Conspiracy Theories May Hinder Prevention

Ever thought that AIDS might be part of a conspiracy designed to destroy the Black community? If so, you’re not alone. A new study from the Rand Corp. and Oregon State University found that about half of the 500 African Americans interviewed for the study believe that HIV is a man-made virus, and 15 percent said they believe AIDS is a form of Black genocide.

African Americans account for 50 percent of the HIV infections in the United States but comprise only 13 percent of the population.Twelve percent supported the idea that HIV was created and spread by the CIA, and slightly more than half of the respondents believe there is a cure for the disease that the government is not distributing to the poor.

“This is not a bunch of crazy people running around saying they’re out to get us,” Florida State University psychologist Na’im Akbar told The Washington Post. It “comes from the reality of 300 years of slavery and 100 years of post-slavery exploitation.”There is also a precedent.

For decades, beginning in the 1930s, the federal government conducted experiments on African Americans to study the effects of syphilis. The Black men with the disease believed they were being treated, but scientists were withholding treatment to observe the course of the disease.Ironically, the study also found that 75 percent of those interviewed believe the medical community is trying to stop the spread of the disease among Blacks.

Some researchers said that those who entertain such conspiracy theories are doing themselves a disservice. “It’s a huge barrier to HIV prevention in Black communities,” said Phill Wilson, of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. “The whole notion of conspiracy theories and misinformation removes personal responsibility,” he told the Post.
____________________________________________

What do you think? Is the AIDS epidemic part of a conspiracy to wipe out Blacks or are Blacks using that as an excuse to avoid personal responsibility?

AIDS Conspiracies 

U.S. Postal Service Debuts Anderson Stamp

It was more than a coincidence that this week’s unveiling of the new Marian Anderson Black Heritage stamp took place at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

It is the precise location where, in 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution banned the world-renowned contralto from singing, because of a Whites-only policy at its hall. Outraged by the decision, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial, where more than 75,000 people showed up to cheer her on.

Anderson became the 28th African American to be honored in the Postal Service’s Black Heritage series.“Our stamps are determined by the stamp adviser committee, but we get thousands of suggestions from the public,” said Deborah Yackley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service.

“This is the 50th anniversary of Marian Anderson’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera, so this year is appropriate. No one can deny that she is a famous Black American and deserving of a stamp.

”The stamp depicts an oil painting by Albert Slark of Ajax, Ontario, Canada, which was based on a black-and-white photograph believed to have been taken by Moise Benkow in Stockholm around 1934.

The ceremony included performances by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and students from Washington, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts.

Inspirational words were conveyed by Allan Keiler, author of the biography “Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey.” Anderson’s nephew, James DePriest, who is head of the Conducting Department at the Julliard School, also spoke at the ceremony.Anderson was born in Philadelphia in 1897.

She started her musical career as a young girl after joining her family’s church choir and went on to study abroad and perform in Europe. Her first breakout performance was on Dec. 30, 1935, where she was lauded as “one of the great singers of our time.”

Anderson, who was one of the first Blacks to perform at the White House, is probably best known for her controversial performance at the Lincoln Memorial and was the first Black vocalist to perform at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

Throughout Anderson’s career, she received many high honors, which included becoming a goodwill ambassador to Asia and an appointment as a delegate to the 13th session of the United Nations.

She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, New York City’s Handel Medallion, the United Nations Peace Prize, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, the NAACP’s Springarn Medal for outstanding achievements and a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Marian Anderson died from congestive heart failure on April 8, 1993 in Portland, Ore.____________________________________________

What do you think, is it a major accomplishment to be honored by Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.?

Anderson Stamp 

Racist T-Shirt?

Tshirthell.com boasts the motto, “where all the bad shirts go.”And few would disagree after a T-shirt with the slogan,“Arrest Black Babies Before They Become Criminals” went on sale on the site. The shirt is emblazoned with the image of a hand-cuffed Black baby sucking on a pacifier.Cost? $18.What’s more, the Web site offers the following disclaimer: Anyone who thinks the shirt is racist is just ignorant.

TShirtHell.com started in October 2001 and receives over 75,000 visitors a day, according to the site, which is based in Las Vegas.But Tshirthell.com is an equal-opportunity offender, according to the site.

