Election 2012

You've watched the Presidential Debates...the ONLY thing left to say is: VOTE! The earlier the better. Surely the headache waiting in line, with some of the world's most unfriendliest people is the LAST thing you want to do, yet VOTING is the FIRST thing you need to do. Sooo VOTE, and do it EARLY. All you need is a VALID TEXAS ID. Voting during the early voting period couldn’t be easier and more convenient! Registered and eligible voters may vote at ANY early voting location located in the county of residence. Whether you are at home, work or out running errands, you will be able to find a polling place near you.  Check it Out: 




Early Voting Hours of Operation
October 22 - October 26: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
October 27: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
October 28: 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
October 29 - November 2: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

	Location	Address
1	Harris County Administration Building	1001 Preston, 1st Floor Houston TX 77002
2	Holy Name Catholic Church	1912 Marion Street Houston TX 77009
3	Kashmere Multi-Services Center	4802 Lockwood Dr. Houston TX 77026
4	Ripley House	4410 Navigation Boulevard Houston TX 77011
5	H.C.C.S Southeast College, Learning Hub	6815 Rustic, Bldg D Houston TX 77087
6	Palm Center	5300 Griggs Road Houston TX 77021
7	Fiesta Mart, Inc.	8130 Kirby Houston TX 77054
8	Metropolitan Multi-Services Center	1475 West Gray Houston TX 77019
9	Harris County Public Health Environmental Building	2223 West Loop South Houston TX 77027
10	Northeast Multi-Service Center	9720 Spaulding St, Bldg #4 Houston TX 77016
11	Galena Park Library	1500 Keene Street Galena Park TX 77547
12	IBEW Hall #66	4345 Allen Genoa Road Pasadena TX 77504
13	Sunnyside Multi-Service Center	4605 Wilmington Houston TX 77051
14	Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center	3810 W. Fuqua Houston TX 77045
15	Bayland Park Community Center	6400 Bissonnet Houston TX 77074
16	Tracy Gee Community Center	3599 Westcenter Drive Houston TX 77042
17	Trini Mendenhall Sosa Community Center	1414 Wirt Road Houston TX 77055
18	Acres Home Multi Services Center	6719 W. Montgomery Houston TX 77091
19	Hardy Senior Center	11901 West Hardy Road Houston TX 77076
20	Octavia Fields Branch Library	1503 South Houston Avenue Humble TX 77338
21	Kingwood Branch Library	4400 Bens View Lane Kingwood TX 77345
22	North Channel Branch Library	15741 Wallisville Road Houston TX 77049
23	Baytown Community Center	2407 Market Street Baytown TX 77520
24	Harris County Courthouse Annex #25	7330 Spencer Highway Pasadena TX 77505
25	Freeman Branch Library	16616 Diana Lane Houston TX 77062
26	Henington-Alief Regional Library	7979 South Kirkwood Houston TX 77072
27	Nottingham Park	926 Country Place Drive Houston TX 77079
28	Franz Road Storefront	19818 Franz Road Katy TX 77449
29	Bear Creek Park Community Center	3055 Bear Creek Drive Houston TX 77084
30	City of Jersey Village - City Hall	16327 Lakeview Drive Jersey Village TX 77040
31	Tomball Public Works Building	501B James Street Tomball TX 77375
32	Champion Forest Baptist Church - Multi Purpose Bldg	4840 Strack Road Houston TX 77069
33	Champion Life Centre	3031 FM 2920 Rd Spring TX 77388
34	Cypress Top Park	26026 Hempstead Highway Cypress TX 77429
35	Glen Cheek Education Building	16002 Westheimer Pkwy Houston TX 77082
36	Lone Star College University Park	20515 State Hwy 249 Houston TX 77070
37	Crosby ISD Administration Building	706 Runneburg Road Crosby TX 77532

For More information visit http://www.harrisvotes.com/

"Buzzworthy Cravings, Creatively Satisfied!"

V.O.T.E.: V.ictoriously O.verturning T.he E.gregious Ignorance

May 29, 2012 Houston, TX- Today marks the Texas Primary Election and this voting day appears to be just like any other: Experienced, older people of color are flooding the voting booths with the occasional young soul breezing through, to make their voice heard in the world. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE!! Young people of  color should do any and everything in their power to vote today!!! Its time that we stop being complaining reactionaries, and become proactive prevention specialists. We cant continue to lay back, "acting" as if things are equal and ok, because we are reminded daily that they aren't. Nor can we continue to walk in voluntary ignorance because we don't care to dig deeper, using surface information, that is "privileged" to us. Now for the rebels out there, I understand that notion that our vote doesn't matter and part of me still feels that way, however, I have no proof that it does or doesn't and counted all joy, find it most logical to vote, because "WHAT IF...?"

During the Civil War Era, well into Civil Rights/Jim Crow Era, people of color fought to vote, fought to be considered as humans, as citizens. In the United States of America, people recognized early on the importance of voting, it meant that their voice mattered. After the Civil War the Constitution was changed to make sure Blacks had the right to vote, yet Whites in the South invented many ways to keep Blacks from voting. Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, sometimes called the "Great Amendment," to help protect the rights of the freed slaves. It was added to the Constitution in 1868. It stated that all people who were born in the United States, including African-Americans, are considered natural citizens and have the same rights as all other Americans. It also prohibited any state from making or enforcing any laws that took away or hurt an individual’s civil rights. After the Fourteenth Amendment passed, many African-Americans still didn't have all the rights Whites had. Many Whites, especially in the South, continued to treat the Blacks unfairly. Voting was one of the many rights that were stripped from Blacks after the Civil War ended. Many Blacks didn't vote because some Whites didn't want the Blacks to have this power. Voting provided power to change things. These Whites said that Blacks weren't smart enough to vote and wouldn’t know who to vote for. They purposely did not tell the Blacks when or how to vote and did other things so Blacks could not vote. The Fifteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1870 to protect Blacks’ voting rights. It prohibited the national and state governments from refusing citizens the right to vote because of their race, color, or because they were a slave at one time. After the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, a large number of Blacks voted during the late 1860’s through the 1880’s. The African-Americans used their voting rights to gain political power and to protect their rights. Soon, southern states started passing laws to make it harder for Blacks to vote. Some states passed laws that required people to pay a poll tax before voting. Others required people to pass a reading or writing test before voting. Since most Blacks had been slaves their whole lives, they had little money to pay a poll tax and did not know how to read or write. Some people were still trying to take away the civil rights of African Americans. Although many were against the amendments, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments played an important part in the Civil Rights Movement. The amendments declared that Blacks were real people and should be treated as equals and not as property. The amendments also gave Blacks the right to vote, making it possible to change things. (http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/the_right_to_vote.htm)

So now that we have had our history lesson, AGAIN, why is it so difficult for our Black Youth to vote? It isn't but connecting the importance of voting with the act of voting seems to be. According to www.DuBoisCentral.com, "In the United States, the right to vote is often taken for granted and for many years, turnout at all but the most highly contested elections has been dismal. Too many Americans forget, however, that the extension of votes to women, African Americans, and (to some degree) poor whites is a relatively recent phenomenon and was won only through concerted struggle. Even today, the struggle to maintain the right to vote is necessary." We are all aware of the recent enforcement of the Voting Act of 1965, and while it hasn't landed in Texas just yet, its coming. When you think about it there is really no need to because young, African American voters (especially those that are most affected) are NOT voting. Many head to polls for national elections (i.e. Presidential Election) but not for the election of local politicians. These are the individuals that make decisions to affect our daily life. The DA is an elected position, that is pushing imprisonment for our people. The judges are elected to the bench, that are sentencing our people. The school boards that have never lived in the areas in which our children are attending school, are elected to those seats and making decisions that drastically limit our teachers and damage our students education. 
Yet, we still don't vote. Maybe some of us ignorantly just don't care and are often drawn in Mass Media's attempt to skew the data, hide the facts, and put in its place some politicians opinion about things that only affect a select population. "It's time for black Americans to set and clarify their priorities and act in concert with them. The choices made today will impact not just their own future, but the future of our whole nation," states Star Parker, of CURE (Center for Urban Renewal and Education).  

The point of it all??? Get off your asses and VOTE!! I would like to leave you with recent commentary found in an article entitled: The Importance of the Black Vote and the Stupidity of Ignoring Them by David Sirota. According to Jim Clyburn from the Washington Post, "We keep talking as if it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter that Obama gets 92 percent of the black vote, because since he only got 35 percent of the white vote, he's in trouble," Clyburn said. "Well, Hillary Clinton only got 8 percent of the black vote. . . . It's almost saying black people don't matter. The only thing that matters is how white people respond. And that's what bothered me. I think I matter." Sirota states, Clyburn is, unfortunately, spot on - and there's two reasons why the phenomenon he describes is such a problem. First and foremost is the idea that black voters are, indeed, treated as less important than white voters. I would even take it a step further: black voters are not only considered unimportant, but are considered only as black voters and nothing else - a very subtly derogatory and dehumanizing characterization in that it implies African Americans are just one dimensional simpletons, rather than multi-dimensional humans. For instance, though much of the African-American community is economically in the "working class," pundits and reporters use economic and other demographic distinctions only to describe white voters, while black voters are just "black voters" - as if the only issue they vote on is race. Chris Matthews, gave us the best example of this when he publicly claimed there's some sort of difference between "regular people" and black people. Of course, you might counter that in a general election, black voters have constituted about 12 percent of the total vote, while white voters have constituted about 79 percent of the total vote, and therefore when comparing demographic subsets, the black vote is less mathematically important than the white vote. Except, even that is a flawed way of looking at the electoral map..." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-importance-of-the-bla_b_98776.html) 

Now take that shit to the polls with you and VOTE!!!!! Why are you still sitting there? Not sure if you are able to vote or where to vote visit, http://www.canivote.org/ to find out. 

"Buzzworthy Cravings, Creatively Satisfied!"

Houston, TX- Change is Going to Come...Isn't It?- Trayvon Martin Case Commentary Update

Today is April 12, 2012 and just yesterday, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch dog, whose bark was louder than his bite, so he shot an unarmed teen, was FINALLY arrested!!! Its been a long time coming, but was it worth the wait?? The prevalence of racism in the good ole U.S. of A. is alive and well. Prior to the election of President Obama, there was obvious suppression of racist thoughts, words, and actions by those with little to no pigment in their skin. It seems that outright racism is indeed surfacing, due to their inability to handle change and progress. The death of Trayvon Martin, unfortunately, has become the example of such ignorance. I could load this post with tons of facts that are available at the tip of your fingers, but I'd rather not. Instead, I want to give you ALL something to ponder.... How is the Stand Your Ground Law admissible when, Trayvon Martin was the one who was pursued, voice was identified on the 911 calls, wasn't committing a crime, and continued his path home from the store?? The media constantly flood the airways with scattered information, yet the information provided, confirms that Zimmerman wasn't in jeopardy and Trayvon wasn't committing a crime... This world is on the brink of World War 3, and if you aren't part of the 1 percent, and unwilling to submit to them, then you'd better be prepared for the attempt of oppressive regression.

Check Out the Video, from the March 24, 2012 Million Hoodie Photo Shoot, Presented by No Labels Record's own, Naisha Hobbie. This is a SweetToothMedia, Mirrored Impressions Photography Collabo! View It, Share It, Leave a Comment!!!





"Buzzworthy Cravings, Creatively Satisfied!"