Where I think that we must begin is by acknowledging the fact that there has always been and will always be interethnic violence. One only need look at Africa to see that we fight each other, sometimes for reasons that make absolutely no sense to an outside observer. That being said, we must also realize that economics drive violence. This is because economics drive the underlying roots of violence, be it alcoholism, drug use, joblessness, despair and hopelessness. If we don’t think that violence is rooted in economics, look at more prosperous neighborhoods. When you have a job, you usually don’t drink or use drugs to excess. You don’t have time for it. When you have a job, you usually don’t have time to be in the streets 24/7. When you have money in your pocket that you earned, you usually don’t spend it on frivolous pursuits. Of course there are those that defy this description, both white and black, but the stats indicate that most people arrested for crimes that can be described as “black on black,” are unemployed.
We must also not look at our situation as somehow different than other ethnic groups. Most Caucasians are killed by Caucasians, Asians by Asians, Hispanics by Hispanics, Pacific Islanders by PI’s, etc. Ours is the most dramatic due to the fact that the media has a narrative about us that it needs to support so the murder in the hood is covered more extensively than the murder in the burbs. Yeah, we kill each other, but so does everyone else. Ours is more important to us because it is us.
But as I always say, we pundits, commentators, bloggers and two-centers are exceedingly good at describing the problem or symptoms of the problem but we SUUUUUCCCCKKKK at putting forth solutions. That being said, these are mine.
1. Forget our mindless rush to be accepted by the dominant culture. If the last 4 to 6 hundred years have not taught you anything, it should have shown you that you will never be accepted. We have to begin to accept each other in all our flaws. From the talented tenth to the sagging brother on the corner, we must believe that we are all in the same boat. That means instead of disparaging the so-called “sell-out brother” or castigating the so-called “thug,” we must understand that in the eyes of the dominant culture, they are the same. Look at how many of our successful people have gotten their “nigger wake up call” in the last few months/years. When we stop being scared of going to the hood, we will find out that not too long ago, we were in the hood.
2. We must also start adopting schools. I live in the burbs, not because I enjoy being around white people rather than my people (I have yet to go to or even be invited to the clichéd barbeque or superbowl party with my white neighbors and I’m not trippin), but instead because my genius ass kid can go to a school that caters to his smart ass in ways that the inner-city can’t. It sounds hypocritical because my kid goes to school out here but if ALL of us were to descend on the schools en mass, we could then influence the quality of what our children are taught. The one thing that I do respect about the citizens out here is that they are invested in their children’s schools. You can tell the difference between the exemplary schools and the academically acceptable schools. In the better schools the parents are in the schools everyday, EVERYDAY. Not the same parents but different ones. Some with jobs, many stay at home moms. The fathers all contribute time and skills to make all the pageants, plays, carnivals and get-togethers possible. (Oh and yes there are many, many white single moms out here too, so let’s leave out the deadbeat dad issue, we’ll deal with that at a later date) You’d be surprised at how having parents in the school cuts down on a lot of the petty conflicts that children get into. It also serves as a check on the gang activity, kinda hard to recruit a kid for the GD’s if his mom is with him, she’ll usually veto that membership offer.
3. We have to start investing in our neighborhoods. We have well over a trillion dollars in buying power spread out amongst us, however, we choose to donate those funds to businesses owned by those that don’t look like us. For example, in almost every major city in the U.S. you have Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Havana, Greektown, virtually every major ethnic group has a defined area that services their needs, up to and including Indians (from India), Pakistanis, Jews, etc. Where is our defined area? The Hood? The projects? Where are our mini-marts, our bodegas, our bowling alleys, our clothing stores? Is it because we don’t have the expertise to operate these types of businesses. No its because of our destructive mentality that “his” ice is colder. Their products are cheaper and of better value. Its because we believe that all we have to offer is entertainment. We can ball, we can rhyme but heaven forbid we decide that finding a cure for breast cancer (which kills more of our women than any other group) is worth going to school to learn to do. We begin our children’s lives, especially males, with a ball in their crib with hopes that he will be the next Jordan or the next Vick. What about the next George Washington Carver, the next Elijah McCoy, or Madame C.J. Walker? Their impact on this world will be felt long after Michael Jordan becomes Chuck Cooper. (Who???? The first Black NBA player for those who don’t read) So it’s the usual refrain, spend money with those who look like you. Employ those who look like you. Its not wrong, at least its no more wrong than what American businesses have been doing for decades. Which is essence the same thing. They’ll be those that will scream that its not that simple, why isn’t it that simple. We’ve entirely missed the boat on this new thing called crowdsourcing. There are numerous websites that allow someone with a good idea to ask the general public for funding. There is also microlending wherein those in a particular community provide small loans for those seeking to establish businesses in a general area. We need to take advantage of those tools.
4. Educated, influential black men need to educate our young black men that the dope game is over, its done, its prison waiting to happen. Just like we have billboards all over the hood advertising malt liquor and cigarettes or pastor chicken wing’s Sunday church service, we need to construct the largest, brightest, high-definition sound playing billboards we can build that sets out in plain language just how much time these dummies will get if they continue to do the dumb shit they do. Unfortunately, they don’t find that out until they get to jail, kinda like barring the door after you’ve been burglarized. Don’t believe the notion that they don’t read or can’t comprehend. Before the police get them, go down there and tell them what the deal is. Black lawyers need to hold open houses at community centers, in parks, on corners and explain how the massive incarceration of black men and women is the NEW slavery. (Read the 13th Amendment kids)
5. Lastly we need to start suing media companies for the damaging messages that are continuously broadcast in our communities. Yes, we will destroy the income of many an aspiring rapper but so what? They spending their money in Caucasian businesses anyway, jewelers, car dealerships, clothing stores, etc. I used to be of the mind that it was “just entertainment.” As I’ve grown older, I’ve witnessed the damage that these negative images put forth by those who look like us have on our communities. If you tell a developing brain day after day that they need to “move weight” to be successful, that anyone that’s not from your crew is a “hater” or an “enemy” that needs to be dealt with extreme prejudice that’s what they will grow to believe. They’ll find that its harder and harder to separate fantasy from reality. Every time some child gets killed as the result of a Facebook post, sue Facebook. We may never win a single case but we can put enough pressure on media entities that they’ll begin to change their practices.
My ideas may not seem very plausible. Who knows, they may be a total failure but at least it’s a start. At least I’m not wasting your time telling you things you already know. I’m not describing a community that you have no experience with. Again, we need to stop outlining the problem and think about, no matter how farfetched, solutions. Like the old adage, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem
Monday, November 4, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Trayvon Martin The Aftermath Part Two: The Blackout
Blackout
As I’m quite sure many of us have done over the last few days, I have sat down and thought about what I think would be an adequate response to the TM verdict handed down in Florida. I won’t go into a long description about what happened, as unless you’ve been in a coma or otherwise off planet we all have heard from multiple sources who did what and how. The only unifying theme is still no one knows exactly what happened, and that’s not an issue. We believe we’ve been wronged and that’s enough.
