Thursday, September 29, 2011

The World Mourns The Lost Of Dr. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

The Late Dr. Wangari Maathai
After dedicating her life to eradicate poverty, fighting for democracy and improving the lives of women, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Wangari Maathai finally lost her battle with ovarian cancer on September 25 in her homeland country of Kenya at the age of 71.   Kenya President Mwai Kibaki has declared that two days of national mourning and a state funeral will be held for Maathai, a mother, environmentalist, feminist, politician, human rights advocate and the first African woman to receive the Peace Prize.  Since her passing, countless international leaders including the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Al Gore have released statements of condolence in remembrance of steadfast commitment to make the world a more peaceful, healthier and better place.

“The world mourns with you and celebrates the extraordinary life of this remarkable woman who devoted her life to peacefully protecting what she called ‘our common home and future,’” said President Barack Obama in a statement.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in a statement that “The world has lost a powerful force for peace, democracy and women’s rights…Her death has left a gaping hole among the ranks of women leaders, but she leaves behind a solid foundation for others to build upon.  I was inspired by her story and proud to call her my friend.”

Maathai with then Sen. Barack Obama
Dr, Maathai was born on April 1, 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. She won a scholarship to study biology at Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas and received a Bachelor’s degree in 1964. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi, making her the first woman in East or Central Africa to hold a PhD.  She later became the first woman head of a university department in Kenya.

In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization purposed to plant trees in Kenya in order to fight erosion and create firewood for fuel and jobs for women. According to the United Nations, the Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees in Africa, helped nearly 900,000 women, and ignited similar efforts in other African countries.

Although Maathai traveled the world speaking out against environmental degradation and poverty, she always remained connected to the conservation of her homeland.   When former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi wanted to erect a skyscraper in one of central Nairobi’s only parks, Maathai organized a peaceful protest demonstration.  In return, she was beaten unconscious and arrested by police.  Maathai’s act of defiance and peaceful protest was marked as “a rallying cry for women activists, environmentalists, and democracy leaders,” said Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights in a recent statement.

Later on Maathai was elected to the Kenyan Parliament and served as a cabinet minister.  After decades of activism, she won the Peace Prize in 2004 for what the Nobel committee called “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”

Dr. Maathai is survived by her three children and granddaughter.

Written by Selena Hill

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Today on Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio

Tune into Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio today at 5pm!  Click HERE to listen.



We'll be talking about the execution of Troy Davis and whether or not the death penalty should be banned in America.  Check out Stanley's editorial "When America Loses Its Soul."


Did you know that the American patent system was recently transformed by President Obama?  Well, find out more about it during Dustin's Political Perspective, this week entitled Patently Incorrect: The American Patent System, and learn about how the changes will effect you and the economy.

When it comes to celeb news, Claudia's got the scoop!

Are Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa really happily married?  We all know that P. Diddy NEVER got over J.Lo, but find out what Spanish Mami the Bad Boy is linked to now.  Hear this and much, much more during Claudia's Fashion, Flare & Celebrity Rundown.



And lastly, we'll be talking about Stanley's new published book If Words Could Say!

When America Loses Its Soul

                                                                       



 Today two men died. In a perfect world they would have died as old men in the comfort of their home, surrounded by friends, and family after living a long fulfilling and honest life. Unfortunately the demise of these two men was a decision that was taken out of their hands.It was a decision made by a jury, and upheld by a court. An Execution of two men who some felt were so wrong in their crimes (Proven or not) deserved the ultimate punishment. So on September 21st 2011 we took the live's of two men, one was a white supremacist who dragged an innocent black man down the rode with his truck, the other was a black man who was allegedly responsible for the death of an off duty police officer. As I try to find the right words to type onto this bland screen, their deaths are complete. The sky is still blue, and tea party republicans are still stupid. But for the first time in all of my years on this earth, I have to question if we as living beings have lost our souls.

Death is a cold pill to swallow, and it is with this understanding that I harbor a deep seated fear for those who can willingly take a life and feel nothing. These are the people who register no pain knowing that they have taken something that they themselves were given. Life in its simplest form is a gift, no one in this world had a choice to be born, it is something that happened because of circumstances, and what I hope in most cases was love. We enter this world with a clean slate and the opportunity to not just exist, but matter. So when that one person has the ability to steal another's chance to make an impact on this world, they play the role of a GOD. We state to the universe that we understand our limitations, but despite all of our flaws we will still be the judge and jury of someone else's life.

