My sons look like Trayvon

As parents and godparents, we all have to warn our children about the dangers of the world—strangers, bullies, which streets not to walk down. But there's a special pain in explaining to my sons the suspicion and dangers they face, simply by being young black men.

One month ago today, Trayvon Martin was walking through a gated community in Florida with nothing more than an iced tea and a bag of skittles. But being a young black man in a hoodie made him "suspicious" to George Zimmerman, who got out of his SUV, tracked Trayvon down, and shot him dead.¹

On that terrible day, my special pain and fear as a parent became very urgent ... and very real. Racial profiling is a sickness in the soul of our nation. It limits our promise. It divides us. And one month ago, it robbed Trayvon Martin of his life.

Trayvon's story is already inspiring millions in the call for justice and an end to racial violence. It also moved writer/activist Kevin Powell, Akila Worksongs, Jasiri X and the folks at MoveOn and ColorOfChange to record a new powerful video "A Song for Trayvon." Please watch it and share it with your family and friends to inspire more people to join this growing movement:

http://moveon.org/SongForTrayvon?id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=2

When I heard about the news about Trayvon, my eyes welled with tears. I pictured my godson and nephews innocently walking home, just like Trayvon, and then never seeing them again—never hugging them. It was more than I could bear.

That's why I joined a SignOn petition calling for justice for Trayvon. It's been signed by more than 500,000 MoveOn members, and I'm delivering it to the Justice Department today. Already, the public pressure from us and our allies is making a difference.

The Justice Department, the State of Florida, and the FBI have launched new investigations, a new state prosecutor has been appointed, and a grand jury date has been set.² But we need to keep building the call for justice. And we do that by making sure each and every American knows Trayvon's story.

Click here to watch and share a powerful video about the injustice done to Trayvon Martin.

President Obama said, "if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."³ He might be like Trayvon too, and Trayvon might have been like my two boys; or your son; or friends of your children, joining you at the dinner table.

But Zimmerman couldn't see past Trayvon's race and hoodie to the promising young man he was—a football player, a horseback rider, a hero who pulled his father from a burning kitchen.⁴ Trayvon was young, he was alive, he was beautiful.

All of us sharing Trayvon's story and calling out for justice are fighting back against racism and senseless violence, so one day we no longer have to fear our child's walk home in the darkness.

It's up to us to make sure that every person in America knows what happened to Trayvon and how his death moved us to tears and action. Help us grow this movement by sharing this video with everyone you know.

Click here to watch and share Trayvon Martin's story.

Thank you for standing up for Trayvon.

P.S. Today, vigils and rallies are taking place around the country to mark the one-month anniversary of Trayvon's death. To find an event near you, go to http://vigilsfortrayvon.tumblr.com/ or check on Twitter using #vigils4trayvon.

P.P.S. Writer/activist Kevin Powell, who helped pull 500 people together in Brooklyn yesterday for the "A Song for Trayvon" event, has written a stirring and reflective piece for The Guardian on "Trayvon Martin and the fatal history of American racism." Check it out here.

Sources:

1. "Trayvon Martin: Zimmerman was not following Neighborhood Watch 'rules,'" Chicago Tribune, March 24, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273396&id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=6

2. "Calls for justice rage on a month after Trayvon Martin's killing," CNN, March 26, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273406&id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=7

"Obama: Shooting death of Trayvon Martin a 'tragedy,'" Newsday, March 23, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273398&id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=8

3. "Obama: Shooting death of Trayvon Martin a 'tragedy,'" Newsday, March 23, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273398&id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=9

4. "Trayvon Martin's Family Calls For Arrest Of Man Who Police Say Confessed To Shooting (UPDATE)," The Huffington Post, March 8, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273399&id=38007-13187688-nytRq%3Dx&t=10

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Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Shadows&Lights Available NOW"

Shadows & Lights

Scenes Through Verse and Soliloquies

NOW AVAILABLE

Finally it is here FUTURE Fam. I am so so full today and want to share in the joy with you. I hope that you find a piece of yourself, in it, while reading the poems, scenes, songs, and imagery that I express in this debut collection. Share it with yourself, share it with your friends, family, or touch a strangers life with this book.

Thank you.

CLICK HERE

Tune in next Wednesday for more

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness with Cornelius Jones Jr.

Stay connected with me:

www.corneliusjonesjr.com

FaceBook: Cornelius Jones Jr.

