It's My Birthday!

Yup March 22nd has rolled around once again. I can't believe another year has went by. Anyways, I'm still doing it big! This year we're bringing it back around the way, Northside that is.


So tonight, catch me from 6pm to 10pm @ the Young Bros. Bar, 1441 Woods Run Ave. (corner of Woods Run & McClure Aves., Woods Run section of the Northside) Immediately afterwards we're off to Olive or Twist (Downtown Pittsburgh) for Nate the Phat Barber's Black Party!


Just got back from DC at the Take Back America Confab, it was real cool. I did several interviews and apparently a lot of my friends and family listen to the shows I was on. Have a listen to my appearance on Talk Radio News


So as I get ready for extended hours of partying, I'll leave you with something semi-reflective/contemplative/Northside cocky, but no matter what I'll never forget y'all!

Davey D takes on Fox News

My homie Davey D stepped to Fox News real aggressively at the Take Back America Conference. Check it out..

Foxguy
by luvnews

Clutch Performance...

This morning I witnessed history. Listening to a live radio broadcast in the press room at Take Back America, I heard Senator Barack Obama give the speech that may have turned his sputtering presidential campaign around. More importantly, it may have changed our country forever. In one half hour, Senator Obama effectively reframed the debate, retook the high ground and laid out a bold new strategy for his historic campaign. After the speech, a room full of political bloggers, operatives and journalists erupted in a standing ovation, then suddenly a lone voice said, "That is how we are going to take back America". All I can say is....CLUTCH!!!


No matter how you feel about the campaign, understand that today history was made...

Meet Van Jones...

My good friend and colleague Biko Baker once said, "Van Jones is the only person I've ever who truly made the green movement relevant to people in the 'hood." Last week he was in Pittsburgh dropping math and science at the Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference. My friend Nate Doyno said, "His head was about to explode", after building with Van on the movement to create 5 million green jobs for poor people and people of color. In about a 1/2 hour I will go hear him speak for the first time at Take Back America's Plenary Session. I will let you know how it goes...

In the meantime read up on this Super Jedi dude from the Bay Area!

Van Jones: Civil Rights Lawyer, Advocate.

"Dr. King didn't get famous giving a speech that said,"I have a complaint." It's time for us to start dreaming again and invite the country to dream with us. We don't have any "throw away" species, nations, or children. We must birth a global green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty."

Born in rural Tennessee, Jones graduated in 1990 from the University of Tennessee and, in 1993, from Yale Law School. At the age of 27, Jones convinced the California State Bar Association to allow him to begin a program that would provide lawyer referral services for police abuse victims. Jones, a civil-rights lawyer, is founder and executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit agency for justice, opportunities, and peace in urban America. Located in Oakland, California, the Center focuses on campaigning to reform California’s abusive and costly youth prison system, creating opportunities in the "green" economy for poor communities and communities of color, supporting victims and survivors of police abuse and their families, and uplifting young people and addressing Bay Area violence with a mix of activism and street culture.

Jones has lead many campaigns including Books Not Bars, an advocacy program for parents/grandparents of incarcerated youth in the United States. It has been credited with a 30% drop in the total number of youth incarcerated in California. Additionally Jones sits on numerous governing boards, and following Hurricane Katrina co-founded the largest online activist community addressing Black issues (ColorOfChange.org).

While I Was Gone...

Hey y'all this past week has been crazy as hell. I just started a new job last week and headed off for an orientation retreat. This week I will be at the Take Back America Conference in Washington, DC. I will be blogging live from the conference with highlights, insights and tidbits.

Ok, so while I was gone it appears that the flames have spread to epic proportions. Here's just a few examples:

• Eliot Spitzer: The Empire State's moral crusader got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Looks like a once rising star in the Democratic Party is headed for eternal infamy. I mean how do you explain to your wife getting a hooker the night before Valentine's Day?
• Geraldine Ferraro: An case study is crazy talk. I guess I missed her memo that Black Men moved up to the top of "the privilege totem pole". The sad part is I was always down with "Gerrie", ever since she ran for VP in 2004. The Democratic Party is looking like less and less of "shoe in" for 2008. Note to HRC: A scorched earth strategy may not be the best move, when you need 90% of the Black Vote to win.
• Rev. Jeremiah Wright: I guess he didn't get Obama's memo to keep a low profile until the day after the first Tuesday in November. I wonder if he thought he was being helpful to the cause, when he said Hillary has never been called a "N-Word". Maybe it is just me but I think he was just a little off message.

I guess one good thing happened while I was gone, the University of Pittsburgh's B-Ball team won the Big East Tourney last night in New York.

On an even better note, it's about to be March Madness Time!