Priceless

How much is your life worth? How much is your health worth? Frank Ackerman and Lisa Heinzerling discuss the process through which right wing free marketers have cheapened the value of human life, and its quality, through logical but inhuman economic practices that attempt to dollarize everything. They show the pseudo logic of economist who have argued that an senior citizen's life is worth less in terms of dollars than a young person and who are against any form of environmental and job regulation because of the costs.

The book is extremely well written and explains how economist measure risk for everyday Americans, and how that measurement has been corrupted by monied and political interest. In light of the case in Baltimore and our current environmental problems that we face, and that our children are likly to face, I would recommend this book to anyone who cares about their future and their quality of life.

Quilombo

When you think successful slave rebellion you probably think Nat Turner or Haiti. You should be thinking Palmares and Quilombo. Brazil received more African slaves than any other place in the New World. These slaves rebelled in many places, especially during a war between the Ducth and the Portuguese, and established a viable republic in the jungles of Brazil. Leaders like Ganga Zumba and Zumbi fought to protect runaway slaves, Amerindians, and poor whites from the deprivations of the entrenched wealthy classes in Brazil. This film is a must see if you want a better understanding of slaves in the New World and their ability to overcome horrific circumstances. Quilombo is a film that tells this story and will likely be most of our first exposure to the Brazilian struggle for freedom. Check This Film Out!!!

Life and Debt

I got a chance to go to Jamaica this year and it is a beautiful place. The people are nice and the Atlantic is wonderful. I was catered to in the resort where I stayed by locals which was a nice, if peculiar, experience for me. I also got a chance to see the poverty of that nation. I saw houses without electricity or plumbing. I bought curry goat from a place that could be described as a shack. And I knew before going that many people there aren’t able to enjoy the things I enjoyed on their island. Life and Debt explains why that is.

Jamaica is a nation whose climate allows for the production of vast quantities of food, its people are hard working, and it is close enough to other nations to have profitable trade with them, but it is also very poor. The film, Life and Debt, explores how the first world’s loans and economic theory have impoverished the nation. Jamaica is in debt to the IMF and the World Bank and these institutions have established policies that have only harmed the country. Jamaica is not allowed to give farm subsides to its agricultural sector but has to compete with nations, such as the United States, who heavily subsidize production.

Life and Debt does a brilliant analysis of this problem and explains how post-colonial Jamaica has been devastated by policies created to keep the first world empowered at their expense. It is a must see and I would recommend viewing this film to anyone who is interested in why the post-colonial world is suffering economically.

What Black Men Think

Wake Up!

Carter G. Woodson wrote a book called the Miseducation of the Negro about how African Americans were being taught to think in ways that were detrimental to the health of their communities and that blinded them to freedom. Harriett Tubman said if she could have convinced more slaves that they were enslaved she could have freed thousands. In the film What Black Men Think, Janks Morton says “Wake Up!”

The film was made on a budget around $8,000 dollars and was shot solely by Janks Morton. Despite this fact, or perhaps because of it, the film is of very high quality, moves at a brisk pace, and continuously awes the viewer as it destroys stereotypes that have been proliferated in the African American community. It then goes on to find out why the stereotypes have been created in the first place and why leadership in the Black community has failed to disprove them.

The film interviews African American political thinkers as well as brothers off the street and asks them their opinion of where the African American community has gone wrong and what we need to do to fix it. There are newsworthy names and intellectuals on the film such as NPR correspondent and author Juan Williams, Linguist and author John McWhorter, and author Shelby Steele who all make appearances throughout the film commenting on their hopes and concerns about the African American male.

What is probably the most powerful part of the film is the destruction of the myth of African American underachievement. Janks asks numerous people, including children, whether there are more African American men in jail or in college. Their answer is probably the same as yours if you haven’t seen the film or the PSA. He then destroys this myth and shows that our people, African Americans, are better educated then we believe.

Now I can’t say I agree with everything in the film. Janks is a little further to the right than I am, and my opinion of utilizing the government for advancement and his are very different. However, his passion for reuniting the African American family is awe inspiring. What he has created is a film that will help African Americans better understand one another and I commend him for that.

I was very moved by the film and would encourage anyone who is concerned with the African American Community to purchase the film at his website. Some of you movie critics out there might think that this review is a bit too glowing and that I might be trying to sell the film too hard, but this film opened my eyes to some facts about my people that have lifted a burden from my heart in many ways. Go check it out..

Wake Up!

A Review of To Die For the People

The Black Panthers are a very misunderstood group. This is especially true when it comes to the leadership of the organization. Huey Newton's autobiography "Revolutionary Suicide" explains his life, "To Die For the People" explains his worldview and shows the deductive processes by which he led the Black Party organization.

The book is a collection of speeches throughout his life as leader. It is a fascinating testament to what the party stood for and what Huey himself believed in. It allows the reader to judge the Black Panther Party, and Huey Newton for themselves. It is a must read for anyone intersted in history of the African American advancement movement.

Losing My Virginity

Losing My Virginity

Richard Branson is a billionaire who wrote and autobiography. That fact alone makes his biography worth reading. Besides this fact though, “Losing My Virginity” is a great book. The book covers nearly fifty years of Branson’s life, starting with his childhood in England and ending shortly after his battle to establish Virgin Airlines. It is definitely worth picking up.

Virgin records, Virgin Music, and various other Virgin businesses are Branson’s creation. In the book he explains his highs and lows and hides very little about himself. Things that many memoir writers might leave out, like his infidelity and legal troubles, are included in the book and one cannot help but respect Branson for that. What is best is how entertaining the book is. Biographies can run the risk of being dry and uninteresting, Branson avoids all of these things.

For anyone who wants to start a business, or who just wants to read a good autobiography, I recommend picking up “Losing My Virginity”. I’ve read it twice.