We as Africans in this country have volumes of evidence that support that belief but that is not the thrust of this article. I am not here to describe what anyone with a third grade capacity to read can go to the library and research. I’m here to talk about what we do next if we are really dissatisfied with how we are treated in this country. I hope my readers will excuse me but I have a thing for preambles. I’m a big believer in the setup.
Our problem with a noteworthy response is two-fold. One, the response must be big enough to make our intended audience take note and two it must not in any way lead to us harming others or being harmed by others in ignorance/fear.
Let me first explain what won’t work. Pictures, however artfully done, won’t solve the problem. Facebook posts with Jesus’ (Jesus’s?) arm around TM are useless as they migrate slowly off the page, replaced by pics in Ghetto or Ghetto Fabulous or Vine or some other momentary pastime. Long, passionate blog posts, articles or YouTube rants, (with the exception of mine of course) aren’t effective as the only ones of us with a readership/viewership large enough are long on descriptions of the problem and short on solutions.
The true problem with forming and executing an effective, meaningful response is our respective level of dissatisfaction. I’ll admit I heard this from a late brother of mine Mahdi Nu’man who described us as Africans in America in a khutbah at Jum’mah services some years ago. See my friends/loved ones/haters as well, any response to what Africans in America now claim to be the latest “last straw” or the “I’m fed up and I ain’t gon take it no mo” moment in our history in the country is largely dependent on to what degree one participates. (Damn, I guess I’m the king of the run on sentence as well) There are some of us who are 10 percent dissatisfied and there are those of us who are 100 percent dissatisfied. The biggest difference between now and the civil rights era was that back then, they were 100% dissatisfied. Things couldn’t get any worse than they already were without going back to slavery. We have made great strides since then and now there are many of us who have something to lose. We identify/sympathize/empathize with what happens to us around the country but only to a point. Not to the point where we will jeopardize what we have worked for to get where we are.
Before you begin the requisite howling, raising of pitchforks and lighting of torches, let me explain that I’m not in the hood envious of those who are more fortunate than I. I live in a upscale gated community in a suburb north of Dallas. I don’t live here because I’m scared of or any way ashamed of my people. I’m here because they have the best schools in the area. Unfortunately, where we are forced to live for economic reasons, for the most part, have horrible school systems. (I’ll talk about tax based school systems in another article) But I digress. I have African friends who are PhDs, and who possess MBAs. I myself am simply lazy, I am maybe two or three classes away from my MA, having already graduated with a BS. I also have close friends that are a bit less . . . what’s the word, uhhh, safe. I have close friends that I wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley with. (Their lower self may get the better or them) I love them both as they are both reflections of the same person. The point is that my more erudite, accomplished friends may not be 100% dissatisfied with what it may take for this culture to respect us. My niggas from the hood though, down for whatever.
THE FINAL SOLUTION
Believe it or not, my plan won’t take much beyond a bit of sacrifice; it will though take us ALL, each and every last one of us. My plan will involve everyone from our illustrious President to that brother doing life, or its equivalent, in all of the jails and prisons in America. Whether you are a teacher, a judge, a policeman, criminal, inmate, or a fireman, I’m talking about you. Whether you host a nationally televised talk show, a weblog, or stand on a box in the middle of a vacant lot like Lawrence Fishburne in Boyz N Da Hood. My plan doesn’t involve boycotting any business as that has shown to be somewhat limited in scope. I read a rumor that the Koch brothers financed GZ’s defense so we should boycott Charmin or Bounty or something. Any plan must be bigger than that due to the fact that many of us (most) use the store brand of paper products anyway. I don’t want us to march on the statehouse in any state or city hall in any city; we’ve been marching so long our feet should fall off. We are not going to esign a petition to any lawmaker or write a letter to our congressman. All of these solutions have been tried and they have all failed.
What we need to do is indicate to the rest of this country just how important we are to its EVERYDAY function. We need for those who claim that we need to quit whining about slavery, and making everything a race issue to see just how integral we are to EVERYTHING that goes on in this country. We need a national BLACKOUT. We need every last one of us to take a week off from work beginning say . . . Trayvon Martin’s birthday. Whatever your industry is, get sick for a week. For those of us with job security, just don’t show up. For those of us with bills to pay and need our little bitty job (most), call in sick with MERS or EBOLA or West Nile Fever. Now when I say BLACKOUT, that’s what I mean. I mean everyone. No nurses, no doctors. No air traffic controllers (are any of them African?). No entertainers. No athletes. No home health aides. No pharmacists, no drug dealers. Whatever you are, whatever you do. If you own a business, close for a week. No haircuts, no tease and flips. No soul food. (It’s fattening anyway) We don’t need leaders either, so the good Revs can stay home and take the week off too. We don’t even need your job to be done. Hopefully President Obama will come home to the Chi and spend some time in the hood where he’s from. (Hmmm, though under my plan his African Secret Service agents will be home too, well we’ll work on that one)
Now that’s part one. Part two is while you’re off for that week; rediscover your family, your community. Talk to your neighbors; make amends with that guy from down the street that you argued with at the last HOA meeting. Talk about how to make our communities safe without arming everyone to the teeth. Talk with those gangbangers who everyone is afraid to make eye contact with. No spending of our dollars. I mean none. No gas station visits. Stay home or walk, we need to walk more. No Wal-Mart, no Target, Dollar General/City/Family, nothing. Keep your money in your pocket. Drop your cable or satellite plan down to local channels for a week. Change your cell phone plan down to the basic plan for one week. Turn your lights off, go by candlelight if possible. Oh, and no church, no tithing, no mosques, no zakat. If the powers that be see we’re not even going to church they’ll know we’re doubly serious. This society needs to see that this country cannot function without us. We are more than just a subset of society that can be overlooked whenever something happens that we don’t agree with. My plan will cost this economy billions in lost revenue, lost profits and lost productivity. That is exactly my goal. The only thing that America respects is that which has the capacity to cost it money.
Of course they’ll be those of other ethnicities that are married to us, have children by us or share children with us. We are not exclusive, if you want to join, be our guest. Just know that this is not about you, it’s about US. No disrespect, love you to death, appreciate your support but this is a black thang. It’s okay for us to have a thang too. Like St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo.
Of course they’ll be those of US who disagree with everything I’ve said and that’s fine as well. Of course, there will be pain. There will be those who lose their jobs, but look at it as the impetus for us to build businesses. Put yourself in the shoes of the employer who fired someone for participating in the blackout. They can't fire us all. Who will want to face the backlash of losing all of the black dollars we spend with their company. We’ll see who is 100% dissatisfied and to whom our treatment is a problem but “just not that deep.”
(Next Post: Going back down south)
As I’m quite sure many of us have done over the last few days, I have sat down and thought about what I think would be an adequate response to the TM verdict handed down in Florida. I won’t go into a long description about what happened, as unless you’ve been in a coma or otherwise off planet we all have heard from multiple sources who did what and how. The only unifying theme is still no one knows exactly what happened, and that’s not an issue. We believe we’ve been wronged and that’s enough.
