Dow posts worst-ever point decline

In lieu of the 700 billion dollar bailout (rejection), the

Dow Jones industrial average dropped 777 points.

Black Art History: Flora Nwapa

Flora Nwapa was Africa's first internationally published female
novelist in the English language. She has been called the mother of modern African literature.

Flora (Nwanzuruahal) Nwapa was born in eastern Nigeria. Both of her parents, Christopher Ijeoma and Martha Nwapa, were teachers. She graduated from the University of Idaban in 1957. Nwapa continued her studies in England, earning a degree in education from the University of Edinburgh in 1958.

As a novelist Nwapa made her debut with Efuru, based on an old folktale of a woman chosen by gods that challenged the traditional portrayal of women. Nwapa also established Tana Press, which published adult fiction. It was the first indigenous publishing house owned by a black African woman in West Africa. Between 1979 and 1981 she produced eight volumes of adult fiction. Nwapa also set up Flora Nwapa and Company, a publishing company that specialized in children's fiction. These books combined Nigerian elements with general moral and ethical teachings. Flora Nwapa embodied and enouraged the example of breaking traditional female roles of wife/mother, by striving for equality in society. Nwapa did not call herself a feminist but a "womanist".

Wow

'The Penguin'

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The disease attacks the liver and is contracted through blood-to-blood contact. Intravenous drug use or blood transfusions are the typical means
of contracting the virus. An estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected by hepatitis C. No vaccine
is available. Early detection and and anti-viral medication can completely clear up symptoms of infection. Advanced infection causes cirrhosis and/or liver cancer.

Celebrities with Hepatitis C: Pamela Anderson, Naomi Judd, Natalie Cole, Greg Allman,
David Crosby, David Marks, Steven Tyler, Dusty Hill, Natasha Lyonne, Ken Watanabe

'Who You Wit II'

Black Art History: Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin Van Peebles is a novelist, playwright, musician, composer, actor, editor, director, producer, options trader and icon of Black American cinema. Still alive today, he is most recognized for his association with the movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.
Melvin Peebles was born on August 21, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois. He met his wife, Maria Marx, while in the
Air Force in 1955. The two were married and three and a half years later he left the military for Mexico. In Mexico he dabbled as a painter and became a father. Peebles then moved to San Francisco where he worked
as a cable car operator. He was fired from his job, so he capitalized on the GI Bill and moved his family to Holland in 1959. Peebles enrolled at the University of Amsterdam to study astronomy, added the “Van” to his name and continued pursuing creative projects. Melvin and his wife Maria soon divorced. Maria returned to the States with her children Mario and Megan, while Melvin joined the Dutch National Theater. To make ends meet Melvin worked as a street performer and translated comic sequences (to French) in MAD magazine.

In 1967, using a $60,000 grant from the French Cinema Center, Van Peebles wrote, produced and directed a full length movie called The Story of a Three-Day Pass. But Melvin's first Hollywood film was the 1970 comedy Watermelon Man, written by Herman Raucher. The movie was about a casually racist but well meaning white man who wakes up black and finds himself alienated from his friends, family and job. Van Peebles wrote, directed, co-produced, scored, edited and starred in his most famous movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1970). The film received an X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. It launched the career of Earth Wind And Fire, a group featured on the soundtrack of the movie. The film was the first of its kind and paved the way for classics like Shaft (1971) and Coffy(1973). 'Sweetback' lacked (narrative) polish and experienced actors but it should be noted that it provided an inside point of view of the Black experience.

Little Known Fact: Melvin Van Peebles was the first Black American to hold a seat on the American Stock Exchange. He was a trader with Timber Hill, Incorporated. His book, Bold Money: A New Way to Play the Options Market describes how to use discretionary funds to invest in more volatile positions other than fixed income products like Treasury Bills and CDs.

Australian scientists discover hundreds of new species

According to findings released Thursday, marine scientists have discovered hundreds of new animal species on reefs in Australian waters. Australian researchers conducted three expeditions, one each in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef's Lizard and Heron islands, and one in the Ningaloo Reef, on Australia's northwest coast. Thousands of samples were collected during the three-week research trips, which took place between April and September.

130 soft corals were found, also known as octocorals, for the eight tentacles that fringe each polyp. Several undescribed crustaceans were also discovered, including tiny shrimp-like animals with claws longer than their bodies.

