Yes, the tragedy in Haiti is epic and the suffering is immeasurable.

A need that no one seems to be addressing is the inevitable and immediate need for blood and blood plasma. This is one humanitarian gesture that requires a little more than a text message or a checkbook. It will take 20 min of your time and the use of your arm to save lives. The tragic H.I.V. epidemic in Haiti only exacerbates the problem thus making the need for individual sacrifice of critical importance.
If you …

Displaying more dignity and grace than most anyone else could have mustered under the circumstances, Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, offered a precise explanation of history to address the odious comments Pat Robertson made yesterday while men, women and children lay trapped in agony.

I am absolutely sick of people defending hate filled oratory.
Trent Lott’s comments “weren’t said with malice”.
Rush Limbaugh’s “just trying to rile people up”.
Both words and deeds count.
Think about it.

People.
There’s trouble in our ‘hood.

Our neighbors are bleeding.
Our neighbors need our help.

Please do whatever you can.
Here’s what you can do:
Salvation Army – Haiti Earthquake Relief

American Red Cross – Haiti Earthquake – Red Cross Sends Aid and is seeking volunteers to go. Can you do it?
Via blackperspective.net:
Yobachi Boswell writes: “Food For The Poor is the organization I donated through in 2008, and I was happy with them.” At Yobachi’s urging I, too, donated to Food for the Poor in 2008 and the follow-up was very good.
Yele Haiti is Wyclef Jean’s …

If you have been relying on print, cable or network news outlets for information on the Iranian uprising – you have been missing out. The real, heart gripping action/information has been most available on Twitter. Many of us following the Iranian activists (#iranelections #iran9 #irandemocracy) are also supporting them by retweeting (recirculating to our networks) information/images and taking actions like changing our account locations and timestamps to Tehran to help thwart the Iranian government’s attempt to identify protesters. I believe that instant contact social networks will become increasingly important in …

The ever brilliant Kai Chang has written a post that defines the core reason why the United States needed to attend Durban II and what it means that we didn’t:
“In fact, if one wanted to denounce anti-Semitism, you know what would be a really good place to do that? How about a global anti-racism conference? Norway’s foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in his speech before the assembly: “We who have made a point of defending freedom of expression cannot opt for non-attendance as a strategy, leaving the floor to …

UPDATE: The US will boycott the World Conference against Racism. The Obama administration will boycott “with regret” a U.N. conference on racism next week over objectionable language in the meeting’s final document that could single out Israel for criticism and restrict free speech, the State Department said Saturday. US to boycott United Nations racism meeting – Associated Press

If the United States is sincere about re-establishing its reputation as "the" beacon of liberty and Democracy in the world, then this administration is going to have to wade into conversations that …

Note to the international community: cut it out! Stop using President Obama to sell snacks and services.
First there were "Obama Chicken Fingers" from Germany, now there’s "Duet" ice cream out of Russia to add to the subtly racist Obama food pyramid:
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian advertising agency has used an image resembling U.S. President Barack Obama to promote a new vanilla-and-chocolate ice cream, drawing the ire of human rights groups who said the ad was vulgar.
Ice Cream Plant No. 3 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg launched last week …

Poor Gordon Brown, he’s having a helluva week. First he’s taken on by the Governor of the Bank of England for overspending, and then he gets to sit uncomfortably as his guest, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, goes off on a racially charged, wince inducing tirade about the reason for the global financial mess:
‘This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by irrational behaviour of people that are white, blue-eyed, that before the crisis looked like they knew everything about economics,’ he declared.
‘Now they have demonstrated that …

Bees 1, Racists 0
In Bolivia this morning there’s an event going on that that’s sweetly symbolic. Plan 3,000 is the working class enclave that’s home to many Evo supporters in otherwise hostile Santa Cruz. The people there are sick of the way white racist scum continue to try and lord it over them and so they’re fighting back…with honey.
Eduardo Loayza is director of Radio Integración (yeah you got it, Radio Integration) and from 8am to 3pm today, November 30th 2008, anyone who turns up at the door of the radio …

December 2nd is UN Slavery Abolition Day and we should take notice. It is estimated that there are at least 27 million people enslaved around the world today. At 27 million, more human beings are in bondage than at any other time in history. According to the Christian Science Monitor:
Slaves are cheap these days. Their price is the lowest it’s been in about 4,000 years. And right now the world has a glut of human slaves – 27 million by conservative estimates and more than at any time in human …

In his latest audio, Ayman al-Zawahiri Al-Qaida’s number 2, has the gall to call President-elect Barack Obama "dishonorable" and a "house negro." According to the Associated Press:
CAIRO,Egypt (AP) – Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri insulted Barack Obama in the terror group’s first reaction to his election, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.
The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Al-Zawahri said in the …

Right on. Way to get back to hope.

Hat Tip to Jill of “Writes like she Talks”.

My fellow Afrospear blogger, activist D. Yobachi Boswell, has started a chain I want to continue over here. In his post “A little help can go a long way”, he puts it like this:
I’ve been telling you the last couple of weeks about the absolute devastation in Haiti from being hit by 4 tropical storms and Hurricanes with in less than three weeks. If you missed that, you can read here and here as well.
This morning I made a donation to Food For The Poor, directed to Haitian relief. It …

What book(s) will you pick?
From the Kalima initiative website:
What literature best captures American dreams, opportunities and challenges? Which books could help build mutual understanding between the United States and the Arab World?
Kalima—a non-profit initiative which translates classic and contemporary writing into Arabic—invites Americans to nominate US novels, poetry or short stories for translation for Arabic readers worldwide.
Help build bridges through literature by completing the nomination form (click here).
Which book will you nominate? For my first pick, I’ve nominated ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X.’ I will nominate others as well.
About Kalima

Kalima …

The Beijing Olympics opening ceremony will take place in a few days and frankly I’m feeling frustrated by laissez faire tone of most media coverage. Here we are in America, so pious about “freedom” that we will invade and wage war in the name of spreading democracy. While at the same time, the coverage from mainstream media conglomerates is mostly “rah rah” “go world” rhetoric minimizing the reality that the upcoming games are taking place right in the belly of a totalitarian government. Like bits of clutter thrown under the …