Black History Month Message

For so called Black History Month and all the months thereafter:

Folks please don't deify Doctor King.

We need to honor the Man and all his 'warts' . . . not the saint he became in White America's eyes once he was de-fanged of his future works, 'threat' and 'bite ' . . . by Death

He was not the only freedom fighter out there.

The Yoke Of Slavery

I'm well into the book above and as I digest the history within I'm growing more and more troubled . . .

The thing that really is blowing my mind (not really because tragically its a part of my history I'm too aware of) . . . is that when I step outside of myself for second after reading books like the above and others, and look objectively at the human beings that once enslaved people of color worldwide . . . I wonder honestly:

How could such a significant majority NOT see that treating another human being . . . And they KNEW that these 'brown folks' or other 'Coloreds' were human by their very words and memoirs . . . how could they NOT realize that this sort of 'commoditization' of a fellow human being's life . . . this relegation of a fellow, sentient being to a status lower than a pet or livestock . . . to just that of a tool in a shed . . . how could they not know that the whole practice was just evil!?

"You're making Us Look Bad . . .!"

Racist hegemony or control can be subtle, baseless but powerful.

A major tool is the subliminally-accepted, perceptional, racial rhetoric used to describe proclivities and explanations for certain types of deviant or abhorrent behavior as it relates to the myriad of folks of color compared with that of Whites.

Take the statement in the title of this post . . .

For years, I have heard blacks and other folks of color say or express some version of this sentiment:

"Oh man!  Why did those idiots have to go do that!?  They're going to make the rest of us look bad . . .!"

This is an impugned burden of 'control' over your fellow human being, even complete strangers, that is impossible to achieve.  For that matter it's uproariously ridiculous to even attempt it. 

Reparations . . .?

It's just stunning to me given the now out-there knowledge of how deep slavery and colonialism ran . . . the talk of reparations too often devolves into the social and political epithet:

The Hand Out

Seriously . . . that is all folks seem to be able to wrap their heads around:

Literal 'Passing of Funds' into Literal Hands.

And that is common even in the Black Community too.

On Racism: Our Societal Stuxnet . . .

The differences between us shouldn't be ignored.  

Our different ethnicities and cultures are responsible for each person's unique personality.

These differences should be celebrated.

You should not run from them by trying to 'homogenize' everyone by 'not saying black' or 'not saying white', etcetera

The thing we need to do is get rid of the social and institutional stigmas and prejudicial behaviors and actions that 'apply themselves' historically and seemingly with an unwavering, shrewd sentience, . . . dictated by the ethnicity and culture one hails from or can be identified with via The Basic Senses.

Wounded Beast

There have been over the last few years some breathtaking and overt racism surfacing in this country since President Obama won the White House and their forces have been very adept at obfuscating how connected all these 'little parts' and 'movements' are.  If this isn't identified it will lead to the country's ruin frankly.

On Racism: The Lost Nuance of Bill Cosby

I've seen over the years mainly(but not only) conservative folks trot out a famous person of color's musings about racism in this country in a nascent way to counter charges of racism in an event, political dust-up, Pundit brain fart,

etc.

These 'esteemed' chosen ones have been people like Dr. Ben Carson, Juan Williams, Morgan Freeman, Allen West, Herman Cain among others.

The 'protest too much!' cudgel I want to talk about for this post is Bill Cosby.

'Tommy'

The Situation

For those that know me, it's no secret that I loathe conservatives . . . but I’m fast getting FED UP with Liberals that are so damned pious about everything, anemic when it comes to perspective, allergic to nuance, and are proud/willful amnesiacs when it comes to history, political and otherwise . . . seriously.  We claim on the Left to be grounded in reality.  We claim to be so ‘smart’.  We 'laugh' at the Tea Baggers for their supposed ignorance and idiocy.

Dear Cornell: Raise Your Paradigm . . .

Cornell West: "Al Sharpton Is "Still On The Obama Plantation"

CORNELL WEST: "Yeah I wish and pray that it were forthcoming, but I don't think it's forthcoming either though brother. I think they just its just smoke and mirrors at this point and it's going to be on to the next issue as soon as they think this thing settles down. Now the good thing is it won't settle down and I think it's going to create some kind of division within our black political class because it's just too humiliating it's too embarrassing, you see it with Brother Sharpton; Sharpton probably deep down wants to be critical of the President, but he can't because he's still on the Obama plantation. Ah so he can't say a mumbling word no matter how radical he wants to act and act as it were and deep down in his soul I think he really does feel a fire, but he cannot allow that fire in any way to spill over toward the White House. Why? Because he's still too tied he's too uncritical he's too deferential he's too subservient as it were and as long as that's in place we're going to find ourselves unable to tell the fundamental truth. (July 21, 2013)"

