New Orleans' mayor Nagin has found the perfect excuse for foot-in-mouth disease. (Not cure, but excuse.)

Generally speaking, it's become very difficult to know exactly where New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is coming from. We guess it all depends on what constituency he's speaking to at the time. Witness his recent "Chocolate City" gaffe. On the other hand does that doesn't make him different from any other politician, does it?

Maybe "Ray Ray" should just "shut it down" as Goddess, one of EURweb's feedbackers wrote, Friday: "He has what I would call 'Post Katrina disorder' which is caused by a complete mental and emotional breakdown that comes from severe disaster and trauma."

Well, lo and behold, just like that "Ray Ray" has an excuse. Do you think he reads the EUR/Electronic Urban Report? We only ask because Saturday, he presented as his excuse for making the infamous "Chocolate City" statement and others, just such a premise.

Read it for yourself HERE.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Jesse, King and The Business of Black Leadership

Commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson writes that Jesse Jackson is peeved that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s chronicler, Taylor Branch, revealed that King regarded him as an egoist, and opportunist.

Branch made the charge in "At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968." He claimed that after a stormy meeting in Memphis shortly before his assassination, Dr. King shouted at Jackson that he wanted to carve out his own niche in society, and was only interested in doing his own thing.

Hutchinson says Jackson has a right to be incensed at Branch. The revelation comes decades after King's death and Jackson did not have a chance to refute the accusation. But, Jackson's ire, and the propriety of the charge aside, the flap points up the glaring contrast in objectives, style and even personal motives between King, Jackson and other mainstream black leaders then and now. King's style of leadership was egalitarian, hands-on, and in the trenches, and he always kept a careful eye on the needs of needs of poor and working class blacks. He was a selfless leader who never made a nickel from his civil rights activism. He would be appalled at the cash, glitter, and bling fetish of prominent blacks. He would have been aghast at the money squabble within his own family over the King Center's fate.

Read the FULL report HERE.

Jesse Jackson says claims that he and Martin Luther King fell out are overblown.

There's been a long held belief that Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King, Jr. had issues with each other back in the day. It's a claim that's been brought up in a new book on MLK.

On Monday, Rev Jackson spoke out about what some believe was a bitter split between he and Dr. King. Speaking to reporters after a breakfast held by his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition to commemorate King's birthday, Jackson denied that King accused him of trying to use the movement to promote himself. That claim was made in historian Taylor Branch's book "At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68," which was released last week.

Asked about the passage in question, Jackson said King and his colleagues argued frequently about strategy but always came to a consensus afterward.

"We often had challenging meetings," he said. "And that was what we did. But in the end we left there together."

Read the FULL story HERE.

Cynthia Tucker points out why the Thug Culture is dangerous to Black America

Cynthia Tucker, the editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has written a stinging piece that points how the so-called Thug Culture is dangerous to Black America.

She writes that BET, plans to air a new unscripted show celebrating Kimberly Jones -- aka Lil' Kim -- for her crimes. Promotional ads for the show, "Countdown to Lockdown," declare that Jones entered prison with her "mouth shut, head held high, as she refuses to snitch."

Well Ms. Tucker is not impressed. In fact, it's a bright red flag as far as she's concerned.

"Is this why the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made the ultimate sacrifice? Is this why Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat? Did countless civil rights veterans put everything on the line so that, someday, a handful of black men and women could make a fortune encouraging young blacks to lawlessness?"

Read the full story HERE.

Black Leaders ... you're fired! (effective MLK Day 2006)

Political and social commentator Minister Paul Scott is putting "Black Leaders" on blast:


It's not that we don't appreciate your hard work and dedication in fighting for our civil rights and everything. We know your bio, which you always share with us anytime we ask you what have you done for us, lately. We know about the marches, the demonstrations, the police dogs and the jail stays. But that history is lost on this generation. They are desensitized to the "going to jail thang." My cousin Clyde, the Klepto can do a 10 year bid standing on one hand. As far as the police dogs, Lil Tyrone has to deal with stray pitbulls everyday coming home from school. So the tales from the past just don't move Black folks like they used to.

Accounting is concerned about the expense account that you've been runnin' up. They say that you have been abusing the company's Bank of Harlem Black Card. Is it really necessary to wear $2000 Brooks Brothers suits and $1500 Itallian leather shoes, everyday while the people you work for get their clothes from Wal Mart and Pick and Pay? (Work rule # 4081, never out dress the boss.) And how about the first class airline tickets and the 5 star hotels? Also, the board of directors thinks that the $5000 honorarium that you charge historically Black colleges for 45 minutes of your wisdom is a little excessive. Especially when you are going to ask the strugglin' college kids to break you off $28.99 for your latest hardback after the lecture?

Read more of what he has to say, HERE.

King's Vietnam criticism rings true for Iraq

In his column at EURweb.com, Cameron Turner draws parrallels between Dr. King's views on Vietnam and Iraq.

It's ironic that President George W. Bush chose the week before Martin Luther King Day to denounce Americans who oppose his policy in Iraq. (In his speech on Tuesday, January 10, Mr. Bush more than implied that those critics are disloyal, irresponsible and aiding the enemy.) Martin Luther King, Jr. was an outspoken critic of the war in Vietnam and his eloquent challenge to U.S. policy then is startlingly relevant today.

Dr. King denounced the Vietnam War as an unjust, cruel and futile campaign which ravaged the Vietnamese people in their homeland and robbed the poor here in the U.S. He articulated the war's impact on low income Americans when he stated:

"A few years ago.it seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor - both black and white - through the Poverty Program.. Then came the build-up in Vietnam and I watched this program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idol, political plaything of a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube."

Read the full story HERE.

Coretta Scott King makes surprise visit to King celebration in Atlanta

About 1,500 King Center supporters joined the family of Martin Luther King Jr. Saturday night in celebrating the slain civil rights leader's life and legacy during the annual Salute to Greatness dinner at the Hyatt Regency.

His widow, Coretta Scott King, who suffered a stroke and heart attack last August, made a surprise appearance late in the evening, joining two of her children, Dexter and Yolanda King, who served as emcee for the evening.

The event was one of several held around metro Atlanta Saturday in honor of King's birthday. The 20th annual federal holiday set aside to honor King's life and work is Monday, January 17.

King's four children are currently split over whether to sell the facility to the federal government. The building needs more than $11 million in repairs. The absence of Martin Luther King III and Bernice King — neither of whom believe the building should be sold — from Saturday night's festivities signal just how deep the division runs.

Read the full story HERE.

After years of mismanagement, it appears the King Center is being taken over by the Federal Government

As we celebrate the 2006 King Holiday, changes are afoot in Atlanta at the venerable King Center. A recent article reports that the Center, under the leadership of King's nephew, Isaac N. Farris, is being sold to the federal government via the National Park Service.

If the sale moves forward, it's against the backdrop of disagreement among the King siblings.

The King Center's board of directors voted to let the federal government to take over the property and general maintenance and upkeep of the 449 Auburn Avenue location, to take effect early next year, after revelations were discovered last year of ongoing financial struggles endured to sustain the 30-year-old edifice with regular city and state code regulations.

''We've been talking about it for a long time,'' indicated former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, a King Center director who labored with Dr. King during the 1960s civil rights movement. ''

Read the full story here.