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I III s ssss sss u uuu

e eee 1 111 0 000

1

Editorial

by M

yrna

Loy

“… T

ime i

s jus

t a co

llecti

on of

huma

n ex

perie

nces

combin

ed so

that

they

make

a lo

ng, f

lowin

g stre

am of

thou

ght.”

[Bar

ack

Oba

ma, a

ged 1

4]

I sat

ther

e on

e m

orni

ng in

late

Nov

embe

r,co

ntem

plat

ing

my

inco

nsist

encie

s.M

y m

ind

ran

on B

arac

k O

bam

a,fig

htin

g it

thro

ugh

to th

e fin

ish –

unw

aver

ing

and

com

-m

itted

to h

is va

lues

.Wha

t mak

es a

man

thin

k an

d be

have

like

that

? I w

atch

ed h

im c

urb

McC

ain’s

‘insu

lts’w

ith su

b-du

ed a

rrog

ance

– a

smirk

or w

as it

a sm

ile?

Smar

t,ha

nd-

som

e,cle

an,a

bit

ofw

hite

,a b

it of

blac

k an

d it

woul

dn’t

surp

rise

me

ifth

ere

was

a b

it of

Asia

n th

row

n in

as

well

– di

d hi

s co

lour

mat

ter?

O

nly

to t

he d

egre

e th

at h

ese

emed

to

repr

esen

t ou

r m

ulti-

dim

ensio

nal a

nd c

ultu

ral

socie

ty.

I po

nder

ed f

urth

er,w

hat m

akes

a m

an (o

r a

wom

an f

orth

at m

atte

r) st

ick w

ith so

met

hing

with

out g

ettin

g di

stra

ct-

ed,w

ithou

t gi

ving

up?

I

rem

embe

r in

the

ear

lier

inte

r-vi

ews

whe

n O

bam

a w

as p

rom

otin

g hi

s bo

ok ‘

The

Aud

acity

of

Hop

e’on

the

Opr

ah W

infr

ey s

how

– w

ellov

er a

yea

r ag

o,an

d ho

w u

nsup

porti

ve h

is w

ife s

eem

edth

em.

She

was

con

cern

ed t

hat

his

sena

tor-h

ood

woul

ddi

stra

ct h

im f

rom

his

fam

ily o

blig

atio

ns.

In p

ublic

he

reas

sure

d he

r tha

t he

woul

d no

t neg

lect h

er n

or h

is ch

il-dr

en.

He

then

put

his

arm

aro

und

a ha

lf-co

nvin

ced

wom

an w

ho m

anag

ed a

qui

verin

g sm

ile.

He

open

ly ap

ol-

ogise

d fo

r no

t bein

g ar

ound

eno

ugh,

but t

his

was

som

e-th

ing

he n

eede

d to

do

and

he n

eede

d he

r to

supp

ort h

im.

Thos

e w

ere

not h

is ex

act w

ords

of

cour

se,i

t was

so lo

ngag

o bu

t tha

t is t

he e

ssen

ce o

fhi

s con

vers

atio

n th

at I

took

away

fro

m m

e.W

as it

just

me

who

not

iced

an o

bvio

usch

allen

ge –

or

did

the

rest

of

Opr

ah’s

view

ers

see

it as

well

?

I pr

ayed

that

nig

ht fo

r Mich

elle.

I pr

ayed

that

as

a bl

ack

wom

an,w

ith a

prom

inen

t blac

k m

an,n

ot to

let h

im d

own.

I pra

yed

that

Mich

elle w

ould

not

be a

fraid

or f

eel t

he n

eed

to sa

bota

ge h

is po

tent

ial su

cces

s.Th

e pr

ayer

wen

t up

and

out a

nd I

left i

t the

re.

The

next

thi

ng I

rea

lised

,th

e m

onth

s ha

d pa

ssed

and

rum

our h

ad it

that

he w

as a

serio

us ca

ndid

ate f

or th

e pre

s-id

ency

– a

nd w

here

was

Mich

elle?

Rig

ht th

ere

besid

e hi

m–

with

a g

enui

ne sm

ile!

Tha

t’s m

y gi

rl I t

houg

ht.

I sta

rted

to th

ink

abou

t the

leve

l of

ambi

tion

it re

quire

s to

beco

me

Pres

iden

t.I

mar

velle

d hi

s w

illin

gnes

s to

acc

ept

the

chall

enge

s inh

erite

d fr

om h

is pr

edec

esso

r.

Wha

t m

otiv

ated

Bara

ck to

res

ist s

et-

tling

for

wha

t man

yof

us w

ould

hav

ebe

en h

appy

to se

ttle

with

-

a sp

ouse

,ch

ildre

n,a

nice

hom

e an

d a

secu

rejo

b? H

ere

is a

man

who

is n

ot a

fraid

toas

sum

e th

e lar

gest

resp

onsib

ility

in th

ewo

rld.

Som

e m

enru

n fr

om

payi

ngho

useh

old

bills

,ali

mon

y/ch

ild s

uppo

rt,no

rmal

relat

ions

hip

chall

enge

s,ye

t Bar

ack

feels

cap

able

ofru

nnin

g th

e wo

rld,r

espo

nsi-

bilit

ies an

d all

! Why

? bec

ause

he h

as th

e aud

acity

of

hope

!H

e be

lieve

s in

him

self,

his

pote

ntial

,hi

s ca

pacit

y an

dca

pabi

lity.

I wo

nder

wha

t or

who

gav

e hi

m t

hat

self-

belie

f?

Let m

e ana

lyse i

t thi

s way

- w

hat h

as o

ne’s

back

grou

nd g

otto

do

with

the

way

our

chi

ldre

n tu

rn o

ut o

r,in

deed

,the

way

Bar

ack

turn

ed o

ut?

Apa

rt fr

om b

eing

educ

ated

,alb

eit th

roug

h fin

ancia

l aid

and

endo

wm

ents

at o

ne o

fth

ebi

gges

t priv

ate

scho

ols

in H

onol

ulu,

Bara

ck c

ame

from

are

lativ

ely p

oor

back

grou

nd.

In a

n ag

e of

tem

ptat

ion,

gree

d,su

perf

iciald

om,.

selfi

shne

ss a

nd o

ther

cha

lleng

es,

Oba

ma

has m

anag

ed to

main

tain

his

inte

grity

,a m

arria

ge,

the

role

ofa

fath

er a

nd n

ow th

e ro

le of

Pres

iden

t-elec

tfo

r the

Uni

ted

Stat

es o

fA

mer

ica.

In an

y da

y an

d ag

e,no

easy

acc

ompl

ishm

ent!

Bara

ck o

r ‘B

arry

’as

he w

as k

now

n,w

as a

lway

s a

conf

i-de

nt te

enag

er a

nd sp

oke

out w

hen

he fe

lt th

e ne

ed,a

s his

quot

e at

the

begi

nnin

g of

this

edito

rial a

ttest

s.So

bac

k to

my

ques

tion,

but p

ut a

noth

er w

ay -

how

doe

s th

e ba

ck-

grou

nd o

fon

e’s fa

mily

impl

icate

a c

hild

’s fu

ture

? W

ell,a

t26

,Bar

ack’s

Ken

yan

fath

er B

arac

k Sn

r w

as a

lread

y go

ing

Bla

ck-B

righ

tT

he T

otal

Qua

lity,

Info

rmat

ion-

Base

d Pu

blic

atio

n th

at

Stim

ulat

es,E

duca

tes,

Mot

ivat

es &

Ele

vate

s!

Stud

io 5

7 S

ayw

ell R

oad

Lut

on

LU2

0QG

Tel:

0158

2 72

1 60

5em

ail:

blac

kbrig

htne

ws@

aol.c

omw

ww

.mys

pace

.com

/bla

ckbr

ight

new

s

Man

agin

g E

dito

r: M

yrna

Loy

ISSN

No.

1751

–190

9

Thi

s is

an

Onl

ine

Pub

licat

ion

Onl

y

2

to H

arva

rd to

wor

k on

his

Phd

in E

cono

mics

– n

ow i

s th

atam

bitio

n an

d fo

rtitu

de,

orw

hat?

?

Man

y ol

d-sc

hool

Car

ibbe

anpa

rent

s exp

ecte

d so

muc

h ac

a-de

mica

lly fr

om th

eir ch

ildre

n bu

t did

they

set s

imila

r sta

n-da

rds

for t

heir

child

ren

to fo

llow

? W

here

is th

eir e

duca

-tio

nal a

ttain

men

t tha

t the

y ke

ep in

sistin

g th

eir c

hild

ren

toas

pire

to?

Th

e ex

cuse

of

man

y of

our

elder

s is

that

inE

nglan

d ed

ucat

ion

is fr

ee,s

o th

eref

ore

child

ren

raise

d in

Eng

land

shou

ld b

e gr

atef

ul,t

ake

adva

ntag

e of

the

educ

a-tio

n sy

stem

and

get

their

deg

ree,

but o

ver

40 y

ears

ago

,Ba

rack

’s fa

ther

qua

lified

and

it w

asn’

t in

Gre

at B

ritain

,so

rega

rdles

s of

wha

t cou

ntry

you

live

or w

hat f

inan

cial s

it-ua

tion

you

are i

n,if

you

aspi

re to

do

well

,you

will

do

well

.Ba

rack

cam

e fr

om a

rela

tively

poo

r ba

ckgr

ound

rem

em-

ber!

Bar

ack

Oba

ma

is a

prim

e ex

ampl

e of

com

ing

from

a fam

ily w

ho se

t a v

ery h

igh

stan

dard

from

the v

ery b

egin

-ni

ng.

The

refin

ed,a

rticu

late,

char

ismat

ic m

an w

e se

e be

fore

us,

is no

t w

ithou

t a

hist

ory.

He

has

reta

liate

d an

d cu

rsed

whe

n fe

lt th

reat

ened

or

intim

idat

ed li

ke a

ny s

elf-re

spec

t-in

g te

en o

r ad

ult

woul

d do

.H

e ha

s go

ne t

hrou

gh h

iste

enag

e ye

ars

doin

g w

hat t

eena

gers

do

and

labell

ed a

s a

blac

k m

an,

has b

een

a vi

ctim

of

racis

m.

