Jay Smooth helps America adjust to the news that for the first time in history, a majority of American babies born in the last year were minorities. nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/whites-account-for-under-half-of-births-in-us.html

US President Barack Obama is set to announce a $3bn (£1.9bn) plan to boost food security and farm productivity in Africa, US officials say.

They say the initiative is aimed at alleviating shortages as world food supplies are being stretched by rising demand in Asia’s emerging markets.

Food security is expected to be on the agenda of this weekend’s G-8 meeting.

The summit near Washington is being dominated by Europe’s debt crisis and a possible Greek exit from the eurozone.

President Obama is expected to announce investments in African agriculture by private US companies, for a total of more than $3bn.

The head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah, said the move shows the administration’s commitment to boosting world food production as rising wealth in Asia drives consumption.

“By taking this new approach, we believe that it’s possible to move 50 million people out of the condition of poverty and hunger,” he told reporters.

“You cannot have stability and security as long as regions and countries and communities are deeply food-insecure.”

The UK and other G8 nations as well as African countries, aid agencies and multinational companies will also take part in what will be known as the New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security.

The UK’s department for international development said 45 leading firms, including Diageo, Unilever and Vodafone, will invest $4bn (£2.5bn) in developing African agriculture and sign up to a new code of responsible investment.

“Governments cannot tackle this challenge alone. The skills, resources and financial expertise of leading private businesses will help transform African agriculture, giving poor farmers the chance to pull themselves out of poverty, hunger and malnutrition,” said the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell.

Bank fearsIn recent years, food shortages have led to price rises and unrest in many import-dependent countries, including many in Africa.

In the 2009 G-8 summit in Italy, major industrial countries promised more than $20bn over three years to improve food access to Africans and others hit by high prices.

This latest summit, which begins later on Friday, is due to discuss the issue.

However its main focus will be continuing concerns that the eurozone debt crisis could trigger a global slump.

On Thursday, confidence in European banks was undermined by ratings agency Moody’s, which cut the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks.

Mr Obama has urged European leaders to do more to stimulate growth, fearing the euro crisis could spread to the US.

Correspondents say he will seek to cement a bond with France’s new president, Francois Hollande, at the White House before heading to Camp David for the summit.

Mr Hollande, who took office on Thursday, has also said a German-led plan to enforce fiscal discipline across the eurozone should be complemented by moves aimed at boosting growth. via BBC News

2012 marks the 5th year of existence for Lost Lyrics and to celebrate this anniversary we are organizing a 2-Day Conference entitled: The Roots of the Rose. Inspired by Tupac Shakur’s poem The Rose that Grew from Concrete, this conference will explore what it means to build an alternative education movement from the ground up.

Saturday June 2nd – Symposium at Ryerson University
Sunday, June 3rd – The Live Report Card at the Art Gallery of Ontario

For more info, please visit www.lostlyrics.ca/blog/

Video shot by Chris Strikes

Music Featured:
Women Are Instrumental (Produced by Rich Kidd)
Spell Check – Ashley, Shola and Chanelle

A great community initiative we’ve supported 3years in a row now! Looking forward to this years competition!! Toronto has talent!!

Tickets only $5!

The Stomp Urban Dance Competition and Showcase is alive and kicking after 11 years in Toronto. Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation in partnership with The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts present Stomp Urban Dance Competition and Showcase on Sunday, May 27 beginning at 1pm at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

Almost 400 young people, from 6 to 24 years will be performing an eclectic array of dance styles including stepping, hip hop, break dancing, dance hall, krumping, jazz, contemporary and ballet. Performers from across the GTA are from Parks, Forestry and Recreation dance programs, private dance classes and community dance groups. Dancers are divided into three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

STOMP evolved from a vision by former City of Toronto staffer as a vehicle to engage young women in recreational opportunities.  The event that started with 100 participants in the first year and now has approximately 400.

First place winners of 2011 STOMP “Projextz ”

NEW weekly programs & workshops

Greetings, the staff at Young & Potential Fathers (YPF) would like to share some information about our NEW weekly programs & workshops starting May 14th 2012 atUjima House 1901 Weston Rd unit 18

Lunch & Learn every Tuesday from 1-3pm

Every Tuesday afternoon if you are a young man or a father looking for an opportunity to get connected to fathering tips, resources and other services join us we talk about how to become a better dad, man and explore themes around self identity, empowering self and other topics related to supporting one another in their parenting role.

Money Talks every Tuesday from 6-7:30pm

Money Talks is a financial advancement program for fathers & young men.  Young fathers and men are encouraged to “learn how to get their money right” through FREE Financial Planning Workshops. Workshop topics include Managing on a Low Income, How to Make a Spending Plan, Living On Your Own, Saving & Interest, Saving to Build Wealth, Dealing with Debt, All About Credit, Payday Loans, Buying a Car, Budgeting for a  Baby. Upon completion participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Nobody’s Perfect every Wednesday from 5:30-8pm

Nobody’s Perfect is a FREE parenting program for fathers with children 6 years and under.  At our weekly workshops fathers will learn about children’s growth and learning, children’s behaviour, children’s health and safety, parenting stress and more. Upon completion participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Father Hood Talk every Friday from 5:30-8pm

Father Hood Talk is a support group designed to bring young and potential fathers together with mentors and elders from the community. Each session will take place in the Barber’s Corner of Ujima House and focus on engaging and empowering dialogue where the meaning of fathering and best practices can be shared. Professionals such as Lawyers and Health workers from the community will participate in these sessions to provide knowledge, support, resources and essential information to assist young men with the various realities and challenges that one might experience (on a daily basis).

Interview with Director-X via Rudy-Blair

“On May 26 some of Canadian music’s most important music and entertainment professionals will take part in the 2012 Toronto International Music Summit. One of the keynote speakers will be Toronto native Director X, know as the best music director in the business. 680News music reporter Rudy Blair speaks with Director X about the summit, his career and working on Justin Bieber’s new music video “Boyfriend.”  SOURCE

New Leaf is 5 years young… And we’re throwing a party with our friends from cirQlar!

Music by:
LAL (http://cargocollective.com/lal)
Zum One (http://www.zum1.com/)
Drumatix Six
DJ Kyle Marshall
DJ Wayuu

Visuals by: Siren Sativa and Jaxamuse

Art exhibit by youth from LOVE (http://www.leaveoutviolence.com/)

Tickets $25
Purchase tickets here: http://riseupparty.eventbrite.com/

Help us celebrate youth, community and yoga with a lively night of fun and friends, dancing and play. Enjoy live music and DJs, installations and circus performances, a youth art exhibit, raffle prizes, snacks and so much more. Proceeds will support New Leaf’s programs with youth.

7:30pm – Doors open
8:00pm – Pre-party yoga class with Nicole Madison and DJ Kyle Marshall
9:00pm – PARTY!

Raffle prizes include a gift certificate from Lululemon, yoga passes from Kula Annex, 2 all-access passes to Drop Festival from cirQlar, a massage treatment, an acupuncture treatment, jewelry, and more!

Snacks by A Couple of Squares (http://www.acoupleofsquares.com/)

For more information about New Leaf Yoga Foundation, visit http://www.newleafyoga.org/

That might well be true, since who doesn’t suffer from internalized racism?  I mean, even white people internalize racism. The difference is that white people’s internalized racism is against people of color, and it’s backed up by those who control societal institutions and capital.

But some folk have more on their minds.  They say that focusing on black and white reinforces a false racial binary that marginalizes the experiences of non-black people of color. No argument here. But I also think that trying to mix things up by putting non-black people of color in the middle is a problem because there’s no “middle.”

So there’s most of my answer. I’m sure I do suffer from internalized racism, but I don’t think that racism is defined only in terms of black and white. I also don’t think white supremacy is a simple vertical hierarchy with whites on top, black people on the bottom, and the rest of us in the middle.

So why do I expend so much effort on lifting up the oppression of black people? Because anti-black racism is the fulcrum of white supremacy.

A fulcrum is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the support about which a lever turns” or, alternatively, “one that supplies capability for action.” In other words, if you want to move something, you need a pry bar and some leverage, and what gives you leverage is the fulcrum – that thing you use so the pry bar works like a see-saw.

The racial arrangement in the U.S. is ever changing.  There is no “bottom.” Different groups have more ability to affect others at different times because our roles are not fixed.  But, while there’s no bottom, there is something like a binary in that white people exist on one side of these dynamics – the side with force and intention. The way they mostly assert that force and intention is through the fulcrum of anti-black racism.

Hang in there with me for a minute and consider this. Race slavery is the historical basis of our economy. Yes, there was/is a campaign of “Indian removal” in order to capture natural resources and that certainly is part of the story. But the structure of the economy is rooted in slavery.

Our Constitution was written by slave owners. They managed to muster some pretty nice language about equality, justice, and freedom for “men” because they considered Africans less than human. Our federal system is based on a compromise intended to accommodate slavery. Our concept of ownership rights, the structure of our federal elections system, the segregated state of our society,the glut of money in politics, our conservative political culture, our criminal codes and federal penitentiaries all evolved around or were/are facilitated by anti-black racism.

And this is not just about history.  Fear of black people drives our national politics, from the fight over Jim Crow in the 50s and 60s, to Willie Horton and the Chicago Welfare Queen in the 80s, and the War on Drugs, starting in 1982 right up to the present. Since 2001, the U.S. has spent about 1.3 trillion dollars on war. Since 1982 we’ve spent over 1 trillion dollars on the drug war.

About 82% of drug busts are for possession, while about 18% are for trafficking. Sound like an irrational way to wage a war on drugs? Not if it’s a war on black people.

According to Human Rights Watch, black males are incarcerated at a rate more than six times that of white males resulting in one in 10 black males aged 25-29 being held in prison or jail in 2009. The same report states:

And why a war on people?  The war on drugs is the cornerstone of the “tough on crime” messaging campaign that is key to the Republican Southern Strategy. It suggests that extending civil rights to African-Americans resulted in the crime wave of the 1970s, (and not the baby boom as is suggested by sociologists) in order to drive white Southerners into the Republican Party.

And that “tough on crime” thing, that’s not just against black people.  It’s a propaganda war that is weakening civil rights and civil liberties for all of us.

There’s no hierarchy of oppressions where race is concerned, but anti-black racism is the fulcrum of white supremacy.

Toronto, ON -Black Womyn Griots is a film that explores the black literary genre of spoken word. Toronto-based female poets share how they use storytelling as an act of resistance and language as a site of power. This film depicts spoken word as a powerful means to build communities, organize resistance and tell our stories as an act of healing.