We condemn murder, and promote morals, but then murder those who we feel should never be forgiven. In the very next breath we preach Christianity and tell our children how important it is to forgive people. Our news papers are flooded with redemption stories, and unlike other creatures living on this earth, we  have been given the ability to think critically. But when it comes to something as simple as death, we seem to jump onto the middle of an invisible fence. Some of us feeling justified in deciding weather a man or a woman deserves to live or die; while another faction feels that this is something we should have no power over. And within these two groups, there used to be a minority of people who felt so strongly about their ability to dictate someones life, that they cheered the death of those they felt deserved it. But as the years progress this kind of toxic thinking seems to be spreading across America. It makes me wonder, have we become the generation of the bloodthirsty?



The numbers do not lie, and since 1976 we have executed 1267 people. In the justice system we call it execution, when we do it for Oil, or foreign policy we call it war, but when it is done in the streets we call it murder, as if there is a big difference. A life taken no matter what you call it, is a life that can never be returned, and for every man or woman that we "Execute" we take one step further away from our own humanity. We become drunk, and show too much Hubris. We rob someone of the chance to reform their lives. There are people who have been put to death, and I am sure that years later we will find out that they were innocent all along, there are also those who without a shadow of a doubt were one hundred percent guilty of their crimes, but because we could not look beyond our own sense of justice, we never gave them a chance to change.

                                                                 
 Troy Davis is just one example of a possibly innocent man who lost his life. There have been hundreds of men and women who have lost their lives, and for too long we sat back and done nothing. Do not let the frustration and the pain from tonight become a blazing fire that dies out once the next sensation stirs into the media. We as human beings have no right to play God, let us find a way to save these lives before we take it from them, and in the process lose our souls.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Today On Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio....

Stanley will be talking with a former Crip and a current Blood member in an excluscive interview to examine gang violence from the inside out.


In the Political Perspective, new co-host Dustin will be highlighting key moments from the Tea Party debate earlier this week.


Selena will be looking into the cultural impact of  lil Wayne's video "How To Love" in addition to Beyonce and Jay-Z's relationship to see if such positive images and messages is changing the perception of young love.


Lastly, Claudia will be giving you the latest in the Fashion, Flare & Celebrity rundown!


Tune in today at 5pm to OWWR!  Click HERE to listen and call in at 516.876.4964!!!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Can Hip Hop Teach Us How To Love?

For a number of years, hip hop has been condemned for its harsh lyrical treatment towards women and images of female exploitation.  Of course not all hip hop degrades and dehumanizes women to nothing more than the worth of their body parts,  but an overwhelming majority of today’s commercialize hip hop does exactly that.  That is why it came as a shock when lil Wayne released a hip hop single and video that not only empowers the female sex, but relays the plight that many women of color face.           
 In his “How To Love” video, Weezy explores the obstacles and hardships that one woman endured as a young girl which resulted in a life void of love and filled with pain and trauma.  Because this little girl was never taught or shown how to love or experienced true love from a father figure or a man in heterosexual relationship, her life is spearheaded towards destruction.  As a young girl, her innocence was stolen when she is molested by her mother’s boyfriend. As a teenage and adult, she desperately looks for love but finds herself  only with men that use her for sex.  

The message in this video is deep, brutal and powerful.  And it all comes from...lil Wayne?  The mega rap star has shocked the world yet again this time by pushing aside misogynistic libretto and producing a record that illuminates the stories of countless little girls who grow up being misused, abused, and, consequently, never find their true worth or value.  These are the same little girls that grow up to be the sluts, whores, and hoes that we often stigmatize, judge and exploit in music videos.  But for once, their story is told, their side is heard, and their pain has been revealed.

My question is did lil Wayne really have a lasting effect on the way women are portrayed in society and in hip hop through his “How to Love" video?  And how were you moved by the song/video if at all? 

Share this with us this Sunday on Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio from 5-7pm as we go more in depth with this topic and also examine how Jay-Z and Beyonce’s marriage and expected baby is changing the perception of love in hip hop and displays a prime example of HOW TO LOVE.


Beyonce And Jay-Z Pregnant
Watch lil Wayne's "How To Love" video after the jump:


Click here to listen to Let Your Voice Be Heard Sundays from 5-7pm on OWWR.
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!!

I Think I'm A Liberal, But Some Days I'm Not Sure: And Then We Die

I Think I'm A Liberal, But Some Days I'm Not Sure: And Then We Die: There seems to be this fierce competition occurring in ou...

