Remembering: Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was one of the most courageous civil rights activist who was famous for saying she was sick and tired of the condition of black people, stood up and took a stand. She used a passionate depiction of her own suffering in a racist society helped focus attention on the plight of African Americans throughout the South. While working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1964; Hamer helped organize the 1964 Freedom Summer African American voter registration drive in her native Mississippi.

Born Fannie Lou Townsend on October 6, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi the daughter of sharecroppers, Hamer began working the fields at an early age. Her family struggled financially, and often went hungry. In the summer of 1962, she made a life-changing decision to attend a protest meeting. She met civil rights activists there who were there to encourage African Americans to register to vote.

Hamer became active in helping with the voter registration efforts, which few in Mississippi were brave enough to do. Hamer dedicated her life to the fight for civil rights, working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) after going involved with the struggle. This organization was comprised mostly of African American students who engaged in acts of civil disobedience to fight racial segregation and injustice in the South. These acts often were met with violent responses by angry whites.

At the Democratic National Convention later that year, she was part of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, an integrated group of activists who openly challenged the legality of Mississippi’s all-white, segregated delegation. For her devotion and commitment she paid a heavy price. She was beaten within an inch of her life. So brutally that it took months for her to recover but she never gave up the fight.

During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at but none of these things deterred her from her work. In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was established in opposition to the state’s all-white delegation to that year’s Democratic convention. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention.

The next year, Hamer ran for Congress in Mississippi but was unsuccessful in her bid. Along with her political activism, Hamer worked to help the poor and families in need in her Mississippi community. She also set up organizations to increase business opportunities for minorities and to provide childcare and other family services.

Hamer died of cancer on March 14, 1977 from cancer. The encryption on her tombstone denotes her famous quote, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” I’ll ask, when will this statement impact your life, whereas you will affect change. Mrs. Hamer put her life on the line for freedom. The next time you look in the mirror, ask yourself – WOULD YOU? And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

Media Kit

The Unspoken Truth

I celebrate Black History every day – 365 days a year. It has been nearly 400 years since that fateful or should I say infamous day in the year of our Lord 1619. When the first African was dragged onto the shores of this place the slaves called “merica” – nothing has changed for black people! These people were physical slaves, but today most are locked in mental bondage. Sure there are a few black faces in high places but some will say these people are bought and sold by the dominant culture doing nothing the masses of the race. This group still, for the most part, remains in a destitute situation compared to the “Real Americans”. Therefore, through this blog, I write articles specifically designed to be a potent source of empowering knowledge for the enhancement of the minds of mankind.

In today’s world, they tell us that the gay movement is the new civil rights movement and that black people have “overcome.” Like Malcolm told us; we have been, hoodwinked! Black people have yet, in spite of government law, to obtain their rights as a human beings and nothing close to what is called civil rights. It is my sincere wish that black people not continue to fall into the trap of divide and conquer, which has worked so well for so long. Let us understand the phenomenal history and difficult struggles of the African American experience and learn from the mistakes of the past. Our story is the “Greatest Story Ever Told!!!

The legacy of dependency, apathy, and entrenchment of the American social order from its beginning provides clear evidence of those with a diabolical intent to bankrupt the souls of African Americans based on an ideology of supremacy. The remnants of stolen souls exist today within the people of color, who bear the burden of a system that perpetrated, in the name of God, the greatest crime known to man. Hence, from the beginning, people of African descent were intended to be a nation of people living within a nation without a nationality.

This is without question “The Unspoken Truth”. The words herein are intended to empower by educating people through knowledge concerning issues that many blacks continue to face today from the untreated wounds of America’s forefathers. Let us understand through this knowledge-based examination of the African American Diaspora that I simply offer explanations whereby we can look at and understand the root-cause of the asymptomatic behaviors.

Some people call it a conditioning in “certain” communities while others may call it the Willie Lynch Syndrome. Nonetheless, my view is not an excuse, rather an explanation as to why these behaviors were never unlearned and had been passed down from generation to generation. Over my relatively short lifetime, I have been referred to as Colored, Negro, Afro-American, Black, and an African American, which were the polite terms assigned to make known that people of African Descent were not American citizens.

The concept of African Americans being slaves, physically or mentally, is as old as the nation itself, designed to deprive a people of its culture and knowledge through sustained policies of control. To overcome these indignities, we must realize that education is the single most important ingredient necessary to neutralize the forces that breed poverty and despair. Regardless of how much we are held down, it is our responsibility to find a way to get up, even if the system is designed to protect the system.