A Prescription

Listen: I know that the discussions of Race that have exploded since Barrack Obama's election(s) have made some Whites feel 'uncomfortable'. This is simply a reckoning, a, frankly, long overdue one, that has thrust You into a ‘front seat’ with the rest of the non-whites, after a blissfully-oblivious few centuries of sometimes 'designed blindness' to the sometimes desperate 'contest', that has been 'headlined' by some everyday, lifelong 'miseries' birthed by Racism and it's 'child' Colorism. Please recognize that a significant portion of the country has had no relief and/or escape from these scourges.  Those of us, White and of Color, who have been ‘facing’ this ‘cloud’, knew that on 11/4/2008 especially, but not only because of it, the time for this would inevitably come.

If you will, allow me to humbly-offer a Prescription . . .

On Racism: Part 2 - The Semi-Conductor Effect

After Barrack Obama won in 2008 many pundits and columnists declared that 'racism was dead' and we're now 'post racial'.  One has only to look at the subsequent, insipid sort of subliminal 'shading' of our politics since then . . . to see that they were blatantly wrong.  People's minds don't change that easily.  When it comes to Barrack Obama, I've found that for almost all the political battles that have been fought during his Presidency, the facts don't justify the caustic, over-the-top, fulminating opposition to and towards the President, from the Left or Right.  That is not to say Obama doesn't deserve some criticism . . . but myself and other folks of color have a sense that it is a bit overdone.  To tell the truth, us so-called minorities have felt that 'something' has been broken, overwhelmed; an inaudible 'pop' was heard in the attitudes of both parties towards Race since that November night in 2008.

Pandora . . . Remixed (Edited & Updated)

This article has been published elsewhere in an earlier version, with my permission.  In light of feedback and the need for increased clarity I've decided to post an updated version

Nobody wants to hear this but . . . A lot of this gun craze is steeped in racism.

Now before folks think that I'm painting ALL Gun owners with a racist brush . . . let me say clearly: I'm absolutely NOT!

I'm referring to the phenomena of gun and ammunition sales spiking to unheard-of levels ever since Barrack Obama won . . . and I feel that I must offer but one of the reasons, that I think, this is occurring . . . 

When a Dog . . . Eats Chocolate . . .

Why have we been feeding the Dog . . . Chocolate?

Put away the Twix and follow me on this . . .

Folks President Obama may be in trouble with the Public

They blame him for not getting the economy fixed . . . and although they should care about what Romney did, in that his type of capitalism is what has caused the decline of the economy . . . they don't seem to care (Laziness perhaps? Easier to blame One Guy than to parse the records of more than five hundred (500)?)!

"Dramatis Ars Poetica" (Dramatic Poetry): "Strike The Gong"

This is the Fifth in my Dramatic Poetry Series, where different characters give their 'take' on life and the world they live in.  Now here's the next effort . . .

Strike The Gong . . .

"Dramatis Ars Poetica"(Dramatic Poetry): "Justification . . .?"

This is the Third in my Dramatic Poetry Series.  This one deals with how religion and hypocrisy have gone hand in hand with some of the most vicious crimes we've committed against each other.  This one deals with how that dynamic produced pure hate . . . and still doing it today.  So I hope you'll enjoy . . .

Justification . . .?

(“In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”)

"Dramatis Ars Poetica" (Dramatic Poetry) : "Dimmer"

This is the first in a series of 'Dramatic Poems' I've working on from 'certain point of view' . . . I may hope to get these produced and performed as a series of plays; a dramatic social commentary of Race in our society at large . . . and now here's . . .

Dimmer . . .

Musings on Religion . . .

Agitator Alert:

Organized Religion has been and continues to be used, distorted, and wielded by Oligarchs, Zealots and Anarchists towards their own inhumane ends!

Decryption of Existence "X" - Integration . . .?

Simply pop the CD into your internal DVD Rom drive . . . and

See the images that are decrypted for all to download and imbibe . . .

To your cranial hard drive . . . I will install Philosoft Word . . .

Hence you will be able to create your own liberated thought compositions

Chords Of Blue

This is Poetry piece is a musical 'commentary' on the times we live in, with a nod to people we have to thank for blazing the way and a reminder of where we've come from . . . and the fact we still have so much further to go . . .!

"Is it . . . An Ant Farm . . .?"

It seems that we common folk are ants in an ant farm. We bust our butts moving all the little grains of sand around, digging all these little intricate Tunnels that lead This Way and That . . . in 'Our Gritty World' . . . And it seems we have 'Control' . . . 'Freedom'