Gil Scott-Heron remembered

Gil Scott-Heron - Masters Degree in Creative Writing - recites "HIStory".


Gil Scott-Heron's "Pieces of a Man".


Scott-Heron's "We Almost Lost Detroit".


Scott-Heron's "B-Movie"


Scott-Heron's "We Beg Your Pardon"

The Game by Prince

Prince accepts award while addressing a new game

Tap Dancing...A Lost Art?

Tap Dancers exhibit their unique talents

Third Circuit Court of Appeals astounded by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Media Ownership Delay

Story by Inside Radio

Broadcasters have long complained about the Federal Communication Commission’s inaction over media ownership regulations. The industry has found a powerful ally in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which issued a sharp rebuke of the FCC and is threatening to abolish all media rules if the delays continue.

The court said it was “troubling” that nearly a decade has elapsed since the FCC last completed a review of broadcast ownership rules despite federal law requiring one be done every four years. Because of the ongoing delays, circuit judge Thomas Ambro noted some broadcasters have petitioned the court to wipe all the media regulations off the books. But he said that would be a step too far—for now.

“This is the administrative law equivalent of burning down the house to roast the pig, and we decline to order it,” Ambro wrote. “However, we note that this remedy, while extreme, might be justified in the future if the Commission does not act quickly to carry out its legislative mandate.”

But the court acknowledges the Commission’s delay has kept local radio and television broadcast ownership rules “in limbo,” noting the same fate for the radio/television cross-ownership rule, the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule and the dual network rule.

But to abolish them in a single sweeping move would harm broadcasters, Ambro wrote in the 56-page opinion. “This would invite chaos, and it presumably would lead to drawn-out litigation over whether combinations entered into during this vacuum could continue to exist even if the Commission later determined to outlaw them once again,” he concluded.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on Wednesday, FCC chair Tom Wheeler said the court ruling is the result of a dozen years of inaction by both Republican and Democratic administrations. “I committed to the Congress, and the FCC told the court that we would be putting forth a media ownership proposal by June 30. I intend to stick with that,” Wheeler pledged.

But the court’s ruling wasn’t about waiting to see what the FCC would do with at least one rule. It struck down a change made two years ago when the agency voted to make television station joint-sales agreements attributable toward ownership caps.

The National Association of Broadcasters said it “could not be more pleased” with the court’s opinion. Spokesman Dennis Wharton said it directs the FCC to “reflect the modern world” when reassessing ownership rules. “We’re particularly delighted the court highlights the irrationality of a rule that bars broadcast-newspaper combinations in the same market,” Wharton said. “This rule needs to be ended immediately.”

The judge’s order is also winning praise from some on Capitol Hill. “This is yet another unsurprising chapter in the FCC’s miserable history on the media ownership rules,” Communications and Technology Subcommittee chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) said. “These failures have real world consequences, taking a particular toll on minority broadcasters and minority media creators, who are already struggling mightily to survive.”

The appeals court seems to agree, saying the FCC “needs more data” to define what qualifies as “small disadvantaged business enterprises,” or SDBs. It ordered the agency to “act promptly” to complete studies on minority and female ownership levels and adopt a new SDB definition. “If it needs more data to do so, it must get it,” Ambro wrote.

The court also ordered the FCC to follow through with a pledge to address two-dozen minority ownership proposals submitted by the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council during the past decade. It is expected many of those ideas will be rolled into Wheeler’s forthcoming ownership proposal. MMTC president Kim Keenan is encouraged the court is pushing the FCC to move quickly. “Justice delayed is not justice denied,” she said. “After 12 years of FCC delay, at last a definition that would advance minority broadcast ownership appears to be within reach.”

Read the full court ruling: http://www.nab.org/documents/newsRoom/pdfs/052516_Media_Ownership_Decision.pdf

After 50 Years, Ethnic Studies Still Controversial

A Black Students Union leader in front of a crowd of demonstrators at San Francisco State University in December 1968. The union had gone on strike after racial strife between students and administration.

Recent events in school districts and some states show how divisive this 1960s phenomenon may prove to be in the 21st century.


Story by District Administration
Written by Ed Wetschler

On April 26, 2011 students from the Tucson (Ariz.) Unified School District's Mexican-American studies classes, angry that these courses might be eliminated because of a state law targeting programs that advocate "ethnic solidarity" and "the overthrow of the United States government," barged into a school board meeting, chained themselves to the board members' chairs, and banged and chanted until the meeting was canceled. When the board reconvened on May 3, so did police in riot gear, and seven people were arrested.

According to a columnist in the Arizona Republic in May, "It's 1968 and the chaotic San Francisco State University riots [over ethnic studies] are starting all over again in Tucson." But isn't this 2011—and didn't the emphasis on (and fights over) ethnic studies classes diminish decades ago?

Certainly, when you look at districts like the New York City Department of Education, ethnic studies seem like ancient history. The back-to-basics movement, says Ivan Yip, assistant principal at the Urban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young Men, forced schools in many states to adjust to new curriculum mandates. "In order to make sure our students pass state Regents exams, we have to offer double periods in algebra and the English writing class. Having enough time and money for any electives becomes a luxury."

The U.S. Census Bureau says that minority groups will constitute the majority of Americans by 2042, and it's reasonable to assume they'll want to know about their own history.

Some school districts with large minority group populations, such as the School District of Philadelphia and the Tucson Unified School District, have tried to solve the time-and-money conflict by counting African and African-American history and Mexican-American studies, respectively, toward core social studies credits. But not everyone likes this solution, so the 1960s debates have re-emerged. Debates over the way traditional mainstream courses such as American history portray the histories of minority groups have resurfaced too, especially in Texas, whose new curriculum has been accused of glossing over African- American and Latino issues. Of course, school boards and district superintendents may be caught in the middle when warring constituencies demand that schools teach what they view is accurate and relevant.

