Black Talk Radio News

Robert Edward Forchion is also known as the NJWEEDMAN. He is a cannabis activist and has run for various public offices in New Jersey including Governor. He identifies himself as a member of the Legalize Marijuana Party and campaigns primarily on the single issue of cannabis legalization. Robert Forchion has been involved in several acts meant to bring attention to the issue. He has smoked cannabis in front of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and he once tried to legally change his name to NJWeedman.com. *The Black Talk Media Project needs your help to stay online, become a supporter by becoming a Friends of Black Talk Radio subscriber for just $1 a month. Click Here!

7 yr-old Aiyana Jones was asleep on a coach with her grandmother when Police looking for a murder suspect targeted the wrong flat of a two-family home in Detroit, Mich and ending up killing her. The result was the death of Ayinana Jones who was shot through the top of her head. An A&E film crew who was filming for the the TV program "First 48". Many believe that the video footage shoot by the film crew will reveal exactly what happened as some witnesses allege that the Detroit police after throwing a flash-bang grenade through the window which burned Ayiana, shot into the house before entering. The attorney for the Jones family is alleging a police cover-up and outraged citizens are calling for the video to be made public. A petition was set up by concerned citizen Issac Holloway, "Its is the aim of this petition to raise awarness and pressure Detroit to Release the Video. See Petition, Click Here. From Isaac Holloway: I am 22 years old with a degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU I became a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc and I was active in serving the campus and local community. The case of Aiyana Jones is yet another example of law enforcements disregard for black life. Unfortunately what the black community has neglected to do was begin to take serious steps to safeguard our communities from we know to be a hostile force. Aiyana's case is about galvanizing us to be more active in policing the police and holding them responsible for their actions against us. Releasing the video taken by the 48 hours film crew will show exactly what happened in term of what the police knew prior to entering the Jones residence how that entry was conducted as well as providing a timeline and a means to prove the statements given by the police and the family.

Unfortunately our schedule guest today Delores Huerta, was not able to join us do to a delayed flight into Arizona. We will reschedule with her for a later date. However we had a caller who identified himself as a Libertarian who had some interesting views on the immigration issue.

Jewel Allison is a model, actor, public speaker and poet but more than anything else she is a mother who has been touched by the tragic killing of 7 yr old Aiyana Jones. Aiyana Jones was shot dead by Detroit Police on May 14th, 2010 in what some are calling negligent homicide. Some members of the community including the attorney for Jones’s family allege a police cover up and disinformation campaign is underway. Jewel Allison wants to help keep media attention on the case and the investigation into Aiyana’s death. To support community efforts to seek justice, she started a Facebook group called INTERNATIONAL AIYANA ALLIANCE (I.A.A.) on which she wrote, “After trying to fight back the tears of crying for a child I never met, I finally had to give in to the pain and grief I was feeling and cry in my own daughter's presence”. Jewel's Bio Ms. Allison would like for celebrity moms to turn out and support a march she is coordinating to keep attention on the case. The "REDEEM AIYANA’S DREAM; MARCH FOR JUSTICE" Facebook event page. Read More. Update: Criminal justice freelance writer Elizabeth Renter started a petition demanding a civil rights investigation into "The Police Murder of Aiyana Jones". Read More. Elizabeth will be joining the program tonight.

The Gaza Freedom March (GFM) was organized by the International Coalition to End the Illegal Siege of Gaza after Israel's 22-day assault on Gaza in the winter 2008-09. The diverse coalition organized the massive Gaza Freedom March (www.gazafreedommarch.org) in December of 2009, hoping to be with the people of Gaza on the one-year anniversary of the Israeli invasion. However, Egypt refused entry to the march and a week of protests in Cairo followed. Since then, the coalition - through the GFM -- has continued to work for an end to the siege. Joining us today from Europe will be Ziyaad Lunat who is an organizer for the Gaza Freedom March and an activist for Palestinian rights. He is also active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)movement targeting Israel's government. Global BDS. Photo by Michael 1203 *The Black Talk Media Project is media for the people by the people. Become a supporter today and help us expand our programming for just $1 per month/$12 per year. Become a "Friends of Black Talk Radio" subscriber! Click Here To Donate!

