‘Slavery by Another Name’

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Dr. Sharon Malone, Shares Her Story ‘Slavery by Another Name’

*Imagine this…

You do some research into your family tree and discover that your uncle, who was born nearly 30 years after slavery, was one of thousands of black men pulled back into a forced labor system in which they were arrested – largely on trumped up charges – and compelled to work without pay as prisoners.
Imagine that this “convict leasing” system saw the groups of prisoners sold to private parties – like plantation owners or corporations - and that it was not only tolerated by both the North and South, but largely ignored by the U.S. Justice Department.

Now, imagine that nearly a century after your uncle served 366 days in this penal labor system, you find yourself married to the head of the U.S. Justice Department, who, ironically, just so happens to be the first African American in the position.

Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, tells the heartbreaking story of her uncle Henry in the upcoming 90-minute PBS documentary “Slavery by Another Name.” The film is based on the eye-opening book by Douglas A. Blackmon, which exposes a part of American history that most folks either had no clue existed, or didn’t know existed to the extent that it did.

“I want people to understand that this is not something that’s divorced and separate, and this doesn’t have anything to do with them,” Dr. Malone told EURweb exclusively at the Television Critics Association press tour last week. “If you were a black person who grew up in the South, some way or the other – whether or not you were directly involved in the system as my uncle was – you knew somebody who was, or your daily lives were circumscribed by those circumstances.”

“But more importantly,” she continues, “why I really want people to see this film is because this is American history. This isn’t just southern history, or African American history. It explains a lot of who we are as a people. It is a missing puzzle piece for what happened. You had the Civil War, you had reconstruction, gap, gap, gap, and then you’re at Martin Luther King. This fills in that gap.”

“Slavery by Another Name,” narrated by Laurence Fishburne and produced and directed by Sam Pollard, premieres Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS. Scroll down to watch the promo.
Below, Dr. Malone says she sensed that something was always on low boil with Uncle Henry.

Slavery by another name...

Guyana born Dr. of BioInnovation is GQ's Rock Star of Science

Photo Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer 
Dr. Frank Douglas, native of Guyana and noted innovator in the pharmaceutical industry, compares launching a new Akron medical institute to climbing Mt. Everest.


Akron: Researcher named GQ's 'Rock Star of Science'
Jennifer Lindgren Updated: 11/18/2010


AKRON -- A nationally-renowned medical researcher will be featured in next month's issue of "GQ Magazine" as a 'Rock Star of Science.'

Frank L. Douglas, Ph.D., M.D., says the honor was unexpected, but "a thrill."

Dr. Douglas, 67, is founder and CEO of Austen BioInnovation Institute of Akron.

Since joining ABIA in September 2009, Douglas has led an organization that is working to improve the health and economy of the region through an unmatched alignment of institutional, state, federal and philanthropic support.

Douglas was nominated for the 2010 Rock Stars of Science distinction by the leaders of the R.A.R.E. Project, in recognition of his decades of innovative and important research and development in the pharmaceutical industry.

He has led teams of scientists toward the discovery, development and/or registration of more than 20 drugs, including Allegra, Actonel and Lantus.

During his time at MIT as professor of the practice in the Sloan School of Management and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Douglas founded and served as the first executive director of the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation.

Dr. Douglas says recognition by GQ and the Geoffrey Beane Foundation is a different kind of honor, but one to raise awareness just the same.

"As a scientist, you don't think of yourself as a rock star, but what an honor. I'm really delighted to have been selected," Douglas said.

At the Los Angeles photo shoot for inclusion in the annual Rock Stars of Science edition, Douglas was featured with musician Jay Sean, along with Dr. Geraldine Dawson of Autism Speaks; Dr. Catriona Jamieson of the University of California; Dr. Emil Kakkis of the Kakkis EveryLife Foundation; and Rear Admiral Dr. Susan J. Blumenthal.

He hopes the feature article sends a message to GQ's young male readers that a career in science can be just as rewarding as a career in music.

"You have a responsibility in a sense to let young people know this is not only important, this [career] is a lot of fun. I have a lot of fun every day," Douglas said.

