of bigger businesses as a threat to small-station owners if the bill is approved.

“We are a gas-and-go, just a gas-and-go competing with Wawa, who sells under-cost and has stores inside.”

Dhaliwal’s concerns are not unfounded. Burzichelli noted that service stations with convenience stores or auto-repair shops make the bulk of their revenue from those more profitable services, not the sale of gasoline.

Returning from a four-month vacation, Krish Patel was unaware of the new legislation. The Mays Landing Lukoil gas station owner said that under the circumstances of the bill, his business would be “ruined”.

Relying on the sale of gas per gallon, Patel said soaring gas prices have hurt his business. Whereas he used to sell 180,000 to 200,000 gallons daily, today it is down to 150,000. With employee salaries, a mortgage and bill payments, Patel sees his future as bleak upon passage of the bill, “If they go below price, then I’m done and there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said.

Patel recalled a recent meeting he had with Lukoil corporation representatives that outlined their strategy as being pennies ahead of the competition while still maintaining their quality. Still, Patel is doubtful, saying that profiting at least 10-12 cents per gallon is the only way his business can survive. “With prices as they are, people are not looking for quality, they are looking for cheap,” he said.

Tanoia Davis, whose car was idling in a five-car line at the SAM’s Club pump in Pleasantville, found herself torn on the issue. “The big businesses seem to crush the little guy all the time, and I don’t want to see the little guy crushed,” said the Atlantic City resident. “But at the same time, I’m like any other consumer - I want reasonable gas prices.”

The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee released the gas-cost bill 3-1 with one abstention. It now heads to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.

Dhaliwal says he has a better idea. He suggests the state impose a fixed minimum profit on gas similar to those on milk and cigarettes. Such a measure would yield businesses a 5-6 percent profit per each gallon sold.

He sees his suggestion as a good alternative legislators should take into consideration. “They should,” he said. “If small businesses are going to survive, the state has to do something.”

Ike Turner, 76, died of undisclosed causes in his suburban San Marcos home on December 12, 2007.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was credited with producing the first Rock and Roll recording (Rocket 8 and several chart topping hits. In the musical community he is seen as one of the primary architects of the R&B rock and roll genre. A prolific guitarist that had a way with words, Turner made a name for himself on talent and determination.

However, Turner was not only a legend for his music, but also the melody he played outside of the studio. His drug use and violently turbulent marriage to Tina Turner were documented in the 1986 autobiography “I,Tina” and the 1993 film “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” As reported in USA Today article published on December 13th, Ike Turner disputed his portrayal in both instances.

How is this man to be remembered? For his remarkable ability to move a nation through song, or his inability to keep a raging anger in check? An extensive article by MSNBC suggests that Turner had begun to reconstruct his image as of late, even winning a Grammy in 2007, but acknowledged that his reputation was still representative of the man who abused Tina Turner.

Reportedly Tina Turner declined to comment on Ike Turner’s death. Her spokeswoman, Michele Schweitzer said in a statement “Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.”

Fault and talent are two things that never fall far apart. However the overlap leaves only one able to prevail. Should the smooth bass line of guitar riff overshadow brutal domestic abuse? Should one’s character be defined in one period of their life? How will society regard this man in history?

The truth is that Ike Turner was both - an achievement and a disappointment, talented and flawed. Though to ignore that in the wake of his death would be a disservice to his memory no matter which way those remembering are swayed.

In his own words during an interview with the Associated Press “I know what I am in my heart. And I know regardless of what I’ve done, good and bad, it took it all to make me what I am today,”

They are everywhere - street corners, subways stations, sidewalks, storefront doorways. Oftentimes their struggle for shelter, food, and help go unnoticed or even ignored. They, are the homeless. However, the struggle to survive can be made all the more difficult when you’re “different”.

In a 2007 report conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, approximately 20 to 40 percent of the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 of homeless youth in New York City identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).

In an effort to decrease these numbers the Bronx Community Pride Center, located at 448 East 149th Street in the South Bronx, created Operation Home Base. The program, funded by New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development, provides homeless and runaway youth with intervention, case management and counseling on homelessness, psychosocial issues and academic performance.

Utilized by generally Black and Latino youth between the ages of 17-24 of all genders and orientations, Operation Home Base negotiates LGBT friendly emergency housing with organizations such as Covenant House, Green Chimneys, and Carmen’s Place. This month the center estimated that they connected about 130 Bronx youths to resources regarding emergency housing.

Although Director of Research, Evaluation, and Outreach, Zachariah Hennessey, acknowledges the other services the city offers for displaced youth, he recognizes the pride center’s unique position in the borough. “We are the only drop-in center for runaway and homeless youth,” he said. “And the only organization that provides special services for LGBT people.”

Sean Coleman, Operation Home Base Coordinator said that although the program is designed to accommodate LGBT youth no one will be turned away. Due to its position as the Bronx’s only drop-in center most clients are dealing with several external factors including home hostility, teenage rebellion, intolerance of sexuality, as well as issues of abuse, he said.