"May 14, 2010 marked the 62nd anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) and the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people. The repressive occupation continues today, enforced through policies reflective of the social, political, and economic segregation founded on race that was characteristic of apartheid South Africa."For more information visit: www.msuuci.com Guest: Omar Shakir is currently pursuing a masters degree in the Arab Studies Program at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service, where he holds the prestigious Khaled Juffali Scholarship. Omar earned his bachelors degree in international relations from Stanford University, where he graduated with honors. He has studied at Oxford University and in Morocco and Egypt, participated in volunteer programs in the West Bank, Jordan, and Syria, and interned with the National Endowment for Democracy. At Stanford, he was actively involved in student organizations related to the Arab world, serving as president of the Muslim Students Awareness Network in the year it was named Organization of the Year by the Student Union, president of the Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, and founder and president of Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel. - Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown Univ. *The Black Talk Media Project needs your help to stay online, become a supporter by becoming a "Friends of Black Talk Radio" subscriber for just $1 a month. Click Here

Rev. Isaac Hayes is running for Congress as a pro life Republican. He is challenging incumbent Jesse Jackson Jr. for the seat representing Illinois District #2. Jesse Jackson Jr., whose father has been the butt of many jokes and a favorite target of conservative pundits, Hayes is accusing Rep. Jackson Jr. of being a corrupt politician who has steered campaign money to his wife under different alias. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s name came up in the scandal involving President Obama's former senate seat and he has not been indicted on any charges. President Obama and the Democrats are off to a strong finish in the context of passing several pieces of reform legislation leading into the 2010 Congressional Elections. The recently passed Health Care legislation will be a point of contention with Republicans with some pledging a vote to repeal what the have deemed Obama-care. Jesse Jackson Jr. is proud of his yes vote for the people of District 2 and says that health care reform was historic and will lead to 30 million more Americans being insured. Rev. Isaac Hayes has some interesting views when it comes to taxes and the Black community. He believes there should be tax incentives to attract new businesses in underdeveloped urban communities. We will also be asking him about the Republican effort and the initiative the RNC Chairman Michael Steele set forth to attract Black voters to the party. Hayes says he is part of that effort but it has to make that job difficult when Chairman Steele is telling college students that Black people have no reason to support the Republican Party. Talking your calls and questions for Congressional Candidate Isaac Hayes hoping to represent Illinois District 2 and unseating Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.. Visit http://isaac4honesty.com/

Six men are alleging that the Physical Therapy Assistant program chair Ilene Wiener dropped them from PTA course that their race may have played a factor. Each of the men paid up to $900 dollars to take the course. They allege that Ms. Wiener, who was also the instructor of the class the men all attended, changed the grading methods to force them out of the class. The men said they went through an appeals process but with the instructor also being the program chair, the matter would have to go through her and they said it is inappropriate for her to act as the final arbitrator. Some of the men fear being blackballed in the Charlotte’s regional health care industry by going public with their story but feel that they must make there story known. They fear past students have also experienced discrimination in the PTA program offered at Central Piedmont Community College that serves around 70,000 students per year. There have also been concerns that Ilene Wiener is teaching inco

Minnesota Senator Patricia Torres Ray is a member of the she also serves as majority whip and represents District 62 which is in the southeastern part of Minneapolis. Today Senator Ray will be on BTR News to discuss bill SF 3009 which is allows for "redefining categories of race and ethnicity specficically as a way to decrease health disparities by analyzing existing data and possibly creating new categories." We also spoke touched upon the national Health Care Reform legislation and the new Arizona immigration legislation.

