by Tony Robles

If you’re a native San Franciscan, you know the sound. It’s as sweet as the smell of BBQ ribs and cornbread and sweet potato pie when the city had soul food restaurants all over with Black folks cooking in black kitchens on black grills with black pots and pans bubbling music in the background, in the foreground – all over.

Imagine that, Black folks cooking soul food in a soul food restaurant – not like what you see when you walk in the city today. The Black and Brown laughter I grew up with was nourishment; it told me where my mother and father had been, where my ancestors had been; it told me who I was.

According to the 2012 Nielsen Report "African-American Consumers: Still Vital, Still Growing" baby boomers watch 8.5 hours of TV per day.  Gen-Y African Americans watch an average of 6 hours per day.  If you sleep 8 hours and watch TV for another 8 hours that only leaves 8 hours to work, eat, play with kids, read a book, pursue a goal, exercise, etc.

Too much TV is turning us into overweight couch potatoes that are pawns of the media; manipulated into buying things we don't need while worshipping winners of American Idol and emulating the antics of the Basketball Wives Savages.

Don't be a slave to the TV.  Pursue your own road to stardom.

The things we say and put out in the public media have a direct impact on our society.  No matter how large or small a statement you make you have the power to change society for good or evil.

Back in the late 80’s NWA emerged, exposing many to their first honest looks into the life of young black people in the inner cities of the west coast.  It was edgy, raw, real and very successful.  Over the last 20 years however gangster rap has become a victim of its own success; turning raps about reality into predictable songs based on shallow, mysogynistic stereotypes that degrade women and makes black men look like savage fools.

I am a social media person.  I write articles for a living and am constantly scouring the web for new stories, articles and what’s happening on the web.  I use my phone and yes, I check texts.

With that being said I was amazed this week when I saw a Newsweek story in the Daily Beast that said that the average teen texts 3700 times a month. 

WTF?!?

TalkBLACK Atlanta has been Atlanta’s premier discussion group for African-American professionals since 2003. We meet once a month to discuss an array of topics from politics and pop culture to religion and relationships that we consider relevant to the greater African-American community.

We meet from 1-3 p.m. SHARP on the first Saturday of every month (except holidays) at African-American-owned venues throughout metro Atlanta. Our meetings are presided over by a moderator and panelists are invited to share their perspective, but interactive discussion is encouraged.

Juma Ventures is an innovative and award-winning youth development program that combines employment in social enterprises, college preparation, and financial asset building to create a safe, supportive community where under-resourced youth can achieve their dreams of a college education.

Juma takes children with physical and financial barriers and provides these students with the tools and resources they need to overcome barriers, maximize their personal assets, and successfully transition into a life of higher education and greater success.

LEAP is a free program sponsored by the Richmond Public Library in which tutors and learners work one-on-one or in small groups. LEAP's purpose is to help adults develop the skills and confidence they need to achieve their individual goals.

Who is Involved

Volunteer Tutors: You can help someone else learn to read. All you need is sensitivity and patience.

Learners: You must be 16 years old or older and want to improve basic reading, writing, or math skills.

Donors: Please feel free to make a tax-deductible donation.

One in five Americans today cannot read or write well enough to fill out a job or read a bedtime stories to their children.  Adult literacy is one of the basics for survival.  Check out some resources here

They say, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Alternative Family Services (AFS) is that village for hundreds of Northern California foster children and their families. AFS is a foster, adoptions and mental health agency that has been creating safe, permanent connections for foster children and youth in the Bay Area since 1978.

AFS provides multiple services to include:

- Supporting families at risk

- Creating permanency options for all foster children

- Providing mental health and other supports to children, youth and their families

BlackGirlsCode is devoted to showing the world that black girls can code, and do so much more. By reaching out to the community through workshops and after school programs, BlackGirlsCode introduces computer coding lessons to young girls from underrepresented communities in programming languages such as Scratch or Ruby on Rails.

BlackGirlsCode has set out to prove to the world that girls of every color have the skills to become the programmers of tomorrow. By promoting classes and programs we hope to grow the number of women of color working in technology and give underprivileged girls a chance to become the masters of their technological worlds.