More of Mr. Starks' Unattractive Truth & Dburt's Wisdom: Coming Up This Sun (7pm-ET)-More MJ & McNair's Deaths, Obama's Blackness & More!

Let's keep it simple shall we? Join Mr. Starks and Dburt this Sunday at 7pm to discuss the following: our final impressions of Michael Jackson and more specifically, Tuesday's memorial; more on former NFL quarterback, Steve McNair's murder-now confirmed to be at the hands of his mistress (as well as the racially tinged comments in this blog and other sites concerning their pairing); President Obama appears to be getting renewed accusations of an alleged lack of Black cultural authenticity because of his measured support for GLBT rights; further analysis of the Cosby-esque/conservative bent of Afronerd and how our philosophy may not be for everybody; a story of real life tomb raiding at a historic Chicago area Black cemetery where Emmett Till is buried and lastly, a new educational program geared toward boys of color with the hope of routing out the subcultural pathologies that disproportionately afflict them:




Black Boys of Distinction Program Seeks to Change Culture for African American Students

So as always, feel free to call in with your questions and comments at: 646-915-9620 or via email/IM-afronerdradio@yahoo.com. And in the immortal words of one of my heroes, Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr.......Keep the faith, baby!


Afronerd Radio's Week in Review

A Sad & Poignant Life.......A Few last Words Regarding the King of Pop

My opinion...coming up in a few

Okay, I'm back just to give you my final thoughts on Michael Jackson and Tuesday's historic memorial service. It took me a few days to wrestle with my thoughts on this tragedy as it touches on a variety of issues from a cultural perspective. I, like many Americans was saddened by the passing of Jackson but perhaps for different reasons. As a self-described afronerd, I can appreciate and actually welcome a certain degree of eccentricity from cultural phenoms and private individuals alike-but the King of Pop went above and beyond the pale in weird behavior....literally and figuratively. He should be respected and placed among the pantheon of other notable cultural greats as time moves forward but he should also be used as a cautionary tale for those who pursue fame at the cost of sanity and racial identity. It has often been said that we are losing our young men of color to violence and poor health. I suspect that reality still stands but the overreaching truth in these matters is a lot more basic.......unfettered ignorance is really the culprit when it comes to the premature death of many of our Black/Brown youth. If the Jackson family inculcated a greater sense of comfort with Black identity and allowed their children to pursue education with the same vigor as entertainment, who knows what Michael Jackson could have ultimately become. Unfortunately wealth and ignorance make for a deadly elixir-just check out our current rap stars for further edification. There are just too many examples of squandered potential in communities of color and until someone speaks up, we will continue to see dreams deferred. So we are left with a confusing figure who should have had it all but without a sane mind, it was all for nought. Rest in peace, Mr. Jackson-hopefully all the madness and confusion that you were forced to bear are no longer your albatross.

In the Immortal Words of Dragnet's Joe Friday......Just the Facts, Ma'am......A different view of the Steve McNair Tragedy!

Funny, how statements are repeated as fact for decades (dare I say eons) and upon further investigation, what was once thought to be accurate is simply not true. Even the title of my entry is not really true....the Joe Friday character from the Dragnet series never actually uttered the phrase, "Just the facts." It was the Stan Freberg parody of Dragnet, St. George and the Dragonet, when the famous statement is actually used....but I digress. Unfortunately, I have another example of an inaccuracy coming from one of my favorite blogs, Booker Rising. Rising, which is helmed by pundit/blogger, Shay Riley is an excellent resource for news and commentary coming from a much needed Black conservative bent. I definitely consider Ms. Riley a colleague in the struggle to present alternative political (and cultural) thought to the so-called monolithic Black community. But....(you knew this was coming) I was disappointed by a recent post (although it was a self-described "politically incorrect rant"....still) where Riley pontificates on the death of former NFL quarterback, Steve McNair. Here's a excerpt from the diatribe in question:

"The signs seem to be pointing to a murder-suicide by Ms. Kazemi. It may be impolite for me to point out some stuff in this sad tale, seeing how ol' boy unfortunately just died yesterday. However, I gotta tell it like it is: black men, black men, your lustful choice to chase tail - especially non-black tail - has been the downfall for too many of you. Jack Johnson, O.J. Simpson, Steve McNair, need I gone on? Especially when y'all get famous, y'all too often have these double standards where a black woman has to damn near perfect....but you'll trick with any ol' thing off the street - lack of quality, not bringing anything to the table, or mental state be damned - if she's non-black.

I see the media is calling Ms. Kazemi a “friend”, while the police "explore" what relationship they had. Puhleeze! Not much exploration needs to be done. Ms. Kazemi was his jumpoff. Mr. McNair does not visit a female "friend" at 1am and stay. He does not take vacations with a female "friend"...with his family nowhere in sight. Mr. McNair was chopping Ms. Kazemi down on the regular and taking away from his wife and kids to break her off. He set his jumpoff up in that condo. Oh yeah, and bought a black Cadillac Escalade for her…the same car where she got stopped for a DUI - while he was in the passenger seat – just three days ago). Apparently, they had some disagreement recently. Given her ex-boyfriend's statements, perhaps Ms. Kazemi was upset that he wouldn’t leave his wife and felt he was stringing her along."

I think Ms. Riley has fallen prey to the tired Black female stereotype of having anger and/or angst toward interracial liaisons involving Black men. Don't get me wrong-I would never make excuses for a male that decides to traipse around on his wife or bring dishonor to his family. But the constant reference to tribalism in her protestation......his Black wife and his Iranian girlfriend or allusions to non-Black women being the reason for the downfall of Black men of means is a specious if not over worn argument. Riley's critique reminds me of the Angela Bassett scene from Waiting to Exhale when her character was more perturbed about the color of her husband's mistress than about the infidelity. What if McNair's paramour were an Iranian man? These are the times that we are living in and one must wrestle with the absurdity of it all. Can we please deal with the facts and not the emotion? In this day and age why does knowledge of the woman's ethnicity (aren't Muslims America's new n%@ggas,anyway?) seem to give some Black women that extra burn in these matters? Another caveat in this issue (in the eyes of some Black women) also relies on the male being a high profile and successful person of color. Perhaps these so-called "ballers" should stop being viewed as the ultimate prize for Black women. May be looking at a man's moral bank account might be of greater value than his financial status-just ask our First Lady. What say you, folks? Am I wrong on this? A quarter (adjusted for inflation) for your thoughts.

For more of the Booker Rising piece, click on the link below:


Steve McNair’s Death: My Politically Incorrect Rant

Just Wow!.........Check Out A Miniature Train System That Would Make Gary Coleman Proud......

Afronerd Radio Returns-Tomorrow 7pm ET-Discussing Michelle Obama Role Model Status, The BET Awards, Black Blogs and More!

To quote the late Mr. Jackson (damn, it's weird to say that...) it's time to make a change, folks! In the ensuing weeks, Mr. Starks and I will turn up the proverbial Bunsen burner and give you hotter music and more biting commentary. Stop by tomorrow at the usual time (7pm eastern) to ask questions or provide your own commentary as Team Afronerd discuss the following: the debacle/coonfest referred to as the BET awards 2009...Stepin Fetchit would have been proud; our belated opinions of the Black blogosphere; more observations centering around Michael Jackson's death; impressions of CNN's sequel to last year's Black in America series and lastly two very divergent views on First Lady, Michelle Obama's status as a role model for Black females. Here's a preview:

An excerpt from Howard Kurtz' Washington Post piece-

Finally the first lady emerged, read a short speech about releasing federal stimulus money for community health clinics -- including $2.5 million for the Northwest Washington center -- and greeted a handpicked audience with handshakes and hugs. Then she turned and left, and the press pool quietly filed out.

Rachel Swarns of the New York Times and The Washington Post's Robin Givhan were among those herded behind the rope Monday. They and the other main beat reporters -- Newsweek's Allison Samuels, Darlene Superville of the Associated Press and Politico's Nia-Malika Henderson -- have something in common: They are all African American women.

Perhaps this gives them a richer cultural understanding of Obama as a trailblazer. Indeed, most write with enthusiasm, in some cases even admiration, about the first lady as a long-awaited role model for black women.

"Without a doubt, I identify with her as a brown-skinned African American woman," Samuels says. "Now we have Michelle and see her as a mother, a lawyer, a wife, and she's doing it fabulously." Samuels got to interview Obama during the campaign and "we had a girlfriend-to-girlfriend moment. We did connect."

But if their bosses hoped these staffers would receive special access, some secret-handshake entry into the East Wing -- or even a casual wave at a health clinic -- they were mistaken, at least thus far. None of the beat writers has been granted an interview since the inauguration. Instead, they must piece together a mosaic from glimpses of Obama, who has a limited public schedule and a staff that fiercely guards her privacy and her image. (Other reporters, of varied ethnicities, dip in and out of writing about the first lady.)

And then there's the counter argument from conservative writer for the New Majority, Crystal Wright-

Finally, what annoyed me the most was the way most of the black women covering the White House beat suggested ALL black women are alike--as if we come from the same background, socio-economic group, education and experience. Well, we don’t and neither do whites, Asians, Hispanics or any other group. As a black woman, I don’t refer to my black girlfriends as “sisters.” I never have and never will.

Allison Samuels, Newsweek’s East Wing reporter, noted that “Michelle has the power to change the way African Americans see ourselves, our lives and our possibilities… There are still woefully few examples of solid, stable black marriages.” WHAT!?! I think Samuels should speak for herself and not lump all black women into this fictional statement. Growing up as kid, all my black friends came from intact, solid upper middle class marriages. Our parents were judges, lawyers, doctors, governors (yes!) and more. Many of us went to private school, vacationed abroad, went to elite colleges. The Cosby Show wasn’t new to us--it represented our families.