With a heavy emphasis on education, family mediation and reunification Operation Home Base intends to instill youth with the tools to cope with the issues that resulted in their displacement.

If programs like Operation Home Base weren’t provided Arbert Santana, Director of Youth Services, sees kids “falling between the cracks.” “I definitely believe that we are one of the few agencies that help fill those cracks by linking people to resources,” he said. By connecting youth with counselors, agencies, and outside resources the pride center hopes to ensure that they will have a place to lay their heads.

“At the end of the day we are providing a safe space for their [the Bronx’s] youth,” said Coleman. “And hopefully the emphasis won’t be on just their sexuality,” he said. “These are just kids and that should supercede everything else,” said Coleman.

Venus Williams, 4 time Wimbeldon winner, 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist, and owner of 36 WTA Tour Titles (6 of which are Grand Slams) is adding another number to her career: EleVen.

The accomplished tennis star launched her new clothing line - EleVen - today at a Steve and Barry’s press conference in New York City. According to Williams, the line combines her styles on and off the court and she hopes to attract women of all ages, interests, and tastes.

“Anyone who wants to be active, anyone who wants to look good, anyone who likes fashion, who likes style would be attracted to EleVen,” said Williams.

Consisting of a variety of outerwear, jewelry, and sneakers, the line’s manifesto “Be #1. Feel Like an EleVen” is emphasized by the overall theme of confidence, self-esteem, femininity, and power.

The 27-year-old athlete will join the ranks of television actresses Sarah Jessica Parker (Bitten) and Amanda Bynes (dear) , as well as basketball star Big Ben Wallace (BB) in the exclusively marketed Steve and Barry’s celebrity designed apparel.

Steve and Barry’s retail stores have become famous for their mission of “stripping away the gloss and giving consumers something real” by capping the prices of their merchandise at $20. The lure of affordably priced apparel, accessories, and footwear have proved hard to resist.

Venus Williams is scheduled to continue her EleVen promotion tour throughout the country with 12 more stops, next stop: Chicago, Illinois.

The face of HIV/AIDS has continuously changed since it’s emergence in the early 1980’s. At first it was seen strictly as a young white gay male disease, however the epidemic has had an overwhelmingly large effect on every other racial, orientation, gender, and age group. Thus spawning several efforts by government agencies to decrease HIV infection as well as improve maintenance once individuals contract the disease.

National days for HIV testing bring this sensitive topic to light from within the communities and provides them with a chance to educate themselves.

One group that, in Hyacinth AIDS Foundation Health Educator Mark Cruz’s opinion, is left under-served by these tactics are Asian-Americans. In his interview he sites a combination of stigma, language, communication, and education as barriers to the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the Asian community.

According to an article in the New York Times King Middle School in Portland, Maine has voted in favor of providing girls access to oral contraceptives in their health clinic.

Opposition to the new policy argue that impressing sexual responsibility between the ages of 11-13 is unnecessary and sends the wrong message. However with health officials citing that 17 middle school students had become pregnant in the last 4 years (seven of them during the 2006-07 school year), a different message is being heard loud and clear.

Nick McGee, the city’s Republican Party chairman, told the Times, “It is an attack on the moral fabric of our community and a black eye for our state.”

What could be more “morally compromising” than teenage parents that are ill equipped to take care of an infant? Perhaps the parents and educators of those new parents failing to enlighten them to safer sex techniques and strategies necessary to avoid unexpected pregnancy.

Unexpected pregnancy has led to an innumerable amount of problems that make communities look like Mike Tyson after his 1990 pumbling by James “Buster Douglas. So McGee’s comment seems to be glib in light of resulting high school drop out rates, delinquency, increased reliance on social services, and depression.

Surprisingly the new policy has a large constituency of supporters. The Times reported — “I think it’s a great idea,” said Cathleen Allen, whose son is enrolled at King. “Someone is finally advocating for these students to take care of themselves.”

Being emotionally and physically too young to be sexually active is and will continue to be a controversial issue. However educating adolescents about how their bodies work, taking personal responsibility for their health, as well as making them aware of the consequences of their actions have always been key components to ensuring that they have healthy productive lives.

Kudos to King Middle School for taking such progressive steps in the direction of improving their student’s health.

King Middle School is scheduled to have the new policy in action by the end of the year. The services include counseling and examination by a physician or nurse practicioner provided by the school pending a signed waiver by the student’s guardians.

This month “The Advocate” Magazine celebrated their 40th year anniversary by showcasing 40 of the LGBTQ community’s most influential individuals.