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Dr. Frank Douglas, a drug industry innovator from Guyana, heads Akron biomedical research effort


Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tom Breckenridge, The Plain Dealer
 

AKRON, Ohio -- The man charged with melding Akron's medical and polymer strengths into an even greater economic force meets his first challenge of the day -- the office phone.

"How do I get off hold?" Dr. Frank Douglas shouts to aide Teri Donohue.

Douglas and his staff encounter such challenges daily. Temporary downtown digs for the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron have a new-car smell and the urgent feel of a long, vital journey that's just begun.

For Douglas, 66, and the fledgling institute, there is promise -- and pressure to succeed.

Five medical and university institutions in Greater Akron aspire to create a world-class institute of bone-, joint- and wound-healing research and innovation.

Last summer, the institute's board of directors picked Douglas to lead the effort. The brilliant native of Guyana forged a notable career as a clinician, pharmaceutical executive and innovator.

"He had all of the relevant kinds of experience we were looking for, at very high levels," said Luis Proenza, president of the University of Akron.

Whether it's the office phone or the inner workings of Akron's medical and political networks, Douglas has proven to be a quick study, Proenza and others say.

"He's a dynamic guy, highly charged and passionate," said Dr. Dennis Weiner, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Akron Children's Hospital.

The benchmarks that Douglas and the institute will be judged by are ambitious.

By 2018, the institute aims to be the top program of its kind in the world. Institute leaders believe they can draw $150 million in academic and clinical research funding yearly, along with $50 million annually in new-company investment.

That should result in 2,400 new jobs and 40 new companies, the institute expects.

Douglas knows the task is daunting, even with $80 million already pledged to the venture's first five years.

A framed picture of Mount Everest dominates a wall in his office. A smaller frame nearby reads "Carpe Diem!" -- a Latin phrase meaning "Seize the day."

Seeds of innovation

This January day starts with Douglas hustling to a morning meeting at the Goodyear Polymer Center, the curving, landmark towers of glass that house research labs and classrooms at the University of Akron.

In a meeting room near the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame, Douglas huddles with several professors and two graduate students to sow the seeds of innovation.

They've launched a class that combines students' business, polymer science and medical disciplines in a hunt for new medical products. The two students are shadowing orthopedic surgeons at Akron Children's, looking for marketable opportunities.

The bespectacled Douglas is a picture of the sage mentor as he addresses the pair. White hairs have knit their way into his mustache and sideburns. His manner is calm, analytical, nearly paternal.

"You keep asking 'why,' " Douglas suggested. "By the time you get to the fifth 'why,' the root cause might emerge. . . . The truth of the matter is, that's basically what you do in science, you keep asking the whys."

Observing the exchange is Ali Dhinojwala, chairman of the university's polymer science department. Douglas has the ability to see opportunity from multiple perspectives, Dhinojwala said.

Douglas came to these perspectives with an acquisitive, wide-ranging intellect.

He grew up poor and without a father in the South American country of Guyana. He excelled at rigorous schools, scoring highest in the country in national testing.

Academics, religion and racism have been powerful forces in Douglas' life.

He preached as a teenager and directed a Youth for Christ movement in Guyana. Douglas earned a Fulbright scholarship to Lehigh University and finished his undergraduate degree in less than three years. But he felt religious ardor waning in the face of segregation.

Invited to preach in churches around Lehigh's Bethlehem, Pa., campus, Douglas encountered congregations that were entirely white. His religion taught that followers would unite in heaven. But on Sundays, Douglas said, he saw no such unity.

Douglas earned a doctorate in physical chemistry at Cornell University in 1972 and returned later for his medical degree.

He did hands-on medicine as director of the hypertension clinic at the University of Chicago Department of Medicine in the early 1980s.

His work in several drug studies caught the eye of pharmaceutical companies, and a new career unfolded.

By the mid-1990s, his ascent had reached a challenging stage in Frankfurt, Germany.

Douglas was the newly installed head of research and development for Hoechst Marion Roussell pharmaceutical company. It had recently acquired Douglas' American employer, the former Marion Merrell Dow.

Douglas' task was to streamline and shorten drug development for the German company, one of the world's largest.

It meant replacing some workers and adding new technologies, earning scorn from the work force.

"The unions were against me, the scientists were against me, the community was against me," Douglas said. "I remember one of the scientists said, 'We can't understand how come we bought you, and now you're the boss.' "

Douglas learned German quickly. Working with consultant-confidant Eric Davidson, Douglas crafted organizational structures for drug testing that are widely used in the industry.

Douglas' genius is his global view of drug development, Davidson said. Douglas is facile in the world of academics, testing labs, medical treatment and venture capital, he said.

"He does it through some fundamentals," Davidson said. "He's extremely candid, he's open to suggestions and he's decisive. . . . He's oriented toward risk taking, but only informed risk taking."

After two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, Douglas landed a prestigious role of founding director for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center of Biomedical Innovation. Douglas worked with academic and industry scientists and federal regulators on the barriers to drug development.

"I had never anticipated leaving MIT," Douglas said.

But then a black colleague, MIT professor James Sherley, was denied tenure and went on a hunger strike in 2007.

Douglas asked the university for an outside panel to evaluate Sherley's case and to recommend improvements to the environment for minority faculty. The university did not act on Douglas' request. So he resigned.

He remained busy, with roles including senior partner at a venture capital firm and senior fellow at the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation, a national leader in support of entrepreneurship.

Then, an executive search firm called. A new venture in Akron needed a leader.

Leaving a legacy

At first, Douglas wasn't interested.

But subsequent pitches intrigued him. A visit found that teams from the five institutions -- the University of Akron, Akron Children's, Akron General Health System, Summa Health System and Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy -- were already eight months into figuring how their collaboration would work.

Over three days, he met 65 scientists, doctors, nurses and administrators.

"That's what got my attention -- the vision had permeated a couple levels down from the presidents and CEOs," Douglas said. "The people who have to make it happen had come on board and were motivated to do something."

One of Douglas' biggest challenges will be fostering collaboration across the institutions, some of which compete fiercely for patients. So Douglas launched monthly "Synergy Seminars," where a medical problem in need of solutions is floated to a crowd drawn from the five institutions.

The January gathering, hosted by Douglas, focused on infection after surgeries.

An orthopedic surgeon at Akron Children's detailed the case of a young adult with cerebral palsy whose spine had curved dangerously.

Surgeons implanted screws and rods to straighten the spine. But recurring infection and other complications led to surgeons to remove the hardware -- a painful, months-long drama costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With the floor open to solutions, a crowd of some 70 doctors, professors and researchers floated several dozen ideas. Judit Puskas, a professor of polymer science at the university, said her school had a patented polymer substance that could be an answer.

Doctors and university researchers "are sitting next to each other and don't know what the other is doing," Puskas said after the seminar. That's why Douglas' emphasis on communication is key, she said.

Douglas is under a five-year contract. Both he and institute officials declined to detail his compensation.

Douglas said he's not doing it for the money. It's about legacy, which he describes as the potential for the region's residents to look back years from now and see immense benefit.

"This," Douglas said, "has that [potential] in scads."

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Related topics: akron, austen, bioinnovation, frank douglas, institute

Prominent Guyanese Economist passes on...

Death of an Economist, or Why ‘House’ Is Not Your Home

By Christopher John Farley

November 6, 2010

The man who taught me how to live died today.

Most of my experience with the health care system, before my father’s health began to decline a few years ago, was through the movies, television, newspapers, magazines and the web.

Rawle Farley, 1922-2010

On shows like “House,” ailments are exotic and are diagnosed and solved in 60 minutes, with a couple commercial interruptions. On TV talk shows, talking heads scrap over health care policy and try to score political points. What’s typically missing is the human element—how health care decisions actually affect flesh-and-blood people.

Sitting in a dimly-lit room in the ICU of Rochester General Hospital, in Rochester, NY, with my ailing 88-year-old father, I soon came to realize I wasn’t in a scripted episode that was going to end happily. And politics and rhetoric were far from my mind.