Sinc

e ‘B

arry

’wou

ld n

ever

be

cons

ider

ed ‘w

hite

’by

his

whi

te c

ount

erpa

rts,h

e cla

imed

a b

lack

iden

tity

thro

ugh

spor

t,ta

king

up

bask

etba

ll.Ba

rack

suf

fere

d a

lot o

fth

esy

stem

atic

and

inst

itutio

nalis

ed r

acism

tha

t m

any

ofus

suffe

red

but

som

ehow

it

didn

’t m

ake

him

fee

l th

at h

e

coul

dn’t

be e

very

thin

g he

wan

ted

to b

e,in

fact

,it p

ushe

dhi

m to

not

onl

y sa

y “y

es I

can”

but r

ealis

ing

succ

ess t

akes

team

effo

rt bu

t “ye

s we

can”

.Ty

pe ‘y

es w

e ca

n’in

goo

gle

and

‘Bar

ack

Oba

ma’

com

es u

p!

In m

y op

inio

n,Ba

rack

got

whe

re h

e is

now

spe

akin

g ou

tag

ainst

ineq

ualit

y,an

d pr

ovin

g th

at w

e ca

n be

judg

ed b

yth

e co

nten

t of

our

char

acte

r an

d no

t the

col

our

ofou

rsk

in (M

artin

Lut

her K

ing)

.

How

man

y of

us f

eel

conf

iden

t en

ough

to

spea

k ou

t?Sa

dly

Gre

at B

ritain

stil

l lag

s at

lea

st t

en y

ears

beh

ind

Am

erica

with

rega

rd re

al fr

eedo

m o

fsp

eech

and

it w

ould

seem

,acc

ordi

ng to

BBC

New

s,th

at th

e onl

y thi

ng th

e UK

is ah

ead

in,i

s H

D te

levisi

ons

and

the

num

ber o

fm

obile

phon

es p

er p

erso

n!

So w

here

doe

s tha

t lea

ve m

e as

I po

nder

how

an

indi

vid-

ual’s

life

can

cha

nge

acco

rdin

g to

his

or h

er p

assio

ns a

nddr

eam

s? I

t lea

ves m

e lo

okin

g at

Oba

ma’s

life

and

siev

ing

out t

he q

ualit

ies in

him

that

mak

e hi

m w

ho h

e is

and

see

ifI c

an m

irror

som

e of

them

.

Yes,

we

can

all c

ry p

over

ty;w

e ca

n all

cry

uns

tabl

e ba

ck-

grou

nds;

but w

hat i

s im

porta

nt is

gen

uine

love

from

thos

ear

ound

you

– a

love

you

can

fee

l (as

Joh

n H

olt

woul

dsin

g);a

nd a

love

that

man

y pa

rent

s ne

ed to

ens

ure

they

give

to th

eir c

hild

ren

have

rega

rdles

s of

circu

mst

ance

s so

that

our

chi

ldre

n ca

n gr

ow fi

t to

be K

ings

and

Que

ens!

FFea

ea

ture

:tu

re:

“Au

daci

ty

of

Ch

an

ge”

by

Gil

es S

pei

d

Bara

ck O

bam

a

EXCL

UDED

FROM

BRI

TISH

NESS

3

IN T

HIS

ISSU

E...

OB

AM

A’S

TEA

M E

LEC

T(a

s at

11

/0

8)

Hil

lary

Cli

nto

n,

U.S

. Sen

ator

from

New

York

and f

orm

er F

irst

Lad

y, w

ill s

erve

as

Sec

reta

ry o

f Sta

te.

Secr

eta

ry

Ro

bert

G

ate

s,

the

curr

ent

Sec

reta

ry

of

Def

ense

, w

ill

continue

tose

rve

in t

hat

role

.

Eri

c

Ho

lde

r,

form

er

Deputy

Att

orn

ey

Genera

l and

a

form

er

Unit

ed

Sta

tes

Att

orn

ey f

or

the

Dis

tric

t of

Colu

mbia

, w

illse

rve

as A

ttorn

ey G

ener

al.

Jan

et

Nap

oli

tan

o,

Gov

ernor

and f

orm

erU

.S.

Att

orn

ey fo

r Arizo

na,

w

ill se

rve

asSec

reta

ry o

f th

e D

epar

tmen

t of

Hom

elan

dSec

urity

.

Dr.

Su

san

E.

Ric

e, a

Sen

ior

Fore

ign P

olic

yAdvi

sor

to th

e O

bam

a fo

r Am

eric

a ca

m-

pai

gn,

a Sen

ior

Fello

w at

th

e Bro

oki

ngs

Inst

ituti

on,

and

form

er

U.S

. Ass

ista

nt

Sec

reta

ry o

f Sta

te f

or

Afr

ican

Aff

airs

, w

illse

rve

as

Am

bass

ador

to

the

Unit

ed

Nat

ions.

Gen

era

l Ji

m J

on

es,

USM

C (

Ret

), f

orm

erA

llied

Com

mander,

Euro

pe,

and

Com

man

der

of th

e U

nited

Sta

tes

Euro

pea

nCom

man

d,

will

ser

ve a

s N

atio

nal

Sec

urity

Advi

sor.

Bar

ack’

s nat

ional

sec

urity

tea

m h

as b

een

asse

mble

d

to

repre

sent

all

elem

ents

of

Am

eric

an p

ow

er, dip

lom

acy,

and le

ader

ship

that

will

be

vita

l in

ove

rcom

ing t

he

chal

-le

nges

of

the

21st

cen

tury

He

has

done

som

ethi

ng t

hat

only

a f

ew p

eopl

e ha

ve m

an-

aged

to

do:

Tige

r W

oods

, N

elso

n M

ande

la a

nd p

ossi

bly

Lew

is H

amilt

on…

he c

ross

ed th

e ra

cial

div

ide.

He

refu

sed

tobe

def

ined

by

his

race

and

he

has

forc

ed th

e w

ider

pub

lic to

do th

at to

o. T

he d

iffer

ence

her

e is

that

he

had

to u

nder

go a

nel

ectio

n an

d be

vot

ed in

; vot

ed in

by

the

whi

te m

ajor

ity.

Ther

e w

as a

tim

e w

hen

Nel

son

Man

dela

was

con

side

red

tobe

a te

rror

ist,

now

he

is la

uded

the

wor

ld o

ver.

Tige

r is

sim

ply

the

grea

test

Gol

fer

in t

he w

orld

. C

urre

ntly

num

ber

one

and

so f

ar a

head

in t

he r

anki

ngs

whe

n he

ispl

ayin

g th

at h

e is

als

o nu

mbe

r tw

o an

d th

ree

in t

he w

orld

.H

is g

olf i

s w

hat h

as m

ade

him

acc

epta

ble

and

the

tale

nt th

athe

so

obvi

ousl

y po

sses

ses.

Lew

is H

amilt

on is

the

youn

gest

Form

ula

One

cha

mpi

on e

ver -

a y

ear a

fter h

is ro

okie

sea

son,

whe

re h

e ca

me

seco

nd, b

ut a

gain

it’s

his

spo

rt th

at g

ives

him

his

stat

us a

nd th

e w

ay th

at h

e ca

rrie

s hi

mse

lf. T

here

is n

oth-

ing

that

his

crit

ics

can

hang

on

him

exc

ept t

he fa

ct th

at h

eno

w li

ves

in S

witz

erla

nd.

The

fact

that

Cou

ltard

doe

sn’t

live

in S

cotla

nd h

asn’

t mad

e hi

m a

ny le

ss S

cotti

sh w

ith th

e S

cots

.H

owev

er, H

amilt

on is

bei

ng s

crut

inis

ed fo

r his

life

styl

e as

it is

poss

ible

tha

t he

can

bec

ome

the

‘Pos

h an

d B

ecks

’of

the

new

wor

ld o

rder

, a

pop

star

girl

frien

d an

d th

e po

tent

ial

toea

rn a

bill

ion

dolla

rs.

Four

yea

rs a

go a

n ex

col

leag

ue w

hose

bro

ther

liv

ed i

nB

osto

n, U

SA

told

me

abo

ut a

you

ng B

lack

sen

ator

who

coul

d go

all

the

way

to

the

Whi

te H

ouse

. I

ask

ed f

or h

isna

me

and

whe

n he

sai

d it

I rem

embe

r thi

nkin

g it

was

unf

or-

tuna

te th

at it

rhym

ed w

ith ‘O

sam

a’. I

nev

er th

ough

t too

muc

hab

out i

t unt

il he

won

the

first

prim

ary

and

beat

Hill

ary

Clin

ton.

At t

hat p

oint

I sa

id to

my

wife

, “he

mig

ht ju

st d

o it”

.

I fre

ely

adm

it th

at I

have

now

bec

ome

an e

xper

t on

the

term

swin

g st

ates

, ele

ctor

al c

olle

ges,

Red

Sta

tes

and

Blu

e St

ates

,th

e im

porta

nce

of N

ew H

amps

hire

, Ohi

o an

d P

enns

ylva

nia,

Prim

arie

s an

d th

e al

l im

porta

nt S

uper

Tue

sday

.

Nev

erbe

fore

had

I fo

llow

ed a

n el

ectio

n so

clo

sely.

Eve

n th

ough

itw

as a

n el

ectio

n I c

ould

not

influ

ence

. 4

The

Aud

acity

of C

hang

eby

Gile

s Sp

eid

Ther

e w

as a

n ee

rie s

ilenc

e at

the

tra

in s

tatio

n an

d ag

ain

whe

n I g

ot in

to th

e of

fice.

No

one

said

any

thin

g, n

o on

e co

n-gr

atul

ated

any

one.

E

very

now

and

aga

in a

n em

ail

wou

ldco

me

thro

ugh

sayi

ng, “

isn’

t it g

reat

?”, “

at w

hat t

ime

did

you

hear

?”, “

Wer

e yo

u up

for t

he re

sults

?” T

here

wou

ld b

e m

eet-

ings

in

cor

ners

and

a n

od a

nd t

he o

ccas

iona

l w

ink

from

thos

e in

the

know

. W

e w

ere

jubi

lant

insi

de b

ut d

are

not s

how

it. W

e w

ere

doin

g ca

rtwhe

els

in o

ur h

eads

but

dar

e no

t say

it. T

he b

utte

rflie

s in

our

sto

mac

hs w

ere

for a

ner

vous

exp

ec-

tatio

n of

his

pot

entia

l suc

cess

and

the

shee

r wei

ght o

f exp

ec-

tatio

n. Y

ou s

ee it

was

n’t o

ur v

icto

ry, i

t was

n’t o

ur e

lect

ion

but

he w

as o

urca

ndid

ate.

It

was

the

vic

tory

tha

t w

e da

re n

otsp

eak

of.

