The Dark Side Of America

It vexes me when white people seem so surprised by their own wretchedness. They seemed so shocked by the behavior of their follow white America’s or could it have been because a white woman was killed! If not, they would have been dancing in the streets. This was the most disgusting behavior displayed in a long time. They saw white folk at their true nature – barbaric!

This nation will long remember with shame and sorrow when white supremacists descended on the college town of Charlottesville, Va.; supposedly in fury over the threatened removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park. I will say that and you should know Robert E. Lee was a terrorist just to be clear! These idiots showed up with Nazi slogans, shields. KKK sign without hoods, and anti-Semitic tirades. They injured more than a hundred mostly white people when a deranged member of their ranks sped his car into a crowd and left a woman.

Their President saw it as not an assault or a terrorist act on fellow Americans, but a clash of hate upon hate, violence upon violence, bigotry upon bigotry. Then he issued the most ridiculous statement, he said: “On many sides,” a phrase for the ages. This is what they are taught – racism. If not why would white supremacy lasted four-hundred years? Yes, they have been doing this to us along with the police murder black people – men, women, and children – on average two or three a week. But they all claim to be Christians.

Trump never uttered a word in his remarks and tweets about the nature of the march, the source of provocation nor anything that indicated racism or racism. It clearly was because in an interview late the Grand Wizard of the KKK and the event’s organizer said so. Once torches scare black people but let me let you in on a scared – not anymore. The more shocking part about this was they turned on each other because each wanted to be the biggest racist and the more demonic!

Those white folk who regularly insist that the racists and bigots are a minority of us and that the white-power movement is a marginal and demented faction were proven wrong. Thinking like this and using those kind of statement are what they want you to believe. The mayhem in Charlottesville displayed that this was only a code that is embedded in every white person. However, many came forth with phony and sort of passionate condemnations of blood-and-soil nationalism across the spectrum of ideology.

A president who cannot bring himself to say this immediately and unequivocally squanders any claim to moral leadership. These forms of witnesses were a necessary defense of the American idea and underscored the shamefulness of Trump’s embrace of moral equivalence. There are not, as Trump insisted Saturday, “many sides” to questions that were settled long ago: Racism, anti-Semitism, discrimination, and white supremacy are unequivocally wrong.

Because Trump and many white folk’s inexcusable moral equivalences what actually this event was all about is simply a weak philosophical cover-up of the racism they have in their hearts! As for the president and most white people, they bear his guilt as demonstrated throughout his public life, from his birtherism to his reluctance to turn away 2016 endorsements from Klansmen and other racists.

Nothing has changed and we see that it has not. I have been harshly critical of those black people who support 45 and say things like “our or my country”. I think these fools are INSANE or  uncle toms. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

The Powerless Of Blackness

I am not against anyone or culture. However, I make it a priority to speak to that which others have forgotten or simply don’t know about the African American Diaspora. I believe when you know who you are, believe in yourself, then and only then can you be empowered with the spirit of power. This is the problem!

Black people have been robbed of their history and past, which makes it virtually impossible to know your true history and who you are by design  It was not until about the 1920s that any knowledge of our past was revealed. Later in the 1960s more information was discovered in the form of our true history came to light. By that I mean, not the lies of His-Story!

Let me ruffle some feathers here – WE ARE NOT FREE! As a people, we are no better off today than the day Dr. King spoke about his dream, an elusive dream I might add; that was more like a nightmare than a dream of progress. We can go back to post Civil War and find that statistics about the black condition tell it is nearly the same as today. Further, in 1960 there were only 103 black elected officials, in 1990 there were over 9000, and today there are more than that with a black president. Still, nothing changed regarding our condition. In fact, it got worse! So the correlation between black elected official does not result in improvement or empowerment for black people.

I will readily admit that we have access in some areas, but access to the greater community does not translate into progress. The ideology of divide and conquer causes us to misunderstand that we are seen in one of two categories – good blacks or bad blacks. To be more succinct, as Malcolm said, “house niggers and field niggers”! Look around, there are far more Field Negros today, and the few House Negros de-emphasized their blackness and forgot about the masses of black people.

Few black people have read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” I would suggest that you do because, in that novel, Uncle Tom was the strong black and Sambo was the bad black House Negro. So you see the trick that was played on us and how they flipped the script making us believe something other than the truth. So in today’s vernacular, we call those who are against our interests Uncle Tom’s, who is not the person strong enough to protect your interest. Yet, we follow the sellouts!

