She had made extraordinary personal sacrifices so that the ordinary African could lead a dignified life, free of the daily discriminations and humiliations that constituted the Apartheid System. She endured a lot so that each person, regardless of race, creed or gender, could enjoy the full range of pleasures and sorrows, challenges and accomplishments that define the daily essence of an ordinary person. Best of all, she and her late husband epitomized the proposition that a decent married couple, seeking the best for their children, could also be committed activists for a just South Africa.

The outline of her life is well known. She was born in 1918 in the village of Camama in the Transkei region of South Africa. An excellent student, she chose to study nursing in the 1940s because trainee nurses were paid during their studies, allowing her to save money to send home to her family. She married Walter Sisulu in 1947.

Albertina Sisulu was the only woman present at the birth of the ANC Youth League. Soon, the first of numerous extraordinary sacrifices was to occur. Her husband elected to surrender his paying job to become the full-time secretary general of the ANC, leaving her to support her growing family on a nurse’s income. She became more of an activist, leading the ANC Women’s League in the famous 1952 Defiance Campaign and the boycotts, protests and sit-ins of the 1950s.

The 1960s saw her endure the first of several banning orders by the Apartheid government. Those orders lasted for nearly two decades. Her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island and she had to raise a family on her own. It is one thing to end up as a single mother by choice; compulsion by a government to become a single mother because of your objection to racism constitutes an involuntary burden.

Like Winnie Mandela, Adelaide Tambo, and “Ma” Mbeki, she bore the burden with quiet and defiant dignity. These de facto “struggle mothers,” earning modest incomes, kept homes together and raised decent families. I salute that accomplishment! Mrs. Sisulu scraped and saved for her children to attend good schools in Swaziland outside the inferior Bantu Education System. They reciprocated the love and support of their parents by joining the anti-apartheid struggle. At one point, Mrs. Sisulu had three of her children in jail with her husband enduring life imprisonment. A parent can only imagine the anguish borne by her in those dark days. Yet, not once did her suffering diminish her attentiveness to the travails of others. Hence, her sobriquet, “the Mother of the Nation”.

Those among us who have the benefit of high education and handsome incomes should ponder this example of an unassuming working mother standing up to struggle for a better society. She fought peacefully, every day, to make her world a less imperfect place. All of us can do a lot worse than emulate that daily contest for a more perfect tomorrow.

Albertina Sisulu earned the prize of victory in her lifetime for her beliefs. Her husband was released. She lived to become a parliamentarian of a post-apartheid South Africa. By their conduct, her children have showered honor on her and her late husband.

Why should all Africans pay tribute to “Ma” Sisulu? She belongs to a breed of dying giants — the giants who liberated Africa for all its inhabitants. She belongs to those giants who have given us the right to rule ourselves irresponsibly, if we so choose, or with decency, common sense, and honesty. The examples of those giants recall that one must be willing to sacrifice for one’s community in the cause of right. Every generation or so, a people are called to remember those examples as they rise up against injustice, greed, corruption, or other vices.

“Ma” Sisulu, thank you for the example of your life. May you rest in peace.

Mississippi Winn, an upbeat former domestic worker known as “Sweetie,” died Friday afternoon at Magnolia Manor Nursing Home, said Milton Carroll, an investigator with the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office. He said he could not release her cause of death.

Winn was believed to be the oldest living African-American in the United States and the seventh-oldest living person in the world, said Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group, which verifies information for Guinness World Records.

Young said Winn was one of two known people left in the United States whose parents both were almost certainly born into slavery because documents show they were born before the end of the Civil War, though her great-niece Mary C. Hollins says Winn never acknowledged that. The Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the southern U.S.

“I don’t know much about that,” Hollins recalled Winn saying when asked about her parents’ early years.

Young visited Winn in July 2010 and remembered her being much more fit than others her age.

“When I asked her how old she was, she knew she was 113 but she thought she was young,” he said. “She always thought there would be a next year. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. That was just the thing — she had a very positive attitude.”

With Winn’s death, Young’s Los Angeles-based gerontology group has verified Mamie Rearden, 112, of South Carolina as the current oldest known living African-American. He said Eunice Sanborn, 114, of Texas is the world’s oldest known living person.

Hollins said Friday evening that Winn was in good health and mentally sharp until recently.