Ther

e w

as a

look

of,

“go

on I

dare

you

, I d

oubl

eda

re y

ou t

o sa

y an

ythi

ng a

bout

thi

s vi

ctor

y”,

but

we

didn

’tha

ve t

o…he

had

arr

ived

,”Bar

ack

Oba

ma,

The

Pre

side

ntE

lect

”. W

e ha

d th

e au

daci

ty o

f hop

e th

rust

upo

n us

and

with

it th

e be

lief t

hat w

e to

o ca

n be

lieve

in h

ope.

At e

very

sta

ge w

e w

ere

wat

chin

g hi

stor

y in

the

mak

ing,

the

Dem

ocra

t can

dida

tes

falli

ng b

y th

e w

aysi

de a

s th

e pr

imar

ies

cam

e th

ick

and

fast

. Th

e fa

vour

ite H

illar

y C

linto

n w

as s

ur-

pris

ed a

nd s

hock

ed th

at th

e ca

ndid

ate

that

she

wou

ld h

ave

offe

red

a V.

P.

posi

tion

tow

ould

just

not

go

away

. W

inaf

ter w

in le

ft he

r with

the

one

thin

g th

at

front

ru

nner

sha

te…

he b

uilt

mom

entu

m.

Itbe

cam

e a

self

fulfi

lling

prop

hecy

. Th

e m

ore

he w

onth

e m

ore

we

belie

ved,

the

mor

e w

e be

lieve

d, th

e cl

oser

the

drea

m b

ecam

e. T

he m

ore

he s

poke

at r

allie

s th

en th

e m

ore

he r

emin

ded

us o

f the

per

son

we

eith

er w

ante

d to

be

or h

ere

flect

ed th

e w

orld

we

wan

ted

to li

ve in

.

Insp

iring

, as

pirin

g an

d th

e de

liver

y of

pol

itica

l or

ator

y th

atre

min

ded

me

of a

you

ng B

aptis

t pre

ache

r in

the

sixt

ies

with

a dr

eam

tha

t on

e da

y ev

en B

arac

k O

bam

a w

ould

onl

y be

judg

ed b

y th

e co

nten

ts o

f his

cha

ract

er.

The

best

thin

g ab

out

his

cand

idac

y w

as h

e w

as n

ot b

ogge

d do

wn

with

his

tory

. Fo

ral

l the

talk

of h

is in

expe

rienc

e, th

e fre

sher

he

look

ed.

The

endo

rsem

ents

fro

m t

he l

ikes

of

Edw

ard

Ken

nedy

, po

litic

alro

yalty

, kep

t com

ing

and

so d

id th

e m

oney

.

Ther

e w

as a

rea

l dan

ger

that

Am

eric

a co

uld

end

up b

eing

rule

d by

a d

ynas

ty o

f Bus

h, C

linto

n, C

linto

n, B

ush,

Bus

h an

dth

en b

ack

to C

linto

n. T

here

was

eve

n ta

lk t

hat

afte

r ei

ght

year

s of

Hill

ary

in c

harg

e, C

hels

ea C

linto

n w

ould

be

read

y to

run

for

the

pres

iden

cy.

They

nev

er th

ough

t tha

t afte

r ei

ght

year

s of

pla

nnin

g in

New

Yor

k th

at t

hey

coul

d ha

ve b

een

dera

iled

in t

his

way

. C

linto

n is

‘one

of

us’;

his

offic

e is

indo

wnt

own

Har

lem

afte

r al

l. H

illar

y is

‘on

e of

us’

, bu

t fo

rO

bam

a no

dou

bt, s

he w

ould

hav

e ca

rrie

d m

ore

Bla

ck v

otes

than

any

oth

er c

andi

date

, but

we

didn

’t w

ant s

omeo

ne s

ym-

path

etic

to u

s, w

e w

ante

d on

e of

us.

As

muc

h as

thi

s ra

nkle

s w

ith h

er s

he e

vent

ually

cam

e on

side

and

bac

ked

Oba

ma,

esp

ecia

lly a

s it

was

obv

ious

tha

tsh

e w

as g

oing

to lo

se th

e vo

te.

The

sing

le m

ost

impo

rt ant

fac

tor

abou

t th

e el

ectio

n fo

r m

ew

as t

he m

omen

t S

arah

Pal

in w

as c

hose

n.

It ev

entu

ally

cam

e ou

t th

at h

er u

nmar

ried

daug

hter

was

pre

gnan

t an

dw

as d

ue to

mar

ry th

e fa

ther

of t

he c

hild

nex

t yea

r. A

repo

rter

wen

t to

Oba

ma

and

aske

d hi

m w

hat h

e th

ough

t abo

ut th

at.

With

an

open

goa

l sta

ring

ahea

d of

him

he

resp

onde

d w

ith,

“we

don’

t go

af

ter

peop

le’s

fa

mili

es”…

pric

eles

s.St

ates

man

like

and

wel

com

ed in

a c

ampa

ign

that

got

mor

ene

gativ

e as

it a

ppea

red

that

McC

ain

was

in tr

oubl

e.

It al

sopu

t the

McC

ain

cam

p on

the

back

foot

. H

ow c

ould

they

ser

i-ou

sly

go a

fter a

nyon

e in

the

Oba

ma

cam

p w

ith a

ny c

redi

bili-

ty?

The

Wild

er (B

radl

ey) e

ffect

Ther

e w

as m

uch

talk

abo

ut th

e W

ilder

effe

ct,

It w

as n

amed

afte

r To

m B

radl

ey,

an A

frica

n-A

mer

ican

who

lost

the

198

2C

alifo

rnia

gov

erno

r’s ra

ce d

espi

te b

eing

ahe

ad in

vot

er p

olls

goin

g in

to th

e el

ectio

ns.

Wou

ld w

hite

peo

ple

vote

for a

Bla

ckca

ndid

ate?

Cou

ld th

ey b

ring

them

selv

es to

vot

e fo

r thi

s ca

n-di

date

? A

re th

e po

lls a

ccur

ate,

are

they

just

say

ing

that

they

wou

ld v

ote

for h

im b

ut re

ally

they

wou

ld v

ote

for M

cCai

n? I

nth

e en

d th

e w

ilder

effe

ct d

id h

appe

n bu

t ag

ains

t M

cCai

n!Th

ey w

ent i

nto

thei

r vot

ing

boot

hs p

rom

isin

g to

vot

e fo

r him

but

ende

d up

vot

ing

for

Oba

ma.

The

y co

uldn

’t br

ing

them

-se

lves

to v

ote

for M

cCai

n.

5

So

back

to e

lect

ion

nigh

t, w

ith th

e al

l im

porta

nt s

win

g st

ates

up fo

r gra

bs.

I sat

ther

e w

atch

ing

CN

N, B

BC

, Fox

new

s an

dI a

lso

had

my

lapt

op o

n go

ing

betw

een

the

vario

us p

oliti

cal

web

site

s. T

here

was

one

sta

te I

wan

ted

to s

ee a

bove

all

oth-

ers,

long

afte

r the

ele

ctio

n w

as w

on.

Asw

ing

stat

e th

at h

ad-

n’t v

oted

Dem

ocra

t sin

ce 1

964.

..Virg

inia

. Th

e ho

me

of th

eK

KK

and

Sla

very

. M

onth

s be

fore

I h

ad lo

gged

ont

o a

site

whe

re t

he le

ader

of

the

KK

K w

as u

rgin

g th

eir

mem

bers

to

vote

for O

bam

a. F

riend

s w

ould

n’t b

elie

ve m

e; I

also

foun

d a

site

cal

led

‘Red

neck

s fo

r Oba

ma’

, beg

ging

oth

er re

dnec

ks to

vote

for O

bam

a.

As

with

mos

t thi

ngs

it w

as a

bout

tim

ing.

The

wor

seni

ng e

co-

nom

ic s

ituat

ion

and

McC

ain’

s la

ck o

f gr

asp

of t

he s

erio

us-

ness

of t

he s

ituat

ion

was

alw

ays

goin

g to

cou

nt a

gain

st h

im.

Ther

e is

no

poin

t say

ing

that

Oba

ma

was

goi

ng to

spr

ead

the

wea

lth a

roun

d, li

ke a

dirt

y w

ord,

whe

n th

at is

exa

ctly

wha

tpe

ople

are

goi

ng to

nee

d.

Not

just

the

econ

omic

tim

ing

of th

e si

tuat

ion

but H

olly

woo

dha

d al

so p

ut t

he i

dea

into

our

psy

che

that

Am

eric

a co

uld

serv

e un

der a

Bla

ck C

omm

ande

r-in

-Chi

ef.

Mor

gan

Free

man

in ‘D

eep

Impa

ct’a

nd P

resi

dent

Pal

mer

in th

e se

ries

‘24’

wer

ebo

th P

resi

dent

s th

at y

ou c

ould

fig

ht t

o th

e de

ath

for.

Th

ese

ries

‘Wes

t Win

g’w

ith J

imm

y S

mits

pla

ying

Con

gres

sman

San

tos,

bas

ed o

n B

arac

k O

bam

a, m

ade

it po

ssib

le f

or t

hew

orld

to b

elie

ve th

at th

ere

coul

d be

a n

on- w

hite

Pre

side

nt in

our

lifet

ime.

I d

on’t

belie

ve I

have

eve

r se

en a

pro

gram

me

whe

n th

ere

has

been

a B

lack

Prim

e M

inis

ter.

Pre

side

nt G

eorg

e W

Bus

h al

so p

laye

d hi

s pa

rt in

mak

ing

itpo

ssib

le w

ith t

he p

rom

otio

n of

sev

eral

Bla

ck k

ey f

igur

es in

Col

in P

owel

l and

Con

dole

ezza

Ric

e, to

Sec

reta

ry o

f Sta

te.

Trev

or P

hilli

ps w

as r

ecen

tly c

ritic

ised

for

say

ing

that

the

sam

e th

ing

coul

d no

t hap

pen

here

in B

ritai

n, in

that

a B

lack

pers

on c

ould

not

rise

to b

ecom

e P

rime

Min

iste

r. T

here

may

be s

ome

truth

in t

hat

but

who

car

es w

hen

the

bigg

est

and

badd

est m

an o

n th

e pl

anet

is a

n ar

ticul

ate

and

wel

l edu

cat-

ed y

oung

Bla

ck m

an w

ho is

abo

ut to

mov

e hi

s fa

mily

into

the

Whi

te H

ouse

, tha

t his

wife

’s fa

mily

may

wel

l hav

e he

lped

tobu

ild –

in e

ffect

com

ing

hom

e. N

ow w

e ca

n al

l see

that

vis

ion

of th

e dr

eam

that

has

bee

n so

long

in c

omin

g.

