The Cafe' [Think Tank]

Public Enemy  is an American  hip hop  group consisting of  Chuck D ,  Flavor Flav ,  Professor Griff ,   Khari Wynn , DJ Lord, and the S1W group. Formed on  Long Island , New York in 1982, they are known for their politically charged music and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the  African American  community. They remain one of the most critically acclaimed bands in history. Their first four albums during the late 1980s and early 1990s were all certified either  gold or platinum  and were, according to music critic  Robert Hilburn  in 1998, "the most acclaimed body of work ever by a hip hop act". In 2004,  Rolling Stone  magazine ranked Public Enemy number 44 on its list of the Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, the highest ranking for a hip hop act. The group was inducted into the  Long Island Music Hall of Fame ...

Each of these pioneers achieved a first for African-Americans American history resonates with the names of great African-American men and women. The smallest school child to the oldest adult can rattle off the names of well-known figures like Harriet Tubman , Booker T. Washington , Rosa Parks , or Malcolm X . But what of the lesser-known men and women who have contributed significantly to black history in America, the individuals who have achieved greatness but have rarely been recognized? Today Bio remembers five men and women who may not be household names, but who made their mark on history – in many cases as the first black Americans to succeed in their chosen fields. Mary Ellen Pleasant: Entrepreneur and Activist Mary Ellen Pleasant (Photo: Wikipedia ) Mary Ellen Pleasant’s exact origins are fuzzy. She may have begun her life as a slave in 1810s Georgia, but it’s equally possible that she was born free i...

  ​Nearly two decades after a US reporter was humiliated for connecting the CIA to a drug-trafficking trade that funded the Nicaraguan Contras, important players in the scandal – which led to the journalist’s suicide – are coming forward to back his claims.     Tags Movies , Scandal , Drugs , Mass media , History , USA , CIA   Back in 1996, Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News broke a story stating not only that the Nicaraguan Contras – supported by the United States in a rebellion against their left-leaning government – were involved in the US crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, but also that the CIA knew and turned a blind eye to the operation. As a result, Webb concluded, the CIA was complicit in a drug trade that was wreaking havoc on African American communities in Los Angeles. The bombshell report sparked outrage acro...

A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him. The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes   Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead. Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia. Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia’s cold weather could be the reason. But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called “tukdam”. “If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha,” Dr Kerzin said. The monk was discovered after being stolen by a man hoping to sell him on the black market. Mongolian police have arrested the culprit and the monk is now being guarded at the ...

Since the new series about O.J. Simpson’s murder trial has emerged, a LOT of previously unknown information has emerged- the details within this story being some of that info. A private investigator, by the name of William C. Dear, spent several years closely and vigorously investigating the events surrounding the murders of O.J.’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Author, William C. Dear has written a book called, O’J. Is Guilty But Not Of Murder, about the very interesting details he’s found out that were never publicized in the media. O.J. Is Guilty But Not Of Murder, Available On Amazon Dear has provided findings to back his claims that it was NOT O.J. who committed the murders, but it was his SON, Jason Simpson, who did. Jason was in his early 20’s at the time of the murders and and here is what was reported about the details listed in Dear’s book from his investigation: Via VillageVoice.com: [O.J.] hired a prominent criminal defense attorne...

by: Terry Spencer Associated Press (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) Feb 3, 2016   Dontrell Stephens arrives at the Federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, for the start of his civil trial. Stephens is suing Palm Beach County deputy Adams Lin and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, alleging his civil rights were violated. He is seeking in excess of $5 million to cover his medical treatment and future care. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A federal jury awarded $23.1 million on Wednesday to a 22-year-old Black man who was unarmed when he was shot and paralyzed by a sheriff’s deputy, but Florida lawmakers will have to approve any award above $200,000. The six-woman, two-man jury ruled after 3½ hours of deliberation that Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Sgt. Adams Lin violated Dontrell Stephens’ civil rights when he shot him in September 2013. Lin, who had ...

New America Media , Commentary,  Earl Ofari Hutchinson ,  Posted:  Feb 22, 2011 Thanks to a CNN documentary airing this week, the tale of FBI informant Ernest Withers is now well known. The black photographer spent years busily documenting the civil rights movement and capturing candid images of its leaders, most notably Martin Luther King, Jr.  Whether through flattery or the naiveté of his subjects, Withers and his camera were able to get close— very close— to the movement’s inner circles. He got so close that King and others trusted him to record their most intimate moments—ones that Withers would dutifully report back to his FBI handlers. Withers’s case was not exceptional. At that time, the woods were full informants, both men and women. Their existence was possible not only because of a corrupt, paranoid FBI that was intent on making life hell for civil rights leaders and others during the turbulent 1960s, but because they had the tacit blessing of th...