We must teach and know that “learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is intellectual death, and courage is knowing what’s needed and doing it.” As tenacious beings, we must understand that there is no such thing as an inferior mind. So I say, it’s time for an awakening, if for no other reason than to honor those who sacrificed so much so that we could live life in abundance.

Be brave and remember this: “You only have a minute. Sixty seconds in it. Didn’t choose it, can’t refuse it, it’s up to you to use it. It’s just a tiny little minute but an eternity in it. You can change the world, but first, you must change your mind”. It is time for change and time for a movement! And that is my thought provoking perspective…

Media Kit

The One Hundred Day Disaster

First, let’s be clear the whole election was motivated and won because of race and the black man once elected to lead America. I have always said to white folk that if you hate the black part of him, try loving the white part; after all – his mother was white.

Therefore, it is also clear that the person chiefly responsible for the racist and bogus birther claim was elected president for that very reason. Everybody knows that race has always been the driving America’s force in policy making to protect and benefit white folk! This guy railed about and against everything thing Obama did and he has done all those things himself.

So white folk got together and claimed to want a razzle-dazzle President says outrageous, untrue and inconsistent things in the hope of generating headlines or as they said to take back their country. They failed to scrutinize any of his deplorable actions and now we face the very real possibility of  war and the collapse of America. So it’s no surprise that #45 is disparaging the inevitable results-oriented First 100 Days reviews.

He has signed a huge number of executive orders and nothing else; meaning he has failed to do anything for the people only for his family and rich friends. This man is unqualified, unfocused, unprincipled, divisive, shallow and nasty solipsist has been outmatched by a once-fooled national media, plus an unexpected Democratic pushback on the streets, in town halls, in Congress and in court. So far current polling shows Trump holding on to the lowest approval rating of any newly elected president in modern times.

Instead, let’s apply this axiom to his time in office; “facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” By the standards of legislation, strategy, popularity and national purpose, 45 has been a failure; an epic failure so far, with the prospect of more failures to come. Unless or until he is impeached! Why this happened is hidden in plain sight. It goes back to racism! There used to be a saying “white is right” and no matter what their offenses are overlooked.

One other element turns this into a political bonfire: Next to none of his bellowing, reactionary assumptions are true. His claim of building a wall again goes back to racism. Refugees don’t commit more crime, net immigration from Mexico is near zero, climate change is real, people want health insurance and meals on wheels, and giving more money to the top 0.1% makes them, not us, richer.

No, unlike Caligula, he has not named his horse first consul. But day after day, everything seems to be driven not by strategy and facts but only by vanity, money and family (his). “Yelling fake news,” wrote columnist Eugene Robinson “cannot mask a fake presidency.”

Let’s recap his first 100 days:

The only thing 45 can lay claim too is that he did give the country a conservative justice to the Supreme Court. Of course, he like any good performance artist, 45 has been frequently photographed with applauding appointees signing numerous minor executive orders and, pending judicial review, repealing recent Obama administration rules to protect workers, investors and our waterways. On the merits, these appear to be anti-accomplishments.

Trump has been a Lord of the Lies. For example, the FBI, Jeff Sessions, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have said that President Barack Obama did not criminally wiretap Trump. Mean while, 45 dismiss all evidence of collusion between his campaign and the Russians as “fake news” despite just about everybody working on his campaign seemed to have Russian interactions that the FBI is investigation as a criminal probe.

More troubling, he calls the media “the enemy of the people,” disparaging the independent judiciary and “so-called” judges, and trying to suppress voting rights, he appears to have more in common with Putin and other dictators around the world.

In short, all his failures and failings over 100 Days appear ominous. He doesn’t seem to have the capacity, discipline or motivation to grow into the job. It is very hard to change your habits and personality when you are over 70 years old; his lying, bullying, adolescent tweedicts, contempt for law and norms appear unalterable. This time in office has been a disaster! And that is my thought provoking perspective…

Mental Conditioning: We Are All Brainwashed

Some have proclaimed that a slave was born. I disagree with this notion because a slave was made by means of a defined calculated, and well thought-out plan devised for the purpose of being a beast of burden. We know the reason for this atrocity was to build a nation stolen by others to obtain wealth. But what is not understood, en mass, is how it was designed to be sustainable and that varying forms reappear overtime and this footnote to history have been erased.

This reminds me of the powerful words Harriet Tubman expressed succinctly concerning the effectiveness of this system of mental conditioning. She was asked shortly before her death, if she knew how many slaves she freed while conducting the Underground Railroad. She did not think about it, replying quickly, “I could have freed a lot more, if they had only known they were slaves.”

From that day in 1619, when it is believed the first Africans were dragged onto the shores of Jamestown to today where we’ve witnessed the first man of color elected President of these United States (or as Jesse would put it – from the outhouse to the White House), there is no doubt that our story is the greatest story ever told.  As it was said in scripture, “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” But let’s understand that there was a plan, a sinister plan, conceived at some point to ensure that people of our hue remain the least of thee.

As the story goes, a British slave owner from the West Indies was invited to Virginia sometime during the year 1712 to teach his methods to slave owners. Willie Lynch was the name of the man credited with a speech delivered on the banks of the James River. It is noteworthy to mention that the James River was named for the diabolical King of England, who was ironically the same guy responsible for the twenty-eighth version of the cherished Holy Bible.

Lynch brought with him, as he put it, a foolproof method for controlling black slaves that will last for a thousand years. Consequently, it is believed the term “lynching” was derived from his last name as a way to pay homage to him for delivering this ingenious approach. The name Willie Lynch is interesting because it may be a simple play on words. For example, Will Lynch or Will he Lynch. Whatever the reason, it no doubt had significant psychological implications that played heavily on a naive race of people.

Lynch began his historic presentation with a warm greeting: “Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems. I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag here, I have a foolproof method for controlling your black slaves. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly it will control the slaves for at least three hundred years. My method is simple…The black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands…..” The seeds of devastation were fertilized, and the process of destruction was underway for the making of a race into slaves.

In the speech, Lynch outlined a number of differences among the slaves. He stressed to his audience that they should take these differences and make them bigger. These differences included such things as age, color, intelligence, fine hair vs. coarse hair, tall vs. short, male vs. female. These tactics were not new; however they were more than likely put together collectively for this specific purpose for the first time as keys to control.

This short eight paragraph speech was profound in that it was the embodiment of the cruelest demoralizing agenda ever imposed upon a people since the days when the Romans crucified our Lord. As Lynch closed his speech that day, he said, “They must love, respect, and trust only us.” This is the key to producing a successful strategy. Whether this story is true or not is cause for speculation, however, as history demonstrates; a manufactured plan was developed by someone to achieve these results that continue to this day.

The Willie Lynch letter first appeared in the early 1970’s but gained widespread notice during the nineties, when it began appearing on the Internet. Since then, it has often been promoted as an authentic account of slavery during the 18th century, but its inaccuracies and anachronisms have led historians to conclude that it is a hoax. Let’s be honest; I don’t think any reasonable person would think that those persons present, if there was a meeting, took written notes. However, the same reasonable thinking person can see that there was a designed plan created by someone in order to sustain such division. It may have been something as simple as “divide and conquer.”

So let’s suppose the Willie Lynch story is a modern creation, either the concept was ingenious or the biggest urban myth ever. Then it begs the question, why are we still fighting amongst ourselves. Further, how can the ruling people, or anyone for that matter, justify a philosophy for building and maintaining a government which sanctioned murder, among other atrocities, to enslave human beings?  This I know, and mind you, I was not taught this in school nor did anyone explain that the government, through legislative sessions, passed laws to ensure that our bondage was sustained.

This wicked system was sanctioned by the church in the name of God. Therefore, it is important to understand, when the church endorsed slavery and the vehicle that drove it; this meant in the eyes of the system that God himself authorized this immoral agenda. If this was the mentality of the church, and it is a historical fact that religion sanctioned and justified enslaving people for centuries. It begs the question, does that mentality still exist? And that is my Thought Provoking Perspective…

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Damn White People

They, white folk, blame black people for everything and take every opportunity to use “black on black crime” for all of America’s ills. For example, take the former Mayor of New York city who recently said that black people should do a better job of raising their children and they might not get killed. I remind him that they, white people, hung black men in their Sunday bests and in suits! This remark is coming from a man that has had three wives and his own children hate him. I don’t know if he or most white folk are in any position to speak on the subject of black lives, particularly, when they have done everything to destroy black lives. What happens is that black people have more laws imposed on them than created for them.