As

Sam

Coo

ke s

aid,

‘A

chan

ge i

s go

nna

com

e’…

chan

gein

deed

.

By

Gile

s Sp

eid

Cop

yrig

ht 2

Dec

embe

r 20

08

6

Mill

ions

of f

orei

gner

s,liv

ing

next

to

each

oth

er,o

ccup

yBr

itain

.A

s so

me

rent

the

cou

ntry

for

good

and

oth

-er

s fo

r a

few

yea

rs,

we

are

findi

ng o

urse

lves

in

anEn

glis

h w

orld

tha

t st

rive

s to

kee

p its

Bri

tishn

ess.

We

also

live

in t

he w

orld

tha

t re

sem

bles

a m

osai

c of

tin

ypi

eces

of

cultu

ral

acce

ptab

ility

,po

litic

al c

orre

ctne

ssan

d ra

cism

.

Alth

ough

may

be n

ot in

an

appa

rent

larg

e sc

ale,

mos

tfo

reig

ners

livi

ng in

thi

s co

untr

y re

port

bei

ng s

ubje

cted

to r

acis

m o

ften

in it

s hi

dden

and

sub

tle fo

rm.S

o ho

wca

n ra

cism

spr

ead

in t

he n

owad

ays

dem

ocra

tic a

ndju

st s

ocie

ty?

In w

hat

way

s do

rac

ist

imag

es a

nd p

reju

-di

ces

get

into

min

ds o

f peo

ple?

Acc

ordi

ng

to

an

artic

le

publ

ishe

d by

th

e D

aily

Tele

grap

h,m

ultic

ultu

ralis

m i

s br

eedi

ng i

ntol

eran

ce i

nth

e co

ntem

pora

ry B

rita

in.P

hilip

John

ston

,the

aut

hor

of t

he a

rtic

le,b

elie

ves

that

the

Bri

tish

natio

n is

at

this

stat

e un

able

to

‘em

brac

e m

ultic

ultu

ralis

m’

and

the

coun

try

is ‘i

n da

nger

of

brea

king

up’

.But

is

it re

ally

mer

ely

the

diffe

renc

es b

etw

een

us t

hat

mak

e ou

rne

ighb

ours

ene

mie

s,or

is t

here

any

thin

g el

se w

orse

n-in

g th

e al

read

y di

fficu

lt m

ultic

ultu

ral r

elat

ions

?

I am

of a

Slo

vaki

an o

rigi

n so

I am

a fo

reig

ner

in B

rita

inm

ysel

f.H

avin

g w

itnes

sed

case

s of

rac

ial

or c

ultu

ral

prej

udic

e an

d m

isre

pres

enta

tion

in r

eal l

ife a

s w

ell a

sin

the

med

ia,I

rea

lised

the

con

nect

ion

betw

een

them

.I

foun

d ou

t th

at b

ecau

se o

f th

e m

isre

pres

enta

tion

ofet

hnic

min

oriti

es in

the

med

ia,r

ace

rela

tions

in B

rita

inar

e fla

wed

to

a co

nsid

erab

le e

xten

t;th

e w

ay e

thni

cm

inor

ities

are

rep

orte

d an

d po

rtra

yed

in n

atio

nal

asw

ell

as l

ocal

pap

ers,

is e

spec

ially

bia

sed,

and

the

way

nega

tive

view

s on

im

mig

ratio

n ar

e pr

esen

ted,

has

adi

rect

lin

k to

eve

ry-d

ay l

ife w

here

man

y im

mig

rant

sre

port

to

be d

iscr

imin

ated

.

Con

tinu

ed o

n Pa

ge 9

WHO F

EELS

EXCL

UDED

FROM

‘BRI

TISHN

ESS?

’By

Mar

ia K

ozar

ova

a sp

ouse

, a fr

iend

, a c

hild

— so

muc

hth

at y

ou ju

st w

ant t

o pi

ck th

em fr

omyo

ur d

ream

s an

d hu

g th

em f

or r

eal,

so t

hat

once

the

y ar

e ar

ound

you

appr

ecia

te th

em m

ore.

May

be .

. . th

e be

st k

ind

of fr

iend

isth

e ki

nd y

ou c

an s

it on

a p

orch

and

swin

g w

ith,

neve

r sa

y a

wor

d, a

ndth

en w

alk

away

fee

ling

like

it w

asth

e be

st c

onve

rsat

ion

you’

ve e

ver

had.

May

be .

. you

sho

uld

alw

ays

try t

opu

t you

rsel

f in

oth

ers’

shoe

s. If

you

feel

that

som

ethi

ng c

ould

hur

t you

, it

prob

ably

will

hur

t th

e ot

her

pers

on,

too.

May

be .

. you

sho

uld

do s

omet

hing

nice

for

som

eone

eve

ry s

ingl

e da

y,ev

en i

f it

is s

impl

y to

lea

ve t

hem

alon

e.

May

be .

. g

ivin

g so

meo

ne a

ll yo

urlo

ve is

nev

er a

n as

sura

nce

that

they

will

lov

e yo

u ba

ck.

Don

’t ex

pect

love

in re

turn

; jus

t wai

t for

it to

gro

win

the

ir he

art;

but,

if it

does

n’t,

beco

nten

t tha

t it g

rew

in y

ours

.

May

be .

. .

hap

pine

ss w

aits

for

all

thos

e w

ho c

ry, a

ll th

ose

who

hur

t, al

lth

ose

who

hav

e se

arch

ed,

and

all

thos

e w

ho h

ave

tried

, for

onl

y th

eyca

n ap

prec

iate

the

impo

rtanc

e of

all

the

peop

le w

ho h

ave

touc

hed

thei

rliv

es.

May

be .

. .

you

sho

uldn

’t go

for

look

s; th

ey c

an d

ecei

ve; d

on’t

go fo

rw

ealth

; eve

n th

at fa

des

away

. Go

for

som

eone

who

mak

es y

ou s

mile

.,be

caus

e it

take

s onl

y a

smile

to m

ake

a da

rk d

ay s

eem

brig

ht. F

ind

the

one

ths

your

he

art

smile

. M

aybe

.

. yo

ush

ould

hop

e fo

ren

ough

ha

ppi-

ness

to m

ake

you

swee

t, en

ough

trial

s to

m

ake

you

stro

ng,

enou

gh s

orro

w to

keep

you

hum

an,

and

enou

gh h

ope

to

mak

e yo

uh

ap

py

LADY

LOY

Prom

otin

g th

e be

st of

Reg

gae

Rele

ases

and

Art

ists

on Ja

mro

ck R

adio

Ever

y Su

nday

at 8

- 10

pm (G

MT)

www.

mys

pace

.com

/ja

mro

cksu

nday

sw

ww

.jam

rock

radi

o.co

mcl

ick

on ‘r

adio

’& l

iste

n liv

e!

R U

FO

LKS

Did

you

kno

w...

May

be .

. we

wer

e su

ppos

ed to

mee

tth

e w

rong

peo

ple

befo

re m

eetin

g th

erig

ht o

ne s

o th

at,

whe

n w

e fin

ally

mee

t the

righ

t per

son,

we

will

kno

who

w t

o be

gra

tefu

l fo

r th

at g

ift.

May

be .

. . w

hen

the

door

of

happ

i-ne

ss c

lose

s, an

othe

r ope

ns; b

ut, o

ften

times

, we

look

so

long

at t

he c

lose

ddo

or th

at w

e do

n’t e

ven

see

the

new

one

whi

ch h

as b

een

open

ed f

or u

s. M

aybe

. .

. it

is t

rue

that

we

don’

tkn

ow w

hat w

e ha

ve u

ntil

we

lose

it,

but i

t is

also

true

that

we

don’

t kno

ww

hat

we

have

bee

n m

issi

ng u

ntil

itar

rives

.

May

be .

. .

the

hap

pies

t of

peo

ple

don’

t ne

cess

arily

hav

e th

e be

st o

fev

eryt

hing

; the

y ju

st m

ake

the

mos

tof

eve

ryth

ing

that

com

es a

long

thei

rw

ay.

May

be .

. . th

e br

ight

est f

utur

e w

illal

way

s be

bas

ed o

n a

forg

otte

n pa

st;

afte

r all,

you

can

’t go

on

succ

essf

ul-

ly in

life

unt

il yo

u le

t go

of y

our p

ast

mis

take

s, fa

ilure

s an

d he

arta

ches

.

May

be .

. . y

ou s

houl

d dr

eam

wha

tyo

u w

ant

to d

ream

; go

whe

re y

ouw

ant t

o go

, be

wha

t you

wan

t to

be,

beca

use

you

have

onl

y on

e lif

e an

don

e ch

ance

to

do a

ll th

e th

ings

you

drea

m

of,

and

wan

t to

do

. M

aybe

. . .

ther

e ar

e m

omen

ts in

life

whe

n yo

u m

is s

som

eone

— a

par

ent,

A

surg

e of

eu

phor

ia

cou

rsed

th

rou

gh

my

vein

s on

Tu

esda

y, N

ovem

ber

4, 2

008,

wh

enB

arac

k O

bam

a w

as e

lect

ed p

resi

den

t of

th

eU

nit

ed S

tate

s. T

hou

gh I

was

not

bor

n i

n18

38, t

he

peri

od o

f bla

ck e

man

cipa

tion

, I fe

ltth

e ri

pple

wav

es o

f ju

bila

tion

an

d ec

stas

yth

at s

pew

ed fr

om t

he

hea

rts

of m

y an

cest

ors.

It w

as n

ot o

nly

a h

isto

ric

mom

ent

for

the

blac

k di

aspo

ras,

bu

t it

was

th

e re

al m

omen

tof

de

fin

itio

n

and

mat

ura

tion

of

M

arti

nLu

ther

Kin

g Jn

r’s

grea

t dr

eam

of

blac

k an

dw

hit

e u

nifi

cati

on.

Bar

ack

Oba

ma’

s w

ords

res

oun

ded

wit

h s

uch

imm

ense

po

ign

ancy

th

at

goos

e pi

mpl

espi

erce

d m

y en

tire

bei

ng.

