Like Brother...Like Brother?

Being a closet sports fan, I usually stay abreast of major sports stories that circumvent the sports arena (no pun intended). Albeit, it’s in a tertiary manor that I do so, but at least I can tell you that there is a very big football game going on this weekend. I can even tell you the color of the team's outfits. Just kidding… My experience playing football against Shaun Alexander in high school gives me a bit more credit than that.

One thing that I did not know was that Carson Palmer had a younger brother who was in the NFL. Not until I found out that Jordan Palmer (who from know on will be known as Lil’ Palmer) has just been signed to a two year deal with the Bengals.

Let's see how many people with the same last name we can put on one pro football team....what do ya say?

Save The Date: Bock Fest 2008

Bock Fest is just around the corner.

Read more about last year's smash here.

There will e a few more twists regarding the parade. I will keep you posted.

Cincinnati Indie Film: Three Barbecues

I don't know about you, but I plan to stay as warm as possible this weekend. One of my big weekend plans will be to catch up on watching the movies on my Netflix list.

If you plan to do the same, one movie I would suggest is Three Barbecues.

I watched this movie a few nights ago and I would definitely suggest it if you fall into one of the following categories:

1. A lover of kitchy indie films
2. Amazed by the talent that resides here in the Qeen City
3. In the mood for a not so serious flick
4. A lover of any film made this century depicting the 1950's

Though this film starts a bit slow and at first the premise is a bit difficult to surmise, this will all fall to the waist side as you start to recognize Cincinnati scenes carpeting the background and begin to view some local celebrities (Jean-Robert and Quasi, just to name a few).

My interest peaked during the opening credits when I saw the name of a neighbor of mine who worked as one of the producers of the Indie film, but it wasn't until I saw this same neighbor in the film, undulating in a deviled egg costume(I know...this is a must see). Needless to say, once i saw this, he was immediately phoned...lol.

Anyway,

This is a great lazy Saturday afternoon film, and that great part about this film is that it was all filmed in the Queen city.

Jews & Blacks: Book Review

Jews & Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America, by Michael Lerner and Cornel West chronicle the similarities of and differences in the struggles that both Jews and African-Americans have faced here in the United States.

Chapter by chapter, these two academic leaders in their perspective societies take on specific issues that have been of concern in both societies and give their unique and collective perspective of the societal concern. In addition to introductions of the two intellectuals, some of the issues covered in this book include (but not limited to) Black and Jewish Nationalism, Jewish Racism/Black Anti-Semitism, and economic conflicts hindering/helping the two societies.

As an African-American, I have always known the struggles of the Jewish in the United States have paralleled those of Blacks, but this book gives me a greater perspective of the similarities and differences in the two society’s struggle for equality and inclusion.

This is not light reading and I would not take it if I was going on vacation, but you are giving a speech on either two societies, I would definitely use this as a reference.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Donates Land For The Greater Good

I read this morning, around 9:30am in the Enquirer that a meeting was to be held where officials of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will discuss a land dispute.

Originally I head that the Freedom Center wanted $1 million for the land which The Banks Project wants to develop. I thought this was a bit much. So before the scheduled press conference, I visited the Hamilton County auditor's website to get a better idea of how much this property is worth.

Now granted, this is the first time I have actually used the site to get an idea of property value, but I did not think it would be that difficult.

I found the lot, but was confused to find out that the owner of this plot was listed as The Banks. This was about 10:15am, just minutes after the press conference had begun.

I go back to the Enquirer and find out that the Freedom Center plans to donate the land instead of asking any money for it, due to not wanting to "hold up" The Banks Projects.

I am glad that officials from the Freedom Center are putting this project of the forefront. Granted, they intend to benefit from the completion of The Banks, but in light of the museums financial situation, I though they would ask for a little bit more many than $0.

Either the auditor's web developer's are quick, or this deal has been in the making for a few days.

PS...Make sure you take advantage of the Freedom Center's free admission on Monday, Jan 21!

METRO plans to raise its fare

In anticipation for the fare hike scheduled to take place next month, I am starting to keep my ears open as I ride the metro on my daily commute to and from work. Since the first I heard of the possible fare increase a few weeks ago discussion on the bus has been pretty nil, but since the scheduled increase has started to be broad casted on the local news, the discussion is heating up.
Yesterday morning, I heard a high-school-er idly listened as she complained about the fare going up to $3. She then went on to mention that if it did this, that she would not ride the bus at all.


