Ahsan - Under

Soul Train Line and DJ Quik Performance March 20,1999

The Mother Of Hip-Hop Story (R.I.P.)

Sylvia - Pillow Talk

The Whispers - (Olivia) Lost & Turned Out

The Waynesboro Three

I remember the Waynesboro boys as three of only six black guys in Cone Hall at Georgia Southern College during my freshman year in the early eighties.  They were tough,  country dudes with whom I became close friends. We played pick-up basketball together in the old gym or behind one of the male dorms before hitting the books after class or killing time on the weekends.  I liked how my newfound buddies and I debated the future of a new type of music called Rap, with no idea how it would one day impact the world!  We even connected with our white neighbors from places like Lawrenceville,  Marietta, and Dallas,  Georgia.  The six of us joined them once on a hot Saturday night in a massive patty raid across campus.  Only one of the three hung around to graduate.  Henderson,  the toughest of the trio,  took a job in a warehouse in his hometown after his Freshman year. Gabe,  the lady's man,  relocated to Philadelphia to become a boxer at the end of three semesters.  I'll never forget those outstanding men who made life fun.

Republican Party in 2016

The Republican Party can win the presidency in 2016 by shifting strategy.

First, the G.O.P. must cut ties with radical elements within its camp.  For instance,  Republicans should distance themselves from Sara Palin,  Rush Limbaugh,  Michelle Bachman,  the Fox News Channel, and the notorious Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to be victorious in 2016. They stir up misguided passions from the past with their relentless bashing of Obamacare and by seeking to erect new barriers to voting,  such as voter identification laws.  If not, the party will appear less sensitive to the needs of the poor,  minorities, and independent voters, thus ensuring an easier path to victory for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vice President Joseph Biden. 

However, the most divisive element affecting Republican prospects for 2016 is the Tea Party,  a group of ultra-conservatives who caucus with the G.O.P. in Congress.  They defy compromise,  especially regarding healthcare reform, and prefer to shut down the U.S. Government instead of extending the olive branch to the president,  the way moderate Republicans would like to do.  As a result, Lincoln's party is often viewed as overly hostile to President Obama and his policies, which didn't go over well in the 2012 presidential election.

In addition to distancing themselves from extremists within their ranks,  Republicans must pivot to the center if they hope to recapture the White House.  A way to do so would be to nominate former Florida Governor Jeb Bush or Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey for president.  They, like most Americans, advocate rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure and rescuing public education to promote economic growth, unlike right-wing conservatives,  who could never appeal to the middle-of-the-road constituents.  Bush and Christie also backed a balanced federal budget, so Social Security and other pivotal government programs would survive for the next generation. However, their biggest challenge is to break the gridlock in Washington, which means they must abandon efforts to abolish the Affordable Care Act and other Obama programs that don't threaten the economy or national security as a goodwill gesture.

By shifting to the center,  the G.O.P. could also double its voting base.  African Americans,  Hispanics,  Asians,  women, and voters between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five might flock to a party with moderate views on critical issues like abortion,  health care reform,  welfare spending, and gay marriage, unlike the Democratic Party.  It could guarantee victories in much-needed states like Ohio,  Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina and enable the party to hold on to Texas as demographics in the state steadily shift.

So,  for those Republicans seeking a comeback in 2016,  there exists a pathway to victory, not with a candidate who will seek to overturn the Afforable Care Act,  neglect the environment, or scale back Social Security,  but with someone who has style,  vigor, and foresight on the crucial issues of the day.

American Refugee

Sometimes, I feel like a refugee in America.

The unemployment rate for African American males or men like me has topped 14.5 percent, which is twice that of white men, due to racism and too few black-owned businesses. African Americans often faced opposition when attempting to start companies in the past,  causing most to integrate or seek opportunities elsewhere. Black Wall Streets or Harlem-like communities across the country, for example, were routinely singled out because of jealousy or claims of wrongdoing. They were harassed or burned to the ground.

The legal system also conspires against men of color in this country.  Black males are constantly profiled by overzealous law enforcement officers and everyday citizens like neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman,  who was found not guilty of the shooting death of an unarmed black teenage boy whom he hounded.  As a result,  at least half of all African American males between the ages of twelve and thirty-four have spent time behind bars, away from their precious families.

Finally,  my voting rights have been trampled upon over the years.  For example,  the U.S. Supreme Court recently gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act,  while Republicans,  like Democrats a generation ago,  have instituted measures to dilute the voting strength of blacks, like voter I.D. laws and extreme Gerrymandering.

But harping on the past or blaming the system is not the answer when many African American males do not complete high school and engage in unlawful activity. African American men must up their game against incredible odds.

The Lost Republicans August 2013

The Republican Party has undergone a significant change in recent years.  The party was formed in 1854 as an antislavery alternative to the Whig and Democratic Parties and nominated Abraham Lincoln in 1860 as its first presidential candidate.  After his assassination in 1865,  members pushed for far-reaching change in the South during Reconstruction to aid the newly freed slaves. Nearly a hundred years later, in the 1950s and 1960s,  the G.O.P. backed Civil Rights and a balanced federal budget and created the Interstate Highway System to better ship goods and military hardware across state lines, which, due to racism, demolished cherished African American neighborhoods in its wake. 