We as Africans in this country have volumes of evidence that support that belief but that is not the thrust of this article. I am not here to describe what anyone with a third grade capacity to read can go to the library and research. I’m here to talk about what we do next if we are really dissatisfied with how we are treated in this country. I hope my readers will excuse me but I have a thing for preambles. I’m a big believer in the setup.
Our problem with a noteworthy response is two-fold. One, the response must be big enough to make our intended audience take note and two it must not in any way lead to us harming others or being harmed by others in ignorance/fear.
Let me first explain what won’t work. Pictures, however artfully done, won’t solve the problem. Facebook posts with Jesus’ (Jesus’s?) arm around TM are useless as they migrate slowly off the page, replaced by pics in Ghetto or Ghetto Fabulous or Vine or some other momentary pastime. Long, passionate blog posts, articles or YouTube rants, (with the exception of mine of course) aren’t effective as the only ones of us with a readership/viewership large enough are long on descriptions of the problem and short on solutions.
The true problem with forming and executing an effective, meaningful response is our respective level of dissatisfaction. I’ll admit I heard this from a late brother of mine Mahdi Nu’man who described us as Africans in America in a khutbah at Jum’mah services some years ago. See my friends/loved ones/haters as well, any response to what Africans in America now claim to be the latest “last straw” or the “I’m fed up and I ain’t gon take it no mo” moment in our history in the country is largely dependent on to what degree one participates. (Damn, I guess I’m the king of the run on sentence as well) There are some of us who are 10 percent dissatisfied and there are those of us who are 100 percent dissatisfied. The biggest difference between now and the civil rights era was that back then, they were 100% dissatisfied. Things couldn’t get any worse than they already were without going back to slavery. We have made great strides since then and now there are many of us who have something to lose. We identify/sympathize/empathize with what happens to us around the country but only to a point. Not to the point where we will jeopardize what we have worked for to get where we are.
Before you begin the requisite howling, raising of pitchforks and lighting of torches, let me explain that I’m not in the hood envious of those who are more fortunate than I. I live in a upscale gated community in a suburb north of Dallas. I don’t live here because I’m scared of or any way ashamed of my people. I’m here because they have the best schools in the area. Unfortunately, where we are forced to live for economic reasons, for the most part, have horrible school systems. (I’ll talk about tax based school systems in another article) But I digress. I have African friends who are PhDs, and who possess MBAs. I myself am simply lazy, I am maybe two or three classes away from my MA, having already graduated with a BS. I also have close friends that are a bit less . . . what’s the word, uhhh, safe. I have close friends that I wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley with. (Their lower self may get the better or them) I love them both as they are both reflections of the same person. The point is that my more erudite, accomplished friends may not be 100% dissatisfied with what it may take for this culture to respect us. My niggas from the hood though, down for whatever.
THE FINAL SOLUTION
Believe it or not, my plan won’t take much beyond a bit of sacrifice; it will though take us ALL, each and every last one of us. My plan will involve everyone from our illustrious President to that brother doing life, or its equivalent, in all of the jails and prisons in America. Whether you are a teacher, a judge, a policeman, criminal, inmate, or a fireman, I’m talking about you. Whether you host a nationally televised talk show, a weblog, or stand on a box in the middle of a vacant lot like Lawrence Fishburne in Boyz N Da Hood. My plan doesn’t involve boycotting any business as that has shown to be somewhat limited in scope. I read a rumor that the Koch brothers financed GZ’s defense so we should boycott Charmin or Bounty or something. Any plan must be bigger than that due to the fact that many of us (most) use the store brand of paper products anyway. I don’t want us to march on the statehouse in any state or city hall in any city; we’ve been marching so long our feet should fall off. We are not going to esign a petition to any lawmaker or write a letter to our congressman. All of these solutions have been tried and they have all failed.
What we need to do is indicate to the rest of this country just how important we are to its EVERYDAY function. We need for those who claim that we need to quit whining about slavery, and making everything a race issue to see just how integral we are to EVERYTHING that goes on in this country. We need a national BLACKOUT. We need every last one of us to take a week off from work beginning say . . . Trayvon Martin’s birthday. Whatever your industry is, get sick for a week. For those of us with job security, just don’t show up. For those of us with bills to pay and need our little bitty job (most), call in sick with MERS or EBOLA or West Nile Fever. Now when I say BLACKOUT, that’s what I mean. I mean everyone. No nurses, no doctors. No air traffic controllers (are any of them African?). No entertainers. No athletes. No home health aides. No pharmacists, no drug dealers. Whatever you are, whatever you do. If you own a business, close for a week. No haircuts, no tease and flips. No soul food. (It’s fattening anyway) We don’t need leaders either, so the good Revs can stay home and take the week off too. We don’t even need your job to be done. Hopefully President Obama will come home to the Chi and spend some time in the hood where he’s from. (Hmmm, though under my plan his African Secret Service agents will be home too, well we’ll work on that one)
Now that’s part one. Part two is while you’re off for that week; rediscover your family, your community. Talk to your neighbors; make amends with that guy from down the street that you argued with at the last HOA meeting. Talk about how to make our communities safe without arming everyone to the teeth. Talk with those gangbangers who everyone is afraid to make eye contact with. No spending of our dollars. I mean none. No gas station visits. Stay home or walk, we need to walk more. No Wal-Mart, no Target, Dollar General/City/Family, nothing. Keep your money in your pocket. Drop your cable or satellite plan down to local channels for a week. Change your cell phone plan down to the basic plan for one week. Turn your lights off, go by candlelight if possible. Oh, and no church, no tithing, no mosques, no zakat. If the powers that be see we’re not even going to church they’ll know we’re doubly serious. This society needs to see that this country cannot function without us. We are more than just a subset of society that can be overlooked whenever something happens that we don’t agree with. My plan will cost this economy billions in lost revenue, lost profits and lost productivity. That is exactly my goal. The only thing that America respects is that which has the capacity to cost it money.
Of course they’ll be those of other ethnicities that are married to us, have children by us or share children with us. We are not exclusive, if you want to join, be our guest. Just know that this is not about you, it’s about US. No disrespect, love you to death, appreciate your support but this is a black thang. It’s okay for us to have a thang too. Like St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo.
Of course they’ll be those of US who disagree with everything I’ve said and that’s fine as well. Of course, there will be pain. There will be those who lose their jobs, but look at it as the impetus for us to build businesses. Put yourself in the shoes of the employer who fired someone for participating in the blackout. They can't fire us all. Who will want to face the backlash of losing all of the black dollars we spend with their company. We’ll see who is 100% dissatisfied and to whom our treatment is a problem but “just not that deep.”
(Next Post: Going back down south)
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Trayvon Aftermath 7/14/2013
Okay readers, where do I start. I guess I’ll start with a sigh. I told you so just don’t quite convey the frustration that many of us who call ourselves conscious feel right now. Our collective frustration is not with who many think it is however. We have long railed against the utter laziness of our people, from those “talking heads” who predominate our public, social and media presence, to those hyperemotional citizens who stick their heads in front of microphones when the news trucks make their runs through the “hood” to see how the “common” man thinks about one subject or another.
Before you stop reading and chalk my latest rant up to me being another apologist for the powers-that-be or the culture at large. I mean the term laziness in terms of being largely uninformed about the laws and regulations that are used to “police” your communities every day. We have degenerated to a people of bandwagon jumpers. We are largely silent day to day until the next “national tragedy” befalls one of our communities. We were outraged and violent when Rodney King was beaten, we were outraged and less violent when Sean Bell was gunned down, we were outraged when Oscar Grant was killed ON VIDEO, now we are outraged because we absolutely refuse to see that the system did exactly what it was designed to do, protect the dominant culture from legal assault.
To use a phrase from one of my favorite movies, Will Smith said in IRobot, “Somehow, I told you so, just doesn’t cut it.” I have been saying for over a year now, look back at some of my Facebook posts, that we should not be surprised if GZ was found not guilty. Why and how did I come to this conclusion? Simple, I read and I have experience with how the system truly works, how it’s designed and more importantly who it is directed towards. There is a difference my uninformed friends between not guilty and factually innocent you can be one and not the other. Was George Zimmerman factually innocent, of course not, was he not guilty . . . the way the case was constructed by the prosecution, yes he was.
To use the title of a popular film in theaters now, let me explain. A criminal charge in Amerikkka is just what it is, a charge. It is not more meaningful than someone calling you a nigger. It’s just a name, a concept that, under our laws, must be proven. In a criminal sense it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, in a civil case it is judged by a preponderance of the evidence. That is how poor old O.J. was found not guilty in a criminal case but guilty in his civil trial. That much lower standard of justice is very important. Criminally, a prosecution must show that there was absolutely no other way the circumstances that happened could have happened any other way. Even the most vociferous Trayvon supporter has to admit, you weren’t there so you don’t know what happened. We can have a pretty good idea, but guess what, UNLESS THE DEFENDANT IS OF COLOR OR POOR pretty good ideas are not evidence. If the situation was reversed, say for sake of argument Trayvon would have wrestled his gun away from him and shot him a “pretty good idea” would probably lead to at the very least a very long prison sentence.
My point is, there was no way in hell Zimmerman was going to be found guilty because the criminal justice system is not moved by FB posts, Twitter feeds, ridiculous or photo shopped images of Trayvon eating Skittles and drinking Arizona tea with Jesus. The criminal justice system doesn’t care about Lebron James and the Heat all wearing hoodies and looking menacing. It really doesn’t even care about our President proclaiming that if he had a son he would “look just like Trayvon.” The system was here before any of that bullshit existed and will be here long after its moved on to the new novelty. The criminal justice system is designed to protect the life and property of the dominant culture, not the rights and sensibilities of all citizens. All you have to do is open your eyes and look around you. Do you really think it’s an accident that we make up less than 13% of the population but well over 50% of the prison population? Do you think it’s an accident that at the same time the system and mainstream/social media (which is rapidly becoming the same two headed monster) was obsessively masturbating over this white guy (more on that later) a black woman was getting sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot in the general direction of a man she had a protective order against. Trayvon Martins happen every hour of every day in Amerikkka. The tragic thing is that most of them happen at the hands of other Trayvons waiting to happen. In some poor white neighborhoods George Zimmerman is killing another George Zimmerman; most people murdered in Amerikkka are killed by perpetrators of their own race. So this is beyond race, this is about privilege. If you noticed, the Judge in this case, as well as the prosecution and the defense took pains to take race out of this trial. We didn’t hear much about the “coon” statement GZ supposedly made, we didn’t hear much about the “some cracker” remark by Trayvon. The one thing we did hear about, not in the trial but in the foreplay before the collective sexual assault that poor people took during this trial was that it was made plain that Zimmerman was a “white Hispanic.” Wait. A what? What the hell is that? Zimmerman was given the opportunity to play the race card in the beginning. He was able to nimbly skip between the dominant culture and the oppressed culture. He couldn’t be a racist he’s Hispanic (whatever that means, ask some of your Latin, Spanish, Mexican friends what it means to them), however, he can also claim “hey white people, I’m one of you, after all, it was our shit I was protecting.”
Which brings me to my underlying point which is the system will never change from within. It doesn’t matter who the Judge is, the system is bigger than any Judge (SCOTUS included . . . If I have to break down what SCOTUS is, you should go back to reading Zane novels and watching Tyler Perry movies and let the grown folks talk), its bigger than who we elect and its definitely bigger than a few “no justice, no peace” signs and concurrent “marches” for this or that. Don’t believe it, ask the Occupy movement (if you don’t know who they were and what happened to them, than you really need to read more)
I think I have the answer or at least a starting point. Want to know what it is, keep up with my blog. Save it, ask to be notified when I post a new one. Like it on FB, Twitter, Google+, Flipboard, Reddit or whatever your thing is. If you really know me, call me I’ll tell you. If you have a group that you head or are a part of, progressive or conservative, invite me to speak. In the meantime, shake it off; the system will give you something else to be hot as fish grease about in a few days/weeks/months.
Before you stop reading and chalk my latest rant up to me being another apologist for the powers-that-be or the culture at large. I mean the term laziness in terms of being largely uninformed about the laws and regulations that are used to “police” your communities every day. We have degenerated to a people of bandwagon jumpers. We are largely silent day to day until the next “national tragedy” befalls one of our communities. We were outraged and violent when Rodney King was beaten, we were outraged and less violent when Sean Bell was gunned down, we were outraged when Oscar Grant was killed ON VIDEO, now we are outraged because we absolutely refuse to see that the system did exactly what it was designed to do, protect the dominant culture from legal assault.
To use a phrase from one of my favorite movies, Will Smith said in IRobot, “Somehow, I told you so, just doesn’t cut it.” I have been saying for over a year now, look back at some of my Facebook posts, that we should not be surprised if GZ was found not guilty. Why and how did I come to this conclusion? Simple, I read and I have experience with how the system truly works, how it’s designed and more importantly who it is directed towards. There is a difference my uninformed friends between not guilty and factually innocent you can be one and not the other. Was George Zimmerman factually innocent, of course not, was he not guilty . . . the way the case was constructed by the prosecution, yes he was.
To use the title of a popular film in theaters now, let me explain. A criminal charge in Amerikkka is just what it is, a charge. It is not more meaningful than someone calling you a nigger. It’s just a name, a concept that, under our laws, must be proven. In a criminal sense it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, in a civil case it is judged by a preponderance of the evidence. That is how poor old O.J. was found not guilty in a criminal case but guilty in his civil trial. That much lower standard of justice is very important. Criminally, a prosecution must show that there was absolutely no other way the circumstances that happened could have happened any other way. Even the most vociferous Trayvon supporter has to admit, you weren’t there so you don’t know what happened. We can have a pretty good idea, but guess what, UNLESS THE DEFENDANT IS OF COLOR OR POOR pretty good ideas are not evidence. If the situation was reversed, say for sake of argument Trayvon would have wrestled his gun away from him and shot him a “pretty good idea” would probably lead to at the very least a very long prison sentence.
