Earlier this month, the Electronic Village presented ‘The Arte y Pico Award‘ to this blog. I’m definitely honored because the Villager has one of the top black blogs out there and it is a testament to what online activism should entail. If you search my blog you will find a number of references to his site. He’s also one of the workshop presenters at the Blogging While Brown Conference in Atlanta this weekend.

Here are the rules of the Arte y Pico Award:

• You have to pick 5 blogs that deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
• Each awardee has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
• Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
• Each award winner should provide a link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award

Here are five (5) blogs, in no particular order, that I think show Creativity, Fabulous Design, Interesting Material or Contribute to the blogging community:

1. Black In Business - JD is one of the first bloggers I’ve gotten to meet in person. His blog is full of good advice for business owners and he’s open and honest about his views regarding our society. I’m always interested in seeing what he’ll post next. A good guy and a good site.
2. Vanessa: Unplugged - Vanessa (I always want to call her V) has a blog that is very well written and designed. Her topics are right on point and most of the time we have the same views on things. I admire people who can write because it’s something I’ve been working on for a while. Another thing that got me hooked on her site was her commitment last year to blog every day for a year. That’s not easy to do!
3. Dallas South Blog - Shawn is a fellow Aggie, but that’s not why I selected his site. If you want to know what’s happening in South Dallas, this is the blog for you. This is another site that is well-written and he stays on top of the issues that black people need to be concerned about. Even if you don’t live in Dallas, his blog is one you should definitely check out. He will be an attendee at the Blogging While Brown Conference.
4. Black Web 2.0 - I like all things technology. This is one of the sites where I go to get my tech news fix when the need arises. Technology changes daily and there’s always something new to blog about. Angela and Markus are good at staying on top of the newest tech news and gadgets. When you visit the site you have to check out their podcast. They’ve gotten some really good interviews with some major players in the technology industry. They will also be presenting a workshop at the Blogging While Brown Conference.
5. Geeky Cyber Mom - Geeks are cool and so is this website. Anyone who carries a 4-port USB hub in their purse is alright with me. I “e-met” the Geeky Cyber Mom on Twitter. Her blog is fun to read and very informative. She also manages another blog and podcast called Tales of a Single Parent which is equally as good.

So this is my list of bloggers that deserve the award. I have more I’d like to add, but the award only calls for five. Visit their blog and let me know what you think. Thanks again to the Villager for choosing lil ol’ me.

This is the first of many pictures I wanted to share with you in the Photo Phenish. Have you ever felt like the duck in the background? This photo makes me think how I felt on my first day at college. I’d gone to majority black schools all my life, so attending Texas A&M was definitely a culture shock. But as I’ve stated in many posts before, attending A&M was good for me. I met a lot of great friends (including my wife) and learned a lot about myself and the world around me in the process. Sometimes you’ve got to step out of your comfort zone to make things happen. That’s the only way change can happen.

This past Sunday Rev. Jeremiah Wright preached at Friendship West Baptist Church for the 25th Pastoral Anniversary of Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III. I heard a portion of the service on the radio, but thought I’d point to you a first-hand account of what happened on that day. Shawn Williams, author of the Dallas South Blog is a member of Friendship West and as always gives us the real deal in his post “A day of Jeremiah Wright: In Dallas church this morning, Detroit NAACP Banquet Sunday evening”.
In the part that I heard, Rev. Wright talked about all of the places and events that he’d been “uninvited” since the 30 second clips were posted on Youtube. He was comical, yet real about the things going on in our community. While I may not agree with everything he’s said in his sermons, I think it’s refreshing to hear a pastor speak out against the unjustices in the world. When has pointing out the wrongs of this country (in an effort to make it better) been unpatriotic? I’ve always thought that was called “tough love”.

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a discussion about the black media and it’s importance in today’s society. The host was fellow blogger JW Richards, of the Mandrake Society Radio and playwright, Kristina Patrice. I enjoyed hearing their opinions on the topic and it turned out to be a good show. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Why the Black in Black Media

I was listening to this Sunday’s sermon from Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church and he spoke of how he was one of the top candidates for president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This was a shock to my wife and I, but the news was borken earlier this month by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In his sermon Pastor Haynes, preached about how this is just another step in his ministry and he will continue to be the pastor at Friendship-West until God tells him otherwise. It’s a big move and I’m glad to see him step up to the challenge. I’ve heard him speak at times and I think he would be perfect for the position. He geniunely cares and is very outspoken in his sermons about social issues concerning the black community. Who better to speak for us than someone who has made it his passion to fight for those he cares about most.

Shawn, over at Dallas South Blog is a member of Friendship-West also voiced his feelings about the situation and I’ll be watching his blog for first-hand information. This is a big deal for Pastor Haynes and the church, so let’s keep them in prayer. If it’s a position for him to have, then he’ll get it.