Twitter: CorneliusJonesJ

FaceBook Fan Page: FlagBoy Official Fan Page of the Actor

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "World AIDS Day: A SONG FOR YOU"

A SONG FOR YOU

this World AIDS Day

Hello FUTURE & A.A.+W readers. Here is a special piece I created for World AIDS Day. Also follow me tomorrow (Thursday) on facebook: Cornelius Jones Jr. and twitter: CorneliusJonesJ as I will be posting a bunch of videos in commemoration of this special day.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Shadows&Lights"

Coming this DECEMBER

the debut

poetry collection

by Cornelius Jones Jr.

.....only 2 weeks away!!!!

“Jones’ minimalist writing, recalling in some ways E. E. Cummings, carves out finely designed pictographs for the mind to explore. The depictions in his poems of the Momma figure are so endearing and heart-warming, I could almost smell the home cooked meal on the stove as I read the often monosyllabic lines on the page. What Jones can do with one syllable, takes many at least a dozen to get across.”

-Pandora Scooter, CEO Fushicho Entertainment & Spoken Word Artist

"Jones' prose pops and percolates, possessing an immediacy and energy so electric you'd swear you were at a poetry slam. And, as with any riveting performance, you will be on the edge of your seat, captured by the rapture of Jones' "a-to-the-men" testimonies on love and lust, hurt and healing, sadness and celebration. Long before you get to the very last stanza, you will be giving this intensely moving collection--and Jones--a standing ovation."

- James Earl Hardy, author of the bestselling B-Boy Blues series

"Cornelius is simply masterful with the poetic word in Shadows and Lights; he writes with a fire in his soul that burns in the rhythm of his prose. His testimonies are fearless and brilliantly unapologetic. Through his writing, we share the passion of his triumphs and feel the heartache of his pains. He teaches us not only how to live, but how to love - especially ourselves! Kudos to a remarkable man on his extraordinary work!"

- Lee Hayes, author of The Bad Seed and Passion Marks

Shadows and Lights is a moving, intimate portrayal of the life of poet and playwright Cornelius Jones Jr. In this heartbreakingly beautiful book, Cornelius fashions images both brave and delicate to describe growing up black and gay in Washington D.C., the decay of the body and the rage of living with HIV. But it is the writer's honesty that lifts these words off the page. This is experiential poetry at its finest. You must listen to the music of Cornelius Jones Jr.

-Paula Brancato, CEO, The Writers Place --

Professor, University of Southern California

Black Buying Power: Watch Where You Spend Your Money

Most big advertisers don’t respect the African American consumer

By David Alexander, Special to the NNPA from Our Weekly –

How much do most big corporate advertisers respect the African American consumer—25 percent, 15 percent, 5 percent, or one percent?

If you guessed one percent you were wrong. It’s less than that—.68 percent, to be exact.

Of the $263.7 billion spent annually on advertising within the nation, less that one percent is used to target African American consumers, despite the fact that Black buying power is estimated at around $857 billion, according to the 2010 census.

Ken Smikle of Target Market News notes that “the largest single investment corporate America makes is advertising,” but only a trickle is spent targeting African American consumers, a group that has been and continues to be underestimated, underserved, disrespected and misunderstood.

Pepper Miller, co-founder of the Hunter-Miller Group, a multicultural marketing firm, and co-author of the book “What’s Black About It?” explains that one of the most common misperceptions advertisers have is that mainstream publications will reach all possible consumers. Since most African Americans speak English, they generalize, there is no need to market outside of the mainstream publications.

“Marketing is about segmentation, diversity and understanding who your customers are,” counters Miller, who has devoted many years to the field of diverse marketing. But why do advertisers feel that way when these facts are taught in most marketing classes, and when it is known that most African Americans generally distrust the mainstream media?

A 2008 study by Radio One entitled “Understanding Black America” revealed that only 13 percent of African Americans trust the mainstream media, and out of 29 million Blacks, only 2 million can be reached through mainstream publications.

In fact, there is a long history of corporations and organizations using Black newspapers for free press exposure while committing only a paltry amount of their vast advertising budgets to support the same papers that have opened up valuable editorial space to them.