His

wor

ds: “

The

clim

b m

ay b

e lo

ng;

it m

ay b

est

eep;

we

may

not

get

th

ere

in o

ne

term

or

one

year

bu

t I

prom

ise

you

Am

eric

a, t

hat

we

will

get

th

ere

toge

ther

,” n

ot o

nly

res

onat

edw

ith

Mar

tin

Lu

ther

’s d

ream

of

the

“pro

mis

ela

nd,

” bu

t th

ey o

pen

ed a

ren

ewed

flo

odga

teof

insp

irat

ion

th

at w

ill c

onti

nu

e to

pou

r fr

omth

e de

ep c

eles

tial

rec

esse

s th

at r

ejoi

ce in

his

vict

ory.

His

bri

llian

ce,

his

han

dsom

e ch

arm

an

d h

iste

nac

iou

s an

d fe

rven

t ep

ith

et w

ill c

onti

nu

e to

pain

t h

im a

s a

her

oic

figu

re.

He

has

sh

one

wit

h t

he

flam

boya

nt

arm

our

ofm

agic

al c

olou

rs.

He

has

spo

ken

wit

h d

epth

and

pass

ion

an

d h

e h

as

soar

ed

wit

h

the

maj

esti

c w

ings

of

an e

agle

, in

com

bati

ng

the

batt

les

agai

nst

him

an

d as

cen

ds t

o th

e h

igh

-es

t or

der

of g

over

nm

ent.

Fro

m

my

tele

visi

on

scre

en,

I w

itn

esse

dbl

acks

, w

hit

es.

Japa

nes

e an

d A

fric

ans

bask

ed in

a g

lori

ous

and

beau

tifu

l fan

fare

, as

the

blac

k “b

adge

of

hon

our,

” be

cam

e co

nso

l-id

ated

.

The

tear

s of

hap

pin

ess,

str

eam

ing

dow

n t

hei

rfa

ces

was

a c

lean

sin

g an

d lib

erat

ing

feel

from

year

s of

dis

crim

inat

ion

, ye

ars

of b

lack

str

ug-

gle,

yea

rs o

f se

greg

atio

n a

nd

year

s of

bru

tal

wh

ite

oppr

essi

on a

nd

supp

ress

ion

.

Free

dom

inde

ed e

choe

d th

rou

gh a

ll th

e st

ates

of t

he

Un

ited

Sta

tes-

Ala

bam

a, G

eorg

ia a

nd

Mis

siss

ippi

an

d ev

en o

ur

fair

Jam

aica

lan

dh

elpl

essl

y sa

ng

“Th

ank

God

Alm

igh

ty w

e ar

efr

ee a

t la

st!”

I am

fre

e. Y

ou a

re f

ree.

We

are

all f

ree.

Let’s

ch

ann

el

our

free

dom

in

to

awes

ome

won

ders

an

d br

eak

the

men

tal

shac

kles

th

atbe

set

us.

Let’s

rea

ch b

eyon

d th

e sk

y’s

hov

erin

g as

trol

-og

y w

ith

th

e “r

igh

teou

s w

ind

beh

ind

our

back

” an

d cl

aim

th

e ri

ch f

ruit

s of

ou

r bl

ack-

nes

s, i

n t

he

sam

e ze

stfu

l an

d ad

aman

t fa

sh-

ion

th

at B

arac

k O

bam

a an

d m

any

oth

ers

befo

re h

im d

id.

8

Bar

ack

Oba

ma,

An

Insp

iratio

nby

Sha

wn

Kay

Will

iam

s

9

The

Med

ia,a

s th

e m

ost

com

mon

pro

vide

r of

info

rma-

tion

undo

ubte

dly

shap

es p

ublic

opi

nion

by

the

stor

ies

they

run

and

by

the

appr

oach

the

y ch

oose

.Ind

eed,

byth

e w

ay t

hey

cove

r so

cial

affa

irs

and

repr

esen

t th

em,

the

med

ia c

reat

es t

heir

ow

n re

ality

.The

y de

cide

whi

chto

pics

and

issu

es a

re o

n th

e ag

enda

;whi

ch in

divi

dual

sor

soc

ieta

l gro

ups

are

give

n br

oadc

astin

g tim

e or

pub

-lis

hing

spa

ce;w

hich

asp

ects

and

fac

ts a

re p

rese

nted

;an

d co

nver

sely

the

y de

cide

whi

ch a

re n

ot.T

he M

edia

ther

efor

e ha

s th

e ab

ility

to

influ

ence

pub

lic o

pini

onan

d th

ose

cont

rolli

ng t

he m

edia

are

,to

a c

erta

inex

tent

,cap

able

of

swer

ving

pub

lic o

pini

on i

nto

thei

rde

sire

d di

rect

ion.

To p

rove

my

theo

ry I

cond

ucte

d an

ext

ensi

ve r

esea

rch

in t

he n

atio

nal p

aper

s,co

llect

ing

all t

he s

tori

es c

over

-in

g im

mig

rant

s an

d m

inor

ities

.My

findi

ngs

wer

e th

atou

t of 1

66 a

rtic

les

on im

mig

ratio

n th

at w

ere

publ

ishe

din

the

nat

iona

l ne

wsp

aper

s in

Jan

uary

200

8,88

% o

fth

em w

ere

nega

tive.

Con

side

ring

the

con

tent

ana

lysi

s,th

e m

edia

cov

erag

eof

fore

igne

rs w

ho h

ave

imm

igra

ted

to B

rita

in,i

s un

bal-

ance

d an

d un

fair

ly n

egat

ive,

whi

ch i

s co

ntra

ry t

o th

eco

des

on r

ace

repo

rtin

g.T

he m

ain

topi

cs l

inke

d to

imm

igra

tion

that

hit

head

lines

in

Janu

ary

2008

,wer

eof

ten

sens

atio

naliz

ed.

The

ent

husi

astic

sto

ries

abo

ut im

mig

rant

s w

ere

mos

t-ly

ver

y m

inor

,sho

rt s

tori

es,b

arel

y la

id o

ut to

cat

ch th

eat

tent

ion

of r

eade

rs.O

n th

e ot

her

hand

,the

neg

ativ

est

orie

s,pa

rtic

ular

ly a

bout

the

cas

e of

the

Rom

ania

nch

ildre

n tr

affic

ked

to B

rita

in,o

r a

case

of

the

Mus

limex

trem

ist w

ho h

ad p

lann

ed to

beh

ead

a Br

itish

Mus

limso

ldie

r,w

ere

on t

he fr

ont

page

s of

nat

iona

l pap

ers.

I bel

ieve

,and

hop

eful

ly I

am n

ot a

lone

,tha

t if t

he m

edia

bear

s a

resp

onsi

bilit

y fo

r its

pub

lic a

nd fo

r so

ciet

y,th

enit

does

n’t

do a

n ef

fect

ive

job

if al

l the

min

oriti

es in

thi

sso

ciet

y ar

e co

ntin

uous

ly

mis

repr

esen

ted

and

put

dow

n,be

caus

e w

hat s

prea

ds is

eve

n m

ore

xeno

phob

ia.

Mill

ions

of

the

Briti

sh,b

orn

and

brou

ght

up i

n th

isco

untr

y al

so s

trug

gle

to fi

nd th

eir

iden

tity

in th

e co

un-

try

of s

o m

any

face

s,na

tiona

litie

s,la

ngua

ges

or fe

el a

nin

stin

ct to

pre

serv

e Br

itish

iden

tity.

The

y ar

e bo

mba

rd-

ed w

ith s

ensa

tiona

listic

and

exa

gger

ated

med

ia p

or-

tray

al o

f im

mig

rant

s as

the

cau

se o

f all

soci

al a

nd e

co-

nom

ic p

robl

ems,

from

hou

sing

sho

rtag

es t

o te

rror

ism

Sim

ilarl

y,th

ose

belo

ngin

g to

the

cul

tura

l or

eth

nic

min

oriti

es o

nly

disc

over

pre

judi

ce,m

isun

ders

tand

ing

and

a la

ck o

f po

sitiv

e m

edia

att

entio

n.Ex

peri

enci

ngsu

ch m

isre

pres

enta

tion

on e

very

day

basi

s ca

uses

sep

-ar

atis

m.A

s et

hnic

min

oriti

es c

ontin

ue t

o fe

el u

nwel

-

com

e an

d un

appr

ecia

ted,

they

ten

d to

stic

k to

the

irco

mm

uniti

es,

bare

ly m

ixin

g w

ith t

he B

ritis

h ne

igh-

bour

s.A

s a

resu

lt,th

ey c

ontin

ue s

peak

ing

in t

heir

mot

her

tong

ues

and

do n

ot a

dapt

to

the

Briti

sh c

ul-

ture

,men

talit

y an

d va

lues

,whi

ch o

bvio

usly

str

engt

hens

med

ia p

reju

dice

aga

inst

the

m.

I app

reci

ate

that

the

med

ia is

not

the

sin

gle

dete

rmi-

nant

of a

dver

se r

ace

rela

tions

and

rac

ism

,how

ever

,the

prev

ious

ly m

entio

ned

figur

es a

re a

larm

ing.

Are

we

the

soci

ety

crea

ting

the

med

ia o

r is

the

med

iacr

eatin

g ou

r so

ciet

y?

Thi

s ar

ticl

e w

as w

ritt

en b

y M

aria

Koz

arov

a.

The

Edi

tor

wou

ld li

ke t

o pu

t a

ques

tion

to y

ou.

How

man

y of

you

fee

l Br

itish

and

how

man

y of

you

fee

lex

clud

ed f

rom

Bri

tishn

ess?

H

ow m

any

of y

ou f

eel

Briti

shne

ss d

epen

ds o

n w

ho y

ou a

re a

nd w

hat y

ou d

o,e.

g.Lo

uis

Ham

ilton

? P

leas

e w

rite

you

r th

ough

ts a

ndop

inio

ns t

o bl

ackb

righ

tnew

s@ao

l.com

DID YOU KNOW...

Aspecialist market research company has carried out an experi-

ment which aims to go beyond what people say they like or dislike,

and reveal what they really think.

With the volunteers happily strapped into their multi-coloured

braincaps, they were shown a selection of images of England or

Britain, which mixed �traditional patriotic images and music with

news footage of everything from the royal family to cups of tea;

from multicultural street scenes to far-right protesters; sporting tri-

umphs to terrorist attacks.�

As the participants watched the footage, a researcher monitored a

graph which showed their emotional responses by spiking up and

down.

The experiment showed some interesting results about people�s

emotional responses and their thoughts that were more deeply

rooted in the brain. For example, after being shown a clip with �stir-

ring music and regal scenes of the Queen and her family�

none of

the group spoke positively about Britain�s monarchy, with some

saying how

much they disliked it.