She described her great-aunt as “a strong-willed person, a disciplinarian” who believed that elders should be respected.

“She was living on her own until she was 103,” Hollins said, cooking for herself and taking walks. “She just believed she could handle anything.”

Winn, who never married, was a caretaker of children and a cook. She lived nearly her entire life in Louisiana, though she resided in Seattle, Washington from 1957 to 1975, Hollins said. She had been a member of Shreveport’s Avenue Baptist Church since 1927 and used to say, “I am gonna stay here as long as he wants me to stay here.”

“One of the reasons for her longevity was that she just kind of took things as they’d come, everyday life and living. She didn’t let nothing upset her and get all hyped up by some of the things as we do,” Hollins said.

Carroll said Winn was well-known in Shreveport. Last spring, the mayor declared “Miss Mississippi Winn Day” on March 31 when she turned 113.

“She was just a vibrant lady,” he said. “Once you came in contact with her, you were impacted.”

According to a biography released by the city, Winn was one of eight children, including a sister who died in 2000 at age 100.

“Her father named her Mississippi but her mother always called her Sweetie,” the bio said. “Her favorite hobby is sewing and favorite book is the Bible.”

Her favorite quote from the Bible: “Be ye kind one to another.”

1. Martin Luther King, Jr.: The clear top choice, the website notes.
2. Barack Obama: The only living leader to make the top 10.
3. WEB Du Bois: One of the nation’s most well-known black intellectuals.
4. Thurgood Marshall: His Brown v. Board Supreme Court victory overturned the “separate but equal” policy.
5. Malcolm X: He relayed a message of empowerment, liberation, and self-sufficiency.

 6. Frederick Douglass: An abolitionist and gifted speaker, this runaway slave railed against slavery.

7. Harriet Tubman: Also a runaway slave, she helped others to freedom for more than a decade.

8. Rosa Parks: She’ll always be remembered for refusing to give up her bus seat in 1955.

9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett: She held an anti-lynching crusade in the late 1800s, and also fought for black women’s rights.

10. Ella Baker: She started fighting for civil rights in the 1930s.

Click for the complete list, or read another story about King and the inspiring summer he spent in Connecticut

Height, who passed away this past April at the age of 98, was one of the most significant civil rights leaders of her time. Height served as chair Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women and as the 10th National President for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Height worked relentlessly to secure equality for blacks, women, and the poor while working to desegregate the YWCA.

She met with President Obama more than a dozen times before she passed and conversed with him about the health care reform bill. Obama delivered a eulogy at her funeral.

“Dr. Dorothy Height deserves a place in this pantheon,” Obama had said, referring to those African-American leaders whose histories are taught in schools. “She, too, deserves a place in our history books. She, too, deserves a place of honor in America’s memory.”

Height graduated from New York University in 1932 and would advise presidents throughout her lifetime–everyone from Eisenhower to Obama.

Her story comes to life Jan. 4, 2011, in the feature-length docudrama, The Lena Baker Story, starring actress Tichina Arnold in a breakout dramatic role.

As an uneducated Black woman living in rural Georgia, Baker stood out among her straight-laced peers and families. She works as a prostitute in hopes of breaking away from the grips of poverty, but was sentenced to 10 months hard labor for “laying” with White men.

Years later, now a sober, church-going mother of three young children, she ekes out a living with her mother doing laundry and housekeeping. But just as she seems to have moved beyond the sorrows of her past, Baker is hired to care for Elliot Arthur (Emmy Award-winner Peter Coyote, who has appeared in over 120 films and TV series), who is recovering from a broken leg.

A tyrannical, pistol-packing White man, Arthur is known for his angry disposition and heavy drinking. Over time, the two develop a highly-charged and drunken relationship filled with cruelty and a troubling need for one another. Arthur’s physical and mental abuse continues to escalate and he virtually enslaves her. But one sweltering night, Baker finally attempts to break free … a struggle ensues and a gun goes off, accidentally killing Arthur.

Despite the sympathies of the local sheriff (Michael Rooker, Mallrats, Cliffhanger, Days of Thunder) – who is helpless against the mores of the time – Baker’s attorney is dismissive, her defense inadequate and a jury of 12 Caucasian men find her guilty in a trial and deliberation that, together, last less than four hours. Sentenced to death by electrocution, Baker faces her fate with dignity and strength over the ensuing months, holding onto her belief that the Lord would judge her more fairly.