In the early 1900s, sociologist and civil-rights activist W.E.B. DuBois advocated the teaching of African-American studies in American schools. The goal was to teach a history and heritage that was being ignored, not just so blacks would better understand their own past, but so white society would be more respectful. But by 1968, when students demanding ethnic studies classes at San Francisco State University went on strike, essentially shutting down campus, the goals had shifted from DuBois' aim of engendering more respect from whites. As explained on the SFSU Africana Studies Department History Web page, the nonintegrationist Black Students Union, Third World Liberation Front, and their allies in the Black Panthers saw ethnic studies as part of a campaign for broad reform of the university, including open admissions for minority students and courses that would "serve as a counter to white value and white attitudinal courses."

SFSU hurriedly set up a division of ethnic studies, offering black, Chicano, Asian and Native American studies, and so many other colleges followed suit that the University of Denver's chancellor, Maurice B. Mitchell, observed, "It is difficult to underestimate the intensity with which courses in Negro and Spanish-American history are being - added to the curriculum at all levels in this part of the country."

Encyclopaedia Britannica published a 1,400-page, three-volume set on The Negro in American History, and by 1970 the NASSP Bulletin from the National Association of Secondary School Principals was boasting that "New York City high schools have responded greatly to the pressing need for the inclusion of black studies in their social studies curriculum."

Backlash—and Acceptance

There were signs of white backlash from the start. In The Spokesman-Review, based in Washington state, for example, a columnist listed new courses in "black philosophy, black literature, 'third world' studies, Swahili, and black music," in Eastern High School in Washington, D.C., complaining that "the neglect of the Negro in history ... stands to be replaced by overemphasis." The columnist stated this was the trend in American high schools and colleges, and that paying so much attention to this was not the best use of classroom time.

Newspapers published accounts of incidents like the one reported in the Youngstown Vindicator in Ohio on February 14, 1970 during which white students at Middletown High School in Ohio tried to walk out of a seminar on black history. (Black students confronted them, and a racially charged "pitched battle" broke out, the newspaper stated.)

By contrast, Florida schools today have taken a more peaceful, albeit slower, route toward teaching minority groups' histories and cultures without sinking into culture wars. In 1994, the state passed a law requiring more content on African- American history, Latino history and the Holocaust in its core social studies classes, and the Task Force on African American History was formed to train teachers statewide, offer resources to districts, and monitor progress in the courses. Today the task force describes eight of the largest districts in the state as "exemplary"—that is, in full compliance with the 1994 law—and chair Bernadette Kelley says that although the mandate has yet to be fully achieved statewide, most districts are complying to some extent.

Not only do Florida schools teach from culturally inclusive core curricula, but elective ethnic studies courses are thriving in some districts. Gloria Crutchfield, director of secondary curriculum for the School District of Palm Beach County, notes that 22 of the county's 23 high schools offer African and/or African-American history courses; some also offer courses in the history of Latinos, Vietnam, women and the Holocaust. "We live in an interconnected world, so it's important for kids to learn each other's histories," she says.........

.......Tucson's Tug of War

The clash over ethnic studies has come to a head in Arizona. Since the Tucson Unified School District created the Mexican- American Studies Department, or MASD, in the late 1990s, high school students have been able to take two years of La Raza/Mexican-American studies classes in lieu of mainstream courses. For example, they could take a social justice class instead of one on American government.

A few years ago, Tom Horne, then superintendent of the Arizona State Department of Education, accused MASD of disseminating "propaganda and an ideology that teaches [students] to resent the United States." Speaking to Tucson's ABC affiliate, he continued: "The La Raza studies convey a revolutionary message, a separatist message." As proof, he pointed to Rodolfo Acuna's book, "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos," and other materials used in the classes. Horne helped draft Arizona House Bill 2281, which bans classes that "promote the overthrow of the United States government, ... promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, and advocate ethnic solidarity."

When HB 2281 was passed in May 2010, students staged a protest, and 11 MASD teachers filed a lawsuit against Horne and the state board. CNN reported that Tucson school board member Adelita Grijalva called HB 2281 "part of an anti-immigrant political climate." Richard Martinez, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, maintains that HB 2281 violates the First and 14th Amendments. "Accusing us of sedition is comical," says Augustine F. Romero, the Tucson district's director of student equality. "We've done nothing wrong. What we're really about is closing the achievement gap."

Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, a University of Arizona professor and advocate of MASD, adds, "Tucson's program is exceptional, a model. Students become engaged and they succeed. Expanding and adopting such an ethnic studies model in communities nationwide would unquestionably see a dramatic rise in graduation rates and an increase in college-going rates."

Last fall, Horne ran as the Republican nominee for state attorney general, won the election, and declared Tucson schools to be in violation of HB 2281, which went into effect Jan. 1. TUSD board president Mark Stegeman complained that this was "ex post facto jurisprudence"—that the state could not punish TUSD for noncompliance in 2010, because the bill had not become law yet. The Tucson board insisted that the district had done nothing wrong, and it filed an administrative appeal.

Still, Tucson was in a tight spot. First, such an appeal leads to a quasi-judicial review that isn't binding. Second, Tucson's new superintendent, John Pedicone, had chosen to comply with HB 2281, to the dismay of some MASD teachers. Third, if found to be violating the law, the already financially strapped Tucson schools would forfeit about $15 million in state aid. Pedicone said that "we can't jeopardize the whole district for the sake of any one program." (At last count, fewer than 5 percent of Tucson's 13,000 high school students were enrolled in MASD classes.)

When Horne's replacement as state superintendent initiated a $170,000 audit of the Mexican-American studies classes in early 2011, Pedicone convinced him to avoid making any adverse rulings in the midst of the semester. Meanwhile, Stegeman, caught between advocates and foes of the MASD, suggested a compromise: Continue to offer the classes, but as electives, so students would have to take the mainstream American history and government courses for core social studies credits. Sean Arce, director of Mexican-American studies in the district, told board members

that this would essentially kill the program. "Students, particularly Latino students who have traditionally struggled to graduate, will not take the additional courses and double up for an additional history class."