The power of blackness has been eroded by those who call themselves black conservatives sent to confuse your thinking. First, the root word “conserve” means to hold on to what you’ve got. For example, America was founded based on a slave mentality. Therefore, what the conservatives are saying, codeword anti-black, “we want to take out country back” is indicative of their intent. So I have to say to the black conservatives, you had nothing to hold on too, so the question then becomes; do you want slavery?

In essence, the concept of benign neglect, which was not based on empirical reality, ultimately blamed the victim and thus ignored the effects of the flawed structure of society in this nation. We did not listen to the few black leaders that preached freedom, and there were only a few; if they had your interest at heart they would know freedom is not given by any oppressor – it is taken, which mean you have to struggle, fight, and maybe die for it. Instead, most black people will choose to support every issue of any other group – instead of interest that directly affects you.

To this point, we’ve been playing a game we can’t win. At this moment, all black people have is hope, and that is all we have ever had – and it alone with our so-called leaders have failed us. It’s time to play to win! Join me as a member of the “Common Sense Party” to survive and not follow fools! And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

 

The Origin Of Memorial Day

Black folk celebrate every holiday with vigor, yet most don’t know the origins or the reason why. DID YOU KNOW? Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers, who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for two weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.

The truth is the custom of holding observances the laying of flowers on burial sites to remember and honor those who gave their lives in military service goes back many hundreds if not thousands of years. In the United States, that custom has long since been formalized in the creation of Memorial Day formerly known as Decoration Day. A federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May to remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

What we celebrate or know as the modern Memorial Day originated with an order issued in 1868 by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, the commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, for the annual decoration of war graves. Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children of Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

The story of Memorial Day, some say, began in the summer of 1865, when a prominent local druggist, Henry C. Welles, mentioned to some of his friends at a social gathering while praising the living veterans of the Civil War; it would be well to remember the patriotic dead by placing flowers on their graves. On May 5, 1866, the Village was decorated with flags at half mast, draped with evergreens and mourning black. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, roughly two dozen places claim to be the primary source of the holiday. An assertion found on plaques, on Web sites and in the dogged local historians across the country.

In his book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, Professor David W. Blight made the case for Charleston, South Carolina, as Memorial Day’s birthplace, as that city was the site of an obscure (possibly suppressed) May 1865 event held at a racetrack turned war prison. During which freedmen properly reburied hundreds of Union dead found there and then held a ceremony to dedicate the cemetery.

The official dedication ceremony was conducted by the ministers of all the black churches in Charleston with prayers, reading of biblical passages, and singing spirituals black Charlestonians gave birth to an American tradition. In so doing, they declared the meaning of the war in the most public way possible by their labor, their words, their songs, and their solemn parade of roses, lilacs, and marching feet on the old planters’ Race Course.

After the dedication, crowds gathered at the Racecourse grandstand to hear some thirty speeches by Union officers, local black ministers, and abolitionist missionaries. Picnics ensued around the grounds, and in the afternoon, a full brigade of Union infantry, including Colored Troops, marched in double column around the martyrs’ graves and held a drill on the infield of the Race Course. The war was over, and Memorial Day was founded by African Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration.

Professor Blight termed it “the first Memorial Day” because it predated most of the other contenders…” he said. Today, this celebration has morphed into, as Howard Zinn remarked: “Memorial Day will be celebrated … by the usual betrayal of the dead, by the hypocritical patriotism of the politicians and contractors preparing for more wars, more graves to receive more flowers on future Memorial Days. The memory of the dead deserves a different dedication.”

I am a veteran and have yet to receive any gratitude for my service in the war, came home, and was less free than when I left. However, I am very grateful I survived the carnage and horrors of it! The fact is, if we could stop war there would not be a reason to celebrate this day! Only the rich can truly celebrate this day because of the wealth they receive! And that’s 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…

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 Greatest Story Ever Told

I have written a series of articles during Black History Month specifically designed to be a potent source of empowering knowledge for the enhancement of the minds of mankind to bring into remembrance the ghost of the greats and the struggles black people have endured. Our history is a phenomenal history and one of difficult struggles. Therefore, I say there is no doubt that our story is the “Greatest Story Ever Told”!!!

The legacy of dependency, apathy, and entrenchment of the American social order white supremacy from the beginning provides clear evidence that there are those with a diabolical intent to bankrupt the souls of African Americans and eliminate them based on an ideology of supremacy. These stolen souls that exist today are people 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.

