My comments on other's blogs

http://sunshinekrs.blogspot.com/2010/10/enviroment.html#comment-form
http://misscomplicatedkiya.blogspot.com/2010/09/improving-our-community-as-african.html#comment-form
http://dsimmonsfreshcomp.blogspot.com/2010/11/awareness-letter.html?showComment=1291241429350_AIe9_BGt8m-hKUJbdTUh6mAsYGzvVZBhZSQ4OZJv9RnaBJUuRGtQfQPiFG_uXD6UlnIyA-43rhKbGppyWMKN8ub-W0ANo41EYlxoy-lHTTMsNmdHTzKxwnYht5A9OfIkhEAHVyt9TmehAlf8BQf5Jk3WtTn0P6DSEc3nZA3buOWM_YkU50pD6ZWDFHBkqs6VFB8u28N40kUFYBYnRD9gOpoY16fLhZHzzvRU6I6dIjWjlukeHt9Ta8tnKo-KztVtdevmSaIPPRaC1ncBYT5hbkvsYOYRwwuQhqGx2sXSe5zVzMF5xkdjptzKEdpKZ7peCz5SJ45HqrEhcJPBINwTEeKuMMCgOmeNAOkFN1w_wLeasvKpfurvXPWnctQCmjKGV3CxrYA1yHiGvqeJ6UXvdkVQt7i-toZhMpOGPxmqoXl8Z9zCC0JrM4eEo-56FstzxBvOVyiQ7BDK-qnXmPr3QJ3dgPbTqKHJTbmRw1C6mJiww1bv-XoeXlbBOOg18tagt9TVp7NrfJ9oigA9UABF7mAlM8WXAIoHOQ#c3567182061126052686
http://hu002.blogspot.com/2010/10/reaction-to-convocation.html?showComment=1291241836569_AIe9_BHzXJO6rmRUwrMdyUR3v6SX6A02CMYLXasKtibMkejqZlwWqqBlnNMsijNr-H5wYePuw_Oi8AP6dARTHCAGv0OamgwnXQEZ5Rfwp33Fq03-XMf-Dx0jkyZl-q9QOx22rV4c1c-lovFpmGzw5bVx_JnXThAdeeiKDfWKEQXDqFr_8YrrwHshCG1gxZ19jCSX-VB6ZuPY2SYjhfXQyVszpm9vG6Ida8i6voMxRFuzNA0sEJEab6-ftttTAKgvckfwT0H0pPgjZ6YirYesV6eFAdfF84D0ogCEQiIG-kcW4dg3LG3Lv-WFzxdI6thG3qu2ysNXRp0M-rK7ygXAWo16uWq5W-A5IyqW5mq22czk8pJLzJbfUs413NoJAiv2d-9vLh84IuU59_JmV1SWgdlN0CAo8a1EngMLMKt6Bc6bEFSeyTbrlneQuLMcSUNASOeqkCVhCZiVi2jANIDexbeJMPifCqPjdMZzyPtDomefFC-4X8RCifk#c1417867479046234150
http://ashleywsays.blogspot.com/2010/11/mexicos-drug-related-violence-cnncom.html#comment-form

#10 Presentation- The New College Scene

This whole college scene was new to me
All these new concepts kept confusing me
They got classes for this, classes for that
Even got classes for the miseducation of African American Blacks
But without a purpose in mind what does it all really mean?
Your grades are nightmares, but you steady tryna follow ur dreams
You steady studying, take notes, sit in front of the class
But still on the edge about whether you're gonna pass
You get you're first tests back, failing grades
You lose motivation, inspiration slowly starts to fade
So You slack, I mean slack for real
Your boy in class ain't seen you, asking what's the deal?
You questions your reasons for even being here
When you applied everything seemed so clear
I'm a musician so I could make it with no degrees
Long as people feel my beats, my rhythms, my melodies
But then you think back to all your friends back home
Still making GarageBand beats for a local artist named Jerome
You got potential, that's what everyone keeps saying to ya
Your professors give u work, they say it'll improve ya
How May classes you ever sat in, not knowing what the hell is goin on
But by your quiz grades, you know something's goin wrong
You try to bring back your style in school and class
It's working to a point, but damn the teacher moving too fast

NAACP vs. Tea Party

     The NAACP is raising concern about what seems to be the Tea Party's racial injustice. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People argue that Tea Party groups "have given platforms to anti-Semites, racists, and bigots, and have attracted white nationalists looking for recruits." The tea party has attracted white nationalists and consists of angry white middle class citizens who believe their country has been taken from them. Although my question is who took their country? The minorities, illegal immigrants, or Barack Obama? Last time I checked Caucasians were still the majority in this country, minorities may be striving towards fairer treatment, but people of color still aren't considered equals in this country. The Tea Party  rallies Capital punishment is a direct example of the racial injustice and inequality in this country. The Tea party uses racially explicit language and slurs at their rallies. This white nationalism within this political party makes me feel as if our country is moving in a backwards direction. Our country has moved two steps forward with a African American President  and one step back with Tea party.