Just Heating Up

Personal attacks, protests, a lawsuit, and possible financial penalties—what's an administrator to do? Throughout the spring semester, Pedicone sought consensus among conflicting constituencies. "When lines are drawn in the sand, separating us by race and culture, kids get caught in the middle," Pedicone says. "The district needs to be taking care of people—not being adversarial." He displayed statistics showing that Mexican-American students in the Mexican-American Studies program have 5 to 11 percent higher graduation rates than those who don't.

On June 16, the Arizona Republic published state superintendent John Huppenthal's verdict: Because Mexican-American studies course materials "referenced white people as 'oppressors'" and "the program is primarily designed for pupils of a particular ethnic race," Tucson is not complying with the law.

Pedicone admitted to the Arizona Republic that the district might not have adequately monitored the courses, but he also restated his position that "kids do feel connected to these classes. Because of that, we want to preserve them."

"Things are just heating up here in Arizona," warn the Three Sonorans, who write a column for TucsonCitizen.com that supports the Mexican-American Studies program. "A long hot summer is ahead."

The larger question is whether the sort of culture wars that have sprung up over Tucson's Mexican-American studies program will lead to battles in other public school districts.

Read more: http://www.districtadministration.com/article/after-50-years-ethnic-studies-still-controversial

Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) Statement on State of Maryland v. Edward Nero

Washington, D.C. (May 23, 2016) — Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) issued the following statement on the verdict in State of Maryland v. Edward Nero:

“Every American has the right to a trial decided by a jury of their peers or a trial decided by a judge. Mr. Edward Nero chose to forgo a jury and exercised his right to have Judge Barry G. Williams decide his case. Today, Judge Williams—after hearing the evidence presented by the prosecution and Mr. Nero’s defense attorneys—issued a not guilty verdict in this trial; I thank him for his service.

“Like many Baltimore residents, I was personally struck by Mr. Freddie Gray’s death, and I know that we will all continue to struggle with the strong emotions it invokes in us.

“Following Mr. Gray’s death, the citizens of Baltimore demanded justice, and it is clear that the wheels of justice are turning. I commend the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for its efforts to pursue justice, and I thank everyone who has worked on Mr. Nero’s trial.

“Justice has always relied on trust in the judicial process, and that is what I call on all of Baltimore’s residents to do because there will be more trials in the death of Mr. Freddie Gray. We cannot control the outcome of any of these trials, but what we can control is our work to continue healing our community.

“With eyes toward the future, we must continue working to reform our criminal justice system—in Maryland and nationwide—and we must continue to invest in our young people. Baltimore is a city on the rise, but the question is: will we all rise together?

“I believe that we are on the road to creating a city that uplifts all of its residents. Today’s verdict should not take us off course, instead, it should remind us of the importance of the road ahead.”

Snoop Dogg syncs Journey

Snoop Dogg syncs Journey

Guitarist Eric Gales

Eric Gales http://www.ericgalesband.com/

Access.1 Acquires 100% Ownership Of AURN

Story by Inside Radio

Access.1 Communications has acquired the 51% of American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) that it didn’t already own. The stake was part of a settlement of a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit the company filed against Sheridan Broadcasting Networks, which held a majority stake in the network.

Access.1 says Sheridan has turned over its majority partnership interest to Access.1’s wholly owned subsidiary National Black Network Broadcasting, in addition to making financial payments. The settlement resolves litigation Access.1 brought against Sheridan in federal court in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh-based Sheridan filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in March.

AURN’s business operations will continue under CEO Chelsey Maddox-Dorsey; President, Program Operations & Affiliations, Jerry Lopes; and President of Network Sales, Howard Eisen.

“Now that Sheridan has passed the baton to us we intend to build on those successes by expanding our capacities to serve our primary advertising and radio station constituencies,” Maddox- Dorsey said in a press release. “It was vitally important to us to put AURN in a position of strength so that we can grow the business and continue our important mission.”

The World’s First African-American Rolls Royce Car Dealer in the Washington DC area

Thomas Moorehead, the World’s First African-American Rolls Royce Car Dealer

Story by BlackBusiness.org

Thomas Moorehead is not only the first African American Rolls Royce car dealer but the only Rolls Royce dealership in greater Washington, D.C. He is thriving in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, but he is also one of the most humble business owners you'll ever meet who has never forgotten the people who helped him along the way.

Building a 'Sterling' reputation

Owning a Rolls Royce dealership was not Moorehead's original plan. With encouragement from his parents, he started out pursuing a Ph.D. degree in teaching. He was only a few credits away from his degree when a friend offered him an opportunity to learn the automobile business from the ground up. Moorehead was very interested because he always wanted to own his own business.

Taking the risk

It was a risk, one that many people would not have the courage to do. It took him two years to learn the business, and all of his savings, but eventually he became the owner of a Buick dealership in Omaha, Nebraska. He quickly made a reputation for himself as a good businessman who treated his customers well. It led to an invitation from Rolls Royce to join an exclusive club of just 33 dealers around the world. He accepted, opening his new Rolls Royce Motor Cars of Sterling in Washington, D.C.

Moorehead, the man

Moorehead's goal is to deliver the best product to his customers. No hard sell from this entrepreneur. In fact, most people think he is a salesman, not the owner, because he refrains from having his name on the dealership logo. He has pictures in his office taken with Presidents Obama and Clinton, but what he is most proud of is the ability to pay forward to others who have helped him achieve success. As he states it, “This is really what it’s all about, bringing other people up and giving something back.”

