Radio Shake Up

Remember 92.3 “The Beat”? Remember when 100.3 and 92.3  switched? Remember what 100.3 was before it was “The Beat”? Remember 93.5 KDAY, the first time in came out way back in the day? Neither can we anymore.

 

With so many changes on local radio over the years, we’re happy to see that some of the biggest urban radio stations in Los Angeles are about to do what we’ve wanted them to do for years- merge.

 

Now we don’t have to ignore 100.3, because it stop playing rap last year and we don’t have to be annoyed by KDAY for it’s weak, staticky frequency. Plus we’ll get to enjoy comedian Mo’Nique as she will be getting her own daily show (3 to 7 p.m.) that starts on July 23. We’ll also join the rest of the free world in getting to know radio personality and diva Wendy Williams whose show is already airing on afternoons in New York, Los Angeles, and a million points on the map in between.

 

It’s kind of like we’re getting the best of the urban radio world with this new station to be called “The Beat of the L.A.- No Color Lines.”

 

Watch out Power 106.

 

*Syndication One is a joint venture between Radio One, Inc. and REACH Media, Inc.

A Closer Look at US Military Statistics in Iraq War

By MONIKA MATHUR

Associated Press Writer

 

A closer look at US military deaths in Iraq:

Percentages by service branch: Army: 72 percent; Marines: 24 percent; Navy: 2 percent; Air Force: 1 percent (Coast Guard had one death.)

Percentages by service force: Active duty: 83 percent; National Guard: 10 percent; Reserve: 6 percent.

Percent who died since President George W. Bush declared major combat ended: 97 percent

Months with the most deaths since the start of the war: November 2004: 137; April 2004: 135; May 2007: 126; December 2006: 112; January 2005: 107

Iraq provinces with most deaths since the start of war: Baghdad: 1,113; Anbar: 1,099; Salaheddin: 513; Nineveh: 220; Diyala: 136

Percentage killed by an improvised explosive device: 44 percent in 2007; 56 percent to date in 2008

Percent of deaths that were non-hostile: 18 percent

Number who died of illness: 66

Percent who were officers: 9 percent

Number older than 45 years: 83

Number who were age 18: 33

Number of women: 98

Percent of the dead who were women: 2 percent

Percentages by ethnic group: White: 75 percent; Hispanic or Latino: 11 percent;

Black or African American: 9 percent; Asian: 2 percent; multiple races, pending, or unknown: 1 percent; American Indian or Alaska Native: 1 percent; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 1 percent

 

Note On Numbers: The numbers are based on counts by the Department of Defense and Associated Press. Most items are based on information obtained by the DoD for 4,000 deaths, as of March 23. The AP’s count, which includes deaths reported by news staff in Iraq, has been consistently somewhat ahead of the DOD’s. The percentages for minorities and officers and number of non-hostile illnesses were last updated as of March 1, 2008. Total deaths in AP’s calculations include eight civilians working for the military.

Spike Lee Endorses Obama, Calls Clinton Liar

    Film director Spike Lee, recently announced that he’s endorsing Sen. Barack Obama over Hilary Clinton because as he states “The Clinton’s, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles.”

Apparently Lee was upset over Clinton’s gross exaggeration in her accounts of her experiences overseas while serving as first lady. “Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bullshit. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with.”

By the way, Obama told Lee that on his first date with Michelle the couple went to see Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.”

Obama Campaign Continues in Culver City

Caption: Councilmember Parks poses with guests at an Obama Fundraiser in Culver City.

 

Culver City, CA- As the nation maintains its political focus on Presidential Primaries from Pennsylvania on April 22 to Montana on June 3, the fundraising focus shifted to the relatively smaller, recently “hipper” and “trendier” area of Culver City over the weekend. There, Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s campaign reached into the home of one Culver City resident and into the pockets of others to expand on a fundraising lead aided by the doubling of his opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton’s, money intake for the month of March.

To carry the message of the campaign, Obama staffers enlisted the help of former Los Angeles Police Chief, current Councilman and fellow campaign trail member Bernard C. Parks. The thinly-veiled hope was that Parks, who is in the middle of his own race for the Second District Seat on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and has been masterful at raising more than $700,000 for that effort, would have similar success at loosening up the purse strings for Obama. The fact that the fundraiser was held in a home in Culver City, located in the Second District was an extra-added bonus because Parks may very well have approached or be approaching the same potential donors for his campaign.

