san diego monitor news & business journal
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Page 2 The San Diego MonitorSAN DIEGO MONITOR
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October Events Around San Diego San Diego Boo Parade & Carnival
Saturday October 22ndThis is a celebration of community spirit and cultural diversity . TheParade event starts at 10:00 a.m. in the College area, starting at 59thStreet in the community of El Cerrito. This is a FREE family friendlyevent. Parade route will travel east along El Cajon Boulevard, cross-es College Avenue, and concludes at Rolando Boulevard in the heartof Rolando V illage. The Carnival will be held immediately followingthe Parade. The Carnival Time: 11am-5pm, Clay Park at Art Street.For more information: www.collegeareabid.com/boo
Caruth Cellars Urban Winery Community Event
October 20-22nd10/20- Live music as the mosaic wall comes to life10/21- Laurel True will lecture: The Power of Art: Building CreativeCapital through Community Mosaic. (Fundraiser for a hospital inHaiti).10/22- Dedication ceremony & evening of wine and artFor more information: www.carruthcellars.com
The San Diego Family Expo
Saturday, October 22nd San Diego Concourse 202 C Street, San Diego, CA 92101 10:00am-5:00pmThis event highlights various ways families can do fun things togeth-er and is a FREE event that showcases products, activities, events,and family services. For more information: www.sdfamilyexpo.com
San Diego 12 Annual Asian Film FestivalOctober 20-28Asian Film Festival’s mission is to connect audiences to the humanexperience through the Pan Asian media arts. Although their mainconcern is with Asian American, they also display documentaries,animation, and international films. Participants will have the oppor -tunity to meet and mingle with the filmmaker and actors. This is awell-organized and friendly festival which incorporates meaningfuldiscussions, live music, and parties. The Annual Asian Film Festival is one event you do not want to miss!For show time and ticket information: www.sdaff.org
Holiday Party Planning Tips Ask the venue if they can reduce costs.Seems like an obvious cost savings tip, but even a savings of 1% or2% can be significant when added up for food, beverage, venuerental, staffing, etc.
Choose seasonal fruits and vegetables, andeliminate the crudités.Out of season fruits such as mangoes and papayas, and out of sea-son vegetables such as asparagus and artichokes are usually moreexpensive. And because many people do not eat raw vegetables,many of those items will typically go to waste.
Seeking hotel accommodations for your next group meeting?Clara Carter provides global hotel site selection and contract nego-tiation services at “no cost” to the client. Allow us to put our buy-ing power to work for you today . To start your hotel site accom -modation search, call 619-265-2561 or via email: ccarter@helms -briscoe.comAbout UniquelySanDiego.com – your online guide highlighting thecity’s multicultural news, events, attractions, travel deals, andmore. Want to drive more traf fic to your business or store front?You are just a click away – upload your “FREE” business listing byclicking on the “businesses” tab www.uniquelysandiego.com.Have an event you want to share? Simply submit your communi -ty event to our calendar by clicking on Event’ s tab and follow theprompts - it’s “FREE”!!
Obama to attend Carrier Classic on Carl VinsonSAN DIEGO — President Barack Obama,
the nation's basketball-fan-in-chief, will havethe seat of his choice at the Carrier Classichoops game on Veterans Day on the flight deckof the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier thatburied Osama bin Laden at sea.
The White House announced Thursday thatObama has accepted an invitation to attend theNov. 11 matchup between North Carolina andMichigan State, the first college basketballgame on an active flat top.
The Carl Vinson and its sailors have attract-ed considerable attention since early May ,when the carrier conducted bin Laden's burial atsea after he was killed by Navy SEALs in a raidordered by Obama.
It'll be an impossible ticket, except for thelucky 7,000 or so who will be granted permis-sion to come aboard the 1,092-foot, nuclear -powered carrier. Most of the tickets will go toactive military personnel. Tickets won't be soldto the public.
Obama can sit "wherever he wants," saidMike Whalen of the Morale EntertainmentFoundation, which is organizing the game.
The president, a huge hoops fan, will be inhis element, even if it is an unusual venue forbig-time basketball.
Known for playing pickup games, Obamaneeded 12 stitches in his lip after he was inad -vertently elbowed during such a scrimmage lastNovember. His brother-in-law, Craig Robinson,is the coach at Oregon State. Obama has filledout an NCAA tournament bracket the last three
years for ESPN, which will televise the CarrierClassic.
Plus, he has a history with the Tar Heels.Obama played a pickup game with UNC's
players during a 2008 campaign stop. The fol-lowing spring, he correctly picked the Tar Heelsto win the 2009 NCAA title - which they did byrouting Michigan State - and then hosted themat the White House.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams was excitedto hear Obama will be at the Carrier Classic.
"My guess is he wouldn't be there unlessthings in the world were in good shape,"Williams said with a grin at preseason mediaday. "So I hope he can stick to that commitmentand be there.
"This is one of the biggest thrills in mycoaching career, to be involved in that kind ofgame," Williams said. "It really is as neat of adeal as you can possibly imagine."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said he waspleased to learn the president will be there.
"I think it's awesome," Izzo said in a tele -phone interview. "The fact that he's a basketballfan makes it even more neat."
Izzo said Michigan State gave Obama a bas-ketball jersey when he made a campaign visit toEast Lansing.
Obama is scheduled to begin Veterans Dayby laying a wreath at Arlington NationalCemetery before flying to San Diego.
"He looks forward to a great game," theWhite House said in a statement.
Whalen said there will be appropriate secu -rity considering the dignitaries who are expect -ed to attend. Besides Obama, top Navy officialsand congressional delegations from NorthCarolina and Michigan have been invited. Apostgame concert is scheduled, but or ganizershaven't announced the acts.
James Worthy and Magic Johnson will serveas honorary captains for their alma maters.
The carrier , which has been in SanFrancisco for Fleet Week, will be at its berth atNorth Island Naval Air Station. To the south isNaval Amphibious Base Coronado, whereSEALs train. Across San Diego Bay is NavalBase San Diego.
The court, surrounded by temporary stadi -um-style seating, will be located between theisland and the forward catapults. In case of rain,the game will be moved below to the hangardeck.
Navy officials got the news on the sea ser -vice's 236th birthday.
"We're honored that President Obama plansto attend the game on the Carl Vinson," saidRear Admiral Dennis Moynihan, the Navy'schief spokesman. "The ship is a representativeof more than 100 Navy ships that are deployedright now. We see this as a celebration of ser -vice for all veterans, and we also see this as agreat opportunity to showcase what our Navydoes on a daily basis."
Whalen, a former Marine, was happy, too."We're excited that President Obama would
even consider showing up. We feel like we wonthe lottery," he said.
Morale Entertainment Foundation, whichhopes to help raise the visibility of the Navywith the Carrier Classic, brings notableAmericans, such as former astronauts NeilArmstrong, Gene Cernan and Jim Lovell, aswell as coaches and race car drivers to visittroops in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The Carrier Classic is sponsored by QuickenLoans.
President Barack Obama gestures during his joint news conference with South Korean PresidentLee Myung-bak, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011, in the East Room at the White House in W ashington.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The San Diego Monitor Page 3SAN DIEGO MONITOR
Consider Darwin's attitude about the black race. Darwindreamed of a future for mankind when the black racesof man will become extinct, thus enhancing the chances
for the evolutionary advancement of the more "civilized" racesof man.
"At some future period, not very distant as measured bycenturies, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exter-minate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. Atthe same time the anthropomorphous apes, as ProfessorSchaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated.The break between man and his nearest allies will then bewider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilizedstate, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some apeas low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro orAustralian and the gorilla."
Descent of Man, Charles Darwin, Chapter 7: "On the Racesof Man: Sub-species"
Charles Darwin is relevant because his racist theories ofwhite supremacy and the need for ethnic cleansing providedMarx and Engels with the "pseudo-scientific" rationale for thefoundation for socialism.
Darwin's racist viewpoints in Descent of Man can besummed up as follows:
1. The strongest live and the weakest die.2. A race war would be beneficial to the white race.3. Blacks occupy a sub-species between Apes and
Caucasians4. The extinction of blacks to advance the white race is
good.5. Different sub-species have dif ferent characteristics such
as mental capabilities6. Christianity is a damnable doctrine.7. Social Darwinism must include racial extinction8. "Lower class" races should not normally be cared for;
they should not multiply and should become extinct.In recent years, much has been written about Mar garet
Sanger and her wicked contribution to the annihilation of theblack family and her program of genocide against the blackrace.
Less well known is that a pernicious form of eugenics isbeing used to sort races and classes into deserving and unde -serving groups as the determinant for which groups will andwill not be the beneficiaries of government legislation and pol-icy. Social Darwinism as this malevolent expression of eugen -ics is called, having the intent of driving blacks from the laborforce, was a prime feature of the Progressive Era.
Reform-minded economists of the Progressive Era defend -ed exclusionary labor practices on grounds that the labor forceshould be rid of unfit workers, whom they labeled "parasites,""the unemployable," "low-wage races" and the "industrialresiduum." Removing the unfit, went the ar gument, would
uplift superior, deserving workers. Thus, although Progressiveswere advocates for labor , they also depicted many groups ofpoor workers, particularly black Americans, as undeserving ofuplift.
Defectives, or unfit workers, were those workers who,owing to presumed hereditary deficiency, earned less than whatAmerican reformers called a "living wage." The dif ferencebetween actual wages and living wages was the shortfall thatmust be met by charity, by the state, or by other members of theworker's household. By this logic, reformers called workerswho earned less than living wages "parasites." They argued thata worker's standard of living, not his productivity , determinedmarket wages. Making wages a function of living standardsopened the door to the eugenic claim that black Americanswere hereditarily predisposed to low standards of living. Thus,for Progressives, race determined the standard of living, and thestandard of living determined the wage.
For labor reformers, low-wage black American workersthreatened American wage levels. According to Progressiveideology, races compete and racial competition is subject to akind of Gresham's law [bad stock drives out good stock].
The task for Progressive economists during the early 20thcentury was, therefore, to promote laws that would excludeblack Americans from the labor force. The foundation uponwhich blacks were to be excluded from the labor force wasstatutory minimum wages. And, Progressive economists cham-pioned minimum wages with a passion.
Eugenically minded Progressives advocated minimumwages precisely because they would cause job losses. Theyargued that minimum-wage-induced job loss was a social ben -
efit because it performed the eugenic service of ridding thelabor force of black workers. The minimum wage protectsdeserving workers from the competition of the unfit by makingit illegal to work for less. By 1914 eugenics had been adoptedin America as a valid field of study and was even taught in highschools.
This thinking, which emphasized "expert" opinion andadvocated sweeping governmental power , fit perfectly withinthe Progressive worldview. As for reconciling white supremacywith egalitarian Jef fersonian democracy , when the racistProgressives championed "the working man," "the commonman," or "the people," blacks were specifically excluded fromthe mix.
Thus, armed with the intellectual firepower for eliminatingblack Americans from the labor force, it did not take long forracist eugenics-based economic theories to work there way intoofficial public policy.
Enter Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of theUnited States and a false messiah of the black elite. FDR wasinfected with that pernicious socialist ideology of the "GreatMan" elitism coupled with a penchant for authoritarian snobrule. Despite his seizure of virtual unlimited executive power ,FDR utterly failed to do anything of a positive nature for blackAmericans. Rather, he used that power perversely to visit greatharm and misery upon black Americans.
In response to the Great Depression, FDR brought in his"brain trust" of intellectual advisors. They blamed free-marketcapitalism for the economic free fall. (Does any of this soundfamiliar?).They worked to ensure that government would set theagenda for the economy. Their resulting New Deal had the prac-tical effect of building public policy around Progressive ideolo -gy, which is rooted in racist social Darwinist labor theory .
For inspiration and direction, they used the economic pro -grams of Italy's fascist dictator , Benito Mussolini, as theirmodel. Armed with near -dictatorial executive powers,Roosevelt proceeded to implement precisely the same type ofeconomic system in the U.S as in Italy .
During his administration, schemes such as the NationalRecovery Act (Negroes Ruined Again!!), Social Security Act,the Minimum Wage, the FDIC, the Agricultural AdjustmentAct, the Emer gency Banking Relief Act the Tennessee ValleyAuthority, the Federal Securities Act, and the National LaborRelations Act all came into existence. All had the aim of takingcontrol of people's lives, removing black American workersfrom the labor force to be rid of "excess" labor , confiscatingpeople's property without due process and arbitrarily redis -tributing the nation's wealth by way of perverse crony capital -ism in defiance of the limitations placed on government by theConstitution.
Minimum wage regulations made it illegal for employers toContinued from page 3
BLACK LABORERS Darwin Versus President Barack Obama
With Education, Discipline and Some Sacrifice, Black Wealth Can Be AchievedWritten by George C. Fraser
My COUSIN BOBBY was buried in a design-er suit, but he died broke. He made plenty ofmoney using his boomer generation MBA to getgood jobs at Ford Motor Company and later atHonda in Marysville, Ohio. He loved automo -biles. His gas-guzzling Jeep Cherokee was spot -less, but hardly paid for . He had maxed out mostof his seven credit cards on designer clothes.
Bobby was always as clean as his Mama’ schitlins.
He was divorced and faithfully paying childsupport for his two beautiful children. His defini -tion of community service was when the commu -nity was helping to serve his monthly sales quo -tas.