But

when their

emotional

responses were correlated to their brain scans, it revealed more

mixed findings.

�Their brain scans, however, revealed more mixed findings. The

Queen got a warmer reaction if she was smiling and in a more

informal setting; reaction to Charles and Camilla was cool. But the

winners were Princes William and Harry, with a scene showing

Harry serving in Afghanistan producing

a particularly positive

response.�

The

article

continues

with the

experiment�s

findings,

looking

specifically at how the participants reacted to a �multicutural Britain�

and scenes of tragedy.

Want more? checkout: www .current.com

10

Kris

Kel

li, (

who

se l

iber

ated

sin

gle

‘Noh

Kot

chA

roun

d’w

hich

tel

ls u

s no

t to

be

lazy

and

aim

to

achi

eve

our

goal

s),

offi

cial

ly e

nter

ed t

he m

usic

indu

stry

in J

anua

ry 2

003.

K

ris, a

ccor

ding

to h

erpu

blic

ist,

“wen

t thr

ough

a v

ery

hect

ic tw

o ye

ars

ofle

arni

ng th

e bu

sine

ss, w

ritin

g an

d re

cord

ing,

per

-fo

rmin

g at

a n

umbe

r of

maj

or s

tage

sho

ws

and

char

ity e

vent

s lo

cally

, goi

ng o

n an

ele

ven-

City

tour

in t

he U

nite

d St

ates

as

wel

l as

perfo

rman

ces

inC

anad

a an

d fil

min

g so

me

mus

ic v

ideo

s”.

Ade

cisi

on w

as m

ade

in e

arly

200

5 th

at th

e tim

eha

d co

me

for

Kris

Kel

li to

foc

us o

n he

r de

but

albu

m.

She

spe

nt t

he n

ext

18 m

onth

s w

ritin

g,re

cord

ing

and

wor

king

with

a n

umbe

r of

top

pro-

duce

rs i

n Ja

mai

ca t

o co

me

up w

ith h

er d

ebut

albu

m ti

tled

“My

Wor

ld”.

The

albu

m b

oast

s 15

trac

ks in

clud

ing

two

colla

b-or

atio

ns w

ith B

eeni

e M

an a

nd V

ybz

Kar

tel.

The

albu

m

repr

esen

ts

vario

us

genr

es

of

Reg

gae

mus

ic a

nd a

lso

capt

ures

the

ess

ence

, jo

urne

yan

d ve

rsat

ility

of

the

artis

te.

“MY

WO

RLD

” w

asre

leas

ed

in

Japa

n by

P

ony

Can

yon

Int.,

on

Sep

tem

ber 2

0th,

200

6 an

d is

doi

ng v

ery

wel

l.K

ris K

elli

has

visi

ted

Japa

n se

vera

l tim

es d

oing

prom

otio

nal t

ours

in th

e ci

ties

of T

okyo

and

Osa

kaas

wel

l as

Int

ervi

ews

rela

ting

to h

er A

lbum

and

phot

o sh

oots

for

sev

eral

Mag

azin

es i

nclu

ding

alin

e of

Win

ter

Wea

r fo

r W

oofin

and

Woo

fin G

irlM

agaz

ines

.Th

e ye

ar 2

007

star

ted

off v

ery

hect

ic fo

r Kris

Kel

liw

ith tw

o vi

deos

bei

ng s

hot i

n th

e fir

st q

uarte

r fo

r“S

TEP

UP

” whi

ch is

the

lead

sin

gle

on h

er a

lbum

and

“We’

re M

issi

ng Y

ou”

(The

Trib

ute)

tha

t w

asre

cord

ed a

fter t

he a

lbum

was

rele

ased

.S

he a

gain

trav

elle

d to

Jap

an in

Apr

il 20

07, f

or tw

o

wee

ks w

here

she

per

form

ed a

t the

Reg

gae

Fies

taC

once

rt w

hich

is h

eld

annu

ally

in O

kina

wa

as w

ell

as d

oing

mor

e pr

omot

ions

for

her

deb

ut A

lbum

and

sign

ing

a 12

mon

ths

endo

rsem

ent d

eal w

ithG

LAD

NE

WS

clo

thin

g lin

e.S

he l

aunc

hed

her

fully

FLA

SH

and

Int

erac

tive

Web

site

w

ww

.kris

kelli

.com

, on

N

ovem

ber

01,

2007

and

did

her

third

and

last

vid

eo fo

r the

yea

rfo

r he

r ne

w

sing

le

“Sw

eet

Intro

” w

hich

w

asre

leas

ed in

Dec

embe

r 200

7.H

er v

ideo

“We’

re m

issi

ng y

ou” w

as o

n th

e M

TV’s

Tem

po

Cro

ss

Car

ibbe

an

Cou

ntdo

wn

Top

10Vi

deo

char

t for

13

wee

ks a

nd p

eake

d at

the

# 2

posi

tion

for

5 w

eeks

, it h

as a

lso

been

nom

inat

edby

The

Reg

gae

Aca

dem

y Aw

ards

with

3 o

ther

vide

os fo

r the

Bes

t Vid

eo fo

r 200

7 in

the

Reg

gae

cate

gory

.20

08 h

as s

tarte

d ou

t as

plan

ned

with

a lo

t of s

tu-

dio

wor

k an

d th

e re

leas

e of

fiv

e ne

w s

ingl

es(C

an’t

Take

Thi

s N

o M

ore,

Bre

akin

g P

oint

, B

ack

To B

lack

, Brin

g Yo

ur ‘A

’Gam

e an

d St

rong

er).

Kris

Kel

li co

ntin

ues

to w

ork

on th

e tra

cks

for

a po

ssi-

ble

Sop

hom

ore

albu

m fo

r rel

ease

in th

e la

tter p

art

of th

is y

ear.

In J

anua

ry 2

008

nego

tiatio

ns w

ere

com

plet

edw

ith P

ublis

hing

Hou

se “

WE

STB

UR

YM

US

IC”

inLo

ndon

and

Kris

Kel

li is

now

sig

ned

to th

eir r

oos-

ter o

f Arti

ste.

Dis

cogr

aphy

Two

song

s, U

ptow

n To

p R

anki

n an

d Fl

ip U

p th

atw

ere

rele

ased

in th

e fir

st q

uarte

r of 2

003

mad

e it

to th

e N

umbe

r 1

spot

on

the

Italia

n R

egga

e si

n-gl

es c

hart

for

the

mon

ths

of M

arch

and

Apr

ilre

spec

tivel

y.

In 2

005

she

also

had

3 c

hart

topp

ers

in A

ustri

a on

thei

r re

ggae

ch

art.

H

er

Deb

ut A

lbum

“M

YW

OR

LD”

was

re

leas

ed

by

Pon

y C

anyo

n In

t.Ja

pan

the

20th

Sep

tem

ber 2

006.

Wan

t mor

e in

fo?

ww

w.s

onic

bids

.com

/kris

kelli

In th

e ne

xt is

sue

- Wha

t is

Bea

uty?

11

A Le

tter f

rom

Alic

e W

alke

r

Dear

Broth

er Ob

ama,

You h

ave no

idea

, rea

lly, o

f how

profo

und t

his m

omen

t is f

or us

. Us

being

the b

lack p

eople

of th

e Sou

thern

Unite

d Stat

es. Yo

u thin

k you

know

, bec

ause

you a

re tho

ughtf

ul, an

d you

have

stud

ied ou

r hist

o-ry.

But s

eeing

you d

elive

r the

torch

so m

any o

thers

befor

e you

car-

ried,

year

after

year,

dec

ade

after

deca

de, c

entur

y aft

er ce

ntury,

only

to be

stru

ck do

wn be

fore i

gniti

ng th

e flam

e of j

ustic

e and

oflaw

, is a

lmos

t mor

e tha

n the

heart

can b

ear.

And y

et, th

is ob

serva

-tio

n is n

ot int

ende

d to b

urde

n you

, for

you a

re of

a diffe

rent t

ime,

and,

indee

d, be

caus

e of

all th

e rel

ay ru

nners

befo

re yo

u, No

rthAm

erica

is a

differ

ent p

lace.

It is

really

only

to say

: Well

done

. We

knew

, thro

ugh a

ll the

gene

ration

s, tha

t you

were

with

us, in

us, th

ebe

st of

the sp

irit o

f Afri

ca an

d of t

he A

meric

as. K

nowi

ng th

is, th

atyo

u wo

uld a

ctuall

y ap

pear,

som

eday,

was

part

of ou

r str

ength

.Se

eing y

ou ta

ke yo

ur ri

ghtfu

l plac

e, ba

sed so

lely o

n you

r wisd

om,

stami

na an

d ch

aracte

r, is

a balm

for t

he w

eary

warri

ors o

f hop

e,pr

eviou

sly on

ly su

ng ab

out.

I wou

ld ad

vise y

ou to

reme

mber

that y

ou di

d not

create

the d

isas-

ter th

at the

wor

ld is

expe

rienc

ing, a

nd yo

u alon

e are

not r

espon

si-ble

for b

ringin

g the

wor

ld ba

ck to

balan

ce. A

prim

ary re

spon

sibil-

ity th

at yo

u do h

ave, h

owev

er, is

to cu

ltivate

happ

iness

in yo

ur ow

nlife

. To m

ake a

sche

dule

that p

ermits

suffic

ient t

ime o

f rest

and p

laywi

th yo

ur go

rgeo

us w

ife an

d lov

ely da

ughte

rs. An

d so o

n. On

e gath

-ers

that

your

fami

ly is

large

. We

are u

sed to

seein

g me

n in

theWh

ite H

ouse

soon

bec

ome

juice

less

and

as wh

ite-ha

ired

as the

build

ing; w

e noti

ce th

eir w

ives a

nd ch

ildren

look

ing st

raine

d an

dstr

essed

. The

y soo

n have

smile

s so l

ackin

g in j

oy th

at the

y rem

indus

of sc

issor

s. Th

is is

no w

ay to

lead

. Nor

does

your

fami

ly de

serve

this f

ate. O

ne w

ay of

think

ing ab

out a

ll this

is: It

is so

bad n

ow th

atthe

re is

no ex

cuse

not t

o rela

x. Fr

om yo

ur ha

ppy,

relax

ed st

ate, y

ouca

n mo

del r

eal s

ucce

ss, w

hich

is all

that

so m

any

peop

le in

thewo

rld re

ally w

ant.

