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.

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 . . .

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.

Monkeying Around with Ahmadinejad

It's Racist . . . Period.

McCain was involved in a 'shiny'(The 'Bored Press' can't help but cover it) Twitter feud when he quipped about, the monkey Iran sent into space and Ahmadinejad's expressed desire to be an astronaut in the future.

He 'zinged' that he thought they already sent a Monkey into space.

A middle eastern Republican took exception to the blatant racism of the statement and told him to knock it off.

Deifying Dorner

Christopher Dorner is now dead.

They'll probably release the autopsy results and then we'll know of his final moments.

Frankly . . . I hope he's forgotten and quickly.

Many are determined, however, for this 'hero' to 'live on!' in some respect.

Memories of A 2012 Election Season:"Feeling 'Froggy' . . .?"

Here is yet another of my writings influenced by the last Election Cycle. Like I said: I'm memorializing them here so we can see and remember what we almost got hit with. Never sit things out! Vote! You might end up going back in time . . . with all the racism that used to reign free . . .

"Feeling . . . 'Froggy' . . .?"

Lee Atwater would be so proud . . .!  Racial Politicking is alive and well:

The Lynching of President Barrack Obama

More intransigence and unbelievable blocking hot off the Presses . . .

Lindsey Graham wants to be the first ever Senator in more than a century to withhold a cabinet position over a non-related issue - Benghazi.  But this has been part of a consistent pattern of disrespect and thinly disguised racism against this President.  Here are a few more examples . . .

Tendrils . . .

Here we go again . . . and I will be a stuck record yet again.

That 'smell' that people of color have grown to fear and loathe over the generations is wafting all over the place again:

Memories of 2012 Election Season: "Atlas had better NOT . . . 'Shrug'"

Here is the first in a series of writings of mine from Facebook and other blogs and threads that I'm 'memorializing' here, to look back at a truly historic election season . . . and an unbelievable, blessed, 'effed-up' year that was 2012.

So read, enjoy and reminisce . . .

Atlas had better NOT . . . 'Shrug' . . .!

Written after the first debate I try to address and possibly explain Obama's mannerism's and behavior to the, then panicking, Left . . .

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 . . . 

Infection

A few weeks ago a mentally-ill man went to the latest Batman premiere and shot and killed twelve (12) people.  Before that, there was the man that almost killed Gabby Giffords and killed six (6) others.

There was wall to wall coverage on the news, both times . . . all sorts of whimsical quandaries about ‘what makes these people do these things?!’; Joe Scarborough even offered, what he thought was, a sympathetic ‘explanation’ . . .

“He might have been autistic . . .”

Didn’t work out to well for him . . . the backlash was swift, because the pain was too near, his ‘calculation’ too well documented.

But I digress . . .