I spotted this billboard while driving in the Pocono mountains over the holiday weekend.
America, we have a lot of work to do…
*(Out of many, one.)
E Pluribus Unum*
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Category Archives: Race
MLK "Sell-a-bration"
I had a conversation with a fellow advertiser and we veered into a discussion about the appropriateness of using the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National holiday as a catalyst for a sale or special.
Given the issues of equality that the civil rights icon fought, and ultimately died for, I am of the opinion that it is not only inappropriate, but offensive and crass.
While there is a prevalent belief among some that we now live in a “post-racial” society, nothing could be further from the truth.
In some respect, that is why I am opposed to using Dr. King’s name and or likeness as a convenient means of creating a sales or retail event.
This hasn’t prevented retailers, to varying degrees, like Sears, local car dealers or a surf shop in Laguna Beach from creating MLK “Sell-a-brations.”
This special holiday has also become an opportunity for satire.
Another friend commented when I asked her what she thought, “It has become a retail holiday, especially when big brands like Sears participate in the process.”
That may be true, but does that make it right?
The industry knows quite precisely what they are doing
Caloric content and childhood obesity are only a part of the problem facing the African-American community.
A new study from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health points to a threat that is greater than fast-food.
Are You Registered??
I was having dinner not too long ago with a co-worker.
After a few glasses of wine, he said that, despite the fact that he had been eligible to vote for twenty four years, he has never registered or participated in the process.
Without my saying anything, it was clear that this revelation was, for my co-worker, a point of frustration and consternation.
This is a man who is viewed as a leader…a leader in his profession, in his community and to his family.
As we talked further, it became clear that he was ashamed.
My best counsel was to tell him that what happened in the past is history.
He could change the course of the future with one simple action.
Register to vote.
Attorney General Eric Holder recently addressed a group of African-American clergy.
His message was concise and simple, ’60s voting-rights gains are at risk.
The attached article includes the primary points that he made, but the point that hit me the hardest was that an estimated 25% of African-Americans do not possess the proper documentation to meet ID requirements in some states.
That statistic is alarming. But the right to vote is more than a racial issue.
The vulnerable and ‘at risk’ include the elderly and those who live in urban environments and don’t have a driver’s license.
An article from the May, 2012 AARP Bulletin illustrates the gravity of the situation:
We are holding an election in spite of ourselves.
The League of Women Voters has shut down its voter registration efforts in Florida, and Souls to the Polls, a fleet of buses that has transported Floridians from churches to polling places since 2004, is grounded.
That is because 12 years after its hanging-chad fiasco, Florida has decided to tighten voter access and threaten, with stiff fines and possible jail, groups that help register voters.
This is how we preserve and promote the world’s greatest democracy??
If, like my co-worker, you are not registered to vote, do something about it.
Today.
Exercise Your Right to Vote.
If you aren’t clear how to, click this link.
It is that simple and that important.
75% of African-American Population Growth Occurred Below the Mason-Dixon Line…
Click here to read a very interesting and informative article on how African-Americans are reshaping cities and suburbs in the South.