“We design our shirts to amuse ourselves. We don't care if you're offended by them. Regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, or sexual preference- you are all fair game,” the site’s creators state on the Web.

Further, the site asks, why is it that Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle can do stereotype humor without repercussions, and not Tshirthell.com?

T-shirts sold on the site cover a variety of topics including politics, homosexuality, sex and race.

Some shirts include phrases such as “I Broke Up Brad and Jen,” “I Still Hate George Bush,” and “Medium Pimpin.” Another shirt proclaims, “I Survived the Tsunami 2004.”

Infant-sized versions read, “Are You My Daddy?” and “Broken Condom.”

The controversial Web site has been featured in The New York Post, Maximum, Stuff, Penthouse, Us, Playboy and others.

Tshirthell.com did not respond to BET.com’s request for comment. The company ships products all over the United States and to 46 foreign countries.

Customers can become members and receive benefits, which include discounts and access to free giveaways.

____________________________________________

Are members of the Black community right to be upset about the T-shirt, or should we learn to laugh at ourselves?

Arrest Black Babies 

Black Conscious News Website

Good Morning,

I hope everyone is having a good morning on this very cold Tuesday, January 25, 2005. Anyway, the purpose of contacting you is to inform you that the Black Conscious News website is up and running. However, the site isn't fully operational. Currently I'm looking for writers and people who want to get our issues to the forefront. The only qualification is that the stories you submit must have an African American slant to it, but I am open to other content as well.

You can contact me by clicking on the below link:

http://www.blackconsciousnews.com/feedback.htm

Thank you for your time and have a good day!

Black Conscious News
http://www.bconnews.com/

Kilpatrick Faces Professional, Personal Attacks

By Tracy L. Scott, BET.com STaff Writer

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is under fire for proposing to balance the budget by laying off almost 700 city employees, just days before he leased a $25,000 Lincoln Navigator that the city signed for.

“There were some screw-ups on communications. I’ll take the lumps on that. I’m upset that we handled it the way we handled it,” Kilpatrick said during a news conference at which he admitted to obtaining the vehicle for his wife. He initially denied using city funds to lease the SUV, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Three years ago, critics charged that the 34-year-old Kilpatrick held wild parties in the mayor’s mansion at taxpayers’ expense, complete with strippers, prostitutes and plenty liquor. Kilpatrick and many close to the mayor called the claims a racist attempt to discredit him. As the charged roiled – rising to the level of urban legend – a state attorney launched a major probe into the allegations. The investigation found no wrongdoing on behalf of Kilpatrick and his staff.

“When you’re a young African American man with an earring, it’s hard for people to believe you’re a good husband and father,” Kilpatrick told The Associated Press.

Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle told the Free Press, “The mayor has reached the tipping point where the public now assumes the worst about him.”

Although Kilpatrick won supporters by tackling the city’s projected $230 million deficit for next year, others point to swirling reports of his partying on the public dime as well as his proposed layoffs, scheduled to take place in March, as reasons why he should not be re-elected in November.

In addition to the layoffs, Kilpatrick plans to eliminate 200 vacant positions, sell city-owned vehicles, decrease employee benefits and ask workers to take a 10-percent pay cut.

“We can no longer delay the tough decisions,” Kilpatrick told Detroit’s citizens Wednesday.

Kilpatrick’s call for sacrifice among Detroit’s citizens was well-received until the press publicized the purchase of the Navigator.

“I thought he was doing OK, but if he continues stuff like this, if he doesn’t put the city first, he doesn’t deserve to be in office,” Charles McGuire, a 22-year-old Detroit resident, told the Free Press.

Is Kilpatrick giving Black politicians a bad name or is his a case of racial stereotyping? Click "Discuss Now" to share your thoughts.

Mayor Kilpatrick 

Black History Month Is Coming Soon

Black history Month is around the corner and it is time to let you know where you can access viable resources on this topic.

