And no, people shouldn’t solely rely on their government. People should be afforded the opportunity to work hard and achieve the amount of success that we put into our own lives. That’s a very American value, which is one of the best things about this country.

It frustrates me beyond belief to see people living on welfare, not pursuing their education, not mobilizing to live in better lives.

But because many of us live good lives doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about others. I’m far beyond living as a statistic — I have a college degree, working on my MA, and I’m living a decent life in a great job, just as most people who read this blog probably are. But, as I previously mentioned, poverty, health, education, economic development, etc. are not simply black issues. These are things we have to address as a nation. Saying “well, it doesn’t effect me” is the absolute wrong way to look at these problems, because in the long run, this effects all of us.

Michelle, you don’t have to contract HIV if you make the proper choices in life. Don’t resign yourself to being a statistic. Look to yourself for solutions, not the government.

Chloe, we need more Americans like you.

rocketc’s last blog post..Global Warming Update

Michelle, you don’t have to contract HIV if you make the proper choices in life. Don’t resign yourself to being a statistic. Look to yourself for solutions, not the government.

rocketc’s last blog post..Global Warming Update

The answer to your question is simple — Soledad is a part of the problem. Just look at this recent study about racism and the TV news: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0717race.html

PJ

Anyway, I didn’t see the doc. I didn’t want to. I figured I would be pissed if I watched it. My in-laws (who are sweet, radically liberal white folks) saw the whole thing and went on about how educational it was. I think we do have to merit CNN for at least shedding light on some of these issues that are glaring problems in the black community, and for women — a lot of people who would otherwise care less were at least provoked to think about “how the other half lives” for at least a few moments. But from what I know, it was basically more of CNN pointing at people of color sighing sadly into the camera, “those people are so poor and so black.”

There are definitely problems across the board — women as a whole earn an average of 77 cents/dollar a man earns. Black and Latina women earn even less. Being a 23-year-old black woman, I’m more likely to contract HIV than my coworker in the cubicle next to me, who is essentially the same age. Just because many of us, especially those of us who would read this type of blog, have good lives with college degrees and are educated, doesn’t mean that a majority of African-American women are OK, too. I think we have to address these issues of poverty, health, education, economic development, and others as a nation, and not just in “brown communities.” As Christy up top mentioned, these are American issues, not just African-American issues.

Michelle’s last blog post..Dear Olympic Athletes

Frankly, the root causes continue to be addressed but some of us make bad choices in life. Im not going to sit here and give you my story but I know enough about struggle. My family wasnt born anywhere near money but we pulled ourselves up and made changes.

I will continue to be disappointed with the special because it was piss poor in its information and lacked adequate solutions. Blacks are poor and destitute, now what?

Please.

I am so over CNN..