This wasn’t a planned post, but fellow blogger Vanessa Byers is asking for prayer on her blog and I felt it necessary to let the readers of this blog know also. I’m a strong believer in the power of prayer and have seen what it can do. My dad passed away in 2001, but 15 years before that, the doctors didn’t give him much more time due to a brain stem stroke. My mom told as many people as possible and asked all who had it in their heart to pray for him. He’s not here now, but he did get 15 more years the doctors said he wouldn’t have. Because of the prayers from others, he got to see me graduate from high school, college and get married.

So when you get a chance, check out her blog post and pray for Vanessa and her family. God gives us prayer for a reason.

Request for Prayer for Healing, Uplift and Strength

I’m in, are you? I just signed up for the Blogging While Brown Conference in Atlanta, GA July 25-27, 2008. According to the website, the most important purpose of the conference is to share knowledge. The conference will promote intellectual, social, and cultural development of the blogging community by bringing bloggers of color together. Blogging While Brown is an opportunity to meet other bloggers and blog readers of color for the first time, discuss current issues of interest to bloggers of color, network with individuals and organizations interested in leveraging online activity with offline results, and learn about the latest technology that will assist bloggers with publishing their work and improving their readers experience by fully engaging in the newest media technology.

I’m excited because I’ll finally get the chance to meet some of the bloggers I read on a regular basis. In a way, you sort of connect with the author after reading their blog for a while, so it’ll be nice to meet them face-to-face. I also hope to learn more about blogging and ways we can all work together to benefit our communities. Since I’m not sure all who’s attending, I thought I’d call out just a few of the bloggers I want to see. If you’re registered, let me know. If not then register here. Hope to see you there.

• Angela & Markus
• Benin
• blackgivesback
• JD
• JW
• Kanute
• Marty
• Paula
• Shawn
• Vanessa
• Wayne
• Yobachi

Marty over at MartyBLOGs has written a passionate post about Why Is the Black Establishment Afraid to Grasp History? It talks about Barack Obama and how he’s not getting the support of the black leadership. If you’ve listened to my podacast, you’ll know I try not to vote on the basis of color because not all black people have my interests at heart. I figured from the beginning that something like this would happen and even said he should wait until the next election. But since he’s in, he’s got my vote. He hasn’t had enought time in politics to become an official politician like Hillary, so I’m hoping that will help him in his decision making.

No matter what happens, history will be made and this country will be different because of it. After reading the post I’d like to know how you feel. Are the black leaders overlooking the few chances to get an African-American in office? We’ve been fighting for representation for a while. Is this our time or will Hillary best represent the issues in the black community? Check out my comments on Marty’s blog.

Venessa at vanessabyers.net posted a good article for college students titled “Money Saving Tips for College” by By Lisa Rogers-Cherry. This is something that I can relate to because I fell into some of those campus credit card traps when I was in school. Financial literacy is an important part of life and your mistakes early on can hurt you in the future. Especially when it comes to the African-American community, we tend to make light of the fact that our credit is bad. We shrug it off, but in reality it means we pay so much more money for the things than those with good credit.

I was watching an episode of Black Enterprises Business Report and they were talking about how African-Americans are more likely to recieve the subprime home loans than any other race. Most of the loans were based on the fact that our credit score was lower or we didn’t have as much for the down payment. Because of lower credit scores, we pay more for anything that needs to be financed. We get tricked into thinking that the companies offering “No Money Down” and “Credit Issues Not A Problem” are looking to help us out. All they want is the money from our higher interest rate!

I guess I’ll get off my soapbox, but check out the article because it has some great advice to keep students out of financial trouble. You don’t have to be a tightwad, but you can make wiser decisions when it comes to your finances. If you are a college student run the other way when they offer you the free t-shirt for signing up for a credit card. Take the steps now to learn how to manage your money now before you get out in the “real world”.

Now I’m not trying to take any listeners from my podcast, but I did want to let you know of a new show at BlackWeb 2.0. It’s their first episode where they interview Rocky Williform, CEO of StreetCred Media Group. They talk with Rocky about his new social networking group which targets the hip hop culture in an effort to bring about dialouge between the real fans of hip hop. They also talk about the future of StreetCred and how he came up with the idea behind the website.

The best thing about this interview is you don’t have to be a tech enthusiasts to enjoy it. They also talked with Rocky about how he was able to fund the project, his business philosophy and how he developed a business model around his idea. If you are an entrprenuer (or wanting to be one), there’s definitely some good information in it for you. If you check out Rocky’s bio, you’ll see this brotha is definitely about business. I like his mindset and you can tell in the interview that he is well-versed in what it takes to run a successful business. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Interview with Rocky Williform, CEO of StreetCred.com