by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Dr. Dre is one of the most successful entertainers in history, earning hundreds of millions of dollars by making great music.  Much of this music moves because he has been able to successfully package urban/black culture, selling it to audiences around the world.  One of the questions some have about those who readily use their blackness for profit is the following:  What are you giving back to those who gave you so much?

It’s hard to know exactly what Dr. Dre is doing for the black community, but we all know where he made his greatest gift.  Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Lovine recently announced a whopping $70 million dollar donation to USC to create a new degree.   The program is one that pulls together liberal arts, graphic arts, business, music and technology.  Dr. Dre’s donation is the largest ever given by any African American in history, and oddly enough, the money is going into the hands of rich white people.

As I prepared to give the commencement address at Simmons College, a growing HBCU in Kentucky with a very rich history, I heard a story about a group of ex-slaves who pooled their money to buy four acres of land so they could educate future generations.  Without sacrifices like these, the school would not be giving so much to the community today.  The school’s extraordinary president, Dr. Kevin Cosby, has not taken a paycheck for his work for the last eight years and readily speaks of how the school is located in one of the poorest districts in America.  He sees his contribution as a chance to lift up the community around him, rather than simply milk the community’s resources.

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"In a gripping testimonial, an ailing former member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has talked via video for the first time publicly about his experience dealing with extraterrestrials, their craft and a cover-up. The 15 minute prerecorded video of an anonymous former senior CIA officer was broadcast May 3 on the final day of the week long Citizen Hearing on Disclosure. The 77-year-old man, though he was

articulate, and sitting up as he spoke, was obviously in a poor state of health. He worked for the CIA under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958 and had chosen to break his long-held silence as he approached the end of his life." - riaalterego