Politico’s Nia-Malika Henderson wrote: “African-American women say she’ll upend age-old stereotypes of the angry black woman who can’t find a good man, or keep him when she does.” Again, I didn’t grow up with angry black women; Henderson perpetuates the idea that blacks are a monolithic cultural group riddled with bad behaviors.

I’m so tired of these stereotypes: The East Wing press corps needs to cover the first lady objectively and not make their personal black experience part of the coverage or, worse, turn it into a sweeping generalization of every black woman’s experience. We’re not all “brown-skinned” women who identify with Michelle Obama on a “girl-friend to girl-friend” level. Get over it and report the news.

Suffice it to say, Sunday's show is not the one to miss. Feel free to call us with your thoughts at 646-915-9620 or via email/IM-afronerdradio@yahoo.com. And to refer to the respective articles in their entirety, click on the links below:

Does Race Play a Role in Coverage?

MICHELLE, YOU’RE NOT MY “SISTER”


Afronerd Radio's Week in Review

It's Comic Shoppe Tuesday Folks! Stop by at 7pm ET as We Discuss Transformers 2-Racist?, True Blood, Marvel & MJ Connection? plus More!

Let's keep it simple folks! Join Max, Daryll and yours truly tomorrow at 7pm eastern to discuss the following: an analysis of the 112 million dollar weekend box office takedown by Transformers 2; the growing criticism that the Transformers sequel featuring twin robots were racist in their caricatures of Black stereotypes; our impressions of the first 3 episodes of HBO's True Blood; now that the King of Pop has passed, what's all this news that he was trying to by Marvel Comics (the company....that is); Daryll's synopsis of the new season of the Spectacular Spider-man animated series, my late discovery of the nerd-centric CBS series, The Big Bang Theory and our standout comic book choices from last week. The drill/mantra remains the same people....Be there, stay square and always remain aware! Imperius Rex!

The Comic Shoppe's Week in Review

Discussing the Obvious On Tonight's Afronerd Radio broadcast-The Death Of Michael Jackson, The Obamas' Visit to Martha's Vineyard & Much More!

Wow! Michael Jackson is dead at 50 years of age and the world mourns......or at least a substantial portion of the world is reflective. For obvious reasons, a substantial amount of time of our show will be devoted to Mr. Jackson's musical and cultural legacy. Our readers undoubtedly know that Mr. Starks and I will use our ever discerning analytical skills to really discuss this man's life-the good, bad and surgically altered ugly. We will also try to squeeze in some much need discourse concerning a recent New York magazine article that delves into a story of The First Couple's anticipated trip to Martha's Vineyard. One may ask why this is an important story. Well, The Vineyard has always been the haunting ground of the wealthy White liberal elite, however there is also a well-heeled African-American bourgeoisie that vacations in the area as well, but rarely the twain shall meet. For further edification on the Obama trip, check out this snippet from the aforementioned New York Magazine piece:

The arrival of two presidents and a secretary of State will be an invasion of another sort. Some Vineyarders are nervous about the motorcades and traffic; others are preparing for a summer stimulus package. Many blacks from Oak Bluffs are elated that the Only One–in–Chief may be joining them. “People are going to lose their minds!” Tonya Lewis Lee says. At the same time, there’s also a bit of wariness among the wealthiest ones, an uncertainty whether Obama will affirm them. “Obama is more a man of the people,” says a Vineyarder who’s part of black high society. “He doesn’t seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn’t; she is basically a ghetto girl. That’s what she says—I’m just being sociological. She grew up in the same place Jennifer Hudson did. She hasn’t reached out to the social community of Washington, and people are waiting to see what they’ll do about that.”

It’s probably unfair to expect Obama to make new friends on this vacation. “They’re not trying to meet the billionaires,” says one person who knows the president well. “The Vineyard’s a place where everyone sheds their professional skin, and out there he does, too.” In the past, Obama has spent time playing golf with Vernon Jordan, swimming off South Beach, playing basketball, sitting on Jarrett’s porch while reading and watching the ferries, and taking the girls for ice cream on Circuit Avenue. “He’ll be Mr. Dad, as opposed to Mr. President,” Charles Ogletree has said. Surely he deserves it.

For the New York article in its entirety, click here.


Again, The King of Pop has expired and in some circles our Ivy League educated and barrister of a First Lady is ghetto....the world truly is insane. But we'll get into the specifics-join us tonight at 7pm (ET) and call in with your comments/questions at: 646-915-9620 or via email or IM-afronerdradio@yahoo.com.


Afronerd Radio's Take on the Passing of Michael Jackson



And lastly, although the clip below is not of MJ, it is a another cultural icon and colleague that for the duration still walks among us.....the great Stevie Wonder performing an impromptu rendition/alteration of the Soul Train theme. Enjoy this while you can because it will be a cold day in Hades before our current crop of Black artists can rise to Wonder's standard of musical excellence: