Raisin in the Pun

By Heru Ammen As a successful African American Entrepreneur, I can say with absolute certainty that the policies Obama has enacted through congress and through fiat have had a tremendous positive effect upon my business and my ability to expand my vision on a global scale; especially on the African continent. My peers have expressed the same sentiment regarding the Obama business doctrine.  What Smiley, West, and other self-appointed and white corporate backed African American leaders represents IMO is a failed agenda that has overseen the decline of the African American community. Since the aforementioned have had the ears and eyes of a vast number of our people, our communities have continued their decline into a de-facto third world existence.  Drug abuse, violence, poverty, familial dysfunction, unemployment and a lack of educational opportunities have all increased under their "watch" - even though they have implemented and promoted numerous conference...

By Heru Ammen The election of Barrack Obama to a second term as POTUS is a clear indication that we are in the initial stages of mitigating the political extremism, hatred (racial, LBGT, gender) and outright ignorance that has become part and parcel of the political process in this country. Jim Crow 2.0 has been mortally wounded and the Taliban like contingent of the Republican Party is in full whine mode today.  Allen West, the quintessential right-wing Afro-Saxon sycophant was sent back home to Florida. Religious misogynists and political Neanderthals Todd Akin and Richard Murdock were defeated and marriage equality amendments were passed in four states. We still have a ways to go. However it is clear that those of us that embrace life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness once again represent the majority in this country.  Simply put Obama and freedom won because Obama wooed Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, LGBT’s, women and young people (which are the g...

By Heru Ammen Black Conservatism is defined, fomented and implemented by right wing, white Republicans. The talking points for Black conservatives is point for point, idea for idea, measure for measure the same as the talking points one would hear from hate speech divas on the right such as Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity or Beck. It appears to this writer that traditional black conservatives are primarily motivated by a need to find favor with and derive income from their conservative white counterparts. By parroting the right-wing mantra of white-conservative Christianism and economics, the black conservative has become the tool of the right wing machine and a foolish and willing pawn in the game of racial politics perpetuated upon the greater African American community by the right wing conservative movement. Things are no better for our left leaning brothers and sisters. Black liberals fail to effectively address the issues that have plagued our poorer communities for decades....

By Heru-Ammen Cornel West, Tavis Smiley and Dr. Boyce Watkins all have three things in common. They are African American, they believe they have some relevancy in and influence on the Greater African American Community and all of them are overt and consistent critics of President Barrack Obama. Their main complaint is that President Obama doesn’t do anything and/or enough for African Americans. They and their apologists also believe that anyone supporting President Obama does so because he is an (and the first) African American President and his supporters are just Land-o-Goshen tickled pink, black, brown, beige, red and tan to have an African American in the White House and aren’t sophisticated enough to see and agree with the complaints West and company offers to the greater African American community with their diatribes against President Obama. The arrogance of their position would be laughable if the stakes weren’t so high. President Obama ended the war in Iraq. The Afghanista...

By Heru Ammen I had a hard day last Friday. On August 17th, 2000 my mother transitioned to the spiritual realm. I consider myself truly blessed to have had her in my life for so long. I've had the ultimate blessing of having two wonderful mothers in my life. My birth mom, who loved me dearly transitioned when I was three (closer to 4 years old). I remember her as well. The last time I saw my birth mother my father was taking her to the hospital for a "simple" operation. I was looking out of the screen door as they drove off and I turned to my sister and told her that mama wasn't coming back home. She died two days later from complications arising from a thyroid-ectomy (removal of the thyroid gland). - which was a pretty radical procedure in 1961. My father remarried about a year later to the woman that would love and raise me as one would their own flesh and blood child; and who I called mama for most of my life. Last Friday I had a few moments of downtime from my usu...

By Robyn Anuakan, Ph.D.  A San Diego Sunday is best enjoyed in historic Balboa Park.    There’s a dog run on the West side, long rolling sidewalks up and down the hills adjacent to Sixth Avenue.    Drummers form a circle in a pine grove and meditate for hours on rhythms that only the sky seems familiar with, contesting for an audience with those on their way to museums.    Lovers hover around the base of grand Eucalyptus as the scent of spring oozes forth in March.  We were all taking a day away from politics. And then a tree falls; not the whole thing, but enough limbs collide to strip it of branches larger than a pick up truck.    We saw it descend on top of the couple sitting quietly, enjoying the calmest of days, where no rain and little wind caused any ruckus to warn the park.  There was no reason as far as we could tell.     Just a hill with arbors laboring to give us all shade in late afternoon.    And it told us we need to hurry up, to support the President’s plan of getting ev...

By Bill Jerome In examining my own relationships what I have found is that true love is neither an emotion or a feeling; although it does lead to emotions, which is often expressed(initially) through and by sensuality, sexuality, and the presence of the one you love even when she's not there. IMHO love is a spiritual awakening to a connection with another being that is intimate, personal and familiar. There is a song entitled "Rest My Lips"  sung by twins Walter and Scotty of The Whispers and one of the verses goes "never has a human face cut so deep into my heart, baby this feeling running through my mind is what's keeping us apart" In other words true love knows its place and there is no doubt between the man and women that love exist between them. It is so deep that one or both parties may be frightened by it and the loss of control they experience when they are with one another. It is my belief that relationships fail for three reasons; one or both of th...