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Then We Died

  
                                                                              


There seems to be this fierce competition occurring in our inner city streets. But this is no athletic challenge, although running can at times be involved, and despite what some may think it is not a test of whits. From my point of view it seems that those who are the most wanting in life's fundamental lessons strive to successful in the art of self destruction and genocide. They use the energy from their empty vessel, and go around turning innocent men and women into hollow corpses. But this is a non issue, because murder is clearly the wave this year. Or so I've been told.

I’ve also been told that it is ok to wear pants so tight that it is possible to count the exact change in my right pocket without ever asking to see it, but that is an entirely different conversation, sidelined for a moment when I am not so mortified with what people who look just like you and me have done to our neighborhoods. I’m pained by the reality of what stands before me, in just one weekend in Brooklyn New York, 48 people were shot, seven people lost their lives, and through it all I’m left wondering who made murder a fad, and why does it seem like the same place that I have always loved is now turning into a war zone. And of course I can lie to myself and say that it was just one really bad weekend in Brooklyn, but then I look at the stats, and it is clear that one bad weekend could never begin to explain the carnage taking place in our streets.
In an NYPD report titled “Murder In New York” I learned that 536 homicides took place in New York, during the year of 2010, out of the 536 homicide cases , 42% of them took place in Brooklyn, and gun shot wounds were the cause of death 61% of the time. 

These frighten me on levels not possibly understood by most. The stark reality seems to be that somewhere during this long process we call existing, more and more people have decided that they enjoy bathing in the blood of victims. And I am so hurt because somewhere at this moment as I write and you read, and someone else loves, and a couple laughs there is another person dying. Their life expired, heart beat coming to an end, eyes closing, and breathing taking a forever pause. I cry for the future that they will never experience, the family that they leave behind, the husband/wife they will never marry. The children that will never be born, how can we live in a world where a reality like this is not troubling?!

I continued to read that report, and what I learned was that 33% of all murders in New York were made by African Americans between the ages of 15-29, and 30% of all murder suspects were between the ages of 16-21 years old. It is clear that the majority of cold blooded killers in our world are little boys and girls. Children who lost their way, or were lead down a dark path, were raised by the wrong people, or always surrounded by the ugly in the world, and with this realization I am forced to ask this question. Whose fault is it?

So while you sit and shake your head over the ugly that continues to happen in our streets, and the followers continue to put the RIP Facebook status updates which are usually quickly followed up with an SMH at the circumstances, I would like to do something drastically different.
For this moment everything on my side will change, the day’s of being frustrated but docile are over. This is the moment when I declare war on all those who decide that it is ok to take a life. I formally renounce anyone who is gang involved or has gang association. This is the moment when I take a stand against drug trafficking. Because while you read, what I have taken out but a moment to write, there is an innocent young man with a lot of anger in his heart being initiated into a gang, there is a sixteen year old girl running into the arms of a 40 year old man, she goes to him for love and security, and he uses her for sex. He tells her she’s beautiful between punches, beating her to a bloody pulp in a desperate need to establish the manhood he never got a true definition of.

And while you gasp in shock over those stories, there is a young man taking three bullets to the chest over a neighborhood rivalry, or a two year old girl being shot in the head because someone was aiming for her father. We continue to do nothing, and then we die. Nobody won.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Private Basketball Wives LA Premiere Party



Check out pics of Tanya Young Williams, star of VH1's hit reality show Basketball Wives," & more at the premiere party of "Basketball Wives LA." 

Actress Tichina Arnold and Basketball Wives L.A. star Tanya Young Williams

Fashion designer and celebrity stylist Alisa Maria 
Fashion designer and celebrity stylist Alisa Maria

 (center) Basketball Wives L.A. star Tanya Young Williams

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Turn Into LYVBH! Radio Now On Sundays 5-7pm

Starting September 11,  Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio  will air live every Sunday from 5-7pm!

Click here to listen.

This week on LYVBH!:


 v  Stanley Fritz will be talking to the daughter of a first responder whose father died of cancer 5 years ago. Despite the amount of 9/11 responders who are currently suffering or have died from Cancer, Congress has yet to include health care and compensation to 9/11 responders with cancer. 



v  Did Rick Perry really gloat about executing 234 people in the state of Texas…and did he really receive applause??  Stanley will be addressing this and other key points that took place during the Republican Presidential debate last week.


v  Labor Day War Zone: Selena and Stanley talk about the overwhelming gun violence that occurred over the past Labor Day weekend holiday.   

v  Find out the latest news, juiciest topics and hot events in Claudia’s Celebrity Rundown.


v  Bloomberg plans to install more red light cameras around NYC.  However, is this a good idea?  Jessica questions how this will or will not make NYC safer and the amount of $$$ it will generate cash for the city.


Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!