During the fundraiser, Parks played his role and attempted to separate Obama from his opponents. “Barack Obama is the only candidate who has a coherent plan for the United States of America,” Parks said. “He’s the only candidate who doesn’t need a briefing memo to talk about things that affect much of this country, like: poverty, discrimination or coming from a single-parent home. And, he will make the appropriate changes in healthcare.”

Parks has been a very active supporter of Obama’s and was one of those in attendance at Friday’s “Obamathon” rally at the L.A. Sentinel Newspaper’s Offices. The ability to reach out to a variety of funding sources, gives the Obama Campaign the ability to wage an aggressive campaign for his party’s nomination in Pennsylvania and other states with upcoming contests.

The Illinois senator raised more than $40 million last month and broadened his pool of donors to nearly 1.3 million people, his campaign said Thursday. Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $20 million in March, aides told the Associated Press. She had raised more than $35 million in February. Obama’s March total lags the record $55.4 million he collected in February. His overall fundraising — more than $237 million to date — has shattered the record $185.6 million haul of President Bush at this stage in the 2004 presidential contest.

Obama has spent about $3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in advance of the state’s primary April 22, compared with about $830,000 by Clinton, according to Evan Tracey, who tracks political advertising at the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

Obama runs roughly 530 spots daily in the Keystone State; Clinton, about 165. Obama also has an advertising edge in Indiana and North Carolina, where he has run TV ads for nearly a week. Clinton launches her first ad in the Tar Heel state today. She is not yet advertising in Indiana, Tracey said.

Both states will hold primaries May 6.

David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, said the March haul demonstrates the “American people’s extraordinary desire to change Washington.” He noted that the campaign attracted 218,000 new donors last month. The average donation was $96.Obama did not disclose how much he has stockpiled for the general election.

About 4 percent of Obama’s money raised through the end of February was for the general election, compared with 13 percent of Clinton’s cash, according to the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute. Neither Democrat said how much cash they have on hand or disclosed their debts. Candidates are required to report those details in reports due to the Federal Election Commission on April 20.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson played down Obama’s fundraising total, saying, “We knew that he was going to outraise us.”

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, would not release his March fundraising numbers — a month in which he significantly stepped up his fundraising events. He has lagged far behind the Democrats in the money contest. McCain held 25 fundraisers last month, even though he spent a week on an overseas trip.

Source: USA Today

Excerpts from Obama’s Speech on Race and Politics

“I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”

“We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.”

“I can no more disown (Wright) than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in the world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love. ”

“The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never realy worked through- a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”

“Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students. Legalized discrimination- where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or balck were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments- meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. that history helps explain the wealth and income gaps between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.”

“For the men and women of the Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has teh anger and the bitterness of those years.”

“The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning.”

“But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding it’s roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”

“Most working- and middle class white American’s don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience- as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor.”

“So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when the hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resent builds over time.”

“Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze- a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns- this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding. This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.”

“In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper.”

Obama Update: Delegate Lead Widens

Word has it that Obama’s lead is widening despite all the other drama that’s surrounding both the Clinton and Obama campaigns.

The delegates, allocated to John Edwards who has since dropped out of the competition, voted to support Obama during a state-wide convention over the weekend. Seven of the fourteen delegates that were designated for Edwards on the bases of caucus night projections switched their support. So far that leaves Obama with 52 percent compared to rival Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 32 percent of that state’s delegates. About 16 percent of the delegates stuck with Edwards, even though he no longer is in the race. Counting Iowa’s results, Obama’s total nationwide delegate count is now at 1,610 to Clinton’s 1496.

At this point though, there’s no way Hilary’s going to drop out. She’s a fighter, so even despite Obama’s lead, the Democratic party may still be looking at a photo finish at the Democratic National Conference this summer. A lot of critics are suggesting that Hillary should drop out because the Obama/Clinton fight may be damaging the Democratic party’s chances at winning the big prize in November.  

Two Arrested in Ladera Heights Murder of ATM Customer

LOS ANGELES (AP)-Police have arrested two people for investigation of the murder of an off-duty Customs and Border Protection employee who came upon a robbery in progress at a row of ATMs at the Bank of America behind the Ladera Center.

The arrests of the pair, both in their early 20s, followed numerous tips from the community and use of search warrants, the Police Department said in a statement on March 14.

The victim, Mylus Mondy, walked up to an ATM about 11:30 p.m. March 9 on La Cienega Westway, unaware that a robbery was occurring. The assailant demanded money from Mondy, struck him on the head and pointed a gun at him, police said.

Mondy ran but was pursued and shot. He died March 10 at a hospital.