But now, like in the Wizard of Oz, the curtain has been removed to expose the ilk hiding behind the scenes at Fox News. For example, Bill O has been fired and they paid him 25 million dollars to leave. Now we can see the real bigotry behind the GOP and clearly the new president who seems like the leader of the KKK! At his rallies you hardly see a black face in the crowd let alone working at the event. Those folks cheered their fascist standard bearer who is more like a Hitler figure than a president, but the bigot’s praise this guy with great fervor. If there was any doubt about white folk, they are clearly on display and the world is laughing!

These folks have been on the wrong side of every issue; voting rights, health care, and their favorite target was the black president. Trump and others seem to have selective memory and have forgotten the mess that the last Republican president left the country in 2006; yes Bush and company was the biggest disaster the nation has ever seen – until now. Of course, their bigotry cannot give credit to President Obama for saving the nation from financial ruin for what Bush created. So they hate him and his family. Trump has been in office about a month and his has taken a weekly vacation, signed dozens executive orders, they think he is doing great because he is white!

The Republicans found fault in everything president Obama did in spite of the fact that he has done remarkable things that no other president has done and by the way with not had a hint of scandal during his entire presidency. This new guy has a new scandal every day! Let be mindful of the past several Republican presidents; one resigned in disgrace along with his Vice President; Reagan had half of his senior leadership going to prison (26 in all); Reagan was caught bringing drugs into black communities; Bush Sr. started a needless war and so did Bush Jr. who was a disgrace from his neglect of Katrina to lying about taking the country to war in the Middle East. All were disgraceful concerning their duties by any reasonable measure.

Now let’s take about the present where the GOP’s propaganda machine, Fox News, that has been revealed as an operation that turns out to be what amounts to a “pimp and hoes” operation. Yet, there is not a word from them about Trump’s predatory behavior. These folks champion all the wrong things while calling themselves patriots. Pick the topic they are wrong on the issue. I thought they reach deep and hit the bottom of the barrel when they picked Palin, but no I was wrong they have now picked Trump. Damn white people!!!

However, the most despicable behavior, in my opinion, is their denial of the countless murders of unarmed black people at the hands of the police. They see the killing on video and claim we did not see what we thought we saw. This talking point goes back to the Rodney King beating saying that nobody saw what happened before the killing. Like the kid in Cleveland who was a threat to the police, when he was shot in 2 seconds by the police. Of course Chicago is their battle cry and a reason they say, they should send in federal troops. Worse yet, there was a Fox News guy who said the slaves who built the White House were fed and had sheltered. Despicable!

The best they can come up with is a racist like Trump and his Klan gang! The only truth Trump has told was the system is rigged and rigged to benefit crooks like him. The fact is black people have been saying that since 1619. No wonder slavery happened and it was very real – it’s in their DNA as evident by their candidate for president! And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

A War He Cannot Win: Another Fine Mess

I don’t want to sound like a prophet or something but I predicted military action from this guy on the day he was sworn into office. It was no major feat because Ray Charles could see this coming. I will begin by saying quite frankly that I am opposed to war with no doubt and for good reason. It does nothing for ordinary people but bring death and hardship, but it does makes the rich richer and we know the Republicans friends are the rich white men to benefit from war. Just watch in the coming days how this thing called patriotism will be frequently used. This is why they praise every republican president because they will make sure there will be a war. Bush’s war is still going on with no end in sight, so war is good business.

I have strong reasons for being anti-war because I fought in one! If you have not you are buying into a myth that it is a good – it’s not! I was in Vietnam and I realized it is not about giving anyone freedom to people because the people they want to give it too have no idea what freedom is. Therefore, how can you give something to a people who have no concept of such a thing these American’s speak. Especially, when they see that America does not give it to their own people!

Now the Republicans have got another war, which they wanted. Let’s look at the facts America has not won a war in 75 years, but they keep starting them. The problem is those who start wars don’t fight them! You, 45, are so dramatic talking about babies being gassed! Those same people and their babies are the ones you want to refused to let enter the country or made sanctuary cities illegal. War is very different than your son’s going off to Africa killing wild animals. More to the point, 45 did what amounts to draft dodging during the Vietnam conflict, yet claiming he was patriotic.

