Media Coverage: Black vs. White

As I prepare myself for work in the morning, I tune in to the Today show religiously. I find this particular news outlet to be one of the better non biased television shows. One particular subject that seems to bother me as I watch not only the Today Show, but any other news outlet, is the lack of publicity that "Minority" children receive when it comes to missing cases. Surely, not all kids that go missing are all white. I know this because more often than not I see the missing photos of African American and Hispanic children posted up on Walmart's wall, or in the weekly coupon pamphlet that get delivered in the mail. Do they think all "Minorities" do is shop at Walmart and clip coupons? Do they feel that we are not intelligent enough to watch major news programs? Do they feel that its a case of a child just running off? Or simply that "Minority" children are not important enough to be reported nationally as their white counter parts are? Whatever the case may be, it is not fair that when "Minority" children go missing they do not receive the same attention and focus that white children do. Can anyone name a time, past or present, that you have seen a black child on a national television station being reported as missing? I can only speak for myself and say that I haven't. And that's a damn shame! With so many major and national media channels out there this discrepancy shouldn't exist. Especially, when we the "Minority" have one of the most powerful woman in media, Oprah Winfrey, that has the means to get the word out. Well, I guess I can save the Oprah talk for another blog. However, to those who are reading, I hope you understand where I am coming from. I just wanted to shed some light on this. I believe ALL CHILDREN that go missing should have equal amount of coverage. Is there anything that can be done to ensure that "Minority" children receive the same amount of coverage that white families receive when it comes to their missing children?

P.O.V.E.R.T.Y.

Statistics show that Rochester, NY is ranked 11th in the nation for poverty. That is definitely not a good position to be in. Especially, when recently there was an article in Forbes Magazine describing Rochester as "New York's Home for Smart Business." As, there may be incentives for businesses to come to Rochester, there are other factors that are ruining our community, such as Poverty. I guess these businesses are looking at the suburban areas as what makes this city so appealing. What about the "city" residents? Do we not deserve to be ranked higher than 11th in the nation in poverty? Since these businesses find it lucrative to establish their companies here, maybe they should show incentives to actually help the community.
P.O.V.E.R.T.Y.-Poor. Oppressed.Violent. Expiring. Restless. Terrorist. Youth. I created this acronym because the words describe the mental and spiritual condition that the Rochester youth are in. We as a community witness everyday how devastating and impactful the senseless acts of violence affects our livelihood. A city, that at one point, and according to Forbes Magazine still does, had so much potential, continues to deteriorate. The question that I want to ask the community and businesses is, what will we do? Are we as African Americans afraid to stand-up for peace and justice within our own race? Our race, will get upset and go all out if another race speaks on us with unkindly words and actions, when our own race is killing off one another like its a modern day genocide! We do too much talking, "oh its a shame," "parents, need to do a better job," "father's need to be there," mother's need to be mother's," as all of those statements are true, its obvious that additional help, support, and guidance is needed. So what are we going to do to elevate poverty? One thing that we all must do is to look at ourselves and take inventory of our personal qualities. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Be honest with yourselves and lay out what those issues are and then take the appropriate actions to rectify them. After you have done this, then ask yourself, what can I do to assist someone else? If we all take on the responsibility of helping at least one person, I believe we will help create more positivity, awareness, and social responsibility.
The businesses also need to take a social and economic inventory of Rochester-the actual city-where they are bringing their business too. How successful do these businesses think they're going to be if poverty, which ultimately leads to violence is taking over the community? Yeah, these businesses may be in the suburbs or even perhaps in the city limits, but what these businesses fail to realize is if they don't step up to the plate to provide assistance, then they will be affected too.
With every one's assistance and responsibility P.O.V.E.R.T.Y. should be used as motivation so that the letters can represent Positivity, Overt. Victorious. Excellence. Relentlessness. Tenacious. Youth. Our Youth is our future, so please let everyone do something to help them excel into the future instead of going to jail and dieing at an early age.