A Human Rights Nightmare: The Mass Incareceration of African American and Hispanic men

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If you asked 10 young men of African or Hispanic descent, residing in the inner city, whether or not they have some form of criminal record…chances are… nine out of ten do.

According to lawyer, civil rights advocate and professor, Michelle Alexander, the police stopped and frisked 600,000 men and 90% of those men were African American or Hispanic. There is no doubt that the prison system holds mostly people of color. However, Michelle Alexander’s new book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, she calls for an “awakening” of the American people in this new form of “racial reality”.

In the book, Alexander discusses how the war on drugs has given birth to a permanent caste system; ever surpressing the opportunities of the black man.  She begs the question, although we are in the age of Obama, in a supposed “post-racial” society, how come a majority of men of color are labeled felons for life? In Chicago this figure is 80 percent!

Shedding light on the war on drugs, specifically marijauana, and how the motivation for this particular “drug war” stems from racial politics. Alexander states that with the number of college students and surburban youth doing marijauna, young men of color are unfairly targeted and jailed for possession of the drug. She calls for a human rights movement that puts an end to the racial motivated judicial system.

To get on board in the efforts to stop the mass incarceration of African American and Hispanic men, House of Aura encourages you to pick up her book! Amazon link below:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Michelle-Alexander/dp/1595586431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328484792&sr=8-1

 

 

 

Video: Gita (@GITASPEAXDAILY) – \”Hood Rich\”

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Lyrical trillness from a New York emcee who happens to be female. That\’s whats in the clip above, check it out & stay updated with Gita, here.

 

Producer: DJ Two Stacks
Artist: Gita
Director: Steve Willis
Editor: Joe Suslak
Compositing and Effects: Joe Suslak & Corey Ryan
Animation: Corey Ryan
Illustration: Shannon Lasky of Small Dog Workshop
DP: Ryan Franco
Lighting: Milton De La Cruz
Hair: Ritchzie Zumel

Wangsta To Gangsta? Maybe Not But He Is Enjoying His Time Served

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Remember when 50 Cent hit the scene with his single “Wangsta”? At first some people didn’t know who he was referring to but later discovered it was Jeffery Atkins aka JA Rule. The two rappers had a past and 50 was just calling him out for being a perpetrator. Well let’s fast forward to 2007; JA Rule was arrested for gun possession and tax evasion and was later sentenced to 2 years in prison, in an up state New York Mid-State Correctional Facility last June.
Before JA was arrested he was working on a long anticipated album “Pain is Love 2”. In a recent interview with Daily News JA Rule reflects on his recent accomplishment. “My back was against the wall. I didn’t think we’d have time to do what I set out to do, but it came together much better than I could have imagined.’

 

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What he is referring to is the buzz that has been made by JA Rule fans and viewers of WorldStarHipHop.com. JA linked up with legendary Hype Williams to produce his music video “Real Life Fantasy” that also featured Anita Louise, which in 24 hours received 3 million views on WSHH. That was just a taste for what is in store for JA Rule fans; his album “Pain is Love 2’ will drop February 28 (which is also the day before JA Rule’s birthday this year).

Other than him working on his album, JA Rule has accomplished quite a bit while behind bars. He has gotten his GED, made many wealthy friends (such as Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco) and played basketball and spades with Hank Morris (a well known New York political columnist)…ha! Also “Koz” as JA refers to Mr. Kozlowski, has been mentoring him in his educational pursuits. JA Rule will be starting college soon and “Koz” is advising him to study business…predictably so.

Even though prison isn’t the best place to be, it sure is helping JA Rule out. He may not be a gangsta but he is a step ahead of being a “wangsta” or at least in my opinion he is. So for those JA Rule fans out there he hasn’t forgotten about you and will be giving you something to add to your CD collection real soon.

Locking Lips With The Young Money Barbie

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“I kissed a girl and I liked it” should have been sung by Madonna instead of Katy Perry. Remember back in 2007 Madonna kissed Britney Spears AND Christina Aguilera on the MTV VMAs, well she has done it again, and this time it is Nicki Minaj! Madonna did an interview with Anderson Cooper on his talk show “Anderson” revealing the details of her intimate moment with Nicki along with the admiration for the Young Money rapper.

“I listen to Nicki Minaj. I love her! I love Nicki and M.I.A actually and I wanted to collaborate with both of them on my record because I’m a big fan of their music, but also I like their independence, I like their spirit. They’re cheeky and unique and they have individual voices and they’re not conventional pop stars and I really admire them both”.

 

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Well Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. actually did link up with Madonna back in December for the shooting of Madonna’s video to her single “Give Me All Your Luvin”, which on the set Nicki and Madonna did lock lips! Wow! That isn’t the intimate moment that I am referring to though.

“It was her birthday and it was actually the end of one of those long days of shooting and we were all giving a birthday toast to her,” explains Madonna. “After a few sips of champagne, I kissed her”.
Oh Madonna don’t blame it on the liquor, you probably wanted an extra taste of that life size Barbie…lol. The video for “Give Me All Your Luvin” will premiere Friday and the trio will perform together during the Super Bowl halftime show. Madonna and Nicki Minaj are always full of surprises so who knows we might get a chance to see the ‘locking of lips’ live on TV. So stay tuned, the Super Bowl is February 5 and will air on NBC at 3:25 pt/5:25 ct/6:25 et.