Paul Porter knows the media industry; he has worked with media outlets like NBC, BET, and AOL Music among others. He speaks to students about media topics like the relationship between race and the media. Paul Porter also works and writes for Industry Ears and he has been writing and speaking on local radio stations about HR 848 Performance Rights Act. In a piece titled "Sharpton, Joyner, Baisden and Hughes sucker Black Radio", Porter writes; "It is time that broadcasters start telling the truth. The recent flood of one sided information by radio on the pending “HR 848 – Performance Rights Act” is uncovering a much larger problem…. Radio One, Founder Cathy Hughes has rediscovered her microphone after a ten year hiatus. While shaping the Performance Rights Act as an end to Black Radio, Hughes and her staff have done a great job of concealing the facts”. Industry Ears is a “consortium of entertainment and broadcast industry professionals with more than 60 years of experience dedicated to revealing truth and promoting justice in media” with a mission aimed at “addressing and finding solutions to disparities in media that negatively impact individuals and communities.” Read more at http://www.industryears.com. Tune in today as we talk to Mr. Porter about the principle parties in HR 848 and what passage of this legislation means for recording artist and if there can ever truly be an end to Black Radio.

Odette Keeley is the Chief of Staff of New America Media. Mrs. Keeley also hosts and produces NAM’s TV program, "New America Now" on Comcast On Demand and their radio newscast "Stories From The Ethnic Media" on the public radio program, "New America Now" which is heard on 91.7 FM KALW out of California. Odette Alcazaren-Keeley graduated Cum Laude with a degree in BA Communication, major in Broadcast Communication and minor in Broadcast Journalism from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. NAM brings the voices of marginalized groups like ethnic minorities, immigrants, young people, elderly - into the national discourse to help influence public policy. NAM is also the United States first and largest national collaboration and advocate of over 2,000 ethnic news organizations. According to NAM, ethnic media is the fastest growing sector of American journalism. Join us today as we welcome NAM’s Odette Keeley to discuss their mission, the new Comcast program and the growth of ethnic media in America. Visit New America Media.

BTR News, Views & Music brings you the latest news from the top headlines dominating the web as well as the best in indie hip hop and R&B music. "March to the Mailbox" community events were held on the East and West

NPR and the AP both are breaking news that the Pope has been implicated in a letter he wrote refusing to defrock a Californian Priest who had plead no contest to charges that he tied up two little boys and molested them. NPR Reports: A recently discovered 1985 letter in which the future Pope Benedict declined to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually abusing children. The document, signed by the man then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, cited concerns about "the good of the universal church" in refusing a request from the bishop of Oakland, Calif., to remove Father Stephen Kiesle from the priesthood. Kiesle had been sentenced to three years' probation in 1978 after pleading no contest to charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two boys. The priest was defrocked in 1987 and convicted in 2004 of molesting a young girl in 1995.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has concluded the investigation into ACORN. Attorney General Brown’s investigation came to the same conclusion as the report issued by former Maryland AG Scott Harshbarger, that ACORN employees acted unprofessionally, lacked leadership training but not do anything illegal. Political correspondent Devin Barber writes on Gather.com: “FOX News is guilty of airing a major story without checking the authenticity of that story. And what was FOX’s response to this revelation? (Insert crickets chirping sound effect.) That’s right… nothing. No producers fired, no resignations, and no anchors being handed their hat. The reason is because FOX is NOT a legitimate news agency. What it is, is a sleazy tabloid entity that exploit’s the easily inflamed fringe of the Republican Party. And they could care less about things like ethics and honor.” Read More Barber has also reports that FOX News Corps owner, Australian national Rupert Murdoch, said that “Fox News Should Not Be Supporting the Tea Parties”. “During an interview with Marvin Kalb at the National Press Club, the founder and CEO of FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, answering a question from a member of the audience, said that FOX News should not be supporting the TEA Party or any other Party. The unidentified audience member had cited the blatant and overt promotion of the TEA Party taking place on his news network and asked if a news agency should be so political.” Californiawatch.org is reporting that Brown is investigating the terms of a speaking fee arrangement between Sarah Palin and an education foundation.

Republicans in their weekly address claim that President Obama and Democrats are wanting to bail out more banks at tax payers expense and also say that raising taxes will hurt job creation, are they being truthful? Karl Rove appears in a Census PSA becuase of concerns of "conservative" areas losing representation but for the most part, Republicans have been either hostile to the Census or silent on the issue. If you have a post office box, you may be wondering where your Census form is, the answer is that your form will be delivered to your door. Join us for news. views and Hip - Hop music from the best indie artists.