“When we asked you to sift through a list of 100 notable politicians, artists, activists, and thinkers to choose 40 of your favorite gay heroes, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. Our criteria: A hero had to be entirely out. And more than just being supremely talented or superbly competent, he or she had to have contributed significantly to our LGBT lives. Yet, even with the limits, picking just 40 hardly seemed possible. Bravo, Advocate readers. Here are your best and brightest.” – The Advocate September 2007

At first glance the list seems extremely comprehensive. There are contemporary heroes as well as those who laid the foundation for their success. The rainbow parade of artists, poets, politicians, soldiers, and renaissance men and women that have positively impacted the community literally brim at the pages. It inspires, it gives hope, however it also raises questions.

Out of the 40 heroes that “The Advocate” recognized only 16 were women and a staggering 3 were people of color. It has been a long struggle for the LGBTQ community to break out of the young, white, male stereotype and according to this list they have a long way to go. Of course one cannot re-write history, those who made the list have certainly gone above and beyond the call of societal duty to secure fair visibility and treatment of the LGBTQ community.

However it seems strange that the rainbow coalition seems to be missing a few colors. The only people of color are Audrey Lorde, Pedro Zamora, and Bayard Rustin. These individuals have brought issues of the LGBTQ community of color to light and influenced the further acceptance of both communities. But assuredly there are several others that have done their part to pave the way. Individuals such as Andrew Jolivette, Parinya “Nong Toom” Charoenphol, or Laura Aguilar seem to have gone unnoticed along with a whole host of others that deserve the same amount of recognition.

So the questions must be asked: Who were the other 60 people that “The Advocate” provided? Who were picking the 40 that made the list?

Kudos to “The Advocate” for recognizing these influential figures. The fact that Ellen DeGeneres was their number one pick speaks volumes about how much the social norms have changed for the better. However hopefully next time they’ll delve a little deeper and educate their readers at the same time.

Recently the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network premiered a short animated music video entitled “Read A Book” on their top 10 countdown show “106 & Park”. Within the roughly timed out two minutes and fifty seconds that this existed on the network BET managed to further drag their reputation as a credible source for Black entertainment through the mud yet again. The reinforcement of the stereotypes of Black men as totally irresponsible and women as solely sexual objects paired with the consistent use of the N-word left viewers with an unsettling feeling of anger, confusion, and overall disbelief.

According to a Fox News story in a press release, the network praises the video’s positive message: ” ‘Read A Book’ uses an irresistible beat on which to place the catchy, overly repeated lyrics. But instead of exhorting the listener to dance as much of current hip-hop does, he takes the opportunity to suggest ways through which people can better their lives.”

A BET spokeswoman goes on to say in the release: “This video a great example of how the best animation can convey complex messages with great clarity and humor.”

Several bloggers and news organizations have commented already. Some call this comedic satire with strong secondary messages that the Black community can learn from and laugh at, while others call it culturally insensitive to the Black community. On one hand the piece is packed with positive messages such as the importance of responsible parenting, conscious financial decisions, proper hygiene, and education. These things are all essential to the forward movement of Black America to equitable equality in this modern democratic society. And yes the instrumentals are catchy, especially coupled with the high quality animation. One is almost inclined to label this benign.

However as it is with most things it is not what you say but how you say it. All of these messages could have been conveyed without the condescending tone and total disregard for the intelligence of Black America. This type of presentation is counterproductive to its own cause by contributing to the reinforcement of and (in some instances) creation of stereotypes about Black Americans. The fact that the video displays books literally being forced down the throats of Black people assumes an inherent resistance of Black people to educate themselves. It appears that this assumption has seeped into the psyches of programmers at BET, thus allowing “Read A Book” to be approved and aired on one of the most popularly rated shows on the network. This speaks volumes about several issues facing Black America today but here are the most apparent:

1) Being represented by a national television network that sorely underestimates the intelligence and interests of its intended audience. So much so that it reportedly received a “Thumbs Down” award from the National Association of Black Journalists at its annual convention.

2) Battling internalized racism as a matter of public discourse on a seemingly disjointed one-way communication system. (Note: Internalized racism occurs when an oppressed group comes to use against itself the methods of the oppressor.)

3) Deciding whether or not this piece is harmless satire, strictly humor, or a personal attack while being viewed on a public stage. Laughing off such a blatant challenge to the character of Black America could prove dangerous and leave the door open for more severe forms of “criticism”.

4) The N-word. Having this racial slur, said by anyone (inside or outside of the community) in a piece about improving the status of Black people in America or anyone else is unfathomable.

5) Gendered race relations. The fact that women in this piece are present solely as booty-shaking billboards for the “importance of education” is truly disturbing. Considering that women in all social movements have proven to be the soul and the background of the majority of these operations it is interesting that they are relegated to such a role here.

There are several ways to educate and inform, to provoke thought and action, as well as entertain. Unfortunately BET decided to go the way of unintelligent stereotypical animation…one would ponder if this will ever not be the norm.

I’m excited to have my very first journalistic blog.  If there’s anything you find intriguing feel free to post it on my page and I’ll do my best to give it my unique perspective. Let’s make news!