We can cry about changes to voting laws or we can get ready!

In states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Carolina voting times and polls have been curtailed and some type of voter ID is required. Let's be honest these are attacks on voting rights by conservative / republican legislatures. These laws effect mostly minority and lower income voters who vote democrat in overwhelming numbers. If anyone says otherwise they are either on drugs or seriously delusional.

We also have to deal with the fact that many of these laws may hold up in court. You see what republicans have quietly done is change their argument from the nonsense of voter fraud which they couldn't prove to one of voter fairness. They are now making the argument that it's not fair that urban counties can afford to keep polling sites open longer and have more early voting days when rural counties can't. They argue that there should be uniformity among all polling sites. This argument stands a much better chance of holding up in court.

Because of that can hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

We can whine, bitch, and moan about these laws or we can get ready to deal with them.

We should not even wait for these cases to wind their way through the courts. We should start mobilizing now. We should learn these laws inside and out. We must now what we are fighting against and be so prepared for it that these laws restricting voting are rendered useless.

Here are four things I think we need to do:

* Organize drives to get people voter ID. We must find those without ID and help them get it and provide transportation if nescecary. If there are state programs that will pay for the ID we must make sure people know about them and take advantage of them.

* Make sure that everyone that is eligible to vote is registered. Groups such as the NAACP, Urban League , National Action Network, and churches can help here. We as citizens can get our friends and family registered. It's not hard I have worked on many voter registration drives and one just have to be willing to give their time.

* We must learn where all of the early polling sites are and the hours that they are open. We must then bus voters there. If it means we have to use our own cars to give those a ride who can't get there because of the distance then so be it.

* We must flood these states with volunteers from other states to help out with all of the above. It's going to take a lot of organization and man power to get this done.

I'm sure that people much smarter than me can think of other things we can do but I believe these are things we should start doing NOW to get ready for the 2014 mid-term elections.

So what are we going to do people? Bitch and moan or take action?

George Cook AAReports.com

Hey, black people like scifi and comics too, they just don't play dress up...LOL.

Now there's a supposed list of things black people don't do. You know like swimming, vote republican, or watch Fox News. Okay that last one may be true but the others are grand generalizations.

Another generalization I hear because I'm a writer of science fiction and horror is that black people don't like science fiction. I also hear that it's a waste of time marketing such books to them. I would like to state that is categorically false. Just as many African Americans are fans of science fiction as any other group. Yeah we don't show it or talk about it as much but that's because many want to avoid ridicule from our own at times.

Telling other black people you like science fiction is like saying that you are a republican. ( okay maybe not that bad ). All black sci-fi fans have been minding their own business watching a TV show or reading a book and had someone asking what weird sh*t are they reading / watching now? Now normally this comes from people who watch reality TV and think that sh*t is real.

To avoid that reaction many people just keep their love of science fiction it to themselves. It's get tiresome answering the question, "Why are you wasting that time on that made up stuff? Explaining to people that the other stuff on TV is made up too normally falls on deaf ears especially to anyone who thinks Basketball Wives is engaging television.

For the record just as many black people love Star Wars ( not anything featuring Jar Jar Binks though ), Star Trek, Battlestar Galatica, etc. Now you may not see as many of us going to conventions in weird outfits or anything like that but trust me we love the weird sh*t just as much as anyone else.

So there's that's another generalization laid to rest. Live long and prosper!

George Cook AAReports.com

Kobe Bryant is a hypocrite for his comments on Miami Heat supporting Trayvon Martin

I'm going to be very honest with you. When I first read Kobe Bryant's comments on the Miami Heat photo in support of Trayvon Martin and his family my first thought was something real profound and thoughtful. F*CK KOBE!

I was mad because Kobe should know that the photo of the Miami Heat was taken when the public was asking that George ( I beat women ) Zimmerman be arrested. The photo was not taken after the verdict in the case. The Heat were only asking for due process to take place not saying that Zimmerman was guilty. And unlike Kobe they were taking a public stand on a social situation which Kobe would never due for fear of f*cking up his money.

Here's what Kobe said:

I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

Now Kobe is entitled to his opinion but he should think before he opens his mouth. You see it seems that Kobe has forgotten his own little rape case back in 2003. When he was accused of rape in Colorado many people rushed to his defense. In truth many didn't know if he was innocent or guilty but many thought the rape charges were an attempt to railroad him as a black man.

Now understand something. Kobe was never that big in the African American community because he came off like an a**hole that would sell you out first opportunity he got ( see Shaq ). And even with that many African American's still rushed to his defense.

I guess that Kobe has forgotten that. I didn't hear him telling African Americans to get their facts first before defending him. He ran "home" again just like OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson did when they got in trouble.

This makes Kobe Bryant a hypocrite. So that brings me back to my original thought after reading Kobe's comments.

F*CK KOBE!

