January 1, 2011

Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP is a Charlatan





According to Wikipedia, a charlatan is “(also called swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or deception.”

While the entire NAACP and its many autonomous chapters should not be condemned, the national leadership embodied by its leader and main mouthpiece Benjamin Jealous must be called out for his misrepresentation of the truth regarding the case of the Scott Sisters. The two sisters, Jamie and Gladys Scott have languished in a Mississippi prison plantation for nearly 17 years after being convicted of an armed robbery for which they had no part in, and sentenced to double life terms for eleven dollars. Governor Haley Barbour recently suspended their sentences but fell short of acknowledging the injustice done to the sisters and placed dubious conditions on their impending release.

Benjamin Jealous was exposed in early December of 2010 of using the Sisters in soliciting funds for the NAACP which contributed nothing to their legal defense or the efforts undertaken by Evelyn Rascoe, their mother, and Nancy Lockhart to publicize the case and recruit grassroots Internet activist to take up the sisters cause.


Today, Benjamin Jealous had the audacity to attach the NAACP name to the Scott Sisters again. In an article written by Jealous and published on the Huffington Post, he states,

“During the past two weeks, in response to successful grassroots campaigns, two governors have released black Americans who had been railroaded by our nation's criminal justice system. Together, these cases speak to the urgent need for the work the NAACP and our allies are doing to encourage more Governors to use their clemency authority as our nation's founding fathers intended by freeing more deserving people more frequently.”

While the substance of the article has many truths about America’s injustice system, he failed to acknowledge the sister's mother or Nancy Lockhart and simply uses the phrase grassroots campaigns. Excuse me but those campaigns had leaders and foot soldiers none of which were associated with Benjamin Jealous and while he states there is an urgent need for the work the NAACP is doing, again insinuating they played some major role in the efforts, unfortunately the NAACP did not see the urgency to take up the Scott Sisters case when they contacted for help many, many years ago.

Benjamin Jealous and the NAACP will be the topic of discussion for this January 1, 2011 broadcast at 10:00PM EST right here on Black Talk Radio News & Views, Bringing You The News You Can Use!

December 30, 2010

Radio: Are The Scott Sisters Really Free, Where Are The U.S. Jobs and Blog Talk Radio’s Future



Most people have heard that the Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys will soon be released from a Mississippi hellhole after Governor Haley Barbour suspended their double life sentences for a robbery that the sisters have always said they where not a part of. What does this mean for sisters and what will they have in common with millions of people labeled felons in incarceration nation also known as the United States of America?


Black Talk Radio spoke to Nancy Lockhart the long time advocate for the Scott Sisters today to get her reaction on the news of the sisters impending release.


The Republican’s are set to take over the House in January after winning a number of seats in the November Elections. It is said that the Democrats and President Obama did not do enough to create jobs in a slumping economy. “It’s the Economy Stupid” was a popular catch phrase coined during the Clinton administration to explain his re-election but are Americans stupid to think that the President and Congress has the power to create jobs? While private corporations have create over one million and a half jobs, just where are those jobs and what can the American people expect on the employment front in the years to come?



Blog Talk Radio has been a major player in online radio and once called a populous force in new media. As the New Year comes in, they are set to go to a mostly paid platform regulating free accounts to 30 minutes of airtime and other restrictions. Over two years ago, Scotty Reid discussed how social networking platform’s entire business models are built on user-generated content.


Now that content users with free accounts have made Blog Talk Radio what it is today, are they risking losing the very people they have relied on to generate traffic to the website enabling them to make advertising revenue off other’s people hard work in exchange for use of the technology? If the content producers pay up, will they be putting the free nature of social media at risk and will other companies follow suit?

Black Talk Radio News & Views, We bring the News, You bring the Views!

Radio: Black Talk Radio News & Views - Headlines for December 30, 2010

Sharing news and views from the world of online Black media and other outlets. All stories can be found posted to our Black Talk Radio Network Facebook Community Page which is accessible through our blog’s toolbar.