The project marks the first time any group has made an effort to understand the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef, said Ron Johnstone, a marine science professor at the University of Queensland. The scientists' findings could have direct benefits for humans, Johnstone said. Marine life is used in medicines, and the creatures could also provide clues as to how they cope with climate change and pollution.

Click here for the source

Russian military withdraws from western Georgia

On Saturday, Russian troops began withdrawing troops from western Georgia as part of a deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy is also the current holder of the European Union presidency. Georgia's interior ministry stated that five Russian checkpoints have been vacated near Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti. Russia insists it will keep over 7 thousand troops in a "buffer zone" around the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Do you remember Ren and Stimpy?

Black Art History: Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey was one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century. Bassey performed the theme songs to three James Bond films; Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). She is the only singer to have recorded more than one Bond theme song.

Shirley Bassey was born on January 8th, 1937 in Wales. Her father was a Nigerian sailor, and her mother was from Yorkshire, England. Bassey the Belter started out on the road singing in shows and cabaret. Her style garnered her a recording contract with Philips by the late 1950's. She reached the top of the British charts in 1959 with 'As I Love You' and again with 'Reach for the Stars/Climb Every Mountain'. This lead to Bassey being picked to sing the theme song to the third James Bond movie. Her brassy yet sexy voice delivered the James Bond legend perfectly and it became a big hit in America. She would go on to have minimal success in the
U.S. but her popularity never waned in Europe. Kanye West's single, 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone', heavily sampled Shirley Bassey's 'Diamonds Are Forever'. Kanye's version earned him a 2006 Grammy Award.

Shirley Bassey performs 'Diamonds Are Forever' and 'Goldfinger'

On 31st December 1999, Bassey was declared a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. Dame Bassey has also been awarded France's top honour, the Legion d'Honneur, to signify her everlasting popularity and importance in French culture.

Honor killings persist in Pakistan

As reported by local journalist Saarang Mastoi, Fatima Fauzia (16) and Jannat Bibi (18) were beaten, shot,
and buried alive on the night of July 14th (2008). The crime occurred in Babakot, Pakistan. Babakot is a
small village of farmers and sheepherders in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Fatima and Jannat took a taxi
to see there boyfriends that night. The girls were talking in the back of the taxi about their plans to meet
the boys at a local restaurant and then go to a civil court to marry them.

The taxi driver dropped the girls off then drove back to their village to inform their family members about
the secret plans he had overheard in the back of his taxi. The girls’ plot to elope came after their male relatives and tribal elders refused them permission to marry the boys because they were from another tribe.

The families of the girls belong to the wealthy feudal Umrani tribe in Balochistan. The uncle of one of the girls is a minister in the Balochistan provincial government and deputy leader of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

In 2004, President Pervez Musharraf outlawed "honor killings". Violators of this law earn the death penalty.
But the law is impossible to enforce because the custom has been practiced for hundreds of years. It is protected by powerful feudal lords and tribal elders.

Click here for more information on honor killings in Pakistan

Sexual Chocolate

Nadine Willis

2 minutes with Erin O'Connor

Swedish king to visit Flint, Michigan

King Carl XVI Gustaf is expected to visit Kettering University on September 26th during a two-day trip to Michigan. Kettering is hoping Swedish Biogas International of Linkoping will build a plant in Flint that would convert human waste into vehicle fuel and generate heat, electricity.

Chris Rock Show

Black progress


Esthero

Moroccan blogger sentenced to 2 years in prison

Yesterday, Mohamed Erraji, was given a two-year prison sentence and fined 5,000 dirhams ($626) for displaying a lack of respect for Moroccan royalty, King Mohammed. Erraji's blog accused Morocco's monarchy
of encouraging a culture of dependency where loyalty is rewarded with favors. He wrote, "(Moroccans are a people) without dignity, who live by donations and gifts." In a similar case, a young man who set up a Facebook profile in the name of King Mohammed's brother Moulay Rachid, was jailed in February. The man was released a month later by royal pardon after a worldwide Internet campaign.

Black & White

I took this pic a while back.

Broads give $400 million to bio-med institute

Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad announced, Thursday (September 4th), that they're adding $400 million
to a joint biomedical venture at Harvard and MIT. The donation's purpose is to accelerate research into treatments for debilitating diseases. This endowment comes after $200 million the couple gave to launch the Broad Institute, which was created in 2004. The initial goal of the institute was to bring together scientists and students to take advantage of the info recovered from the Human Genome Project and use it to tackle some of the world's toughest health problems from cancer to infectious, psychiatric, and metabolic diseases.

'Um Sinal'

Black Art History: Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a 19th century Russian author who is considered to be the country's greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born in Moscow in 1799. Many historians believe Pushkin descended, on his mother’s side, from an Ethiopian named General Ibrahim Petrovich Hannibal. This lineage has been tough to confirm.

Pushkin pioneered Russian vernacular at a time when most Russian intellectuals wrote in French. He wrote about 130 poems between 1814 and 1817, which got him into trouble for being outspoken in their political views. In 1830 Pushkin wrote his most famous narrative poem called Eugene Onegin. Many of Pushkin's works influenced other artists, including the opera "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky. Pushkin wrote the play, by the same name, in 1831. The film Amadeus is based on Pushkin's play Mozart and Salieri. Alexander Pushkin died in 1837 due to injuries sustained in a duel.

Egyptian billionaire charged with killing Lebanese pop star

A real estate mogul and member of the Egyptian parliament was arrested Tuesday for the slaying of Lebanese diva Suzanne Tamim. Hisham Talaat Mustafa has been charged with paying two million dollars for the brutal killing of Tamim at her Dubai apartment in July.

'The Rat'

North Korea restarts nuclear work

South Korea stated yesterday that North Korea has begun to restore its nuclear facilities after the country suspended operations last week . South Korean foreign ministry refused
to disclose how they confirmed the North had moved to revive its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.

North Korea said last week it had stopped disabling its nuclear reactor and threatened to restore their plutonium-producing facility, citing the U.S. had not held up its end of the disarmament deal. North Korea has not been removed from the list of 'state sponsors of terrorism'.

Black & White music videos shot in NYC

'Cherish The Day'


'Electric Relaxation'

No more bearskin hats for redcoats?

Yesterday the British military stated that it will come up with some alternative materials to replace the bearskin hats worn by the soldiers who guard Buckingham Palace. PETA, supported by some members of Parliament, says killing Canadian black bears to make the headgear is cruel. There has been a growing sentiment amongst the Brits against using fur for headgear that has no military purpose other than ceremonial adornment. The Defense Ministry buys 50 to 100 bearskin pelts a year to make and repair hats, which can last up to 40 years. A single hat costs about $1,100.

Jeff Buckley

Black Art History: Edmonia Lewis

Mary Edmonia Lewis was the first African American and Native American woman to gain fame and recognition as a sculptor.

She was born Mary Edmonia Lewis in July 1845 in Albany, New York. Lewis's father was African American while her mother was Native American, part of the Chippewa nation. Both her parents died when she was a child. Lewis and her older brother moved in with their mother’s family in Niagara Falls. Three years later, instead of continuing with house labor, Lewis's brother suggested she enroll in school. She was then accepted into Oberlin Preparatory College in Ohio. Oberlin College was one of the first higher learning institutions in the United States to admit women of different races. It was at Oberlin that Lewis became interested in sculpting and began her art carrer.

After college, Lewis moved to Boston where her sculpting continued to develop. She studied under a well known sculptor Edmund Brackett. While working with Brackett in Boston, Lewis met Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, a commander during the Civil War, and created a sculpture of him.

Edmonia moved to Rome in 1865 to continue her study and practice of sculpting. During her time in Rome, Lewis mastered her practice and specialized in portrait busts. She set up her own studio and became a renown sculptor. Many have speculated that Lewis's success in Rome may have been due to her exotic appearance. People were intrigued with her East Indian resemblance and wanted to know more about her. This was quite the opposite from the attention she initially received from Americans.
Lewis eventually came back to the United States where she continued to sculpt. Her work sold for large amounts of money. In 1873 an article in the New Orleans Picayune stated, “Edmonia Lewis had snared two 50,000 dollar commissions.” Her popularity made her studio a tourist destination. Lewis sculpted many portrait busts of important figures during that time period. Her portrait busts included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Brown, Charles Sumner, Abraham Lincoln, and Wendell Phillips. Her sculpture of Longfellow was placed at Harvard University in their Wilderner Library.

In addition to her portrait busts, Lewis was well known for her complete figure sculptures, including Hagar in the Wilderness, Hiawatha, The Marriage of Hiawatha, The Departure of Hiawatha, Madonna and Child, Forever Free, and The Death of Cleopatra (pictured at right).