A similar type criticism was lodged against Toyota by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) earlier this year. The NNPA alleged that when Toyota’s image was hurt by devastating recalls a couple of years earlier, the Japanese car maker sought help from the Black press to restore the brand’s image and to encourage African American loyalty. The NNPA charged that Blacks stood by Toyota to the tune of $2.2 billion. However, in its $1.6 billion 2011 advertising budget, Toyota allocated only $20 million to be shared by all African American media, including newspapers, radio and television. And when Toyota ran ads thanking American consumers for remaining loyal, none of the thank-you ads ran in the African American press.

R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive marketing research firm, says African American consumers represent almost 10 percent of Toyota’s U.S. market share, with 15 out of every 100 automobile purchases by African Americans being a Toyota-made automobile.

Unfortunately, the slighting of African American media is a problem even among Black advertisers. The NAACP, the oldest and largest of civil rights organizations, ignored Black publications in advertising its annual Image Awards extravaganza. When doling out its advertising dollars for the event, the organization chose to utilize only mainstream publications. As a result, NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous was the target of much criticism from the Black press. Jealous claimed it was a “grave” oversight. “I am very sensitive to the need to support Black community newspapers. They are the only way to assure Black readers in a given community that you actually want your ads to reach them directly,” he said in response to the criticism.

This questionable marketing practice is also occurring in the music industry, where there are multitudes of African American performers. Despite this fact, the industry has invested few ad dollars targeting African American consumers.

This is occurring at a time when African American businesses and workers are hardest hit by unemployment and the ever-tightening economy.

Many executives in the movie industry are guilty of a similar myopia. They have operated on the assumption that African Americans will not attend a movie that does not have an African American lead and/or cast. However, a study conducted by BET this year revealed that 81 percent of movies seen by African Americans did not include an African American cast, lead actor or storyline. This same study also showed that the average African American goes to the movies 13.4 times a year in comparison to the general moviegoer who goes 11 times a year.

So the question becomes: why are these advertisers slighting their most reliable consumer?

According to a 2008 report from Packaged Facts, which publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer industries, Black buying power is projected to rise to about $1.1 trillion by 2012. There are currently 343,300 African American households within the United States earning $150,000 or more, as well as “819,700 individuals who earn a minimum of $75,000 per year.”

Although a number of companies have profited by marketing directly to the African American consumer, such as McDonalds, Gucci, Lexus, Lincoln, Procter & Gamble, State Farm, Infiniti, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, overall most corporations and organizations have left the African American consumer out when it comes to their ad dollars.

In “Black Is the New Green,” authors Leonard Burnett Jr. and Andrea Hoffman write: “It would be foolish in the extreme not to tap into this rich buying segment, yet this is exactly what the marketing firms of companies (fail to) do all too frequently.”

Click here to read entire article: blackvoicenews.com

What Has Happened To The New Black Generation?

When you look back at what African Americans have been fighting for throughout the decades, you feel nothing but happiness. The bravery that each individual has shown cannot be matched. The fight for equal rights along with the acceptance of multiculturalism is quite remarkable. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Reverend Al Sharpton, and many more activists fought for our rights as US citizens.

You can look back at those times and still get the same reaction. You are amazed on how our culture came together. We didn't just want equal rights. We also wanted acceptance from others cultures.

Now here we are in the 21st century. The new generation of African American males and females are given the power to make a change in the world. To live the lives that the older generation have been for fighting for them to have. It's time for them to continue the legacy and show that we are everyday people just like any other person. Instead, the fighting resulted in something that was never expected.

Crime rates have gone out of control in certain cities. Every time you look at the television screen, you will be sad and disappointed seeing someone that has the color of skin either murdered, arrested, or incarcerated. Back then, men and women were taught to fight with their fists. Nowadays, it has resulted to guns and heavy items like crowbars. Most of it is because of unnecessary things.

Divorce rates are incredibly high. Back in 1966, more than 84% of children were raised in two parent households. Now it's fewer than 33%. Teenagers are not taking life seriously and are just fooling around, letting life go by. Some of these actions resulted in things like underage drinking and teenage pregnancies. The baddest thing is that there are certain parents who support these actions. Instead of trying to stop these things and telling their children that this is not the right way to run your life, they instead are defending them and contributing to their actions.

Another thing that is going on is something that is being called "Cultural Self-Injury". Instead of supporting those who look just like them, trying to make a change in the world, they are attacking them with negative comments and a visual lack of support. Most of it stems from fear. Fear of wanting to change their lives. They want to remain the way it is.

