The World Trade Center nearing completion, seen from the Staten Island Ferry – 1972. Photo by John Dalton.

I can’t help but remember the fear, anger, and uncertainty surrounding the events on September 11th. In the midst of partisanship and pettiness that a presidential election year brings, today, it’s hard to remember a time that we came, pulled, fought, and grieved together. We are Americans, first and foremost. We share common values. We pull together when tragedy strikes. We are a resilient people. Though a still-unthinkable tragedy, September 11th reminds me of our goodness and dedication as countrymen, and our collective ability to be bigger that what we ever imagined.

Rest in peace to all those who died on 9/11 – the victims, the first responders, those who gave their lives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thoughts and prayers with friends, family, and loved ones of 9/11 victims who grive today. We grieve with you.

-Antonio

George Zimmerman is arraigned in court for the murder of Trayvon Martin.

If you weren’t watching another rerun of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, you might have found yourself in the Fox News noise chamber, where Sean Hannity aired his “exclusive interview” with George Zimmerman, the man accused of second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman details his version of what happened on that fateful night: that Martin looked “suspicious,” then attacked him for no reason, “straddled” him and told him to shut up, broke his nose with one punch, all while Zimmerman (who, let’s recall, was armed) fought for his life by screaming “help” a number of times. Ultimately, he says, he shot Trayvon but didn’t realize he’d killed him.

All praise to Hannity for his journalistic integrity and hard-hitting queries, like “You said at one point that [Trayvon Martin] put his hands over your mouth… do you think that was to silence you from screaming?” and, after bringing up the Black Panther party, “What do you want to say to people that did rush to judgment? That suggested there was racial profiling in this case…?”

Towards the end of the interview, the Fox News host reveals how “worried” he was about Zimmerman amidst the media speculation and coverage.

You can check out the clips below, courtesy of Mediaite:

I think this brother sums it up best:

Zimmerman is a smooth talker. I know the type. fxn.ws/NzYiNL via @foxnews

— Bill Mitchell (@_JamesGatsby) July 19, 2012

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Think Mitt Romney has clinched the nomination now that Rick Santorum has bowed out? Guess again!

In case you haven’t heard, there is only one conservative left in the race to the White House, so says the Newt Gingrich campaign in every e-blast they send and so say these six Americans who took to YouTube to voice their support for the former House speaker. The real Americans in this PSA were so fired up to support Newt that they didn’t even bother to make their beds, clean their rooms, pick their laundry up off of the floor, or turn on the lights before recording these clips on their webcams. That’s REAL dedication that only a real conservative could inspire!

Support Newt! Take a look at these six people who are throwing their weight behind his broke bare bones grassroots race to the Republican National Convention floor in August! Then, give him a round of applause for finding people who believe he still has a chance.

Photo by Jeff Meade

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Like many of you, I’ve shed tears watching the travesties of justice that are the Trayvon Martin and Ramarley Graham stories unfold before our very eyes. These tales strike an all-too familiar chord: I’ve spoken candidly about the effect of my cousin’s murder many years ago. The anger and rage and devastation and pure disenchantment have at times been suffocating.

The video below was created after weeks of media coverage of the Trayvon Martin story: the questions; the audio tapes of a helpless scream followed by a gunshot and then silence; rising anger; marches and protests; the family of the murderer defending… murder; more anger; a carefully crafted character assassination attempt of a dead teenager; and then… the outright suggestion that a young Black boy could be killed for simply walking in a neighborhood and “looking the part.”

Enough.

We must take back our image and reject the notion that a young black man is a walking bulls-eye. It is not enough to be angry. We must fight for the young man who goes out into the world each day in fear of being who he is. These are our brothers and sons and neighbors and friends. Remind these young men that they are more than what the world perceives, and capable of much more than what many believe.

Only when we weave these messages into the mindsets of our young men of color will we “transform pain and anger into power and action,” as my great aunt always says.

Please watch. And tell a young man of color that he is worthy of praise, not fear. Tell him that he is perfect, yet urge him to strive for perfection. And that the arrogance of those who doubt him is no match for his brilliance.

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Courtesy Sarah Mongeau-Birkett/BU News Service

This one is a shocker.

Mitt Romney is aloof, doesn’t know your name, and could care less if you care ’cause he don’t care!

Or something like that, says the Times, which ran this story that quoted over a dozen sources, including members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Massachusetts State Senate, on his lack of interest in getting to know fellow legislators.

In a piece that seems, at times, like it should have been written for The Onion by the former Governor’s old high school arch-nemesis, the article includes the following gems:

On not knowing a fellow legislator’s name or position:

…When [state legislator Jay Kaufman] crossed Mr. Romney’s path in the building’s marble corridors one day, his fears were confirmed.

“Hello, Senator,” Mr. Romney called to Mr. Kaufman.

Sitting in his office five years later, Mr. Kaufman still seemed wounded by the slight. “No name, wrong title,” he said. “Give me a break.”

On not doing nice things for them:

Lawmakers complained… that Mr. Romney failed to observe the courtesies typically extended during events in their districts. Instead of putting the legislators front and center, [he] frequently arranged for them to sit in the audience. (“The cheap seats,” as [former Romney Aide John] O’Keefe called them.)

And, naturally, the ‘why it’s ok to not care about and/or develop rapport with the people you work with‘ rebuttal from the Romney camp:

“He campaigned as an outsider, governed as an outsider and left as an outsider,” said Peter Flaherty, a top aide in the governor’s office who now works on Mr. Romney’s presidential campaign.

The real story in all of this is that it foreshadows the kind of relationship with Congress that a President Romney would have. Methinks it’d be no different than President Obama’s relationship with democrats and republicans alike, but that’s just me.

I tell you what: for anyone that is surprised about Mitt Romney’s reported ambivalence to folks in less-than-powerful positions (who cares about the poor, anyway?), I have an island named ‘Staten’ for sale on Ebay.

Full story at The New York Times

Mitt Romney campaigns in Ames, Iowa. Photo courtesy of WEBN-TV.

And you thought President Obama was the only one that could sang!

At a campaign stop in Florida, where he’s sure to win today’s Republican primary, presidential candidate Mitt Romney hit the crowd with a taste of his patriotism. And if that soulful performance left you with any doubts that he, you know, really loves America and its people, he let everyone in on a secret: he knows ALL of the verses of “America the Beautiful.”

Some of you can’t even remember the pledge of allegiance!

Check it out:

Standing ovation for that man! Get him a recording contract STAT! I could clean my apartment to this every Sunday morning.

Photo by Flickr user photologue_np

Slow and steady progress.

In a better-than-expected monthly jobs report released this morning by the Labor dept,  the U.S. economy saw an increase of 200,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 8.5%.

Despite today’s positive news, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney continued to hammer President Obama. Campaigning this morning in Conway, SC alongside South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and AZ senator John McCain, Romney charged “remember [president Obama] was early in his administration, he said ‘look if you let me borrow 787 billion dollars, well I’ll be able to keep unemployment from going above 8%.‘ Well it went past 8% and hasn’t been back since! 3 years later!”

The AP and other outlets had already reported that this past December capped a 2011 which saw more growth in the economy that hadn’t been seen, by some measures, in over 5 years. Let’s hope for more news like this in the months to come. Read an in-depth analysis of the numbers over at Reuters or the official statement from Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis here.

Richard Cordray, former Attorney General of Ohio and newly appointed Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Depending on who you ask, President Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray as the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is either treasonous, brilliant, unconstitutional, bold, arrogant or a much needed breath of fresh air for American consumers.

During what is traditionally a respite from Congressional business, the Senate GOP had been holding “pro-forma” sessions every few days – hitting a gavel in the Senate chamber, then doing jumping jacks or chin ups or ordering pizza – and calling it “official” business so as to block the president from making any recess appointments. Tactics like this are exactly why an overwhelming majority of the American people view Congress as a joke.

Despite these tactics, President Obama announced Cordray as the new head of the Bureau anyway. This immediately prompted calls from Republicans that Cordray’s appointment by circumventing Congress is an extreme and unconstitutional overreach by President Obama. The GOP fails to see the tackiness in their argument (“we’ve been holding bogus sessions, therefore we weren’t technically in recess!”), instead choosing to argue that the president is a dictator who has assaulted the average man’s rights and affronted the Constitution. (Take a look at the Arena - Democrats are beyond pleased while Republicans, except for Scott Brown, are PEEVED).

Amidst all of this, Cordray, the former Ohio Attorney General is making his rounds on the ‘net and in the media to push forth his stated cause – to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. Following Wednesday’s controversial appointment, he appeared on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell to tout his new position in the agency and also posted a YouTube clip on Consumerfinance.gov, the agency’s official website. Check out the clip below:

Let’s cut through the GOP spin regarding the Bureau for a second. Conventional GOP talking points insist that government advocacy for consumers’ best interests amounts to the creation of a big agency that’s going to threaten the livelihood of small businesses and the average man and blah blah. Protecting consumers’ interests is a good thing. Just look to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, which changed the way average American consumers read their credit card statements:

Until the CARD Act of 2009, the Payment Information box on our credit card statements failed to inform the average user with such detailed information. Photo courtesy of consumerismcommentary.com.

In addition to understanding information more easily as displayed above, the CARD Act also mandated consistent due dates each month. Remember when that Bank of America credit card payment was due on March 3rd, then April 2nd, then May 5th or June 2nd or something? The CARD Act eliminated the silly guessing games we’d play as we raced each month to avoid late fees and increased APR %s. Think of how the average family is better able to plan a monthly budget or save for a vacation as a result.

If the Bureau is able to advocate for and produce small, significant changes like this, then that’s a good thing for the average American. I think it’s important that we remind ourselves of exactly what we want our elected leaders to fight for. Regardless of political ideology, we should continue to advocate for better reforms that make our lives simpler, and frown on political tactics that block our collective progress.

My cousin Louis (right) and me, color coordinated and just coooool as ice!

18 years ago today, my cousin, Louis D. Brown, was shot and killed. And it changed my life.

If you live in the Boston area, there’s a chance that you’ve already heard the story: Louis was a “good kid,” who dreamt of becoming the first Black president of the U.S. As a member of a youth activist organization – Teens Against Gang Violence – he was caught in the middle of a shootout while en route to the group’s annual Christmas party. Wearing headphones and, as a result, totally oblivious to what was going on, Louis was shot directly in the head and died instantly.

I replay that fateful December 20th in my head over and over again, like a broken record. Few instances in my life have given me an equal or greater perspective: once you experience murder of a family member, friend, neighbor or any loved one, you’re forced to think about life on a different level. All of a sudden, you’re presented with two choices. The first is to let this brutal act kill you just the same – to live a life full of anger, sadness, regret and remorse until you wither away, losing all connection with humanity.

Or you can turn it into an opportunity to help, empathize with, and be kind to others, regardless of circumstance. Not easy, but it’s the option that my family chose. This is the example that my aunts, grandmother, mom, sister, and cousins chose. And it’s why I’m grateful to have them all as role models.

In the past 18 years, I’ve watched in awe as my aunt Clementina Chery started a non-profit organization in Louis’s name with the sole purpose of assisting family members of homicide victims. I’ve admired her ability to speak with grace, intelligence, and an unfitting gentleness about picking up the pieces of her life after burying her murdered son. I’m continuously bewildered by her ironic success that brought her all the way to the White House, advocating programs that encourage violence prevention and support families who have experienced murder. I’ve stood beside her as she forged a friendship with the family of Charles Bogues, the man convicted of murdering Louis. Since his 1997 conviction, he has retracted his guilty plea, an action that my aunt supports wholeheartedly, knowing the flawed intricacies of the criminal justice system.

In short, through her actions, I know that the human spirit is not only meant to withstand the unthinkable; it is tough and resilient, and I’m grateful to have learned these lessons from someone who is so very graceful.

Despite these lessons, my family continues to stumble and experience the same grievances as others. The holiday season brings about a quiet anxiety that keeps us in our thoughts. Celebrating my mother’s birthday every December 18^th still has a bittersweet aftertaste, remembering that our last meal with Louis occurred just two days before his death. His little brother, Allen, who was only 1 at the time of his murder, struggles with having never known the boy who was his big brother. Though we are close, my small family continues to feel an unexplainable distance from one another. It’s as if a vital piece of the puzzle that connected us all has gone missing, and will never be replaced.

Today, when I hear people speak of the tragic irony of his murder, I still cringe. Though not ill intentioned, there are often references to him having been “such a good kid,” which indirectly implies that there are some “bad people” out there who deserve to have their lives taken from them. It also implies that there are families who deserve the hell that my family has gone through. No doubt that stories of gang and gun violence paint a picture of uncontrollable urban warfare led by rebel forces in the ‘hood.

But if there’s anything that I’ve learned from my aunt and through my own journey, it’s that violence in all its forms is an epidemic and that no one is exempt from its vicious current. It can strike at any time, to the “good ones” and to those who are considered menaces to society. It’s a ravaging cancer to neighborhoods and families and individuals no matter the perpetrator or the victim. And we’re all responsible for doing our parts in making this world a safer, saner place to thrive.

As I take in my 2011 lessons – professional and personal (especially the most painful ones) – in hopes for an even more awesome 2012, I’m reminded today, on this 18^th anniversary of the murder of my cousin, to let the most excruciating and bitter moments in life serve as inspiration to enlighten myself, to encourage others to be their best, and to strive for greatness by exercising empathy, humanity and integrity.

Today, hug a loved one. Help a stranger in need. Be peaceful.

Still styling and profiling.