Bobby had some good, honest side hustles, buthe was always running on empty . His well-appointed two-bedroom condo north ofColumbus, Ohio, ate up nearly half his take-homepay. So his lifestyle meant he was good at robbingPeter to pay Paul.
Bobby reminded me of the joke about the opti-mist who jumped from a 12-story building. As hepasses the third floor , he says, “So far , so good,”not realizing that he’s about to crash.
He died of a heart attack at 54. At the readingof his one-page will, there was little to distributeto his children. The creditors and IRS got most ofit. He was house poor, car poor and stuff poor; hischildren would have to start from scratch, just ashe had. I thought if he only had treated his wealthwith the same pride and support with which hetreated his family and friends, he would have diedrich.
This forced me to reflect on two things. Werewe living Dr. King’s dream of economic develop-ment?. Was I, too, suffering from economic illiter-
acy and a compulsive spending disorder driven bywhat many believe to be the United States’ reck-less marketing of easy credit and a mass mediafocus on materialism and instant gratification? Or,was I driven by low self-esteem, the remnants ofhundreds of years of oppression and denial pro-ducing a personal philosophy that dictates highsocial status as more important than financial free-dom? Perhaps there is a little of both lurkingbelow the surface of still too many “successful”African-Americans, who end up in debt and sup-port every institution but their own.
According to Target Market News(www.Targetmarketnews.com), a Web site andpublishing company that tracks Black consumerspending, Blacks spend an excessive amount ofmoney on depreciable goods, such as clothes,cars, jewelry and other things that lose value theminute after you purchase it. And Black teens aremodeling adult spending patterns. For instance, inan online article “Black Spending Power”(www.righteousminds.com), author KimelEmpilder notes that African-American malesbetween the ages of 13 and 24, who are less than3 percent of total U.S. population, account for 10percent of the $12 billion athletic shoe market,buying more than 1 out of 5 pairs of shoes madeby Nike.
“We live in a consumer society where sportshopping is the way we live. We feel good, webuy. We feel bad, we buy ,” points out economistand author Julianne Malveaux, President ofBennett College. “When we deal with the AfricanAmerican psyche: We come from a culture oflack. We have not had access, opportunity , orequality. Some of us think we can bridge theequality gap in spending. We can spend with thebig boys, even though we do not have big boy
wealth-we don’t have three percent of the wealthwhites have. But, we can buy name brands to fillup a hole that says we may be inadequate. We canstep up and spend up. To what end? If we under-stand the psychological reasons we spend heavily,we may be able to stop spending.”
I know God loves poor people. I learned thatin church. But doesn’ t he like rich people, too? Ihear him saying, “Yes, yes, yes!”
God knew that a slow but determined path tofreedom and civil rights would better positionAfrican-Americans to complete their third andfinal moral imperative: to close the income andwealth gap between Blacks and Whites inAmerica.
In spite of disproportionate Black poverty ,African-Americans have patiently built a criticalmass of intellectual and financial resources fromwhich they can leverage to close the gap. Itincludes trillions of dollars of intellectual andhuman capital and a $900 billion-plus annual eco-nomic base, which is growing at about 5 percent ayear. It also includes having built a work force inwhich over 60 percent of its members are in exec-utive, managerial, supervisory , sales, administra -tive, vocational, technical and business ownershippositions.
W.E.B. Du Bois would be proud that nearly 17percent of African-Americans have at least a four-year college degree or better, surpassing his visionof the “Talented Tenth.” But the long road to suc -cess in never straight. We have witnessed this inour 250-year fight for freedom and our 100-yearfight for civil rights, voting rights and publicaccess. The next 100-year imperative is our needto focus on economic development and the inter -generational transfer of our wealth.
It is not easy to invest for the future. It requiresliving below your means, when most are livingabove their means or within their means. Itrequires education, discipline and some sacrifice.But it’ s worth it. Your wealth is your freedom,freedom to choose. It is the management of yourchoices that is the essence of living. God wantsyou to have unlimited choices; therefore, Godwants you to be rich. It’ s time to stop makingdreams come true for the banks, Tommy Hilfiger,Nike and BMW . It’ s time to make our and Dr .King’s dreams come true.
Author; Success Runs In Our Race and Click;Ten Truth for Building ExtraordinaryRelationships. Visit www.frasernet.com or [email protected]
Page 4 The San Diego MonitorSAN DIEGO MONITOR
E D I T O R I A L
Occupy Wall Street ProtestorsMimic Civil Rights Movement
Brian PollardIn reviewing the potential list of schools
that are scheduled to close due to budgetaryissues here is the list of schools that are orcould be targeted for closure within our SchoolDistrict.
Whether you agree withthis strategy or not wedeserve to know whichschools are tar geted, and tostand up for our kids.
Although 12 schoolscity-wide may be af fectedBayview T errace (firstround), Paradise Hills (Firstround), Rolando Park (sec-ondary round), W ebster(secondary round) are with-in our school district.
Crawford High Schoolwould break up its foursmall academies and revert to traditional com -prehensive school status; the Emerson-Bandinicampus, which houses two schools, would con-solidate into one K-5 program at Emerson; andSan Diego High School would consolidate itscommunications academy with its science andtechnology program. Morse and Lincoln do notappear to be effected.
My hope is, the parents (if they haven’ talready) get involved and voice their concernsand make sure the Trustees have vented everyother alternative other than closing of theschools.
I cannot tell you the potential disruption tothe children’ s, and parent’ s lives if theirrespective schools are closed. Please stayaware of this process and let’ s be proactiverather than reactive in this process.
I have seen first-hand the involvement inthe Morse and Lincoln clusters of the parentsand teachers and I am impressed with the levelof involvement, so hopefully the parents, chil -
dren and teachers of these schools are gettingorganized to voice their concerns, fears andperhaps alternatives to this drastic step beingconsidered by the Trustees.
The Rolando Park and Webster communi -ties are very or ganized so I amhopeful they too are preparing tovoice their concerns.
I encourage all of the com -munities that can potentially beaffected contact Trustee SheilaJackson, and the other Trusteesto voice their concerns. Thatmeans attending the Board ofEducation meetings held onNormal Street, and speaking tothe Trustees. Include your neigh-borhood Town Councils andremember there is strength innumbers, or ganizing and coali -tion building. Let’ s get in front
of this at all costs.District officials have said they are facing a
deficit of up to $1 18 million in next year ’s$1.057 billion operating budget. The districtstands to save $500,000 per campus under therecommendation released Thursday .Information on the school readjustment can befound on the School District’ s web site;http://www.sandi.net
Lets stay close to this one people, our chil -dren’s education is at stake, let’s make sure ourkids get a fair shake in this ugly , potentiallyunfair process. Let’s not get bamboozled, it istoo important to our kids!
Lincoln High School is going throughproblems as well. Their overall scores are verylow, some teachers are afraid of the black stu -dents, discipline is lacking in certain areas ofconduct, and it seems like the Principles thereare losing control…My next article will beabout Lincoln’s problems and what we can doto help stop the slide before it is too late.
SD Unified School needs tobe checked and watched…
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During the 60s, demonstrators took to thestreets against the injustices tar geting Blackpeople. The white upper class embraced dis -crimination, and young whites fought along -side their fathers and grandfathers to make sureBlacks stayed in their place. Young peopletoday are the children and the grandchildren ofthose that fought against integration inAmerica. And today, these young people arenow demonstrating against Wall Street. Thedifference is that today’ s older white genera-tion is questioning what their children want.Black Americans had decisive desires andexpectations. Blacks wanted to go to school, togo to the movies, nightclubs, and any otherplace where there was public activity withoutbeing served separately or treated without thesame respect given to whites. Blacks told theworld what they wanted. Blacks wanted equal-ity. That’s what makes these modern dayprotesters dif ferent from the Civil RightsMovement.
These protestors do not express what theywant beyond that of punishing Wall Street. Buttheir parents, cousins, and other extended fam-ily members operate Wall Street, which con -trols America. It was once said that the politi -cians did, but not anymore. He that controlsthe dollar controls the people. When I listen tothe elders of this white generation today , theysay there’ s nothing wrong with Wall Street.Someone is going to make money because welive in a capitalist society. “So be it,” they say.I say all the above to get to this point – if WallStreet is not dangerous and doesn’t represent athreat, why did White America attack and burndown Black America’s Wall Street in Tulsa,Oklahoma in the early 1900s? The Black WallStreet had money, banks, sources of food, andotherwise existed on its own. White Americadidn’t just step in and stop this well-greasedmachine that took care of its own, but slaugh -tered it, killing hundreds of people in the pro -cess.
It always troubles my soul to think aboutthe slaughter of the Black Wall Street. It alsobothers me when the government of this coun -
try bails out the banks and nothing tricklesdown to the people below . Why is the youngwhite generation demonstrating without anydemands? Because some things are better leftunsaid. I’m sure these young people puttingtheir lives on the line know exactly why theyare there. If White America is confused aboutwhy Wall Street is dangerous, I would suggestthey ask why their grandfathers destroyed theBlack Wall Street. Ask this question and itmay be the answer as to why their grandsonsare parked in front of of ficial state and federalbuildings refusing to move until somethingchanges.
Yes, today we are asking what’s wrong withWall Street as they control the lifelines of thiscountry. They’ve thrown us out of our homes,taken us to war, and taken on a level of superi-ority in almost every walk of life. The BlackWall Street was only in one city but it was athreat to white America. Today’s Wall Street isa true threat to this country, and the young peo-ple today are getting tired of it.
Until Next Week,Willie Morrow
SDUSD Invites Small LicensedContractors to Bid Small Projects
San Diego Unified School District has a new program for small and emerging con-tractors. It’s called the Micro-Projects Program (MPP) and it serves two purposes.The MPP delivers small projects directly to school sites quickly and ef ficientlythrough direct purchase agreements. It also provides a one-time opportunity for smalland emerging businesses learn first-hand what it’s like to work for SDUSD.
MPP Projects are under $15,000 and run the full gamut of school facility needs,from handiwork, repairs and remodeling to painting, concrete, electrical, etc. toinstallation of materials such as lighting, seats, lockers, flagpoles and signage. MPPprojects are competed among 3 to 4 licensed contractors through a short and simpli -fied bid process. MPP contracts are fixed-fee based on contractor ’s quote, and paidwithin 30 days of completion.
According to Alma Bañuelos, SDUSD’ s Business Outreach Coordinator , MPPprojects are designed specifically with emerging business contractors in mind.
“They do not require surety bonding, have insurance requirements of only $1 mil-lion each for general and auto liability , and do not require prevailing wages,” saidBañuelos. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get your foot in the door and see if SDUSDis the client for you,” she said.
MPP projects are strictly need-based and are not issued with any regularity. Smallcompanies are selected from the business outreach database and invited to bid on aproject-by-project basis.
If you are a minority , woman or disabled veteran business owner and have inter -est in the MPP , contact Alma Bañuelos for an application. Alma can be reached [email protected] or 858-573-5852. For real-time bid information, follow her onTwitter at @sdusd_bizoutrch. Be sure to visit the SDUSD Outreach webpage athttp://www.sandi.net/page/934.
Page 8 The San Diego MonitorSAN DIEGO MONITOR
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LABORContinued from page 3hire people who weren't worth the minimum because they lackedskills. Thus, between 30,000 and 50,000 African Americans inthe South lost their jobs within just two weeks of the activationof the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938), which set a uniformminimum wage. In total, it is estimated some 500,000 blacks losttheir jobs due to FDR's enactment of the minimum wage. Theloss of 500,000 black American jobs is consistent with the intentof the social Darwinist economists who pressed for the mini -mum wage precisely for the purpose of eliminating blackAmericans from the labor force.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933), while aimed atkeeping crop prices high, did so by ordering the mass destructionof crops, as well as animals such as pigs and chickens. Blacks inthe South who were actually farming the land as sharecroppersand tenant farmers were evicted without any compensationwhatsoever. Less production also meant no work for thousands
of poor black sharecroppers who, after being booted off the land,had no further prospects of employment elsewhere.
The Tennessee Valley Authority -- FDR's government-power-generating monopoly funded by the 98 percent of American tax-payers who didn't live in the Tennessee Valley -- was touted as abold social experiment. But, among other things, the TVA flood-ed an estimated 730,000 acres of land behind its dams. A total of15,654 people were forced out of their homes. Farm ownersreceived cash settlements for their condemned property . Again,the tenant farmers -- most of whom were black -- got nothing.
The Wagner Act (1935), the crown jewel of social Darwinismunder FDR, harmed blacks by making labor union monopolieslegal, and making it illegal to hire non-union black workers. TheWagner Act, in making labor unions legal monopolies, extendeddiscrimination against black workers to all industries wherelabor unions had legal monopolies.
Specifically, the Wagner Act granted monopoly bar gainingpower to unions selected by a majority of employees. Neithercompany-sponsored unions nor unions representing a minorityof workers were permitted. By giving labor unions the monopolypower to exclusively represent employees in a workplace, the
Wagner Act had the effect of excluding blacks because the dom-inant unions in the 1930s had the legal power to bar admissionto blacks.
Barack Obama's petulant harangue the other evening forsquandering even more taxpayer money on even more failedgovernment programs was scary . The parallels between FDR'ssocial Darwinism programs of the 1930s and those of Obamatoday are manifest. Barack Hussein Obama seemss to want pre -cisely the same social Darwinist results as FDR -- to enrich hisBig Labor, Big Education and Big Banker financiers through hisperverse spin on crony capitalism while eliminating black work-ers from the work force.
