Dr Boyce Money: Financial Advice for Michael Jackson’s Kids

by Dr Boyce Watkins

"Stuntin like my daddy" was the first song on the album, "Like Father, Like Son," issued by Lil Wayne and Birdman in 2006. "Stuntin" is a hip hop term synonymous with "flossing," blinging," and "balling." It means that you've engaged in excessive spending to ensure that you have the finest of everything and are even willing to live at the edge of your means in order to present appropriate status symbols to the world. Anyone who follows hip hop knows that you should never take financial advice from a rapper. In light of the recent passing of their father, I sincerely hope that the children of Michael Jackson didn't hear the Lil Wayne song, since their daddy's financial "stuntin" before his death has left the children with a conflicted economic legacy.

On one hand, we shouldn't feel sorry for Michael Jackson's kids, at least not financially. Their father's amazing talent gives them a brand that is literally worth well over a billion dollars in future royalties and licensing fees. Michael Jackson may have died physically. But financially, he is still a viable and overwhelmingly powerful corporate entity.

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WNBA Having Financial Problems: We Don’t Support the Women

by Dr Boyce Watkins

My beautiful daughter Carmen just helped her school win its first state championship. She is the shortest person on team, the quickest and the scrappiest - both a lady and a monster when she has to be. As I sat in the stands cheering like a lunatic, I noticed that there weren't enough parents cheering along with me. The stadium was half empty, and most of the people cheering in the stands were women and children. I wondered how these young women felt, knowing that while their stands were only partially full, the boy's game (which they lost) had been sold out.

I couldn't quite figure out why we don't support women's sport the way we should: The fundamentals of the WNBA are better than the men, and the women are incredibly talented and competitive. But after some long reflection on the disparity of support, I gave myself the answer to my own question.

When planning our trip to New York City. I said to Carmen, "How would you like to see a Knicks game?" Her eyes brightened like Times Square and she shook her head up and down so hard I thought she was going to break her neck in the process. I then realized my mistake: While it was quite natural for me to think about inviting my daughter to a Knicks game, I didn't think for one second to invite her to see the New York Liberty, the women's team in the city.

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Learning from Michael Jackson’s Debt

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

• Janet Jackson honors Michael at BET Awards

Doctor talks to police about Jackson's final moments

Let's remember what Michael did for us

Michael Jackson is not dead. No, he's not on a deserted island chilling with Tupac and Elvis (who some believe faked their deaths), but he is certainly alive in corporate and social spirit, impacting millions of people.

Michael will make 1000 times more money in death than most people make when they are alive. But similar to when he was alive, massive amounts of cash will have to be generated in order to counter the enormous debt that Michael created while he was doing his thing.

Reports have stated Michael Jackson's debt to be as high as half a billion dollars, enough to make some major corporations blush. What's worse is that this debt was not created via a series of sound financial investments: it was conceived by building personal amusement parks, buying rare monkey statues, and rocking his way from one expensive store to the other.

Michael's spending became his addiction. Financial needs could have been what led to him agreeing to do 50 concerts in London this year (a tour he was preparing for just before his death), when he may have not been able to handle one. It was starting to get sad watching Michael perform, similar to watching Muhammad Ali after he'd spent 10 years dealing with Don King. While the 50-year old Michael Jackson may have given a great performance, it would probably be something less than what we've come to expect.

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Meeting Jeremiah Wright

Rather than letting Fox News sound bites define Jeremiah Wright for you, take a look at his bio.

Life, Love and Legacy

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. is a man of faith, a homiletic genius, a theological scholar and a pastor’s pastor. He is a family man who enjoys spending quality time with his wife, children, grandchildren, extended family and friends.

Steeped in Family Tradition and Educational Achievements

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Wright is a son of the parsonage and hails from a family steeped in educational achievements. A third generation family member to matriculate at Virginia Union University, Dr. Wright followed in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, Dr. Hamilton Martin Henderson who graduated from Virginia Union with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the late 1800s and finished seminary at Virginia Union in 1902. His father, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr., also graduated from Virginia Union with two undergraduate degrees and from the seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in 1938. The senior Wright also received a Master of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.M.) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Dr. Wright’s mother, Dr. Mary Henderson Wright, also graduated from Virginia Union and earned her first master’s degree before age 19 from the University of Chicago. She also earned a second master’s degree and her doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Foundational Strengths

With four earned degrees, a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from Howard University, a Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary, Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. grew up in a home where reading books was a daily way of life. Wright read a wide range of sources from the Greek philosophers and Shakespeare to African American authors such as Carter G. Woodson (the Father of African American History) to Sterling Brown (one of the Harlem Renaissance artists), as well as one of Dr. Wright’s college professors.

A student of Black Sacred Music, ethnomusicology and African Diasporan studies, Dr. Wright is trained as an historian of religions. He came from a family where diverse ideas were discussed and lessons were learned. In that context, his faith was formed and his commitment to the continent of Africa and social justice were born. These foundational strengths shaped Dr. Wright’s vision for prophetic ministry.

Pastoral Ministry

As senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, IL, where he served 36 years, Dr. Wright combined his studies of African Traditional Religions, African music, African American music and the African American Religious Tradition with his studies of Judeo-Christian thought to create ministries which addressed the needs of the community and enriched the lives and faith of his congregants by moving ministry, as stated in his own words, “from theory to praxis.”

Dr. Wright said in a published article: “I have tried to bring those two different worlds together [the academy and the pew] in the context of pastoral ministry in an effort to move an ignored people from hurt to healing and from hate to hope. My mission at Trinity has been to bring those worlds together by using the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the life of Christ as a model for what is possible, of what might be, and of what our faith really is—‘the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.’”

Dr. Wright’s efforts made Trinity - long considered, in theological circles, a model for the Black church - one of the most politically active and socially conscious churches in the nation. When he retired the church had over 50 active ministries with social justice advocacy at the core of its theological perspective.

From HIV/AIDS outreach programs and two senior housing complexes, to a federally funded childcare program for low-income families and the church’s newly formed Kwame Nkrumah Academy to serve students on Chicago’s South Side, the congregation has put into practice the Gospel that was preached every week.

Commitment to Education

As a result of Rev. Wright’s commitment to higher education, Trinity has provided scholarships for graduating high school seniors since 1977. Over 1000 students have been recipients of these scholarship awards and have finished both college and graduate schools. Over the past several years, the amount of scholarships awarded each year has been over $100,000 a year.

In addition to the scholarship awards, the congregation has ordained 40 seminary graduates under Pastor Wright’s leadership and currently has over 30 members of the church who are students in fully ACT-accredited seminaries, working on their Master of Divinity degrees as they prepare for full-time service to the church of Jesus Christ. The congregation gives in excess of $250,000 a year in theological education reimbursements to augment the seminarians’ efforts to acquire those degrees. The M.Div. is required for ordination for ministry in the United Church of Christ.

The Connection

In an effort to help his congregation make the connection between their faith, history and heritage, Dr. Wright led study tours each year for 15 years while was pastor. Those tours took African Americans to Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil to learn more about their past, the Bible and the role of Africans in the history of Christianity and the history of the development of the cultures in the Colonial Diaspora. He still leads tours as Pastor Emeritus.

He also led the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ to support mission work around the world. In addition to the church sponsored special mission projects in Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa and Bahia, each year the congregation gives more than $200,000 to the denomination’s Mission work.

Dr. Wright also led the congregation to be strongly committed to ministry and mission work in the Continental United States above and beyond its ongoing denominational commitments. In the aftermath of hurricanes Rita and Katrina, for example, the church gave $100,000 to the United Church of Christ’s denominational effort to help with the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast region and they also gave an additional $100,000 to help with the restoration of Dillard University, an HBCU started by the denomination immediately following the Civil War.

Scholarship

Following in the path of his mentor, Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, the legendary preacher of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, Dr. Wright has taught hundreds of young seminarians the art of preaching and how to examine the Gospel and make it relevant to the listener.

Dr. Wright has authored numerous articles for academic journals and has published four books widely used in seminaries: What Makes You So Strong?, Good News: Sermons of Hope For Today’s Families, Africans Who Shaped our Faith and When Black Men Stand Up For God.

A Model to Emulate

Each Sunday, churches from around the country and from various denominations visit Trinity. When Dr. Wright was serving as pastor, they came to hear him preach and to experience a worship service that feeds both the intellect and the soul, and both the “head and the heart,” to use the words of Howard Thurman.

Describing Dr. Wright’s preaching style, Rev. Otis Moss III, the pastor of Trinity and Dr. Wright’s successor, says, “The weight of the holy is upon his words.”

For all of Wright’s work and contributions to Trinity and the global church community, he has received numerous awards, commendations and appointments, including nine honorary doctorates. The most recent honorary degrees were from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and The Starr-King (Unitarian) Seminary at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkely, California.

He has served on a variety of boards, including the Amistad Commission of the State of Illinois, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Commission of the State of Illinois (appointed to both Commissions by the Governor of Illinois), and he continues to serve on the Board of Trustees of Virginia Union University, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor’s Conference and the Kwame Nkrumah Academy.

The Continuation

At the end of May 2008, Dr. Wright retired as senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. He will became pastor emeritus and now spends his time preaching, teaching, leading study tours to Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean.

Dr. Wright is married to the Rev. Ramah Wright and has five children, Janet, Jeri, Nathan, Nikol and Jamila; and three grandchildren, Jeremiah, Jazmin and Steven.

Why Wendy Williams Will Dominate TV

The first time I appeared on "The Wendy Williams Experience," I was admittedly a wee bit concerned. I didn't know as much as I should have about Wendy, but I did know that she was ferocious. I was being invited on her show to talk about Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, 50 Cent and Ice Cube. There was a beef between hip hop and the Oprah crowd, and Wendy seemed to feel that I could be a good referee.

I didn't mind standing in the middle of this conversation, because I have respect for both sides of the fence. Hip hop is one of the most powerful creative art forms in the history of the world, but it also possesses tremendous problems, primarily due to the impact of selective commercialization within the context of socially irresponsible corporate models. Oprah, on the other hand, is one of the most amazing and prolific public figures I've ever seen. But she is also not without her issues as it pertains to dealing with black men. I respect all sides, but I am not afraid to critique all sides when necessary.

In my first appearance on Wendy's show, I met her incredibly efficient producer,Nicole Spence. I was sad to see Wendy and Nicole fall out, because I honestly feel that they needed each other. But I digress. Before the show, Nicole told me, point blank: "The interview is going to last for at least 20 minutes. It will only be longer if Wendy likes you."

Okey-dokey then. Either we would hit it off nicely or she would put the hook around my neck like the Apollo Theatre. Wendy is not polite enough to care if she hurts your feelings, so I knew she would only keep talking to me if I could give her good commentary. In front of 11 million listeners, we were going to be feeling each other out. The pressure was on, but I respond well to pressure and confront all challenges head on. In fact, I almost always win.

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Why Michael Jackson Will Live Forever

by Dr Boyce Watkins

I was the guest host of a radio show yesterday. The show started at 3 pm (back when we all thought Michael Jackson would be going back on tour soon), and the producer asked me what kind of music I wanted to use for my intros and outtros. I said "Throw on some old Michael Jackson. The pre-nose job Michael Jackson." He did.
I then spent the next 2 hours reflecting on the air about Michael Jackson's talent, as well as his peculiar personality. That's when I got "the news."
While I was certainly shocked at the irony of a man dying right after I'd spent 2 hours talking about him on the radio, I wasn't surprised. Michael Jackson had that kind of effect on music and our world. In spite of the fact that he'd turned into something we couldn't quite understand, we always loved him.

Michael is going to live forever. The life and existence of such an impactful human being can't be captured in his physical manifestation. Most of us never knew Mike the man, but he was always present in our lives. He was nothing like Elvis, he was not the Beatles. He was too interesting for that. He is one of a kind, even beyond the fact that he sold 750 million records.

Here are 5 reasons Michael Jackson is going to live forever:

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Damnit Michael Bay, Why Did you Have to Do This?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I came to the latest release of "The Transformers" looking for what I saw in the first film: Jaw-dropping special effects and a story just interesting enough to hold you over until the next explosion. I didn't go to the film looking for racism or embarrassing minstrel shows. My "racial bias glasses" are designed to weed out harmless, inadvertent racism, which comes with living in a society that spent 400 years thinking that black people were less than human. But when racism is thrown in my face repeatedly in the form of ridiculous and disgusting stereotypes, that's when I start to get mad.
Michael Bay is one of my favorite directors, next to the Hughes Brothers (where are they by the way?). He's damn good at what he does. But on this occasion, Bay simply missed his creative target and I'm not the only one who's noticing.

Meet Skids and Mudflap, two Transformers who may as well have been called Lil Wayne and Random Black Male idiot. One of them actually has a gold grill, and neither of them can read. They are bungling buffoons and cowards with barely an ounce of intelligence. One of them rides around as an Ice cream truck with the words "suck my popsicle" on the side, yelling "get your ice cream bitches" to those who might want to buy from his dirty little truck. They also remind you in every other sentence that you are a "punk ass bitch" and that they want to "bust a cap in your ass."

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The Transformers Movie: Good, but Racist

That clunking engine noise you’re hearing may be the sound of ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ rolling along on broken-down racial and ethnic stereotypes.
Movie critics and columnists from the Associated Pressto the New York Times are raising concerns about two newly added Autobots, described as "jive talking,""minstrelsy," illiterate and action avoiding. And of these bickering twins, Skids (Tom Kenny) and Mudflap (Reno Wilson), one even reportedly sports a gold grill, I mean tooth. Oh, you get the picture.

The only robots with any discernible personality traits, aside from bravery or antagonism, are the Autobot twins, Mudflap and Skids. These are shockingly crass and unfortunate black stereotypes, jive-talking fools who can’t read and bumble their way from one mishap to the next. They are Jar Jar Binks in car form.
Source: ‘Transformers’ Shape-Shifts Into Noise, Nonsense, AP

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The Boyce Watkins Tenure Case Reflects the Challenges of Black Scholarship

Dr. Christopher J. Metzler

Institutions of higher education are supposed to be the place where the free market place of ideas takes hold. In fact, the basis for tenure has always been that academics should not be punished for speaking out. The theory is that such speaking out is protected even when university administration does not agree with the content of that speech. However, these same institutions are also political fiefdoms where tenure has been used and will continue to be used to punish those with whom the members of the promotion and tenure committee do not agree. In other words, academic freedom is only free when one agrees with those in power. All junior faculty understand very quickly that the definition of “scholarship” is a moving target and that if they wish tenure, they better move with the target. The hypocrisy of the promotion and tenure process (and I use the word process lightly) is that too many faculty are more about politics and less about scholarship. So, they play the game to get tenure and then when some of them get it, they punish the ideas of others they find unpopular by denying them tenure.

Progressive Black scholars find ourselves in a particular pickle. On the one hand, we want to advance ideas that look critically at the academy and simply not accept the status quo. On the other, if we are too progressive, then we will be Boyced. That is, we will be fired from predominately white institutions that will reduce our entire scholarly career to a warm bucket of spit. Of course I am not suggesting that all predominately white institutions will Boyce progressive Black scholars. I am suggesting that too many can and do.

First, regardless of whether one agrees with Dr. Watkins’ views or not, one cannot in good faith question his credential or his scholarship. One can disagree with it, one can dislike it, one can criticize but one cannot question its rigor, funny, I thought that this is what academic freedom is about. In fact, Syracuse University believed him to be of sufficient scholastic heft to hire him on tenure track in the first place. So, did he suddenly become a less than mediocre scholar after he joined the faculty? Of course not, in fact, an objective reading of his work suggests that he is a scholar who pushes his knowledge to a public that is very much outside “the ivory tower.” Perhaps the problem is that those judging scholarship should realize that scholarship as well as its consumption is evolving and that progressive black scholars such as Dr. Watkins must, if we are to be true to our mission, bring the scholarship to many who may never step foot on our campuses.

Second, it is not an understatement to say that Black male scholars do not dominate the ranks of predominately white institutions. It is also not an understatement to say that progressive Black scholars are in the numerical and scholastic minority at these same institutions. Thus, perhaps promotion and tenure committees should stop trying to pretend that they value our contributions and admit that far too many of them are more interested in visual representation (diversity for diversity sake) than diversity of thought, diversity of scholarship, diversity of methodology and diversity of thought. A reading of that which is considered “scholarly” by many of these committees reveals a common theme: protection of the status quo of ideas by a limited number of elite intellectuals. To be sure, one can argue that there is nothing wrong with this approach. I would argue that in the interest of transparency that promotion and tenure committees should not shrink from stating this since many of them believe it to be true. This way, progressive Black scholars will simply need not apply.

Third, for Black scholars, the reality of being Boyced stifles academic freedom and suffocates scholarship. Many of us will be loathe to publish anti-establishment scholarship for fear that ultra-right wing bloggers and T.V. entertainers can influence whether we are promoted or fired. We will also question whether the entertainers of whom I write are adjunct members of the committee with whom we should vet our scholarship before we publish it. Of course, some of them do not have the educational or scholarship credentials to judge our work in the first instance. But, I digress.

The losers here will be students who will not be exposed to a panoply of ideas and approach to teaching and learning but to educational malnutrition in the form of anti-intellectual mediocrity. It will also be academic freedom which in too many of these institutions is simply not free.

How can institutions of higher learning justify living in a state of educational humdrum? Just ask the institutions that Boyce black progressive Black scholars.

 

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The Great Jim Brown Goes After Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan

For years different people have always grumbled about the lack of activism and social change involvement of professional athletes. Specifically our most successful athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods. In a recent interview with HBO's Real Sports, former NFL great Jim Brown went in on the lack of activism for social change from both Tiger and Jordan in recent years.
"There are one or two individuals in this country that are black that have been put in front of us as an example," Brown told Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel. "But they're basically under a system that says, 'Hey, they're not gonna do a certain thing.' Yes, that

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The latest from Dr Boyce on AOL Black Voices

What Chris Brown, Oprah Winfrey and R. Kelly Have in Common

• I have 3 daughters who worship Chis Brown. No, seriously. If Chris Brown were to start a church, ... Read More
• Posted by Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD in BV Black Spin | Comments (0)

Dr Boyce: Oakland Salon Beating Victim Won't Press Charges

• I was happy to see that there was an arrest made in the infamous beating in an Oakland beauty ... Read More
• Posted by Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD in BV Black Spin | Comments (1)

Woman Beaten in Beauty Salon: Financial and Legal Issues Abound

• black hair OK, don't lie. You know that when you heard about the woman being beaten in the beauty ... Read More
• Posted by Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD in BV on Money | Comments (120)

Dr Boyce: Michael Eric Dyson vs. Barack Obama? Not Quite

• When I heard the controversial and heated comments about President Obama that were made by my ... Read More
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Dr Boyce: Kobe Bryant's Climb Back to the Top

• Kobe Bryant started his career with the LA Lakers as a tremendous athlete with a valuable brand. ... Read More
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Why I support Obama’s Overhaul

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor Syracuse University

I have a friend who broke both of his legs climbing a dangerous mountain in Southeast Asia. This friend has nearly died 8 times, been chased by bears, and has had food poisoning too many times to count. After his latest injury, we presumed that he would understand that taking such risk simply doesn't pay. But he rebuffed our intervention, stating that the risk is what makes his life worth living. My friend seems to believe that pursuing and living the dream might be worth enduring the occasional nightmare.

The current financial crisis is certainly the worst of economic nightmares. Job losses have been enormous and the stock market has shrunk faster than Lindsay Lohan's dress size. A report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week reported that in May jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and in the District of Columbiathan they were a year ago.

The Black community has had a double dose of economic drama, as our unemployment rate is nearly double that of White Americans, standing at 14.9% according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Black urban centers such as Detroit have been hit especially hard.

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Why We Must Support Troy Davis

by Elliot Milner, JD.

" I have faced execution and the torment of saying goodbye to my family three times in the last two years and I may experience that trauma yet again; I would not wish this on my worst enemy and to know I am innocent only compounds the injustice I am facing."- Troy Davis, from Georgia's death row, on facing a fourth possible execution date.

For those who are unaware, Troy Davis has been on Georgia's death row for about 18 years, after being convicted of murdering police officer Mark McPhail(Mr. Davis has maintained his innocence from the very beginning).

It would take pages to give all of the details of Troy Davis' case, however I will say that there was no physical evidence found(including a murder weapon) connecting Troy Davis to the killing of Officer McPhail; he was convicted largely on the basis of inconsistent and often contradictory eyewitness testimony. The vast majority of those prosecution eyewitnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony implicating Mr. Davis, and one of those who hasn't is Sylvester Coles, the main alternative suspect presented by the defense during Troy Davis' trial. In addition, there have been multiple allegations of police coercion and the usage of unethical interrogation techniques.

(For additional information on Troy Davis' case, or to get information on how to act, check out www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis and http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/.).

Troy Davis' ordeal has been going on for nearly two decades now, and is nearing its end, one way or the other. He has had numerous appeals denied(most recently in April 2009), habeas corpus petitions denied, stays of execution granted and expired, and also had one request for clemency denied by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles(the same board that would decide any future request for clemency regarding Troy Davis).

 

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The Legal and Financial Issues Behind the Famous Hair Salon Beatdown

OK, don't lie. You know that when you heard about the woman being beaten in the beauty salon in Oakland, you clicked on the link faster than Eminem's neck snapped when he had Bruno's behind in his face. You were curious, yet disturbed by the incident, as was nearly everyone else in America.

But one thing that black attorneys such as Christopher Metzler noticed during this incident were the legal implications of attacking someone in public, in broad daylight, videotaping the incident and then bragging about it on the radio. Now that the Oakland Police Department has taken notice, the women responsible for the attack are going to have some serious problems.

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Quick Thought: Meeting Malcolm’s Daughter

I was on the radio today with Malcolm X’s daughter, Qubilah Shabazz. It was ironic that we were on the radio together, since I’d just been reading about her father’s life two days earlier. I read about the lives of Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali a great deal, and I learn many lessons from them. I learn that the struggle toward progress for Black men has never been easy. I also remind myself that you can’t ever give up. Courage is more important than intellect, and we must have passion and purpose to merge with opportunity. Any hurdles we encounter are our chances to make a difference in the world. It all depends on whether you choose to engage your destiny or run away from it.

I am saddened by the way Muhammad Ali abandoned Malcolm when he left the Nation of Islam. The truth is that Malcolm was a highly educated man who served to inspire Ali, while Ali was still learning his way through the world. But regardless of their parting of ways, they are both my heroes.

Dyson and Obama: Their Awkward Conversation

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

When I heard the controversial and heated comments about President Obama that were made by my respected colleague Michael Eric Dyson, I felt like a 2nd grader running outside to see the fight between two middle school kids. Both Barack and Michael are men I've grown to appreciate, and I love them for their strengths as well as their imperfections. Michael was the reason I became a public scholar during graduate school, as I would watch the words flow out of him like an MC in the booth dropping his hottest album. The man is good, damn good.

Barack Obama needs to listen to the words of Michael Eric Dyson. In fact, he should give Dyson as much, or more respect than he gives me or any other black public intellectual in America. Dr. Dyson, no matter how you perceive his critique of President Obama, represents a form of insight that you are not going to find in politics, the pulpit or anywhere else. At the same time, I will confess that his words may also come from an impure place that lies within the darkest part of our souls. In other words, Dyson, Tavis, Barack, Jesse and every other ambitious man in America is always going to be tempted by the "Demon of Playerhaterology". Men are naturally competitive, and no man likes to be disrespected. Obama, as a condition for his employment, is often asked to disrespect other leaders across America who represent the essence of meaningful black thought. That's going to create a long list of enemies.

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The “Chosen One” Leaves High School at 16 – Only Because he doesn’t play football or Basketball

Read below about Bryce Harper,  the 16 year old who is going to college next year only so he can be eligible for the 2010 MLB draft.  If he were a basketball or football player, he would not be able to do this.  So, not only does this story make a mockery of our educational system, it also points out the hypocrisy which exists in the way basketball and football operate relative to sports dominated by non-black athletes.

When big Bryce Harper made the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks ago, I knew we'd soon again be hearing from the 16-year-old 'chosen one.'

But not quite this soon.

On Sunday, the sophomore from Las Vegas found his way into national headlines again when his father announced that Bryce will forgo his final two years of high school and use a GED to enroll in a community college this August. Though it more or less makes a mockery of our education system, the Harpers' plan would make Bryce eligible for the 2010 draft, where he could conceivably be the Nationals' No. 1 pick and eventually join forces with Stephen Strasburg to save Washington baseball from itself.

 

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Dr Boyce Morning Thought – 6/17/09

I woke up this morning thinking about a radio interview I was doing with a station in Pensacola, Florida. The host, a guy named Bob Hill, planned to ask me about my speaking topic for this weekend. The group’s name is “Movement for Change” and their theme is that “Freedom isn’t Free."

I agree with this assessment with all my heart. I wake up thinking about this every single day. For this particular interview, here were the thoughts I shared with Mr. Hill:

1) Don’t look to others for Black leadership. The greatest Black leader in the history of the world is the one you see in the mirror. Before you look to see what Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton or anyone else can do, never underemphasize what you can do. That’s where true change is created.

2) Not seeing your contribution doesn’t mean the contribution is made. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t live to see 95% of the impact of his life’s work. A grandmother may not live to see the impact that her love has on her grandchildren. The contribution is made because you MADE IT, not because you SAW IT. You should always keep moving on faith.

3) We can’t all change THE world, but we can certainly change OUR world. A bad and abusive father can impact his family for generations. Similarly, a loving and inspirational father can create a lasting impact on the actions of his children, grandchildren and others with this impact influencing dozens of others who seemed to be beyond his reach. Don’t feel that you are powerless because you can’t change US policy. Focus on enlightening the souls around you.

4) An educational institution is sometimes the worst place in the world to get an education. This is especially true for African Americans, who are typically educated to adopt the mindsets of our historical oppressors. All the while, you should spend your life being educated and continuously growing. The day you stop growing is the day you've committed yourself to dying.

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Black Money Advice: Where Retirement is Headed in America

From our Black Money Blog.  For more black wealth advice, please click here.

They grew up during a time of cultural change, and now are being forced to redefine retirement at midlife.

The 77 million Americans in the Baby Boom generation face an economic storm: The Wall Street meltdown trampled their retirement nest eggs more than any other group. After losing jobs during what they thought would be some of their peak earning years, many are struggling to get back into the workforce. Health care costs are rising, and declining home values mean they might not be able to count on home equity to guarantee an easier retirement.

SAVE EARLY: Tips for building a solid retirement plan

"This generation will be sobered by their experience," says John Coyne, president of Brinker Capital, an investment management firm. "They may not have as extravagant a vision of retirement as they did last July."

The confluence of events has an even bigger impact on a subset of the Baby Boomers known to analysts as the Sandwich Generation. Those Boomers are putting money toward their children's college education and their aging parents' long-term care, as well as their own retirement savings.

 

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Rebuilding the Brand of Kobe

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Syracuse University

Kobe Bryant started his career with the LA Lakers as a tremendous athlete with a valuable brand. His stock rose like an elevator, as Madison Avenue loved him as much as Laker fans. Then life took a strange twist. First, there was the nasty departure of Shaquille O'neal, which instantly reduced Kobe and the Lakers to "also-rans" in the NBA playoffs. A man who was used to winning championships was reduced to simply playing for pay.

Off the court, things got even worse. In 2003, Kobe was accused of a horrifically embarrassing sexual assault, a case that was later dropped. But even though the charges were dropped, the case still had a lasting impact on Bryant's reputation: Sponsors ran the other way and everyone wondered if Kobe might turn into another "coulda, woulda, shoulda" black athlete.

But he persisted. The Lakers got a little bit better every year, with that improvement culminating in what some believe to be Kobe's first "real championship" this year; a title without the boost of a dominant big man. For the first time, the Lakers are champions under Kobe's watch. He has proven that he is more than a replica of Anfernee Hardaway.

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Dr. Wilmer Leon: Sotomayor and America’s Racial Hypocrisy

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

Howard University

On Tuesday May 26^th, President Obama nominated federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Before the President announced his selection he stated he was not just looking for someone with just “ivory tower learning”; he wanted “intellectual firepower” as well as a “common touch” and a “practical sense of how the world works”. He also used the word “empathy” several times. It did not take long for the critics to weigh in and challenge the nomination.

What is troubling about the criticism is that most of it is intentionally not directed at judge Sotomayor’s record as a jurist and opinions that she has rendered. Most of the criticism is deliberately based upon select statements made in speeches or lectures, as was the case with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. They have been contextualized in the most inflammatory way possible in order to scare white people.

Click to read more on our Black Scholars Blog.

 

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America’s Pending Retirement Crisis: Are you and your family prepared?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor at Syracuse University

www.TheGrio.com

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But then again, it must not bother me very much, since I am going to give you a big pile of bad news right now. Given that I earned a Masters Degree in the "morbid science" of statistics, I figured I would start the day by fulfilling my occupational expectation.

The first piece of bad news is that you are going to die. One day, your heart will stop beating and the 2.5 billion breaths you'll take during your lifetime will come to an end. Hopefully, it won't be painful, but I can't guarantee that. The truth is, however, that death might not be the worst part of it all.

The toughest news is that before you die, you are likely going to experience a long, slow period of physical and psychological decline called "old age". In conjunction with this decline, you are going to see your financial resources dwindle as quickly as the muscles in your body. Not only will the scale of your resources decline, but your expenses will likely mount as you go to one doctor's visit after another, all with the hope of delaying the inevitable. That period of life is called "retirement", and most Americans are not financially prepared for it.

Now that you are sufficiently depressed (there's no point in lying to you, I'm not very good at that), I will give you some facts to chew on. I also hope that in light of these realities, you will engage in something that the rest of America is not doing: preparing for retirement. While retirement planning has always been important in the past, it has never been more important than it is for you right now. The Perfect Economic Storm is coming, one in which all the scary clouds merge together into one big ball of fiscal devastation that can only be created by God himself. When your financial meteorologist (me) gives you that information, it's your decision to get your family prepared. Let's break down the components of the storm, shall we?

 

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Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,african american money,african american wealth,black scholars,black professors,black news headlines,african american news

Hip Hop: What Do TI and Tupac Have In Common?

by Dr Boyce Watkins

We all know that the rapper TI recently began his 366 day prison sentence in an Arkansas prison. Merged with the brilliance of TI is the darker side of his existence, the part that makes him willing to risk losing his family and freedom in the midst of all of the chaos in the hip hop industry.

In this conversation for The Bottom Line with Dr. Boyce, we discuss the broader meaning behind TI's arrest, as well as how TI's experience reflects the state of rap music in America. There is also the question of whether or not "keeping it real" is actually good business, and whether TI is actually remorseful for his personal choices.

We can broaden the discussion to other issues in hip hop as well: Is it right that Rick Ross has been penalized for not being a criminal? Does TI have a lot in common with Tupac (beyond the fact that they are both talented artists)? If so, how can he be sure to avoid Tupac's fate? We explore all this and more.

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Genma Holmes: Should Tavis Smiley Also Be Held Accountable?

by Genma Holmes

This is the third in a series of posts about Tavis Smiley and Wells Fargo, sponsor of the State of the Black Union (SOTBU). Everyone is in uproar about Wells Fargo employees calling loans to black mortgage holders “ghetto loans” and the disdain they showed for the customers they made the most profit from. But the media, especially black media, has been very silent about the role Tavis Smiley played in helping stack this ill fated deck of cards that has plagued the black community in several major cities.

When Mr. Smiley first partnered with Wells Fargo in 2005, he was a TEACHER of economic empowerment and assembled seminars around the country as the keynote speaker for wealth building. Press releases filled every major news outlet inbox and black newspapers were infected with faxes stating Mr. Smiley’s desire to teach the principles of home ownership as the key for breaking the cycle of poverty in the African American community. All this knowledge was given at no charge to trusting black folks. This was the golden ticket to obtaining the elusive piece of the pie via Mr. Smiley’s recommendations. Surely the intentions of all involved were pure and Mr. Smiley had vetted Wells Fargo thoroughly. Or so we thought. My granddaddy would say often, “Be wise when someone wants to give you something for free, there will be a price to pay later.”

Here’s what Mr. Smiley and Wells Fargo said in 2005 according to a widely circulated press release:

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Joins With Tavis Smiley to Offer Free Wealth Building Strategies Seminar in Washington, DC Tavis Smiley and a Host of Financial Experts Share Information About Building Generational Wealth and Family Financial Security

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the nation's leading originator of home loans to ethnic minority customers, has joined forces with talk show host and author, Tavis Smiley; and several financial affairs experts to provide free Wealth Building Strategies Seminars in eight cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. Additional seminars featuring other popular panelists also will be offered in 12 more cities, nationwide.

Click to read more on the African American Money Blog

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Black People: Don’t Let Money Enslave You

Dr Boyce Watkins – Syracuse University: Black Scholars Coalition

I recall giving a speech at a university in Upstate New York. We were talking about wealth building for the Black community and how Black folks can remove themselves from the underbelly of American capitalism. I'd heard this school had a reputation for strong liberalism and I was looking forward to addressing the audience. A young white female in the back of the room raised her hand to ask me a question. She said "How can you support a system that enslaves people?"

The woman was clearly offended by my mere presence as a financial expert and apparent supporter of capitalism. I could immediately tell, that no matter what my answer was, she was going to hate me and wish death upon my children. She didn't realize that I am not just a Finance Professor, but also a closet socialist in many contexts. While I am not one who wants to live in a socialist society, I do understand that capitalism and socialism must balance one another in any society that alleges to embrace human compassion. 

Click to read.

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Ryan Mack Explains How to keep your home

Black finance expert Ryan Mack brings us advice from a place of real heart to help hard-working Americans deal with the mortgage mess. With his warm brand of personal finance advice, Mack's strongest words to the community are: "If you are having problems paying your mortgage DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM YOUR HOME!" In part one of our two-part interview, learn more about how we got into this housing crisis, how it has affected the general economy and what you should do now to protect your home.
How did you become a finance expert? What inspired you to pursue this goal?
When I was on Wall Street making great money I felt empty, because I was not an effective contributor to my community. I knew that finance was my passion, but I also knew that sitting in a cubicle making money only for the sake of self-empowerment was not my purpose.
Like too many families in America, many people in my family were not financially literate. My passion was to change that. In addition, I was always getting asked personal finance questions from peers who knew I was a stock trader. But trading is different from personal finance. To address these questions, I began to study personal finance and started a Yahoo group called MakingMoneyWork, which provided tips and strategies to over 200 members through weekly newsletters.

Click to read more on the African American Money blog.

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Dr Boyce’s Thoughts on Syracuse University President Nancy Cantor

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I got a call from an academic colleague who was caught in the middle of a public controversy. He stated an unpopular opinion on race and the right wing got upset with his words. Public figures have been calling for him to be fired, stating that his position as a defender of black people makes him a “reverse racist.” How typical.

He told me that this morning, he received a call from the President of his university, letting him know that the campus stands by his academic freedom and freedom of speech. The president also admitted that this is “what right wing nut jobs do when they are confronted with race.”

I was admittedly jealous of my friend’s relationship with the president of his university. In the 5 years I’ve known the president of Syracuse University, Nancy Cantor, not once has she had a single conversation with me over the phone or in person. This makes me sad because we could have been great allies. I’ve supported Cantor publicly when people have called for her head. But yet, she has never once reached out to me to express any kind of support for my academic freedom and has only stood by silently as campus officials have worked overtime to ostracize my work and single me out in stereotypical ways (I wish I could tell you all the stories – but I can’t tell them all right now). Syracuse has a history of this kind of behavior toward progressive black men, but I refuse to spend my life bowing to racial ignorance. In fact, the conversation I plan to have on these issues is just beginning, and it’s one I will continue to have for the next 30 years if necessary. We should not allow our brothers and sisters in the academy to remain enslaved by the academic imperialism taking place at universities who feel compelled to “train” African American scholars on “appropriate” ways to view the world.  Anyone who can’t connect this unscholarly behavior with America’s sick racial past is himself/herself a victim of that very same past.

Rather than trying to figure out why there are so many people who support what I do, there are some who would rather fear that which is different. When I read about the life of my second cousin, Muhammad Ali, I see a world in which everyone chastised and attacked him without realizing that there was an opportunity to see a vision that could change the world (of course no one will admit that they persecuted Ali, nor will they admit how much they hated Martin Luther King). While I am not sure if I am the person who can change the world, I am certain that my generation of progressive black scholars (Christopher Metzler, Marc Lamont Hill, Billy Hawkins) represents a line of thinking that will surely have the kind of scholarly impact that most academics will never have. I am not angry with the president of Syracuse University, I am only saddened. Instead of being life-long allies, America’s racism will now cause us to become long-time adversaries.  I don’t want such a battle, but the legacy of my forefathers dictates that such battles are a necessary component of our continued fight for true equality.  I embrace this fight with everything I’ve got, for (as Malcolm X told Muhammad Ali before his “unwinnable” fight with Sonny Liston) God did not take us this far to lose.

 

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Dr. Christopher Metzler’s Brilliant Analysis of Sotomayor and White Privilege

President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be a Justice on the United States Supreme Court has brought to the surface the lingering resentment that so many White men in America have harbored since the end of slavery. Moreover, it has denuded the souls of white folks who have now become part of a race. It has also revived White men as victims and given voice to the intellectually dishonest rhetoric of "reverse" racism while also race-baiting the White House, albeit one headed by a Black man.

Of course, we understand that race is a social construction. That is, there is no biological basis for race. Rather, in the context of the United States, race has been formulated and given meaning by society and the courts who wished to connote difference and the privileges and insults thereto appertaining. That formulation for so much of our history defined Whites as superior and numerical racial minorities as inferior thus justifying different treatment.

First, it is not an understatement to say that many White men in America have opted out of the conversation on race. In fact, in most conversations about race, racial minorities are the ones who are presumed to be affected by racism because of America's toxic relationship with race. White men in particular enjoy the visible and invisible privilege of being both White and male and thus, until now, have seen no reason to be considered part of a "race." 

The White men of whom I write have decided that they will pick the carbuncle of race in an attempt to protect their white privilege at all costs. Hoisting the White man's burden are Rush, Tancredo, Hannity, Dobbs and Gingrich; the "unelected" leaders of the party. The elected leaders (especially those with significant Latino voters) and the languid "head of the party" (Michael Steele) will collude with them by saying nothing.

As the Republican Party excogitates into a provincial confederacy of antediluvian white men, it has concluded that the only way out of quietest is to play the race card. The strategy is simple: play into the anger of White men who believe that racial minorities are becoming the "new White." If they are successful, they theorize, victory shall be theirs in 2010 thus restoring the racial balance that has been upset by the election of a Black President and the nomination of a Latina to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Second, for so long in American history, Blacks have been told to stop playing the victim and to pull ourselves up by our proverbial bootstraps. The unpropitious magniloquence used by Republicans in their attack on Judge Sotomayor through blogs, talk radio, television and other media implores that America rally around White men lest they are trapped in a cycle of pathological victimology. Leading one to ask, if White men worked hard, were the most qualified and followed the law, wouldn't justice be blind? Are they finally admitting that for all their talk about "justice being blind" that judges can and do in fact see? So, why could they not pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps in front of a Latina justice?

There have been 110 Supreme Court Justices, and of those only four have been other than White men.

Is number 5 too many or is 96 percent White male justices too few?

Third, the Republican rhetoric explains how White privilege works. The White men opposing the nomination have been using the term "reverse racism" as a part of the wrangle. Since they set the societal norm, white privilege teaches, they get to define the terms. But, how can racism be reverse? It either is racism or it is not. Realizing that racism has been used to describe the actions of Whites against racial minorities, the White men have added the term "reverse" to suggest to White people that the power dynamic is now changing and while racism can be tolerated against racial minorities, it cannot be tolerated against Whites. The problem with this discussion is that there is not one scintilla of evidence that Judge Sotomayor is a racist or that she wants to enshrine discrimination against Whites into the law.

Thus, in true "post-racial" fashion, they will reduce the 4000+ legal opinions of Judge Sotomayor to a warm bucket of spit. That is, the Ricci case. In that case, a majority of Whites and no Blacks passed a test administered by the City of New Haven for promotion to the next rank. Fearing that it would face a race discrimination suit for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, since no Blacks passed the test, the City threw out the test and no one was promoted. As an appellate judge, Sotomayor agreed with the trial court that the White firefighters did not have a case based on the current state of the law. The case is before the United States Supreme Court and could be reversed.

During her confirmation hearings, the elected Republican senators will try to appear objective as they question Judge Sotomayor on "strict construction and judicial neutrality." The reality is that Republicans who claim to be strict constructionists but use the Ricci case to claim that Sotomayor is a judicial activist because of her ruling; are intellectually and jurisprudentially insensate at best or constitutionally pharisaical at worst. Her ruling in Ricci was not that governments must allow affirmative action. She simply upheld the power of the elected government to throw out the test. Strict constructionists do not use the power of the appellate process to substitute their views for that of elected officials. If in fact, this cacophony of dissenting voices were being genuine, they would simply state the obvious: they have run out of options and are left only with using the race card to gin up support among angry white men who fear that Brown is becoming the "new White."

Finally, this White House has shown a stunning reluctance to avoid engaging in any meaningful way on the topic of race. Does the President really believe that if he discussed the reality of race in the context of this nomination that the critics of Judge Sotomayor would simply wilt? In a 2001 lecture Judge Sotomayor said that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Taking the race bait, the President blinked, and said, "I'm sure she would have restated it."

During his confirmation hearing, now Justice Alito said, "he cared for the little guy." Alito said that his family's experience as immigrants influenced his outlook on immigration cases. He also said that when he gets a case about discrimination, he has to think about people in his own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or religion and he does take that into account.

President Bush did not apologize for Judge Alito. President Obama did apologize for Judge Sotomayor.

Ahh, the perils of a "post-racial" Presidency.

Dr. Christopher J. Metzler is associate dean at Georgetown University and the author of The Construction and Rearticulation of Race in a Post-Racial America.

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What the Wells Fargo Predatory Lending Suit Means to the Black Community

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Tavis Smiley needs to have a conversation with one of his primary sponsors, Wells Fargo. This week, it was announced that Wells Fargo is being sued by the city of Baltimore for egregiously racist predatory lending practices in the black community. The company has been accused by some former loan officers of targeting subprime, low quality loans to black neighborhoods, leading to a dramatic economic collapse for the black community of Baltimore.

The statistical evidence is daunting. Half of all the properties foreclosed by Wells Fargo are vacant and 71% of those properties are in black neighborhoods. Wells Fargo's African American borrowers with incomes greater than $68,000 per year were 8 times more likely to hold subprime loans than white borrowers with the same income.

Click to read.

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Dr. Christopher Richardson Explains Wells Fargo Alleged Discrimination

Dr. Christopher Richardson

Dr. Christopher Richardson, one of the world’s leading experts on predatory lending and banking, comments on a recent report that Wells Fargo, one of the sponsors of the State of the Black Union event held every year, is being sued by several government agencies due to accusations of financially exploiting and deliberately misleading the Black community.  Dr. Richardson’s comments are below:

Click to read on African American Money.

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HBCU Homecoming Queen Takes Haters in Stride

by Dr Boyce Watkins

Kentucky State University is an HBCU which lies next to my heart. My sister, who just finished medical school, spent her undergraduate career there, so I was kept in the loop when the world seemed to flip on its head regarding who the students chose to hold the title of Miss Kentucky State University. As you can see, she's not exactly what one would expect an HBCU Homecoming Queen to look like, but Elisabeth Martin's skin color likely reflects one of the many faces that define Historically Black colleges in the new millennium. So, while I was personally dismayed that Kentucky State University (along with many HBCUs around the nation) seems to be forgetting about the importance of having African American faculty, the truth is that we are in an era in which one needs to determine what it means to be an HBCU.

Personally, I love the fact that the students at Kentucky State chose Elisabeth Martin as their homecoming queen. Martin, a 21-year old International Studies major, won the crown by a landslide, dominating the competition. It has been her race, however, that has sent shock waves through the Kentucky State University community. But Martin takes the heat in stride and carries herself with a grace and class that should make the campus proud. The fact that the students love her so much is verified by her love for the campus and commitment to school spirit. She has also handled the national media attention like a true queen should.

AOL Black Voices had the chance to catch up with Elisabeth Martin:

Click to read.

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Black Men Can be More than Athletes: NY Yankee Transitions Successfully to Business

Jason Robertson is a man of many gifts. As an young man, he was an All-American baseball player, drafted by the New York Yankees straight out of high school. He was also listed by Essence Magazine as one of the most eligible bachelors in America for his good looks and success. If that were not enough, Jason retired from baseball and re-invented himself as a leading, award-winning entrepeneur.

Besides being a model of success for his 3 sons and celebrating his engagement to fiance Marshawn Evans, Jason is on a mission to teach other young men how to make the transition from successful athlete to outstanding businessman. Black Voices got a chance to catch up with Jason.

1) What do you do for a living?

I own an industrial packaging company. We sell corrugated boxes, bags, films, pallets, and we also provide warehousing and storage.

Click to read.

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Tavis Smiley’s Sponsor Accused of Discriminatory Lending Practices

As she describes it, Beth Jacobson and her fellow loan officers at Wells Fargo Bank “rode the stagecoach from hell” for a decade, systematically singling out blacks in Baltimore and suburban Maryland for high-interest subprime mortgages.

Enlarge This Image

Matt Roth for The New York Times

A foreclosed home on Barclay Street in Baltimore. The city is suing Wells Fargo Bank over its mortgage lending practices in black neighborhoods.

Enlarge This Image

Matt Roth for The New York Times

Another foreclosed house on Baltimore's North Brice Street, which shares a downed fence with a house still lived in.

These loans, Baltimore officials have claimed in a federal lawsuit againstWells Fargo, tipped hundreds of homeowners into foreclosure and cost the city tens of millions of dollars in taxes and city services.

Wells Fargo, Ms. Jacobson said in an interview, saw the black community as fertile ground for subprime mortgages, as working-class blacks were hungry to be a part of the nation’s home-owning mania. Loan officers, she said, pushed customers who could have qualified for prime loans into subprime mortgages. Another loan officer stated in an affidavit filed last week that employees had referred to blacks as “mud people” and to subprime lending as “ghetto loans.”

Click to read.

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Black News: Who Should Pay When Men Have Kids They Can’t Afford?

Desmond Hatchett is 29 years old and has 21 children with 11 different women. The Knoxville, TN native also works for minimum wage and can't support all of his kids. The state is only allowed to take 50% of his paycheck, which doesn't amount to very much for each child.

What do we make of Hatchett's decision? This is clearly a question for Financial Lovemaking.

Click to read.

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Check out the Latest from Dr Boyce on AOL Black Voices

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What's Wrong with Hip Hop? Check the Paper Trail

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Dr Boyce: Black Scholars Are Not Realizing Their Potential

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Dr Boyce and Mark Gunn Talk Black Men, Black Money and False Identities

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Dr Boyce: Man Beaten by Mob After Allegedly Raping 11 Year Old Girl

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