The only woman to be sentenced to death by electric chair in the state of Georgia, Baker was just 44 years old when she died in 1945. Said Baker before the switch was pulled – a barbaric death requiring several shocks and lasting six minutes –, “What I done, I done in self-defense, or I would have been killed myself. Where I was, I could not overcome it. God has forgiven me. I have nothing against anyone. I picked cotton for Mr. Pritchett and he has been good to me. I am ready to go. I am one in the number. I am ready to meet my God. I have a very strong conscience.”
In 1998, Baker’s unmarked, weed-ridden grave was rediscovered in the cemetery of

Mt. Vernon Baptist Church – where she once worshipped – and the congregation raised $250 to purchase a modest stone, now marking her final resting place. Due to a long clemency campaign led by her family, including in more recent years her grand-nephew Roosevelt Curry, Georgia’s Pardon and Parole Board finally granted a posthumous pardon in 2005 – six decades after her execution – ruling that a “grievous error” occurred when she was denied clemency following her trial. “I believe she’s somewhere around God’s throne and can look down and smile,” reflects Curry.

Based on the book, The Lena Baker Story by Lela Bond Phillips, the film was written, produced and directed by Ralph Wilcox, CEO of Schusters Cash, a film, television and video production company; owner of Jokara-Micheaux Studio, a 22,000-square-foot movie studio in Colquitt, Ga.; and director of the Southwest Georgia Film Commission. Additionally, Wilcox’s long career as an actor includes roles in dozens of iconic television programs in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

“We tend to forget history and believe that we’ve all moved on,” says Wilcox, now a documentary and film producer. “There has been a lot of progress in our society and race relations, but we need not forget where we have been, lest we repeat our past. And, even though Lena was flawed, this film was an opportunity to give her the voice she was denied 64 years ago … each and everyone one of us deserves that.”

With the election of an African American president some, including the president himself, had dreamed of a new era that was given the name “post-racial,” in which men and women could truly be judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. Lo and behold, that era has yet to dawn.

In fact, racism appears to be festering under the societal surface now more than ever. Author Tom Burrell feels that part of problem is half of American does not know, and the other half does not want to talk about the roots of the black inferiority myth in America today.

In his book “Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority,” Burrell tries to get the discussion started.

“This book is about how America was sold a bill of goods,” Burrell told EURweb.com. “How America was sold a big lie, the myth of Black Inferiority. It was a myth that had to be fostered in order to be used to justify slavery in the midst of a democracy as this nation was being formed. It was a dilemma of the time, how do you have slavery, which is about bondage, and democracy, which is somewhat about freedom. Those two things just do not cut it together.

“There were many people that felt democracy could not exist without the institution of slavery,” he continued. “Then somebody came up with this million dollar idea. Let’s just say that these people who don’t look like us are not human. If we can sell America on the inferiority of these people as human beings then we can justify enslaving them inside a democracy.”

And so it began, the subjection and systematic dehumanizing of an entire race of people. Though the experiment is, for the most part, over its effects continue to ripple down through time and space.

“It was a brilliant idea from a marketing perspective, but, of course, it was a devastating idea not only for black people but for America and as we went into the civil war,” Burrell explained to our Lee Bailey. “And many, many painful years after that. But that’s the beginning of the most effective marketing campaign of all time. How it was sold was based upon propaganda in the media as the media was being developed. From the Bible, to academics, to the enlightened thinkers, all the way to pamphlets and newspapers. Then electronic media and all of the paraphernalia that was involved as well. Whether it be salt and pepper shakers, the banks or whatever. Packages, everything was designed to reinforce the idea that black people were inferior.”

Here we go again with that dreaded word, media. It is a divisive term when it comes to race relations because some just can’t see how it relates to the world’s image of black people. But to others it is quite obvious. Burrell, and we at EURweb.com, are among those others.

“The thing that makes any marketing campaign successful is that if you come up with a strategy that is clear and that everybody can understand and you consistently sell it. I mean, nobody sold us on ugliness because we had sliver thin lips,” he said. “They were always thick. Nobody came up with the idea of black people eating cantaloupe. It was always watermelon. It was always the big eyes while, some of us through different tribes, had eyes that were almost slits. But the fact that it was always consistent throughout the centuries caused them to have us over a barrel so to speak because it’s easier to indoctrinate people when they are stripped away from their moorings, from their culture, from their people. We were a blank check waiting to be filled out. That’s why it was more successful here than it would have been in Africa because we were on a strange turf.”

When the term racism is brought up we usually use it in regard to how a person of another race is treating African Americans. But it would seem that blacks are, in a face to face and on a day to day basis, more racist towards one another than most modern day whites will ever be. “You black this,” “you big lipped that,” “you African-looking…” etc. Some of these words may be said in jest, but their deeper meaning is indicative of a psychological problem. This, according to Burrell, is because of systematic, ongoing, brainwashing of African Americans.

“One of the things about this whole concept of black inferiority is we basically walk around as African Americans really believing the hype, having bought into this concept of black inferiority. So, when it is not explained to us, how we got to be at the top of the bad list and at the bottom of the good list, why we kill each other, why we allow ourselves to be sexual objects or sexual predators depending on the agenda, why we can’t get our families together, why fathers can’t take care of their kids, why do we laugh when the joke’s on us, why do we laugh at our on degradation, why are we bred to be led? Why do all of these things exist? If nobody explains it to us then we basically believe that maybe it’s true. Maybe it is better to go to a white lawyer or a white doctor, maybe it is something wrong with black people?”

Tom Burrell
Tom Burrell is not originally an author. He is a man that is quite well off after making a living in advertising and marketing for over 40 years. He didn’t have to write a book for any kind of notoriety, but he says one day the proverbial seals fell from his eyes and he began to see some things for what they truly were.

“When you see something it’s difficult to walk away from,” he explained. “I started to say ‘Why are all these people spending all this money to buy all this stuff?’ Then I hypothesized ‘It’s because we live in a society based upon stuff. And we want to be somebody and the best way to be somebody is to buy somebody-ness.’ What’s that mean? Those obvious ways that we can show that we are somebody. I noticed high instances of buying things that are symbolic. The car, the status symbol, it’s mobile, you can pull up in front of the church or the joint and you’re carrying your status with you. We saw the high instances of any product that had to do with cleanliness. From dishes to car deodorizes to disinfectants to soaps and laundry detergents. Why are we so preoccupied with cleanliness? We’re trying to buy our status as human beings that were told, systematically, that we were dirty. So, anyway that we can show the world that we’re not dirty, we’re striving towards. Grease those knees! Scrub that face! Get that hair all nice and neat and braided up. Wash your clothes, not just with detergent that cleans your clothes, but wash with something that has the odor that says to everybody you come in contact with ‘Boy, he sure is clean. Because I can smell him!’”

Sure, it’s relatively easy for some egghead to right a book telling of all the problems that he sees in the world. But, at the end of the day, what goes does a book really do? Burrell feels his book lays out plans to help reverse these centuries old trends.

“In every chapter, from dealing with relationships, like ‘Why Are Our Relationships Always Shipwrecks,’ to ‘Neo-Coons: Why’s the Joke Always On Us?’ ‘Bred to Be Led,’ ‘Disunity,’ ‘Buy Now Pay Later,’ we talk about all of these things and provide solutions to all of these things especially as it relates to media and the role of propaganda within the media. What we are putting out there is that it was the media, and the role of propaganda within that media, that got us into this fix. And, thanks to technology, we can use the new media to get us out of it through positive propaganda.

“We’re basically waging a campaign against how we see ourselves. It has nothing to do about how other people see or think about us. It’s like the elephant going around tied to a wheel. He just circles around and if racism ended tomorrow we’d still be circling around even though the rope had been cut.”

Books have been written before, some about this very same subject. “The Mis-Education of the Negro” by Carter G. Woodson comes to mind and, while educating many, it brought about no real change overall. Perhaps the world wasn’t ready then, but Burrell feels the world may be ready now.

“I am more hopeful now than ever. There’s the pendulum theory of how, given the nature to be abusive human, nature doesn’t know anything about moderation. It’s gotten to such an extent now that it’s so extreme that we have to respond. The book is the beginning, it’s not the step. The book is a power tool by which to go to the next level. The last chapter is ‘Yes We Must.’ Once people understand what’s happening, that’s the beginning of the healing. The problem of learned helplessness is something that we have to combat from the cradle through pre-school.”

Tom Burrell’s “Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority” is currently at Amazon.com and other stores now.

To learn more about Tom Burrell and his plan for re-educating the masses log on to http://www.stopthebrainwash.com and www.solutionproject.us to learn more.

“We are so pleased and honored,” said executive producer Barbara Walters, who will make a special return appearance for the interview after taking a break in May to recover from open-heart surgery. She will return full-time in September.

Obama’s appearance will mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has been a guest on a daytime talk show.

“The President last appeared on the program in March 2008 while he was still a Senator and First Lady Michelle Obama was a featured guest co-host in June, 2008,” said Walters. “This shows that both the President and First Lady feel that our show is an influential and important source of information and news.

Obama’s appearance will tape on Wednesday as part of the show’s continuing “Red, White & View” campaign, which is committed to political guests and discussions. Vice President Joe Biden visited the show in April.

The program airs weekdays on ABC at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Ron Phillips is the Senior Vice President of Employee Engagement for Comcast Cable.

In this newly created role that reports directly to Ken Carrig, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Comcast Cable, Phillips will be responsible for overseeing employee relations, labor relations, compliance, and employee loyalty and retention.  Phillips previously served as Vice President of Human Resources for Comcast’s West Division in Englewood, Colorado, and Vice President of Human Resources in Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region.

As Vice President of Human Resources in Comcast’s West Division, Phillips was responsible for leading the development and implementation of human resources policies, programs, and practices for the division, including employment, labor relations, compensation, training, and employee services.

Prior to joining Comcast, Phillips was the Senior Manager of Human Resources for Ryder Transportation, where he led the human resources function for two regions, including 21 customer business units across 18 states.  He also held human resources leadership roles with McDonald’s Corporation and the Auto Warehousing Company.

Phillips holds a B.A. degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia State University and earned his J.D. degree from the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law.  He also holds a Certificate of Organizational Development from DePaul University and is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Sales Network (NSN), the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR), the Organizational Development Network (ODNetwork) and the National Black MBA Association.  Phillips will be relocating with his wife, Lynette, and two children from his home in Aurora, Colorado, to the Philadelphia region.

VIA:  NewsOne.Com

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the last year. The action sent the bill to President Obama, whose crusade for such legislation has been a hallmark of his presidency.

Democrats hailed the vote as historic, comparable to the establishment of Medicare and Social Security and a long overdue step forward in social justice. “This is the civil rights act of the 21st century,” said Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.

Click here to read more…

Barbara Gee is Vice President of Strategic Sales Alliances for Comcast Cable Communications. In this role, she is responsible for the company’s e-commerce sales strategy, third party sales alliances, and increasing acquisition and retention of moving customers.

Barbara began her career with Comcast in 2001 as National Director of Alternative Sales Channels, where she developed the company’s third party sales strategy, defined success criteria, implemented the necessary models and operational processes and established sound business relationships with key companies that extend Comcast’s sales reach.

Prior to joining Comcast, Barbara served as Director of Network Sales for Exelon. There she created a new telecommunications business sales unit that produced revenue in its first full year. She also managed the sales force integration of five newly-acquired companies.

Barbara began her career with Verizon, where she held various progressively senior positions in sales, marketing, product and brand management and advertising.  She received both a Bachelors degree in Communications, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Pennsylvania State University. Barbara completed Comcast’s premier leadership development program, “Executive Leadership Forum,” and has served multiple times as a coach for the program.  Barbara also completed Cornell University’s Women’s Leadership Program in 2005, and in 2006, she completed the National Association of Multiculturalism in Communications (NAMIC) Executive Leadership Development Program at UCLA. She is a current fellow in the industry’s flagship women’s leadership program, Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, Class XX.

In 2007, Barbara was recognized as a Next Generation Leader by NAMIC, and that same year, was featured in CableWorld magazine as one of four industry “Cable Marketing Heroes.” She has been named to MultiChannel News and CableFax’s 100 Most Influential Minorities in Cable in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and was awarded the NAMIC-Philadelphia Paragon Award in May, 2008.

Barbara served as 2009 President of NAMIC, Philadelphia Chapter; sits on the Board of Directors for the Emma Bowen Foundation, and on the advisory board of the Philadelphia Writing Project at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She is committed to giving back, and is passionate about mentoring.