I like to call this “The Unspoken Truth” because white people see no wrong in the crimes and harm in what they have done. Fortunately, know we are empowered through knowledge and can see the continued issues that many blacks continue to face today from the untreated wounds of America’s forefathers. Black History Month is a knowledge-based examination of the African American Diaspora. Over the last twenty-eight days, I think we all have experienced a great sense of pride as we celebrated this journey remembering those who paved the way for our lives today. More importantly, you are more awake and as a result, understand the root cause of the asymptomatic behaviors manifested within your hearts. I will quote Dr. King and say “we have some difficult days ahead”.

I have spotlighted several of the ghosts of the greats you should never forget. Therefore, it is my sincere desire to help people understand that there is a conditioning in “certain” communities – this is not an excuse, rather an explanation as to why these behaviors were never unlearned and have been passed down from generation to generation. Over my relatively short lifetime, I have been referred to as Colored, Negro, Afro-American, Black, and African American, which were all polite terms assigned to make known that African Americans are not Americans.

Therefore, the concept of black people being slaves, physically or mentally, is as old as the nation itself; it is the American way. It is designed to deprive people of color of their culture, knowledge through sustained policies of control, and remove them from history. 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.

As you follow this journey that must continue 365 days a year; know that learning without thought is a 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 in order that we could live life in abundance.

I ask that you 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.” And that is 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

Black History: The Founder Of Ebony And Jet Magazine

John Harold Johnson, the grandson of slaves, rose to become one of the greatest African American entrepreneurs. Mr. Johnson was the founder of the Johnson Publishing Company and became the first African American to appear on the Forbes 400. This businessman and publisher created the most important media source for the black community ever. It is an honor for me to pay homage to Mr. Johnson for his devotion to the African American community and the pride his publication instilled.

In my view, his greatest and most important accomplishment occurred in 1955 when he made the profound decision at Emmett’s mothers request to publish young Emmett’s open casket photograph mangled and brutally beaten. If it had not been for Mr. Johnson’s JET Magazine, the world would never have known of this horrific murder. I will give thanks to him because it was this decision that sparked the modern civil rights movement.

Born in the south but after a visit with his mother to the Chicago World’s Fair, they decided that opportunities in the North were more plentiful than in the South. Facing poverty on every side in Arkansas during the Great Depression, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1933 to try to find work and for Johnson to continue his education.

Johnson endured much teasing and taunting at his high school for his ragged clothes and country ways, as he encountered something he never knew existed: Middle-class blacks. At DuSable High School, his classmates included Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, and future entrepreneur William Abernathy. This only fueled his already formidable determination to “make something of himself”. Johnson’s high-school career was distinguished by the leadership qualities he demonstrated as student council president and as editor of the school newspaper and class yearbook. This would prove to be valuable later in his life.

Johnson began as an office boy at Supreme Life and within two years had become Pace’s assistant. His duties included preparing a monthly digest of newspaper articles. Johnson began to wonder if other people in the community might not enjoy the same type of service. He conceived of a publication patterned after Reader’s Digest. His work at Supreme Life also gave him the opportunity to see the day-to-day operations of a business owned by an African American and fostered his dream of starting a business of his own.

Once the idea of The Negro Digest occurred to him, it began to seem like a “black gold mine”, Johnson stated in his autobiography Succeeding against the Odds. He remained enthusiastic even though he was discouraged on all sides from doing so. Only his mother, a woman with biblical faith and deep religious convictions, as well as a powerful belief in her son, supported his vision and allowed him to use her furniture as collateral for a $500 loan. He used this loan to publish the first edition of Negro Digest in 1942.

Johnson expanded his business interests to areas other than his magazines. He became chairperson and chief executive officer of the Supreme Life Insurance Company. He developed a line of cosmetics, purchased three radio stations, started a book publishing company, and a television production company, and served on the board of directors of several major businesses, including the Greyhound Corporation.

Johnson Publishing Company also has a book division and employs more than 2,600 people, with sales of over $388 million. In addition, Johnson Publishing owns Fashion Fair the world’s number one makeup and skin care company for women of color, and Supreme Beauty products such as hair care for men and women, and is involved in television production and produces the Ebony Fashion Fair the world’s largest traveling fashion show, which has donated over $47 million to charity. The show visits more than 200 cities in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

On January 31, 2012, the United States Postal Service honored John H. Johnson with a commemorative stamp as the newest addition to its Black Heritage Series. The John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University is named in his honor. Therefore, I send the highest praise to this great champion of the world.

Your publishing the open coffin pictures of little Emmett Till opened the eyes of the world to the brutality inflicted upon our people was the spark that started the modern Civil Rights Movement. If I may speak for all African American’s – thank you, Sir, for having the vehicles that uplifted and inspired us all with so much pride. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

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