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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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The Blurred Vision of Mainstream Media

I don't know how many of you have been following Occupy Wall Street over the past month or so, but as a veteran journalist I can tell you, this is a clear example of how something has gone terrible wrong with the way the traditional news media is deciding what stories they deem "newsworthy" to the public.

Journalists who are covering the events in New York City are now finding themselves under attack by law enforcement officers. A Fox New York camera man was pepper sprayed and a reporter was struck by a baton in the melee. These are NOT the stories being shown on our nightly news.

For years, the traditional media has been accused of being too liberal-when, in essence, that's not the case at all. What the general public fails to realize is advertising dollars dictate what will be shown and how far the news media will go or not go in presenting "just the facts."

The media has conditioned us to believe that what they present to us are the important stories:  Natalee Holloway, Amanda Knox, etc.  Why do we never see any of the missing black children stories?  Could it be that the media doesn't think it's of interest to the general public?  Did they take a survey and find out?  Do you think the Tea Party would've ever become a force had it not been given so much media coverage? 

The fact of the matter is the vision of the "traditional media" has become blurred over the last decade. That's why social media, now more than ever, has not only become relevant but IMPORTANT.  That's why you must continue to support sites like iZania and others who are trying to make a difference.