Syracuse Finance

by Lola Adesioye, Huffington Post – www.LolaCreative.com

Should there be a "black agenda" in America? And if the answer to that question is ‘yes,’ what is the black agenda?

These are the questions that black leaders and black people have been discussing more and more since President Obama took office. Last week, Reverend Al Sharpton hosted a leadership summit addressing this very issue. Today a group of black leaders got together on an MSNBC special to talk about this issue in more detail. And many will remember the on-air argument that Tavis Smiley and Rev Sharpton had a few weeks ago about this topic.

Tavis believes that Obama isn’t doing enough. Sharpton believes that Obama need not ‘ballyhoo’ a black agenda. I think most agree, though, that something needs to be done.

With a 16.5% unemployment rate (compared to 9.7% for white Americans), an education system that is under serving black children, higher than average rates of death from diseases like breast cancer, and continued social issues, it is hard to disagree that there is need for some kind of targeted and focused approach to dealing with the issues that affect African-American. But many are divided on whether or not the president is doing enough for black people, whether or not it’s incumbent on him to do anything at all, and what should or shouldn’t be done.

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Cornel West Goes Questions Barack Obama’s Commitment to Black People

• Kathleen Wells did a recent interview with Dr. Cornel West, a Professor of Religion and African … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 25th 2010 9:02PM | Comments (0)

Man Who Allegedly Threw Baby From Bridge Charged With Murder

• Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem of New Jersey was charged Wednesday with murder for allegedly throwing … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 25th 2010 9:38AM | Comments (2)

Judge Mathis Calls Prison System Modern-Day Slavery

• Two years ago, I went to the Rainbow/Push Coalition Convention as a guest of Rev. Jesse Jackson. … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 24th 2010 5:50PM | Comments (44)

‘Twilight Star’ Robert Pattinson a Racist?

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Woman Lied about Gang Rape, Gets Three Years in Prison

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Three Officers Acquitted in New York Sodomy Case

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Teaching Your Kids about Money: Dr. Boyce

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• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 23rd 2010 6:37AM | Comments (2)

FBI Believes Kwame Kilpatrick Ran a Criminal Enterprise

• The Detroit Free Press is reporting that a contractor who pleaded guilty in the corruption probe … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 22nd 2010 9:44PM | Comments (9)

Old White Man Beats Young Black Man on Bus: Video Storms the Web

• An allegedly racist comment by an elderly white man sparked a fight on an Oakland bus that has … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 22nd 2010 8:40AM | Comments (181)

Wesley Snipes Talks on Man who Crashed Plane into IRS Building

• Wesley Snipes, a man who has been most recently recognized for his problems with the IRS, had a … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 20th 2010 8:56AM | Comments (20)

Rapper Shyne Signs $1 Million Dollar Deal with Def Jam

• Since being released from prison four month’s ago, the rapper shyne has been working hard to get … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 19th 2010 8:16AM | Comments (0)

Judge Tells Chris Brown That He’s Doing a Great Job on Probation

• Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Schnegg praised singer Chris Brown for staying on … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 19th 2010 7:21AM | Comments (7)

Woman Faces $555,000 Dollars in Student Loan Debt: Dr. Boyce Money

• Michelle Bisutti is a 41-year old family practitioner in Columbus, Oh. She finished medical school … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 18th 2010 6:46AM | Comments (3)

Man Allegedly Throws Baby Off a Bridge in New Jersey

• Update: 2/19/10: Man Pleads Not guilty on charges A New Jersey man snatched his infant daughter … Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 18th 2010 5:53AM | Comments (46)

Sean Bell’s Shooters Are Not Going to be Charged with a Crime

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• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Feb 17th 2010 1:56PM | Comments (129)

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

I received a call the today from CNN for an appearance on Headline News with the amazing Richelle Carey. The story happened a couple of weeks ago, but it took me aback and I thought I would quickly share it with the AOL BV family. During a field trip to a former plantation in Charlotte, NC, the tour guide wanted to show the kids what slavery was like. So, he asked the black children to pick cotton while their white classmates stood around and watched. When the CNN producer (a nice woman named Ebony) told me about the story, I had to do a Gary Coleman imitation: "What choo talking bout Ebony?"
Beyond the obvious, this case is disturbing on a multitude of levels. But CNN has asked me to help make this case into a teachable moment. I love finding life lessons in everything, so here are some quick thoughts:

1) The tour guide who did this clearly wasn’t thinking: If you want the children to empathize with slavery, why not have them ALL pretend to be slaves? If you have the black children pretending to be slaves and the white kids pretending to be their masters, you are only teaching the white kids to be slave masters and the black kids to be their property.
2) Look at this through the mind of a child: I remember a child in elementary school saying to me, "I wish slavery was still around, because I could then tell you what to do." Those were the same words that Walter Currie’s classmate said to him beforespraying him with gasoline and setting him on fire. Those were also the words that one child said to another on the bus ride home from the plantation that day in North Carolina. Do you see a trend here? While we as adults might see the educational value in our remarks, children might see it in an entirely different way.

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I am not a fan of the NCAA, a sports league that earns money on the par of the NFL and NBA, but has somehow decided that they don’t have to properly compensate their employees or give them standard rights to negotiation. What’s worse is that the NCAA does tremendous harm to the African American community, sucking up kids with hoop dreams and destroying their futures with inferior educations.

When I recently read that the NCAA may be hiring a black president (Dr. Bernard Franklin), the only thing I could say is “whoopty-damn-doo.” While some of us might be tempted to applaud such an achievement, we must fully understand that the disease of racism is sometimes delivered through the hands of a black overseer.

RELATED: OPINION: Ivy League Can Teach NCAA About Coach Diversity

Dr. Franklin, while running around the country applauding his organization for giving one opportunity to one black person, should probably think of the thousands of African American families being used up by the very system he has been trained to manage. The NCAA is, without question, one of the most exploitative regimes in the history of America, right next to slavery and the prison system. Billions are earned each year off the backs of African American families, while the league has worked together with Congress to create a nexus of regulations that keep the athlete and his/her family from getting a piece of the economic pie.

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Kennett, MO. (PRWEB) October 28, 2009 — Heather Ellis, a college student out of Kennett, MO is now facing 15 years in prison if she is sentenced after being accused of cutting line at a local Walmart. Her case has gotten the attention of the nation, and has been the subject of extensive online protests. Please see Missouri case number 08DU-CR00039-01, Dunklin County District Court for more details.

This requires that the prosecutor be made to realize that his power is not omnipotent and that he cannot destroy lives at his own discretion.

The case opens up a can of racial worms for a small town that is known for having the strictest legal system in the state of Missouri. Ellis, a college student and minister’s daughter with no criminal record, has been traveling the country to get support for her case. The work paid off when her family’s story was featured on CNN recently. To learn more about the case, visitTheHeatherEllisCase.com. Thousands around the nation have rallied to support Ellis, including many leaders, scholars and activists. Ellis goes on trial on November 18th and faces up to 15-years in prison if convicted.

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by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Hip Hop Wired is reporting that the rapper Nas is having some serious financial problems. In addition to owing his wife Kelis $44,000 per month in child support, it turns out that the artist also owes the federal government another $2.5 million in taxes. Here are quick thoughts about Nas, love and money:

1) Nas has a complicated life. His decision to marry the "love of his life" is going to cost him for the rest of his life. The rapper’s tax situation could be due to irresponsibility (as appears to be the case with Method Man and Nicolas Cage), or it could simply be a matter of using write-offs that were not allowed by the IRS. We can’t assume that Nas’ tax trouble automatically makes him into a horrible citizen.

Click to read.

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

I had a lot of fun watching the new Vh-1 show, "Going for Broke," starring comedian Eddie Griffin. Griffin is one of the funniest comics in America, the comedian that Chris Tucker could have been (if he would simply stop disappearing between Jackie Chan movies).

On the show, Griffin gives insight into his personal life, which is both intriguing and disturbing. The show is called "Going for Broke" for a reason, because Eddie just might actually get there.
Here are some reasons that Eddie Griffin might actually become the broke celebrity that he is trying to become:

1) He spends like a damn fool. One of the easiest traps for an entertainer to fall into is the "infinite money trap." That’s when the person thinks that they’ve got an endless supply of cash, giving them ability to spend whatever they want on whatever they want. Apparently Eddie may have fallen into this trap, since his Bentley was being repossessed in an early episode of the show. Eddie’s conversation with his accountant was also revealing, as the words "all the accounts are empty" seemed to strike him hard. With all the success that Eddie Griffin has had, it is difficult to imagine that he would be completely broke. But the truth is that this kind of thing happens all the time.

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about Dr. Boyce Watkins

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