My point is, there was no way in hell Zimmerman was going to be found guilty because the criminal justice system is not moved by FB posts, Twitter feeds, ridiculous or photo shopped images of Trayvon eating Skittles and drinking Arizona tea with Jesus. The criminal justice system doesn’t care about Lebron James and the Heat all wearing hoodies and looking menacing. It really doesn’t even care about our President proclaiming that if he had a son he would “look just like Trayvon.” The system was here before any of that bullshit existed and will be here long after its moved on to the new novelty. The criminal justice system is designed to protect the life and property of the dominant culture, not the rights and sensibilities of all citizens. All you have to do is open your eyes and look around you. Do you really think it’s an accident that we make up less than 13% of the population but well over 50% of the prison population? Do you think it’s an accident that at the same time the system and mainstream/social media (which is rapidly becoming the same two headed monster) was obsessively masturbating over this white guy (more on that later) a black woman was getting sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot in the general direction of a man she had a protective order against. Trayvon Martins happen every hour of every day in Amerikkka. The tragic thing is that most of them happen at the hands of other Trayvons waiting to happen. In some poor white neighborhoods George Zimmerman is killing another George Zimmerman; most people murdered in Amerikkka are killed by perpetrators of their own race. So this is beyond race, this is about privilege. If you noticed, the Judge in this case, as well as the prosecution and the defense took pains to take race out of this trial. We didn’t hear much about the “coon” statement GZ supposedly made, we didn’t hear much about the “some cracker” remark by Trayvon. The one thing we did hear about, not in the trial but in the foreplay before the collective sexual assault that poor people took during this trial was that it was made plain that Zimmerman was a “white Hispanic.” Wait. A what? What the hell is that? Zimmerman was given the opportunity to play the race card in the beginning. He was able to nimbly skip between the dominant culture and the oppressed culture. He couldn’t be a racist he’s Hispanic (whatever that means, ask some of your Latin, Spanish, Mexican friends what it means to them), however, he can also claim “hey white people, I’m one of you, after all, it was our shit I was protecting.”
Which brings me to my underlying point which is the system will never change from within. It doesn’t matter who the Judge is, the system is bigger than any Judge (SCOTUS included . . . If I have to break down what SCOTUS is, you should go back to reading Zane novels and watching Tyler Perry movies and let the grown folks talk), its bigger than who we elect and its definitely bigger than a few “no justice, no peace” signs and concurrent “marches” for this or that. Don’t believe it, ask the Occupy movement (if you don’t know who they were and what happened to them, than you really need to read more)
I think I have the answer or at least a starting point. Want to know what it is, keep up with my blog. Save it, ask to be notified when I post a new one. Like it on FB, Twitter, Google+, Flipboard, Reddit or whatever your thing is. If you really know me, call me I’ll tell you. If you have a group that you head or are a part of, progressive or conservative, invite me to speak. In the meantime, shake it off; the system will give you something else to be hot as fish grease about in a few days/weeks/months.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Open Letter to The Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States
I watched your State of Union address as well as the response from the Republican Party. Your message inspired me to compose this letter to identify and resolve what I think is the problem with political reform in America.
I listened to a friend of mine, The JRil Show on Blogtalkradio and he vowed to not watch what he termed the “monday morning quarterbacking” that going on with pundits who have never ran anything in their lives that ever compares to the size and scope of your responsibilities try to tell you how to do your job. He also railed against, and I agree, the notion that the leadership of the GOP could brazenly complain about your inability to rescue in a year a disaster that it took 8 years of their leadership to create.
Along that end I honestly believe that in order for you to go down in history as one of greatest Chief Executives to ever hold the office of the Presidency, you must make the remaining three years of your first term about poverty. Not crime, not even Terrorism, but poverty. If Katrina and now Haiti did not teach us anything it should have illustrated the abject poverty that exists even in the developed world. Haiti may have been the poorest country in the western hemisphere but people fail to acknowledge that according to the International Monetary Fund, Haiti is number 132 in Gross Domestic Product. Meaning it has a larger GDP than such countries as Nicaragua, Kyrgyzstan and Laos. In fact, among the world's poorest countries, Haiti is relatively nice. There are people in Africa that would swim the ocean to get to Haiti, at least Haitians have water.
I believe that a partnership forged between you, and not necessarily every Democrat, and poor people would guarantee you a second term. What must be sacraficed is a message about how safe we are. The only real threat against U.S. interests either here or abroad comes from lone individuals slipping through the inevitable cracks in our security protocols. That will happen no matter who is in the White House. Remember, 9/11 happened to the Honorable George W. Bush and he was no slouch in inhibiting personal freedoms for security purposes. He was about as vigilant as could be and his Administration totally missed it. You can say this though, that was a one trick pony, that will never happen again. Not to that degree at least.
Here's the thing though, a mistake has been made in our conviction that Terrorism is at its heart a religious movement. There is a common misconception among the populace, even if to be politically correct most won't say it aloud, that Terrorist are forged in the fire of religious indoctrination. This is true to an extent, but what can't be diminished is the effect of abysmal poverty on his worldview. This country did a curious thing beginning after World War II we began in earnest the virtual support of many a country's food suppy. We dropped metric ton after metric ton of aid upon developing countries. What we also dropped was a free market economy along with the tools to reach that economy, i.e. cell phones, televisions, satellite transmissions, etc.) We showed the poor of the world exactly what life in the first world is like. We showed people who almost never see or eat fresh produce whole stores brimming with it. We show them life with more than one pair of shoes and they all match. We show a man who supports his family on $21.00 a month how to renovate their bathroom for a mere $50,000.00 when this man doesn't have indoor plumbing. We show a shower with 8 full body showerheads to a village with no running water not even to drink.
We, in effect, show the people of the world the life that they can never have, no matter how inventive, no matter how persistent. We assist poor people in their belief that we care little for those who are not like us. We provide poor people with the same access to information that we have and wonder what the recruitment tools are that terrorist groups use to influence the young. People all over the world know that the U.S. wastes over 100 Million pounds of food each year. We leave more food on our plates each day than the average poor child eats in a week. We televise this madness to people all over the world each day.
Poverty and our response to poverty will be Issue #1 for this decade. Not just the poverty that exists in the developing world but the poverty to be found within the borders of this country. Before we can lead the rest of the world, we must deal with our own shortcomings. In America 35.9 million persons live below the poverty line of which 12.9 million were children. 3% of America's children experience hunger every day in the richest country on the planet. Therein lies the real issue, its always been that way for poor people in America and by that I mean minorities. What is happening in America now is that more and more of the majority are being trapped in this whirlpool of credit debt, crushing mortgages, job loss and lost confidence in our elected leadership no matter the party. That's your new audience. The households that live paycheck to paycheck. Those individuals who in a spate of coincidental events can be the face of the new homeless. Just as some surmise that the wing flap of a butterfly can produce a hurricane a world away, some families are a car wreck, a bad infection, a sick child or parent, a plant closing or a house fire away from financial ruin, even with insurance.
