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)"

Tonight I wear My Hoodie . . . Again: The Verdict.

The Verdict is in . . .

I wrote about a year ago about my feelings regarding this Trayvon case and I was aghast then and I’m horrified now about this travesty called a 'verdict' . . . I need to preface the following ‘unloading’ by declaring loud and clear:

I DO NOT THINK THAT ALL WHITES ARE RACIST.

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 . . .

The Horse has Long Left . . . That Stable

This is a post on my Facebook Wall:

"What this whole Snowdenn/Greenwald 'storm' shows is that:

The government has 'the capability' to spy 'on all of us!!! Aauugh!!!'

Duh.

Opportunity . . .?

According to a conservative I was in a sort of 'E-Debate' with, the relative 'pittances' that the Poor receive deserve further scrutiny and vetting for deserving of benefit. This person used people of color as 'examples' of those 'who need to be watched'. They, however, ignore the huge amount in terms 'giveaways' to the already or obscenely wealthy individuals and/or corporations that happen daily. Here was my response:

Opportunity knocks . . . but She has been a picky 'deity' to say the least.

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.

"Drones!": Coming to a Public Event . . . Near You!

Drones over the Next Boston Marathon?

So says the Boston Police Chief . . .

WTF!?

Seriously Mr. Police Chief?  In just what capacity would you have these ‘drones’?

Helpless Lamentations . . .

This whole thing is so maddening!  

No matter HOW MANY TIME DEMOCRATS AND THE PRESIDENT SAY CLEARLY THEY DO NOT WANT TO TAKE AWAY PEOPLE's WEAPONS . . .  THE GUN LOBBY SAYS:

"Don't believe them!  You KNOW that is what they REALLY want!  Wink, wink!"

How the f@&) do you convince folks like that of your benevolent intent when they have been brainwashed and stoked by fear to basically 'not hear' or even 'see' what you actually said or are doing!?

The Heavy Lift 2.0 - A Manifesto For A New Type of Progressive Operative

Firstly I don’t fashion myself to be anyone of renown status, pedigree or accolades to be writing about politics the way I do.  I’m an ordinary, ‘awake’ person that does what you all do - Go to Work, Love my Family, have fun, go on vacation, etc. I, however, also pay attention and am intellectually curious about my country. Most say they don’t have anytime for politics, and to be sure, many may think they don’t for all sorts of reasons . . . but I’m telling you right now:

THAT attitude is precisely why we have the problems and the functional, frustrating inertia in government right now.

The Drone Paradox

The Tactical Paradox

A set of polls at the bottom of this article shows that many folks need to be a little more realistic when dealing with the question of Drones.

In summary:

(a) Americans support by a substantial majority killing senior level Al Qaida officials via Drone and even in the case of if the person is an American citizen.

but . . .

(b) Americans would NOT support the program if they knew civilians were at risk.

'Droned' . . .!

Oh Boy . . . here we go again:

Eric Holder: Drone Strike To Kill U.S. Citizen On American Soil Legal, Hypothetically

GASP!!!

This headline at the top causes the heart to stop within the chest and folks start getting really angry and scared . . .

The Problem?: The reality of this is FAR FROM THE HEADLINE!

Filibuster . . . What Is The Truth?

I'm going to keep this one relatively brief.

A Filibuster invokes Cloture, which then needs 60 votes to bypass the Minority Party Objection so that it can move to the MAIN VOTE.

The Press has been reporting FOR YEARS NOW on the vote to overcome Cloture AS IF IT IS THE VOTE ON THE BILL ITSELF!!