November might have marked the eleventh consecutive month of private sector job growth, but that was cold comfort to America's unemployed masses. The economy only gained a net amount of 39,000 jobs last month, about 110,000 short of the 150,000 expected after a gain in October. This is even more sobering news for the 15.1 million Americans who are now or have already been unemployed as the unemployment rate swelled to 9.8 percent nationally after three months at 9.6 percent.
Don't live in a fantasy world. If you are a cashier at your local drugstore, don't apply for an executive position at a Fortune 500 company. Being realistic means that you only apply for positions that dovetail with your qualifications. Otherwise you will spend more time online applying for jobs rather than a real time chance through interviews.
Athletes Who Left Their Teams
By now, you've heard that LeBron James has left the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat. He leaves a disheveled franchise, a pissed-off owner and, most importantly, thousands of heartbroken Cleveland fans.
He's not the first athlete to leave an entire city in mourning, though. To prove it, we scrounged up a list of athletes who left their teams and left a trail of tears behind. Grab a box of Kleenex -- this isn't going to be pretty.
The Player: Wayne Gretzky
The Transaction: Traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988
The Reaction: Gretzky was already a king in Edmonton. So when the owner of the team faced financial troubles and traded him to the L.A. Kings for a slew of draft picks and a pile of money, hearts all over the city broke. People even called for the Canadian government to get involved and block the trade. To this day, it's still referred to as the biggest trade in the history of sport.
The Player: Brett Favre
The Transaction: Traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets in 2008
The Reaction: Stop us if you've heard this one: Brett Favre retired and then came back and...Okay, okay, so it's a little hard to keep track of all the times he's done it. But this trade happened after his first retirement. He wanted to rejoin the Packers but the team had moved on. So they agreed to trade him to the Jets instead, leaving many of the franchise's fans in shambles.
The Player: Allen Iverson
The Transaction: Traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Denver Nuggets in 2006
The Reaction: A.I. was the heart and soul of the Sixers' franchise for a decade, epitomizing the toughness and resilience of a city full of sports fans that haven't had much luck when it comes to sports. So imagine what it must have felt like when Iverson ripped their hearts out and asked to be traded out of there. He's since returned-but it just isn't the same as it was, is it, Allen?
The Player: Reggie White
The Transaction: Signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers in 1993 after seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles
The Reaction: Allen Iverson wasn't the first franchise player to opt out of playing in the City of Brotherly Love. Eagles fans had their franchise player stolen away when Reggie White became one of the first players in the history of the NFL to use free agency to get the hell out of town when he accepted a lucrative deal with the Packers over resigning with the Eagles. Cold move, man.
The Player:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The Transaction:Traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975
The Reaction:Before LeBron and Shaq, there was Kareem. After dominating for a number of years in Milwaukee, Kareem asked to be traded to a major market where he could find something fun to do further his career. The small market team agreed-and then promptly turned into one of the least desirable places to play in the NBA. Um, see what you have to look forward to Cleveland?!
The Player: Deion Sanders
The Transaction: Signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994 after five season with the Atlanta Falcons
The Reaction: "Prime Time" was something a cult hero in the ATL. He played baseball for the Braves, shut down wide receivers for the Falcons and even helped a young producer named Dallas Austin get his music career started! (um, not really...) So Atlanta fans were obviously upset when Deoin took his services elsewhere following the 1993 season. *shrug* Must have been the money?
The Player: Johnny Damon
The Transaction: Signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees in 2005 after four seasons with the Boston Red Sox
The Reaction: Picture your best friend walking up to you the day after your birthday and slugging you in the face. Now you know how Red Sox fans felt after Damon helped the Sox win the 2004 World Series and then signed with their nemesis in 2005. How'd that knife to the back feel, Sox Nation?
The Player: Wade Boggs
The Transaction: Signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees in 1993 after ten seasons with the Boston Red Sox
The Reaction: Before Johnny Damon, there was Wade Boggs. A lifelong Red Sox player, Boggs left the team in 1992 to take a contract from the Yankees. And to make matters worse, he was infamously photographed on the back of a police horse after the Yanks won the 1996 World Series. No, seriously, Sox fans: How. Does. That. Knife. Feel?
The Player: Carlos Boozer
The Transaction: Signed a free agent contract with the Utah Jazz in 2004 after three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Reaction: The funny thing about the whole LeBron ordeal? It might have never went down the way it did if Carlos Boozer had resigned with the Cavaliers in 2004. Instead, in one of the most controversial free agency moves in the history of the NBA, Boozer signed with the Jazz after the Cavs had let him out of the last year of his contract in order to sign him to a long-term deal. Oops!
Unfortunately, this is even worse news for African Americans. The unemployment rate for blacks shot up to 16.1 percent in November (up from 15.7 percent in October), with the percentage for black men at a dismal 16.7 percent and black women not faring too much better at 13.1 percent.
Read the rest on Young Black Professional Guide


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By: Brady on 12/16/2010 6:20PM
Dec 2009 National Urban Radio Interview with President Obama
"The only thing I cannot do is, by law, I cannot pass laws that say 'I'm just helping black folks.' I'm the president of the entire United States," Obama said. "What I can do is make sure that I am passing laws that help all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most in need," he said. "That in turn is going to help lift up the African-American community."
How is that working out?
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By: ADRIAN HARRIS OF SOUTH GEORGIA 1986 GRADUATE OF GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY on 12/18/2010 4:24AM
HAIL!!!! MASCULINE SALUTATION FATHER!!!! HAIL SEPIA TOUGH PEOPLE OF THE RAINBOW MELANIC SPECTRUM!!!! MY GUT TELLS ME THINGS IN SITUATIONS LIKE THESE CONCERNING OUR PRESIDENT AND HERE I GO : 1) HE ISOLATED AND WE CAN'T GET THROUGH TO HIM. HE ASSUMING THAT THE NAACP AND OTHER AGENCIES HAVE A PLAN OR WILL COME UP WITH ONE AND IMPLIMENT IT. 2) HE KNOWS AND IS READY, BUT THE REST OF THE SET IS NOT IN PLACE YET FOR HIM TO SPRANG INTO OUR SAVE. THEY, YOU KNOW WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT, ARE GUMMING HIM UP AND ITS FRUSTRATING TO HIM ALSO. 3) HE STILL TRYING TO GET THE MONEY FOR US. HE AREADY KNEW WE NEEDED IT. HE HAD NOT ONE DIME IN THAT OFFICE WHEN HE ASSUMED IT FROM PRESIDENT BUSH AND IF THEIR IS STILL REALLY ANY MONEY IN THE OFFICE OR THE GOVERNMENT HE GENERATED ALL OF IT. NOW HE'S TRYING TO DO US. PATIENCE IS THE CALL HERE AND PRAYER. MY HEAD'S EMPTY NOW, SO I'LL REST AND THINK LATER. BYE Y'ALL
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