Thug Life Army

Telemundo confirms performances by top Latin music stars at the 2012 Billboard Latin Music Awards presented by State Farm®. Sixteen-time Billboard finalist Don Omar, 2011 Latin Artist of the Year Prince Royce, and Mexican superstar Paulina Rubio join previously announced performers: Latin urban star and entrepreneur Daddy Yankee, world-renowned Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes and platinum plus Regional Mexican Music artist Jenni Rivera. The most prestigious Latin music awards show will be produced and broadcast live in HD by Telemundo on Thursday, April 26 at 7PM/6c from BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Florida. The complete list of finalists, in addition to exclusive content about this year’s event, can be found at www.telemundo.com/premiosbillboard, the official website of the 2012 Billboard Latin Music Awards presented by State Farm®. Follow the star-studded event on: Twitter.com/LatinBillboards and Facebook.com/PremiosBillboardTelemundo.

Don Omar, one of reggaeton’s first international superstars, leads the 2012 Billboard Latin Music Awards field as a 16-time finalist. A worldwide social media phenomenon, Don Omar is one of the leading Latin music performers that have successfully tapped into the new generation of consumers. His collaboration with Lucenzo “Danza Kuduro” enjoyed more than 320 million views online, an unprecedented feat for a Latin music act. The song also reached number one in at least 12 countries worldwide.

Prince Royce, the winner of the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Award for Latin Artist of the Year, New, continued his success in 2012. He is a finalist in 12 Billboard Latin Music Awards categories. “Las Cosas Pequeñas” is Royce’s latest single and it reached the top of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Songs and Tropical Songs charts. His 2011 single “Corazón Sin Cara” reached number one on Billboard’s Tropical Songs chart and Hot Latin Songs. The album, “Prince Royce,” achieved great commercial success, reaching number one on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Tropical Albums charts.

Mexican superstar Paulina Rubio is one of the leading female acts in Latin pop music. Having a very prolific and versatile career, Paulina Rubio’s albums and songs have charted on a variety of Billboard Charts including the Billboard Hot 100, Pop Songs, Top Latin Albums, Hot Latin Songs, Dance/Club Play Songs, Regional Mexican Songs, Latin Pop Songs, Latin Pop Albums, Tropical Songs, European Albums, among others.

The awards show caps off the 23rd annual Billboard Latin Music Conference presented by State Farm, which takes place April 23 – 26 at the JW Marriot Marquis in Miami, Florida. For details on the Conference, visit: www.BillboardLatinConference.com.

“It’s Safe to Murder Negroes” in Alabama, “African-Americans in America”

Before there was a Civil Rights Movement God gave us Rev. Vernon Johns, who preceded Rev. Martin L. King Jr. as the pastor of Alabama Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL.

He gave a historic speech titled “It’s Safe to Murder Negroes” in Alabama at his church before the Deacons of the church was forced to fire him.  The police chief and the White community framed him as being radical, but fear was the driving point for the Deacons.  During his sermon he was removed from the church by the local police officers.  He had been warned not to give the sermon that Sunday, yet, he had the courage to follow his heart.  During the sermon, he told his congregation why Black men are killed and nothing happens. He said it’s because the Blacks just stand by without saying anything against it. It’s like they stood by while Christ was being crucified. Is it fear?”(Johns, 1994) During the sermon he berated the Black community for cooperating with the racist system. (Johns, 1994)



Decades later we are still fearful, yet Black men are killed and in so many cases no justice for the victim's family. Our community institutions should look at each murder that happens in our community to determine if the local law enforcement teams are investigating them with due diligence.

How many African-Americans males must die before we say enough is enough! I have been telling whoever would listen to me for a decade that it is safer for an African-American male to walk the streets of Bagdad than for us to walk on any street in America!

We have failed our children; it starts with fathers, then mothers, then the family, and then community leaders.  It takes a village to raise a child and how many more Trayvon Martin’s must be killed before we take control of our children and our communities.  Perhaps the greatest responsible we have as parents and community leaders is to protect our children and if we cannot do that, it is a clear sign that we are losing the war for the lives and soul of our children. We should be mad as hell that our children are attacked on day one in our educational systems especially our male children, that police officers profile our youth daily, that judges legislate from the bench by always providing sentencing higher for Blacks than Whites, that our legislative branch of government mandate laws that are discriminatory and greatly affect our people, that voting district are drawn to minimize our voting power, that lenders always charge our people a higher interest rate on loans, that grocery stores in our communities charge higher prices, and that there are more liquor stores than grocery stores in most of our communities.  I say what does it take, how many new prisons must be built before you and all our leaders say that we need to begin protesting these not so random act of racism across this country. What does this type of internalized racism say to our children when they see no future and we, as caregiver or so called protectors of the community, say or do nothing to protect or help them!

What will it take before we realize that we are at war and that our children are the targets of millions of gatekeepers determined to marginalize their existence. We may as well call our children collateral damage. If that is the case, I ask you what is the risk analysis?  How many must die each day before enough is enough, is the number 3, 4 or 10. How many must be imprisoned before enough is enough perhaps 1.5 million, 2.5 million or 3 million. What is the acceptable number for Black male dropout rate, 50%, 67% or 80%? How many Black men need to be unemployed or not in the workforce before enough is enough, 12 million, 16 million or 20 million. Does anyone give a damn?

What did Gandhi do? What did Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. do?  What did Nelson Mandela do? Protest!!!!

I call for a National Day of Solidarity for change, a day of community action, a day of community service. My recommendation is that June 19, 2012 be selected for this purpose. I have planted a seed of hope and now what will you and all the community leaders do? My hope is cultivate this seed to rebuild our community and to protect our future which is our children!!!

If you agree in part or in whole in what you just read, please let me know and become active in your community.  Please forward this letter to your local, regional, and state leaders, plus Black radio stations and Black newspapers. I will personally call, email, mail and fax 1000 community leaders in America. At this time I will not pass judgment about who will support this project or who will not, I will allow God and history to judge them!!!!!

Sincerely,

Lyle G. Russworm,

Founder of African-Americans For A Better Society (AAFABS) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story (1994). http://www.vernonjohns.org/snuffy1186/vernjohn.html

Additional Sites to learn more about Internalized Racism:

http://www.rc.org/uer/InternalizedRacism.html

http://www.rc.org/publications/journals/black_reemergence/br2/br2_5_sl.html

http://www.thewtc.org/Internalized_Racism.pdf

http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm