Thought I would share this bit of information with you.
The CEO of Red Lobster and Olive Garden did you know he is a black man.
Each week tens of thousands of diners eat at an Olive Garden or Red Lobster restaurant. Few of these diners know that the CEO heading these large restaurant chains is a black man.
Clarence Otis Jr. Is the CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc., the largest casual dining operator in the nation. The firm operates nearly 1,400 company-owned restaurants coast to coast serving 300 million meals annually. Darden employs 150,000 workers and has annual revenues of $6 billion.
Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Otis moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. His father was a high school dropout who worked as a janitor. The family lived in Watts at the time of the 1965 riots. In the post-Watts period, Otis recalls being stopped and questioned by police several times a year because of the color of his skin.
A high school guidance counselor recommended him for a scholarship at Williams College, The highly selective liberal arts institution in Massachusetts. Otis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams and went on to earn a law degree at Stanford. Otis landed on Wall Street as a merger and acquisitions attorney for J.P. Morgan Securities. He joined Darden Restaurants in 1995 as corporate treasurer. He became CEO in 2004.
How many of us-or anyone else-knew this?!
(But we heard all about Michael Vick, didn’t we?)
Things have got to change.
Start now, by FORWARDING THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
Typical white aspect of America isn’t it? Blacks will not make national headlines unless it is negative information. They have their particular exceptions of course for example, in sports Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, in music those of extraordinary talent, passed away Michael Jackson.
It is a shame though how many blacks close their eyes to the facts of how many whites of corporate America don’t care anything about them. Just because they smile each day in their faces, give flattering compliments, and so many blacks just eat it up thinking they are in with the big dogs! So foolishly ignorant those blacks are! Walking blind with their eyes WIDE OPEN!
Black GOP Candidate Corey Poitier called President Obama Buckwheat. Now he should know better then that because that’s what his white counterparts in the GOP call him. He’s a damn fool!
Corey Poitier is a Republican Congressional hopeful from Florida; let me enlighten you they are calling your black ass Buckwheat too. He even had the nerve to try and defend the statement by saying, “People love Buckwheat.”
His statement was made when he was in the midst of delivering an impassioned speech decrying President Obama’s health care reform, GOP congressional hopeful Corey Poitier veered dangerously off-script. This is what he said:
“Listen up, Buckwheat—this is not how it is done!” Poitier blurted out.
I haven’t used P.S in a long time but I had to today. I found a question to Corey Poitier on his Facebook fan page:
Darren A. Ferguson said: Just like many of your 160 “fans”, I too joined this page to make a comment. While I will not call you a “boot-licking, butt-licking, bamboozled, half-baked, half-fried, sissified, punkified, pasteurized, homogenized n—-”, no matter how much I agree, I do have a question: Why would you, a supposedly intelligent man, u…se a term to describe our President that only solidifies what many believe (racist, ignorant, etc.)about the republican party? Would you considering answering that, sir?
THEY SAY WE NEED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO OF ERYKAH BADU’S NEW SINGLE RELEASED SATURDAY BECAUSE IT’S CONTROVERSIAL. ONLY AMERICA FINDS THIS OFFENSIVE. WE NEED TO LOOSEN UP. THIS IS ART…MONA LISA WAS NUDE WHAT DID THEY SAY ABOUT THAT. I AM AN ARTIST SO I APPRECIATE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION IN ITS TRUEST FORM.
Dallas native Erykah Badu’s new music video portrays her taking off her clothes and then dying near where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
The “guerilla-style” video for the song “Window Seat” was shot in one take as she stripped while walking in Dealey Plaza on March 17. Badu released the music video Saturday.
“I was petrified while shooting this video … but liberation began to set in. I conquered many fears in that few moments,” Badu posted on Twitter on Sunday.
Families can be seen in the background. Badu said on Twitter that she prayed the children who were there wouldn’t be “traumatized.”
The video begins with a 1963 radio broadcast describing Kennedy turning onto Elm Street. Badu is then shown in a parked car. Then she walks toward Elm Street while taking her clothes off.
Badu said on Twitter that she could hear people yelling things at her but she kept going. People were yelling things such as “This is a public place,” “You ought to be ashamed,” and “Put your clothes on,” she said.
She said the people caught in the background were trying to ignore her as she shed the last of her clothing—except for one man who grabbed her clothes.
In the video, she falls to the ground at the spot where Kennedy was shot.
The blood at the end of the video spells out “groupthink.”
Groupthink is “the unwritten rule that states; I will not express my true opinion if it opposes those I love and fear. I volunteer to censor me,” Badu wrote on Twitter.
Badu, a mother of three, said on Twitter that she told her children about her plans to film the video. Her 5-year-old daughter just asked for another serving of pudding. Her 12-year-old son said he would tell anyone who teased him about the video that his “mom is great” and “she was having fun.”
“I immediately took myself less seriously,” Badu posted.
The city of Dallas said in a statement that Badu’s production company did not get permits or contact the city. Commercial film, video and photo shoots must be approved by the city. Guerilla videos are usually shot in one take because the crews know they would face arrest or penalties if they are caught, the city said.
Badu said she made sure to put money in the meter in case the police showed up.
“After last action, we ran like hell! lol,” she posted on Twitter.
She said they didn’t even take the time to look for the man who was picking up her clothes.
Dallas police said they do not plan on filing charges against Badu, who lives in Dallas. But the department said it would consider filing indecent exposure charges if witnesses came forward.
No one in Dealey Plaza at the time of the filming called police, Dallas police said Monday.
Badu’s latest album, “New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh,” will be released Tuesday.
Okay now a different spin on the video:
Erykah Badu added her distinctive voice to the “Culture Wars” over the weekend with the strategic premiere of her “Window Seat” video. The song, which is about taking space and time for oneself when love gets you down, is now eclipsed by images of Badu walking through the downtown area of her native Dallas, removing articles of clothing until she’s naked, only to be shot in the head by an unseen assailant. Blue blood flows to form the words “group think” and Badu as narrator comes on to speak of mob mentalities and the cowardly attacks made on those who choose to be individuals and live freely.
The video – done guerrilla style as Badu has tweeted that they shot the footage and ran to escape potential arrest – pays homage to a number of cultural moments, most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The clip takes place in the same area of the historical killing and starts off with news footage announcing Kennedy’s motorcade. It’s also inspired by pop-punk duo Matt and Kim’s video for “Lesson Learned,” where they strip in New York’s Time Square. And, of course, it speaks of our current political climate, where conservative communities make death threats against the nation’s first black president.
Amidst the clip’s sociopolitical swirl, Badu’s latest album New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh places far more of an emphasis on romance and relationships than its predecessor Part One: 4th World War. Ankh sandwiches foot-thumping grooves (“Turn Me Away (Get MUNNY),” “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long,” “Love,” etc.) between introspective, jazz-inspired cuts.
I know there are more clubs in California with websites. I want to make sure we capture everybody in one complete place that’s specific to our needs and concerns. Hit me up and make your additions to this list. Thanks
I am posting this article again because I received a response from one of my visitors on my former blog and it went like this:
Comment by MR. JACKY J BROWN on March 22, 2010 3:15 am
“Why would you want to have a predominantly black bike rally in a predominantly white community? Why not have it in St. Louis?”
Please read the article and let me know what you think. Let’s keep this dialog going. It is important that we continue to support cities that won’t give us challenges. What’s wrong with New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC and I know we can think of others if we tried.
Officials in Columbia Missouri say the National Bikers Roundup could have at least a $3 million economic impact.
The funny thing is they referred to the National Bikers Roundup as a Mini-Sturgis. When they mentioned Sturgis they didn’t find it necessary to include that Sturgis is a white biker rally but they did make it clear to Columbia residents that the National Bikers Roundup is a predominantly black biker rally.
I wonder why it was important to let the residents of Columbia, Missouri know that 30,000 or more black bikers will be heading their way August 3 – 8, 2010. Let me give you a clear understanding of why they found it necessary to let the residents know who was coming to town:
Races in Columbia:
White Non-Hispanic (80.4%)
Black (10.9%)
Two or more races (2.1%)
Hispanic (2.1%)
Chinese (1.3%)
Asian Indian (0.9%)
American Indian (0.9%)
Other race (0.8%)
Other Asian (0.8%)
Korean (0.6%)
Now with knowing this information be mindful and govern yourselves accordingly.