First of all, I seriously doubt that the far will increase 200% in just one month. She must have been catching the tail end of telephone-tag. Secondly, I was working under the impression that Cincinnati Public Schools have designated certain buses which students ride for free. Meaning, that if the fare were to sky rocket to, let’s say, $10 a pop, theoretically, she should not have a problem getting too and from school because the powers that be in the school district have paid off Metro so that their students can get to and from school.


In my opinion, I don’t feel that raising the fare is such a bad idea. TANK buses raised its fare to $1.25 several years ago and not too many people made a fuss about that. If you read the Cincinnati Enquirer article chronicling the raise, you can see how METRO compares to other cities’ transit operations.


This would all be fixed if we just bucked up and tried to implement a light-rail…but who am I to say.

METRO plans to raise its fare

In anticipation for the fare hike scheduled to take place next month, I am starting to keep my ears open as I ride the metro on my daily commute to and from work. Since the first I heard of the possible fare increase a few weeks ago discussion on the bus has been pretty nil, but since the scheduled increase has started to be broad casted on the local news, the discussion is heating up.
Yesterday morning, I heard a high-school-er idly listened as she complained about the fare going up to $3. She then went on to mention that if it did this, that she would not ride the bus at all.

First of all, I seriously doubt that the far will increase 200% in just one month. She must have been catching the tail end of telephone-tag. Secondly, I was working under the impression that Cincinnati Public Schools have designated certain buses which students ride for free. Meaning, that if the fare were to sky rocket to, let’s say, $10 a pop, theoretically, she should not have a problem getting too and from school because the powers that be in the school district have paid off Metro so that their students can get to and from school.

In my opinion, I don’t feel that raising the fare is such a bad idea. TANK buses raised its fare to $1.25 several years ago and not too many people made a fuss about that. If you read the Cincinnati Enquirer article chronicling the raise, you can see how METRO compares to other cities’ transit operations.

This would all be fixed if we just bucked up and tried to implement a light-rail…but who am I to say.

Rothenbrg School: Please Show Your Support

In the name of saving money, Cincinnati Public Schools have been going back and forth weather to demolish the Rothenberg School building and build anew or to rehab and preserve the old building.

Neighborhood proponents have overwhelmingly expressed their interest of keeping the building and restoring it, but CPS still wants to get more community input.

If you are not doing anything around 5pm this evening and want to express your opinion of the situation, there will be a community engagement session held at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, located at the corner of Sycamore and 14th Streets. The session usually lasts an hour or two, but its a great chance to get your voice heard.

You can read more about the history of this controversy here.

Thoughts Of A Younger Me

Way back in college, when I attended the University of Cincinnati, part of my education was focused Sociology, specifically, Black Folks.

Here is a short essay I wrote. I think it was one of those "write up an essay 5 minutes before class" deals, but I think I made a few good points.

Racism: Deconstructed

People have been trying to analyze the reason why people are racist for a number of years now. They have also tried many different ways to measure the level of racism in schools and in the workplace. The conclusions from these types of studies have lead to many different hypothesis. One of those hypothesis has lead to the answer of hate. Other hypothesis has lead to other causes of racism such as ignorance of the unknown. I believe that the arguments that has lead to the figuring out of both cause are valid, but there is a prevailing reason that I feel stands out more than all of them and that is the struggle for power.

Mankind has an undeniable history of struggling for power. Many scientist even believe that the struggle for power is an innate thing that is embedded into the psyche of the human mind. Whether it was the struggle for power over land, natural resources or simply the human mind. These people who were trying to gain power thought that it would be easier to do so if they justified their reasoning for gaining power and why the other group did not deserve to have any. This way it would be easier to make the lower class people believe that they were not entitled to the power, making the power hungry peoples job a lot easier.

Some groups in power looked at many different criteria to justify the haves and the have-nots, like class designations, living conditions, living areas, family lineage and physical characteristics.

This determination to the accessibility to power, today, has manifested into the designation of power based on race. We commonly call this racism. Through out the history of the United States, we have seen the group with a lot of power (whites) continue to persecute those with seemingly no power (African Americans) so that power could stay in the hands of the whites and out of the hands of the African Americans.

The first evidence of this accrued during the slave period that was witnessed in the United States. During this time period, it was illegal for slaves to be given the skills that would enable them to gain power later on in life. African Americans were not allowed to learn how to read, or even go to school. They were banned from having their young masters and mistresses teaching them the things that they learned at school, and were beaten and even killed if they were found to be learning to read.