If you reach out to those people and try to be the first President to address the inequities that exist right here in America, you create a peculiar political environment. You in effect say to your opponents that a vote against you is a vote against poor people whether working or not. There are more people in America that are on the borderline between lower middle class and upper lower class than is realized in the political discussion. This potential voting block can go to the leader who listens to their plight and responds in ways that actually helps them not just talks about it. Doubling the Child Care Tax Credit is a good example of this. It puts money in their hand that hopefully they'll save but also a portion of it will be put back into the economy necessitating the need to expand the business that provides the products they want to buy, which incidentally does a little thing like create jobs.
Respectfully
Kenneth Pitts
kenneth.pitts@rocketmail.com
I watched your State of Union address as well as the response from the Republican Party. Your message inspired me to compose this letter to identify and resolve what I think is the problem with political reform in America.
I listened to a friend of mine, The JRil Show on Blogtalkradio and he vowed to not watch what he termed the “monday morning quarterbacking” that going on with pundits who have never ran anything in their lives that ever compares to the size and scope of your responsibilities try to tell you how to do your job. He also railed against, and I agree, the notion that the leadership of the GOP could brazenly complain about your inability to rescue in a year a disaster that it took 8 years of their leadership to create.
Along that end I honestly believe that in order for you to go down in history as one of greatest Chief Executives to ever hold the office of the Presidency, you must make the remaining three years of your first term about poverty. Not crime, not even Terrorism, but poverty. If Katrina and now Haiti did not teach us anything it should have illustrated the abject poverty that exists even in the developed world. Haiti may have been the poorest country in the western hemisphere but people fail to acknowledge that according to the International Monetary Fund, Haiti is number 132 in Gross Domestic Product. Meaning it has a larger GDP than such countries as Nicaragua, Kyrgyzstan and Laos. In fact, among the world's poorest countries, Haiti is relatively nice. There are people in Africa that would swim the ocean to get to Haiti, at least Haitians have water.
I believe that a partnership forged between you, and not necessarily every Democrat, and poor people would guarantee you a second term. What must be sacraficed is a message about how safe we are. The only real threat against U.S. interests either here or abroad comes from lone individuals slipping through the inevitable cracks in our security protocols. That will happen no matter who is in the White House. Remember, 9/11 happened to the Honorable George W. Bush and he was no slouch in inhibiting personal freedoms for security purposes. He was about as vigilant as could be and his Administration totally missed it. You can say this though, that was a one trick pony, that will never happen again. Not to that degree at least.
Here's the thing though, a mistake has been made in our conviction that Terrorism is at its heart a religious movement. There is a common misconception among the populace, even if to be politically correct most won't say it aloud, that Terrorist are forged in the fire of religious indoctrination. This is true to an extent, but what can't be diminished is the effect of abysmal poverty on his worldview. This country did a curious thing beginning after World War II we began in earnest the virtual support of many a country's food suppy. We dropped metric ton after metric ton of aid upon developing countries. What we also dropped was a free market economy along with the tools to reach that economy, i.e. cell phones, televisions, satellite transmissions, etc.) We showed the poor of the world exactly what life in the first world is like. We showed people who almost never see or eat fresh produce whole stores brimming with it. We show them life with more than one pair of shoes and they all match. We show a man who supports his family on $21.00 a month how to renovate their bathroom for a mere $50,000.00 when this man doesn't have indoor plumbing. We show a shower with 8 full body showerheads to a village with no running water not even to drink.
We, in effect, show the people of the world the life that they can never have, no matter how inventive, no matter how persistent. We assist poor people in their belief that we care little for those who are not like us. We provide poor people with the same access to information that we have and wonder what the recruitment tools are that terrorist groups use to influence the young. People all over the world know that the U.S. wastes over 100 Million pounds of food each year. We leave more food on our plates each day than the average poor child eats in a week. We televise this madness to people all over the world each day.
Poverty and our response to poverty will be Issue #1 for this decade. Not just the poverty that exists in the developing world but the poverty to be found within the borders of this country. Before we can lead the rest of the world, we must deal with our own shortcomings. In America 35.9 million persons live below the poverty line of which 12.9 million were children. 3% of America's children experience hunger every day in the richest country on the planet. Therein lies the real issue, its always been that way for poor people in America and by that I mean minorities. What is happening in America now is that more and more of the majority are being trapped in this whirlpool of credit debt, crushing mortgages, job loss and lost confidence in our elected leadership no matter the party. That's your new audience. The households that live paycheck to paycheck. Those individuals who in a spate of coincidental events can be the face of the new homeless. Just as some surmise that the wing flap of a butterfly can produce a hurricane a world away, some families are a car wreck, a bad infection, a sick child or parent, a plant closing or a house fire away from financial ruin, even with insurance.
If you reach out to those people and try to be the first President to address the inequities that exist right here in America, you create a peculiar political environment. You in effect say to your opponents that a vote against you is a vote against poor people whether working or not. There are more people in America that are on the borderline between lower middle class and upper lower class than is realized in the political discussion. This potential voting block can go to the leader who listens to their plight and responds in ways that actually helps them not just talks about it. Doubling the Child Care Tax Credit is a good example of this. It puts money in their hand that hopefully they'll save but also a portion of it will be put back into the economy necessitating the need to expand the business that provides the products they want to buy, which incidentally does a little thing like create jobs.
Respectfully
Kenneth Pitts
kenneth.pitts@rocketmail.com
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Health Care Reform
I had a dream. No not a MLK type dream but a dream about the health care debate. Don't ask me why but the debate was set up like an episode of JAG. There were three representatives on each team. The for and against teams. The debate lasted all of thirty seconds, the “for” team stood up and asked “how could you not be for health care reform, premiums are too high, co-pays are ridiculous, you can be denied for preexisting conditions or for no reason at all. We want to change that.” The “against” team responded, “socialism, the government should not be involved in your medical care.”
I woke up and thought to myself, that for the most part is how simplistic this “debate” has become. We went to sleep one night last spring and the health care debate that began when Democrats took over the Federal government became politicized. The Democrats ran on the promise of changing the health care system to a form more fair and effective for everyday Americans. The Republicans almost overnight became the part of “no.” Not no because health care did not need reform but no because if the 'crats were successful, then they would not be relevant in the coming years.
We must remember that like anyone else in society, politicians are interested in self-preservation. They don't want to lose their jobs any more than any other worker in America. So their every decision is calculated toward the effect it may have on their chances of retaining their jobs in two to four years. Democrats do the same thing. Even though according to their own polling numbers that show that even the majority of their constituencies want reform, as a body politic, they believe that their only option is to oppose the party in power. Is that what we elected to represent us? A party that just says no for no other reason than to oppose?