African American Health Alliance encourages people to sign up for health care by March 31

On March 23rd Healthcare.gov released a new infographic explaining the ways to get assistance with signing up for health coverage by the March 31st deadline. The African American Health Alliance (AAHA) encourages those who are promoting enrollment to share the infographic. Fredette West, the Director of AAHA, remarked, "If you are seeking coverage, remember there are multiple ways for people to get help finding coverage in the final 5 days of the Affordable Care Act's first Open Enrollment period, which ends next Monday, March 31, 2014. This infographic released by Healthcare.gov is resource that should be shared widely." For more information on the Affordable Care Act, visit the http://africanamericanhealthalliance.org/ and Healthcare.gov CONTACT: 301-576-0845

About the African American Health Alliance

The African American Health Alliance is a 501 (c) 3 tax exempt organization working to help eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare and to addressing the social determinants thereof including education, jobs and employment, nutrition, technology, violence and more. The Alliance is dedicated to strengthening advocacy, outreach and awareness for the purpose of helping to improve the quality of life. Across health and healthcare reform, we have helped to make considerable progress on behalf of the African American and other vulnerable communities. Our Board has tremendous expertise in the health and social determinants arena.

JOANNE BERGER-SWEENEY NAMED 22ND PRESIDENT OF TRINITY COLLEGE

Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Ph.D., on Tuesday was named the 22nd president of Trinity College following a unanimous vote by the College’s Board of Trustees. An accomplished teacher, scholar, neuroscientist, and administrator, Berger-Sweeney currently holds the position of dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where she serves as chief officer for Tufts’ largest school, with more than 5,000 students.

Berger-Sweeney, who holds a Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, has served as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts since 2010. There she created the vision and set the strategic direction for the school. Berger-Sweeney came to Tufts from Wellesley College, where she served for 19 years as a faculty member and associate dean.

Berger-Sweeney is the first African American and first woman to be elected president of Trinity. She will succeed James F. Jones, Jr. as president on July 1, 2014, following his retirement after 10 years of distinguished service.

“Trinity College is an institution that honors its traditions and embraces its future, and with the selection of Joanne Berger-Sweeney, we have found the right leader to renew our commitment to the value and delivery of an excellent liberal arts education,” said Paul E. Raether ’68, chair of the Trinity Board of Trustees. “Dr. Berger-Sweeney has devoted her career to the education of students who are smart, eager to work with faculty and ready to engage in many and varied ways across campus life—with this experience, she is a natural fit for Trinity and Trinity for her.”

Cornelia Parsons Thornburgh ’80, chair of the search committee and chair-elect of the Board of Trustees, added, “Trinity is a forward-looking institution that excels in liberal arts and sciences, and both are areas of excellence for Dr. Berger-Sweeney, who rose to the top of our highly competitive candidate pool. She impressed us with her strong academic credentials, curricular innovations, collaborative nature and enthusiasm for the Hartford community. She is well versed in the procedures and culture of our mutual NESCAC college league. At Tufts, she has proven herself in areas that coincide closely with, and are important to, Trinity: proximity to a city, a strong athletic tradition, budget and program coordination, an historical Greek tradition, and a deep appreciation for a liberal arts education. I strongly believe that her vision of Trinity College as an ‘elite liberal arts college with an urban pulse’ is one that will guide us, inspire us, and lead us on a path to distinction and greatness.”

Thornburgh will become chair of the Board of Trustees simultaneously with Berger-Sweeney’s assumption of the presidency on July 1, 2014.

Berger-Sweeney said of her selection as president, “I am honored and humbled to be joining the Trinity community at such an important time for the College and for American higher education. Trinity’s long and proud liberal arts tradition is rooted in preparing students to think critically and broadly, to live examined and purposeful lives—work that I believe is of vital importance for the future of our nation. I am pleased to be a part of both Trinity’s tradition and its future, both of which are rooted so deeply in its home city of Hartford. I have felt at home on this campus since my first visit. And with the strong alumni and alumnae support base, I look forward to the successes the faculty, staff, students and I will achieve together.”

As dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts, Berger-Sweeney managed a broad set of responsibilities, including oversight of undergraduate admissions, athletics, undergraduate and graduate students, the graduate school, communications, and academic and administrative deans. As dean, she launched several undergraduate and graduate academic programs and a Center for the Study of Race and Democracy; initiated an interdisciplinary cluster hiring program for faculty; collaboratively developed guiding principles for the school; initiated a summer bridge program for liberal arts students transitioning from underserved high schools to Tufts; and advanced fundraising initiatives for the school, among other accomplishments.

Before Tufts, Berger-Sweeney was a member of the Wellesley College faculty, which she joined in 1991 as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and rose through the ranks to become the Allene Lummis Russell Professor in Neuroscience. Her teaching and research career at Wellesley spanned 13 years prior to being named associate dean in 2004. As associate dean, she oversaw 20 academic departments and programs in addition to her teaching and research.

She received her undergraduate degree in psychobiology from Wellesley College, an M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in neurotoxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health (INSERM) in Paris, France.

Berger-Sweeney is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and a Lifetime Mentoring Award from the Society for Neuroscience (2006). She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and chairs the professional development committee of the Society for Neuroscience. She is on the Board of Directors for AFS Intercultural Programs/USA and is trustee and chair of the academic affairs committee for Framingham State University.

Berger-Sweeney and her husband, Urs V. Berger, Ph.D., also a neuroscientist, are the parents of two children: Clara, age 17, and Tommy, age 13.

Berger-Sweeney was selected from an extremely well-qualified applicant pool following an extensive national search conducted by a 14-member committee composed of students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees. The search committee was advised by Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, a nationally recognized firm that has conducted more than 1,800 high-level searches during the past 20 years.