A reason why slaves were persecuted for learning how to read because it was very easy to tell whom where not able to partake in these adventures because the difference in skin color in whites and African Americans were so noticeable.Another area where evidence of whites being racist because of their need for power is seen during the Civil Rights Era of the 1950’s and 1960’s here in the United States.

African Americans implemented a massive effort to gain power with the right to vote and the integration of schools, but were continually thwarted because whites did not want them to have the power to do so.Racism can be many things. It could be name calling, discrimination, have a person purposely give you incorrect information, but the underlying thing that makes an action racist is if it is done primarily because of your race and it causes you to not have power and the other person to have power.

Covington's RiverFront View

Decades before Daniel Libeskind's Ascent dominated its skyline, RiverCenter was slated as one of Covington's saving grace.

Master planned as an urban redevelopment that encompassed all aspects of private and public cooperation, RiverCenter was officially proposed to the city of Covington in 1988.

Opening May 1990, RiverCenter composed of an eleven acre complex which included an eighteen story office building, a two-hundred and thirty roomed Embassy Suites hotel and Covington Landing which had two floating facilities that housed restaurants, shops, entertainment activities and riverboat excursions.

At the time, Covington Landing was deemed the largest floating entertainment facility on a US inland waterway. Corporex Companies Inc of Ft. Wright was commissioned to develop the on land portion of RiverCenter. BnW was commissioned to develop the floating portion.

North/south oriented, RiverCenter is bound by Court St., Second St., Madison St., and the Ohio River. Champion Ice Co. building, which was on the National Register of Historic Buildings, was demolished in to make way.

Cincinnati RagTime: A History

Ragtime (ca 1897-1920) an American musical genre, is a dance form written in 2/4 or 4/4 time, syncopated, with rhythmic accents on the weak beats. Largely popular for its lively and syncopated style, Ragtime gained momentum in St. Louis and New York, but Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky were also major hubs for this musical genre due to the migration of African Americans from southern states caused by the onset of WW I, Northern Kentucky’s close proximity to Cincinnati and its river city status.

Riverboats that tramped the Ohio River, The Island Queen steamboat in particular, were a popular venue for Ragtime music A notable Ragtime artists was Artie Matthews (A.K.A. Mr. 814). Popular tunes include, Zincinnati: German rag (Nancy Bierbaum) and Lassus Trombone (Henry J. Filmore).

Ragtime music in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky relied heavily on touring bands and musicians from the riverboat craze, but the onslaught of the railroad diminished its business and so went the popularity of Ragtime.Jazz and Blues then became popular and national stars like pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller New York born, “Your Feets Too Big” took up residence in Greater Cincinnati from 1932 to 1934 to perform on the WLW radio show bolstering his career to build its Jazz history. Jelly Roll Morton made also made many stops in Cincinnati with the Fate Marable Orchestra. Though national stars made the headlines, there were many local artists who flipped the bill.

Three of the most notable names in Cincinnati Jazz pianist Charles Alexander, tenor saxophonist Edgar “Spider” Courance, and Bill Coleman (Born 1904 in Paris, KY) who moved to Cincinnati in 1911 and played jazz trumpet with other local stars like Clarence Paige, Edgar Hayes and Zack Whyte. Nelson Burton (Covington, KY 1922) played in many jazz bands in the area. Roosevelt Sykes and Walter Davis recorded at Seton Hotel in 1930 and Baby Bonnie may have recorded here in 1924. Other names include: Stovepipe “Six Street Blues”, pianist Pigmeat Jarrett, Patfoot Charlie Collins, and Walter Coleman (“Mama Let Me Lay It on You”)

References

Burton, Nelson. My Life In Jazz. Cincinnati: Clifton Hills Press, 2000. pg 13-64Tracy, Steven . Going to Cincinnati. Urbana: University if Illinois Press, 1993. pg 1-7Kenny, William. Jazz on the River. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. pg 1-11

What a great way to ring in the New Year!

Barack Obama made presidential election history when he became the first African-American to come in first in the Iowa caucuses.

This goes well with Mr. Obama's platform of change.

I did not stay wake the evening of the Iowa caucuses awaiting their results, but I have been doing some research as to what the caucus process really entails (from a Democratic stand point).

The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event where residents of Iowa meet and caucuses in each of the state's 1784 precincts to elect delegates to the corresponding 99 county conventions.

These votes select delegates for Iowa's Congressional District Convention and its State Convention, ultimately choosing delegates for the presidential (national) convention.

Seems complicated, but do we here in the States do anything simple?