The Death Penalty

     In numerous recent articles in the New York Times former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens speaks on how the Death Penalty is wrong and unconstitutional. Justice Stevens once thought that the Death Penalty could be carried out rationally, morally, fairly, and without error but now thinks differently. Former Justice Blackmun stated  “The problem,” he said, “is that the inevitability of factual, legal and moral error gives us a system that we know must wrongly kill some defendants, a system that fails to deliver the fair, consistent and reliable sentences of death required by the Constitution.” A system that takes innocent lives, is a system that needs to be eliminated, but it continues to thrive today. The Death Penalty is a grotesque abomination of racism today. It can be considered as today's new way of lynching. Often times police and prosecuratorial misconduct happens in which evidence of innocence is withheld from the court room. The juries that are assigned to duty are usually those who lean in favor of  conviction. Judges and prosecutors are commonly white males who are often unfair bigots. The defense lawyers that are hired for the convicted defendants are usually incompetent and unqualified. Unless eliminated more innocent lives will be wasted and this reckless, unconstitutional cycle of judgement will continue to taint this country.


Herbert, Bob. "Broken Beyond Repair." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 29 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/>.

#9 Letter

Dr. Ribeau

Howard University President

Howard University

2400 Sixth Street

Washington, DC 20059

Dear Dr. Ribeau :

My name is Albert Charles Ellis III. I am a freshman philosophy major at Howard University. It has recently come to my attention that my major and many others are under review for closure, consolidation or restructuring.  Although I understand why it is necessary to review all majors to make sure they are still prevalent, I think you should reconsider some of the majors and degree programs up for closure.  

Howard University is known as one of the best HBCU’S in the country. It is where educated African-Americans go to further their knowledge in a wide array of subjects. By taking away some of these majors you are taking away the uniqueness that this university is known for. When I applied to Howard University I did so because of all the majors this university had to offer.  Because there are so many options, it allows the student to broaden their horizons and learn more. When many students come to Howard they realize how many different subjects they can major in. For instance when applying for college I knew I wanted to become a lawyer but I did not know what major I should take to get me there. I knew that a very popular major was political science but I did not want to major in that. As I was researching I came upon philosophy. I did not know what is was before, but the more I read about the major the more intrigued I became. Philosophy teaches analytical thinking and debating skills. It teaches its students how to form a proper argument and how to execute those arguments into statements. A major like this gives students like me an option other than political science. Many other majors that are up for closure are similar to philosophy. They are outlets for students who do not want to take the conventional classes.

            I understand that it is impossible to keep all the majors but if you eliminate all or most of these majors I am sure you will lose many students to other schools that do offer such courses. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet to suggest alternatives and to keep the high quality of education that Howard or a University offer. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to hear from you soon. I will telephone your office in the next week to discuss a possible place and time for a meeting.

Environmental Injustice

     Environmental injustice/racism  is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards. Ms. Roberts stated that Environmental injustice has nothing to do with the people, but everything to do with policy. Environmental hazards mainly affect  people that live in low-income communities and relates primarily to people of color. The deciding factor in predicting where these  communities are is race. Degradation in these communities is an ever growing issue in America, and is not being addressed by the government or EPA accordingly. Environmental justice demands for freedom from pollution and to have a say on environmental decision making. Asthma, cancer, and ADHD are possible side effects of Environmental degradation in the communities. There was once a study in the 1980's  that said that 1 in 9 people of color lived in toxic polluted neighborhoods. A professor by the name of Dr. Robert Bullard out of Clark, Atlanta University identified this first case of environmental racism and coined the name enviromental injustice. Now fast forward  to the 1990's when Dr. Bullard did the study again the numbers increased to 1 in 4  people of color live in environmentally degraded communities. The community of Mossville, Louisiana that is 5 square miles has 14 industrial facilities that surround the toxic town. Now its not that we don't need to have materialistic items, but cheaper is not always better, styrofoam doesnt break down in land fills, and we must be more conscious in our way of living.

Analysis and Reflection

     This fifth blog entry is a reflection of my past work. I have written about racial issues that pertain to the United States. My re-occuring themes seem to be the importance of education for African Americans so we may be able to overcome the influence that slavery  has psychologically had over our people. I would say that the nature of my posts has remained the same, but the depth and thoroughness has increased in the past weeks. The reason being that at first I saw writing blogs as a mere annoyance and waste of time. Although after a while I soon found a certain jubilance in writing down my thoughts and researching on racial topics that piqued my interest. The thing that truly suprises me when I re-read work is that I've had the same or similar theme in every blog. The Idea worth re-visiting would be Barack Obama's speech, "A More Perfect Union". Since this was the first topic i blogged about, I feel as if I didn't have any idea on how to blog and did not write an adequate blog. The aspects that I value most in the blogging is the research and in the way I am free to display my thoughts openly.
     My strengths are research and critically reading/analysis. The weaknesses I've noticed in myself are in-class essays, and outlines. I have learned greatly in the area of critically reading, in contrast to expository writing. In addition I am a lot more comfortable with technology because of this class, and Howard University. Although I must be honest, when I write I usually do not take a global perspective into consideration. When I write, I try and write about issues that interest me, which are mainly issues that pertain to African Americans.