Lets be real and talk real. Most of us that are not considered upper middle class or wealthy in America are one really bad injury or sickness away from bankruptcy. Sure we have health insurance, usually provided by our employers but what happens if that company drops our policy. What if our only option is a high deductible plan. What if we don't have $5000 to pay for the deductible, or even $500? Sure, in some cases we can get the treatment but how do we pay back the debt? What has been proposed is a public option to compete against the private companies. The party of no immediately responded with attack ads indicating that this option would lead to socialized health care. We should ask them “and???” What exactly is wrong with so-called socialized health care. Other countries have had it for years and it seems to work. Sure there are problems, but is private health care so much better?
What must be realized is that there has been “socialized” health care in this country for decades, its called Medicaid and Medicare. It seems to work fairly well. Yes there are issues with the two, yet there are literally thousands of Americans that would literally be dead without it. What is amazing is that the observer cannot see why there is opposition to the public option. The party of no could care less about their constituents that have reservations about it. They do, however, care that lobbyists and special interests in the insurance industries do not want it.
Ostensibly the argument against the option centers around cost, and taxpayer support. Keep it real, according the to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, enactment of health care reform will actually reduce the deficit as opposed to increasing it. What that means is that our “grandchildren” will not be paying for this reform and even if they did, they will be paying for Bushes wars for decades to come, so at least they will get something out of health care reform. What will they get out of the “war on terror,” that's right, protection against terror. You know what terrorizes me, to need an appendectomy and not have the money to pay for it. I'm terrified that my son will need braces in a few years and they cost as much as a new car. It terrorizes me that I have only a few options, options that cost too much and are totally dependent upon decisions made by others to maximize profits.
We need to resist the urge to be blinded by statistics and opinions, mine included as my personal reality differs from everyone else's. We need to look at the debate realistically. Will reform improve my situation or harm my situation. Do I need someone to tell me what is best for me or can I simply go to my mailbox and remove the past due bills from the specialist that my PCP referred me to that happened to be “out of network?” We are a smart, intuitive people, why don't we act like it?
I'll tell you why and continue the thought in my next blog. Because we have a President that happens to be African-American and some of us are naturally resistant to anything he may suggest.
I woke up and thought to myself, that for the most part is how simplistic this “debate” has become. We went to sleep one night last spring and the health care debate that began when Democrats took over the Federal government became politicized. The Democrats ran on the promise of changing the health care system to a form more fair and effective for everyday Americans. The Republicans almost overnight became the part of “no.” Not no because health care did not need reform but no because if the 'crats were successful, then they would not be relevant in the coming years.
We must remember that like anyone else in society, politicians are interested in self-preservation. They don't want to lose their jobs any more than any other worker in America. So their every decision is calculated toward the effect it may have on their chances of retaining their jobs in two to four years. Democrats do the same thing. Even though according to their own polling numbers that show that even the majority of their constituencies want reform, as a body politic, they believe that their only option is to oppose the party in power. Is that what we elected to represent us? A party that just says no for no other reason than to oppose?
Lets be real and talk real. Most of us that are not considered upper middle class or wealthy in America are one really bad injury or sickness away from bankruptcy. Sure we have health insurance, usually provided by our employers but what happens if that company drops our policy. What if our only option is a high deductible plan. What if we don't have $5000 to pay for the deductible, or even $500? Sure, in some cases we can get the treatment but how do we pay back the debt? What has been proposed is a public option to compete against the private companies. The party of no immediately responded with attack ads indicating that this option would lead to socialized health care. We should ask them “and???” What exactly is wrong with so-called socialized health care. Other countries have had it for years and it seems to work. Sure there are problems, but is private health care so much better?
What must be realized is that there has been “socialized” health care in this country for decades, its called Medicaid and Medicare. It seems to work fairly well. Yes there are issues with the two, yet there are literally thousands of Americans that would literally be dead without it. What is amazing is that the observer cannot see why there is opposition to the public option. The party of no could care less about their constituents that have reservations about it. They do, however, care that lobbyists and special interests in the insurance industries do not want it.
Ostensibly the argument against the option centers around cost, and taxpayer support. Keep it real, according the to nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, enactment of health care reform will actually reduce the deficit as opposed to increasing it. What that means is that our “grandchildren” will not be paying for this reform and even if they did, they will be paying for Bushes wars for decades to come, so at least they will get something out of health care reform. What will they get out of the “war on terror,” that's right, protection against terror. You know what terrorizes me, to need an appendectomy and not have the money to pay for it. I'm terrified that my son will need braces in a few years and they cost as much as a new car. It terrorizes me that I have only a few options, options that cost too much and are totally dependent upon decisions made by others to maximize profits.
We need to resist the urge to be blinded by statistics and opinions, mine included as my personal reality differs from everyone else's. We need to look at the debate realistically. Will reform improve my situation or harm my situation. Do I need someone to tell me what is best for me or can I simply go to my mailbox and remove the past due bills from the specialist that my PCP referred me to that happened to be “out of network?” We are a smart, intuitive people, why don't we act like it?
I'll tell you why and continue the thought in my next blog. Because we have a President that happens to be African-American and some of us are naturally resistant to anything he may suggest.
Consciousness
The subtitle of all my blogs is real talk from real people with real problems. I wonder sometimes whether all my readers really know what that means. Back in the mid to late 1980's there was a consciousness movement going around, a consciousness movement that was quickly co-opted by society for monetary gain. It began when rappers began producing music that spoke of our cultural heritage as African folk. You remember, it was the KRS Ones, Arrested Development, Native Tongues, Queen Latifah (before she started making G rated comedies and CoverGirl ads), Paris Jackson, Digital Underground (featuring this new youngster named Tupac before someone convinced him that being an asshole was more lucrative than being conscious), Tribe Called Quest and X-Clan. I'll post some of their music on my page one day (short for when I figure out how).
These groups had one thing in common, they believed that the time had came for us to raise our voices and serve notice that we are not just passengers on this train ride to nowhere that America seems to be going. The wanted everyone to know that we had thoughts, deep, reflective thought that “others” needed to hear. For decades we had been an afterthought in America with only a handful of representatives in the mainstream of society. Remember when not too long ago, the richest of us were athletes and R&B singers? That was a time when we had no Senators in Congress, a few Representatives but they were relegated to the “Congressional Black Caucus” that couldn't pass gas without an act of Congress. Yeah, they named a few post offices, even named a few streets in honor of prominent black preachers, but for the most part did not and still do not represent us. Anyone who disagrees, list the major initiatives that have benefited us as a whole not just the relative few in their constituency.
