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Death Creeps on The Campus of Virginia Tech by Ashley Davis

The gunman of the Virginia Tech shooting that occurred early Monday morning, April 16^th has now been identified as Cho Seung Hui, a 23 year-old English major at the university. He would commit suicide on Monday morning but not before going on a malicious shooting rampage and savagely taking the lives of 32 students and faculty members on campus.

Evidence has surfaced revealing that after Cho assassinated his first two victims, he stopped to mail videotapes and photos to the NBC news station before resuming his brutal slaughtering. The tapes were reported to have been time stamped 9:01a.m. on Monday.

It was in the videotapes that he ranted sadistically in an effort to justify his actions by comparing his death to that of Jesus Christ claiming that his heinous acts “were done in an effort to inspire generations of the weak and defenseless.”

Cho had a history of violent behavior. He harassed two female students and was admitted into a mental hospital in 2005. However, he was released shortly after he arrived under the condition that he would undergo outpatient treatment.

Cho was said to be a quiet student that stuck to him self, a loner. Teachers and students were said to have been alarmed by some of his writings in class.

On several occasions teachers suggested that he seek counseling. Nikki Giovanvi, poet and Virginia Tech professor, would go as so far as to seek his removal from her class. Following the tragic events, local authorities and university officials are now under fire.

Students want to know why they were not notified sooner and why more drastic measures were not taken to insure that after the first two victims were killed the building would be secured and some emergency system enacted to warn them.

It was not until two hours after the first murders occurred that Cho killed the remaining 30 victims. Charles Steger, president of the university, said to reporters, “We knew that there was a shooting but we thought it was confined to a particular setting.”

Currently, there is an investigation under way by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. President Bush arrived to the campus on Monday and offered his condolences to Virginia Tech.

It has been named the most tragic major school shooting in history surpassing the University of Texas shootings in 1966 by Charles Whitman and the infamousColumbine High School shootings of 1999.

Virginia Tech is pulling together through this tragic event. Counselors are being made readily available for the families of the victims, students and faculty.

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The Blind Fold over America’s Eyes by Dante Eglin

Last November, after comedian Michael Richards’ non-infamous racist tirade during a performance at Los Angeles’ “The Laugh Factory,” the comedy club took a hard-line approach, instituting a ban on the racial slur spewed by the former “Seinfeld” star.

African American comedian, writer and actor Damon Wayans notably was the first performer to receive castigation from the club, receiving a three-month ban from the venue after uttering the banned word 16 times in only 20 minutes on stage.

Wayans’ bold disregard for the location’s new policy should not be a surprise since he has been in a legal battle with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over his attempt to trademark the term, ‘Nigga,’ for a clothing line and retail store.

“While debate exists about in-group uses of the term, ‘nigga,’ is almost universally understood to be derogatory,” trademark examiner Kelly Boulton wrote to Wayans’ attorney, William H. Cox, in rejection of the application.

Supporters of using ‘nigga’ in speech argue the word’s place as a new, evolved cultural epithet, reclaimed and redefined in order to deflate its meaning and permeate a new consciousness.

In essence, the use of ‘nigga’ may be perceived as a society engaging in a verbal civil disobedience, modeled to encourage a backlash against the word’s racist historical connotations.

Yet the discourse for African Americans largely derives from a lack of discernment of the still-closing wounds suffered by the Civil Rights generation.

Failure to bridge the generation gap has left black youths ignorant of the struggles of activists such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party.

The evolution from ‘er’ to ‘a’ may perhaps be symbolic to some, but the word’s foundation is framed from a historical context of the European Slave Trade and Jim Crow and such a transformation horribly fails to sanitize the racist underpinnings.

There is no record of ‘nigger’ being a part of any ancient indigenous languages in Africa.

African Americans cannot claim to be independent and self-sufficient, yet in still allow themselves to be ascribed by another group’s characterizations.

Leading Africana Studies scholar Molefi K. Asante argues in his work, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change, “if you do not come from an Afrocentric base, then you are in serious ethical and cultural trouble.”

America made ‘nigger’ a troublesome term, but Black America did little to solve the problem by welcoming into its cultural syntax as ‘nigga.’

Moreover, African Americans must question themselves and truly discern the benefits of utilizing the term in their speech. Does it bestow honor and pride upon themselves and members of the black community?

Is it a method to advance black children and enhance their innate self-worth and value to society? Abandoning ‘nigga’ as a term of endearment is the foremost step toward cultural reclamation.

Banning the word will not erase the realities of supremacy and hegemony that African Americans face daily, but it is a great stride towards reclaiming and promoting, instead, the vast, ornate African tradition.

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The Call Against Complacency by Joshua Delano

I was walking on this overcast day to the UC Satellite for a quick bite, and I, of course, heard the blaring of rap and R&B music. Yeah, it was good, especially since they were playing some old school Biggie Smalls.

Well, I had to stop when I heard the DJ announce that the fraternity that had set up the booth was celebrating literacy week, and I suppose raising money for the donation-basis of free pizza. I just thought it a bit of a paradox to be pushing “Literacy Week” while playing illiterate music.

Hey, I like to write, I love all cultures, and I enjoy all kinds of music. Just thought it was a bit of a joke to be raising money on the premise of Literacy Week while playing music that was not exactly corresponding to the theme.

How about some Rage against the Machine or some Public Enemy?

We as college students are supposed to be the future generations of leadership. Are we going to be the laughingstock of the world community just as our bumbling politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and President George W. Bush?

Are we going to continually stumble along with incompetence while pushing education and not being able to formulate a complete sentence? I am not calling for the end of rap and R&B music or any other form of expression.

It just seems like our generation is so lazy that we do not even think. I was watching the brilliant show, “The Boondocks,” the other day, and I loved the Martin Luther King episode where it points out how our nation is on the fast track of social degradation. Look where we have come from and where we want to go from there.

Now, look at how we have diverted from that path of equality and social justice with many of the crazy events and historical happenings that we ignore with ambivalence and go about our day.

Are we as a society going to continue in our lax ways and turn from what is right and wrong for what feels good? Have we forgotten the great speeches of MLK and Malcolm X? What about Senator Barack Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” speech or Senator John Edwards’ speech about “Two Americas?”

Surely we aren’t so apathetic that we do not have hope for the future.

We have to be the examples and leaders of tomorrow beginning today.

We must not abound in foolishness so that tolerance may abound, but we must stand tall, proud and do what we know in our hearts and souls to be right and just.

Are we becoming more segregated, lazy, ambivalent and apathetic without a foundation of principle? Are we the next generation’s idiots like President Bush, Ex-Fema Head Michael Brown and Pelosi who hope nobody notices that they are misrepresenting us and our principles?

Or are they a mirror image of what we are to become? Is a change gonna come… You tell me.

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The Root Issues of Imus by Lashic Mondrell, Managing Editor

On April 4^th, 2007, Don Imus, radio jock of New York’s WFAN-AM, and his producer, Bernard McGuirk, made some severely racist, sexist comments against the Rutgers University women’s basketball team during their NCAA championship tournament versus Tennessee.

“That’s some rough girls from Rutgers,” Imus stated. “Some hardcore hoes,” McGurirk replied. Imus followed with, “That’s some nappy headed hoes there; I’m going to tell you that.” The comments would not end there.

On Monday, April 9^th, Don Imus apologized for his comments stating that he is still a good person and appeared on Reverend Al Sharpton’s nationally syndicated radio show. “This is not about whether you’re a good man…what you said was racist,” Sharpton stated.

Sharpton, Essence Magazine,Rutgers University, the NCAA and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) called for action against Imus ranging from the boycott of his show to his immediate firing. “

As NABJ strives to dispel stereotypes and promote accurate portrayals of minorities in the media, we find this characterization of these young black women offensive and hateful,” stated Barbara Ciara, the vice president of NABJ.

Once advertisers of the show pulled out such as Procter and Gamble, Staples Inc. and Bigelow Tea, his immediate firing would no longer be in question. MSNBC canceled its simulcast of Don Imus radio program, and CBS would cancel its syndication of his program, as well. Fox news’ correspondents asked, “Why should Don Imus get fired now?”

Elizabeth Hasslebeck, the co-host of “The View,” appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity and Colmes,” and responded with, “Why not now, why not before, it’s about time.” She stated that there is the notion that with freedom of speech comes no consequence. “We can have free speech,” Hassleback stated, “but don’t have to pay for it.”

Advertisers for Imus’ show made that clear. Don Imus along with Fox News suggest that the black community and in particular black rappers who objectify black women in their music and videos are to blame for Imus’ comments.

Last week, Oprah Winfrey held a two dayHip-Hop
Town Hall with an assembly of hip-hop professionals such as Russell Simmons, Common and record executive, Kevin Liles in response to the incident.