My dad, Dr. Rawle Farley, had been a professor of economics at the State University of New York, College at Brockport since 1966. He was the founder and first chairperson of the Department of Economics at SUNY Brockport, and was named Professor Emeritus in 1995. He’s the author of a number of seminal works that helped shape the study of the economics of the developing world, including “The Economics of Latin America: Development Problems in Perspective” (Harper & Row, 1972).

He was born Born Rawle Egbert Griffith Farley in South America in Courtland Village, Berbice, Guyana. He left Guyana when he was young to attend school in England. To pay for his schooling and fund his trip abroad, he sold the trophies he had won as a champion hurdler.

He eventually earned a Ph.D. from the University of London, and attended Oxford University. While a student in England, during one period he couldn’t find a landlord willing to rent a room to a Caribbean scholar. He ended up sleeping in a hallway between the rooms of two white friends.

As he lay on the hospital bed, I felt a duty to do everything possible to preserve his beautiful mind. He was breathing only with the assistance of a pressurized mask, and hadn’t talked much in days. But I held out the hope that the studious young man and avid chess player who had fought his way into the best schools in England was still inside there somewhere.

Early that afternoon, I sent my mother home from the hospital for some much needed rest. That evening, the doctor on call stopped by to discuss my dad’s case. He said that my father had had multi-organ failure, and there was little they could do beyond the drastic measures that my dad, before his illness, had said he didn’t want. He didn’t want to be hooked up to machines. He didn’t want to be resuscitated. So just about the only options left were keeping him comfortable, continuing with the oxygen, antibiotics, and various non-intrusive measures, and hoping for a miracle.

We were moved out of the ICU into a private room. I called my kids, ages 5 and 8, so they could say good night to their grandfather. For the first time that evening, dad tried to speak, and his eyes opened wide. No words came out, but he spoke volumes.

In the new room, I held his hand and he stared past me into space. His breathing became shallow. I called the nurse, and she told me he didn’t need the oxygen mask anymore and then exited the room to leave us alone. I kissed my father on the forehead, told him I loved him and that he was a great dad, and then I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. I put my ear to his chest–right on his bypass scar–and I couldn’t hear his heart beating. I put my hand on his head, where his hairline had receded, and it felt just as warm and moist as the top of my 8-year-old son’s head did when he was a newborn.

My parents at home, a few weeks before my father’s death.

Christopher John Farley

But my son was just starting life and my dad was leaving it.

I called the nurse, and she got the doctor. They registered the time of death as 12:05 a.m.

My dad and mom raised four sons. All of us went to public school, and all of us went to Harvard or Harvard Law School or both. All of my brothers, thanks in large part to their guidance, have gone on to interesting jobs of one kind or another.

But this last night was a final lesson. Part of reaching maturity is accepting, without fear, that life ends. Staring into that mysterious abyss makes other challenges seem small. I felt privileged that I had gotten to go to the edge with him. Dad helped teach me how to live, and how to die too.

After the doctor left, I was alone in the room with him. I put my hand on his head, but it was already turning cool, like a tile floor.

As I left the hospital that night, a melancholy rain was falling, and the streets were wet. I had a long drive back to Brockport to tell my mother that my father had passed. I had to do it face to face.

In the same way that there are some health care experiences that can’t be communicated via TV shows and punditry, there are some things that just can’t be said over the phone.

A Tribute by a son to his father

The Disappearance of The Black Male

Endangered Species? The Disappearance of The Black Male

Endangered Species? The Disappearance of The Black Male Shorts Program

Part of the BAMcinématek series Creatively Speaking

Sat & Sun, Sep 25 & 26, 2010, 2pm
80min

This shorts program examines the state of black manhood in America.

I Am Sean Bell: Black Boys Speak (2009, 10min)
Directed by Stacey Muhammad

Young boys reflect on the Sean Bell tragedy, speaking out about their fears and hopes as they approach manhood in a city where the lives of young black men are often cut short.