Just look at the language they are using “he gassed and killed his own people”. Does that sound like a past president saying the same thing about Iraq? The question is, now what? At the very least, this attack on another country in the Middle East will surely make more enemies and deepen America’s role in the never ending wars in the region. The truth of the matter is that here at home black people are being killed almost daily and starving but this guy is upset because the children killed made him sad and launched this attack stating “these people were killed by their own leader”. Yet, he can’t say the words white racist terror on black people in America and she calls himself a leader.

Look at it this way, 45 and his administration is under fire from all quarters – right now. So the bombing of Syria is being used for the sole purpose of a distraction. We all know how the America works and uses war as a means, to invade Iraq for example, to take our minds off the real issues. They will wrap the country in the flag and everything proposed will get rubber stamped. Don’t Sleep. Don’t get distracted or fooled. We have seen this before and it is directly out of their playbook. And that is my thought provoking perspective…

Commentary: #45

I have chosen not to say the name Donald Trump anymore because in my view he is an illegitimate president. Therefore, the number 45 is my identification for me. He must be feeling the heat of being the worst president in history but then that depends on your perspective. The numbers don’t matter because if you are a bigot, he is great to them because he is taking rights away from the “coloreds”. However, for all others, he is a disaster!

Since most sane people have come to realize that he is nothing more than a con-man and a huckster to which they know he plans to take away “white rights” too; can we assume it’s the beginning the beginning of the end of the Trump regime; it looks like it’s mighty close. There are people leaving his administration like there is a virus in the White House. We can only hope that Flynn’s testimony is damning enough to take the whole administration down with him.

With the surprise announcement that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who was fired by the last president and this one, is seeking immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony before the congressional Intelligence Committees, which he will not get. #45 will see that they eat their own. Like with Watergate he will cop a plea, resign, and the VP will pardon him. Then we get a more dangerous president in Pence and the same cast of characters will remain in place. Not only do I think of Nixon with him but Reagan also, they don’t tell you this about Reagan, there were about thirty of his senior administration figures “went to jail” under him, they were also caught bringing drugs into America.

A former member of Bill Clinton’s White House staff and a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, Claude Taylor tweeted out this bombshell last week, citing an “independent journalist” who said they have multiple sources stating that Trump is already considering his options in the wake of the ever-expanding Russiagate scandal. As he should be! But let’s not forget white folk made him president to do two things (1) to take back their country and two (2) to make Pence president!

It bears noting that there is a recent historical precedent for a presidential resignation under fire. In 1974 President Nixon tendered his resignation when it became apparent that he was about to be impeached and convicted over the Watergate break-in of the Democratic Party headquarters and caught lying about it. He was subsequently pardoned by his Vice-president, Gerald Ford when he took over the presidency in the wake of Nixon’s departure. So again, they are using the same playbook.

Now that Michael Flynn is scrambling to save himself by seeking immunity from prosecution, it is fairly safe to assume that he is responsible for something that would be prosecutable. Everybody #45 has appointed is a billionaire, corrupt or a family member.  So the question remains who else would be impacted or implicated in his testimony; if he were to appear before either of the congressional committees currently investigating the Russian interference in the election and the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Everybody around him seemed to be have been connected to the Russia’s, who are suppose to be America’s adversary. The only thing true that #45 has said was that “the system is rigged”! Frankly, they could have asked any black person to know that!

I know his loyal bigoted friend will disagree but even they must agree that they would never have stood for the black president having accumulated so much scandal. While tweets from Twitter may not convince anyone of the veracity of the reports beginning to surface of a potential resignation, even some prominent Republicans are reaching the same conclusion or making suggestions of a looming impeachment may be a pipedream but this guy is in way over his head.

According to West Wing Reports, it is rumored that Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele thinks that Trump will not finish his term and is advising his consulting clients to cozy up to Vice-President Pence. If this isn’t the beginning of the end of the Trump regime, it looks like it’s mighty close. We can only hope that Flynn’s testimony is damning enough to take the whole administration down with him. Let us not forget, his own FBI is investigating him!

The old heads know; we have seen this before and to sum up the state of affairs in America today “it’s a fine mess”! The only appropriate end to this regime will be jail for those involved and this administration so far is proving to be a disaster. Think about this; they will erase this part of history and make him a saint like they did with Reagan! And that is my thought provoking perspective…

Slavesplaining

Black people’s biggest problem is not just racism from whites but from within by those we commonly refer to as Uncle Tom’s. Yes, we know who you are and see that your betrayal is shameful, and you know that hardly anything comes from your treacherous actions. However, the more appropriate term would be coons or house niggers! What is more shameful it the scene #45 took office this unseemly behavior has grown exponentially!

I know this post will be disturbing to some because it is disturbing to me. Nonetheless, let me begin by saying, let’s first understand that the police, where most of these people are, was derived and evolved from what “Massa’s” degenerate gang paid to be slave catchers. It is truth and history reports that this gang did despicable things to slaves who tried to escape their bondage. More shameful this gang also included slaves themselves. This has been happening for over four-hundred years, and it has not changed yet.

It is very disheartening and pitiful that today the system still works as it was designed, to protect the system, to control the minds and souls of men in bondage. The propaganda media tells people every day how brave and courageous these goons are, and that they put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve – who? They are little more than corrupt gangsters roaming the streets like thugs.

Sometimes, they will tell you about the generations of cops in their families to justify why they do what the do, abuse, and kill like that is somehow a qualification. However, since the days of the slave catcher, they shot and hung black people in the name of the law. Today, they do the same thing!

Shockingly each day, we see the most horrific acts of terror, from plain murder to beatings and assaults inflicted upon black people, mostly unarmed, black men, women, and children with no consequence to the predator. Except, usually they get a paid vacation that they call administrative leave and then back on the street to continue the mission of keeping black folk in their place!

Sure you are alarmed, maybe outraged at first, but most will forget about the tragic event before the body is cold. You can also expect, some chicken pickin preacher to come forward and say, “be peaceful, nonviolent.” You will pray, forgive the killer or abuser, and say he was only doing his job. I am sure the slaves back in the day did and said some verse out of the Bible like “the Bible says to turn the other cheek”!

We all know #45 has not told the truth about anything he has said about anything but white folk can’t see it. You know as well as I do that was the same thing they do; if it’s white its right or they will change the rules and make it so. They will also tell you about the good work he is doing for the American people. My question is who? More dangerous is that he has hired his hold family and crooks he knows. Neither is a good thing!

If there is any outrage, most black people will sit back and wait for Jesse and Al to come to the rescue, or that Jesus will fix it. They know you are not going to do anything, but talk and surely not react to make this behavior stop! Malcolm, Martin, Denmark Vesey, and I’m sure even Nat Turner are ashamed of you and turning over in their graves. Black people will continue to “forgive those who trust past against you” thinking that one day Jesus will handle it.

No matter how many brainwashed Negropeans – mentally castrated Negroes; you know the few hand picked ones you see in every picture. Slavesplaining will continue as you pray and go along to get a long. Jesse, Al, nor Jesus will not come, and you will be left to suffer in the same position you have been in for four hundred year the way those good white folk intended. Ask yourself this question; when is it time to say, Enough is Enough!!! And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

The Aftermath Of Integration

I recently had a conversation with a group of young people, none of which lived during the age of government segregation. Each had strongly convoluted opinions about the era that were not based in fact. This made me think about how much the current world view has changed the reality of black life, as it relates to a historical perspective.

First, white folk never wanted it and chatted go back to Africa at the time. It was never intended to be fair or equal! I am not suggesting that integration should not have happened, but it did have a negative impact on black life and the future of African Americans in many ways. Two prominent ways were in the areas of family and black business.

One thing that happened, for sure was that the black community stopped supporting the businesses in their own communities. After segregation, African Americans flocked to support businesses owned by whites and other groups, causing black restaurants, theaters, insurance companies, banks, etc. to almost disappear. Today, black people spend 95 percent of their income at white-owned businesses. Even though the number of black firms has grown 60.5 percent between 2002 and 2007, they only make up 7 percent of all U.S firms and less than .005 percent of all U.S business receipts.

I took the opportunity to educate these young people that in 1865, just after Emancipation, 476,748 free blacks – 1.5 percent of U.S. population– owned .005 percent of the total wealth of the United States. Today, a full 135 years after the abolition of slavery, 44.5 million African Americans – 14.2 percent of the population — possess a meager 1 percent of the national wealth.

If we look at relationships from 1890 to 1950, black women married at higher rates than white women, despite a consistent shortage of black males due to their higher mortality rate. According to a report released by the Washington DC-based think tank the Urban Institute, the state of the African American family is worse today than it was in the 1960s, four years before President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act.

In 1965, only 8 percent of childbirths in the black community occurred out of wedlock. In 2010, out-of-wedlock childbirths in the black community are at an astonishing 72 percent. Researchers Heather Ross and Isabel Sawhill argue that the marital stability is directly related to the husband’s relative socio-economic standing and the size of the earnings difference between men and women.

