Black Salvage

The Black Salvage is pleased to bring you more real talk from our regular music contributor L. A. Grant. They say talk is cheap so you can speak freely but, if it’s not for a reason, then what is it actually good for? The station that was meant to highlight things pertinent to blacks along with educating, uplifting, and motivating “our people” has lost its luster. There was a time when such shows as Teen Summit and B.E.T. News were a staple of our network. Now, you would be hard pressed to find anything resembling communication of thoughts that don’t include money, cars, or something of monetary value. The quality of programming has changed so drastically that I have noticed, in talking with educated people of color, most find it hard to even view Black Entertainment Television on a daily basis unless they are trying to see the latest videos. Movies like, “Cornbread and Earl”, will most likely never air on B.E.T. again even though the premise behind the situations and problems conveyed...

I would like to take this time to formally announce and introduce the third editor and contributor to the Black Salvage team, Ms. Catrina Sally. Here are some words from our newest addition: "I’m a Graduate English Student at Morgan State University. My concentration is screenwriting and I work as a paraeducator during the day. I love being Black, I love to write, and I hope my posts will exhibit these sentiments. Jerel and I have argued over the most mundane things, at least we have Black awareness in common!" As a long time commenter on the blog before making the move to join us, Catrina will continue using the pen name "Angry Sally", and likely for good reason. . . lol.

So... don't you hate when people who have absoulutely no relevance attack a relevant person to get their name in the news so that somehow, they might become relevant? I'll cut to the chase. Here are some comments presidential hopeful(yet again!?) Ralph Nader made: "There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American. . . whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead. What's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white? He doesn't want to appear like Jesse Jackson? We'll see all that play out in the next few months and if he gets elected afterwards." This is probably one of those things a lot of people are thinking, especially a lot of black people. Honestly, I think this comment and others come...

First and foremost, The Black Salvage is not turning into a celebrity gossip column so calm down! I just thought this would be something a lot of you'd take interest in. Below is a clip of some choice words old school rapper Ice T had for Soulja Boy . Ice T's words are at the beginning and Soulja's Boy's response follows. I'm sure that most of you who know me personally know that I despise Soulja Boy. I used to say, that his music was stupid- now I know that he too is stupid. . . sigh*. Now, I'm not in anyway justifying Ice T's "eat a dick" comment because that was entirely uncalled for, but everything else he said was entirely true, in my opinion. Now for part two. This vid is of Ice T's response to Soulja's Boy. Too funny. But personally, I'm glad someone of Ice T's stature did openly criticize Soulja Boy. I wouldn't say he's killing hip-hop but as far as lowering the standard- that can't be argued. By Prodigy-...

Just wanted to let everyone know about another documentary that's coming up in July. It's going to be on CNN and it's entitled, "Black In America" . It's a two part series that airs on the 23rd and 24th. Watch the trailer; it looks pretty good. Another reason why you should watch this is because its CNN, which is basically the only news network on cable that's not biased against blacks or Democrats, lol. YES, FOX AND MSNBC, I'M TALKING TO YOU!! I'll keep you posted. By the way, the documentary on Douglass High comes on tonight at 9 on HBO. Don't bother me during those two hours! - Prodigy Maestro (You do not have to be a member of Blogger to comment. Choose 'other' or 'anonymous' when your identification is asked for.)

What I’m about to bring to your attention, if you already haven’t seen or heard it, is probably one of the best rap/hip-hop songs that’s come out in awhile, from one of the best rappers, in my opinion. The below video is of Nas’ “Be A Nigger Too”, from his still untitled album that drops next month. When I first saw the video I was speechless. It was a shock to my system- all I’ve heard the last several weeks was the ignorant stuff, most notably Lil’ Wayne . But this “Be A Nigger Too”- it took one of the most offensive words in our society and laced with one of the most important messages in rap music that I’ve seen in awhile. He essentially made the ‘n’ word positive. It’s almost like he made it a learning tool. The Black Salvage caught up with Prince George ’s County, Maryland area rapper Jay Luminarty for his thoughts on the video. Luminarty, who attested that he has to deal with the words nigger and nigga on a daily basis said that calling the video controversi...

Just letting you all know that Monday night, HBO will be airing a documentary on Baltimore's Frederick Douglass High School. A professor and good friend of mine, Donyel Hill, was involved in the project. Here's a little of what he had to say about the film: "Alan and Susan Raymond spent one year filming in Frederick Douglass High School, which has a rich history of successful alumni, including Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Shot in classic cinema verité style, the film captures the complex realities of life at Douglass, and provides a context for the national debate over the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, focusing on the brutal inequalities of American minority education, considered an American tragedy by many. . ." "Douglass principal Isabelle Grant oversees a staff of teachers that is two-thirds non-certified, while many are substitutes unqualified to teach their subject areas. Threatened with sanctions, or even closing, unless student scor...