 But in the Twenty-First Century, the Grand Old Party has backtracked or changed course on critical issues.  Conservatives supported deficit spending during the Bush Administration by backing two costly wars abroad.  They even went along with voter ID laws at the height of the 2012 election despite repeated warnings that doing so could dilute minority voting strength in swing states like North Carolina,  Florida, and Ohio.  Finally,  modern Republicans have vehemently opposed President Obama,  seemingly out of spite,  which has undoubtedly slowed the economic recovery.  If the Republican Party doesn't mend its broken ways and learn from the past,  it could lose again in 2016.

Booker Wins New Jersey Primary

Booker pulled it off in a crowded field to win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in a special election in

 New Jersey.  His next step is to defeat the Republican nominee,  businessman Steve Lonegan,  in  

 October to fill the vacancy created by the death of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.  If elected,  he can fulfill a dream of rebuilding the Garden State with jobs and other programs and from there to the White House.  Only time will tell.

Corey Booker 's U.S. Senate Run (June 2013)

Democrat Corey Booker, the energetic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has announced his intention to run in New Jersey's special U.S. Senate election to fill the seat left vacant by Senator Frank Lautenberg's death.
 
If he wins, he will become the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Barack Obama's 2004 victory in Illinois.

Like Obama, he possesses charisma and style that drive voters to the polls. In 1998, he came out of nowhere to win his first office, a seat on the Newark City Council. Then he embarked on a grassroots effort to become mayor of the city in 2006 and again in 2010, similar to Barack Obama's successful 2008 run for President of the United States.  While in office, he has pursued a middle-class agenda like Obama's concerning jobs, housing, and crime prevention.

But will he be able to compete or hold his own like Barack Obama on the national stage?  Booker's strongest on local issues like law enforcement and public education in a struggling city he has helped to rebuild.  He was even on the front lines during Hurricane Sandy and later made history when, according to published reports, he rescued a homeowner from a burning house.  But can he go up against a top-notch Republican or Democrat on issues like the Middle East, the federal deficit, or the war in Afghanistan?  If not, the race could slip away from him in a solidly blue state.

To win, he must enhance his knowledge of current events yet play up his down-home persona.  It would guarantee him the suburban vote and the support of hardcore cities like Trenton and Patterson as a pathway to victory.

Sports Stories

Mark Richt has served with dignity as the head football coach of the University of Georgia for twelve seasons.

When the Georgia Bulldogs lost the S.E.C. championship game in 2012 against the University of Alabama, he didn't go berserk despite its bizarre ending.  It went down to the wire as Chris Conley was tackled on the five-yard line after catching a deflected pass from quarterback Aaron Murray.  Time expired before Georgia could get off another play.  Instead of acting like a jerk, the way some coaches would have done, he simply packed up his team and headed back to Athens.

When UGA endured a crushing defeat to Clemson University in their 2013 season opener, Mark Richt took the high road.  Even after his team blew a second-quarter lead, Coach Richt stayed calm.  With this heartbreaking loss, the university dropped from number five to eleven in the polls before rebounding the following week against SEC powerhouse South Carolina, thanks to their top leader, Mr. Richt, the strong, silent type, similar to the legendary University of Georgia head coach Vince Dooley.

Finally, in the contest against North Texas State University, when the Mean Green shocked Georgia with a third-quarter 21 to 21 tie, Richt didn't blow his stack. He remained confident that the Bulldogs would pull it out in the end.  As a result, UGA scored twenty-four unanswered points to break the stalemate and win 45 to 21 in a driving rainstorm.  Like in the past, the victory was due to a capable head coach.

Mark Richt deserves much kudos for being level-headed, which is why he is the senior coach in the Southeastern Conference.

Democrats in 2016

The 2016 presidential election will be a hard-fought contest that Democrats can win by rallying the base and fixing the economy, which could be a tall order for the party to fill.

In 2016, Democrats must hold on to the Obama coalition.  The party will need the full backing of African Americans, Hispanics, labor groups, women, and youth voters to keep the White House for three election cycles, especially if the opponent is former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who will likely run a centrist campaign on key issues like jobs, immigration, climate control, and the nation's crumbling infrastructure.  This could steal valuable votes from the Democratic Party in a close election.

Second,  Democrats will not be victorious if the economy has not rebounded.  The unemployment rate must drop below 6.5 percent by mid-2014 for any Democrat to have a fighting chance.  For instance,  the party won't carry Ohio,  Virginia,  Florida,  Nevada, or any other crucial swing state if the job market hasn't improved,  no matter how hard liberals fight to get the vote out on election night, and may not defeat the G.O.P. for years to come.

So, Democrats got their work cut out for them to stay in power in 2016.



                              

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