Why is he refusing to suspend the minimum wage law to helpalleviate the criminally outrageous levels of unemploymentamongst black workers? Why is he aggressively enforcingunion-favored Davis-Bacon prevailing wages and Project LaborAgreements on federally funded construction projects, whichblatantly discriminate against black construction workers? Thisman is a thoroughly evil Progressive racist clothed in dark skinto provide convenient cover for executing his racist Progressiveideology with impunity. He must be voted out of office in 2012.
Boyd: Rural America must play a part in economicNational Black Farmers Association recovery
President Obama recently challenged mem -bers of the Congressional Black Caucus to stopcrying and to remove their bedroom slippers. "Wehave work to do," he said. Obama is right. It ispast time to take action to put Americans back towork. And an economic recovery plan mustinclude rural America.
As I travel from small town to small town, Ifind many rural areas that are boarded up, virtual-ly closed for business. At town hall meetings Ihave held for black farmers, I continue to hear thecries and pleas for help. The meeting location maychange, but the plea for help is still the same.
Many black farmers (thousands? tens of thou-sands?) have already lost their farms. For nearly30 years, I have fought for black farmers and otherminority farmers battling race discrimination bytheir government. On Dec. 8, 2010, PresidentObama signed into law his administration's settle-ment of a lawsuit by black farmers against theUnited States Department of Agriculture for $1.25billion, and I am proud to have led that ef fort. Onthe same bill was the Native American mineralrights "Cobell" case for more than $3.4 billion.The Obama administration went on to settle law -suits by Hispanic and women farmers againstUSDA for $1.3 billion, as well as $800 million forthe Native American Indian farmers.
These settlements will provide infusions forthe poorest counties in the nation. In the case ofthe black farmers, most of the funds will go to theMississippi delta area and other Southern stateswhere poverty is abundant.
All of the farmers' lawsuits were settled underthe leadership and direction of President Obama.
It's something you rarely hear about. WhenPresident Bush was in the White House, I tried foreight years to resolve the discrimination cases ofblack and minority farmers against USDA — tono avail.
That's not to say black farmers did not havesupport from some Republican leaders, such asSen. Charles Grassley of Iowa. But overall,Republicans make it hard on themselves, and theiractions help explain strong black loyalty to theDemocratic Party.
Last week, Republican presidential candidateHerman Cain called black people brainwashed.Last month, Republican presidential candidateMichele Bachmann called black farmers frauds.When you have two presidential candidates whomake those kinds of statements in 201 1, it showsthere still are class and racial divisions. As forRepublican presidential candidate Rick Perryhunting in an area called Niggerhead, how of fen-sive that is!
If Republicans want black support they canstart with one simple gesture: Stop saying degrad-ing and stupid things to and about black people. IfRepublicans want the support of everyday people,they simply can't refer to Wall Street protesters as"the mob." I never heard Republicans refer to thetea party as the mob!
We need new jobs and we need them now . It'salways the poor who suf fer the most in economichard times; 9 percent of Americans are out ofwork, and 16 percent of blacks are out of work.While we debate how to get all Americans back towork, we all have to do our part. To make Americabetter, we all have to do our part.
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OMNILOGUE© - “All of us communicating with each other ,so that we all come to a collective understanding, so that we all
work toward the same goal.” ©
From Civil Rights to Human Rights:The Occupy Movement Revisited
Connect Create Cooperate“In the early evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr . was killed by a single shot
which struck his face and neck. He was standing on the balcony of the Lor raine Motel inMemphis, Tennessee, where he had come to lead a peaceful mar ch in support of striking sani -tation workers. About an hour later , he was pr onounced dead at 7:05 PM at St. JosephHospital.” (Wiki)
What was Dr. King doing in Memphis? He was there in support of the Memphis SanitationWorkers strike as part of his recently launched Poor People’ s Campaign.
“Jobs, income and housing wer e the main goals of the Poor People’ s Campaign. The cam-paign would help the poor by dramatizing their needs, uniting all races under the commonalityof hardship and presenting a plan to star t to a solution. Under the “ economic bill of rights ,”the Poor People’s Campaign asked for the federal government to prioritize helping the poorwith a $30 billion anti-poverty package that included a commitment to full employment, a guar-anteed annual income measure and more low-income housing[4]. The Poor People’s Campaignwas part of the second phase of the civil rights movement. While the first phase had exposedthe problems of segregation, King hoped to address the “limitations to our achievements” witha second, broader phase…” (Wiki)
Today, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, and its many Occupy clones around the coun -try, are picking up where Dr . King left off. Isn’t it interesting that 42 years after Dr . King waskilled during the expansion phase of his quest for “civil rights” for so-called Negroes, predom -inantly middle class whites are now seeking the same redress King died trying to achieve?Clearly, there was work left undone by the Civil Rights Movement . Perhaps when King died,these issues dropped off the agenda of middle class whites, and now that neglect is coming hometo haunt them.
Black people and other “disenfranchised” people (and who was it who did the disenfran -chising?) have been dealing with the incredible disparities in wealth since the material and mil -itary ascendancy of the European. Unfortunately , the European culture has prioritized things(money) over people. Now those at the top of the system, who couldn’ t care less about nation-ality nor ethnicity - are letting the rest know – “Y ou’re really not one of us ‘one percenters.’ ”
The key to turning all this around starts with you! Stop wanting to be one of the materialistone percent, and learn to Love Your Neighbor. Fight for Human Rights! This is the wave ofthe future, and your only salvation on this Earth.
More on this on Monday November 1st at 6:00 p.m. at the Urban League .Love Your Neighbor. JCMH [One Love – Bob Marley][email protected]
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I was transfixed on this topic as we end the breast cancerawareness month. I had a rather dif ficult time finding indi -viduals to discuss this topic that is rarely discussed. I mean asblack people we generally don’t discuss health, sex or financeand yet those three subjects tend to polarize the majority ofour lives. When looking into breast cancer some of the statis-tics was startling: As presented in a document by the NationalCancer Institute -
• An estimated 26,840 new cases of breast cancer areexpected to occur among African American women in 2010.
• The incidence rate of breast cancer among women under45 is higher for African American women compared to whitewomen.
• Breast cancer is the second most common cause of can -cer death among African American women, exceeded only bylung cancer.
• The higher mortality rate in African-American womenmay be related to dif ferences in access to and utilization ofearly detection and treatment and dif ferences in tumor char -acteristics.
• Almost all women with breast cancer have either one orboth of their breasts removed.
Hence the conversation – is there quality sex after breastcancer? Sex is not limited to the actual act – it is also personalworth, personal appeal, and personal acceptance. I had twowomen on the talk radio show today who both were breast cancer survivors. One womanwas married during the time and the other was not. One experienced rejection from herspouse and the other was focused on the rearing of her son and hadn’ t taken the time toreflect on her disfigured body . Many of u s were moved to tears when the married womanshared, “I was in the shower with my bald head and one breast and my husband couldn’ tlook at me.” We were stunned. No one knew what to say, and my being the most host knewnow was not the time to tell her that negro never loved her in the first place. I was hot andyet there are many stories like hers. My guest told us that after having been married for 12years, admitting there had been a superficial aspect to their relationship, both kept them -selves in great shape, her trials and disfigured nature didn’t have the ability to keep their sur-face relationship in place.
One of my dear friends who was moved to tears told me about a woman at our churchwho has cancer. She shared how she was wearing a hat and she asked her if she could seeher head. Lovingly my friend kissed her head and embraced her , immediately I said that’ sexactly what my guest husband should have done. Another friend told me of a couple sheknew where the wife had lost her hair due to chemotherapy and the husband to show his sup-port shaved his head! Now that’ s love. Cancer is a dif ficult time for all especially the onewho has it. It is not the time for criticism or scrutiny . It is a time of celebrating life, love,and memories.
The beauty about the women on the show was that both stated they were much betterwomen because of their journey. They felt that God had truly kept them, sustained them, andprepared them for their continued journey. One woman had reconstructive surgery and stat-ed her feelings of wholeness and the other said she really hadn’t considered it. Both womenhave been cancer free for almost five years. So I guess the answer to the question is theresex after breast cancer is a resounding yes, make sure that your relationships are not basedupon an external but an internal love. Ensure that you both take to heart the part of the vowsthat says “for better or worse in sickness and in health til death do you part.”
I say to my sisters who are breast cancer survivors and to those who are going throughthis very traumatic time – you are more than your breast. God will give you beauty for theseashes, and there is sunshine after the storm. My God continue to keep you safe under Hiswings of protection.
Just Keeping It Real With Angela HarrisRelationship Coversations
Sex after Breast Cancer
If you have questions you wouldlike answered or topics discussed,please send all questions to face -book.com/connectwithangelahar-ris or email:[email protected] or twitter@KeepingitealAH. For more articles www.keepingitrealwithangelaharris.blogspot.com
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The San Diego Monitor Page 17SAN DIEGO MONITORThe San Diego Monitor
DELIGHTFUL AIR FRESHENERSBy Lady Topaz
The sweet smell oftropical flora, the warmscent of vanilla and cin-namon, the crisp smellof fresh linen or thesensational smell of awarm Caribbean Seabreeze–all things thatinvoke a sense of delight–and all scents thatcan be quickly obtained with quick spritz of anair freshener. However, h ave y ou t houghtabout what you are inhaling?
If you use synthetic air fresheners in yourcar and/or living space, you should know thatyou are increasing your risk of developing avariety of health problems. Headaches, ear -aches, depression, an irregular heart beat, anddiarrhea in babies are just a few of many healthchallenges that have been linked with regularuse of synthetic air fresheners.
A report that was released in September of2007 by the Natural Resources DefenseCouncil found that 12 of 14 brands of commonhousehold air fresheners contained phthalates.Phthalates are chemicals that are used to pro -long the length of time that scented productsmaintain their fragrance. Regular exposure tophthalates can increase your risk of experienc -ing endocrine, reproductive, and developmen -tal problems. Amazingly, some of the brandsthat tested positive for phthalates did notinclude phthalates on their lists of ingredients;some of these brands wer e even labeled asbeing “all-natural” and “unscented.”
In response to this study , the NationalResources Defense Council produced the fol -lowing list that indicates the presence orabsence of phthalates in common air freshen -ers:
Brands with the highest levels of phtha-lates:
Walgreens Air Freshener Spray (removedfrom shelves)
Walgreens Scented Bouquet Air Fresheners(removed from shelves)
Walgreens Solid Air Fresheners (removedfrom shelves)
Ozium Glycolized Air SanitizerBrands with medium levels of phthalates :Air Wick Scented OilFebreze NOTICEables Scented OilGlade Air InfusionsGlade PlugIn Scented OilOust Air Sanitizer SprayBrands with low levels or NO phthalates
detected:Citrus MagicFebreze Air Effects Air RefresherLysol Brand II DisinfectantOust Fan Liquid RefillsRenuzit Subtle EffectsPlease note that having no phthalates does
not make synthetic air fresheners safe to use inyour car or home . The vast majority of syn -thetic air fresheners emit significant amountsof terpene, a volatile or ganic compound thatcan react with naturally occurring ozone to cre-ate formaldehyde. Ozone, a form of oxygen,exists at some level both indoors and outdoors,so formaldehyde formation is practicallyinevitable wherever synthetic air fresheners areused. Indoor environments which may haveelevated levels of ozone include those wherephotocopiers and ozone-generating air puri -
fiers are used.Why should you be concerned about being
exposed to formaldehyde? Formaldehyde isclassified as a human carcinogen by theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer.
With strong links to phthalates andformaldehyde, it is not surprising that a studythat was published in the American Journal ofRespiratory and Critical Care Medicine indi -cates that regular use of sprays can increaseyour risk of developing asthma by 30 to 50 per-cent. This study was performed by theEuropean Community Respiratory HealthSurvey, and collected data from 3,500 peoplein 10 European countries.
Clearly, your health is best served by sayingno to synthetic air fresheners and any othersynthetic products that are designed to emit aprolonged artificial scent.
Here are some simple and natural ways ofkeeping your car and living space smellingfresh without the use of chemical-laden airfresheners:
Open your windows - even just a crackduring cold weather - for at least 30 minutes aday. Weather permitting, it is best to keep yourwindows open all the time, assuming that youdo not live in a heavily polluted area.
Sprinkle baking soda on carpets before youvacuum.
Keep a box of baking soda open in theroom.
Keep natural (preferably organic) potpourriin a bowl out in the open, or put into littlesachets to keep around the house.
Boil a few cinnamon sticks with wholecloves in a small sauce pan of water .
Maintain a friendly gathering of indoorplants in your living and work spaces.
Take the garbage and compost out everyday.
Here is to YOUR good health! And,GREAT smells.
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Anthony’s Fish & Grotto I have stumbled on a great deal in San Diego that I just have to share with you. Anthony’s
Fish & Grotto in La Mesa is hosting its 50 year special which offers a 3 course meal for only$19.61. My mother and I went their Sunday afternoon and sat by the window that overlookedthe man made lake with ducks and their ducklings and an actual stork enjoying themselvesout in the water. The ambiance was nice and our waiter , Tracey, was wonderful. My motherordered Hennessey VSOP the bartender sent out Hennessy without the VSOP and when mymother explained the smoothness in the VSOP, Tracey quickly came back with a glass ofRemy Martin VSOP on the house for the confusion.