Tonight’s Headlines:

Kevin Wooten shot and killed in Jordan Downs Projects Dec.25,2010 by L.A.P.D South East Div.

Sun-Times Columnist Neil Steinberg Under Fire for "Racist" Column Mocking Carol Moseley Braun

Uganda: I Will Force Museveni to Hand Over Power, Says Besigye

Jamie & Gladys Scott Win Their Freedom

"The Mega Church Have Hijack Watch Night!"


Also sharing some of the best in Hip-Hop/R&B music from our favorite indie artists. Got something to say? Call in and share your views on tonight’s topics. We bring the news, you bring the views on Black Talk Radio News & Views!

December 29, 2010

Jamie & Gladys Scott Win Their Freedom


From the website of Governor Haley Barbour:

Dec. 29, 2010

GOV. BARBOUR'S STATEMENT REGARDING RELEASE OF SCOTT SISTERS

"Today, I have issued two orders indefinitely suspending the sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott. In 1994, a Scott County jury convicted the sisters of armed robbery and imposed two life sentences for the crime. Their convictions and their sentences were affirmed by the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1996.

"To date, the sisters have served 16 years of their sentences and are eligible for parole in 2014. Jamie Scott requires regular dialysis, and her sister has offered to donate one of her kidneys to her. The Mississippi Department of Corrections believes the sisters no longer pose a threat to society. Their incarceration is no longer necessary for public safety or rehabilitation, and Jamie Scott's medical condition creates a substantial cost to the State of Mississippi.

"The Mississippi Parole Board reviewed the sisters' request for a pardon and recommended that I neither pardon them, nor commute their sentence. At my request, the Parole Board subsequently reviewed whether the sisters should be granted an indefinite suspension of sentence, which is tantamount to parole, and have concurred with my decision to suspend their sentences indefinitely.

"Gladys Scott's release is conditioned on her donating one of her kidneys to her sister, a procedure which should be scheduled with urgency. The release date for Jamie and Gladys Scott is a matter for the Department of Corrections.

"I would like to thank Representative George Flaggs, Senator John Horne, Senator Willie Simmons, and Representative Credell Calhoun for their leadership on this issue. These legislators, along with former Mayor Charles Evers, have been in regular contact with me and my staff while the sisters' petition has been under review."

December 27, 2010

Remembering Songstress Teena Marie




Soul Songtress Teena Marie passed away of natural causes at her home in Pasadena, California on December 26, 2010. She was 54 years old. There has never been and perhaps never will be another white artist who was truly soulful in her singing and song writing and perhaps this is because she long has had a bond with the Black community growing up in historically Black enclave of Oakwood, California before she went into the music industry. Teena Marie was born Mary Christine Brockert on March 5, 1956.




NPR Interview w/ Teena Marie

Many white artist and bands with white lead singers have had cross over hits among Black music fans like KC and the Sunshine band, the short lived band The Family which was a band produced and affiliated with Prince, the Gibb brothers and their band the Bee Gees had cross over success during the disco era and their younger brother Andy Gibb also had some limited success but no white artist has ever had as wide of a Black fan base as Teena Marie.

Black Talk Radio remembers Teena Marie with some her classic hits in chronological order.

I'm a Sucker For Your Love - Wild and Peaceful (1979)


Behind The Groove - Lady T (1980)


I Need Your Lovin - Irons in the Fire (1980)


Square Biz - It Must Be Magic (1981)


Fire and Desire (duet with Teena Marie) - Street Songs (1981)


Lovergirl - Starchild (1984)


Shangri-La - Emerald City (1986)


Ooo La La La - Naked to the World (1988)


How Can You Resist It - Ivory (1990)


Hypnotized - Passion Play (1994)


I'm Still in Love - La Doña (2004)


You Blow Me Away - Sapphire (2006)


Congo Square (featuring George Duke) - Congo Square (2009)