National Black HIV/AIDs Awareness Day: Our Community Can't Afford to Forget About Health Crisis

Ironically, date falls just one day after birthday of late President Ronald Reagan, who tried dismissing disease.

National Black HIV/AIDs Awareness Day:
Our Community Can't Afford to Forget About Health Crisis
by Mychal Denzel Smith | TheLoop21

Today (Feb. 7) is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It’s an opportunity for us to bring further awareness to the grim statistics concerning Black people in the United States and the proliferation of the AIDS virus.

At only 14 percent of the total population, Black people make up almost half of those currently living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 16 Black men will be diagnosed with HIV in his lifetime, along with 1 in 32 Black women. The disease hits hardest among gay and bisexual Black men, followed by heterosexual women.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, close to a quarter of a million Black people living in the U.S. have died from AIDS. We simply can’t talk about this issue enough. Failing to address all the contributing factors (poverty/access to healthcare/prevalence of other STDs) is not an option, but we must also ramp up efforts to educate people in regards to protection and prevention with more outreach programs that target those most affected.

Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21

Quiet Lockdown: The Scott Sisters, Black Women and Miscarriage of Justice in the South

Mississippi case is a current example of a historical bias in the judicial process.

Quiet Lockdown:
The Scott Sisters, Black Women and Miscarriage of Justice in the South
by Stephane Dunn | TheLoop21

After serving sixteen years and their young adult lives behind bars, the Scott sisters are finally good headline news; Governor Barbour’s pardon of the Mississippi sisters and the stipulation – the gift of one sister’s kidney to the other is the feel good story of the moment; in truth it remains a tragic commentary about unjust justice.

Jamie and Gladys Scott, now 36 and 38, committed a crime, armed robbery which netted them 11 bucks, but then they were victimized by the system. The three black men involved pointed to the sisters for orchestrating the crime and served little time, while the Scotts were given an absurdly severe penalty: a life sentence. More than just another example of how the legal system has been unjust to black folk and women, the Scott case also speaks specifically to black women's historical experience with the judicial process. While black male persecution under the law has generated more publicity, ( for example the newsmaking 1931 Scottsboro Boys case) black females have shared a similar reality.

In the South, from slavery through the present, black women have had a long history of brutal mistreatment by racist criminal legal systems. Time and time again courts have famously denied black women their humanity and ignored the underlining racial politics that determined their fates.

Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21

The Black Man's Code of Conduct

The Black Man's Code of Conduct
by Mychal Denzel Smith | TheLoop21

I was in New York City recently and had a chance to sit down and soak up the wisdom of a man I truly admire, Professor R. L’Heureux Lewis of City College New York. Professor Lewis has done a lot of work to highlight and address the concept of black male privilege, and I wanted to talk to him and gain insight on the types of things that need to be done to get our community moving forward on redefining black masculinity and promoting new models of black manhood.

When I arrived at his office, Professor Lewis was with a student and needed to step out for a bit, but told me to go in, take a seat, and introduce myself to the student. I walked in, took a seat, nodded, said “what’s going on, bruh?”, and then basked in the silence. Upon Professor Lewis’ return, he queried as to what I and the other young man had learned about each other; neither of us could produce an answer. We had been sitting in the same space for nearly two minutes, and didn’t even know each other’s names.

I’ve long been aware of the tension that often characterizes the interpersonal relationships of black men. I can remember as a teenager many fights starting between brothers because one looked at the other the “wrong way.” Walking past other black men in any public space, I’d consciously avoid eye or accidental physical contact, an affront of the worst kind, lest I be forced to defend myself against a group of brothers much larger and angrier than myself. I was lucky, I could typically talk my way out of these situations.

Not everyone is that fortunate.

I can’t say what exactly is the source of this tension and mistrust among black men, as it can differ for everyone, but it is fed by our collective insecurities and desire to protect our respective manhoods. There are brothers who have suffered physical or sexual abuse at the hands of another black man and now question the motives of every brother they see. There are brothers so fearful of their own sexuality, they project it onto others and wish attack. There are brothers who buy into the stereotypes that depict black men as naturally and viciously violent, either wanting to adopt that persona or protect themselves from it in others. No matter the process that birthed this mentality, it has manifested itself in a way that impedes the process of black men addressing one another with respect and love.

I say we permanently adopt the attitude we embrace when we notice that we are alone in a space occupied by a majority of white people.

Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21

Why Blacks Should Care About Net Neutrality # 2

Internet freedom is under attack, but some black leaders are fighting against us.

Why Blacks Should Care About Net Neutrality
by Nadra Kareem | TheLoop21

Imagine an Internet where corporations could pay broadband companies to make their content travel faster across the Web than that of rivals or lone bloggers. Sounds like a sci-fi flick, right? But the end of “net neutrality” is a very real possibility. Activist group ColorOfChange.org says it threatens African American entrepreneurs, entertainers and bloggers who’ve long used the Web to reach the masses.

“The Federal Communications Commission is trying to protect Internet freedom …But big broadband providers want to create a new system where they can charge large fees to speed up some data while leaving those who can’t afford to pay behind,” ColorOfChange.org informed members in a Sept. 16 release.

The purpose of the announcement was not only to raise awareness about the threat to net neutrality but also to inform COC supporters that Congressional Black Caucus members, such as Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), have reportedly taken large sums of money from telecommunications industry lobbyists aiming to make the Internet a non-egalitarian space. Accordingly, COC urged its supporters to sign a petition asking black Congress members to support “Internet freedom.” TheLoop21.com asked the Caucus for comment, but it did not respond to the request by press time. African Americans who’ve made names for themselves in the blogosphere, such as Latoya Peterson of Racialicious.com and Danielle Belton of TheBlackSnob.com, did weigh in on the issue, though.

Racialicious, which examines how race and pop culture intersect, attracts up to 250,000 visitors monthly, says Peterson. Owner and editor of the site, Peterson fears the impact net neutrality’s end would have on racial minorities.

“There are so many great sites that are owned and run by people of color, a situation that is not happening in other parts of the media world,” she said in a statement to TheLoop21.com. “Yet, if large corporations get to manage the Internet the way they have managed cable TV, radio, and print media, it’s the countdown to our voices being marginalized yet again.”

Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21.com

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Nadra Kareem is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Racialicious.com, About.com and other media outlets. Follow her on Twitter @NadraKareem