The $19.61 special includes a selected menu that boasts of an appetizer, entrée and desert.You may choose a cup of Clam Chowder , Wedge Salad, Shrimp & Artichoke dip, and or aCalifornia Caesar salad (it includes avocados and tomatoes). The entrees that you can choosefrom are: Swordfish with Lemon Cream penne pasta, Grilled Salmon with Lemon Shrimp,Coco Loco Tilapia & Shrimp and Mamma’ s Anniversary Platter that includes a sample ofShrimp, Calamari, Fish, and Crab puffs. Most of the entrees include two side orders to com-plete your meal. Don’ t forget about Desert which is extremely delicious, it is a tasty CampZambian (pound cake) with a Rum sauce and a scoop of Spumoni ice cream.
I had the California Cesar Salad for my appetizer with sourdough bread and tomatoes but-ter which was scrumptious. My mother took a whim at the Clam Chowder which she desiredme to give her some of my salad which wasn’t happening. My mother ordered the Mamma’sAnniversary platter and it came loaded with scrumptious treats and a baked potatoes andsteamed vegetables. I chose the grilled Salmon with pineapple coleslaw and a baked potatowith all the dressings. I left no room for a doggie bag. Out came our Camp Zambian fordesert that we both scoured down. The Rum sauce was amazing combination with theSpumoni ice cream.
The 50 year special pricing for a 3 course menu will last until November 23, 201 1. You can visit the Anthony’s Fish Grotto of f the I-8 at Severin on Murray Dr or call
(619) 463-0368; you may also look online www.gofishanthonys.com. Next week we will resume our camping journey so we can find a great campsite for a
peaceful vacation.
Page 18 The San Diego Monitor
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EACH WEEK THE SAN DIEGO MONITOR WILL PUBLISH THEM
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“I Got This”It’s time to get into your Best Dressed Outfit, sprinkle on your Favorite
Cologne and polish your Spectacular Shoes, then head to Jacob’ s Center-Market Creek Venue at 404 Euclid Ave. on November 5th, 6:30pm, for the36th Mr. Black San Diego Contest. The theme, “I Got This”, is appropri-ately titled.
Don’t forget your Fabulous Personality and whatever else you want toadd as you enter on the ‘Red Carpet’. Come prepared to enjoy the fivefinalist from the opening to the ending. Doors open at 6pm and the showstarts at 7pm
Competing for the title of Mr . Black San Diego 201 1; LawrenceWest, 1st Runner-up in 2010 with the deep voice, born in California andlooking for Basketball lovers to come and cheer him on. Keith Rascoe,a Fitness Expert and middle child from Philadelphia will be expectingMilitary and Exercise enthusiasts to root for him. Mytrell Foreman, aformer Football Rookie of the Year, hopes his Bay View Church fami-ly, folks from Atlanta and people in the entertainment field plan toattend. Fred Lackey, from Mississippi, looks forward to former Servicepeople or anyone with a comical sense of humor , or still attendingCollege to offer him their support. Ansar Muhammad a native and per-fectionist is counting on graduates of Morse High School, and peoplewho love food to applaud him.
Also for your entertainment, the Band Street-Life will provide the musi-cal accompaniment and Café Soul will make the show something to talkabout.
As usual Past Winners of previous contest will be in the audience. Thecontestants will display attire, charisma, talent and their opinion. A panelof Judges will select the winner. So you really need to see this yearly event.For details or information, call 619-264-6469, tickets are $40.per personand can be purchased at Lady Cheryl’s Salon, 619-263-7907,18 N. EuclidAve, National City , Hairology ,619-296-1832, 3041 University Ave.Paradise Beauty and Barber, 2856 Main St. 619-7756-7778. Tell a friend.
This event you don’t want to miss, remember, “I Got This”
The San Diego Monitor Page 19SAN DIEGO MONITOR
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Jonathan Harris – ColumnistOctober 30, 201 1
– On October 30,2001 MichaelJackson released whatwould become hisfinal album of all newmaterial during hislifetime: Invincible.The album, shortlyafter its release,became by far themost controversialalbum of Jackson’ scareer, not for what was on the album but for whatwas going on between Jackson and his label at thetime, Sony Music. At its worst the conflictinvolved Sony ceasing promotion for Invincible(after Jackson informed the label he would not berenewing his contract) and Michael Jackson goingafter the then head of Sony Music, TommyMottola, publicly calling him a “racist” and a“devil” . Invincible predictably got somewhat lostin the melee.
This is not to discount the album’ s success orimpact. Invincible debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard album’ s chart moving more than366,000 units in one week. It also hit No.1 in 12other countries around the world. Produced byRodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, along with themajority of the album, the lead single ‘Y ou RockMy World’ notched Jackson yet another top 10 hiton the Billboard singles charts. The success ofboth the album and the lead off single proved thatJackson’s iconic style and musical formula wasstill viable and marketable in the 21st century toyet another generation. Invincible gave JacksonNo.1 albums in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and the ‘00s.By early 2002 Invincible had already sold morethan 6 million copies, becoming Jackson’ s fastestselling album ever (yes, it sold faster than‘Thriller’). Invincible has to date sold more than13 million copies worldwide.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of therelease here is a track by track, and total, review:
Track 1: Unbreakable – (Up-tempo) The Kingof Pop opens the album by reminding anyone thatmay have for gotten, or not known, that he is…well… unbreakable. It would have been nice if itthe track was a bit faster and not as long, but over-
Michael Jackson’s ‘Invincible’: 10 Years Laterall the song sounds awesome and works nicely asa 21st century version of ‘BAD’. The posthumousrap by the Notorious B.I.G. fits brilliantly andmarks their second collaboration (their first hav -ing been on This Time Around on Jackson’s 1995album HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Book1). Grade: B+
Track 2: Heartbreaker – (Up-tempo) This songis simply excellent. Utterly flawless, pop plat -inum. The song refers to a woroke Jackson’ s. Inthe chorus the King of Pop sings, “That girl, can’ttake her , I should have seen right through hershe’s a heartbreaker.” There are parts in the songwhere you can hear Jackson beat-boxing the beatunder Darkchild’ s beat wickedly fast beat. Thesong is just brilliant. Jackson reportedly alsowanted an unknown rapper on the album and therapper chosen, “Fats” is perfect fit for this song.Grade: A+
Track 3: Invincible – (Up-tempo) The titletrack to the album is not the ego-fest that onemight assume it would be, the song is actuallyabout a girl who won’t give Jackson her attention.“Even when I beg and plead, she’ s invincible,”Jackson sings. The beat is incredible, althoughagain, it wouldn’t hurt if it were a bit faster. “Fats”also raps on this track. Grade: B+
Track 4: Break of Dawn – (Down tempo) Thisis a love song. This song, again, is perfection.Nothing could be added or removed to make itbetter. In the movie This Is It, in the video remakeof Smooth Criminal, it shows the Break of Dawncafé. Grade: A+
