by A.man.I

The video has been apparently removed from YouTube, but two Miami thugs landed themselves in a bit of trouble after they made threatening remarks about law enforcement on video and posted it.

Read story here.

by A.man.I

So, if you haven’t heard, there’s a bar in the Atlanta area that has gained a fair amount of media attention over a controversial T-shirt that likens Barack Obama to Curious George.

Why would the monkey joke be so offensive? Well if you must ask, back in the day racist folks convinced themselves that Blacks were subhuman, unintelligent animals.

This post from UndercoverBlackMan illustrates the thinking. The following quote comes from Tennessee clergyman Rev. Buckner H. Payne who wrote “The Negro: What Is His Ethnological Status?” in 1867.

“[W]e take up the monkey, and trace him … through his upward and advancing orders – baboon, ourang-outang and gorilla, up to the negro, another noble animal, the noblest of the beast creation. The difference between these higher orders of the monkey and the negro is very slight, and consists mainly in this one thing: the negro can utter sounds that can be imitated; hence he could talk with Adam and Eve, for they could imitate his sounds.”

But wait! Science tells us that life originated in Africa, so maybe Adam and Eve were a little darker than Rev. Payne could have imagined.

Regardless, there are still plenty of folks who think the Blackman=monkey issue is funny. When I was in high school for example, a fellow student shared a joke that he thought was brilliant.

“Hey Amani did you hear about the Blackman who was looking up his family tree?” he asked. “No,” I replied. “Well, a monkey s*&% on him!” Ha-ha.

With regards to the Obama/Curious George issue, Atlanta political blogger Andre Walker makes an interesting point saying that President Bush has also been likened to a monkey, but no one has ever complained.

That may be true, but who really wants to be thought of as a monkey?

from Press Release

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND COALITION GROUPS ZERO IN ON DELTA & NORTHWEST MERGER

ATLANTA – The Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda convened by Dr. Joseph E. Lowery and comprised of representatives of civil rights organizations and individuals will hold a news conference Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Atlanta Life Financial Center, 100 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 to zero in on the impact of the Delta-Northwest Merger, with particular emphasis on diversity and justice at all levels of management.

The news conference will feature representatives from the following groups and others:

Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda – Dr. Joseph E. Lowery

Concerned Black Clergy

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Rainbow/PUSH

A.man.I

I recently attended the grand opening of WonderRoot. It’s a non profit recording studio dedicated to creating positive community change through the arts. This is a great example of young adults giving back to the community.

I’m calling out the AJC, Creative Loafing, and all other news outlets. This is a great story.

Check out pics from the first studio session at the WonderRoot blog.

CASTING CALL 4 “PLAYER’S REPRISAL”

by A.man.I

Here is a press release I drafted for the Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs group. The organizer Mike Schinkel asked me to speak at an event this week and share some online video production secrets.

I figured I could practice my PR skills, and help them generate some publicity as well.

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
May 12, 2008
Contact: Mike Schinkel
Phone: (404) 276-1276
Email: mikeschinkel(at)gmail dot com

Thursday May 15, 2008 6:45pm
Georgia Tech ATDC
75 5th Street, NW Hodges Room, 3rd floor
Atlanta, GA 30308

ATLANTA ENTREPRENEURS LOOK TO EXPERTS FOR BUSINESS EDGE
First of Its Kind Event to Teach Online Business Owners Secrets to Success

Atlanta - About 80 of Atlanta’s top online entrepreneurs will gather at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center on May 15 to gain cutting edge insights on how to grow and develop their businesses using emerging technology at a first of its kind event called, “Ask the Experts!”

Twenty specialists in areas ranging from Search Engine Optimization (SEO), to web marketing, and advertising will share secrets, and answer questions from businesses owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs. “Atlanta is a great and vibrant city with lots of strong business entrepreneurs, but unlike Silicon Valley has few obvious forums for people who run web-based business,” explains Mike Schinkel who founded the Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs group in 2007.

A major focus of the gathering is to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs understand how online video fits into the business picture. “Our members know that the ‘talking picture’ is the ultimate communications media as video can be just as effectively used to sell, to educate, or simply to entertain,” says Schinkel, who invited Amani Channel, a veteran newsman, video producer, and social media pioneer to share video production secrets.

Channel has worked in broadcast news for more than a decade; he founded a video production company called Visual Eye Media, and the blog/podcast My Urban Report. “There’s obviously a growing interest in online video because that’s where more and more people are watching video,” says Channel who uses traditional and social media strategies to promote his ventures. “Web entrepreneurs need to understand how to produce, market, and distribute video online,” he explains. “In some cases Web users can help you distribute the content, and reach potential customers.”

The overall goal of the gathering is to help every Atlanta based web business succeed. “It’s designed to give everyone lots of face to face time so that web entrepreneurs can ask whatever questions they need answered,” Schinkel explains. “It promises to be the best two hours an Atlanta web entrepreneur can spend.”

Links:
Register for Ask The Experts! http://web.meetup.com/32/calendar/7760143/
Amani Channel: www.visualeyemedia, www.myurbanreport.com

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by A.man.I

Check out SandraRose for the latest.

by A.man.I

Atlanta’s Morehouse College is preparing for its 124th Commencement which will take place on Sunday May, 18. This is a historic graduation for the HBCU because the student pictured above, Josh Packwood is the Valedictorian. Josh has a 4.0 GPA, and is the first Caucasian in the school’s history to earn Valedictorian honors. After graduation, Packwood will move to New York to work for Goldman Sachs.