Barack and Curtis (2009, 10min)
Directed by Byron Hurt

This short documentary examines the contrasting styles of manhood exhibited by Barack Obama and rapper/mogul Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent). Produced by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).

Bring Your “A” Game (2009, 30min)
Directed by Mario Van Pebbles

Using a cinematic style influenced by popular culture and innovative, aesthetic technologies, this film details strategies that have improved the lives of Black men and boys. It underscores how essential educational achievement and high school graduation are to survival and success in today’s world. Interviewees include such Black male icons as Richard “Dick” Parsons, Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Dr. Cornel West, Ice Cube, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kevin Liles, Lou Gossett Jr., Lupe Fiasco, Hill Harper, Damon Dash, Kevin Powell, Melvin Van Peebles, Geoffrey Canada, Bruce Gordon, and former NBA star Alan Houston, among others.

When It Rains (2009, 21min)
Directed by Amir Adelar Minder

A young man, disillusioned by his underground lifestyle, becomes even more so after his live-in girlfriend takes her own life. As he embarks on a final journey through his Bronx neighborhood, only his younger half-brother notices something is going on. Is it too late?

Bird Losing Its Feathers (2006, 9min)
Directed by James Richards

Inspired by the tragic murder of James Byrd in Jasper, Texas, Bird Losing Its Feathers is a hard look at race, class, and hate crime in America.

BAM Rose Cinemas
General Admission: $12
BAM Cinema Club members: $8

Purchase Tickets at the link below
When: Sat & Sun, Sep 25 & 26 at 2pm

http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2531

1st Caribbean Golfers Association tournament in New York

Caribbean Golfers Association holds first tournament in New York

Published on September 10, 2010

by Global News Staff

NEW YORK, USA -- West Indians are not known to be outstanding golfers but, of late, a large number of Caribbean nationals pay a lot more attention to golf rather than cricket, football or basketball.

They are now so much involved in golf that the Caribbean Golfers Association (CGA) has been established.

The CGA will hold its first Annual Caribbean Amateur Golf Tournament on Saturday, September 18, in which four countries: Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago will participate at the Marine Park Golf Course in Brooklyn.

Prizes will be awarded for first placed teams, closest to the pin, longest drive and putting contests, as well as a chipping contest at the range.

The tournament coordinators are Mark Woseley and Buddy Cooper, who has been instructing golf over 20 years.

Guyana has named a strong team and are optimistic of winning. The team includes Salim Rashid, Bud Singh, Karl Ramjeet, Chris Guyadeen, Anwar Shaffie, Farook Hossein, Akbar Razack, Alim Hasratali, Desmond Magul, Mike Budhan, Mark Woseley, and Alim Badrudeen.

http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Caribbean-Golfers-Association-holds-first-tournament-in-New-York-1800.html

From a youth for our youths

Saggin Pants

Pass this on to Our Youth, Our Parents, Our Black Men and Women
Letter from a college student

The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the 2 boys wanted to 'talk' to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old.

After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted to know how he could gain her interest.

The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, and then said he liked saggin ' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin ' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G- G-A-S

I told him the origin of that look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave owners to demoralize the field workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men in prison wore their pants low when they were 'spoken for'. The other reason their pants looked like that was they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide.
And, saggin' pants prevents you from running.

We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head held high could make the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us.

It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what reality to them is. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves.

Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman.. All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to engage in negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behavior, to spend our hard earned money in their stores, buying goods we don't need, or really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the world to portray us as a 'sub-culture. ' They have stripped our culture down to the point where the image of Black people is perpetuated as rappers, athletes, drug users, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive cars, expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families. We are so much more!!!!!!!

To all our Black Men : It's time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us; we will have your back. We know! that it gets hard. We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Man and a Black Woman can't handle with GOD on their side.

To all our Black Women : It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within you. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world. You are so powerful. You are so beautiful. You need to love ! and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For all our Black Children : We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there are no 'get rich quick' schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality . It's not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes. ! We can be the owners of these sports teams. We can be the CEO's of OUR fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930's and 40's, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.

'This is the year of empowerment. ' God will empower us to accomplish things this year that will be mind blowing'.