They

may

buy e

ndles

s cars

and h

ouses

and f

urs

and

gobb

le up

all

the a

ttenti

on a

nd sp

ace

they

can

mana

ge, o

rba

rely m

anag

e, bu

t this

is b

ecau

se it

is no

t yet

clear

to the

m tha

tsu

ccess

is tru

ly an

insid

e job

. Tha

t it i

s with

in the

reac

h of a

lmos

tev

eryon

e.I w

ould

furthe

r adv

ise yo

u no

t to t

ake o

n oth

er pe

ople’

s ene

mies.

Most

dama

ge th

at oth

ers d

o to

us is

out

of fea

r, hu

milia

tion

and

pain.

Thos

e fee

lings

occu

r in a

ll of

us, n

ot jus

t in t

hose

of us

who

profe

ss a c

ertain

relig

ious o

r rac

ial de

votio

n. We

mus

t lea

rn ac

tual-

ly no

t to h

ave en

emies

, but

only

confu

sed ad

versa

ries w

ho ar

e our

-sel

ves i

n disg

uise.

It is

unde

rstoo

d by a

ll tha

t you

are c

omma

nder

in ch

ief of

the U

nited

State

s and

are s

worn

to p

rotec

t our

belo

ved

coun

try; t

his w

e und

erstan

d, co

mplet

ely. H

owev

er, as

my

mothe

rus

ed to

say,

quoti

ng a

Bible

with

which

I oft

en fo

ught,

“ha

te the

sin, b

ut lov

e the

sinn

er.” T

here

must

be no

mor

e cru

shing

of w

hole

comm

uniti

es, no

mor

e tor

ture,

no m

ore d

ehum

anizi

ng as

a me

ans

of ru

ling a

peop

le’s s

pirit.

This

has a

lread

y hap

pene

d to p

eople

ofco

lor, p

oor

peop

le, w

omen

, chil

dren

. We

see w

here

this

leads

,wh

ere it

has l

ed.

A go

od m

odel

of ho

w to

“wor

k with

the e

nemy

” inte

rnall

y is p

re-sen

ted by

the D

alai L

ama,

in his

endle

ss ca

retak

ing of

his

soul

ashe

confr

onts

the Ch

inese

gove

rnme

nt tha

t inv

aded

Tibe

t. Be

caus

e,fin

ally,

it is

the so

ul tha

t mus

t be p

reserv

ed, i

f one

is to

rema

in a

credib

le lea

der.

All el

se mi

ght b

e los

t; bu

t whe

n the

soul

dies,

theco

nnec

tion

to ea

rth, t

o peo

ples,

to an

imals

, to r

ivers,

to m

ounta

inran

ges,

purp

le an

d maje

stic,

also d

ies. A

nd yo

ur sm

ile, w

ith w

hich

we w

atch y

ou do

grac

ious b

attle

with

unjus

t cha

racter

izatio

ns, d

is-tor

tions

and l

ies, is

that

expr

ession

of he

althy

self-

worth

, spir

it and

soul,

that,

kept

happ

y and

free

and r

elaxe

d, ca

n find

an an

sweri

ngsm

ile in

all o

f us,

lighti

ng ou

r way,

and b

righte

ning t

he w

orld.

We ar

e the

ones

we ha

ve be

en w

aiting

for.

In Pe

ace a

nd Jo

y,

Alice

Walk

er

© 20

08, A

lice W

alker

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black

brigh

tnews

Poem

for

Oba

ma

Ros

a P

arks

,Mar

tin

Lut

her

Kin

g,M

alco

lm X

Sojo

urne

r T

ruth

,Har

riet

Tub

man

,B

ooke

r T.

Was

hing

ton

Mar

cus

Gar

vey,

W.E

.B.D

u B

ois,

Bob

Mar

ley

Wak

e up

and

ari

se fr

om y

our

grav

es:

The

re’s

a B

lack

man

in t

he W

hite

hou

seA

nd K

enya

ns,a

par

t of

you

is r

ight

up

ther

eA

fric

ans,

a pa

rt o

fyo

u is

rig

ht u

p th

ere

And

all

thos

e,fr

om a

ll co

mm

unit

ies

Who

vot

ed fo

r yo

u,su

ppor

ted

you

Ros

a P

arks

,did

you

imag

ine

that

?M

arti

n L

uthe

r K

ing,

did

you

drea

m o

fth

at?

The

col

our

line

has

been

bro

ken

Bro

ken

at la

st! B

roke

n at

last

! Y

es y

ou d

id d

ream

of

that

So a

rise

,you

r sp

irit

is a

lrea

dy h

ere

Did

you

kno

w o

fw

hat

sign

ifica

nce

You

all

are,

insi

de a

nd o

utsi

de o

fA

mer

ica

Thi

s is

a s

tep

for

the

who

le w

orld

Eve

n th

ough

som

e ar

e st

ill n

ot a

war

e of

itSo

me

still

thi

nk t

hey

can

get

away

w

ith

bein

g ra

cist

Man

y m

ay s

till

not

see

the

need

fo

r th

e Ch

ange

tha

t’s

Gon

na C

ome

And

tha

t th

e Ch

ange

,tha

t ha

s be

en c

omin

gE

ver

sinc

e th

e id

ea o

fB

lack

Lib

erat

ion

is O

ur L

iber

atio

nW

hoev

er w

e ar

e,w

hate

ver

colo

ur w

e ar

eE

ver

sinc

e sl

aver

y’s

abol

itio

nW

e ar

e m

ovin

g in

to li

bera

tion

The

col

ourl

ine

has

been

bro

ken

It h

as b

een

brok

en!

And

all

com

mun

itie

s pl

ayed

a p

art

In e

lect

ing

Oba

ma

Bla

cks,

Whi

tes,

all c

omm

unit

ies

play

ed a

par

tTo

get

a B

lack

man

into

the

Whi

te h

ouse

Peo

ple

ofal

l col

ours

and

non

e pl

ayed

a p

art

So u

nite

d w

e st

and

The

col

ourl

ine

has

been

bro

ken

Thi

s is

abs

olut

e lib

erat

ion

We

are

brea

king

free

Tho

se w

ho v

oted

for

Oba

ma,

supp

orte

d O

bam

aA

nd t

hose

who

had

giv

en t

heir

live

sIn

the

dec

ades

and

dec

ades

of

fight

ing

agai

nst

oppr

essi

on

The

yea

rs a

nd y

ears

of

fight

ing

for

free

dom

And

her

e w

e ar

e,m

ovin

gF

rom

sla

very

to

civi

l rig

hts

to O

bam

a!

The

col

our

line

has

been

bro

ken!

It fe

els

like

Sout

h A

fric

a in

199

4T

he fi

rst

mul

tira

cial

ele

ctio

nsA

nd t

hen

I he

ard

it b

y th

e B

BC

I sa

w it

on

TV

The

y sa

id it

was

the

‘Man

dela

Mom

ent’

Yes

it is

!A

nd t

he N

krum

ah m

omen

t to

oW

hen

Gha

na a

chie

ved

inde

pend

ence

The

Tou

ssai

nt ‘O

uver

ture

mom

ent

whe

n H

aiti

ach

ieve

d in

depe

nden

ceso

man

y m

omen

ts t

o re

mem

ber

but

rem

embe

r,w

e do

n’t

just

wan

t m

omen

ts o

ffr

eedo

mw

e w

ant

the

who

le lo

tw

e w

ant

wha

t w

e ne

ed,

and

wha

t so

man

y of

us d

eser

veso

we

have

to

keep

it u

p,ke

ep u

p th

ose

mom

ents

keep

up

the

mom

entu

m!

Yes

we

have

to

thin

k ho

w t

o ke

ep it

up

Bec

ause

rem

embe

r M

ande

la in

Sou

th A

fric

aW

ho t

ried

his

bes

t fo

r So

uth

Afr

ica

but

it is

not

as

free

As

it is

sup

pose

d to

be

The

re’s

sti

ll a

lot

ofW

hite

Sup

rem

acy

The

old

reg

ime

is n

ot y

et d

ism

antl

ed

Let

’s t

hink

how

we

can

keep

up

the

liber

atio

nH

ow c

an w

e di

sman

tle

raci

sm?

And

how

can

we

get

ever

ybod

y to

join

in?

Cont

inue

to

brea

k th

e co

lour

line

Unt

il it

’s g

one

How

can

we

all b

e O

neW

ith

all i

nequ

alit

ies

over

com

e?

© U

rsul

a tr

oche

,11.

08

Gre

etin

gs B

elov

ed F

riend

s,

Just

a fe

w li

nes

to m

ark

this

mom

ent i

n tim

e w

here

we

see

now

a n

ew D

awn

in t

he e

lect

ion

of t

he R

ight

Hon

oura

ble

Oba

ma

as a

n A

mer

ican

pre

side

nt o

fA

fric

an d

esce

nt w

ith h

is b

eaut

iful w

ife a

nd c

hild

ren

ofA

fric

an d

esce

nt a

s th

e U

SA‘F

irst L

ady

/ Fam

ily’.

I gi

ve t

hank

s to

hav

e w

itnes

sed

this

mom

ent,

and

Ikn

ow m

y Fa

ther

who

was

a G

arve

yite

, mus

t be

plea

sed

also

if h

e’s

look

ing

on fr

om th

e re

alm

s of

spi

rit. T

his

isa

mom

entu

s ev

ent i

n th

e st

rugg

le o

f ou

r pe

ople

, mos

tpa

rticu

larly

for

the

Afr

ican

Am

eric

ans

stem

min

g fr

omth

e er

a of

the

civ

il rig

hts

mov

emen

ts a

nd t

he R

ight

Hon

oura

ble

Mar

tin L

uthe

r Kin

g, fo

r the

re a

re s

ome

ofth

ose

vote

rs

who

co

uld

rem

embe

r th

e da

ys

ofSe

greg

atio

n an

d be

atin

gs.

We

all

have

to

say

a lit

tle p

raye

r to

kee

p th

e O

bam

aFa

mily

saf

e fo

r th

e ar

duou

s ta

sk a

head

is ‘

just

beg

in-

ning

’with

his

ina

ugur

atio

n in

Jan

uary

and

tak

ing

the

helm

of o

ne o

f the

mos

t pow

erfu

l cou

ntrie

s on

the

plan

-et

, lef

t in

a st

ate

of w

orse

dis

arra

y.

Mos

t spe

cial

and

not

ewor

thy

is th

e fa

ct th

at th

e w

ife h

eha

s be

side

him

is b

lack

and

this

als

o is

a te

stam

ent i

nits

elf a

s to

wha

t a w

oman

of s

ubst

ance

can

als

o ac

hiev

ew

ith d

eter

min

atio

n an

d tru

e ch

arac

ter f

or a

ckno

wle

dge-

men

t is

due

also

for h

er ro

le in

the

jour

ney

of th

at fa

m-

ily.

May

Jah

con

tinue

to

be w

ith u

s al

l in

thi

s ne

wLi

bera

tion

chap

ter

for

as t

he s

ayin

g go

es ‘

Alu

taC

ontin

ua’(

the

stru

ggle

con

tinue

s), u

ntil

all o

f us

are

truly

free

in m

ind

body

and

spi

rit.

One

Lov

e,C

oz T

afar

i.

13

Stat

emen

t on

Bar

ack

Obam

aSt

atem

ent

on B

arac

k Ob

ama

by C

oz T

by C

oz T

afar

iaf

ari

A D

ream

?W

hen

I hea

rd t

hat

you

had

won

I clu

tche

d m

y he

adTe

ars

bega

n to

run

..

I cal

led

my

daug

hter

sA

nd t

hen

trie

d m

y m

umal

l at

arou

nd 5

:00

a.m

.

Cou

ld it

be

true

?C

ould

Oba

ma

win

?O

r w

as it

all

Just

a d

ream

?

I wen

t to

wor

kA

buz

z in

my

stri

deEy

es a

lert

Mou

th s

mili

ng w

ide

“I c

an”,

I whi

sper

ed“W

e ca

n” r

ang

thro

ugh

Ever

ythi

ng I

plan

ned

to d

o..

Oba

ma

is m

ore

than

a m

an,

He

has

chan

ged

the

wor

ldW

ith t

he w

ords

“w

e ca

n”

Ever

yone

...

Old

and

you

ng

Hav

e no

w w

itnes

sed

how

it a

ll be

gan.

Myr

na L

oy ©

11/

08

14

The

Mor

e Th

ings

Cha

nge…

..

Stev

e St

rand

’s

repo

rt (G

uard

ian

5 S

epte

mbe

r20

08)

is a

tim

ely

rem

inde

r to

gov

ernm

ent

and

scho

ols

of w

hat

Bla

ck C

arib

bean

par

ents

and

man

y bl

ack

teac

hers

hav

e be

en p

rote

stin

g ab

out

for y

ears

. H

is re

sear

ch b

ased

evi

denc

e ha

s be

enpr

eced

ed b

y th

e fin

ding

s of

bla

ck s

uppl

emen

tary

scho

ols

and

the

expe

rienc

e of

fru

stra

ted

pare

nts

up a

nd d

own

the

land

for d

ecad

es, i

e., t

hat t

each

-er

s’lo

w

expe

ctat

ions

an

d st

ereo

typi

cal

belie

fsre

gard

ing

the

abili

ty o

f Afri

can

Car

ibbe

an c

hild

ren

and

the

qual

ity o

f th

eir

teac

hing

tha

t flo

ws

from

thos

e ar

e le

adin

g to

edu

catio

nal

unde

rach

ieve

-m

ent,

low

stu

dent

asp

iratio

ns a

nd a

dis

affe

ctio

nfro

m le

arni

ng th

at e

ncou

rage

s po

or b

ehav

iour

and

disc

iplin

e an

d lo

w s

elf w

orth

.

Forty

yea

rs a

go, t

he v

ery

first

par

liam

enta

ry s

elec

tco

mm

ittee

rep

ort

on r

ace

rela

tions

and

imm

igra

-tio

n ch

arge

d th

at W

est I

ndia

n pa

rent

s ha

d to

o hi

ghas

pira

tions

for

the

ir ch

ildre

n an

d a

tend

ency

to

equa

te le

ngth

of t

ime

spen

t in

scho

ol w

ith th

e qu

al-

ity o

f sc

hool

ing

outc

omes

the

y co

uld

expe

ct f

orth

eir

child

ren.

Li

ttle

has

chan

ged

sinc

e.

Inde

ed,

now

that

thre

e ge

nera

tions

of C

arib

bean

her

itage

peop

le h

ave

been

thr

ough

the

Brit

ish

scho

olin

gsy

stem

, te

ache

rs’

prof

essi

onal

soc

ialis

atio

n w

ithre

gard

to

teac

hing

Bla

ck C

arib

bean

chi

ldre

n ha

sbe

en

larg

ely

influ

ence

d by

ex

pect

atio

ns

abou

tch

alle

ngin

g be

havi

our,

unfo

cuse

d le

arni

ng,

low

aspi

ratio

ns a

nd u

nder

achi

evem

ent.

Har

dly

sur-

pris

ing,

the

refo

re,

that

les

s th

an f

ifty

per

cent

of

new

ly q

ualif

ied

teac

hers

feel

they

hav

e th

e co

mpe

-te

nce

and

cultu

ral

awar

enes

s to

dea

l w

ith b

lack

stud

ents

, es

peci

ally

in u

rban

set

tings

. T

he m

ore

thin

gs c

hang

e, th

e m

ore

they

sta

y th

e sa

me.

I had

the

expe

rienc

e w

hen

Dire

ctor

of E

duca

tion

inH

ackn

ey in

the

1990

s of

my

son

losi

ng h

is z

est f

orle

arni

ng a

nd b

ecom

ing

utte

rly m

iser

able

at

the

very

thou

ght o

f yet

ano

ther

day

at h

is lo

cal p

rimar

ysc

hool

. W

hen

I w

ent

to s

ee t

he t

each

er w

hose

teac

hing

was

for h

im a

tota

l tur

n of

f, sh

e sa

id s

hesa

w h

im b

ecom

ing

disi

nter

este

d an

d ta

lkin

g w

ithhi

s fri

ends

mor

e an

d m

ore,

but

she

‘jus

t lef

t him

’. I

took

up

the

mat

ter

with

the

head

teac

her

and

was

prom

ptly

acc

used

of a

busi

ng m

y po

wer

as

dire

ctor

of e

duca

tion

and

hara

ssin

g th

e te

ache

r. M

y so

nso

on m

oved

to

anot

her

Hac

kney

prim

ary

scho

olw

here

he

redi

scov

ered

his

love

of

scho

ol a

nd o

f

lear

ning

. M

any

of h

is f

riend

s ev

entu

ally

tra

ns-

ferr

ed t

o se

cond

ary

scho

ol i

ll pr

epar

ed b

oth

inte

rms

of t

heir

attit

ude

to l

earn

ing

and

thei

r se

lfm

anag

emen

t ski

lls, n

eith

er o

f whi

ch h

ad a

nyth

ing

to d

o w

ith th

eir a

cade

mic

abi

lity.

The

Com

mun

ities

Em

pow

erm

ent

Net

wor

k (C

EN

)of

whi

ch I

was

cha

ir fo

r so

me

year

s, r

epre

sent

sbl

ack

stud

ents

and

par

ents

eac

h w

eek

in d

ispu

tes

with

sch

ools

abo

ut d

iscr

imin

ator

y pr

actic

es a

roun

dse

tting

, ban

ding

and

stre

amin

g.

Bla

ck C

arib

bean

stud

ents

’exp

erie

nce

of th

ose

arra

ngem

ents

ofte

nle

ads

them

to

chal

leng

e te

ache

rs,

stop

app

lyin

gth

emse

lves

, in

dulg

e in

dis

rupt

ive

beha

viou

rs o

r,w

here

they

can

, dro

p a

subj

ect a

ltoge

ther

.

I sus

pect

ther

e ar

e un

disc

lose

d is

sues

to d

o w

ith‘ra

ce’a

nd a

bilit

y an

d ho

w B

lack

Car

ibbe

an c

hil-

dren

lea

rn w

hich

acc

ount

for

the

dec

isio

ns t

hat

man

y te

ache

rs m

ake,

how

ever

muc

h th

ey m

ight

just

ify th

ose

deci

sion

s on

gro

unds

of p

upil

beha

v-io

ur o

r lac

k of

app

licat

ion.

I re

cent

ly p

rodu

ced

‘Bor

n to

be

Gre

at’,

a C

harte

ron

Rai

sing

the

Atta

inm

ent

of B

lack

Car

ibbe

anB

oys,

with

the

Nat

iona

l Uni

on o

f Tea

cher

s, b

ased

on a

ser

ies

of R

ound

Tab

le d

iscu

ssio

ns w

ith B

lack

Car

ibbe

an s

tude

nts,

par

ents

and

tea

cher

s. T

heC

harte

r is

a b

old

affir

mat

ion

that

if w

e ar

e to

hal

tth

e de

stru

ctio

n of

hop

e an

d th

e de

ath

of a

spira

tion,

the

desc

ent i

nto

hope

less

ness

that

Ste

ve S

trand

’sre

sear

ch h

eral

ds f

or f

ar t

oo m

any

of o

ur y

oung

peop

le,

all

stak

ehol

ders

mus

t ow

n up

to

thei

rre

spon

sibi

lity

and

wor

k in

divi

dual

ly a

nd c

olle

ctiv

e-ly

to m

ake

a di

ffere

nce.

Th

at is

why

the

Cha

rter

artic

ulat

es th

e en

title

men

ts a

nd th

e re

spon

sibi

litie

sof

stu

dent

s th

emse

lves

, of t

heir

pare

nts/

care

rs a

ndof

sch

ools

and

teac

hers

. Th

at is

why

it d

eser

ves

to b

e ad

opte

d by

DC

SF

for u

se b

y sc

hool

s an

d by

Bla

ck C

arib

bean

stu

dent

s an

d pa

rent

s.

Gus

Joh

n

Ass

ocia

te P

rofe

ssor

Lond

on C

entr

e fo

r Le

ader

ship

in L

earn

ing

Inst

itute

of E

duca

tion

Uni

vers

ity o

f Lon

don

5 S

epte

mbe

r 200

8

(For

Ros

Tay

lor,

Dep

uty

Com

men

t Edi

tor,

The

Gua

rdia

n)

Blac

k-Br

ight

Blac

k-Br

ight

WWou

ld l

ike

to w

ish

ould

lik

e to

wis

hAl

l he

r Re

ader

sAl

l he

r Re

ader

sA

Safe

&A

Safe

&Bl

esse

dBl

esse

dH

olid

ay S

easo

n!H

olid

ay S

easo

n!

ww

ww

ww

.mys

pace

.com

/bla

ckbr

ight

new

s.m

yspa

ce.c

om/b

lack

brig

htne

ws

Pain

ting

by T

yron

e B

ravo

ww

w.m

yspa

ce.c

om/t

yron

ebra

voar

t