Instead of focusing on maintaining black male employment to allow them to provide for their families, Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act with full affirmative action for women. The act benefited mostly white women and created a welfare system that encouraged the removal of the black male from the home. Many black men were also dislodged from their families and pushed into the rapidly expanding prison industrial complex that developed in the wake of rising unemployment.

Since integration, the unemployment rate of black men has been spiraling out of control. In 1954, white men had a zero percent unemployment rate, while African-American men experienced a 4 percent rate. By 2010, it was at 16.7 percent for Black men compared to 7.7 percent for white men. The workforce in 1954 was 79 percent African American. By 2011, that number had decreased to 57 percent. The number of employed black women, however, has increased. In 1954, 43 percent of African American women had jobs. By 2011, 54 percent of black women are job holders.

The Civil Rights Movement pushed for laws that would create a colorblind society, where people would not be restricted from access to education, jobs, voting, travel, public accommodations, or housing because of race. However, the legislation did nothing to eradicate white privilege. Michael K. Brown, professor of politics at University of California Santa Cruz, and co-author of“Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society” says in the U.S., “The color of one’s skin still determines success or failure, poverty or affluence, illness or health, prison or college.”

Two percent of all working African Americans work for another African American’s within their own neighborhood. Because of this, professionally trained Black people provide very little economic benefit to the black community. Whereas, prior to integration that number was significantly higher because of segregation people in the black community supported each other to sustain their lives and families.

The Black median household income is about 64 percent that of whites, while the Black median wealth is about 16 percent that of whites. Millions of Black children are being miseducated by people who don’t care about them, and they are unable to compete academically with their peers. At the same time, the criminal justice system has declared war on young Black men with policies such as “stop and frisk” and “three strikes.”

Marcus Garvey warned about this saying:

“Lagging behind in the van of civilization will not prove our higher abilities. Being subservient to the will and caprice of progressive races will not prove anything superior in us. Being satisfied to drink of the dregs from the cup of human progress will not demonstrate our fitness as a people to exist alongside of others, but when of our own initiative we strike out to build industries, governments, and ultimately empires, then and only then will we as a race prove to our Creator and to man in general that we are fit to survive and capable of shaping our own destiny.”

Maybe this proves that once past truths are forgotten, and the myths that are lies are born with an unfounded reality detrimental to all, but those who seek to benefit. As I have often said, “I firmly believe education is the single most important ingredient necessary to neutralize those forces that breed poverty and despair. We can change the world but first, we must change ourselves.” And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

Twitter @JohnTWills

Source: Black Atlanta Star

The Power Of One

This morning as you search your heart, you will pray and ask your God for his help that allows you to survive. It is a fact and all of us know that we need the help of someone in this divided as the nation where racial issues are more prominent than ever. The world is the most segregated; every race is against every other race. I would argue that the old ways like the church is not the answer.  I think most people have come to know that your life means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The black preacher once was the moral authority in the African American community; today, they are just hustlers and scammers. The church was a concrete institution that use to be and was known as the pillar of the civil rights movement was nurtured and the driving force behind the limited rights gained during the 1959s and 1960s. Black people today face a crisis of biblical proportions at every level of life in America. Over the past few weeks, racism has returned to the forefront of American life.

What I would ask, instead of just relying on prayer, rather commit to action. I suggest you, everyone take action by bombarding your social media accounts and post everything you see and know about the atrocities about to occur concerning this new era. It was Rosa Parks, the mother of the civil rights movement, who one day refused to give up her seat for a white passenger and with that simple act of defiance made it possible for you to not endure such indignities today.

I believe in the power of one and that one is you! This is a Birmingham, Alabama moment. If each of us do our part in what appears to have all the signs of a movement for justice and equality we will succeed. You and your souls are at risk, the lives of your people’s future survival too. So if you’ve been harassed, humiliated or disrespected by law or witnessed it – stand up! In this new age, if you don’t it will bring about the ugly past and nothing will change if you don’t. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

YOU HAVE THE POWER USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA VEHICLES TO SPREAD THE WORD, BE A REPORTER, AND SHARE THE INFORMATION VIA EVERY AVENUE. EVERY OTHER GROUP UNITES – IT IS TIME THE BLACK AMERICA TO UNITE NOW!