Thomas Moorehead is not only a successful entrepreneur but an amazing man.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's Responses - Regarding the Flint, Mi. Water Crisis - to Congress Raise New Concerns About His Testimony

Snyder Now Admits Emails May Have Been Deleted,
Repeatedly Claims He Does Not Recall Basic Facts

Washington, D.C. (May 16, 2016)—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released written responses Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s to official questions for the record about his testimony before the Committee on March 17, 2016.

Congressman Cummings issued the following statement:

“The Governor’s written answers to the Committee raise a whole new set of concerns about the accuracy of his testimony before Congress in March. We already knew his testimony was misleading when he claimed he was working closely with the Mayor of Flint—at the same time he was uttering those words, he was withholding from the Mayor a plan to address the crisis he had been working on for weeks. Now he has reversed his sworn testimony before the Committee and admitted that he did in fact delete some of his emails, and we may never know what they said. Although he claims he was aware of problems with Flint’s water, he repeatedly claims that he can’t recall basic information from that period, and he continues to withhold documents and witnesses from Congress. Despite Governor Snyder’s repeated promises to be transparent and accountable and to cooperate with Congress, his actions are impeding our ability to thoroughly investigate this crisis.”

Rep. Cummings previously expressed “grave concerns” about the accuracy of Snyder’s testimony in a letter on April 7. Snyder claimed under oath that he had been coordinating with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and other local officials. However, documents obtained after the hearing showed that as Snyder gave that sworn testimony, his top aides had been working behind the scenes on a comprehensive 75 point plan that they withheld from the Mayor until the evening after Snyder testified. Snyder has produced none of the documents Cummings requested about his actions surrounding these events.

On April 15, 2016, Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz sent a letter to Snyder forwarding official “questions for the record” from Committee Members about his testimony in March. Snyder sent his answers to these questions to the Committee on May 9, 2016, and they are part of the official public record for the hearing.

Snyder’s responses raise even more concerns about the accuracy of his testimony before the Committee. Some of these concerns are described below.

Governor Reverses Himself and Admits He May Have Deleted Emails During Critical Period

Prior to the hearing on March 17, Snyder’s attorney had informed the Committee that Snyder “periodically reviewed his emails and either put them in folders or deleted them” prior to April 2013. He explained: “A litigation hold in connection with a challenge to the EM authority has been in place since April of 2013.”

However, when Snyder was asked at the hearing about his attorney’s statement that he deleted some of his emails prior to April 2013, Snyder contradicted his attorney’s report, stating, “I hope that would have been corrected because that’s not accurate.”

Yet, now, in his official written answers to the Committee’s questions, Snyder admits that his “attorney’s email is accurate” and that his emails prior to April 2013 may not have been preserved. He also claims that he has “no memory of deleting an email that would be relevant and think it would be unlikely that I did so.”

Governor Repeatedly Claims He Does “Not Recall” Key Facts

Snyder claims he does “not recall” repeatedly in his responses to the Committee’s questions—at least eight times.

Snyder fails to directly answer numerous questions about whether his Chief of Staff informed him of concerns or should have taken action in light of emails that span from October 2014 through August 2015, a critical time period in the Flint crisis.

Snyder claims he doesn’t recall any specific email or letter he was asked about. He also continues to rely on the fallacy that the local government’s failure to ask for help delayed the State’s response.

Governor Admits He Was Aware of Some Problems With Water

Snyder admits to having general discussions about the following topics:

* Water Quality Concerns (Fall 2014)
* Flint Water Concerns and Possible Solutions (February/March 2015)
* Chief of Staff’s “Creative Options” to Address Water Problems (March 2015)
* Concerns of Flint Pastors (July 2015)
* Concerns about Lead (Summer 2015)
* Concerns with Flint River (August 2015)

Governor Highlights Report Recommending Corrosion Control That He Ignored

Snyder states that the State responded to the crisis by commissioning a report from Veolia. He fails to mention that Veolia recommended the use of phosphate to control corrosion, but the State ignored that recommendation.

Snyder describes his standard operating procedure for “serious” consideration of proposals to address the water crisis: “I would have seriously considered the pros and cons of any proposal, and asked for further information or elaboration as needed.” Yet, he provides no evidence that he seriously considered any proposal to address the water crisis, in spite of the fact that his Chief of Staff raised several proposals with other senior government officials in 2014 and 2015.

To show that he was responsive, Snyder cites the example of filter distribution. But he fails to mention that the filters were donated by a corporation and that when Director of Urban Initiatives Harvey Hollins told Snyder they had run out of filters and people were going home empty handed, Snyder took no action.

Governor Still Supports Failed Emergency Manager Law

In response to the Committee’s questions about the Emergency Manager law, Snyder says he still believes in the system despite the calamity created by his own Emergency Managers in Flint.

The Bonaly

Surya Bonaly trademark move "The Bonaly" - Back flip one foot landing / Plus / Triple Salchow.


Surya Bonaly performs "The Bonaly" - Back flip one foot landing - in the 1998 Olympic games.


A 2015 short film biography on the skater who was ahead of her time twenty years ago. The black pearl who with no world titles or Olympic medals, has more respect and fame. Produced by actress Eva Longoria.


World Professional Figure Skating Championships, MCI Center, Washington DC, Dec 08-09, 2000

Chicago is desperate for action - by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson

Commentary by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Chicago is desperate for action

Chicago, America’s third largest city, is plagued by violence and poverty, made worse by racial and class divisions. A poll just released by the Kaiser Foundation and the New York Times depicts a city that is losing faith in its basic public institutions from the police to the mayor’s office. The vast majority think the city is on the wrong track, with the greatest unity found in their unfavorable opinion about the job Mayor Rahm Emanuel is doing.

Chicago has nearly equal numbers of black, Hispanic and white residents, but they live largely in separate sides of town and in separate realities. African-Americans and Latinos are far unhappier with basic aspects of their neighborhoods, from parks to public schools. Crime and violence is the biggest issue for all Chicagoans, but while 41 percent of blacks think their neighborhoods are not safe or not too safe, only 17 percent of whites share their fears. In the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting — where a teenager was shot 16 times and killed by a white Chicago policeman, Chicagoans believe the police are biased, unaccountable and badly in need of reform.

On the poverty-ridden south and west sides of town, parents fear for the young. Among African-Americans, overwhelming majorities worry that it is likely or very likely that a young person in their neighborhood will end up in a gang (75 percent), abuse alcohol or drugs (83 percent), got to jail (81 percent) or be a victim of violence (86 percent). These are measures of despair.

The Kaiser/NYT poll only documents what we already knew. It details the “whereas.” Any statement of action begins with the whereas — whereas this is true, and this is true — detailing the conditions that demand action.

What is missing in Chicago isn’t evidence of the whereas, it is the plan for the “therefore.” Whereas these conditions are unjust and unsustainable, therefore we will take the following actions. On police reform, Chicago is beginning to see the first stirrings of reform, although nothing close to the comprehensive reforms demanded by the mayor’s own independent commission.

But on violence, crime, jobs, housing, public schools, parks, trash removal, violence and drugs, there is no plan for action, no “therefore” to address the wretched whereas. In Chicago, 60 percent of whites think their neighborhood is a good or excellent place to raise children. Seventy percent of blacks think their neighborhood is only fair or poor (nearly half — 44 percent — say poor). More than two-thirds would rather live somewhere else.

Blacks and Latinos in Chicago believe that the mayor does not care about people like them. While a majority of whites believe he cares, nearly two-thirds of black think he does not. The lack of action is assumed to express a lack of concern.

Look across the country at our major cities: Chicago is not alone. The problems of racial isolation, entrenched poverty, bad schools and lousy services, dangerous streets, guns and drugs plague many of our cities. The “therefore” ought to be a national initiative, driving state and local activity, on jobs and urban development. But Washington is dysfunctional, with even minor reforms held hostage by the obstructionist Congress. President Obama has chosen not to put this high on his priorities. And the rich and entrenched interests that dominate our politics continue to ignore the misery.

But a whereas without a therefore isn’t a stable reality. Trapped people with no hope are like dry kindling, susceptible to any spark. If the powerful don’t leave people with hope, people will express their despair. Real action — a serious plan for reform with the resources needed to provide it — is long past due.

RIP Michael Ratner, Radical Attorney & Human Rights Crusader

Story below by Democracy Now

Michael Ratner, the President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, died today in New York City. Michael Ratner was the brother of Washington Bureau Chief of Talk Media News Ellen Ratner, and Real Estate Developer Attorney Bruce Ratner.

Ratner was a 1966 Graduate of Brandeis University. He received his law degree from Columbia Law School.For the past four decades he has been a leading champion of human and civil rights, from leading the fight to close Guantánamo to representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to holding torturers accountable, at home and abroad.



Michael Ratner represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and was a vocal supporter of Chelsea Manning. Ratner interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.

Statement From the Center for Constitutional Rights

From Attica to Assange, Michael Ratner has defended, investigated, and spoken up for victims of human rights abuses all over the world. For 45 years, Michael brought cases with the Center for Constitutional Rights in U.S. courts related to war, torture, and other atrocities, sometimes committed by the U.S., sometimes by other regimes or corporations, in places ranging from El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala, to Yugoslavia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, and Israel. Seeking to hold Bush administration officials accountable for torture, he turned to filing cases under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction in international courts—in Germany, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, and France. Michael dedicated his life to the most important fights for justice of the last half century.

When Michael decided to take on U.S. policies of indefinite detention at Guantanamo in January 2002, it was not a popular position. With Michael, the Center for Constitutional Rights was the first human rights organization to stand up for the rights of Guantanamo detainees, and Michael was a founding member of the Guantanamo Bay Bar Association, a group that grew to over 500 attorneys from all over the country working pro bono to provide representation to the men at Guantanamo that has been called the largest mass defense effort in U.S. history. Michael acted as counsel in the landmark case Rasul v. Bush, and after two and a half years of litigation, CCR and co-counsel won the first Guantanamo case in the United States Supreme Court.

As an attorney, writer, speaker, educator, activist, and as the President of the Center for Constitutional Rights for so many years, Michael Ratner’s passion was not just for the law but for the struggle for justice and peace. Michael’s work on Central America, Haiti, surveillance, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, whistleblowers, war powers, and Palestine will not soon be matched.

Michael’s leadership and generous spirit have shown the way for new generations of social justice lawyers. He helped found the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, bringing CCR’s style of lawyering, which he helped shape, to Europe, where the legal culture was less familiar with public interest lawyering and filing suits to press for social change. He worked with CCR and the Bertha Justice Institute on programs to educate junior lawyers, working in partnership with front-line organizations around the world and fostering artistic partnerships that bring the issues he championed his entire life to a wider audience. Michael’s legacy is the sea of people he has touched—his family, his clients, his allies, his colleagues, and all of the young lawyers he has inspired. Today we mourn. Tomorrow we carry on his work.

In recent years Michael Ratner represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and was a vocal supporter of Chelsea Manning.

Read More:
NY Times Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/us/michael-ratner-lawyer-who-won-rights-for-guantanamo-prisoners-dies-at-72.html?_r=0
Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ratner

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Announcing Complaint Against the State of North Carolina to Stop Discrimination Against Transgender Individuals

Remarks as prepared for delivery by Attorney E. Loretta Lynch

Washington, DC United States

Good afternoon and thank you all for being here. Today, I’m joined by [Vanita] Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. We are here to announce a significant law enforcement action regarding North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2.

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year. The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity. The bill was signed into law that same day. In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security – a right taken for granted by most of us.

Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws. We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2’s restriction on restroom access. An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration. But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice. As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward.

Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina. We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2’s restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement. While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.

This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us. And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country – haltingly but inexorably – in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.

This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation. We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation. We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry. That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community. Some of these responses reflect a recognizably human fear of the unknown, and a discomfort with the uncertainty of change. But this is not a time to act out of fear. This is a time to summon our national virtues of inclusivity, diversity, compassion and open-mindedness. What we must not do – what we must never do – is turn on our neighbors, our family members, our fellow Americans, for something they cannot control, and deny what makes them human. This is why none of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not, or invents a problem that doesn’t exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.

Let me speak now to the people of the great state, the beautiful state, my state of North Carolina. You’ve been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm – but that just is not the case. Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. This law provides no benefit to society – all it does is harm innocent Americans.

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past. Let us reflect on the obvious but often neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good in hindsight. It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference. We have moved beyond those dark days, but not without pain and suffering and an ongoing fight to keep moving forward. Let us write a different story this time. Let us not act out of fear and misunderstanding, but out of the values of inclusion, diversity and regard for all that make our country great.

Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together.

I want to thank my colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who have devoted many hours to this case so far, and who will devote many more to seeing it through. At this time, I’d like to turn things over to Vanita Gupta, whose determined leadership on this and so many other issues has been essential to the Justice Department’s work.

Family Members of the Charleston 9 victims massacred in a South Carolina A.M.E. Church last year are upset with low donation payout by Emanuel A.M.E Church

Story by The Root
Written by Stephen A. Crockett Jr.

Several family members of the nine people who lost their lives in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church massacre in Charleston, S.C., were angered to learn that they would have to divide $1.5 million in donations, while the church keeps $1.8 million.

The families of the nine people killed in the mass shooting inside a Charleston, S.C., church last year aren't pleased with the distribution of donations the church has received since the June 17 shooting.

The wife of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the South Carolina state senator and Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor who was among those killed in the massacre, has not received any of the donation proceeds, according to her attorney.

"They've not contacted me at all," her attorney, South Carolina state Sen. Gerald Malloy, told the Post and Courier.

tAccording to the Post and Courier, the church has given the families of the victims some $1.5 million that it's received and is keeping around $1.8 million, with plans to make long-needed repairs to the church. The church also plans to create an endowment, a memorial and scholarships, and $78,000 will go to the Charleston Hope Fund.

Since many who donated didn't specify where their donations should go, church leaders decided how the money would be divided.

"It's just sad how the church continues to disrespect the families," the Rev. Sharon Risher, who lost her 70-year-old mother, Ethel Lance, in the shooting, told the newspaper.

Family members of the victims told the Post and Courier that they had received certified letters with checks from the church.

"This sum represents the distribution to you of a percentage of the total amount of funds, calculated upon the basis of the number of immediate family members of the Emanuel 9 victims and survivors," the form letter said.

The letters didn't mention how much money the church had received or how the donations would be divided among the survivors, their families and the church.

"There was nothing personal about it at all," Andy Savage, an attorney who represents several victims' families and survivors Felicia Sanders and Polly Sheppard, told the newspaper.

The donations were held up in court after Arthur Hurd, the husband of victim Cynthia Graham Hurd, filed a lawsuit last fall seeking an accounting of the donations. In May the lawsuit was dismissed and the donations were dispersed.

Hurd received a check for $50,000, his portion of donations from the church. He told the newspaper that it was much less than he expected.

"I feel like it says, 'Take this and shut up,' " Hurd told the Post and Courier.

President Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Howard University

President Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Howard University

Rickey Smiley Shares Testimony On Letting People Go In Order To Grow

Rickey Smiley was moved to speak to his listeners about having the strength to let people go in order to move on with your personal growth.

President Obama in Flint: "It's Not Enough Just to Fix the Water"

President Barack Obama hugs Mari Copeny, 8, backstage at Northwestern High School in Flint, Mich., May 4, 2016. Mari wrote a letter to the President about the Flint water crisis. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


Mari Copeny's Letter: http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2016/05/president-obama-responds-to-eight-year.html


President Obama's Full Speech from Flint, Michigan at Northwestern High School yesterday May 4, 2016.

President Obama to hear from Flint Families enduring Water Crisis today in Flint, Michigan

A soldier salutes as Air Force One arrives at Bishop International Airport in Flint on Wednesday May 4, 2016 while making a stop to Flint to speak to residents affected by the Flint Water Crisis.

Story by Detroit Free Press
Written by Paul Egan and Katrease Stafford

President Obama’s first stop was the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint, where a briefing was expected to last close to one hour with federal officials. Snyder and Weaver entered the food bank shortly after noon to participate in the briefing.

The President's visit underscores the need for cooperation at all levels of government to make Flint's water safe to drink, but also highlights ongoing tensions between Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, the Democratic President, and between Snyder and Flint's Democratic Mayor Karen Weaver.

President Barack Obama is greeted by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder as he arrives on Air Force One at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
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The President's visit also comes amid growing frustrations with actions taken – and not taken – so far, particularly by the State of Michigan.

During the visit, Obama will have briefings with Federal Officials, Snyder and Weaver; Meetings with Flint Children, a neighborhood round-table discussion, and a speech to about 1,000 people at Flint Northwestern High School.

Flint resident Mona Munroe-Younis, who was pregnant when the lead contamination of Flint’s drinking water began and now has a 5-month-old son Sebastian who has skin problems, said Wednesday, “This has been a nightmare.”

Munroe-Younis, a University Programmer, told the Free Press in a phone interview she hopes President Obama “will not only provide some emotional comfort to Flint residents' compassionate eyes are still on Flint as we continue to struggle day to day, but also signal that the President will take a stand for environmental justice broadly.”

Mayor Karen Weaver of Flint, Mi. greets President Barack Obama as he arrives on Air Force One at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Photo Credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press

Dozens of protesters stood outside of the high school where President Obama is slated to speak. Holding signs demanding access to clean water and accountability for government officials. The protesters chanted and beat drums. She said “people in Flint want what they have endured to make a difference for other communities facing environmental injustice. I have heard Flint residents say that over and over again.”

Annette Washington of Detroit said she drove to Flint early Wednesday to have her voice heard by the President.

"I got family here," she said. "What's happening is inhumane and wrong. Anywhere else in the country, this wouldn't be happening. Something needs to change because people are hurting."

Meanwhile, a long line wrapped around the parking lot of the high school where eager Flint residents clutched tickets and waded through intense security.

"I wasn't lucky enough to get a ticket, but I've got my lawn chair and I'm hoping for just a glimpse of the President," said Flint resident Joi Clemens.

New Jerusalem Full Gospel Baptist Church Deacon Daniel Hall was passing out water to Flint residents at his church in Mt. Morris Township, which straddles the city limits of Flint.


People wait for the arrival of President Barack Obama at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint on Wednesday May 4, 2016 while making a stop in Flint to speak with residents affected by the Flint Water Crisis. Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press

Hall said he was excited and humbled that the President made the trek to visit the city.

"Shortly down the street is where the President will be here in Flint, and I am appreciative of this opportunity for Flint to have him here," he said. "We're happy to have him here in a historical moment and at the end of his candidacy.

Grand Blanc resident Daisy Buckner, 74, cried as she watched Air Force One land at the Bishop International Airport. For Buckner, it was a once in a lifetime moment to be so close to the President.

"I think it's just an awesome experience," Buckner said, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just breathtaking he would be here to stop off and see about little old Flint. I just wanted to be here and be a part of it."

NBA Top Slam Dunks

NBA players perform some of the top dunks in NBA history

Detroit Public Schools' sick-outs a symptom of Lansing's ill behavior

Story by Detroit Free Press Editorial Board

We're tired.

Tired of the political machinations some Lansing lawmakers indulge in while Detroit children's futures remain in peril and Detroit Public Schools teachers fear they'll lose their too-meager paychecks.

Tired of the lack of urgency exhibited by nearly everyone involved in the so-called fix for DPS, which we can't help but read as widespread lack of concern for Detroit kids' futures.

And tired — perishingly tired — of the coy, sanctimonious rhetoric displayed this week by Gov. Rick Snyder and state Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter (and avowed by other lawmakers, who just haven't happened upon a convenient microphone so far this week) whose smug pronouncements suggest they'll hang responsibility for the state's DPS inaction on anyone but themselves.

The slate of reforms attached to those millions would split DPS in two, leaving its debt with the old district; the new district would educate children. Whether this plan will work is profoundly uncertain — the business of "reforming" schools involves fundamentally altering not just education but the economic and social landscape — but it's the only one we've got. In theory. The State Senate passed a reasonable package of reforms that corresponds roughly to the plan proposed by Snyder. The House's answer was a union-busting set of proposals not even worthy of consideration. Another House reform package is expected this week, but there's little hope that will be sufficient. Having passed a $48.7-million short-term cash infusion, legislators now dally over a $715-million long-term reform package for Detroit's public schools.

Lest you forget, there are about 46,000 students in DPS schools.

Ninety-four of DPS' 97 schools closed Monday, as teachers protested with another "sick-out." For students who can't go to school, or parents who must scramble to find child care on short notice, sick-outs are a serious challenge. But because teachers are barred by STATE LAW from striking, sick-outs are the only means by which teachers can make good on labor's most potent threat.

Monday's sick-out was prompted by the news that the district can't afford to pay its employees beyond June 30, and some teachers' fears that that means paychecks will stop early this month.

"These egotistical teachers have lashed out at the children who rely on them and accomplished nothing but disrupting their students' education," Cotter wrote in a statement Monday. "Their selfish and misguided plea for attention only makes it harder for us to enact a rescue plan and makes it harder for Detroit’s youngest residents to get ahead and build a future for themselves."

Snyder was nearly as odious: "That’s not a constructive act with respect to getting legislation done. That just probably raises more questions and challenges to legislators."

What questions, you ask? Lawmakers are, ostensibly, concerned that the spendthrift district will squander its state-granted $715 million, a notion that fits comfortably into the stereotype of Detroiters' profligacy (and let's get real, by "Detroiters," what's meant is "African Americans") but neatly overlooks the reality of DPS: The district has spent the better part of this century under state control.

It's still under state control, with former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes the latest in a succession of leaders who have failed to fix the district's financial — much less academic — problems. Those problems, you'll note, have grown worse.

Rhodes may succeed where those before him have failed, but only if the Legislature delivers DPS the influx of cash it requires to permanently alter its financial future.

It's an outcome the Legislature has lumbered toward for more than a year. Now, with a proven turnaround leader at the helm of DPS — Rhodes oversaw Detroit's historic municipal bankruptcy — if Lansing falters, who will be to blame? Those pesky teachers. Or so we're told.

Striking teachers, in the alternate universe some of our elected representatives inhabit, imperil the state-appointed Rhodes' ability to not waste the state's money.

It's a shoddy narrative, but one that allows Lansing lawmakers who never intended to help Detroit's children to shirk their duty, and dodge the blame.

The worst part is, it will probably work, leaving Michigan a place that cannot care for its children. It is unfathomable. And if it comes to pass, it will be our state's collective shame.

Read more:
http://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2016/05/02/hundreds-dps-teachers-protest-over-pay-call-audit/83815956/
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/05/02/dps-legislature-reform/83837414/

USBC President's Message: Harriet Tubman and US Currency

President's Message:

"...I could have freed a thousand more if
only they knew they were slaves..."

While there is no historical evidence that Harriet Tubman ever actually said the words in the headline, there is ample evidence that she had little interest in the limelight and absolutely zero tolerance for wishy-washy, indecisive, half-stepping people on the road to freedom.