Martin Luther King Jr. (which just passed recently)
One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on 15 January 1929. As the grandson of the Rev. A.D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter, and the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., who succeeded Williams as Ebenezer's pastor, King's roots were in the African-American Baptist church.

http://www.blackconsciousnetwork.com/martinlutherking.htm#Martin

Malcolm X
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family's eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday.

and many more resources:

http://www.blackconsciousnetwork.com/history.htm

However, right now the network is going through a current construction phase, so many of the links will not work. Check back February 1st 2005!

Martin Luther King Biography

Biography Of Martin Luther King Jr.
One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on 15 January 1929. As the grandson of the Rev. A.D. Williams, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter, and the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., who succeeded Williams as Ebenezer's pastor, King's roots were in the African-American Baptist church. After attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, King went on to study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and Boston University, where he deepened his understanding of theological scholarship and explored Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent strategy for social change. King married Coretta Scott in 1953, and the following year he accepted the pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King received his Ph.D. in systematic theology in 1955.

On 5 December 1955, after civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to comply with Montgomery's segregation policy on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King president of the newly-formed Montgomery Improvement Association. The boycott continued throughout 1956 and King gained national prominence for his role in the campaign. In December 1956 the United States Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional and Montgomery buses were desegregated.

Seeking to build upon the success in Montgomery, King and other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957. In 1959, King toured India and further developed his understanding of Gandhian nonviolent strategies. Later that year, King resigned from Dexter and returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father.

In 1960, black college students initiated a wave of sit-in protests that led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). King supported the student movement and expressed an interest in creating a youth arm of the SCLC. Student activists admired King, but they were critical of his top-down leadership style and were determined to maintain their autonomy. As an advisor to SNCC, Ella Baker, who had previously served as associate director of SCLC, made clear to representatives from other civil rights organizations that SNCC was to remain a student-led organization. The 1961 "Freedom Rides" heightened tensions between King and younger activists, as he faced criticism for his decision not to participate in the rides. Conflicts between SCLC and SNCC continued during the Albany Movement of 1961 and 1962.

In the spring of 1963, King and SCLC lead mass demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, where local white police officials were known for their violent opposition to integration. Clashes between unarmed black demonstrators and police armed with dogs and fire hoses generated newspaper headlines throughout the world. President Kennedy responded to the Birmingham protests by submitting broad civil rights legislation to Congress, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Subsequent mass demonstrations culminated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on 28 August 1963, in which more than 250,000 protesters gathered in Washington, D. C. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

King's renown continued to grow as he became Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1963 and the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. However, along with the fame and accolades came conflict within the movement's leadership. Malcolm X's message of self-defense and black nationalism resonated with northern, urban blacks more effectively than King's call for nonviolence; King also faced public criticism from "Black Power" proponent, Stokely Carmichael.
King's efficacy was not only hindered by divisions among black leadership, but also by the increasing resistance he encountered from national political leaders. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's extensive efforts to undermine King's leadership were intensified during 1967 as urban racial violence escalated, and King's public criticism of U.S. intervention in the Vietnam War led to strained relations with Lyndon Johnson's administration.

In late 1967, King initiated a Poor People's Campaign designed to confront economic problems that had not been addressed by earlier civil rights reforms. The following year, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, he delivered his final address "I've Been to the Mountaintop." The next day, 4 April 1968, King was assassinated.

To this day, King remains a controversial symbol of the African American civil rights struggle, revered by many for his martyrdom on behalf of nonviolence and condemned by others for his militancy and insurgent views.

Nonviolence
Mahatma Gandhi
Rosa Parks
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Sit-in protests
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Freedom Rides
President Kennedy
Civil Rights Act of 1964
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
I Have a Dream
Black Power
Vietnam War
Lyndon Johnson's
Poor People's Campaign

Introduction

This Blog was created for the sole purpose for membership opinions concerning site content for Black Conscious News, Black Conscious Network and Black Adult Entertainment. If you are a member of one of these sites (or not a member) we welcome your opinions: Negative or Positive. You can also send me feedback by clicking on this link:

http://www.blackconsciousnetwork.com/feedback.htm

We are always looking for feedback on issues concerning site design, content or advertisement campaigns.

Black Conscious Network
http://www.blackconsciousnetwork.com

Black Conscious News
http://www.blackconsciousnews.com

Black Adult Entertainment
http://www.badultent.com