I, however, digress. As you can see I have problems with our political structure. Back to the point, We as Afrikans (spelled with a “k” to differentiate us from our cousins from the continent) in this country seemed to be looking around and noticing for the first time that the world was passing us by. That we were spectators watching the game instead of playing in the game. What then happened was nothing less than tragic. Slowly, insidiously, we began being more concerned about the fashion statement made by wearing a medallion shaped like Africa than what was actually happening in Africa. Suddenly there were Dashikis and Kufi hats for sale on every street corner. Rap degenerated into boast contests about who had the biggest car, the most gold and the most bullets in their gun. Our Queens became My Bitches. Hard work and sharing among us became puttin in work. Education became soft and credibility became linked to tattoos and “bids.” (going to prison)
Let me digress again. To all you children out there who idolize the Lil Waynes, Jeezies, T.I.'s and Jim Jones of the rap world. Real drug dealers don't get record deals. Who approaches you on the corner serving and tells you “I wanna make you a star?” Real drug dealers don't wear makeup and shoot videos. The only videos that exist of real drug dealers are in the hands of the Feds and believe me when you see it, it will be in an interrogation room before you're charged under the RICO act and sent away for a good portion of your life. If you don't believe me, ask an uncle or cousin, maybe even Mommy and Daddy what prison is like cause we are all related to someone who knows. Ask them if they had it to do all over again would they sacrifice a decade or two for a few dollars. Prison doesn't make you hard, it just makes you old.
That is the new consciousness, we are conscious of our immediate surroundings, many times of only what happens on our block. We cry and moan about the level of violence in our community, about the pervasiveness of poverty around us but we refuse to take the steps to change it. We look for outsiders to change it for us. The common remedy for our situation is to send in the troops and lock more of us up, or give us more food stamps or TANF. That is what we vote for. That is the solution for the fools that we send to Washington. Ask yourself, would you invite someone from across town into your home to resolve a dispute with your spouse or child? Then why do we ask someone in Washington to solve our problems in the community? Its the same thing. You want the violence to stop, then stop it. You want to rise out of abject poverty, then invest your money in your community. You want to stop giving your money to the vultures that inhabit our communities, then instead of buying rims or plasmas, pool your resources and YOU own the minimarts and gas stations. Don't believe it can't be done because the Arabs, Pakistanis and Indians (from India) that do own the stores did it and they came here poor too.
That is the new consciousness, we are conscious of our immediate surroundings, many times of only what happens on our block. We cry and moan about the level of violence in our community, about the pervasiveness of poverty around us but we refuse to take the steps to change it. We look for outsiders to change it for us. The common remedy for our situation is to send in the troops and lock more of us up, or give us more food stamps or TANF. That is what we vote for. That is the solution for the fools that we send to Washington. Ask yourself, would you invite someone from across town into your home to resolve a dispute with your spouse or child? Then why do we ask someone in Washington to solve our problems in the community? Its the same thing. You want the violence to stop, then stop it. You want to rise out of abject poverty, then invest your money in your community. You want to stop giving your money to the vultures that inhabit our communities, then instead of buying rims or plasmas, pool your resources and YOU own the minimarts and gas stations. Don't believe it can't be done because the Arabs, Pakistanis and Indians (from India) that do own the stores did it and they came here poor too.
In other words, our consciousness has to change. We have to stop looking at ourselves as being powerless as opposed to being powerful. We have to begin to command respect as opposed to demanding respect. We're not respected because we don't have a rudder, we just drift from one latest thing to another. Our desire to separate ourselves and define ourselves as a people are misdirected into hairstyles, modes of dress, manners of speaking and conspicuous consumption. That MUST change, and until it does we will remain the led not the leaders.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Togetherness
Recently talked with a friend of mine who lamented on the lack of unity among our people. Truth be told, I have to agree with him. I simply have a different take on the situation. Has anyone noticed that out of all of the different groups there are in America, only us as Afrikans have a totally fragmented existence. Northern Afrikans are distinctly different from Southern Afrikans. Eastern Afrikans are different from Western Afrikans. Afrikans that are 40 years old or older have a completely different mindset than those younger.
There are many reasons for this, but I choose to take it all the way back to our slave heritage. Unlike our Caucasian neighbors, we didn't come here in groups. We came here like luggage, with bags of all different types thrown together. We never had the chance to develop distinct cultural identities. Instead, we learned to coexist with each other and pass along this supposed homogeneity to our offspring. Even a casual glance at the continent of Africa will evidence a hodgepodge of different cultures even physical features. We, on the other hand, all look essentially the same. Sure some of us are lighter, some heavier, etc, but for the most part you can tell an Afrikan from here from an African from there fairly easily.
So why the difference? Its because like the old adage, water only rises to its natural level. Some of us are standing in ankle deep water, while some of us are drowning. We try to lead the blind out of darkness but sometimes darkness is comforting. If I stay in the dark, no one can see just how ignorant I really am. If I maintain this job and pay all my bills, then I'm okay, never once giving thought that the purpose of work is to not have to work eventually. We don't think high enough. We are content to let all other groups be at the forefront. We relegate ourselves to being eternal consumers. We place more value on buying the rims than selling the car. Even if we do make a "come up" by whatever means, we spend it rather than invest it. I know that bills have to be paid, what I'm referring to is disposable income. An extra $2000 instantly makes the average one of us think about flatscreen tv's or maybe dvd player for the backseat of the car, even if we don't have children to sit back there and watch it.
I have become convinced that it is my job to raise the bar. It is my job to pull the blinders off those of my people that want to listen. Of those that don't want to listen, I can only hope that the work that we put it will benefit them in the long run. In Islam it is said that only a small group of people can make a change. Let me be the first one.
There are many reasons for this, but I choose to take it all the way back to our slave heritage. Unlike our Caucasian neighbors, we didn't come here in groups. We came here like luggage, with bags of all different types thrown together. We never had the chance to develop distinct cultural identities. Instead, we learned to coexist with each other and pass along this supposed homogeneity to our offspring. Even a casual glance at the continent of Africa will evidence a hodgepodge of different cultures even physical features. We, on the other hand, all look essentially the same. Sure some of us are lighter, some heavier, etc, but for the most part you can tell an Afrikan from here from an African from there fairly easily.
So why the difference? Its because like the old adage, water only rises to its natural level. Some of us are standing in ankle deep water, while some of us are drowning. We try to lead the blind out of darkness but sometimes darkness is comforting. If I stay in the dark, no one can see just how ignorant I really am. If I maintain this job and pay all my bills, then I'm okay, never once giving thought that the purpose of work is to not have to work eventually. We don't think high enough. We are content to let all other groups be at the forefront. We relegate ourselves to being eternal consumers. We place more value on buying the rims than selling the car. Even if we do make a "come up" by whatever means, we spend it rather than invest it. I know that bills have to be paid, what I'm referring to is disposable income. An extra $2000 instantly makes the average one of us think about flatscreen tv's or maybe dvd player for the backseat of the car, even if we don't have children to sit back there and watch it.
I have become convinced that it is my job to raise the bar. It is my job to pull the blinders off those of my people that want to listen. Of those that don't want to listen, I can only hope that the work that we put it will benefit them in the long run. In Islam it is said that only a small group of people can make a change. Let me be the first one.
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