My Brother Kevin Powell: Ending Violence Against Women

Writer’s note:

Given all the hype and controversy around Chris Brown’s alleged beating of Rihanna, I feel compelled to post this essay I originally wrote in late 2007, so that some of us can have an honest jump off point to discuss male violence against females, to discuss the need for ownership of past pains and traumas, to discuss the critical importance of therapy and healing. Let us pray for Rihanna, first and foremost, because no one deserves to be beaten, or beaten up. No one. And let us also pray that Chris Brown gets the help he needs by way of long-term counseling and alternative definitions of manhood rooted in nonviolence, real love, and, alas, real peace. And let us not forget that Rihanna and Chris Brown happen to be major pop stars, hence all the media coverage, blogs, etc. Violence against women and girls happen every single day on this planet without any notice from most of us. Until we begin to address that hard fact, until we all, males and females alike, make a commitment to ending the conditions that create that destructive behavior in the first place, it will not end any time soon. There will be more Rihannas and more Chris Browns.

In my recent travels and political and community work and speeches around the country, it became so very obvious that many American males are unaware of the monumental problems of domestic violence and sexual assault, against women and girls, in our nation. This seems as good a time as any to address this urgent and overlooked issue. Why is it that so few of us actually think about violence against women and girls, or think that it’s our problem? Why do we go on believing it’s all good, even as our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters suffer and a growing number of us participate in the brutality of berating, beating, or killing our female counterparts?

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What Love Means to Me – A Tribute to Valentine’s Day

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To get financial advice from Dr. Boyce, please visit www.DrBoyceMoney.com.  To see video commentary from Dr. Boyce, please click here.

Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

FYI: I should be on the NPR show "Tell Me More with Michel Martin", a journalist for whom I have tremendous respect.  We recorded today with Shelby Steele, a conservative scholar out at Stanford and another scholar named Jon Powell, at Ohio State.  The conversation is interesting, and I recommend you give it a listen.  You can learn more about the show at this link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/tellmemore/.

I also got another call yesterday from "The Big O"...yes, you know who I am talking about.  Apparently, there is some interest in my Financial Lovemaking Book.  I'll keep you posted on that one, since I am not 100% sure if my demographic matches that of the Great Ms. Winfrey.  While I feel that Financial Lovemaking can work well for her audience, my alignment with the hip hop community may make for an awkward fit.  The fact that I engage in critical analysis (meaning that no one is 100% good or 100% bad) means that I sometimes make enemies in this game because of my refusal to kiss anyone's butt too much.  But I do give respect where it is due, and I consider Oprah to be an amazing role model for all of us.  The same goes for President Obama. 

In light of the fact that Valentine’s Day is coming, I was thinking about the whole idea of love.  I must also admit that I thought about love when I noticed the singer Chris Brown might have ruined his career in this mad situation with Rihanna (apparently, there may be some abuse in that relationship, I’m not sure).  Either way, I think that anyone who has been young and in a relationship understands how stupid and crazy things can happen.  I’ve never considered Chris Brown to be a bad person.  But he may have done a bad thing.

Seeing the huge loss that these two young people may have imposed on their lives (Chris and Rihanna), led me to reflect on love and what it means to me.  Here is my personal perspective on love….love it or hate it (haha).

What Love Should and Should Not Be

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I’ve lived a bit of life and made my share of mistakes.  But as a professor, I am trained to learn from poor choices and grow from them.  Most processes have a purpose and a pattern.  If you think hard enough and honestly confront your failures, triumphs and observations, you can usually walk away with a bit of insight.  The term “No pain, no gain”, can certainly be applied in the game of love, and I intend to gain from my own personal portfolio of blissful heartache.

So, I’ve come up with some “Rules of Love” out of respect for Valentine’s Day.  It’s not scientific and not a fit for everyone.  But it comes from the head, the heart and all the other body parts I can’t mention in this article.  So, at least you know it’s sincere.

Love should be RESPECTED: One of the silliest things I see in some relationships is that people seem to be most interested in chasing the person who loves them the least, while kicking their greatest admirers to the curb.  They choose the best option they can GET instead of the best option they’ve already GOT.  There is something that people love about a challenge.  It can be a natural instinct to equate kindness with weakness and easy access with a lack of value. Many of us are guilty of crying over the person who ignores us and ignoring the person who cries for us.  Someone who gives you their heart can also take it away, so we must respect those who’ve truly earned it.

Love should be EXPECTED:   Part of the reason that some of us spend our time chasing the loser who doesn’t love us is because deep down, we feel that someone who cares for us must be flawed or unworthy of our time.  On the other hand, it is easy to feel sorry for yourself when you see that the one you usually want doesn’t want you back.  The truth of the matter is that if someone disrespects the appreciation you are showing toward them, then they don’t deserve your love anyway.  You should love yourself enough to walk away from those who choose not to treat you as you deserve to be treated.

Love should be given to YOURSELF: Part of demanding the love that you deserve is engaging in the difficult art of SELF LOVE.  Many times, we look in the emotional mirror and see blemishes, flaws, faults, mistakes and the ugliest sides of who we are.   Rather than greeting the world with our heads held high, we keep our heads down and hope no one notices that we are not as good as everyone else.  Loving yourself is similar to learning to love another person:  there is a point where you must simply accept the flaws.   You must realize that you are no more defective and no more perfect than everyone else, and that you too deserve to be happy.  If you can’t love yourself, then it’s damn near impossible to truly love someone else, since you are only offering them what you perceive to be damaged goods.

Love is meant to be CELEBRATED:  I’ve admittedly never been able to fully grasp the concept of homosexuality, but I’ve never had a problem with gay marriage.  One thing I believe is that love was created by GOD: that includes love between a man and a woman, a man and a man or a woman and a woman.  There should not be religious, social or racial boundaries imposed on meaningful love, for we do not get to choose the shape, size or complexion of the package.  When God blesses someone with such a powerful connection, this love should be celebrated by all of us and not judged or held in contempt.   Melting someone’s halo of happiness by dousing it with a flood of hate is a counter-productive use of our time and a wasteful spiritual endeavor. 

Valentine’s Day is meant to be YEAR ROUND:  You should not need a special holiday to show someone you love them.  You should tell them something good, positive, and affirming every time you see them, because this will make that person feel good.  You should not need corporate America’s permission and some hyper-commercialized holiday as your excuse to show affection.   I encourage you to say ten nice things per day to people you care about, which may include complimenting them on their clothes, their hair, their personality, their beauty or their presence.  It will make them feel good and leave a lasting psychological impact.  Our words are “emotional money” and we should be consistently making donations.

Love should be REFLECTIVE:  The hardest way to get what you want is to selfishly pursue it, take it or relentlessly absorb it.  That’s like waiting for your paycheck and never showing up for work.  If you are in a truly loving situation, you get what you want by REFLECTING IT.   If you WANT more success out of life, you GIVE more hard work.  If you WANT better grades, you GIVE more time to the library.  If you WANT more appreciation from your partner, you GIVE more attention and affection.  If you choose to share your love with someone who deserves it, then they will give the love right back to you, with interest.  Like a healthy economy, the cycle will become recursive and productive trade increases the value of each partner’s “Life Portfolio”.   In pleasure, pain and everything in between, to get more, you must give more.  You must also make payments in the currency deemed most valuable to your partner.  There’s no way around that fact.

Love should be PRACTICED:  Love is not just a feeling, an emotion, a whim or something that makes your skin shiver.  Loving someone is a DELIBERATE ACT and a series of habits designed to sustain and maintain the relationship you have with one another.  The work of the greatest writers in history was not always driven by inspiration and a desire to write…..sometimes, it was the act of sitting down each day and forcing themselves to write which eventually inspired them to do their greatest work.  In other words, love is a series of proactive habits, choices and behaviors that correlate with your desire to have a meaningful and stable relationship with another person.  It’s not something you just randomly “fall into” and “out of”…..it is something you choose to do.

Love should be CONTEMPLATED: When it comes to dating, I tell my daughter and God daughters the following: “If a man is not someone you can see raising your children, then don’t even go out on the first date.”  They look at me like I’m crazy, but the point is simple:  While you cannot easily choose to release yourself from the psychological grips of love, you have some ability to choose who you are going to fall in love with in the beginning.  Most of us don’t meet someone and decide that we are going to be with this person for years.  There is always the first glance, the first date, the first kiss, the first touch, and before you know it, you’re stuck in a situation that doesn’t make any sense to you.  So, if you don’t start with point A, you can never reach point Z.  This makes the most sense when you can see that point Z is not the place you want to visit with this particular person.

Love should be REMEMBERED: A big challenge for many young or single people (and even those who are married) is that we spend our time chasing the love and affection that is most intriguing to our hormones, while ignoring the love that is most tried and true.  A man might spend hours on the phone with a pretty lady who doesn’t even like him, but simultaneously ignore his grandmother who would gladly give her life for him.  Valentine’s Day is not just the day you send “sweets to your sweetie”.  It is also the day you shower love on your mother, brother, sister, father, best friend, homeboy, children, grand parents and all the people who will love you long after your sweetie has become sweet on someone else.   In the city of love, new buildings are shiniest and most appealing.  But the older buildings are the sturdiest and most enduring.  

Love is LIFE:  Not only does the act of love create and sustain life, it is also the greatest part of our journey through life.  We may or may not remember or be inspired by our professional or educational achievements, but we have an immediate and powerful emotional reaction when we reflect on the love we’ve experienced over the years.  Thinking about children, family or ex-lovers can create an emotional response that can’t be matched by a corporate job or advanced degree.  I tell my students that one of the most important decisions they will ever make is who they choose to spend their lives with.  I’ve seen many people drive themselves down the path to hell by choosing to share their love with someone who deserves it the least.  Like the most amazing roller coaster, the journey of love is long, complicated, exciting, scary and fulfilling.  So, while we’re on this journey, we should make sure we turn on the GPS.

Happy Valentine’s Day and I hope this day inspires you to find the love that exists in your life.  It’s all around you if you learn to look for it.  Even in an economy like this one, the love in your life can make you a billionaire. 

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University.  For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.    

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Black Relationships and other random thoughts

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

People sometimes wonder why I don't talk much about my love life. Well, beyond the fact that it would probably bore you, I'll admit that there are some tricky and sensitive issues that might come up. But in case you're wondering, I am not single because I am gay (not that there is something wrong with gay people, I'm just not one of them). I am not married because I take marriage very seriously and realized that my work in the black community would put a family in harm's way. I never thought that Malcolm or Martin should have gotten married either, since I'd never forgive myself if my wife and children were killed or left homeless because of something I've done. The first thing your enemies do when they want to undermine you is to go after your family and/or your source of income. Just ask Bill O'Reilly.

At any rate, I have some friends who are still single, and I listen to them explain why they can't find what they are looking for. For some, it's the "blame the world" strategy - "Black men can't handle an intelligent black woman", or "I'm just too nice and men are dogs"....blah blah blah. On the flip side, I've heard Black men say things about Black women that are simply untrue. Personally, I have no trouble finding great Black women, especially when I learned to look at the spirit and mind along with the body and face. I know many gorgeous women who might have stunned me 10 years ago, but wouldn't get the time of day from me now.

One thing that some of us are missing is the kind of introspection necessary to realize that YOU are the only person who is always present in your relationships. I have a friend who is a drop dead gorgeous college professor and fully convinced that it's never her fault that her relationships are falling apart. All the while, I've seen that same friend walk toward the jerks and away from the guys who might treat her with respect. At the end of the day, she will always be confused, because she only chooses to give her love to those who deserve it the least.

This journey of learning to love yourself enough to know how to give love and receive it properly is a long one. I've personally traveled much of that journey myself. Although I didn't marry my ex-fiance, I was proud of that relationship. The great time we spent together was a reflection of how I'd grown to be able to give the right kind of love and also demand the right kind of love in return. She strengthened my belief in God, for I truly saw her as an angel on earth.

Like most of you, I have experienced the ups and downs of relationships (ho-hum), and all the bliss and pain that comes with it. I've dealt with baby-mama drama, as the one great mistake I made in life was to have a child at a young age with the wrong person. I will pay for that mistake for the rest of my life, although I worked like hell to try to fix it. I fight for father's rights because unlike the confusing speech given by Barack Obama this year on Father's Day, I unconditionally reject the idea that Black relationships don't work solely because Black men are irresponsible buffoons who don't want to be good parents. I tried like hell to be in my own daughter's life, even though I was consistently rejected from it, and I've gotten emails from hundreds of other fathers who feel the same way. At the end of the day, relationships last when both partners make it work, and children are healthiest when both parents understand the importance of having both the mother and the father in the life of the child. You can't blame the opposite sex for everything. That goes for both men and women....no matter how bitter you may be.

Finally, I believe in black love, and I consider black women to be the most beautiful women on the planet. So, if you ever hear of me getting married, it will most likely be to a Black woman. But if you were to ask me about the breakdown of the black family and black relationships, I would say that it takes two to tango. If your relationships are not working out, relieving yourself of all blame is not only going to confuse you, it is also incredibly irresponsible.

At any rate, the article is below...enjoy!

He's not dumping you because ...

Writing about dating is my full-time job, so, naturally, I hear a lot of pretty deranged tales of love gone wrong. But last week I received a letter from a woman who was convinced that men wouldn’t go out with her because she was just too … beautiful.

He's not dumping you because ...

She fully believed her breathtaking attractiveness was anything but a man-magnet — as one might expect. Instead, she said, her beauty acted as a Romeo-repellant, causing suitors to run screaming from her. Obviously, I explained the situation to her (perhaps it wasn’t her gorgeous outsides, but her narcissistic insides that were doing the damage), but it did get me to thinking about all the other ridiculous reasons that women — myself included — come up with when they get dumped.

Along with being too beautiful, here are a few other qualities I guarantee nobody will ever break your heart over:

Too smart: I once had a friend who was convinced she couldn’t keep a boyfriend because she was too smart for the male population. She was positive her staggering intellect was turning them off. Uh, no. What drove the men away (and most of her female friends, as well) was the fact that she was mean. We’re talking stupendously cruel. Her definition of smart translated into cutting people down until they felt like the smallest person on earth. Not exactly a turn-on, no matter how cleverly it’s worded.



Click to read.

Do Whites Need More Personal Responsibility?

Dr. Boyce Watkins

http://www.boycewatkins.net/

I figured that since black male personal responsibility is on the table for discussion, we might spend a second talking about personal responsibility for others. This is not intended to be offensive, but rather, to change the discussion around a bit and allow us all to take responsibility for our actions. We've heard the chorus about how black males are failing to fulfill their roles in good citizenship, now let's talk about everyone else.

1) The recent mortgage crisis showed millions of Americans losing their homes, largely due to buying homes they could not afford, along with undersaving, overborrowing, underinvesting and overspending. The government followed up by providing a set of welfare packages designed to help these borrowers keep their homes. Perhaps middle class America needs a lesson in personal responsibility, rather than asking for a government handout to save them from their behavior.

2) Speaking of the mortgage crisis, perhaps we should take a look at the personal responsibility being exhibited by banks who made irresponsible loans that threatened to undermine the stability of the US economy. Personal responsibility check called for? I think so.

3) I was on campus last week and saw some statistics about massive alcoholism, rape, arrests and even murder occuring on college campuses every year due to campus drinking. Thousands of students walk off campus as alcoholics each year, and their parents, nor campus administrators do much to stop them. In fact, those who try to stop them are attacked by their parents. Lack of student responsibility? Yes. Poor parenting? Absolutely. Perhaps we need to call in Bill Cosby on that one. But then again, he is afraid to say much about white people.....most of us are. That's why police are quick to raid drug houses in "the hood" but wouldn't dare do raids on college campuses.

4) Speaking of drug use....did you know that most drug abusers in America are white and middle class? A New York Police commissioner took a tremendous amount of heat for noting that 70% of cocaine users are middle class Americans. It is ironic that black males are the ones most likely to be sent to prison for drug possession. It sounds like middle class America is dropping the ball on this personal responsibility thing.

5) Middle class Black America, are you listening? Before you stand and applaud Minister Obama's sermons on Black male irresponsibility, think for a second about the way you are raising your own kids. I can understand when a poor kid wants to be a gangster, since he actually lives near them. But I see alot of middle class kids from the suburbs who do the same thing, and I see their parents spending money like it's going out of style (one paycheck away from being homeless). You too are being hit by the mortgage crisis. You also must deal with the fact that some of you (or shall I say us) have dropped the ball completely in terms of your moral responsibility to actually reach back and help the communities from which you came. No, an annual donation to the NAACP doesn't count, and neither does being the first Black accountant with an all-white firm.

6) Black women, check this out. You know I love you and I am devoted to you. This is also not to say that your claims of Black male behavior are out of line, but let's think for a second. How responsible is it to presume that the breakdown of black marriages is always the man's fault? How have you contributed to your man not being in your home anymore? How good are you at picking the right man in the first place? How supportive are you of allowing that man to see his children when he wants to see them? How controlling are you in terms of jacking his parental rights and dictating the terms under which this man can spend time with his own child? Isn't it a bit irresponsible to say that Black men are the cause of all of your problems? Why not work together with committed brothers to find common ground, as opposed to villifying and further distancing us from one another? While it might be convenient to join the band wagon of Black male extermination, it certainly allows you a convenient alliby for your own broken commitments to personal responsibility. After all, these troubled Black boys are being taught by their mothers.

7) While conservatives stand in line to point fingers at fatherless Black families, have they noticed their own horrific divorce rates? Isn't it a bit irresponsible to condemn people for not getting married when over half of you are ripping your own homes apart via divorce? Don't divorcee homes also end up fatherless too? Perhaps you need to take a note in your own personal responsibililty before saying anything about Black men. In fact, perhaps we should be giving the advice: Most of you are not mature enough to get married in the first place and don't have the personal responsibility to make marriage work.

I am not here to throw down gauntlets of personal responsibility. I am as flawed as the individuals I write about in this article. However, before we start condemning poor Black Americans or Black men, it is important that we remember that we are not as perfect as we might think.

If you talk about personal responsibility, you must do it in a responsible way. Focus on your own house first.

Why Jesse Jackson Needs to Keep Moving

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net

Today, I got a call on my cell phone. I wasn't going to answer the call, since I don't normally take calls from numbers I don't recognize. But this time, I made an exception. It was Jesse Jackson.

I like Rev. Jackson, and I find him to be an interesting figure in American history. I am also concerned about the recent spat with Senator Barack Obama, and how that is playing itself out in the eyes of the public. Honestly, I have a couple of perspectives on it, and I can see both sides of the issue:

1) For the longest time, Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton have been accused (rightfully) of not doing all they can to open the door for new black leadership. That is part of what fueled the jealousy accusations thrust at Obama. The problem is that a black leader is not the same as an American leader. Given America's incentives to continue habits of oppression of Black America, a Black leader must be willing to sometimes put himself at odds with the power structure in order to achieve progress. A president would not be willing to do that, which is why Martin Luther King would never run for political office.

2) I was concerned that Rev. Jackson, one of our most influential African American figures, still has to rely on Fox News to get his message to the world. You don't go into your enemy's house to get food you need to survive. This shines a light on the need for more black-owned media outlets.

3) I am not a fan of the notion that everyone assumes that anyone who holds Obama accountable to the black community must be jealous of him. That's just stupid. Wasn't he just trying to hold black men accountable last week? Does that make him jealous of us?

4) When Senator Obama spoke to Latino families, he spoke of a path to citizenship. When he spoke to Jews, he spoke of Israeli security. When he spoke to women, he spoke of abortion rights. When he spoke to the National Labor Relations Board, he spoke of government policies to create more jobs. When he spoke to black people, he didn't offer one single policy solution to the massive unemployment and health problems in the black community. He simply said "You people need to be more responsible." That was an incredibly irresponsible way to talk about personal responsibility.

My question is: Why does the speech change when he appears in front of African Americans? Don't give me that stuff about him being a black man and feeling the need to lecture us over everyone else. That is a flawed assessment because a) Obama is also 50% white but has not given one lecture to White America, b) he is everyone's president, not some kind of boss of Black America, and c) If you can't address racism fairly, including white accountability as part of the conversation, then you should probably not address it at all. That's like talking about the War in Iraq and not mentioning George Bush.

The final question is: Why are black people so quick to accept negative public statements about their own people? Why don't we demand the same pride and respect that other groups demand? Are we the only ethnic group in America with individuals who are less than perfect? If not, then why are we the only ones being lectured for poor behavior? Why can a conversation with African Americans not focus on policy solutions from OUR GOVERNMENT that allow us to overcome 400 years of negative policy toward our communities? Don't we need the same policies that white women, Jews, and Latinos need or are we the only group being asked to ignore the use of our taxpayer dollars to help solve our problems?

I have always been a full advocate of personal responsibility and tough love. But the key part of the term "tough love" is the word "LOVE". Tough love that is shared in order to appease and get votes from enemies of black people doesn't quite qualify.

No wonder Bill O'Reilly loved Obama's speech.

Dr Boyce Watkins: Michael Pfleger, Black People, Barack Obama

As I prepare for my road trip to several states for various meetings and speaking engagements, I wanted to leave people with a question of the day. These are the things that sit on my mind as a black man at 1:18 in the morning. So, in spite of the belief that all black men are out figuring out ways to be bad fathers or stealing from little children, this black man is at home thinking. I think a lot and that's the benefit of living by yourself. In spite of my presence in the world, you would be surprised at how much time I get to spend with internal dialogue. Personally, I think this is an important part of finding out who you really are and rising above all the crap in our society.

Here is my question:

Have you noticed that most people who agree with Senator Obama's critiques of the black community are the people who are not affected by the critique? Women agree that black men need to stop being deadbeats. Good fathers agree that bad fathers need to stop being bad fathers. Middle class black people agree that the poor need to have better morals. My follow-up question is: how would these individuals respond to Obama's critiques if they were leveled at THEM? What if he were to say that black women need to be kinder to men so they won't leave their relationships? What if he were to criticize middle class African Americans for forgetting about their responsibility to those they left behind in the inner city? What if he were to criticize black academics for spending too much time in petty ivory tower politics and too little time engaged in meaningful intellectual leadership?

I don't agree with any of the critiques I've mentioned above, although I've heard people state them. I personally believe that all cultures are heterogeneous, with good people and bad. No group is worthy of being cast aside as solely demonic. I used these examples because I noticed that it's easier for all of us to accept a critique when it is directed at someone else. It is much harder to accept criticism when it is directed at us.

While many in White America enjoyed hearing Obama criticize black men for needing an upgrade in personal responsibility, they did not respond similarly when Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger criticized White America for an irresponsible commitment to racial inequality.

It's funny how people behave when the tables are turned. I would not, like Rev. Jackson, say that I want to remove Obama's testicles for his unwillingness to critique White America. Based on the fear he is showing in this election, it appears that they may have already been removed. Impress me Barack: "Tell it like it is" to someone else. Unless, of course, black people are the only group in America with something wrong with them, or perhaps you're just afraid to do so.

I'll be Talking Money on Al Jazeera Today

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net

It appears that the Federal Reserve is making big moves to prepare for the possible failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two major players in the housing market. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks of using up to $300 Billion dollars to extend a line of credit to these institutions in order to avert their failure.

I'll be discussing our nation's financial irresponsibility on Al Jazeera, an international news network. I like Al Jazeera, it's a great place to give commentary. Al Jazeera viewers exist mostly in Asia, Europe and the Arab world, so it's audience is much bigger than CNN or networks we are familiar with. What I love most about Al Jazeera is that they love me as a financial expert. Most American shows don't consider black men to be financial types, so they only call me when they want to talk about "black stuff". Al Jazeera understands that a financial expert can also have brown skin.

When it comes to the Fed stepping in with billions to bail out irresponsible home buyers who can't afford their mortgages, I don't want to hear A DAMN THING about black male irresponsibility. Again, as I continue to explain, black people are not the only ones who deserve to be lectured by our leaders. I hope Obama hear's this. Holding Obama responsible doesn't mean you hate him. It only means you are holding him to the same standards he is allegedly holding black men....the last thing we need is another black man not wanting to be held accountable (LOL).

If Obama, McCain or anyone else wants to find someone to lecture about irresponsibility, they only need to visit a frat party on a college campus on a Friday night. Perhaps they can find one of the hundreds of thousands of new alcoholics and rapists created in these embarrassing environments. The next time someone talks about kids in hip hop, you can make reference to the drunken frat boy as a counter model. The point is that irresponsibility knows no racial boundaries, so we need to stop thinking that way.

I refuse to accept racial stereotypes or ostracism of black males. It is wrong and unfair, and what's worse is that many black people continue to buy into the notion that we are more flawed than everyone else. Black people, let's learn to love ourselves, ok? We will never be perfect enough to deserve love from those who see black men as less than human. That's just a fact.

Yes, we've got to do better, but if a conversation starts with "This is what's wrong with you", it's not going to get very far with me. I am getting sick of the self-hate and I refuse to accept it.

More Jesse Jackson Interviews: Quick Thoughts on Jackson and Obama

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net


Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama: I think those are two names that I don't want to mention for a while, since my brain has become saturated with those words. As a man who supports both of these guys, I hate the idea of being caught up in this unfortunate situation. Jesse's comments about Barack were certainly tough to deal with. However, I fully understood the sentiment behind the words. And come on, it's not as if all of us don't talk smack when we are behind closed doors.

I have avoided dealing with the so-called "mainstream media" on any of this, because I have no interest in persuading 100 million Americans to show respect for someone that they've decided to disrespect. The field is already rigged against you, and it's like playing in a basketball game where the other side owns the refs, and puts your basket 200 feet in the air. Not that I don't like the CNNs, MSNBCs, and other networks, but these media are not owned by African Americans, and I am not convinced that others will ever tell the black story in the appropriate way (note what happened to Jeremiah Wright when he went back to this same media to restore his image). My job is to get black people to love and respect ourselves, not to persuade the perpetuaters of historical oppression that we are worthy of love. I'll leave that to Barack Obama, who will likely never even ask our government to apologize for slavery.

With that said, I am going to vote for Barack. But I don't have the teary-eyed love affair with Obama that the rest of Black America has right now. The truth is that he has not, from what I've seen, done anything for black people as of yet. When I talk to established, well-respected community organizers in the South Side of Chicago, none of them can think of a single thing that Obama has ever organized or done to help the people in that community. That doesn't mean that Obama is a fraud, but it means that I am like the girl you must buy a ring for before I let you sleep with me. In other words, I don't want to just get screwed.

Here are some quick questions I have about this situation, which I will leave you to ponder:

1) What is it that makes us feel that we should immediately trade in 40 years of hard work for black people in exchange for a few speeches on hope and change? It doesn't mean that the speeches weren't nice, but so far, they are just words. I need to see more than that, and after seeing Obama back up on the FISA bill and a few other things, I am curious as to whether or not his words have any more value than the words of any other successful politician.

2) When there is another Hurricane Katrina, who is going to show up? Will it be Jesse Jackson or Barack Obama? If Obama doesn't show and we provide excuses for him, doesn't that imply that we still have a critical role to be played by the Jesse Jacksons of the world?

3) Why does everyone justify Obama's speech about the irresponsibility of African American fathers (since I guess everyone else is perfect and we are not) by citing the fact that his own father abandoned him? Sorry to be nitpicky, but OBAMA'S FATHER IS NOT AN EXAMPLE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE IRRESPONSIBILITY. His father was KENYAN. So, not only are black males being attacked for things we do ourselves, we are also being attacked for stuff being done by others across the sea. How fitting.

I am not against Obama, I support him. Anyone is better than McCain. But to get my whole hearted support, you have to truly prove that you are a soldier on the front lines in the fight for fairness in America. Jesse Jackson has proven that via 40 years of death threats (he was one of the top 3 leaders in the world most likely to be assassinated during the 1970s). When Barack Obama has spent years fighting for fairness in America, then I will give him that same respect.

If someone loves you for years, with ups and downs in the relationship, you must be careful before running off to marry the first person who whispers sweet words in your ear. Talk is cheap, so black people need to focus on asking for action. Keep that in mind as you replace Dr. King's picture on your living room wall.

Black Fathers, FISA, Muslims: All Part of the Same Agenda

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.net

I had a friend who sent me an email in which he was livid over Barack Obama's recent flip-flop on the FISA Bill. He was outraged that Obama would allow his right-leaning agenda to cause him to embrace a bill that clearly violates American civil liberties.

I agreed with my friend, since I too have been shocked at the lengths to which Obama has gone in order to appease the right wing. He is losing supporters on the left fast, and the wide-eyed optimism he met during the primaries is long gone. I hope he knows what he's doing.

What I found most ironic about my friend's irate email is that he and others had just told me that I should "chill out" over my concern about Barack Obama's Bill O'Reilly-like Father's Day Speech. During the speech, Obama clearly implied that black fathers are the worst dads in the country, and that black men not living in the homes with their children are behaving like little boys instead of men (listen carefully to his words: "Nowhere is this more true than in the black community.....too many fathers are not in the home.....they are behaving like little boys instead of men"). He mentioned nothing of the Draconian child support laws that put men in tough financial positions (thus threatening them with prison time for trying to see their kids without having the money to do so), nor did he mention the rampant parental alienation that can occur when the custodial parent refuses to allow the father to see his child or poisons the child against his/her dad. What's worse is that black men who are doing the right thing were forced to have their special day marred by a politician appeasing conservatives by spending the entire day talking about those who are screwing up.

Obama's attack on black men is like my showing up to your birthday party with a list of all the things I hate about you. I could say "On most days, you're a good friend, but on a lot of days, you're just a bastard and a bad person." That would be a tough way to spend your birthday. It's also a bad way to spend Father's Day, a day to celebrate good fathers, rather than holding an entire ethnic group responsible for the bad ones.

What's even more interesting is that these attacks provide excuses for discrimination against black men, not educating black men and the continued mass incarceration black men. After all, if black men would just behave better, we wouldn't have any reason to continue attacking them so much. This is all part of what I call "The good negro behavior protocol", in which our community truly believes that if we would just behave ourselves, the world will stop attacking us. The truth is that if someone doesn't like you, they are always going to be quick to point out your imperfections.

I can further analogize the hypocrisy of these attacks on black fathers to be like my telling you that you are a bad person because your breath stinks and leaving the smell of my own breath off the table for discussion. While over 50% of white males also divorce their spouses and don't live with their children, I dare Obama to give a speech telling them that they are behaving like little boys. Don't give me that stuff about him being a black man and having the moral authority to give that speech. He is also 50% white, so he has just as much moral authority in the white community. Also, whenever he is asked to take a stand against racism (i.e. standing by Jeremiah Wright and his church for the past 20 years), we are firmly reminded that he is "everyone's president" and not just the "black candidate".

What people have to realize is that Obama's support for FISA, his insults to the Muslim community and his recent attacks on black men are all part of the same agenda. There is a REASON that the great racist Bill O'Reilly agrees with everything this man has been doing for the past 3 weeks. It's because it all fits neatly into the same bucket of conservative thought: black men are flawed, the constitution is dispensable and being a Muslim is associated with terrorism. In other words, Obama is being forced to abandon his own intellect to cater to racial ignorance, all so he can have access to the White House.

My friend and some of my other colleagues are so irate with Obama that they are considering taking away their support and backing Cynthia McKinney. I am going to continue supporting Obama. But I could not help but chuckle when seeing my friends who told me to "chill out" suddenly going up in arms when the gun of the right wing was pointed at them. Racial ignorance is like a contagious disease: if your friend is attacked by the symptoms, you are not too far down the list. Obama's Right Wing push is hitting everyone.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, CBS and ESPN. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.net.

How I learn from the Black Community

One of the best things about having nearly 100,000 people come through our website each week is that I get such enlightening information from the community. That is part of the reason I invited readers to comment on Senator Obama as I prepare my thoughts for the upcoming BET special.

One email I received this week was from a man named Justin White, political science expert in Cleveland. I felt that his email was so insightful that I wanted everyone to learn from it:

Email from Justin White, a YBW Family Member from Cleveland, OH


A little personal background...This political process supports an hypothesis that I have submitted to students in classes for nearly 20 years while doing adjunct faculty work. Among other social science coursework, I teach social welfare policy and urban politics. Naturally, the current political culture, with respect to recent history, results in spirited discussion and interesting papers. I also speak as a brother; a baby boomer and; a resident of an almost exclusively black and not too prosperous suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

The above mentioned hypothesis...It has been apparent to me for some time that African-Americans, for good reasons (and some not so good) do not understand the fundamental differences between electoral politics and protest politics. But, this election due to its duration and complexity, is becoming a graduate course for the community. Friends and colleagues are redefining themselves with respect to the manner in which they and other black folk should demonstrate civic participation. We are volunteering thoughts and feelings to each other unlike anything I have seen since the "rap sessions" of the early seventies.

Rather than applying the "conventional wisdom" that so frequently results in myths and derogatory conclusions, I believe we need dialogue and research that addresses the relationships between black civic/political participation and the existence (absence) of the types of institutions that engineer and support political participation. All the while remembering that African Americans are a minority people and the blueprint for these institutions generally reflects the dominant culture.

Today's political process, at least as we view the percentages of black voters who support Obama, indicates the utility of electoral politics as a factor in creating cultural bonds that offset social and economic divisions. (sounds like another hypothesis in the making)

I hope that of African American academics like yourself and Michael Dyson can assist us as we negotiate the political, cultural and social learning curves related to blacks taking on leadership responsibilities in electoral politics. This is not to place an unbearable onus on you. That would be unfair. The often amorphous, but real, "black community" must become engaged in every respect, by all forms of media to overcome the habit of ignoring its scholars. Your website is so important in that regard.

Barack Obama is living the "Jackie Robinson Syndrome" as he negotiates the dominant cultures' institutions in the absence of black institutions designed to support and strengthen him. Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton forewarned us 40 plus years ago in the classic book Black Power about the need to develop political institutions that are reflective of the culture. Again, I believe there is a a basic assumption to be considered...politics, whether they be electoral, protest or those politics associated with specified public policy, can and will define culture.

Additionally, Black Power's thesis was, in some regards, old wine in new wineskins if the messages of DuBois, Garvey and some others are carefully examined.

So now that we have all been caught unprepared by the politics of today, the leadership of academicians who still have a semblance of a resonating voice, is "so welcomed". We must support you and dialogue with you just as we make every effort to do the same for and with Barack Obama. I hope Obama's organization functions so that he can be reasonably receptive. I worry because I do not see the strong black institutions required to support this idea.

Personally, I cringed twice-over at Obama's politicizing of black fatherhood just as you expressed on your website. I heartily agree with your sentiments about that. I also believe that Obama, as a politician needs the fuel for more cogent commentary and that must come from all of us...ie black educators, researchers, teachers, social workers etc.

In addition, that unfortunate commentary was an example of the need for social science to provide us all with knowledge that countervails the current diatribe that currently prevails about black folks.

Again, I highlight the merits of your website as well as Michael Dyson's book that answered Bill Cosby . I just wish I could receive your beautifully thought out sentiments directly. I will sign on again.

Very Sincerely,

Justin White

Black People Catering to Lies and Ignorance: Nothing Ever Changes

I did a recent reflection on the life of boxer Joe Louis. One thing I didn't mention was a part in the documentary mentioning journalists who argued that Joe Louis should not be allowed to fight for the heavy weight title because it would lead to chaos. When the previous black champion, Jack Johnson, fought for the title and won, there were riots around the country. Whites could not stand the idea of a black man being champion, so they took out their anger with lynchings, and other forms of violence across America.

When I saw the journalists' arguments that "this black man should not engage in free will because white people might get mad", I thought about the election of Senator Obama. I continuously get one email after another, from well-meaning people who want to see the Senator get elected. In the emails, they say something to the effect of "Please don't talk about racism, even if it's true. White people might get mad and Senator Obama will not get elected."

In other words, not much has changed. We are still forced to run from the truth and hug a lie, all so white people don't get mad at us. I'm honestly tired of that crap.

Here is a response I sent to a reader who asked me to hold back my words on Senator Obama during an upcoming BET special so that I don't jeopardize Obama's chances of getting elected.

I hear what you are saying about "keeping quiet till the election". But I was not raised to cower in fear over what White America thinks of our words. I am also not a fan of encouraging leaders to point out flaws in African Americans, while simultaneously ignoring the flaws in other ethnic groups. This is a 400 year tradition, and it's time for this to stop.

So, I'm sorry brother. I plan to hold Barack accountable. That doesn't mean I don't support him. But just like in an abusive marriage, if you don't ask for respect, you won't get it. Black people must support Obama from a position of respect, or we will get another politician with a black face and not much else.

On the parenting issue, I know quite a few kids who aren't black who don't have fathers in their homes (50% of white Americans have absentee fathers). So, this notion that African Americans behave as animals who care less about our children than other ethnic groups has got to stop. We must think highly of ourselves and encourage brothers to try harder, while simultaneously having the courage to challenge the systems that make it difficult for a man in the inner city to provide for his family. We must not be victims of the system and silently take this abuse.

Obama was wrong to attack black fathers on father's day. I would never attack mothers on mother's day, no matter how many bad mothers I've seen. That would be wrong, but for some reason, we feel it is ok to do that to black men. This is not uncommon, since it is not a coincidence that black men are most likely to fill the prisons and black boys are 5 times more likely to be placed in special education (I was one of them). Even successful black men look down on other black men, which I find regrettable. As a successful black man, I encourage brothers to keep trying, and when I point out bad daddies, I don't just point my finger at the black man.

Remember: "tough love" should also involve the word "love". I saw no love in spending all of Father's Day embracing conservative stereotypes and acting as though black men are the only bad dads in America. To hell with that: I didn't hear ONE SINGLE SPEECH GIVEN IN ANOTHER VENUE where Obama took the same tone with any other group. There was a REASON that Bill O'Reilly applauded Obama's comments. O'Reilly, the man who was recorded in the middle of a sexual harrassment lawsuit, feels that he and other white males are morally superior to black men, and such comments by Obama only affirm that stereotype. I won't stand for that kind of behavior, not on my watch. Black people should not accept these double standards either and stop allowing ourselves to be demeaned in ways that are not acceptable for other groups. If I yell at your child and tell him "Your feet really stink and so does your breath. In fact, kids in your family tend to have the smelliest feet in the world.", that is not a positive comment, especially if my breath stinks as bad as his does. The truthfulness of my words becomes secondary to the fact that I have only berated him and excluded him, as if my own feet don't stink. Of course, he may go home and wash his feet and brush his teeth, but the truth is that I don't like the kid and I want to make him feel inferior. Making such a comment, without balance of judgement and positive reinforcement, is not going to lead to a productive interaction, especially if I then try to argue that the scent of my own breath is off the table for discussion.

Black men must move forward with positivity. Negativity won't work and I consider it unacceptable. I respect black men as much as I respect black women. We must respect one another if we are going to strengthen our community.

Again, I support Obama, but I am not an "anything goes" kind of brother. People who fall for the "anything goes" mentality usually get ignored and left behind. I am not interested in being a victim, and I will challenge the systems of this country until the day I die.

Stop hating yourself. Love yourself, improve yourself, and fight diligently against anyone who chooses to berate your people under the guise of "tough love". If they are doing it to black men in the inner city, guess what? They are sitting in the back rooms of your corporate executive suite saying the same stuff about YOU. Don't get it twisted, we are in this boat together.

Statistics Show that Barack Obama was Wrong about Black Fathers

Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote an excellent piece citing a study that shows that black absentee fathers are more engaged with their children than white absentee fathers or absentee fathers of any ethnic group.

Many black males continue to be insulted by Barack Obama and his speech writers relying on stereotypes rather than hard evidence in his Father's Day Speech. Barack is a man whom I will always respect, but what he has done is unforgivable.

What's more interesting, as Earl correctly points out, is that Barack's father was not African American. He was a Kenyan National who wanted to leave the country. So, perhaps we should spend some time asking ourselves why we were so quick to accept this blanket indictment of black men, while allowing Obama to use his own father's choices to provide moral authority for him to use stereotypes.

I consider Barack to be one of us. But he also represents "all of us". Rather than pandering to the crowd and telling them what they want to hear, I hope that one day he can gain the courage to tell people what they NEED to hear.

What Barack Obama did to the good black fathers of America was wrong. My urgency in supporting him is not as great as it was before. With each passing day, I become more and more confused as to whether we are putting a black man in the white house, or a man who is afraid of being associated with other black men. When it is time for him to take a stand against racism, I hear that he is "everyone's president", not the black candidate. But when it comes time for him to attack black men with petty stereotypes, I hear that he is a "black man" and therefore, able to engage in these sorts of attacks.

Which one is it? I grow weary of the games.

Black Fathers, Black Men, Black Relationships

I received a lot of interesting feedback on my open letter to Senator Barack Obama. In the letter, I was applauding Senator Obama’s conclusion that black men should be better fathers. At the same time, I questioned the fact that only the flaws of black men and black culture are acceptable for public discourse, while the flaws of other ethnic groups are left off the table. Isn’t Obama trying to be “everyone’s president”? If so, then why isn’t he criticizing everyone equally? Don’t get me wrong, I hate bad fathers, because my father abandoned me as a child. But this notion that “those black men need to get it together and learn to be fathers” is not only inaccurate, but misguided.

To give you an example of the flaws of single-minded analysis, let’s assume I was describing “America’s Dad”, Bill Cosby. Someone could accurately state that “Bill Cosby needs to learn a lot about personal responsibility. He cheated on his wife, had an illegitimate child in the affair and then had his daughter sent to jail when she needed him!” Such a statement is certainly accurate, but it would be misguided and one dimensional. Bill Cosby has numerous contributions to our society that go far beyond his desire to cheat on his wife and send his child to jail.

If a one dimensional portrayal of an individual is problematic, then a one dimensional portrayal of 18 million men is damn near criminal. The notion that “all those black men need to stop” is an insult to the millions of black men who do the right thing. It is no more flawed than someone taking a video camera to the dirtiest trailer parks in America and saying, “This is how white people live.” Yes, this is how SOME white people live (the statement is technically correct), but it is not how ALL white people live (one-dimensional). The same way every white woman would not want to be compared with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, every black man does not want to be compared to Flavor Flav and 50 Cent.

On father’s day, I did not spend one second thinking about the black man who abandoned me. Instead, I spent that time celebrating the scores of black men who were there for me. When I talk about the craziness of kids in the hip hop generation, I am equally concerned about the millions of college students on white campuses who think that drinking till you puke every weekend is normal behavior. The desire to be honest and “tell it like it is”, if possessed by our president, should be equally strong and forceful in all directions, not just for groups in which the message fits with pre-existing racialized norms and stereotypes. Whether Senator Obama’s words were correct is not the entire issue, since there are many things I can say about you right now (good or bad) that would be technically correct (i.e. The Bill Cosby example above). The question is whether or not I am being too selective and destructive in my analysis. I can’t imagine Senator Obama speaking at the Vatican on Christmas and saying “All those Catholic Priests need to stop molesting children”. Yes, child abuse has been a problem in the Catholic Church, but it would be unacceptable to dampen the celebration of Jesus’ birth by painting the entire priest population with the actions of a subset.

While I know some black men (and white men) who abandon their kids, I know far more men who are right there with them. I know many men who want to be with their children, but they are dealing with an overbearing, hyper-dominant custodial parent who doesn’t allow him to see his child. I know a lot of men who wanted to stay married, but the conditions of the marriage were unacceptable, or their wives left them. I know many men who would have gladly taken their children with them after the divorce, but their wives (who refused to remain married) did not let the children go. In fact, I get many calls and emails from men around the country to this effect. So, if we are going to point out of the flaws of black men, we need to point out the role that EVERYONE plays in the breakdown of American families. The notion of flat out abandonment, while easy to construct and comfortably fitting with the negative portrayals of black men in America, is inaccurate in many cases. To say that fatherless homes are completely the fault of irresponsible black men is like saying that broken families are the fault and sole domain of black women who can’t manage their relationships. Both statements would be correct in some cases (we all know at least one insane “baby mama”), and flat out wrong in others.

Mother’s Day is not a day to assault divorced women for being bad mothers or to assume that they are doing things to tear their own families apart. Independence Day is not the day to remind our government of the millions we kill around the world every year. Similarly, Father’s Day is not the day to tell all black men that we are terrible dads. You don’t spend Christmas talking about the devil. Father’s Day is not a day to obsess over bad fathers, it is a day to show respect for the good ones. Also, negative stereotyping should be challenged, since 18 million men do not move with the same mind. I can’t find a single media story that focuses on the millions of rank and file black men who do remarkable things in the world, but I can always find a stack of haters who swear that black men are the worst creatures on the planet.

I love you Barack, but please don’t ever paint me and other men with a brush we don’t deserve. All of us don’t behave in the ways of your father (the Harvard educated man who likely played some role in the fact that you went to Harvard as well). Also, we are not always the ones responsible for the breakdowns of our relationships. We know that good fatherhood is critical, and the instinct of men to care for young children doesn’t disappear with black men. At the same time, we can all do better to make American families stronger, since many Americans (not just black people) see their families ripped apart by divorce every year. I am not sure how anyone in their right mind can lay all these problems solely at the feet of black men. We’ve got to be more responsible than that.

Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama

From Dr. Boyce Watkins

Dear Senator Obama,

I recently read about your Father’s Day comments at a predominantly black church. In your remarks, you mentioned that too many black fathers are absent from the lives of their children. “We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception” were your words.

As a boy whose father abandoned him at birth, I applaud your commitment to strong fatherhood. I also agree 100% with your commitment to personal responsibility, for this is how I’ve lived my life, as I’ve sent my God daughter and little brother to Ivy League institutions. I do, however, have some questions for you:

1) If you have a message about the value of fatherhood, why did you wait to speak at a predominantly black church to give the message only to black parents? As a man who has taught mostly non-black students at the college level for the past 15 years, I can assure you that black parents do not have a monopoly on bad parenting. If I didn’t know you better, I would believe that you somehow feel it is OK to criticize the black community, while the courage to “tell it like it is” wanes when you are speaking to an audience that is not black.

2) While we’re attacking black fathers for the poor choices of some (not all) individuals in this group, did you make an equally valiant effort to hold the non-black community accountable for their extraordinarily high and equally devastating divorce rates? Divorce is arguably more detrimental to the well-being of a child, since one solid, consistent parent can be better than having two parents who fight like hell, rip your family apart and abruptly reduce your standard of living. I am not a bible thumper here, but it seems that if you are attacking black men for what some of us do wrong, you would construct an equivalent message to be shared with everyone. In fact, based on my experience working with CNN, part of me believes that if 99% of black men did everything right, the media and politicians would find joy in focusing on the 1% who make bad choices. That’s why Michael Vick will always get more airtime than the hundreds of Morehouse Men who graduate from college every year.

3) Is Father’s Day a time to celebrate the actions of wonderful fathers or to become obsessed with the choices of neglectful fathers? In spite of what you and others may lead the media to believe, black men have just as much of a commitment to black youth as white men. I would encourage you to be more optimistic in your Father’s Day addresses in the future, as those of us who try to do the right thing find it ironic that politicians want to paint us with the brush created by men who do the wrong thing. I didn’t spend Father’s Day complaining about the one man who abandoned me. I spent that day celebrating the five men who were strong enough to take his place.

4) While you seem to have moved away from almost any discussion of race in your campaign, we as a black community (including myself) have continued to support you. However, I find it odd that one of the few times you feel comfortable mentioning race is when it is time to paint the entire black male community as a pack of neglectful fathers. I would have no problem with a message on the importance of good fatherhood were it delivered in a mixed race venue and left out the word “black”. I know a lot of men who aren’t black who could use such a message. In fact Senator Obama, I would prefer that you not even mention race in this election. I will continue to give you my support if you are race neutral, for I truly understand the political damage of you being painted as the “black candidate”. However, if you decide that one sided attacks of African American males (who are already attacked, disdained and misrepresented by nearly every segment of society) is a way to get more votes, then I cannot give you my support.

Yes, black men can do a better job, but so can white men, white women, black women and everyone else. The message of “What’s wrong with you brothers?” is getting old and neglects personal responsibility that all of us play in the plight of our society. I am part of an organization (Brothers of the Academy) with hundreds of black male PhDs who are negatively impacted by these consistently harmful messages. To be honest brother, we are getting sick of it.
As I mentioned before Senator Obama, you have my vote. But I expect the same respect you give everyone else as you move forward with your candidacy. If you can give blanket affirmation to Israeli policies against the Palestinians, and you are not allowed to criticize White America for failing to even apologize for the atrocities of slavery, then I expect you to remember that many black men care for our children, just like everyone else.

We sir, are not animals. The same group of black men who created Flavor Flav and Willie Horton also created Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Boyce Watkins and Senator BARACK OBAMA. I hope you will keep this in mind.



Be well,
Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
www.YourBlackWorld.com