In an open letter to Oprah Winfrey, the talented musician, actor and poet, Saul Williams, wrote, “…hip-hop is simply a reflection of the society that birthed it…racist generalizations, sexist perceptions are all rooted in something much deeper than an uncensored music.”

Williams believes that the root of the issue is that American culture and its religions have based its doctrines on having women choose between being virgins and whores, with black women’s confinement to the latter.

These same religious doctrines have been woven into society’s institutions and align the anatomy of women with femininity, femininity with weakness and weakness with negativity.

Black women, all women must take a stand against the fabric of their dehumanization. This stand does and will not stop with the firing of Imus, but it is a start.

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Disposable Thinking by Steven Toliver

Future and black college graduates, here is a statistic that I pray will resonate in your minds for years to come. A 2005 issue of “Black Buying Power,” reported a total of 679 billion dollars in earned income for African-American households with a combined population of 38 million African-Americans.

The top three expenditures were housing and related charges at 110.2 billion, apparel and related products at 22 billion, and new and used vehicles at 28.7 billion. The products and services that showed the greatest one-year increase were sound systems (+127%).

In the same year, the Small and Medium Size Enterprises’ annual survey reported a 36% decline in black ownership of businesses from the previous year, and in the year 2006, there was 29% decline. These statistics communicate a very clear and resounding message and it is that we are buying and selling without being empowered. Brothers and sisters, why are we giving away what we can sell?

Many of you are pursuing lucrative careers that will make all of your financial dreams come true. You will purchase homes in exclusive suburban neighborhoods and drive the latest model of whatever car that may tickle your fancy; you will deserve every perk that you obtain.

What you do not deserve is to operate under the false assumption that there is such a thing as “disposable income.”

Much of the buying power that financial analyst attribute to African-Americans comes from the purchase of perishable and depreciable items with little or no residual value. In short, we cannot continue to purchase the appearance of wealth when there is very little wealth to go around.

As a college graduate, I have witnessed this cultural and economic folly first hand. A student graduates, obtains a job and runs to the first vendor willing to sell them a depreciable item, such as a car or a rented apartment.

At that moment, any chance that remains for that graduate to take control of their financial destiny or invest in something other than a lifestyle has vanished until their mid-thirties. Capitalism is predicated on exploitation of the ignorance and weakness of the consumer. The commercial ads that you see with black faces plastered with veneered smiles are not the product of benevolence but rather a marketing ploy to perpetuate your purchase without the hope of ownership. We must make empowered decisions that will produce more capital and in time wealth.

The money we spend at local clubs and restaurants can be spent starting part-time businesses or purchasing property.

Every dime we collect from our place of employment should have a purpose other than “disposable income.”

We must empower ourselves, and then, our decisions will reap powerful rewards. Join me in disposing of the “disposable mentality.” –

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HOLLA.BLACK Assata Shakur: She Who Struggles by Paul Burgman

The perception of the struggle is a concept that has never been foreign to the African woman because over the past 400 years it has been her struggle to find her space in a society that is both racist and sexist.

Jamil Al-Amin, formerly H. Rap Brown of the Black Panther Party, once said that the human being is first introduced to the concept of struggle when it is first conceived because there is a moment when the sperm and the egg fight for fertilization.

Women have always played an important role in the revolutionary struggles of the African community many times sacrificing their own lives for the liberation of African people.

One of the most notable African women, who eventually ended up giving up her life for the struggle, is the political prisoner, Assata Shakur whose name means “she who struggles” and “the thankful.” Shakur was born on July 14, 1947, and she spent her early years between New York and North Carolina.

She began her political career in her early teens where she focused on issues of racism and discrimination that she was confronting in her own life.

In the late 1960’s Shakur began her revolutionary career with the Black Panther Party. Between the years of 1973 and 1977, she was indicted 10 times for charges ranging from bank robberies to attempted murder.

In 1973, two of her friends and she were stopped in New Jersey by two state troopers for a broken headlight who found them to look suspicious.

The three African Americans were ordered out of the car when all of a sudden shots were fired, and one of Shakur’s friends and an officer were dead. It is not known who fired first.

At her trial, the all white jury ignored the fact that Shakur did not have gun powder residue on her hands and other forensic evidence and convicted Shakur of life imprisonment plus 30 years.

The plus 30 years were added because she would not stand while the judge read the verdict. In 1979, she escaped from prison and lived underground in for eight years until her autobiography revealed that she was and still is living in Cuba within a political asylum.

–Email your thoughts to our staff at: songhainews@netzero.net.

Its time for us all to come together and get the progressive show on the road! —