Dyson to Answer Cosby’s Rap Album

“There’s nothing worse than a comedian that’s trying to be serious on a certain level. That could be hazardous to your career. And to your health,” Michael Eric Dyson, told AllHipHop.com in reference to Bill Cosby who says that he is going to record a hip hop album. Dyson has already stated that he plans to counteract with his own hip hop album if this rumor turns out to be true.

Dyson, one of the coolest social commentators that you’ll ever em, effin’ know, has been one of the most openly vocal critics of Bill Cosby’s stand against the hip hop generation, publishing “Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?” in 2006 in response to Cosby’s ultra conservative tirade at an NAACP Convention in which Cosby basically ridiculed and belittled lower class black Americans. To skim over the speech go here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/billcosbypoundcakespeech.htm. (I personally like the part where he says “You can’t keep relying on God, God is tired of you.”)  

Dyson considers Cosby’s rants at the event, and since then to be an “assualt on the black poor.”      

In response to criticism of hip hop in general, Dyson published “Know What I Mean?” which features an afterword by Nas and a foreward by Jay Z who states: “At this point it might seem hollow to repeat what has been widely said about Michael Eric Dyson: this gifted man is the “hip hop intellectual,” a world-class scholar, and the most brilliant interpreter of hip hop culture we have. But plain and simple that is what he is. He has shown those doubters and critics that hip hop is a vital arts movement created by young working-class men and women of color. Yes, our rhymes can contain violence and hatred. Yes, our songs can detail the drug business and our choruses can bounce with lustful intent. However, those things did not spring from inferior imaginations or deficient morals; these things came from our lives. They came from America.”

Dyson’s resume goes on to include a host of television and radio show appearances, and a laundry lists of book titles in which Dyson comments on every social issued plauging African Americans from hip hop to Hurricane Katrina, to race relations in America. His literary accomplishments also include:  ”Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac,” “Open Mike,” “Why I Love Black Women,” “Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye,” “Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster,” “Debating Race,” and his newest release “April 6, 1968: Martin Luther King’s Death and How it Changed America.”  

Dyson in action, wait for the Jay Z quote:

If you don’t know about Dyson you should pick up one of his books. He’s real as hell. There’s no arguing with this dude, he’ll rip you up to shreds and as Jay Z stated above he’s one of the best defenses the hip hop generation has against all the people who discredit the relevance of the genre. His books have definitely inspired a lot of though in me and has provided me with an abundance of ammunition when I’ve somehow found myself defending the hip hop generation in an office where I’m the youngest person by at least 10 years.

 For more: www.MichaelEricDyson.com

Cannick to Run for 47th District Delegate Seat

Local community activist and journalist Jasmyne Cannick has announced her bid to represent the 47th Assembly District as a delegate on the County Central Committee in California’s June 3rd State Primary election. Primarily responsible for recruiting and working for the election of Democratic Party candidates throughout their county, Democrats will go to the polls on June 3rd to elect seven members from their respective Assembly districts to the County Central Committee. This is Jasmyne’s first run for public office. Information: www.Vote4Jasmyne.com.

The 47th Assembly District includes the Los Angeles communities of Westwood (including University of California Los Angeles), West Los Angeles, Rancho Park, Cheviot Hills, Mid City, Palms, Crenshaw, West Adams, Leimert Park and Hyde Park; the unincorporated communities of View Park-Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills; and all of Culver City. The last day to register to vote in the June 3rd election is May 19th. 

Currently, at 30, Jasmyne Cannick is a critic and commentator who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, and politics as played out in the African-American community.

Previously she served as the press secretary to the California Legislative Black Caucus and Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally, and more recently in the United States House of Representatives. 

She co-founded the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation’s Black gay civil rights group and served as co-chair of the National Stonewall Democrats Black Caucus.  Locally, Jasmyne continues to make time to volunteer with Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable and the Pan African Film and Arts Festival.

 

Donda West Law Proposed

Assemblywoman Amina Carter of California announced last week that she has proposed the ”Donda West Law”- a law that would require all patients receiving elective plastic surgery to receive clearance from a licensed doctor, allowing doctors to ensure that patients are healthy enough to endure the potential rigors of general anesthesia.

Dr. Donda West, the mother of Kanye West, died Nov. 10 at a hospital in Los Angeles a day after undergoing breast reduction surgery, a tummy tuck and liposuction. An autopsy revealed she likely died of heart disease, coupled with complications after the surgery, “but the final manner of death could not be determined,” the report concluded.

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