The final straw was when President Barack Obama was elected president. When the results came in, it was discovered that the lowest amount of people that voted for him were African Americans. According to some, they think blacks didn't vote for him because the president is quote "Not black enough."

Of course, there are people who are trying to make a change. There are some who were the first in their family to go to college. There are some who were the first to manage a stable job. Sadly, they are being overshadowed by the dark side of the African American community. It's as if all of those people that marched for our rights did it for nothing. People within the community feel so disappointed, they wished if they were born in another culture. Some have taken it to the maximum by bleaching their skin, so they could be inches away from not looking black at all.

Based on actions like this it makes you wonder. What has happened to the new black generation?

HuffPost to Team Up with BET Cofounder Sheila Johnson on HuffPost GlobalBlack

By David Cohen

The Huffington Post will team up with BET cofounder Sheila Johnson to launch HuffPost GlobalBlack, an online platform that will examine news, politics, culture, opinion, and video through an African-American perspective.

HuffPost GlobalBlack will also feature a group blog with “leading thinkers, newsmakers, personalities, and provocateurs.”

HuffPost co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington said:

We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Sheila Johnson, a true media visionary, on creating what we hope will become a go-to destination for both the African-American community and everyone who cares about these deeply important issues — in America and across the world. HuffPost GlobalBlack will synthesize Sheila’s insights and perspectives on culture and media, and HuffPost’s unique blend of real-time social news and engagement. This a two-way partnership, with HuffPost GlobalBlack content and vision informing all of HuffPost’s coverage, and HuffPost’s editorial and reporting team covering stories shaping the black community.

Johnson added:

The Huffington Post is at the center of social news: the idea that people want to engage in the news and opinion of the day and not just consume them. The Huffington Post is the ideal partner for us to create a thriving online black community of scale, a forum for ideas and discussion meant to inform, engage, surprise, and entertain.

BET Honors Beauty IMAN for It's 4th Annual Event

On Saturday the 4th Annual BET Honors was hosted by Gabrielle Union. Celebration of special contributions of the six honorees in the arts and culture, the award show was a 2 hour event. Before the big show, the celebrities were on the red carpet of the BET Honors 2011 showing off their threads.

This inspirational award show which highlights distinguished African Americans performing at exceptional levels in their fields will premiere during Black History Month. The 2011 award ceremony were Cicely Tyson (Theatrical Arts), Jamie Foxx (Entertainer), Iman (Service), Linda Johnson Rice (Media), Herbie Hancock (Musical Arts), and historian Lonnie G. Bunch (Education).

Take a look at the red carpet of the 4th Annual BET Honors. The celebrities appear to be delighted to be part of the evening. The BET Honors will be on BET Channel on Monday, February 21 at 9:00 pm. Red Carpet Photos - Here

Iman's hair courtesy of Celebrity Hairstylist Oscar James at www.OscarJames.com

Seventh Anniversary of the National Black Justice Coalition

Today marks the Seventh Anniversary of the National Black Justice Coalition. Through trials and triumphs, NBJC has provided leadership at the intersection of race and sexuality, advocating for a world free from racism and homophobia. I reflect with gratitude on what we've achieved together over these years. We have made real progress towards a better future for Black LGBT people, evidenced in the OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit and One Nation, Working Together and that simply couldn’t have happened without supporters like you.

NBJC’s next chapter starts now. In recognition of NBJC’s years of advocacy and leadership empowering the African American LGBT community, we need you on the frontline as a stakeholder to embolden our movement. We invite you to join the Justice Society, whose members are a driving force behind NBJC's educational, organizing and advocacy programs. They are the core of our work creating a diverse alliance of LGBT people and allies dedicated to nurturing the next generation of LGBT African American leaders. It only takes a few minutes at NBJC.org/justicesociety to register your monthly donation and pledge your support toward Building Stronger Black Families.

I’ve met many of you at conferences and meetings, and your passion for justice is inspiring. As we look towards 2011, I am requesting your help to foster the next generation of Black LGBT leadership. Let’s focus that passion towards lifting up our Black LGBT brothers and sisters who are the future of this movement!

All of us are struggling during these hard economic times, even as our fight for equality goes on. NBJC will continue advocating for Black families, and we hope that you will join us. We’ve worked hard to prove ourselves, and we ask that your gift reflect your belief in NBJC. Please make your donation to NBJC today—this time is a pivotal one, and your investment in the African American LGBT movement is needed now.