I've got to believe that she would greet the news that her face will soon be on the U.S. Treasury's $20 bill with a shrug and ask "...can we use it to buy our freedom?' Of course we've come a long way since the issue of our freedom has been settled, but we're no where near any resolution on the question of Black America's economic foundation. Tubman's face on the new $20 won't do a thing to change that. Like most of you I understand the symbolism, but I stop short of calling a Black icon's image on paper currency a breakthrough.

When federal contract awards to Black-owned businesses are shrinking, when the wealth gap between Black families and practically every other slice of American demography is growing, when employers do all they can to defeat legislation that would mandate a true living wage, it should be clear that no matter whose face is on the Treasury bills, Black Americans are seeing fewer of them! That's a problem that a feel-good demonstration won't fix.

The U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. works hard to help Black American businesses grow, propelled by the belief that healthy, vibrant Black-owned businesses will result in healthy, vibrant Black communities. I'll acknowledge that sometimes we feel like Harriet Tubman must have felt when clouds covered the moon and her tired, scared charges on the lonely road to freedom wanted to turn back... afraid of the unknown.

Black America in 2016 literally cannot afford to freeze on the trail to financial freedom. We need to spend more of our dollars in our community supporting local Black-owned businesses. Affordable housing options, educational opportunities, access to adequate healthcare and healthy food choices are the freedoms that hang in the balance today. Reduced unemployment, reduced incarceration, reduced gentrification, reduced dropouts will follow from increased contracting opportunities, increased profitability, increased access to capital and increased access to expanded markets.

So, like everyone else, we are thrilled that America is coming to grips with the horrors of its racist history. We are thrilled that there are efforts underway to correct the blatant omissions in this country's true historical record. But, we are absolutely certain that changing the faces on paper money has no value unless there is a corresponding increase in opportunities to earn those dollars.

I believe Harriet Tubman would agree...
In the Spirit of Success,

Ron Busby, Sr.
USBC President & CEO
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.

President Obama Responds to an Eight-Year-Old Girl from Flint, Michigan

Summary: This week President Obama wrote back to eight-year-old girl Mari Copeny from Flint, Michigan with some big news: He’s coming to town.

Story by White House
Written by Ken Meyer

At eight years old, Mari Copeny — known around town as “Little Miss Flint” — wrote to President Obama last month from her home in Flint, Michigan to share how she is working to bring attention to the public health crisis in her community. She also noted that she’s headed the President’s way, and asked if she could meet him during her trip to Washington, D.C.

This week, President Obama wrote back to “Little Miss Flint” with some big news: He’s coming to town. On Wednesday, May 4th, the President will travel to Flint, Michigan where he will hear first-hand from Flint residents like Mari about the public health crisis, receive an in-person briefing on the federal efforts in place to help respond to the needs of the people of Flint, and speak directly with members of the Flint community.
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Mari Copeny’s letter to President Obama:

Mr. President,

Hello my name is Mari Copeny and I’m 8 years old, I live in Flint, Michigan and I’m more commonly known around town as “Little Miss Flint”. I am one of the children that is effected by this water, and I’ve been doing my best to march in protest and to speak out for all the kids that live here in Flint. This Thursday I will be riding a bus to Washington, D.C. to watch the congressional hearings of our Governor Rick Snyder. I know this is probably an odd request but I would love for a chance to meet you or your wife. My mom said chances are you will be too busy with more important things, but there is a lot of people coming on these buses and even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits. Thank you for all that do for our country. I look forward to being able to come to Washington and to be able to see Gov. Snyder in person and to be able to be in the city where you live.

Thank You

Mari Copeny
___________________________________________________

President Obama’s reply to Mari:

President Obama Speaks at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner

White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday April 30th, 2016

Inside Story: Music Only One Key to Urban Contemporary Rise.

Story by Inside Radio

For urban contemporary radio, the summer of 2015 was heady times. That’s when the format shattered records for its share of listening. It peaked with a 3.7 share 6+. At the end of last year, it again surged like a tsunami, tying the summer 6+ record and scaling to new heights in the 25-54 demo. And it’s not done.

As format aficionados know, since then, urban has enjoyed a steady ratings climb, adding a tenth of a share each month in 2016. By the numbers, urban vaulted from 4.2 in January to an all-time high of 4.4 in March in 25-54. That month, the format’s core 18-34 audience also jumped three-tenths of a share point to 6.9. In fact, urban’s mojo with Millennials has been so strong that it ranks fourth overall 18-34 in Nielsen’s March 2016 National PPM Format Trends, just behind top 40, country and hot AC.

“This is the strongest, most passionate response I’ve seen at urban radio since the mid- to late-90s,” says Tracy Johnson, CEO of radio consultancy Tracy Johnson Media. “Will it fade? At some point, but there’s no indication that the cycle has run its course or is about to.”

Veteran programmer and Radio One senior VP of Programming Content Jay Stevens credits the format’s current sparkle to a tighter focus on the many moving parts of a 2016 radio station. “Much of this success is solid programming, good music and allowing personalities to ‘breathe’ on the air. And now you can hear music and DJs, while watching them in real time on Facebook live and Periscope. Add to that streaming on our apps, NextRadio and terrestrial radios, which all help to make the format stronger.”


Adds Boogie D, PD of Radio’s One “V104.1” WHHL, “Here in St. Louis, we’ve made a conscious effort to connect to our audience. We know they’re on their phones, tablets and connected cars, so it’s not about playing music. What we do on the air has to connect [fully] to our website, Facebook, Twitter and the rest. If you don’t connect with listeners, they don’t connect to our radio stations.”

In fact, successful stations are evolving “beyond radio,” says George “Geo” Cook, Service Broadcasting’s director of Operations, and PD/brand manager for its urban stations in Dallas. “Urban and hip-hop drive pop culture. We’re really in the business of relationships—using content as currency to connect with the consumer and reflect and shape culture. Urban stations are the center of culture in so many communities and cities. And our personalities are better at developing compelling multiplatform content that engages and excites people.”