Track 5: Heaven Can Wait – (Down tempo)Yet another perfect love song. This song is abouta girl Jackson refuses to leave. He sings, “Tell theangels no, I don’ t want to leave my baby alone, Idon’t want nobody else to hold you, that’ s thechance I’ll take baby I’ll stay , heaven can wait.”The way Jackson opens this track is pure excel -lence, singing quickly , “You’re beautiful, yo u’rewonderful, incredible I love you so.” Grade A+
Track 6: You Rock My World – (Up tempo)This was the first single from the album and chart-ed as another top 10. The opening banter betweenChris Tucker and Michael Jackson about whetheror not Jackson could “get that girl” is nothingshort of a hilarious. Great song, albeit not the onemany fans would have preferred as the lead single(There is also an of ficial Jay-Z remix). The song
spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.Grade: B
Track 7: Butterflies – (Down tempo) This wasthe third single from Invincible and charted atNo.14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (No.2 on theR&B/Hip-Hop Billboard chart). This song isJackson’s 37th top 40 hit. This song also spent 20weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (There isalso an of ficial remix that simply adds rapperEve). The song is beautiful and shows Jackson’ sepic vocal range. Grade: A
Track 8: Speechless – (Down tempo) Thissong is the clearest and most pristine Jackson’ svoice gets on Invincible. It starts off a capella andslowly builds. The song is beautiful and againutterly perfect. Jackson sings the song in This Is It.Jackson said he was inspired to write the song fol-lowing a water balloon fight with a group of chil -dren. Grade: A
Track 9: 2,000 Watts – (Up tempo) 2,000Watts is one of the most unfor gettable tracks onInvincible. The bass is unreal, Jackson soundsnothing like himself and lyrically the song is allover the place, in a good way . The opening line,“you may now apply your 3D glasses as we pro -ceed” makes one wondered how incredible themusic video would have been. Grade: A
Track 10: You Are My Life – (Down tempo)This is where I feel like Invincible loses some -thing. There is not anything particularly wrongwith this song as much as it is entirely forgettable.It adds nothing to the Invincible and on a 16 trackalbum as highly anticipated as this one, any of thehundreds of songs Jackson reportedly recordedwould have likely sat better in this song’s place. Ifthe song is actually about Jackson’ s children assome think it is, the song then becomes a bit morecompelling. Grade: C
Track 1 1: Privacy – (Up tempo) This is theonly rock styled song on the album, featuring aguitar solo by Slash. In this song Jackson, overcamera flashes, pleads for his… well… privacyand journalistic integrity. He sings, “Your camerascan’t control the minds of those who know , thatyou’ll even sell your soul just to get your storysold”. This is another song where Jackson soundsmarkedly dif ferent than he has on previousalbums. It fits very well next to Jackson’s similar-ly themed songs like ‘Scream’, ‘Tabloid Junkie’
Continued on page 22
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HARRISContinued from page 20and ‘Leave Me Alone’. Grade: B+
Track 12: Don’ t Walk Away – (Down tempo)Don’t Walk Away is a love song where Jacksonpleads with his parting love, “Don’t walk away, seeI just can’t find the right thing to say, I try but all mypain gets in the way .” Following her interview withOprah, many fans began to think this song was writ-ten about his relationship and subsequent break upwith Lisa Marie Presley. Grade: B
Track 13: Cry – (Down tempo) Written by R.Kelly (who also wrote Jackson’ s No.1 hit You AreNot Alone), Cry was the second single released fromInvincible, in the wake of the 9/1 1 attacks. Writtenprior to the attacks Jackson sings, “When that flagblows, there’ll be no more wars”. The song is remi -niscent of Man In The Mirror, with Jackson whis-pering as the last line of the song, “Change theworld.” Some of his trademark vocal tricks are per -
fectly in place as the song ends, although they soundoddly slowed and muffled. Jackson is conspicuouslyabsent in the song’ s video. Jackson’ s refusal toappear in the video is said to be the result of the con-flict going on between Jackson and Sony that laterbecame very public. Grade: B
Track 14: The Lost Children (Down tempo) –The Lost Children is about all the children that aremissing around the world. In the song Jackson sings,“Let’s pray for all the lost children… wishing themwell and wishing them home”. While some mightconsider the song a tiny bit corny, with the children’schoir toward the end and the sound of children play-ing in the forest, others will find the spirit of the song(particularly in the light of the missing children allover the world) sincere and beautiful. Grade: B
Track 15: Whatever Happens (Down tempo) –With Carlos Santana on the guitar and MichaelJackson tearing into this song unlike he does any -where else on the album, this song is an inar guablestandout. The song tells the story of a man engagedin some unnamed questionable activity with his girl-friend, who is extremely apprehensive about what
they are doing. Jackson sings, “Everything will bealright, he assures her , but she doesn’ t hear a wordthat he says.” And on the chorus he sings, “Whateverhappens, don’t you let go of my hand”. This song isunique and awesome. Grade: A+
Track 16: Threatened (Up tempo) – If youmissed the Thriller, Ghosts, Is It Scary MichaelJackson, you will enjoy Threatened… you’ll alsoenjoy it if you didn’ t. Threatened opens with TheTwilight Zone’s Rod Serling saying, “Tonight’s storyis somewhat unique and calls for a dif ferent kind ofintroduction”. What follows is a beat that instantlygoes absolutely berserk and lyrics from the King ofPop where he describes himself as a monster withlines like, “I’m not a ghost from hell but I’ve got aspell on you.” He also taunts, “Half of me, you’llnever be.” Michael Jackson can be seen dancing tothe instrumental of this track in This Is It at the endof the re-done Thriller set. The final line of the track,and of the album, is Rod Serling saying, “Whatyou’ve just witnessed could be the end of a particu -larly terrifying nightmare… it isn’ t, it’s the begin-ning.” Grade: A
The challenge Invincible faced (being Jackson’ sfirst album in four years and his first album of entire-ly new material since 1991’s Dangerous) was, it hadto cater to the several dif ferent styles Jackson haddabbled in throughout his career up to that point, doit well and palatably introduce it to a new generation,all while simultaneously pleasing previous genera -tions of fans. Invincible accomplishes this, but notwithout a misstep or two along the way. A few moreup tempo songs would have been nice and theabsence or suppression of some of Jackson’ s signa-ture vocal techniques is a bit more than apparent(there are very few “hehe”s and “hoohoo”s, forexample, as compared to Jackson’ s previousalbums). Overall though, Invincible is a brilliantpiece of work, with each song tuned to pop perfec -tion and at 16 tracks and more than 77 minutes, thereis something on it for everyone, no matter which eraor style one has enjoyed from the King of Pop.Invincible has also aged quite well. Jackson wiselydid not conform to pop music standards at the timeof production, leaving Invincible sounding just asfresh as it did on the day it was released.
The San Diego Monitor October 29, 2011 - Page 23SAN DIEGO MONITOR LEGALS
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